Ch 32: To serve the connection [pt1]

All three of them were disappointed to find Baron Luke not in his room. They had risked a lot to come here and talk to him.

“Fuck! What do we do now? Where can we find Baron Luke and convince him that we need to leave this place?”

Kurina asked as she felt her body swing around tiredly. Sleep wanted to claim her but Kurina’s sheer will and determination kept her going. She was not going to fall asleep right now.

“Well, I don’t know where Baron Luke went, but I do know that we need to find him before something happened to him. He does have the key to our freedom. We will all die if he died before releasing us.”

Alex knew that much. And that was why he decided to ask the goddess where Baron Luke was.

Or he attempted to ask the goddess but she did not respond to his words. She was nowhere to be sensed in his mind and Alex felt bitter.

‘Why is that stupid goddess never there when I need her help? Where can she even go if she does not have a physical body right now?’

Alex had a lot of questions to which he needed answers. But he did not have his helper. He looked at the other two in his party and decided to brainstorm with them about what they should do next.

“We should look around for Baron Luke. If he was able to get out of this room, then the chances of him seeing the real nature of this place would be huge. We just need to save him and then we will be alright.”

Ashura was a little bit of an idealist and saw the best in the situations. He did not even want to think about what would happen if they failed.

All three of them tried not to make the mood any heavier than it already was when the door to the Baron’s room opened once more. All three of them were frozen still as they looked at the door opening.

“M-Mahiru, what are you doing here? You should be back in your room. Did you come here alone?”

Ashura instantly turned toward Mahiru with a concerned expression on his face. He sounded terrified for Mahiru’s sake and quickly checked her for any injuries.

It did not look as if Mahiru had suffered anything but one could never know. Ashura had seen Mahiru get into so much trouble and never voice her concerns. She had always been a little absent-minded after all.

“Hmm, I am alright. I asked brother 21 to accompany me so I was safe the whole way. Are you all in trouble? The Baron got taken away by the guide about an hour ago. I saw them heading toward the central palace.”

Mahiru pointed out and breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed like they would not need to convince Baron Luke to see the situation for themselves.

The Baron would be forced to face the situation and realize that they needed to leave as soon as possible.

“Mahiru, what did you say? How long have you been out of your room? No wait! Why did you not come and get me? This place is not safe.”

Ashura securely gripped Mahiru’s shoulder as he made Mahiru face him. Mahiru looked surprised but not guilty.

“I did come to find you but you were not in your room. So, I went to brother 21’s room next. Are we all going after Baron Luke now? He will die if we do not act now.”

The trio tensed as soon as they heard Mahiru’s words. Kurina was about to open her mouth to ask Mahiru how she knew that, but Alex stopped her by shaking his head.

He had a feeling that Mahiru’s words were true and she was speaking from her instincts must be guiding her.

‘How fearsome this little girl is. I don’t know what her deal is, but Mahiru is certainly the person who adjusted the fastest to the tower.’

“Mahiru, are you saying this based on your instincts? If so then I will have no choice but to believe you. Ah, this situation got so much more complicated than before.”

Ashura knew he needed to take their youngest seriously when she was like this. He had seen her predict impossible things before so this much was nothing to be surprised by.

“Let’s head out into two groups. We need to have a back-up plan in case one of our teams messes up. I am going with Mahiru and you three can go with…”

“I want to go with Alex. Ashura, can I go alone with Alex?”

Mahiru interrupted Ashura’s planning with her innocent voice. Her bright eyes looked at Alex and it felt as if his soul was being looked through by that small girl.

At that very moment, there was something about Mahiru that made Alex’s instincts stand up and feel on edge.

“H-Huh? Do you want to be with Alex during this time? Well, I guess I do not mind if no one else minds. I will go with Kurina and 21 then.”

Ashura looked a little disturbed but he did not think much of it. Mahiru was a young girl and she was likely interested to know Alex more.

Out of everyone in their group, Alex was the one who interacted with them the least. But he was also a fast thinker and would keep Mahiru relatively safe.

Kurina, on the other hand, felt annoyed but grateful at the same time. She was happy that she would get to spend some alone time (21 was so quite that it was hard to notice him at times) with her crush.

But at the same time, there was a bitter taste in her mouth when she thought of Mahiru being together with Alex. She knew that Alex would not go after a child but Kurina still felt annoyed over it.

‘Feeling annoyed? Me? But why? Alex is just a companion and I should not care who he chooses to go after. And won’t it be better for me if Mahiru gets attacked by Alex and leaves Ashura alone? Why do I feel so annoyed like this?’

Kurina’s insides were in a mess so she decided to ignore them all and take a deep breath. She refused to let these emotions control her life like this.

“So, it has been decided. Both teams need to be careful do that they do not get caught. As soon as one team had found Baron Luke, inform the other through the emergency signal. Now let’s head out.”

The two groups quickly split up and Alex looked down at Mahiru’s innocent face. There was something about her that irked Alex a lot.

“We need to head this way. I know where they are keeping Baron Luke so I can lead the way.”

Mahiru assured Alex as she started walking. Once more, there was no explanation about why she knew the way. She just kept walking and Alex was sure he did not even recognize the area.

“Hey, we are we going? The palace is in the other direction, right? We are just heading the wrong way now.”

Alex complained just to know what Mahiru would say.

At first, she did not say anything and continued to walk toward the wrong direction. But once Alex stopped waling, Mahiru turned toward him with a calm expression.

“Don’t worry. This is the right way for us to go. Don’t you want to know what these people are planning to do? I am just telling you there to see for yourself.”

Alex sighed as he followed after Mahiru. He did not know what was wrong with her but the young girl did not seem like herself.

It was as if something was possessing her body and leading Alex along the way they wanted to. He also had a feeling that this might be a trap he was falling into.

‘Well, I guess I do not have a choice but to follow after Mahiru for now. I hope I do not regret my decision.’

The both walked deeper and deeper into the underground chamber. Soon, they reached another flight of stairs and Alex looked down. There seemed to be no end to those stairs and it the darkness of this place made Alex feel weird.

He took one step down the stairs but was stopped by Mahiru.

“You do not need to head down. Just look and admire this place. It is the core of this city and the origin of the city lord’s power. If you want to defeat him in this city, then you need to cut the connection off.”

Alex looked down into the unknown and he did not know what they think of it.

Mahiru looked as unnerving as ever but her eyes shined brightly. She looked at Alex to know his answer.

“Well, I still do not know what the fuck you need me to do. How the fuck do I serve the connection? Just tell me if you know. There is no need to beat around the bush like this.”

Alex asked Mahiru and she looked back at him with a serious expression.

“Feed it your body fluid. And I do not mean blood or saliva. I am talking about the fluid which has most of your essence."