Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 198 Old Mansion

"As expected, it would be better for Engel to lead the way for the two of you. However, I think Engel seems to have something to say to Professor Ritas, so maybe it would be better to leave them alone."

Walking on the long road formed by the waterfall, since the two people behind him were rather "bored", Filigree occasionally chatted with them.

In fact, there was really nothing to talk about between them. After all, before this day, Merci, An and Filigree were basically strangers.

The only one who knew this "little yellow-haired guy" to some extent, the goddess of bathing, wanted to chat with him. Unfortunately, the other party couldn't hear the goddess of bathing's voice.

"Besides, if I was alone with the professor, to say I was nervous might be too mild, and to say I was afraid would be too much. So, let's just say I was nervous or timid."

"Will you feel tense, nervous, and afraid?"

Merci, who was a little closer to Filigree, asked in confusion. She obviously ignored the two words Filigree had just coined.

"Of course, right? For people who are not familiar with the professor, his mere presence can create a strong sense of oppression."

Filigree couldn't help but recall the only time he had any interaction with Ritas.

At that time, in the conversation room of the College's Law Department, Ritas was in charge of the "interrogation" and he was the subject of the interrogation.

However, even without this identity, Filigree's perception of Ritas would probably not change.

When Filigree said this, An, who was a little further away, nodded in agreement.

At this moment, she was observing the white disc in her hand.

Since An had conducted some investigations on Ritas without disturbing him, he knew that the professor was openly running a suspicious church, and he also knew that the "Goddess" was residing in this disc.

However, compared to his curiosity about the goddess, An was more curious about how to get this thing.

If you hold it with one hand, there are some smooth and curved surfaces that don't even have a grip point. If you hold it with both hands, your hands are basically completely controlled.

So, holding it with one hand like Professor Ritas did is not a strange act, but the correct answer?

I tried it on my hand and found that even walking normally felt weird with this thing. And soon I felt the strange feedback from my wrist turning, so I couldn't keep the same posture for too long.

For a moment, An, who wanted to figure out the normal way to hold the white disc, sometimes held it in his arms, sometimes held it on his head, constantly fiddling with it.

What does the bathing goddess in the white disc feel about being tormented like this?
She closely watched the maid who was performing various strange actions with an expressionless face. Although she knew that her popularity ranking was higher than "Cake" in the past, she had no overall presence and had not been paid much attention to.

She thought that since she had been "played" to this extent, she should let the other party take responsibility and find a time to "marry" her.

After some meaningless conversation, the two, the ghost and the disc, arrived at the floating island.

Although she was mentally prepared, Merci still made quite a noise when the view shifted away from the waterfall.

"Then I'll wait here for two or three."

When the vision turned again, Merci and others who were standing on the green land of the floating island saw a huge castle-like building in the center of the floating island in the distance. Filigree, who was only standing at the edge of the waterfall, stopped and said so.

"If you don't mind, that's where a woman who had gone a little crazy in her later years lived after a huge failure in life. You can actually continue to go with us."

Said An, who was still merciless to her mother.

"Thank you for your concern, ma'am. However, it's not that I don't want to go, but I can't go. After all, I am just the gatekeeper of the 'World Tree'. Therefore, I cannot set foot in places outside the scope of my duties."

Filigree shook his head slightly.

"It seems that I said some unnecessary words."

Since Filigree cannot set foot on the sky island where An's "home" is located, then other sky islands probably are also not possible.

In other words, the "Gatekeeper of the World Tree", who can only move in the extremely limited space around the World Tree in the form of a ghost, is a profession that is less free than imagined.

"By the way, if there is a chance, could you two please convey some words to Engel?"

In the somewhat subtle atmosphere, it was Filigree who took the initiative to break it.

"That's fine."

Just can't you convey it yourself?
Filigree's next words answered An's confusion to a certain extent.

"Please help me convey that 'it's not his fault that things are like this'. Although we are both gatekeepers here, we usually work at different times unless it's a special situation like today. In addition, he seems to be deliberately avoiding me, so I haven't been able to find a good opportunity."

"I see. If there are only two people living together and there are some grudges between them, it would be really depressing."

In a real sense, An, who had only lived with his mother for a long time, said this with great sympathy.

"It would be a good thing if we could resolve the confusion in Engel's heart. However, don't worry too much about it. Because we are actually in a dormant state most of the time."

The reason why Filigree asked Merci and An for help was that the probability of outsiders appearing in this World Tree Labyrinth was very small. And for Engel, who had a small social circle, it was a rare opportunity for him to meet multiple people who knew him like today.

After receiving relatively positive responses from An and Merci, Filigree once again performed a polite chest-touching gesture to express his gratitude, and then watched the two of them walk towards the castle in the distance.

"Besides being easily misunderstood, he's actually a pretty good guy, little yellow-haired guy. Oh, and he's also unlucky."

On the way to the castle, the Bathing Goddess exclaimed.

She felt that, at least, Ritas should have a truly "model" aristocratic student by his side.

It’s not that there is no noble around Ritas now, but even if there is, most of them are unscrupulous.

Just like the third princess who was now holding the steering wheel with both hands, swinging the white disc up and down. This noble leader was simply the wildest one.

Apart from Ann, Courteney is also far from the stereotyped image of aristocrats. The only one who is somewhat similar is the newcomer to Yewwood School, Kraft. However, Kraft gives people the feeling that he is more paranoid than generous. If he can show some amazing talents later, he will be the reincarnation of Ritas. (Ritas:?)
Thinking of this, the Bathing Goddess couldn't help but sigh.

In an academy where you can find picturesque nobles everywhere, you can't find anyone who looks decent around Ritas. I don't know if it's Ritas's problem, or Ritas's problem, or maybe it's Ritas's problem.
As the goddess of bathing sighed, An and Merci, who still didn't quite understand why she was following, came to the center of the floating island.

"This appearance is also a kind of disguise." After almost finishing his work, An gave up fiddling with the white disc and handed it back to Merci. Merci then took the opportunity to hug it in her wide but crowded bosom, causing the goddess of bathing to shout "Xiao Li, I can't go back!"

Taking out the necklace, An held it in the air and fumbled with it for a while.

Soon, a space distortion accompanied by a strange glow appeared in front of her. At the fantastical "entrance", she could vaguely see the scene inside, which was completely different from the outside world.

An took Merci's hand and led her into the entrance.

Inside the entrance, Merci saw a space that looked like a fairy tale picture book.

There were small green hills, small flowers blooming all over the hills, a round and red sun in the sky that was radiating thorn-like rays of light all around it, and small houses with smoke constantly emitting circles of it from the chimneys into the sky.

"Wow——How many layers of protection are there? Xiao An's family is really good at preventing theft."

"It's rare for An to bring friends back. Can you introduce them to mom?"

After standing at the entrance of this space for a moment, Merci was startled by a sudden sound coming from the sky.

Since she couldn't find the exact direction at the moment, Merci just picked a direction at random and began to bow repeatedly.
"N-Nice to meet you. Ah, no. Sorry to bother you. I'm Merci Finn."

“Don’t pay too much attention to this voice.”

An seemed to want to remain calm. However, when An's mother's voice sounded, her body trembled slightly.

"My mother recorded a lot of sounds in advance, and then these sounds will respond automatically according to different situations."

"Hey~ Like some kind of trigger program or something?"

Mercy didn't quite understand the words of the Bathing Goddess. However, she didn't care much because she had consulted Ritas about this matter before. And the answer given by Professor Ritas was, "If you don't understand, just pretend you didn't hear it. The Bathing Goddess is very tolerant, so even if she ignores ten out of ten of her words, she won't be angry about it."

Although, when Ritas gave this advice, the Bathing Goddess cursed him rather harshly.

But since it was the professor's instruction, Merci learned it!
"So, Ms. An's mother."

"Well, he passed away a long time ago."

Ann replied quietly.

The Bathing Goddess and Merci, who had more or less noticed this matter before, could not help but remain silent for a moment.

However, unlike the somewhat sad atmosphere among the crowd, a gentle and melodious voice sounded in the sky again.

"You don't have to make that expression, An. Our clan will never die in the true sense. So, mom has only returned to the real sky. Don't worry, don't be sad, mom will always watch over you."

"."

An looked up at the space. There were a few wave-shaped clouds floating by. The picture book sky was so fake that it couldn't be more fake. He just said "hmm" softly with an inaudible nasal sound.

"Ms. An, did you live here as a child? Well, I'm asking this on behalf of the Bathing Goddess."

Entering the small house on the hill in the center of this space, with An's consent, Mercy began to look around the rooms curiously.

She didn't find any fireplace or anything like that in the house, so the chimney that seemed to be smoking outside was just a decoration.

"Yes. For some reason, my memory was a little fuzzy before. Although it has become clearer recently, I still can't remember many details. So, I don't remember when I was sent away. But I probably lived here for about five years."

An's words were not perfunctory or lies, because she was obviously not very clear about the things related to the World Tree Labyrinth around this space.

After answering this, without waiting for the Bathing Goddess or Merci to continue asking, An took the initiative to say,
"Although, there are only my mother and I living here, but most of the time it's not boring."

An's memory became clearer and clearer, and a look of reminiscence appeared on his face.
"Occasionally when I needed some excitement, I would hide on purpose so that my mother couldn't find me. However, her mental state became a little abnormal later on. So now when I think back to the time when she would roll on the ground, maybe I was just playing, but she was really going crazy."

"An! Don't say bad things about your mother. Because I am your mother!"

An's words triggered another "mother's voice".

Hearing this harsh but empty rebuke, the Bathing Goddess and Merci felt a little confused.

Ann's own account, Ritas's comments, and what they heard with their own ears, Ann's mother might really be a bad person.

"But she is my mother after all."

An added, having predicted the inner thoughts of the two people.

And then, amid the "hehe" laughter that rang out in the sky, a faint smile appeared on An's expression that seemed to be frozen on his face.

"Cadet Mercy, how is your relationship with your family?"

An, whose heart was more open than ever before, was even curious about Merci's family situation.

"Great! I like them very much!"

Merci responded very fluently, and then added subconsciously,
“I like everyone”

After she finished speaking, Mercy realized that she had said something strange and her face turned slightly red.

Everyone?

Does it mean everyone in the world?

An always felt that she smelled an unusual smell on Merci, but she didn't investigate further.

"Well, please feel free to explore this messy old house. I have some preparations to make, so I'll excuse you."

After leaving these words, An left Merci and the Bathing Goddess and walked towards the basement alone.

(End of this chapter)