Where was I?
A pitch-black void stretched out before my eyes. The sky and the ground were both ink-black, with no horizon or boundary between them.
I tried to organize my recent memories.
It was obvious that Elsie, the Second Prince's maid, had done something to cause this. I had simply been caught up in it; her primary target was undoubtedly Nyau. If that was the case, Nyau had to be somewhere nearby.
"Nyau! Are you there?"
I shouted into the darkness, looking around, but the void seemed to go on forever.
"Nyau!"
I called out again and again. My voice only echoed hollowly through the nothingness, met with no response.
Anxiety began to swell in my chest. I remembered having an experience like this before. Back in the past world, I had been sealed away by Golgano, a warrior of Chaosism.
I had no memory more painful than that seal.
I knew no terror greater than the prospect of being trapped forever in a realm of nothingness. As the memory resurfaced, primal fear surged from the depths of my soul.
The strength left my knees. Fighting the urge to collapse, I squeezed out one more desperate cry.
"Nyau! Where are you!?"
"You are being quite noisy. I have been able to hear you for some time now without you needing to scream like that."
"Eh...?"
the moment I heard Nyau’s voice, the scenery shifted as if the black void were being painted over from above.
The space transformed into a common, ordinary-looking room. It had a red carpet, brick-patterned walls, and a set of wooden tables and chairs.
And standing right in front of me was...
"Nyau."
She was looking at me with a look of utter exasperation.
Apparently, the surroundings had simply become visible because she had lit a lamp powered by a magic stone. It seemed Nyau had been right next to me the entire time.
Even so, a wave of uncontrollable relief washed over me. The tension drained from my body so suddenly I felt weak. The relief of being released from that terrifying White Space, combined with the relief of finding Nyau, hit me in overwhelming waves.
"Master!"
With a sudden cry, a black shadow dashed across the room.
It was Ryune. She threw herself at Nyau, sobbing. Her long hair was a mess as she buried her face in Nyau’s chest like a small child.
"Master, it was so scary... Ryune thought she’d never see you again!"
At Ryune’s trembling voice, Nyau’s expression turned exasperated once more.
"If you are Nyau's apprentice, I would prefer you handle a situation of this magnitude with more composure."
"Master, you’re so mean!"
Despite her words, Ryune’s face broke into a happy, tearful smile. It appeared she had been brought to the same location as us.
"So, what exactly is going on here?"
After we took seats in the nearby wooden chairs, I asked Nyau for an explanation.
Nyau placed a hand to her chin, murmuring, "Let me see..." She seemed to be deciding where to begin. Once she had gathered her thoughts, she spoke again.
"To put it simply, it appears we have been imprisoned in a space cut off from the outside world."
"So... you mean we’ve been sealed?"
"It is slightly different from a seal. It would be more accurate to say we were transported into an Otherworld Space created by Elsie."
Even when she put it that way, I couldn't quite wrap my head around it.
"Kiska-san, you really are slow on the uptake, aren't you?"
Nyau gave me a flat, sideways glance. I couldn't help it; if I didn't get it, I didn't get it.
"Regardless, what is Elsie’s goal here?"
It was clear that the maid had caused this. However, I couldn't fathom why she would go through such a roundabout process.
"I have already discerned part of her objective. My mana has been steadily being siphoned away for some time now."
"Wait, are you going to be okay?"
"Though it is being drained, it is happening very gradually. A loss of this level is no hindrance at all."
Nyau remained perfectly composed. Judging by her demeanor, she truly was fine for the moment.
"Do either of you feel the sensation of your mana being drained?"
"Not me," I said.
"Ryune doesn't feel anything either."
We both shook our heads. Nyau looked between us and nodded slowly.
"It makes sense for Kiska-san, since he lacks mana entirely, but Ryune as well? Well, it is as I expected."
Nyau paused to reflect for a moment before continuing.
"Now then, rather than that, the real question we must consider is why she is stealing my mana."
"Maybe she wants to neutralize you so you can't fight back, Master?" Ryune suggested.
"That is a possibility, but there is something else I am far more wary of."
"Like what?" I asked.
"Well, for instance... she might intend to use the mana stolen from me to fuel a large-scale magic spell."
"Is there a chance she’s trying to summon a demon?"
I couldn't help but interject. Nyau’s expression darkened slightly.
"That possibility cannot be ignored. To summon a demon like Demon Beelphegor, an immense amount of mana would undoubtedly be required."
"But if she needs mana, isn't this way too complicated?" Ryune asked, sounding skeptical. "Doesn't creating this Otherworld Space require a ton of mana itself?"
It seemed like a reasonable point to me.
"No, creating this Otherworld Space likely required no mana at all. I say this because I did not sense even a hint of mana from Elsie when she manifested it."
If Nyau, a Sage, was that certain, then it had to be true. After all, it was rare for Skills to require mana to activate.
"In any case, Nyau is going to investigate the area outside this room. I might find a clue on how to escape."
Nyau stood up from her chair, preparing to leave.
"Should we go with you?" I asked.
"No. You two are not to take a single step out of this room. I cannot have you doing something reckless outside and getting yourselves into danger. As far as I can tell, this room is safe."
"Right. Got it."
I sat back down, aborting my attempt to stand. Nyau watched me for a second before heading out the door.
"Master is so stubborn! She doesn't rely on Ryune at all!"
A short while after she left, Ryune began to grumble.
"You're not wrong..."
As she said, Nyau tried to handle everything on her own. It was frustrating, but I knew that even if I tried to help in this situation, I’d probably just be dead weight.
"Hey, is Nyau always like that?" I asked Ryune, voicing a thought that had been nagging at me.
"Hmm? What do you mean? She’s always like this."
Ryune tilted her head, clearly not catching my drift. I realized I needed to be more specific.
"I mean, she seems a lot more composed than when I knew her a long time ago."
"By 'long ago,' do you mean the stuff from a hundred years ago?"
"Yeah."
Back then, Nyau had felt more scatterbrained—a bit of a klutz, honestly. I suppose a century is long enough for anyone to grow up.
"Hmm, I wouldn't know about a hundred years ago, obviously, but I do think she's been acting really nervous lately."
"Nyau? Nervous?"
Ryune nodded. "Yep."
"Well, an incident like this would make anyone nervous. Not to mention she was on a high-stakes mission guarding the Second Prince."
I had thought Nyau was the picture of calm, but hearing she was actually on edge made her feel a bit more human. It gave me a strange sense of kinship.
"No, no, you've got it all wrong! Master has been nervous ever since Kiskacchi showed up! She's more worried about Kiskacchi than the Prince or this whole mess."
"R-Really?"
"I've been telling you this! Master totally has feelings for Kiskacchi!"
"I doubt that. If she’s nervous around me, it’s probably because she has some kind of grudge."
"Ehh, I don't know about that~"
Ryune let out a long, exaggerated stretch.
"I’ve been wondering, Ryune—how did you actually end up as Nyau’s apprentice?"
It had been on my mind. Nyau was a world-class mage. For her to take on a student, Ryune had to possess some kind of extraordinary talent.
"Hmm, it's not a super exciting story. When Ryune was in magic school, Master came to give a guest lecture. She took one look at me and suddenly said, 'Do you have any intention of becoming Nyau's apprentice?' Master was so cool back then! It was basically a marriage proposal! All the other students were screaming with jealousy. I felt like a princess in a fairy tale~"
Ryune turned red and started fidgeting. I wasn't entirely sure why she was getting so embarrassed.
"So your grades must have been incredible for her to pick you out like that."
"Nope! Not even close."
She shot me down instantly.
"You weren't picked because of your grades?"
"The opposite, actually! Ryune was at the very bottom of the class. I couldn't do anything right, and the teachers were always yelling at me. They told me I was the most incompetent student in the history of the school."
"Then why did she choose you?"
"Well, obviously because of Ryune's overflowing natural talent!"
Ryune puffed out her chest with pride. It looked like baseless confidence to me, but there had to be some reason Nyau had singled her out.
"Master did say something like that, actually. She told me, 'Your constitution is special, and staying at this school will not help you grow. Therefore, you are coming with Nyau.'"
"And have you grown since then?"
"Mmm... not really."
Ryune shrugged, looking a bit sheepish.
"It’s been three years since I became her apprentice, but I haven't improved much."
"Hasn't she taught you how to handle that special constitution?"
"Well, you see, Ryune's internal mana is way harder to control than most people's. That's why nothing ever worked right."
"I see."
I nodded, though as someone with zero mana, I didn't fully grasp the struggle.
"Yeah. So I've been working really hard with Master to find ways to use magic even with this weird body, but it's super difficult."
"Sounds like a lot of work."
"It's okay! Honestly, I love my life with Master right now. For Ryune, keeping this life going is more important than magic or anything else. Though, I do my training properly because I don't want to let Master down."
Ryune suddenly looked a bit embarrassed. "Wow, I got all serious there for a second, didn't I?"
"If we want to keep that life with Nyau going, we have to solve this problem first."
Hearing Ryune's perspective made me even more determined to stop the tragedy that was coming—for her sake as much as Nyau’s.
It felt pathetic that I had to leave everything to Nyau right now.
"Ah, Master!!"
Ryune’s voice made me snap my head around. The door had opened, and Nyau was standing there.
"You two, follow Nyau."
One look at her face told me everything. She had found something.