Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 323 The Perfect Little Sister

"Is it okay to just go in like this?"

"Is everything alright? It's been a long time since anyone has lived here anyway."

In the home where Dolores Vallange once lived, Ritas looked around.

Sometimes, the Goddess of Bath felt that Ritas might be more like a player than she was. Given the right reason, he could really do things like casually walking into a house, breaking jars in front of the owners, or opening treasure chests. And what's even more "convenient" than a player is that players are stopped by door locks or "doors that can't be opened from this side," but the Archmage isn't.

Dorothy's house was covered in a thick layer of dust.

Although someone paid the street's administrator a large sum of money to prevent the vacant houses from being seized by the fortress city, there were no further demands, such as regular cleaning.

In the rooms with their doors open, traces of the "past" seem to be clearly visible.

For example, broken wine bottles and bowls, oil stains and watermarks seeping into the walls, and scattered furniture.

"Speaking of which, Xiao Li, after seeing that fairy tale book, something suddenly came to mind. However, I'm a little unsure whether I should say it or not."

"Did the Goddess of Bath say all those things only after she was absolutely certain?"

Ritas asked incredulously.

"Fine, I'll tell you then! But don't complain that I'm just talking about the 'Star Mark' game again!"

Ritas shrugged and continued gathering information in the empty room. Meanwhile, the Goddess of Bath, after organizing her thoughts, began to recount her discoveries.

"I think the content of that fairy tale book is very similar to the copy of the 'bedtime reading'!"

The "bedtime reading" mentioned by the goddess of the bath is one of the major bosses the protagonists face later in the game "Starscar" when the "Darkin" are the enemies.

The "Darkin" route, which has very few minor enemies, is almost entirely supported by the two major villains, the "Magic Professor" and the "Bedtime Reading".

"The mechanics of the final battle in 'Bedtime Reading' are as follows. The main characters are sucked into the fairy tale world he created, and then they must first defeat the four regional bosses of the fairy tale world before they can finally see the real 'Bedtime Reading'. Uh, I don't know if I should call it the real thing, anyway, it's a giant book. Then, destroy that book, and you've passed the level."

"The unique feature of this BOSS battle is that there are two different strategies. One is the more common one: simply rush up to the area leaders and kill them. The other is more special: after a few rounds of interaction with the area leaders, they will make various 'demands.' By fulfilling these demands on the dungeon map, you can get them to hand over 'broken portraits' without killing them. Then, piecing together the four broken portraits will summon the 'bedtime reading' itself."

"Overall, the storyline and outcome are the same. Using special mechanics only grants one extra item—an old painting that looks like a child's doodle. And over the years, it's been proven that the item has no use and doesn't provide any additional or related story elements. Plus, while the regional bosses are difficult, they're not particularly hard. So, I generally don't use special mechanics to win. You know, the most annoying thing about strategy games is moving around the grid on the battlefield. Controlling ten or so units running all over the map is incredibly tedious. And there's also a turn limit for the entire battle."

As the conversation got heated, the Goddess of Bath began to bitterly complain about the various drawbacks of "Star Mark Emblem," a game that Ritas was destined never to play.

"I remember the Goddess of Bathing said that the 'Bishop of Mourning Colors' has a special storyline in this battle. What exactly is it?"

Seeing that the goddess of bathing seemed to have a lot to say, Ritas interrupted her at the right time.

"Oh, I'm glad you remember. The third wife... well, after a series of conditions are met, she'll appear directly in this battle. She'll say something like 'What an unbearable color,' and instantly kill a district boss. Then, she'll act alone as an uncontrollable friendly character. She's especially ruthless when fighting other district bosses, and when fighting the final Bedtime Reading character, she'll also unleash a skill to seal a mechanism in Bedtime Reading that can cause our characters to fall into various abnormal statuses."

"so."

Ritas pondered for a moment, concluding that in this world, there was probably no connection between Maud and "bedtime reading".

"Then what is the connection between the bedtime reading war that the goddess of the bath mentioned earlier and 'Dorothy's Bedtime Stories'?"

"Oh, I almost forgot about that. Simply put, I think the four area leaders created in the bedtime story are quite similar to White Dove and the others!"

"Goddess of Bathing, did you only meet the White Dove Quartet for the first time a few tens of minutes ago?"

Ritas said, somewhat speechless.

"It's not my fault! When they were the regional leaders, they had already transformed into human form! Hmm, now that I think about it, the black-clad housekeeper who turned into White Dove really does resemble the regional leader. But there are differences! There are real differences! Trust me!"

"."

"Well, how should I put it? Didn't we mention a special mechanism earlier? The special mechanism for several area leaders is like this. One of them said that the color on her body isn't her true color, so she hopes we can 'wash' it off for her. The way to achieve this is to find a white paint bucket and paintbrush on the world map and paint her white. Speaking of which, I don't know why there are paint buckets and paintbrushes lying around in that instance out of nowhere. Anyway, it's a fairy tale world, so there's no need to worry about it."

"The other leader has a similar request to the previous one. He says he's been implanted with the wrong heart and wants to return it to its rightful owner and find his true heart. For this task, simply find a scarecrow on the map and switch the hearts. Afterwards, one leader will say he can't bear being separated from his loved one and wants to reunite with her. For this one, take him to a tombstone, and he'll bury himself in it. The last one says he's been very hungry and hopes we can help him find food. This task has four steps. The first three steps involve finding food for him on the map. The fourth step is to use a character with high intelligence to guide him to eat himself."

Is this really a fairy tale?

Ritas frowned.

Aside from the first one who washed the color, which was somewhat normal, the later ones involved heart transplants and burying and eating their own bodies—each more bizarre than the last.
"Right? Now you understand why I didn't want to go through the special procedures! The result is the same anyway, so rather than let those guys mentally corrupt me, I'd rather have my third wife wipe them all out one by one. And also... now you should understand."

"Um"

Ritas understood why the goddess of the bath only associated the four pigeons with "bedtime reading" after seeing the fairy tale book.

In reality, carrier pigeons and other "people" are quite normal. Apart from their strange postures, they certainly don't utter obvious phrases like "I want to take their hearts."

Only in Dorothy's story is the carrier pigeon searching for itself, the Tin Man searching for his heart, the unicorn searching for a mate, and the black cat searching for a way to fill the void within itself.

That fairy tale book was like a bridge, connecting the "bedtime reading" in the "Star Pattern" game with the real-life four-person pigeon group.

"So, your sister is going to be your bedtime story? Look, the 'Iron Maiden' died in the Star Pattern Game, right? It was because of that that Wayne turned evil and embarked on the path of destroying the world, creating an exceptionally bizarre fairy tale world."

"No"

Ritas shook his head.
“‘Wayne’ is also a character in a fairy tale. Therefore, she is very likely a being ‘created’ like the carrier pigeons.”

"Huh—? Is this even possible? To create a living, breathing person? Uh, they've already created four such clowns. So it's not surprising that it's actually possible, is it? Tsk. Being with you, I've lost sight of the line between strange and not strange. Isn't that Wayne's bedtime story? Was it your former foster mother, Dolores? She's still alive!"

Ritas continued to shake his head as he listened to the goddess of bathing's guess.

"Dolores Varange's passing is an indisputable fact. It should be said that the clues to the true identity of 'bedtime reading' don't actually lie in the pigeon and fairy tale connection. One of your previous guesses, Goddess of Bath, while incorrect, unexpectedly came close to the truth. Therefore, if my prediction isn't wildly off track, the future 'bedtime reading' should be..."

Ritas, who had been exploring the house without stopping during his conversation with the goddess of bathing, stopped his hand in front of a door.

In the fairly spacious empty house, only this room at the end of the corridor was locked.

However, even this level of lock couldn't stop Ritas. There wasn't even any sign of him using magic; the door was slowly pushed open. It was a cramped, narrow room with no windows on any side—a rather strange-looking room at first glance.

Even the suffocating feeling that hit them when they opened the door reminded both the goddess of bathing and Ritas of the word "prison".

Through the faint light coming from the corridor, Ritas and the goddess of bathing saw a room densely packed with dolls, paintings, and other objects.

However, the dolls all looked crudely made, and the paintings were mostly graffiti-like.

Surrounded by these things, only one exceptionally exquisite doll sat quietly in a chair in the center of the room.

Long black hair, a black dress, and a suitcase quietly displayed next to the chair.

Aside from being several sizes smaller than a real human, the figure sitting quietly in the chair with her head and arms down was undoubtedly "Vayne".

The scene, so strangely impactful, silenced both Ritas and the goddess of the bath for a moment.

Before she could even confirm that the woman in front of her, Wayne, was just a doll, the goddess of the bath breathed a sigh of relief and said something.

Suddenly.

The Viin doll actually raised its head.

"Why."

Through her jet-black hair, the Viin doll's obsidian-like pupils spread outwards, constantly encroaching on the area where the whites of her eyes were.

"Why did you have to come here?"

Why must we seek the truth?

What can you gain by searching for a truth that only hurts everyone?

"why?"

"Why!"

"To have a 'perfect sister' who is related to you by blood, resembles you, is beautiful, loves you, admires you, and values ​​you more than anyone else."

"What exactly are you unhappy about?!"

From its initial mechanical tone, the voice of the Wein doll became increasingly fluent and filled with anger.

With her roar, and as her eyes turned completely black, her long black hair burst out in all directions, instantly collapsing the entire empty house.

The moment the Viin doll began to move, Ritas had already started his escape.

However, it was already too late.

After escaping the empty house, Ritas saw the pitch-black cube that had been hanging high in the sky during his investigation.

The next moment, a dazzling light burst forth from the edge of the pitch-black cube.

As the black cube spun rapidly, the five figures around the empty house completely disappeared.

Amidst the ruins of a damaged, empty house.

On the ground, a pool of bright red blood slowly appeared without warning.

From the pool of blood, the figure of a woman slowly rose upright and gently embraced "Vein" in the ruins of the empty house from behind the chair.

"Well done, my beloved child."

At the same moment, atop the clock tower of the fortress city, a blond middle-aged man watched from afar as the fleeting black cube in the sky disappeared along with several figures.

"Now, both the 'possible' and 'unnecessary' obstacles have disappeared, dear customer."

Beside the blond middle-aged man, a man dressed in a smart navy blue suit, slightly balding, with a fake smile on his face and eyes that never opened, rubbed his hands together and said this.

"Now that we have already paid a sufficient deposit, sir/madam..."

"It's just some bastard Roland picked up from who-knows-where, why go to all this trouble? It's nothing more than you wanting to 'test' something again. Calling it a deposit is truly laughable!"

The blond middle-aged man glared sharply at the "top salesman" who had sold a single "product" to two different companies.

The top salesman hurriedly took out a handkerchief and wiped the fine sweat that had instantly appeared on his forehead. But his trembling demeanor was still filled with exaggeration and falsehood.

“Go back and tell John that, regardless of whether there is a deal or not, I will give him what we agreed on: the Sword Saint’s corpse.”

The blond middle-aged man closed his eyes slightly before saying this.

The top salesperson, who had thought the deal was off, was overjoyed to receive a promise from the blond middle-aged man. He nodded and bowed repeatedly, uttering more flattering words.
With a snap of his fingers, he vanished without a trace.

"What a strange bunch of people."

The blond middle-aged man murmured this to himself, and then drew the longsword he had prepared for his right hand from the double scabbards at his waist.

"It's time to take back everything that belongs to me!"

The blond, middle-aged Floyd Elson rubbed the longsword in his right hand against the gauntlet on his left, then swung it into the sky.

In an instant, the sky turned a deep crimson.

The flames in the sky were like a clear signal.

In an instant, the flames of war engulfed the entire fortress city.

(End of this chapter)