I visit the fallen magicians.

　Some of them have suffered minor injuries, but their lives are not in danger.
　It's like the wounds can be healed by spitting on them, but I put a [recovery] on them just in case.

''Good.''

　Sarasa let out a breath of relief and placed a hand on her large chest.

　They may not be likeable people, but they are regular soldiers of the Saw merchant nation.
　If something goes wrong, there will be trouble later on.

　Cecil looked into the faces of the magical troops.

''I don't think they're going to wake up.

'I was controlled by manipulative magic for a long time. It must have taken quite a bit of mental strain.

Ew... Is that okay, Lacelle?

　Rowan's face darkens.

'No problem. I'll feel rather better after a night's sleep. Now, in the meantime, let's get some information out of these guys.

How can you do that?

Well, we'll see...

　I activate my [Scholar (Professor)] magic.

　[Heart Layer Destruction]

　As the name suggests, it is a magic that destroys human mental defenses.
　It renders reason ineffective and causes a person to overreact to external words and stimuli.
　Essentially, it increases the effectiveness of mental magic, but it can also explore human memories by temporarily destroying things like human hoarding.

　Waking up the head of a magical unit.
　The troop leader, with his mental defenses destroyed, was still in a daze.

"I have to ask you. What are you?

The 2nd Regiment of the Saw Department of Commerce

The Second Regiment!

Not a magician's unit?

What do you mean?

　My friends nodded their heads in unison.
　I continued to ask more questions.

'Do you know where the 'Numbered Children' (Numbers) hideout is?'

..........

Is there a connection between the Saw State of Commerce and The Numbered Child (Numbers)?

..........

Who put a spell on you?

..........

　The unit commander remained silent.

　Salasa asked me.

'Why don't you answer me anything?'

'I can't answer that. Perhaps my memory is lacking.

　Probably, he was enchanted by [Scholar(Professor)]'s [Memory Erasure] spell.

　Leaving no traces whatsoever?
　They're pretty well prepared, aren't they?
　Well, I knew those rats would be able to do this.

Good. Good, let's wake up the commander.

Are you done?

I want to wake you up and ask you some questions.

　I'm going to undo the [mind layer destruction].
　The mental load will still be large, but I decide to have the troop leader wake up.

　I activate the 【Release】 magic.

　Then the troop leader's eyes, which had been in a daze, popped open.
　However, he immediately puts his head in his hands.
　I might have woken him up too soon after all.
　But I have a question to ask.

Hey. You've got to pull yourself together.

'Uh, no. What about you?　Hey, what am I doing here?

　The troop leader looks around.

'Hmm?　Are you, Lacelle, by any chance?

'Oh, yeah...'

'I knew it!　I'm a big fan, me!

　Suddenly, the troop leader's eyes lit up and he asked me to shake his hand.
　He forces my hand and squeezes it firmly.
　He tells me that my first year in the Kowloon Cup was amazing and that he knows me well, but he praises me anyway.

　It doesn't seem like he's lying.
　Nor does it look like he's acting........

　It was hard to believe that the troop leader had been swearing at us just a few minutes ago, but the troop leader had changed into a different person.

''What do you mean by this?''

　It was Cecil who tilted his head.
　The companions behind him were also staring at the transformed troop leader as if they were looking at some creepy creature.

　I knew right away.
　And the riddle I was going to ask is also solved.

'Probably [forced recognition].'

The [academic (professor)]?

'Oh...'

　[Forced Recognition] is a magic that instills recognition in people.
　Perhaps someone has used 【Forced Recognition】 to instill their affiliation and malice towards us in the unit commander and his team members.

　If [Compulsory Recognition] is handled well, it can even tamper with human memories.

　However, it seems that even that effect was wiped out by me.
　So the troop leader who is my biggest fan has returned.

　I use 【Restore】 to put my troop leader to sleep again.

"It's definitely a demon's work.

''What demon is good at [scholar(professor)] magic?''

It's about number 24. I don't know of any other number.

Okay. All right. Let's get out of here. Who knows what else he's got planned.

　My companions nodded.

　I turned back to the underwater labyrinth.

'Shall we explore after we destroy the 'Numbered Children' (Numbers)?

　I exhaled in a huff and grinned and I smiled.

　It's not because I'm afraid of the interference of the "numbered children" (numbers).
　The only thing I knew for sure was that they were here.

　Let's play as much as we can.....


　◆◇◆◆◆◆


　There was a man making his way through the darkness.
　He had his hands in the pockets of his white coat and was slightly hunched over.
　The hair on his head was scarce, and only a few strands remained on the side of his head.

　He was an old man, like an old clock, but his brown eyes were glaring in the darkness.

　He walked to the end of the hallway and stood in front of the door.
　After knocking lightly, a voice echoed in his head, 'Enter.
　It was sensory magic.
　It was clearly a woman's voice, but the sound was somewhat crude.

　The old man pushed the door open and entered.

　What appeared was a light green light.
　It glowed with a bowed glow in the darkness.
　It seemed to invite the old man to come in.

　He continued on to the back of the room.
　There was a huge glass case.
　Inside, it was filled with light green water.
　Air was constantly being pumped into it, and it was floating in a puffy way from below.

　And inside the huge glass case was a girl with a stunning silvery white hair swinging around.

　Her limbs were thin and immature.
　Her skin was smooth as if it were ceramic and so clear that her veins appeared to be floating.

'Mom..... How are you feeling?

Number 24. What do you want?

That kid is in Sawyer village. I tried to set him up, but he's good, isn't he?

The child...?　Oh, you mean that wise man (sic).

　The girl called Mama lifts her eyelids.
　Her beautiful, amethyst-like eyes glowed in the glass case.

'You're strong. That's as good as my mom would approve of.'

'In case you're wondering, what the hell did you do to that wise man (sic)?'

I put the kettle on while they were in contact with one of Mum's old toys.

Toy?

A modified Leviathan.

'Oh..... You're still alive, that failure.

I like it, but it's a failure. But Racel destroyed it. He's strong. Very interesting.

　Hihihihi," said No. 24 with a creepy smile.

'Are you ready for a simultaneous uprising?'

17 is on its way. This Sow commerce country is going to be on fire soon. I've got my patron's permission. You were warned not to overdo it, though.

Be careful, 24. He's just as strong as the rest of them.

More than your mother?

　Mom twitched her eyebrows.

　Then No. 24 smiled creepily again, "Hihihi," she said.

'Well, that's what I'm reporting. Let's wish each other well, shall we?


　Number "0"....


　Number 24 spun on his heel.
　As he walks out of the room, he echoes that smile again and disappears into the darkness.

　After seeing it off, Mama, the number "0", looks up.

'Well, wise man,' she says, 'how do you stand with my child? How will you stand against my child?

　It was a question for the other side of the darkness.