I rely on myself

Chapter 277 A chance encounter

There was no moonlight anywhere, and it was as dark as the deep ocean, a tree-shaded tunnel away from the main street.

This place was still very dark even during the day, and in the darkness, a girl was walking quickly here, it was Charlotte Biraud.

She leaned forward noticeably, took long steps, and hunched her shoulders angrily. Behind her, her automaton Sigmund flapped its wings quickly and flew over, still speaking.

"Go back soon, Xia Lu."

However, Charlotte didn't pay any attention to it. She just kept silent and kept walking forward.

"How long do you plan to continue this behavior?"

"Shut up and follow me."

Faced with her own puppet's constant questioning, Charlotte could no longer remain silent, and the two sides immediately started arguing.

At this moment, a figure suddenly appeared. Even in the quarrel, Charlotte and Sigmont paid some attention to their surroundings, so the suddenly appearing figure was discovered by the two of them at the first time.

"Did it appear? The Magic Gnawer!"

————＜Magic Devourer＞
He is a criminal who suddenly appeared in the Royal Academy of Mechanics during this period and committed many crimes. He specializes in attacking lone Automata, and they all have one thing in common, that is, the magic circuits in the attacked Automata disappear.

It's as if they were eaten, so it got this name. According to uncertain statistics, more than a dozen automatic dolls have fallen into its hands.

Charlotte, for her own personal reasons, hated him so much that she was wandering around the school late at night just to find and defeat him.

As if sensing Charlotte's vigilance, the figure that suddenly appeared did not retreat but instead walked closer, and a cold voice was heard at the same time.

"...A magic eater? Unfortunately, I'm not one."

As the distance continued to narrow, the figure revealed its true form. He was wearing a black combat suit with golden armor shining with the sun's rays. On one ear was a sun-shaped earring, and he had messy white hair. He had a golden mask on his face, and an oval ruby ​​inlaid in the center of his chest. It was Karna, one of Lin Yuan's heroic spirit dolls.

Seeing Karna's figure fully revealed, Charlotte and Sigmont immediately recognized each other's identity.

After all, there were thirteen of them, and they were all Chinese. Lin Yuan was quite famous in this academy, and his automaton was naturally known by most people.

"…Should I say this to you, Miss Charlotte and Sigmont? It's not a good habit to walk around the academy so late at night."

Karna greeted the other party and said hello, but his tone was very cold, giving people a feeling of contempt.

Charlotte happened to be very sensitive to this. She immediately fought back like a cat with its fur standing on end, "That's what I wanted to say, right? You're not with your puppeteer at night, but walking outside alone, especially at this time. Aren't you afraid of being attacked?"

Although Charlotte was annoyed by Karna's tone, she fought back and took the opportunity to warn him.

Listening to Charlotte's words, Karna's expression did not change, he just looked at Charlotte calmly.

"What, what's wrong? What are you looking at?" Charlotte blushed in just a few seconds, as if she was not used to Karna's gaze.

Charlotte doesn't care about malicious looks. After all, she comes from a noble family and has a very beautiful appearance, so she is often the target of all kinds of looks.

But Karna's gaze was very different, very pure, reflecting her entire body like the surface of water, but it did not give her a bad feeling, and was very calm.

It was the first time Charlotte faced such a look, and she felt a little uncomfortable, so that's why she acted like this.

Karna, on the other hand, seemed to have seen something beautiful. Although his tone was still as cold as before, he spoke with obvious admiration. "Miss Charlotte, we will become enemies in the future, but you still warned me even though you knew this. You are undoubtedly kind-hearted, which is very precious."

Karna did not hide anything and directly expressed his admiration for Charlotte.

Charlotte herself is the type who is not very good at embracing other people's kindness, and now Karna has directly expressed his admiration, which undoubtedly makes her not know how to react.

When Sigmont heard Karna's comments about his puppet master, he replied in a fatherly tone, "Oh, you are so straightforward, little brother. But my Xia Lu is indeed a kind and good child."

"Sigmunt, what are you talking about? If you don't shut up, I'll change your lunch from chicken to beans."

“Yeah, yeah…”

Although he had known for a long time that his puppet master was so dishonest, Sigmont still felt helpless about it.

Karna was watching this scene. Although his face could not be seen because of the mask, one could tell from his atmosphere that he was smiling.

Just when the atmosphere here was very harmonious, Charlotte's face suddenly changed. Karna seemed to have sensed something, but looking at Charlotte, he finally did not take any action and just watched quietly.

"…The chat time is over, Sigmont."

There was a sense of nervousness in Charlotte's voice. Sigmund reacted immediately after hearing it, raising his head high and paying attention to the darkness around him.

Then, it discovered that about fifty meters to the right and front, there was a strange existence moving!

In a particularly dark place under the tree, a shadow was lying on all fours.

The shadow that was crawling silently, hiding its own breath - it was not a human. At this time and in this place, no one would crawl on all fours.

It's an automatic doll.

The corners of Xia Lu's mouth slightly raised, and her aristocratic facial features instantly revealed the aura of a ferocious beast.

"Finally I found my prey."

"Wait, Xia Lu. Look at the other person clearly first."

"Good kids, they should have gone to bed by now. Anyone who's still hanging around outside at this time is just..."

A large amount of magic power flowed out of Xia Lu's hair and shoulders. In the darkness of the night, the bluish-white light was as dazzling as moonlight. After Xia Lu extended her hand to Sigmont, the magic power gathered into a beam and flowed into Sigmont's body.

Sigmund's body responded—but he couldn't grow any bigger.

"Xia Lu, this level of magic power is not enough."

"No, this is enough. Just keep it like this. Let's capture it alive. Light bomb cannon!"

The dragon opened its mouth and shot out numerous dazzling, glowing needles, which flew towards the shadow. As the name of the move suggests, this is not artillery fire, but an explosion.

The attack landed precisely on the four-legged automaton.

Needles of light penetrated the automaton's limbs, pinning it to the ground.

(End of this chapter)