[25.2] A Grave Uncovered Skillfully

As I walked down the hall, Zephyr followed me closely.

He shouted, "Oi! You crazy human! Just what do you think you're doing?! First, you act all crazy and then you take an innocent girl's blood?! Just what-"

I turned to him with hatred in my eyes, "I'm bringing back my Mummy. Now either shut up or get lost."

His mouth closed abruptly.

Once outside, I summoned my ice chunk again. I didn't expect Zephyr to follow, but to my surprise, he actually jumped on the ice chunk with me.

I tossed him a look.

He huffed, "I'm not following you because I'm worried about you. I'm doing this because I'm bored."

I rolled my eyes, "Sure."

I sped off quickly in the direction of the thing I needed most.

Zephyr tilted his head, "Where are you going now?"

"The cemetery."

He nodded, "The cemetery. Right. It's- AH! WHAT!? The CEMETARY!? With like… Dead bodies?!"

I snarled, "No. With my Mummy."

His expression stiffened, "That's… That's even worse…"

I ignored him and moved towards the cemetery.

He nudged my cloak, "Um… But it's still daytime… Isn't arriving there like this attracting too much attention?"

I scoffed, "Who cares."

"Oi. Trashy human. If they find you digging up a grave then you'll be thrown in jail!"

"Then I will just leave the city after I bring back my Mummy."

He frowned, "And what about the Headmaster? You'll just leave him behind without any explanation?"

I hesitated.

Slowly, the ice chunk was lowered to the ground and disintegrated.

I pulled out my wand and gave it a wave. A light poured out from the tip and covered both Zephyr and me.

He looked over his body hectically, "What is this!?"

I responded curtly, "It's to hide our presence."

Zephyr looked himself over in interest, "Ooou! Cool."

We walked over to the cemetery and entered without a single person looking our way. Once we were at the right grave, I waved my wand to create a shovel made of ice. I stabbed it into the ground and went to scoop, but was stopped by Zephyr.

He frowned, "You can't just dig up a grave like a grave robber. If you want to be smart, you have to do it so no one will notice."

I raised an eyebrow, "I can just use magic after to make it normal."

"Are you some kind of idiot?" He shook his head, "If you use magic, certain people will be able to detect it. Most familiars can sniff out magic residue. Here. Give the shovel to me."

I handed him the shovel and watched curiously as he stabbed the ground, creating a perfect square. Then, with extreme care, he lifted the top layer of grass and flipped it over without disturbance.

He wiped his brow, "When we finish, we can return the sod back to normal and it will look like it was never dug up."

I chuckled, "You seem to have a lot of practice digging graves up."

His face turned pink, "I-I do not!"

"And who taught you that? Your Master?"

He looked away with a fierce pout, "As if! My Master would discipline me thoroughly if I tried that!"

I started digging up the dirt and hummed, "Your Master seems like a good person."

He smiled gently, "She was."

I added, "I wonder what went wrong with you."

"OI!"

After a few more moments of digging, a casket made from cheap wood came into view. I hurriedly pulled apart the planks and heaved as I stared at the burnt body laid inside. They had covered her body with a strange white burial wrap in an attempt to hide the charred corpse underneath.

My eyes watered, "Mummy…"

Zephyr looked into the hole with an awkward expression, "So… Um… What are you going to do with… That?"

I thought for a moment.

The last place I had was blown up because of the magic backlash. So where should I take her?

Should I find another abandoned building in the slums? There are more than enough there, but if I encounter a backlash again…

Then should I try to bring her to a building on the outskirts of town? It is a far walk and the risk of getting caught would be higher since I have to travel with a body. Not to mention it's far from the prison.

I need to be near the prison so I can grab a new body.

So should I find somewhere by the prison?

But that area will be swarming with Guards. They could catch on to the dark magic once I start.

In the end, it seems the slums are the only place I could possibly go.

I struggled to lift the body, "Help me carry her."

He scratched his cheek, "You know… If I had my adult body, I could carry this easily."

"Fine."

With a snap of my fingers, his body suddenly morphed from a child's body to an adult one. Although he still maintained his human look, he now looked closer to his true self.

He felt his body greedily, "T-This is my body!... Well, a flesh sack of my body."

I rolled my eyes, "You can have it until we arrive at the location."

His mouth dropped, "WHAT?! Can't I have it for longer!?"

I frowned, "No. If you keep complaining, I will take it away."

He gulped and picked up the corpse quickly, "T-This is fine… For now."

I started walking once more, crossing into the lower-income areas before finally coming to the slums. Luckily the magic I cast on Zephyr and me was able to hide us away from curious eyes. We didn't run into any problems along the way.

It had to be fate.

I stopped in front of the old factory and stared at it closely.

I faintly recall my mother telling me that the slums never used to be a bad place to live. In fact, factories were created here to mass-produce items. However, when magic grew more prevalent, the factories became obsolete. They eventually all closed down turning the once bustling area into dangerous slums.

All of that happened in a matter of a hundred years.

It's amazing how quickly humanity can change no matter which world it is.

I took a deep breath in, but no magic could be detected in or around the building. Judging it safe, I opened the door and pointed, "Place the body on the ground… Carefully."

He nodded and did as I asked. As soon as he finished, his body disappeared in a *poof* and he returned back to his childish form.

He whimpered, "Aw…"

I went to pull out magical chalk to write on the walls but realized I wasn't carrying anything other than my wand and the vial of blood. I clicked my tongue, "Do you see any chalk lying around?"

Zephyr took a few steps with a lazy look, "Do you think that it would be just casually laying around? As if- Oh."

He suddenly stopped and looked at the windowsill where a piece of chalk was located. He picked it up with a frown, "...Isn't that convenient?"

He glanced around the darkness but didn't notice anything abnormal so he shrugged. He brought it over to me, "There actually was one."

I picked it up and quickly went to work covering the door, walls, and windows with magic symbols. Zephyr watched me closely as if trying to learn, but it clearly went over his head. After I injected the mana into the magic circles I stepped to the center and cleared away any debris. I put the chalk away and summoned an ice shard which I used to cut my palm.

Zephyr's face paled as he watched me draw a magic circle on the floor using my own mana-infused blood. He gulped, "H-How do you know how to do that?"

I finished and motioned to a spot, "Put my Mummy there."

He did as I asked but still stared at me with a mix of fear and curiosity.

I took a step back and tapped my lips, "I just need a sacrifice."

As soon as that word left my lips, a sudden burst of an icy cold sensation poured out from my forehead. I staggered back as I held my head. It felt like I had drank a milkshake too quickly and my brain was being frozen from excruciating pain.

Zephyr shouted, "Reika-"

Suddenly, Zephyr felt a presence pulling at his consciousness.

His eyes rolled back as his consciousness was thrown from his body to meet another's.