Magical Journey: The Other Shore Blooms on the Other Shore

"She's been locked in the attic for seven days?"

When a squinty-eyed person opened her eyes wide, that was enough to prove just how shocked she was.

Upon receiving Victorica's letter, Fran abandoned her work and rushed to the peaceful kingdom of Roberta. The journey between the various kingdoms via teleportation arrays wouldn't take long, and given Fran's considerable strength as a witch, it only took her two days to travel from the royal kingdom of Serestria to Roberta.

But things seemed to be going more difficult than she had imagined.

“Yes… If she hadn’t been eating, I would have worried that she would have starved to death in the attic.” Victorica said worriedly. She had written to Fran to ask about Qin’s situation, but with Elena like this, she didn’t know how to ask. Even if she did ask, Elena wouldn’t say much. She could only ask Fran for information.

It's a last-ditch effort.

Victorique eagerly awaited Fran's reply, but she hadn't expected Fran to rush over so quickly. This was indeed unexpected, since Fran, as a teacher at the magic academy, wasn't so free. Unexcused absences would be a significant stain on her future career advancement, even if she was a witch.

"I felt the letter was too slow, so I came here myself," Fran explained, as if she had noticed her teacher's confusion.

Those mail carriers couldn't outrun her.

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure about your question, teacher." Fran didn't know Qin that well either, but judging from past events, he seemed to be hiding a lot of secrets.

“But there’s one thing I can sense: he possesses a terrifying ability—the ability to escape unscathed from the demonic cloud. To be honest, I have absolutely no idea how he did it,” Fran said, offering her insight. “All of this is related to that mysterious place called Beatrice.”

“In the end, it all comes down to this place,” Victorica pondered.

Fran originally wanted to check on Elena's situation, but judging from the looks of it, she didn't even want to see her own mother... This child is too stubborn... Once she's made up her mind about something, nothing can change it.

Oh, what a good child! How could he have encountered such an absurd thing?

How could a perfectly healthy person suddenly disappear? It seems they were taken away by someone.

"That bastard! I disliked this gloomy guy from the start, and now he's caused Elena this mess," Fran thought resentfully. Even Fran, who had seen all sorts of situations, didn't know what good solution to this predicament.

“Why don’t you go and talk to her?” Victorica said. “Besides, it’s lunchtime, so take this bread up with you.”

Even you…

“There’s always a way. After all, if a few more people talk to you, you might just get through it,” Victorica sighed.

……

How many days has it been...?

When there was a knock on the door, Elena's pen, which had been moving rapidly across the paper, stopped: "Just leave it at the door, I'll come and get it in a bit."

"Irena, it's me."

Teacher Fran?

Elena frowned slightly. Wasn't she in Royal Celestia? Looking at her pages filled with magical formulas, Elena sighed and slowly walked to the attic door, opening it only slightly.

"Teacher Fran." Elena greeted her mentor simply through the narrow gap, without saying anything else. Elena was perfectly aware of Fran's purpose in coming here. How to put it... she had clearly told everyone not to worry too much about her, that she would handle it, but to outsiders, she seemed like a madwoman who had locked herself in the attic.

I'm probably not as fragile as they think.

should.

"May I come in and take a look?" Fran was surprised that it went so smoothly; she had thought even a conversation would be difficult. After all, judging from Victorica's expression and description, the situation should have been quite urgent, but now it seemed that Victorica was simply being overly concerned as a mother.

“The attic is a mess, and I haven’t taken good care of myself, so there’s no need for that,” Elena replied. “Is there anything you want to say to me? If it’s not that important, please allow me to go back.”

"Irena, please feel free to ask us for help with anything. Your mother is very worried about you."

“I know, but this is the only thing…” Elena sighed, “This is the only thing I don’t want to involve more people.”

She just hadn't accepted that this day had come so suddenly, rather than not having thought about it at all. As for Beatrice, Qin, and even Angela herself, had already prepared themselves for what was going on.

I was just feeling a bit sorry for myself, calling myself a genius witch, but I couldn't do anything even after the enemy had already warned me. I really don't know what the point of learning magic all these years has been.

Qin himself didn't want more people to get involved, so he even chose to accept reality and leave—that bastard! He didn't even leave me Beatrice's address, clearly wanting to handle all the emergencies by himself and cut ties with everything before.

"Irena, is this very dangerous?" Fran had already guessed what was going on.

“Yes, it’s very dangerous,” Elena said.

Angela's terror can only be truly understood by those who have met her in person. Even among witches, the oppressive aura she exudes is on a completely different level. Elaina simply cannot fathom what earth-shattering schemes such a person could possibly have.

She spoke so eloquently, saying that Qin still had a chance to live. If that chance truly existed, if it were something worth trying to hope for, why would she resort to such violence?

"Then Elena, why do you continue doing it?" Fran asked.

Why……

It's that damn problem again.

Now, is someone else asking me why?

“Everything I do doesn’t need a reason,” Elena said. “I’m sorry to have worried you, but this is what I have to do.”

After taking the basket of bread, Elena slowly closed the attic door: "Don't worry, I'm calmer than you think."

Elena returned to her desk and continued writing magic formulas. She was deducing Beatrice's exact coordinates. Every place leaves a trace; the teleportation spell left by the blue-haired witch, though brief, had given Elena enough information to deduce Beatrice's exact coordinates.

But the process was more difficult than she had anticipated. She kept deducing from different angles and consulted countless magical materials, but the progress was minimal.

Fortunately, it's almost finished.

The kingdom of Beatrice must be quite large; what I need to deduce is not the coordinates of an individual, but the coordinates of an entire kingdom.

Once the general location is determined, that's sufficient.

Damn it, if I ever get the chance to see you again, I'll beat you so badly you can't even leave your house.