The Reborn Magus and His Prince

Chapter 12: The Chase for Minnie 2

Three pairs of brown eyes stared at him.

"I forgot about you, darlin'. Come and sit," The elderly lady had recovered a little but there's a weakness to her voice.

Yulian obediently took a seat in front of her, eager to hear more about the mysterious man.

"Thank you for telling us about my granddaughter. It is just... oh! That foolish child!" The lady downed another glass of water to calm herself. "So young to be with that man!"

"Grandma, I said we can't be too sure if it is the same man."

"Oh, I know it's him alright!" she snapped and from her pocket, she took out a folded piece of paper.

Ann took it from her hand. "What's this?"

"A letter from him sent yesterday. Luckily I was the one who had received it and hid it from her."

Ann unfolded the paper and her expression changed as she read its contents. May noticing her sister's pale face snatch the note in her hands and read it aloud.

"I came back, meet me at the usual place in the same hour. L.B."

May cursed. "That bastard! He had the guts to come back after what he had done to Minnie!"

"Umm... who's exactly this man is?" Yulian tried to grab their attention again.

May without looking at him answered carelessly. "Our younger sister's ex-man or he was supposed to be. We've never really seen his face."

"What about his name?"

"Not even his name. Minnie's too secretive. We had only realized she's seeing him when one day. She left home and never came back for weeks, only leaving a note that she wanted to be with that man. Grandmother was devastated and angry at that time."

"But she came back." He stated.

"Yes, she said that they broke up and she's unlike herself. She's not cheerful as she used to. Always holing herself up in her room. Grandma had to break her door for her to come out. It was only when she met Leo McAlister that her old glow came back. And now... That man is back again and worst Minnie went with him just like that!"

"We have to find her and stop her foolishness at once." Madame stood up. Determination to bring her granddaughter home is evident on her face.

"But we don't where she might be or where's this usual place is."

"Did you check her room? She might have left some clues in there."

Madame answered him. "Yes, I've always been the one to check and clean her room since that awful episode."

"I see. But -"

"Yulian, right?" Ann interrupted him. "I think you should go now, I know the Academy had a curfew and the sun is setting."

Yulian knew that she did not mean to be rude but her family needed time to be themselves and organize their thoughts.

But that did not mean he had given up pursuing this one clue in finding Calis. He bid goodbye to the three women and went out of the house. However, instead of waiting for a hired coach, he went to around their house and hid on the thick bushes growing on the side.

With the way things were, he's pretty sure, the three won't sit still and would eventually leave to look for Minnie. Until then, he had to wait for the opportunity to sneak inside the house.

It's almost dark when the door opened and they went out. It had taken a while for them to leave because the coaches going to and fro either had a passenger or a private one. He saw May said something and it seems the other two agreed to what she said. They started walking along the pavement. Probably they decided to wait for a hired coach at the next street.

Yulian waited for a few minutes until they were completely out of sight. He had taken advantage of the night and darted to the front door. And just like he did at the pub, he manipulated the lock until it opened. He walked past the lounge room and headed straight at the staircase to the upper floor.

The dimly lit hallway had four doors. He wondered which one was Minnie's. Yet the moment he laid his eyes on one of them, he instantly knew it was hers. The door had the same design as the others. The only thing that made it stand out from the others was its hinges. They were loosely put together and the woods were blistered. He did not even have to use any ability to unlock it as the keyhole was broken.

Yulian surveyed the room. It was a typical girls' room. Pink and flower-designed wallpaper filled the entire wall. The bed too had a pink theme. Dresser on the side filled with an assortment of perfume and make-up.

He walked towards the bedside drawer and carefully rummage its contents. He found nothing but a bunch of empty stationery.

If the grandmother had said that she's been inspecting this room every time and found nothing relating to their mystery man, then most likely he won't find anything.

'Not quite.' Ignis materialized again on his side. 'I can feel it, a weak presence of dark energy.'

"Why didn't you say sooner?" He plopped on the ground. "I'm tired, you do your thing while I rest here."

'Alright.'

Ignis glided into the small room, trying to find that faint aura. He stopped at the study table where four books were neatly stacked together.

'Yulian, here.'

Yulian already saw how he paused at the table and had went to him. He took the books and laid them on the table. "Which one?"

One by one, the books were examined by the little fireball. 'This one.'

Ignis floated above a book that had an art cover of a chef's hat and some utensils for cooking.

He lifted the book and opened the page where there was a bookmark.

"Why a cooking book? Is the guy a chef?"

He examined the page that had a recipe on how to make muffins, nothing unusual. His hand touched the bookmark and raised it up high.

"Is this our clue?"

'Yes, that is it.'

The bookmark had an ordinary appearance. A plain blue hard paper with nothing written on it. That's why the grandmother or even anyone would suspect anything.

He held the bookmark in between his forefinger and middle finger. Small white lights like vines came out from his fingers, slithering to the paper. Not long after, a cloud of smoke came out from the paper but the light like a snake caught the escaping smoke, trapping it and slithered again inside his fingers.

The once blank paper now revealed a series of letters and three numbers.

R O L E Y ' S 0 1 2

He had no clues on these words and numbers. It's not that man's name, he remembered his initials L.B.

Guess he had to come back again to the pub.

He put everything to the way it was before he entered the room. And quickly went out of the house, he made sure to lock the door before leaving. And unlike the three women, he got a coach on his first flag.

Upon arriving at the pub again, he saw the owner setting up signage outside. He darted out but not before telling the coachman to wait for him.

"Mr.!"

"What, you're back again?"

"R.o.l.e.y 012." He immediately said.

"R.o..? Ah! You mean Roley's 012? That's an abandoned warehouse south from here."

As soon as he finished the last words, he threw another coin at the old man and darted again at the waiting coach.

He told the coachman the place and the vehicle immediately left the place.

The warehouse was a bit far from the residential streets. They entered a metal archway that had letters on the top. He supposed it should be read as Roley, but the letter O and Y were missing. They must have fallen off due to the rustiness of the arch.

The moment the vehicle entered, he saw several squared buildings sitting beside each other. Each warehouse had an imprint of numbers on its left side.

He told the coachman to stop. He got off and gave him his fees but before he left, the coachman warned him not to take long if he don't want to walk home. Yulian nodded at his concern, he probably thought that he's here for a lover tryst.

'Old man, quickly go before you get caught up to something.' He thought watching the vehicle roll away.

He was dropped off between two warehouses that had a number of 003 and 004. He had to walk further to reach his warehouse.

Night fell and the clouds covered the moon and with the towering buildings surrounding him, it's impossible to see the way as he went deeper. He muttered a short enchantment under his breath and an invisible force surrounded him.

That force will serve as a ward not only to fend off whatever it was that looms up ahead but also his guide to this total darkness. He counted in his head which warehouse he had reached. He's at the side of 011.

A faint noise came from up ahead. He walked without a sound towards the 012. He found a door that hung with a slight opening and peeked through it. The inside had one little candle serving small lights the broad area filled with broken crates. He saw two figures, one with a dark cloak standing while yanking the hair of a kneeling girl.

"No! Please, my lord! Give me another chance!" The girl was pleading. Tears were streaming down her face but did not make any effort to escape the man's hand.

"You are a failure." A deep hoarse voice came from the man, devoid of emotion.

The girl with the same auburn hair shook her head, grief and horror reflected on her face. An object glinted from the sleeves of the cloaked man as he raised his hand.

Yulian as soon as he saw this had leaped forward to the girl at the same time two lines of fire slithered in the direction of the man. He hugged and pulled the girl before a knife came down.

The cloaked man seemed surprised but did not further chase them. The fires had encircled and tried to trap him. When he realized the fire won't stop chasing him, he backed away and put his hand on the ground. A magic circle appeared, and a stone wall rose from it successfully blocking the fires from reaching him.

Yulian created another strings of fires and throw them in his direction but the cloaked figure was agile as him, he was able to counter his attacks.

Every time a magic circle appeared, Yulian can't help but feel familiar with them. He had seen them back at Ruke. It was oddly similar to the one that the burglar had used. Same pattern but with different symbols. Now that he thought about it, they also had the same built.

Could it be the same person? If he was, that makes him a magus too to be able to summon and use an element at the same time.

Just as he was gaining an advantage by trapping his enemy between the walls, he felt killing intent from behind. He ducked just in time sharp nails came to brandish his head.

The girl he saved had her arms transformed like that of a beast. Her hands up to the elbows were all blackened. Long and sharp claws-like replaced her nails. The girl no longer look like human, her eyes no longer held the consciousness of a human.

She lunged at him like a tiger would on her prey. Arms extended on wherever it could tear. Yulian backed away and saw from the corner of his eyes, the cloaked figure destroyed a portion of the wall and escaped into the darkness of the night again.

He did not chase him as the girl kept on attacking him. Her attacks were clumsy and easy to avoid. He evade to one side and darted behind her.

White light-like vines wrapped around the girl and as soon they touched her, smokes came out from her body. A shrill echoed through the whole space.

Yulian had to catch the falling body. He gently set her down on the ground when she quieted.

Her face returned to normal, her blackened arms and claws transforming again to her hands. The pure light works its magic as it absorbs the dark energy from her body.

"Minnie?" He called her.

However, a glaze covered her eyes, not seeing him.

"I'm sorry...Grandma... Ann, May... my sisters..." A tear escaped and slid down from her eye. "...I want to go home."