When I brought dinner to Ms. Fuyu, she cast a worried glance through the iron bars.
“Mr. Wolf, are you getting enough rest? You have dark circles under your eyes.”
To be honest, I had been pushing myself a little too hard. Baron Foster would buy as many magic scrolls as I could make, so I ended up sacrificing sleep to produce them.
“I got carried away. My current goal is to make one million gil.”
Ms. Fuyu seemed a bit angry.
“I don’t need you to be extravagant. As long as Mr. Wolf is here, that’s all that matters to me.”
“Ms. Fuyu…”
“You made a profit of 315,000 gil from the first deal, right? Please don’t push yourself too much. I worry about you, and it keeps me up at night.”
Ms. Fuyu reached out and gently touched my hair.
Ever since we held hands that one time, whenever I came to the underground cell, Fuyu would always seek physical contact.
Being alone in this place for so long, she might have felt even lonelier than she let on.
Thinking about Ms. Fuyu’s past loneliness, my heart ached too.
“I’ll go to bed early tonight. So, don’t worry.”
I said, placing my hand on top of hers, and finally, Ms. Fuyu showed her usual soft smile.
“Oh, by the way, I remembered something I heard from a Hobbit thief before. He said we could hitch a ride on a cargo ship from here to Bazingdon. Once in Bazingdon, it’s a short trip to South End Port, and from there, we can escape overseas on an ocean-going vessel.”
“Cross the Dolban Strait and head to Francesca?”
“That sounds like a good plan. Once we’re out of the country, pursuers won’t come so easily.”
“Then, all that’s left is to figure out how to deal with these magic seal cuffs…”
With a jingling sound, Fuyu lifted the handcuffs.
On the day I received the money from Baron Foster, I bought a file (tool), but I couldn’t even scratch the magic seal cuffs.
The magic seal cuffs were probably made of metal harder than the file.
“I’ll definitely find a way to remove this.”
“Yeah… I’ve never had hope in my life until now, but I want to walk under the sun holding hands with Mr. Wolf. I’m sorry, even though it’s about myself, there’s nothing I can do.”
I gently touched Fuyu’s lowered hair this time.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
The one who gave the hint to unlock the magic seal restraints was none other than Kimberley.
“It’s strange, it’s strange! Barton, hurry up and open the window!”
I was deeply focused on writing magic scrolls when Kimberley’s knocking on the window interrupted me.
Before I knew it, the night had advanced considerably.
The air in my room was cold, and my breath formed white clouds.
I went to the window and unlocked it, inviting Kimberley inside.
“Hey, hey, where were you all this time until this late hour?”
“That’s harsh! Wasn’t it Barton who gave me the special mission to watch over Gantz?”
“Sorry, sorry. Did you watch over him this whole time, by any chance?”
Truth be told, I had been so engrossed in writing magic scrolls that I completely forgot about Kimberley.
“Of course! I’m a capable spy, you know. Once I latch onto my target, I never let go. That’s my motto.”
She acted all high and mighty, but she had completely forgotten about the initial purpose of finding the blueprints…
“More importantly, Barton, I’ve figured out what they’re after.”
“They? Who are they?”
“The guys who were bullying Gantz, Pulppua and his gang. And I think this is something related to you and Fuyu as well,”
Kimberly was spitting out foam from all her excitement.
“What do you mean it’s related to me and Ms. Fuyu?”
“Pulppua’s objective is to break his magic seal restraints!”
Suddenly, my previously hazy mind became sharp and alert.
“Break the magic seal restraints? How is he planning to do that?”
“Pulppua was trying to make Gantz do it for him.”
Pulppua was cuffed with magic seal restraints due to his ability to use fire magic.
He seemed to believe that he could remove it by using Gantz, the dwarf blacksmith.
“Is it really possible to remove the magic seal cuffs that way?”
“Well, you see, these magic seal cuffs are made of an extremely tough material. They’re so hard that ordinary files can’t even make a dent in them.”
I was already aware of that. I had tried it on Ms. Fuyu’s magic seal, and it only ended up with a slight scratch.
“So, what do Pulppua and his gang plan to do then?”
“Well, it seems they can do it with a file made of something called Tangle-tan metal. However, this metal is a closely guarded secret among the dwarves, and it’s not available to the general public. There are even rules that forbid giving it to anyone other than a dwarf.”
A rare and precious treasure of the dwarves that was almost impossible to acquire…
I felt like a glimmer of hope had illuminated the darkness of our escape plan.
“Is Gantz being threatened to get it?”
“It’s not just a matter of being threatened…” Kimberly’s expression darkened.
“What’s wrong?”
“It seems that Pulppua and his gang are trying to coerce Gantz into cooperation by drugging him. Even during the tool storage incident, they attempted to force-feed him opium.”
Opium can be used in various ways, including by smoking it like tobacco or using it as an oral medication.
According to Professor Mephisto, when absorbed through the intestines, it has a lower addictiveness than smoking, but still, it can lead to dependency without a doubt.
“What should we do, Barton?” Kimberly looked at me with concern.
“What should we do?”
“If we continue like this, Gantz might actually get his hands on the Tangle-tan file…”
“No, that’s not an option.”
I couldn’t allow Gantz to fall into drug addiction, no matter how much it meant to save Ms. Fuyu.
“That’s right!” Kimberley looked relieved.
“We have no choice but to talk to Gantz.”
While I was determined to avoid drugging Gantz, could we still make use of this situation?
I really wanted to obtain the Tangle-tan file.
On the table lay an unfinished healing magic scroll I was working on. It was meant for sale.
But considering Pulppua and his gang, I would also need combat magic scrolls.
I had told Ms. Fuyu that I would not be overexerting myself, but it seemed I would be staying up late again tonight.
Leave a Reply