“Father! Come save me!” Kallen cried out in a choked voice, as if she had suffered a grave injustice.
Otto looked at his daughter, bound and wide-eyed with terror, then glanced at Eileen, whose expression was calm but scrutinizing. His brows knitted tightly into a knot.
“Miss Eileen, what… exactly is going on here? My little Kallen is mischievous, and if she has offended anyone, I will apologize on her behalf, but…”
His gaze swept over Kallen’s bound wrists, the implication clear.
Eileen signaled to Serena to untie the ropes, her tone indifferent. “Your daughter’s curiosity got the better of her. Not only did she follow us all the way here, but she also trespassed into the heavily guarded convoy’s parking area, lifted the canvas covering one of the carriages, and saw the ‘patient’ inside. She was so shocked she fainted. I only restrained her temporarily for safety when she woke up agitated.”
“Followed us?! Trespassed?!”
Otto’s voice suddenly rose sharply, his stern eyes like piercing arrows aimed at Kallen. “Kallen! That’s utterly unacceptable! Apologize to Miss Eileen immediately!”
Kallen rubbed her wrists, chafed and red from the ropes, both scared and angry, but shrinking back under her father’s wrath.
Yet she quickly recalled the horrifying scene she had witnessed moments ago, bolstered her courage, and pointed at Eileen, shouting, “Father! It’s not my fault! It’s them! Their carriage was carrying terrifying monsters! So many! Ugly and disgusting! They’re definitely trying to sneak these monsters into the capital to cause destruction! You must arrest them!”
“Monsters?”
Otto paused, then his expression darkened, weariness and resignation flickering in his eyes. “Kallen, be quiet! Do not be rude! Those… are not monsters!”
“Not monsters?!”
Kallen’s eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at her father. “Father! Didn’t you see? Those things… those…”
“I know what they are!”
Otto cut her off, his voice carrying unquestionable authority mixed with a deep sorrow. “Before coming to the empire, Miss Eileen went through many hardships. Those… are victims of the evil experiments conducted by Pope Delora of the Holy See! They are living beings forcibly twisted and transformed into those grotesque forms!”
Kallen was completely stunned, her mouth slightly open as she stood frozen.
Pope? Evil experiments? Victims? Her mind couldn’t process so much at once.
Eileen took over, her golden eyes meeting Kallen’s directly, her voice calm but heavy with gravity. “Yes, Miss Kallen. The ‘monsters’ you saw are the sacrificial victims of Delora’s so-called ‘Purification of the Future’ project—profane experiments that reshape living humans. They were once just like you and me. Now, their souls are trapped in these distorted bodies, suffering endless agony.”
Eileen briefly described the horrors of the underground laboratory beneath the Holy See and explained that they had managed to rescue some victims not yet fully consumed by the abyss, bringing them back to the capital in hopes of treatment.
Listening, Kallen’s expression shifted from anger to shock, then deepened into profound fear and sympathy.
When she heard that those altered beings were anesthetized and asleep to seek hope for salvation in the capital, tears uncontrollably welled in her bright eyes.
“Waa… how could it be like this…”
Kallen’s voice choked with sobs. She couldn’t imagine such a living hell. “That pope… she’s… so cruel!”
She looked at Eileen; the previous hostility and suspicion had vanished, replaced by overwhelming guilt and a hint of admiration. “I… I’m sorry, Miss Eileen! I… I didn’t know… I thought it was…”
She couldn’t finish her sentence, only wiping away her tears with force.
“Don’t blame yourself for what you didn’t know.”
Eileen gazed at the tearful pink-haired girl, the faint irritation in her heart fading away.
She smiled gently and patted Kallen’s shoulder. “I’m glad you understand.”
“So… can they still be healed?”
Kallen sobbed, her eyes full of hope as she looked at Eileen.
Eileen’s smile held firm resolve. “Though we can’t guarantee success, my companions and I will do everything in our power to try. It’s our promise—and our responsibility—to those innocent souls.”
Kallen nodded vigorously, tears still staining her cheeks but a determined smile appearing. “Yes! I believe in you, Miss Eileen! If… if there’s anything I can do to help, please tell me! I know several professors at the Royal Magic Academy! I can ask them for help! They specialize in life magic and energy purification!”
“Magic Academy?”
A strange light flickered in Eileen’s eyes.
In the fragments of the Divine Magic King’s memories, the ancient and magnificent holy magic site—the ruins of the Endymion Magic Tower—seemed to lie within the empire’s borders.
She asked instinctively, “Do you mean… Manaria Magic Academy?”
Before Kallen could answer, Helga nearby snorted coldly, arms crossed, her pale purple eyes filled with disdain and bitterness. “Hmph! Manaria Magic Academy? Those old fossils stuck in the past, so full of themselves? Forget it! What do they know about real magic? When I tried to study there, they said my theories were ‘too radical’ and ‘lacking classical magical aesthetics.’ They wouldn’t even let me through the gate! A bunch of stubborn relics—there’s nothing to expect from them!”
Recalling that memory still made Helga fume.
“Ah?!”
Only then did Kallen notice the purple-haired girl standing behind Eileen, dressed simply in a magic robe and wearing glasses.
She scrutinized Helga a few times, then suddenly seemed to remember something, eyes widening as she pointed at Helga, her voice trembling with excitement:
“Y-you… could you be… Helga, the youngest member of the Kingdom’s Sage Council, who proposed the ‘Elemental Annihilation Field Theory’?!”
Helga’s pupils contracted slightly, surprised as she regarded Kallen. “Oh? You know me?”
“It’s really you!”
Kallen immediately jumped up from the sofa, all sadness and tears vanishing, replaced by a feverish idolization. Her face flushed with excitement. “I’ve read your papers in the journal ‘Arcane Frontiers’! Your speculation on elemental resonance and energy annihilation was incredible! Even though those old professors at the academy said your theories lacked empirical evidence and were too dangerous… I always thought you were the one truly at the forefront of magic! Oh my god! I actually met you in person! Please… please sign an autograph for me!”
Frantically, she rummaged through her clothes for paper and pen, completely forgetting the occasion.
Helga was a little caught off guard by Kallen’s sudden enthusiasm, but being so admired and having her proud theories recognized—especially by a student of the empire’s magic academy—softened her long-standing resentment towards the academy and even gave her a small sense of pride.
She cleared her throat, pretending to be reserved. “Ahem… an autograph? Well… that’s not impossible.”