novelraw Chapter 39
Chapter 39
Chapter 39: Pay Attention in Class!
Twenty minutes earlier, Osselro Town, Northern Textile Factory.
Two apprentice witches, led by a worker, arrived at the door of a dormitory room on the fifth floor of the staff quarters.
“This is the place,” the worker said in a low voice. “Doyle and Luke both live in here...”
“Mm, thank you,” the girl with light gray short hair and glasses took the key he handed over. “You can go back now. The young lady asked us to investigate here first. If anything comes up later, we’ll come find you.”
The worker let out a soft sigh. “Sigh—then I’ll leave it to you... I know both of them. Neither of them is the kind of person who would take their own life...”
“Luke just got engaged. He’s going back to Wilk Town next month for the wedding,” the worker said slowly. “Doyle’s child will be entering a magic academy next year. She’s a very cute little girl...”
“We’ll get to the bottom of this,” the gray-haired girl nodded seriously. “The Sibyl family will not allow anyone to harm our employees. The young lady will be back soon.”
After the worker left, the gray-haired girl inserted the key into the lock and pushed open the dormitory door.
What came into view were two neatly made beds. The gray-white blankets were slightly wrinkled, as if someone had been sleeping in them just a moment ago.
A wooden coat rack stood by the door, with two sets of work uniforms neatly hanging at the top.
On the bedside table to the left stood a photo frame, showing a simple-looking man and a gentle young woman. In front of them stood a little girl of about seven or eight years old.
On the bedside table to the right was an exquisite wind-up clock, making rhythmic ‘click-clack’ sounds in the silent room.
The gray-haired girl’s companion, another apprentice witch with long light brown hair, walked to the wardrobe inside the room. She gave her companion a look and slowly pulled it open.
Inside the wardrobe were two finely crafted dolls.
One looked like a cute doll that children would like, while the other had a gloomy gothic style favored by young women.
“Dolls again...” the brown-haired girl bit her thumb. “Dolls have been found in all these workers’ dorm rooms.”
The gray-haired girl carefully picked up the gloomy gothic doll and examined it closely. “There’s no trace of magical aura on the doll itself. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence.”
“Maybe,” the brown-haired girl shrugged. “Too bad I’ve never liked these things since I was little.”
“This doll... should also be from the Howard Doll Workshop,” the gray-haired girl lifted the doll’s clothing on its back and saw an embroidered signature. “It’s the only handmade doll workshop in town.”
“Too bad the shop owner has a bit of a strange temper,” the brown-haired girl stuck out her tongue. “Last time, for the young lady’s birthday, I wanted to get her one... but that owner refused to sell it to me, no matter how much I offered!”
“Fallen nobles having some odd quirks is nothing unusual,” the gray-haired girl put the doll back in its place. “But looking at it this way... that Mr. Howard is somewhat suspicious as well. If we get the chance, we can investigate his workshop.”
“But why are the ones who disappeared these workers?” the brown-haired girl sat on a stool in the room, hands behind her head. “We already checked their backgrounds before—just ordinary people from out of town, and they don’t seem to have any enemies.”
“Do you remember those cultists from the Wizards’ Association last time?” the gray-haired girl suddenly said. “Do you get the feeling... that these recent strange incidents all seem to be targeting the Sibyl family?”
“Now that you mention it... it really does seem that way!” the brown-haired girl jumped off the stool. “Could it be that those workers were also targeted by them?!”
“Bang!”
Suddenly, the dormitory door slammed shut, and the windows also snapped closed. The curtains, without any external force, went ‘whoosh!’ and blocked out the sunlight!
“Who’s there!”
The two girls immediately became alert, standing back to back as each began to gather magical power!
“Why did we only catch these two brats?” a furious roar came from outside the door. “Where’s that young lady?!”
“I—I don’t know, sir! We set up the barrier in the last dorm room as you instructed, but only the two of them came in...”
The girls’ hearts instantly sank to the bottom.
It was a trap—a trap aimed at the young lady!
“What do we do?” the brown-haired girl’s voice trembled.
“Use the emergency communication talisman,” the gray-haired girl took out a talisman from her storage ring and infused it with magic.
The talisman flickered twice, then fell silent.
They couldn’t contact the young lady.
Suddenly, the door was yanked open violently. A gaunt man hidden beneath a black cloak walked in.
Beyond the doorway was no longer the corridor of the staff dormitory, but a dark and damp tunnel.
“Lightning Strike!” The gray-haired girl did not hesitate. A yellow arc of electricity burst from the tip of her staff and shot toward the tall, thin man.
“Hmph!” The man snorted coldly and casually waved his hand, dispersing her magic with ease.
“Out the window!” The brown-haired girl grabbed her companion. The ground beneath their feet began to wriggle rapidly, and a wall of earth rose up, blocking the man.
However, when they pulled open the window, all they saw was a cold stone wall.
A dead end! The space here had been replaced!
“Boom!” The tall man shattered the earthen wall with a single punch. “Tell me—where did the young lady of the Sibyl family go?”
Yet there was nothing before him. On the ground remained only a teleportation crystal that had already dimmed.
“Find them,” the man said with a dark expression to the followers behind him. “They can’t have gone far.”
“Yes, sir!”
……
“Shirley, where are we?” The brown-haired girl panted as she leaned against the wall, her eyes filled with fear.
If her companion hadn’t activated the emergency teleportation crystal just now, they might have already been captured by that man in the black cloak.
“I don’t know,” the gray-haired girl shook her head, observing their surroundings. “Kailin, you’re an earth-element affinity user. When you manipulated the soil earlier, did you feel anything unusual?”
“Mm…” Kailin pondered for a moment. “Nothing particularly strange… If I had to say… it felt easier than usual to control magic?”
“Mm, same here,” Shirley nodded. “My lightning spell just now barely consumed any of my own magic. It was almost entirely powered by the ambient mana. The magical concentration here is terrifyingly high.”
“But that doesn’t help at all…” Kailin’s face fell. “That weirdo is way stronger than us. Our magic doesn’t work on him!”
“But from the current conditions, we can infer one thing,” Shirley analyzed calmly. “We’re underground, and this is a zone where magic is highly concentrated.”
“In other words, we might be near a magical ley line?” Kailin caught on. “Do you have an idea?”
“No.” Shirley shook her head, leaned against the stone wall, and closed her eyes.
“Then why say all that?!” Kailin stamped her foot anxiously. “That guy’s probably furious right now. If he finds us, we’ll definitely be torn to pieces!”
“Oh.” Shirley continued resting against the stone wall with her eyes closed.
“You…” Kailin choked in frustration. Given the situation, she couldn’t think of any good solution either. It seemed like all they could do was wait here to die…
“Tell me… if it were Instructor Lina, what would she do?”
“Her? She’d probably use all sorts of bizarre traps, tools, and weird tricks to toy with that cloaked guy until he’s completely dizzy,” Kailin sighed. “Too bad we’re both…”
“Traps… right, traps!” Shirley adjusted her glasses. “We can use traps!”
“But there’s no magic imprint paper here to inscribe mana circuits—how are we supposed to prepare traps?” Kailin was puzzled. “Unless we can find a medium with excellent mana conductivity, otherwise…”
“Kailin, do you remember the lesson Instructor Lina taught before?” A faint smile curved at the corner of Shirley’s lips. “We’re standing on the largest source of magic in this world—nothing beats it as a medium for magic imprinting!”
Kailin’s eyes widened. “You mean… the ley line?!”