The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 218: Atonement (1)

Chapter 218: Atonement (1)

It was an unfamiliar ceiling.

Klara’s body protested as she uprighted herself.

It wasn’t the place where she would always get tortured, but it wasn’t the room where Gilach stayed, either. It was somewhere she had never seen before.

Then where was this place?

“Ugh!”

The area around her neck stung like it had rubbed against something. Klara held back a groan as she touched her neck, then slowly began reflecting on what happened last.

She had definitely been strangled by a blueberry-looking Beast. That was her last memory. When she came to, she was here.

Musty air and eerie atmosphere. It wasn’t a place where she wanted to stay for long.

Anyway, this was inside the Demon Castle for sure....

“Waaah!”

And it was then that someone grabbed Klara’s right arm as she was occupied with figuring out the situation.

With a sharp gasp, Klara jerked her arm away, then quickly fled to the corner.

“W-who’s there!”

Clearing her cracked throat, she shoute in the direction where the hand came from.

It could be the Beast who kidnapped and brought her here.

Were they trying to torture her in the dark?

Her insides went cold.

“It’s me, sister.”

But unexpectedly, the voice that responded was soft and warm.

Klara instantly recognized the owner of the voice.

No, she’d be stupid not to.

“Ah....”

When she snapped her fingers and sparked a small flame, lifeless golden hair came into view.

It was a blonde that could be seen anywhere in the Empire, but Klara wouldn’t not recognize the hair she always used to brush and unique body scent.

“Klais......?”

Confirming the identity of the one who had scared her, Klara’s eyes teared up.

“It’s me, Klara. Do you recognize me?”

“Is that you, Klais? Really?”

She couldn’t believe it.

She had heard from that blueberry-ish Beast, but to think that her younger sister was really a captive here at the Demon Castle.

It was the face of family she hadn’t seen in years. Unable to hold back, Klara let out a voice that was wet like it was submerged in a flood.

“Why are you here, Klais. Why would you be here....”

She was happy that she could see her family, but also upset.

“I wish you of all people hadn’t come to a place like this.......”

“We’ve just met and that’s the first thing you say?”

While she said that, Klais, too, was about to burst into tears. The sister she hadn’t seen in so long looked awful.

Where had the proud and elegant Klara Hasfeldt gone, leaving only a pitiful and shabby-looking woman? Yet this person was undoubtedly the Klara that she knew. Her voice, body language, her attitude towards her. Klais, who remembered everything, hugged her sister tight.

“I missed you, Klara.”

There didn’t need to be a lot of words between them.

“I thought you were dead, and thought I could only see you in my dreams.......”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry about everything.......”

If she died, then Klais had no sibling left to help her. But she still had joined the war, got captured and went missing.

So Klara was determined to take care of herself from now on.

“Don’t go anywhere anymore.”

“Mmhm....”

Klais hugged Klara even tighter and buried her head, a child-like behavior from her sister that she wouldn’t ever show to anyone outside. It was a side of her sister that only Klara knew.

And because of that, Klara chose to indulge her for the first time in a while. Klara stroked the round back of Klais’ head and patted her back.

The sisters’ embrace continued for over thirty minutes.

**The Hasfeldt sisters reunited miraculously. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

While it was defnitely something to celebrate, it was one problem after another.

“Now how do we get out of here?”

“It’ll be difficult, and I don’t wish to leave right now, either.”

There just wasn’t any way to escape. No, more importantly, Klais didn’t seem to have intentions of leaving anytime soon.

“What do you mean you don’t wish to leave?”

“I need to pay for what I did. Until then, only until then... could you wait for your foolish sister?”

Her words didn’t make any sense.

Pay for what she did?

As they were free, the only way to survive would be to escape from the Demon Castle as quickly as possible.

Catching something questionable about Klais’ response, Klara asked her.

“To who? More importantly, this is the Demon Castle. There are only Beasts here. Even if you do have fault, there isn’t anyone here who you’d confess.......”

“There is.”

Klais said calmly.

“There’s someone who must be a Beast, but isn’t.”

“Your sister doesn’t know what you’re saying.”

“There’s a thing.”

Klara closed her mouth.

It hadn’t been long since the two reunited.

Since she didn’t know what her sister’s situation was, she thought it not her place to tell her what to do.

Not prying right now would be the way to help.

Instead, Klara changed the topic and asked.

“So where it this?“

“It’s the Master’s spare room.”

“......Master?”

Klara doubted her ears.

This was the Demon Castle. The only one that Klais would call Master was a Beast.

But Klais particularly hated the Beasts that had taken so many of their family since she had been young. She was someone who’d rather die than call a Beast ‘Master’.

“I apologize for confusing you. I couldn’t think of anything appropriate other than ‘Master’.......”

“Is it a Beast?”

“Yes, for now.”

“Is that Beast perhaps the one you meant when talking about regarding paying for what you did?”

“.......”

“It is.”

She unintentionally hit the nail on the head.

Klais dropped her head. It seemed she was feeling guilty in her conscience like an innocent child who had accidentally stepped on wildflowers.

Where that emotion was coming from, Klais had no idea.

“Do you hate the Beasts here?”

This time, Klara asked the obvious to see if Klais wasn’t being brainwashed or mind-controlled.

Thankfully, Klais answered the new question with gritted teeth.

“I hate them, I want to kill them all.”

“But what about this ‘Master’?”

“.......”

So she was going to remain silent again, was she.

She wasn’t brainwashed or anything. It was probably a complicated situation.

With that thought, Klara got up, dusting herself off. She found the light switch, turned it on, and opened the inner door wide and brightened up the dark room.

“Oh, you could turn on the light?”

“It’s called a light bulb. The Beasts use to this to illuminate the night instead of a luminescent scroll, apparently. You didn’t know?”

“No, Master only uses a lantern when working.”

After that, the Hasfeldt sisters talked about many things. If their father was doing well, what was the Demon Castle like, etc. They exchanged information and decided what they were going to do next. Through it all, Klara kept suggesting that they run away, but it didn’t work out because of Klais shaking her head.

There was no choice, then. Klara decided to wait for Klais.

They talked for a while like that.

The outer door opened with a clunk, and a black-haired, gold-eyed girl wearing a trench coat entered.

“You are.......”

“Is this the second meeting? Anyway, I am your new master.”

Klara didn’t know Aether’s name, but they had met before.

“You’re the same kind of Beast as that man with hooked arms.”

“Watch your words, I am different from that fool.”

As she said that, Aether clapped her hands together lightly, then two gangly Beasts with radio-like heads appeared behind her and approached the Hasfeldt sisters.

“Agh....”

Frightened by the sight of the grotesque-looking Beasts, Klara tried to step back, but....

Strangely, the Beasts didn’t attack but rather began moving in a bunch of things.

Two single beds. A lampstand. A drawer to store clothes. A small table at which two people can eat sitting across each other and cutlery. Ten 1.5 L water bottles and cups. Toothpaste and toothbrushes. A mirror and hairbrush. And besides those, all sorts of other necessities to live as a human.

Enough furniture for a household was crammed in the room of just a few square feet.

The mouths of the Hasfeldt sisters dropped open wide.

“W-what in the world.......”

“What is all this? Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

Klais and Klara were collared slaves of the Demon Army.

Yet this was more than adequate living conditions even it wasn’t like when they lived as daughters of a Duke.

They were even given soft beds that usually wasn’t allowed to slaves.

There had to be something behind this.

“I can see it in your face. It’s nothing much–it’s what I should do this if I want to use a high-class slave. Isn’t that right, Klais?”

Flinch.

Caught off guard, Klais nodded slowly as she trembled.

“If you promise that you will not go outside without my permission, I will do my best to accommodate you to be able live like humans. And if you listen well, I will even take off your collar. Of course, you don’t need to worry about quality meals; I’ll get a top nutritionist and feed you until you burst.”

“.......”

“And neither will I lie or throw you out. What I hate most is using something up and discarding it.”

Aether spoke in a gentle voice, but it lacked any hint of affection or concern which scared Klais.

And worse, Klais’ behavior as she heard this was pathetic. As if these words were like needles to the heart, Klais dropped her head further and further with every word Aether said like it was going to hit the floor.

Most of all, the sweet offer didn’t end there.

“...Well, fine. Klais, you want to escape from here with your sister, right?”

“I’m sorry?”

“I will start you on a new research tomorrow. If you finish it successfully, then I will send you back to the Empire.”