Ban Yue found a total of five restraints on Clodine Becket using Inspect.

  There were four seals reinforcing each of Clodine’s shackles and another bigger seal that appeared to restrict him from leaving the tower.

  It would take a total of three hours to analyze the seals, and after the method to break each seal was revealed, they may need some time to acquire the resources needed to undo each one.

  At the moment, it was yet to be identified how long the entire process would take.

  They had three hours left to move around freely before the shadow puppets returned to the surface.

  Approximately an hour ter, Ban Yue was startled by the door smming open.

  A panting Ludville entered the door and colpsed to the ground.

  He cried, “…You…just left me there after almost working me to death! Why do you always leave me behind?!”

  “You have no idea how surprised I was! I saw C-c-clodine Becket’s ghost! He even spoke to me, so I ran away as fast as I could!” Ludville wiped off a mixture of sweat, snot, and tears on his sleeves.

  Ban Yue apologized to Ludville sincerely.

  He also felt bad for letting Ludville do most of the legwork, but unfortunately, Ban Yue didn’t have any leg to put to work at the moment.

  “Sorry, it was urgent. You can take your time to rest…”

  Ludville was struck with a sense of dejavu.

  “…What, what is it this time?” Ludville’s eyes shook.

  “Let’s get you a sword, Ludville.”

  “!...W-what do you mean…s-sword…how could I…why would I-” Ludville’s words started to turn incoherent. His mind was having trouble processing what he was hearing.

  “Why, you ask? To fight our way to freedom, of course.”

  Ludville wanted to faint.

  In his fifteen years of existence, he had never ever held a sword.

  Ban Yue and Ludville made a brief stop to the western building where Clodine said the armory would be.

  Since the weapons were originally meant for trained knights, a lot of them were too long and too heavy for Ludville to carry. After rummaging around the dusty room, Ludville finally settled on a sword from the bottom of a discarded pile.

  Ban Yue and Ludville came to the main building shortly after.

  “…Where are we going? It’s so dark…” Ludville whispered as they descended a flight of stairs.

  He id one palm against the wall to steady himself with every step. It was so dark that Ludville could only see three steps ahead of him every time he moved. There were also times when he almost slipped, but because Ban Yue told him to be extremely quiet, Ludville did his best to stifle himself.

  After a while, they finally arrived at a nding with a heavy double door at the end.

  Ludville was about to push the door open when Ban Yue stopped him.

  Ludville peered down at the box in his arms curiously and asked, “Are you going to do that trick again?”

  Ban Yue let out a soft chuckle, “…Hm, no, no. This time, we’re going to pull a different trick.”

  Ban Yue summoned his inventory and took out a huge heavy chain and two padlocks.

  All three items seemed to appear inside the box from thin air.

  Ludville was taken aback for a moment before realizing that this must be one of Ban Yue’s tricks. He examined the items and instantly recognized them to be the items they had removed in the tower.

  He looked at Ban Yue in confusion.

  Ban Yue only expined briefly, “…To buy us some time.”

  When Ludville realized that he was standing in front of the shadow puppet’s ir, he initially felt horrified. His hands grew cold, and he started to tremble.

  However, after remembering Ban Yue’s words of encouragement the night before, Ludville found himself passionately coiling the heavy chains around the door’s handles.

  He even took extra care in hooking the final lock in pce and took some time to admire his handiwork. He felt strangely exhirated at the thought that he was doing something that could save himself and another person. For a long time, Ludville thought that kind of ability was beyond himself. But now, even though Ludville’s body ached all over, he felt as if he was actually capable of doing something great.

  The pair eventually returned to the tower.

  Ludville stood in front of the door with Ban Yue in his arms, “…Are you sure it’s not a ghost? Why would he be here in this tower? I thought Clodine Becket died a long time ago...”

  “It’s a long story, but you can rest assured that the person inside is alive.”

  Ban Yue didn’t know how Clodine Becket ended up in this tower either. Truthfully, he also wanted to know, but there was barely enough time to sit down and chat.

  Ludville trusted Ban Yue’s words and swung the door open. However, as soon as he took one step inside, Ludville hurriedly stepped back and pulled the door shut. The loud smming of a door echoed through the hollow of the tower. Ban Yue wondered what had suddenly frightened the child so much.

  “…Are you sure it’s going to be alright? D-did you do anything to him while I was gone earlier? Why does he look so scary right now?” Ludville’s voice shook as if he was going to cry any second.

  Ban Yue frowned.

  All he did was run a code inspection on Clodine Becket’s seals before he left.

  It shouldn’t be anything harmful…

  When Ban Yue finally convinced Ludville to go inside, he came to understand Ludville’s reaction.

  Clodine Becket was in the same exact position as they left him three hours ago, but the look Clodine was giving them at the moment was…

  Quite intense.

  His eyes were sharp and his mouth was pressed into a thin line.

  '...Hey, what on earth did I do to you? Why do you look like you want to kill me?'

  “Is it you again? You have some nerve to show yourself in front of a High Priest. Why have you possessed this child? You even had the gall to trick me.”

  “I-I told you he’s scary!”

  Still, despite being frightened, Ludville turned to the side as if to shield Ban Yue from danger. Ban Yue whose vision was suddenly blocked peeked at Clodine Becket through the sides of Ludville’s arm.

  Clodine’s expression was a bit too fierce.

  Ban Yue cleared his voice and spoke with a ghostly voice, “...Is there perhaps a misunderstanding? I clearly told you I’d be back in three hours, and I’m here. I didn’t trick you."

  “An evil spirit dares to hide in my presence? Show yourself and stop tching onto this child!”

  Ban Yue couldn’t believe his ears.

  He didn't choose to be here.

  It’s not like he decided to be a box either!

  “…I’m not an evil spirit. Also, it’s not like I’m trying to hide. Didn’t I just speak?”

  “I-It’s not an evil spirit! It’s a friendly ghost! Also, I wasn’t possessed! It’s the power of friendship!”

  Ludville did his best to protect Ban Yue’s integrity, not knowing that his words had only caused more misunderstandings.

  Ban Yue’s character became more dubious.

  But Ban Yue couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He had brought this upon himself after all. All that random bullshit he spouted was coming back to bite him.

  If Ban Yue was a person at the moment, he would’ve already sunk to the floor and covered his face in shame and defeat.

  He sighed.

  “I’m here, Clodine. Down here in Ludville’s arms. Yes, I’m the ugly box. What can I even do as a box? Didn’t I tell you earlier that I’m extremely fragile? Come, take a look for yourself. Do you feel threatened? Do you think I can bite? Stop scaring the child, will you? If he drops me by mistake, I might die. I’m also fucking terrified here.”

  Ban Yue’s voice was cynical and each word was becoming more and more self-deprecating by the moment. Clodine’s eyes followed the voice’s instruction and when his eyes nded on the pitiful box in Ludville’s arms…

  “…………”

  Clodine said solemnly, “I’m a light mage blessed by the god Airos. I’ve seen spirits like you who refuse to ascend to the heavens. If you don’t pull anything on the child, I can summon the light of Airos, and it will show you the way. There’s no need to do anything drastic.”

  'This guy, seriously! Who wants to go to heaven right now?!'

  Ban Yue couldn’t take it anymore.

  At that moment, Ludville straightened his back and pced Ban Yue down on the floor. He entered Clodine’s cell and sat on the floor. His eyes reflected a tinge of blue.

  “And what can you do in that state?”

  Clodine was stunned for a while. As soon as he realized that Ban Yue had borrowed Ludville’s body again, his expression cooled.

  “………”

  It was true that he couldn’t do anything.

  [Code inspection was completed successfully. The results are as follows…]

  [The subject has been inflicted by the [Seal of the Forsaken Children]. Each seal can be melted by exposing it to direct fire for an hour following a specific sequence.]

  Ban Yue frowned.

  While the method sounded simple, it was also quite cruel. Just a brief moment of contact with fire was enough to give someone a burn. Willingly exposing a patch of your flesh to direct fire for five long hours was torture. Even though Clodine was a great light mage, with all his powers sealed at the moment, he would surely suffer a lot.

  “…This is a seal of vengeance.” Ban Yue muttered absentmindedly with a frown.

  It reminded him of the Children of the Shadows who were burned alive at the stake.

  Clodine whose emotions seem to have settled down noticed the look of discomfort on Ban Yue’s face. He interpreted it as Ban Yue’s hesitance to deliver bad news.

  In a way, it was.

  “I didn’t have my hopes up anyway, so just tell it to me straight.”

  “…………”

  “They can be removed. It’ll take a while, but it’s possible.”

  Clodine’s heart began to pound in anticipation.

  “…Then?”

  “You’ll just have to…suffer a little.”