…

Atlas was completely stunned, his own attack had exploded and his brother had been freed. He looked toward Jacob, hoping that he would reassure him, but instead, the look he saw was the same as his own, one that was completely stunned. 

 

-H-how?! Mother’s knowledge that she shared with me didn’t have any record of this...trash being able to use magic! Even if he was able to manifest an attack...he shouldn’t be able to...rebuke my attack, much less use it against me! 

 

Atlas had been given the information that his mother had on his disowned brother, which showed that he was capable of attacking to some degree, but it never showed Fate having magical talent. Thus, Atlas was right to be stunned since he had been brought up and his mother had gone through several odd rituals to awaken his magical abilities, he had never thought that his disowned brother could be as capable as himself.

 

While they were unable to move from the unprecedented shock, Fate had begun to move. He had finished removing all of the restraints, which now began to melt and were trying to merge back together. 

 

-The core in the middle has been completely melted through! I need to stop him...b-before…!

 

Atlas: “Ghhh…”

 

Atlas began to clench the sides of his head with his hands, groaning quietly in pain as he did so. He hadn’t been hit by anything, but he still seemed to be in severe pain. The breeze around him began to morph and intensify into a small wind storm! 

 

The stones on the floor began to be violently slashed by small wind-blades while a maelstrom began to form out of the storm at his feet! Jacob then quietly moved behind him and delivered a quick chop to the neck, knocking him out and ending the storms. 

 

Jacob: “Forgive me, young master. I shall make sure to get you the utmost care for your immediate recovery…”

 

Jacob turned to look at Fate, who was now the stunned party instead of himself, which brought a smirk to his face. Fate looked away and turned towards the door.

…

-Did he just...knock him out? I thought that my brother was preparing a massive attack, why would he stop him? Then again, if I blew something large up then it’d probably blow us all to hell.

 

Fate was stunned at the recent happenings, Atlas had started glowing and the wind around him got violent, then the floor got carved up, and then Jacob had knocked him out and was now staring at himself while holding his brother. It was an odd turn of events to be sure, but there was only one thing that truly mattered right now!

 

-Regardless, now’s my chance!

 

Fate looked towards the spot in the door that had been welded back in place yesterday, angling himself in a sprinting position. He began to gather his remaining mana in his fist, coating his knuckles with small orbs…

 

-I just have to breakthrough…

 

Fate exhaled and inhaled several times to steady himself and then he took off like a rocket, charging towards the door with all the force he could muster!

 

*crash!*

 

Fate broke through the repaired part of the door and slid into the hallway, while Jacob just seemed to watch him without doing anything. The whole time Fate was observing him, he wasn’t looking at Atlas, he was keeping eye contact with himself…

 

-Why didn’t he do anything, isn’t he the one who dragged me back yesterday?! Wait...if he’s not coming after me then whatever is going on with my brother is that serious, or he thinks that it won’t matter whether he chases me or not! 

 

While Fate was debating with his own opinions, he continued to run down the hall while searching for some indicator about what part of the mansion he was in. He hadn’t been taken to other parts of the mansion so he didn’t know where to go, but if he wasn’t familiar with his surroundings then he would just try to blow up a wall and make a run for it.

 

After a while of running, Fate finally saw a female servant and began dashing towards her. The servant spotted Fate too late, however, and was quickly tackled to the ground and pinned against the wall!

 

He looked down at her, she had short brown hair that was tied in a bun, brown eyes, and seemed to only be 14 or so. Perhaps she was being raised here with the servants and was training under her mother? Either way, Fate began to speak in his voice that was hoarse from trying to yell with the restraints on earlier…

 

Fate: “What part of the mansion is this?!”

 

Servant: “I-I...W-who are y…!”

 

Fate began to let a slight amount of 『Fire』sizzle on the tip of his finger while making his tone of voice cold and calm. The maid, pinned by his arm and with eyes locked on the flame, began to quiver in fear.

 

Fate: “I asked you...what part of the mansion is this? Please answer me…”

 

Fate took his other hand and placed it on the side of the maid’s face, stroking her hair as he did so.

Servant: “I-I-I…I…”

 

Fate: “I’d really hate to burn part of your pretty face off…”

 

Her face of fear was now replaced with one of dread, and she began to tell him everything that she could about where he was. Put simply, he was still in the section of the manor where he had been moved after being disowned but was a few corridors down from his room.

 

-I’m still in the same section of the mansion, how big is this damn place?! I should definitely get out of here while I still have some ‘fire’ left in me but before that…

 

Fate: “You haven’t been lying have you?”

 

She nodded her head.

 

Fate: “Good. Now, if someone comes this way and is looking for me, can you please tell them that I went the other way?”

 

She nodded her head for a moment, albeit this time, it seemed to be out of embarrassment rather than fear. It was odd to Fate, but he didn’t question it and promptly cut off the mana circulation to the flame on his finger and began to run down the hallway to where the maid said that his room would be.

 

-She said that I just need to head a few corridors down the middle route and I’ll come to my room, but…

 

Fate could feel it clearly now that the excitement and adrenaline had worn off, he was growing increasingly more tired. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to keep up his current pace and feared that he wouldn’t even have the strength to make a hole in the window, much less escape through it.

 

-But if I go to sleep again, I’ll get caught and be thrown back in the dungeon! I’ll have to find somewhere safe to rest once I find my room…

 

Fate kept zipping through the corridors that the maid had instructed until at last, he reached the slightly-rotted door at the dead-end of one of the hallways. He checked nearby, but there weren’t any of the usual maids, which was odd since they were always here, although they despised being so…

 

-I’ll have to check if it’s a trap first otherwise I’ll just end up back at square one... even though I got this far!

 

Fate was enraged with his current helplessness but was still cautious enough to grab some dust and throw it under the door to check for a reaction...However, there wasn’t any noise…

 

-This is annoying so I’m just going to open it!

 

He quickly opened the door, only to find that it wasn’t even locked. There didn’t seem to be any signs of movement and the pile of Jel jars was still on the other side of the room. It truly seemed untouched, but Fate still looked everywhere for hidden assailants or traps.

 

-There’s...nothing here? No one hiding, no traps on the ceiling or floor, and no sign of anyone having tried to take away my few possessions...Did they really just grab me after I took a nap and didn’t take any other precautions, or did they genuinely think that I wouldn’t be able to escape?

 

Fate continued to ponder this but decided to put it off until later. He was still tired and on the verge of collapsing and wouldn’t be able to keep himself awake for much longer.

 

Fate: “I guess I’ll need to hide somewhere in here…”

 

He perused the stack of large boxes and palettes that were in the back-end of the room, and began to hatch his plan…

…

Agatha: “Oh my...Atlas!”

 

Agatha had arrived at the cell where Jacob had said that he had locked her child in, yesterday. She was horrified by the sight of Jacob holding a hyperventilating Atlas in his arms and was stupefied at how this came to be.

 

-He shouldn’t have had to use enough mana to cause...this! That thing was supposed to be restrained and used for Atlas to refine his use of magic, how could this have happened?!

 

There were burns, on the floor, the artifact was needing to repair itself, and dense mana filled the room, creating an ominous feeling that furthered her sense of unease.

 

She immediately ran over to where Jacob was clutching Atlas in his arms and reached out to stroke his forehead, but was given a cold glare by Jacob. 

 

Agatha: “Give him to me, I need to treat his…!”

 

Jacob: “Ma’am, how many of your children do you intend to kill?”

 

Agatha was shocked, her eyes going wide for a moment before coming back into focus once more. Her own servant had just defied her, how could she not be shaken?

 

-What did my own servant just tell me…? Kill my child, that’s absolutely preposterous!

 

Jacob let his glare slip away and passed Atlas into her arms. Agatha took Atlas’ head and pressed both of her hands against it, letting a blue light seep into him. Jacob watched from the doorway, letting out a look of discomfort at the sight of the glow.

 

After a few minutes of tense silence, the mana in the room dispersed and the glow from Agatha’s palms ceased, with Atlas’ breath steadying all the while. She turned to face her servant before breaking the silence.

 

Agatha: “I will pretend that I didn’t hear you speak to me that way...However, you will tell me exactly what transpired here, and right now.”

 

Her voice was no longer panicked and instead was cold and sharp. Jacob dropped to one knee and held his right hand over his heart, most likely to signify that he was telling the truth.

 

Jacob: “...The child…”

 

Agatha’s gaze became akin to frozen daggers as Jacob spoke.

 

Jacob: “It...it was restrained by the orb at the young master’s discretion, but it suddenly...exploded…”

 

Agatha: “Exploded, how could that be?”

 

Her gaze returned to a natural glare but was now filled with both slight fear and curiosity. She looked at the ‘Orb of Restriction’ that was endeavoring to repair itself in the corner along with the burns, both of which she had seen previously.

 

-How could such an object that is so resistant to force be broken in such a way? Could the child have used...magic…?!

 

Agatha: “Did it somehow…?”

 

Jacob seemed to study the look in her eyes for a moment before replying in a calm manner.

 

Jacob: “I thought the same and suspected magic, but if it truly could utilize such means then it would have tried to use them to defend itself against you previously, correct?”

 

Agatha’s placed her chin in her palm while looking down at her child, cradled in her other arm. She remembered what she had to do to awaken his magical abilities, and was certain that a mere child with no help from an adult could possibly do the same...at least not without noticeable consequences.

 

Agatha: “You speak truly...If it had somehow awoken to an affinity then there would be more signs similar to the ones that Atlas displays...How then did the orb become...like this, do you suppose?”

 

Jacob shifted his gaze to the sight of the partially melted orb on the floor. It was certainly strange that it would end up like this, but...

 

Jacob: “The young master attempted to use wind-mana attacks, just as you instructed, once...it was restrained using the orb. However, the magic he attempted to manifest exploded and knocked us back, while it seemed to have melted through parts of the restraints, allowing...it to escape.”

 

-How could something, that coincidental happen for that thing? That’s far too convenient…

 

Agatha: “So then, how do you suppose my son’s magic and the explosion of parts of the orb occurred with such similar timing?”

 

Jacob: “I believe...that the imbalance of the young master’s mana had caused it…”

 

He lowered his head downward, so as to not match her gaze. He waited and occasionally gaze up at her until she nodded before continuing.

 

Jacob: “The young master had used his magic previously, specifically when he got in an altercation with...it. I had not arrived yet and only reached the room after the young master had left and was being treated for an injury he received. 

 

I believe that his injuries may have been taking a toll because, by the time I saw him, he was beginning to show signs of mana-overflow. After this, I retrieved...it and proceeded to lock it up here, then I returned with the young master, today. 

 

The situation I described occurred and...it escaped by smashing through a part of the door that had been poorly maintained…”

 

Agatha turned her gaze to the door, which indeed did have a decently-sized hole near the bottom of it. She had noticed the damage on her way in but had ignored it due to the worries she held for the situation.

 

-Still though, how lucky could that thing possibly be?! It doesn’t make sense that these occurrences just... happened like that! I need to find that thing and interrogate it myself!

 

Agatha: “Where is that thing now?”

After telling her all he knew about the direction it seemed to be going in, which he had judged by its footsteps, she ordered him to find the child and to place it in a different cell. Jacob then left the room and walked down the hall to investigate…

…

After checking the halls and various scratches on the rugs, Jacob headed for Fate’s secluded room. He had never thought that the child would attempt to hide in the same room he had been taken from...

 

-Let’s see what he has in store for me…

 

He took out a pair of black gloves from his coat pocket and put them on before placing his hand on the handle. However, it was then that he noticed something strange, which was that there was a draft coming from underneath the door.

 

-How is there a draft? Don’t tell me that he…!

 

Jacob quickly opened the door, which revealed several boxes that had been haphazardly stacked up to a hole in the window...Fate was nowhere to be found...