The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 215: From Master to Slave (16)

“Cold?”

“N-no.......”

Klais shook her head.

It wasn’t hard to tell what she was feeling without asking, actually.

She wasn’t cold but afraid, seeing how hard her pupils were shaking.

─ I gouged out her eyeballs yesterday so she would’ve lost all will to run away! Kyahahaha!

She would understandably be shaken since Gilach said that a moment ago; she’d found out who was torturing who in what way.

Her guess wasn’t wrong. Klais wordlessly moved her mouth and kept looking to and away from Aether.

“M-my sister.”

“What?”

“What happened to my sister?”

“I don’t know.”

Aether wouldn’t know that.

“Is she even alive? What if something happened to her already? I, definitely, heard something about gouging her eyes....”

Klais kept expressing worry for her sister as she tugged at her hair. Her voice shook every time she spoke.

“If, if that’s true... N-no....”

Snap.

She even bit on her nails.

This wasn’t normal. Finally, Aether took drastic measures.

“Rest for today. Starting tomorrow, you’ll be working on superconductivity research with me.”

But all it was was just letting her rest for a day. It was the most Aether could offer as someone used to working everyday.

To be honest, she didn’t even want to let her off for a day.

Taking a break as a slave? It was nonsense.

But if she made her work in this state, it wouldn’t be efficient. Rather, she might get defiant and rebel.

Number one was efficiency, and so was number two. There was no reason not to take a break if it resulted in better performance.

“I saw it, I did. That elf had blood on his hooks. He must have tortured my sister, just like they took my blood. You think so, too, right? Don’t you? Say something.”

Though looking at the way she was acting, it seemed like she’d need more than a day off.

But she couldn’t wait that long; even giving her a day was being generous. Aether also had her limits, after all.

Aether sighed for the umpteenth time.

“So, what do you want me to do?”

“...Ah. L-let me see my sister. I want to check if Klara is fine.”

If she could just confirm that, Klais’ would become even more motivated. Of course she would, this was her sister who she had thought dead for years.

But Aether looked disapproving.

“Did you not hear earlier? No one knows where your sister is, not even Gilach.”

“Then we need to find her!”

“He said that even those who manage this place didn’t know when he asked. This means two things: she either snuck out without them knowing, or another vile one stole her away.”

Or it could be a self-fabrication on Gilach’s part. If so, then Aether was going to ruthlessly nuke Gilach in the head.

“This is my personal thought, but there is a high probability that she was captured by another Beast and is being tortured.”

“It can’t be. My sister is strong, and she has a contract with two Elementals. Perhaps, if she escaped on her own....”

“We can’t know, then.”

Aether shook her head.

“But it doesn’t seem possible, as Demon Castle is quite heavily guarded. Unless she knows how the guards will move in real-time and the locations of all the surveillance cameras, she is bound to be discovered. That’s how it works here.”

“Ah, ah.......”

Having wanted even a glimmer of hope, Klais broke at what Aether said.

Even so, she couldn’t just sugarcoat things. If a person was too optimistic, they would break that much more when they were faced with reality.

And so, what Aether was saying was to be prepared.

So that she’d be less heartbroken later on.

“Still, we don’t know that. We don’t.”

“I know the entire layout of this citadel and the Iron Formations including every single rathole. The chances of your sister having gotten out is close to zero.”

“That’s because you don’t know. My sister Klara can take down a Calamity easily. That’s right, she’s strong, much stronger than you think....”

“If that was the case, then she wouldn’t have been taken prisoner here.”

Dead? That, she didn’t know. But seeing as she wasn’t to be found, someone had her locked up. That was as much as Aether figured.

The problem was Klais was taking Aether’s words as a death sentence.

“......Enough.”

An overloaded brain made poor judgments. Klais’ mind was already at its limit. Colored by confirmation bias, her thoughts came to blow what Aether said out of proportion.

“My sister is surely alive.”

“I never said she was dead.”

“You just did!”

“...I didn’t.”

Klara was definitely alive. She’d be hiding safely somewhere. Klais repeated the same thing over and over to herself optimistically.

May she have made it out alive.

“Come to think of it, he said earlier that he did something to her eyes. If she can’t see, then her chances of escaping would be even lower.”

“...Enough.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t know that.”

“......Enoooough!!”

Klais covered her ears and ran to the corner.

“You insolent.......”

Aether was about to yank the leash, but then let it go because for a moment, she saw the past figure of her sworn sister overlap with Klais.

When Rosemary had still been the princess of a nation, it had been none other than Aether who had saved her when she threw herself from a burning spire.

Aether had spoken the truth as always, and this was what she told the last Tarkenil royalty who had awoken.

‘Your family is no longer in this world.’

Back then, Rosemary had reacted exactly the same as Klais did now. There were people who got angrier the more you tried to tell them the truth.

Aether wasn’t stupid. She stopped telling Klais to distinguish reality from delusion. She knew that the best thing to do was just wait.

But it was different now than it was back then; they didn’t have much time. A week? A month? Who knew how long it would take?

And Klais wasn’t someone she had to care for and help.

Besides, Aether had decided to destroy everything in the first place.

If it weren’t for the superconductivity research, she would’ve treated her harshly. She would’ve taken her anger out on her if she had been useless. Right now, Aether was holding back quite a bit.

“.......”

How much time passed like that?

Knock knock.

- Sis, may I come in?

A cute voice sounded through the door. It was as if the heavy atmosphere until now was lifting.

It was obvious who it was. How many years had she heard that voice?

Aether just happened to be working on the draft of a paper about Elementals and magic elements when she got distracted. Putting down the pen, she got up from her seat.

“Hi, sis!”

When she opened the door, a nicely-ripe Blueberry had been delivered.

“......Why are you here?”

“I brought something interesting! Do you want to see?”

The youngest was unusually animated today, when she usually spoke calmly. What had her so excited?

Aether’s eyes twitched.

“If it’s something strange, I don’t care for it. Go.”

“It isn’t strange, because I brought something that might help with your research.”

“...Hm?”

Help with her research? Her ears suddenly perked up. This must be what they mean when they say that it isn’t what you say but how you say it.

Blinking her long lashes, Aether asked.

“What is it?”

“Ta-da! Here it is.”

Rosemary stepped to the side, and a cart that could carry a person could be seen past the door. And on the cart.......

“What is this.”

“Ehh, are you really asking?”

“It’s because I’m baffled.”

A woman was lying on the cart.

Golden hairs were cracked like the earth in a drought, and her skin was white like the snow piled outside the window.

Until here, it was just a woman who was fast asleep, but Aether continued her observation. There were a few things she quickly realized.

There was foam at the corners of her mouth, and her neck was red and swollen–signs of a strangulation attempt.

Lines streaked her limbs like she’d been cut by a scythe, which were likely marks from Gilach’s hooks.

Tear tracks were at her eyes, and her clothes were ragged and inappropriate for winter. The area of the cloth itself was even smaller than the rags that Klais had been wearing. In short, it was embarrassing.

She must have starved for a while with how thin she was, and as such she didn’t seem like a prostitute despite the revealing outfit.

Whether that was a good or bad thing, she couldn’t say.

No, it was bad, because it showed that she was severely malnourished.

“She suddenly appeared and attacked me, so I took her down. After a few hits, she just fainted. Hah, I couldn’t believe it.”

“......Hmm.”

“But as I fought her, I noticed that she had two Elementals. So I thought ‘Well, isn’t this something!’ and brought her straight over to you.”

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Two Elementals. Upon hearing that, Klais, who had been hunching in a corner, jumped to her feet.

“But why did you bring this here? Shouldn’t you first report to the manager?”

“If you mean Tertius, he’s busy making the atomic bombs.”

“Then it can’t be helped.”

“Sis, I heard that you’re researching high-temperature superconductivity. Then a Fire Elemental is going to be very helpful. Tame her and make good use of her.”

Before Aether even gave permission, Rosemary pushed the cart inside with a big smile for some reason.

Anyway.

“K-Klara...?”

Because of that, Klais was able to see the pale-faced woman–

“K-Klara...! Klaraaaaa─!!”

And it wasn’t long before the lab was filled with wailing.