Chapter Fifty-One: ABABABAB...

"Are there any other interesting spells?"
"No more... Wait, your magic—is it my 'Grand Vanishing Act'? No, no, it's a little different, a little different!" Harold frowned, lost in thought—the kind of focused madman who, once absorbed in a trick, seemed to forget his own predicament.

"Enough," the Faceless One said, taking the shackles from Harold and snapping them onto his wrists.

"That's it for today. Things got a bit too noisy here; it seems someone's coming. Harold, I hope you'll be out soon. I'm looking forward to your new tricks."

Then, to Sakura Bell's astonishment, Louis reached out and grabbed the magician's plump face, rolling up the bewildered Harold like a sheet of paper and stuffing him into his sleeve.

Afterward, from within Louis's sleeve, a burning demonic claw shot out of a mirror, dragging the paper-rolled man into the mirror realm and, while Harold's magic was depleted, cast a series of spells upon him.

With these curses in place, Stuart was confident Harold would stay locked away for some time... Or so he hoped. He just prayed the boss wouldn't teach him anything new; if he did, Bolster would certainly go mad!

"Stuart? You damn scoundrel, I knew it, he's connected to the Magic Prison! Give me a private cell, I'm not leaving! I need to study my new tricks! Damn, is this paper spell my 'Card Magic'? No, no, my 'Card Magic' can't turn a mage into paper... What is this magic... Damn it, undo this spell, I need to write, bring me my notes! And a pen!"

"Don't worry, Harold. You'll turn back after a while," Stuart crooned as if singing. "Once I've had my fun with you, your time will be up... heh heh heh..."

With that, Stuart put the wailing, cursing Harold to sleep.

The Jack of Diamonds' dream! It had been waiting so long! The boss never disappoints!

By now, rain had begun to fall from the sky—a storm from the far end of Blackhorn Alley had swept in.

The air in the alley shimmered; the people Louis mentioned seemed about to arrive.

Inside the cage, the Barbie doll with a rose between her lips was dancing with glee. The Faceless One looked puzzled for a moment, then found it amusing, glancing curiously at Sakura Bell and listening in on her thoughts.

Sakura Bell herself wasn't so delighted at first; after all, the Faceless One's identity was still unverified.

But just then, a dozen figures appeared via Apparition—each in a long coat and felt hat.

No doubt about it, the Faceless One must be their leader; look, all twelve had gathered behind him! Some glanced at him, then warily surrounded the magician's chest.

—Those fools still didn't know their leader had already dealt with the magician!

The Faceless One must be one of these twelve agents.

‘But which one? Let me guess. I know all of them! You’re sneaking around as the Faceless One, committing all these misdeeds and using Dark Curses—that's a lot of Ministry rules broken! If you don't bribe me, I'll rat you out~’

[Oh? Little fox, you certainly have some nerve.]

A voice echoed in Sakura Bell's heart, making her freeze. She suddenly realized there were indeed twelve agents in total.

A chill climbed from the tip of her tail up her spine and spread to her scalp; she broke out in a cold sweat and collapsed inside the cage.

"Miss Sakura Bell, are you alright?" The lead agent first glanced at the Faceless One, then removed his felt hat and, with elegant courtesy, bowed slightly to the Barbie doll in the cage. "We rushed here as soon as we got word. At last, this time, we weren't—er, looks like we made it just in time!"

"Sir Kevin, Harold must have escaped," said an agent who had just checked the magician's chest, wiping rain from his face.

"Damn it. He must have forced Miss Sakura Bell to reveal we were after him."

Leader Kevin swore, shot a glance at the Faceless One surrounded by agents, and said, "Take 'it' back with us. We'll interrogate him thoroughly. He must be one of Harold's puppets—no telling which poor soul is inside. That madman, he turns all the dark wizards he catches into magical dolls!"

The puppet before them had decent magic, but it was nothing special; the elite agents paid it little mind.

From their words, clearly they, like Louis, believed Harold was the serial killer.

An agent produced magical shackles, others flashed their credentials. "You are suspected of colluding with the magician and using forbidden curses. You have the right to—what are you doing? Hands up! Don't reach for your wand! Now get on the ground, slowly—"

Before he could finish, Kevin and the others saw the Faceless One wave his sleeve, and in a blink, the scene changed: the group found themselves inside a giant hat.

Here, a dozen or so idle wizards lounged about—apparently, the ones who had recently gone missing. None looked like they'd been turned into puppets.

They were calmly watching others play cards, chess, checkers—like a bunch of old men at a street corner. The sudden appearance of the agents made all the wizards look up; they stared at each other for a long moment, until one wizard tossed a deck of cards to the agents.

Staring blankly at the cards in his hands, Kevin stammered, "It's over! It's over! Miss Sakura Bell!"

Kevin was sweating profusely—the legends about the Faceless One were true! That ruthless, heinous criminal!

The thought made Kevin’s face go pale.

He wouldn’t—he wouldn’t harm Miss Sakura Bell, would he?

"Do you know anything about the Faceless One? How do we get out of here?"

The dark wizards glanced at the befuddled agents. "Play the queen of diamonds."

...

Louis looked up at the shivering Sakura Bell in the little cage, and at the text box that appeared before him.

[That's right, no need to recall further—she's Oxyclis's best friend. Looks like you've recognized this little underachiever who needs tutoring. A rare opportunity—so you decide to...]

[A. Give this unruly little fox a proper lesson.
Reward: Strange protection fee*1, Dancing Barbie Doll*1, Kevin's Hat*1, Experience +20]

[B. Of course, it's time for a good math lesson.
Reward: Homework*1, Random Attribute +1, Ruler for Discipline*1]

...

When Sakura Bell awoke, she found herself back home.

Suddenly, she recalled that she had been placed under an Enchantment.

The Faceless One had apparently asked her many questions, but she couldn't remember what they were.

The thought made her shudder—her legs went weak and she collapsed onto the sofa.

She had expected the Faceless One to kill her, but unexpectedly, he had only given her a minor punishment before letting her go.

"Ouch..." Sakura Bell rubbed her sore bottom as the memory returned.

He’d asked her several math problems!

Then smacked her a few times...

And left her some homework, telling her to study hard from now on...

...

Stuart, as always, was babbling excitedly inside the mirror, while Louis, sitting before it, looked somewhat displeased.

‘Why does it keep adding to Strength?’

Louis checked again.

[Louis lv8 (25/100)]
[Strength: 14.19 Dexterity: 8.23 Magic: 30.58]
[Storybook Energy: 1]

After checking, Louis found that this week’s bonus had indeed gone to Strength, but also to Dexterity.

He rubbed his face—at this rate, even the world’s toughest parkour courses would see their two-minute records broken to a dozen seconds in his hands.

And as his magic increased, it seemed the higher his Strength, the more resistant he became to spells. As for blades and bullets—even a musket couldn’t pierce his skin now. He was practically indestructible—fit to compete in the world slap-fighting championships against mountain trolls, and maybe even win a prize.

With a sigh, Louis sat back at the stone table, pulled over two dozen "strange little fox porcelain dolls (value: 2 silver derls)" from his pocket, tossed them into the magician’s trunk, then threw in everyone from the hat, and began to play with the trunk.

The dolls began to dance merrily, while the twenty-some agents and wizards inside screamed and wailed, trying to escape; but as if their magic and bodies were manipulated by invisible strings, all they could do was dance.

Only a chubby girl happily stood at the center, entirely unconcerned and cooperating cheerfully.

Apparently, the two groups had just brawled; judging by the agents’ bruised faces, it seemed they’d lost to the dark wizards.

‘I clearly smacked her over twenty times—so why didn’t I get a Barbie Doll? Sakura Bell swore she’d study hard, and I did get the 20 experience points, but why are the rewards so strange? Is there something wrong with my teaching?’

The ruler for discipline seemed odd too—it looked like a whip with a tiny flyswatter, or perhaps an old man’s toy.

Stranger still, according to the storybook, he hadn’t paid his protection fee, and was being urged to do so soon.

Otherwise, someone might come to collect it by force.

"How odd..." Louis muttered.

No wonder—he hadn’t chosen A, nor B, but rather ABABABABAB.

Apparently, the Book of Fate, overcharged by the energy from this little drama, had strummed the harp of destiny and arranged a grand show for the week.

Shrieks grew louder from inside the trunk. Louis stopped looking at the storybook and turned to the box.

"Seems they're hungry," Louis said, pulling out a loaf of enchanted bread, breaking it up, and tossing the crumbs inside.

...

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