Juu Sai Madoushi Chapter 35 (Patreon)

Picture Book Secrets

In the attic of the villa, Ferris and Alicia were at a loss.

"Jeanette-san..., are you still in the storybook...?"

"It looks like we're the only ones who got kicked out, and I'm sure we are..."

We both look down at the "Happy Kuma-san" picture book with trepidation.

The picture book was sitting on the floor, as if it had been dropped when we were sucked into that fairy-tale world. The pastel-colored cover of the picture book exudes a strange and intimidating atmosphere.

Alicia raised her beautiful eyebrows and pondered.

"This picture book...seems to be a cursed item. I don't know why it was stored here, but..."

"Ja, Jeanette...are you there?"

Ferris squatted over the book, cupped his palms around his mouth and whispered.

The picture book didn't say a word. No, it would normally be strange to hear a sound from a picture book, but there was no response from Jeanette, who was supposedly trapped inside.

"Let me... let me open it...?"

Ferris fearfully reached for the picture book.

"Ferris! Don't touch it, it's dangerous!"

Alicia tried to stop her, but she was too late, and Ferris flipped through the pages of the book.

Then, at a certain page, Ferris' hand stopped.

"Alicia-san, this is..."

"Oh my God..."

They stared at the page with their eyes wide open.

There was a big castle, a big bear, and J.J. locked in a birdcage.

Jeanette was locked in a bird cage.

Alicia read aloud the text next to the picture.

"'Happy Kuma-san finally caught the little bird that had been running away. But it was another little bird. Having no choice, Kuma-san decided to catch that little bird for ever and ever and ever. The 'end'."

"Don't finish it!!!!"

Ferris screamed.

"Oh no... If we show it to the teachers at the magic school, they might be able to tell us what it is, but the school is a long way from here..."

"If I break the picture book, won't everyone come out from inside?

"I think there is a greater risk that they will all break together with the picture book."

"What...?"

Ferris immediately retracted the hand he was raising.

"Ferris...? You were going to use magic, weren't you? I don't think it's a good idea, because if you use magic in a place like this, the whole villa might blow up..."

"Ha, ha, no..."

It was no way.

Alicia was thrilled to learn that she was on the verge of the villa's extinction.

"Well, we have to get back inside somehow..."

Ferris pressed his palms against the pages of the picture book, but of course, that was no way to get back inside.

Alicia bites her lip.

"In the meantime, let's ask the servants in the villa about this picture book. Perhaps they might know something."

"Yes, sir!"

Ferris took the picture book in his arms and walked out of the attic with Alicia.

I'm afraid to hold on to the cursed item, but if I leave it unattended, there will be more victims, and I can't leave Jeanette alone.

The owner of the villa, a distant relative of the Goudenbert family, was absent, but there were quite a few servants left in the villa.

Here and there we see servants: a maid cleaning, a cook preparing a meal, a gardener dreary from not being able to go outside due to heavy rain, and so on.

Ferris and Alicia went around the villa to interview the servants.

But....

"That picture book? Hmmm... I've never seen it... I'm sorry for my lack of study..."

The maid apologizes, looking sad for some reason.

"What is that dirty picture book! Just in time, we were short of firewood! Give it to me so I can use it as fuel!"

The cook quickly tries to burn the picture book.

"You know what? I put my life on the line for this job. I'm proud of the garden my husband entrusted to me. So, on the days I can't work...I don't know what to do...what is the meaning of my life..."

An elderly gardener, his eyes glazed over, not a picture book in sight.

Ferris and Alicia's impatience grows as they continue to find no clues.

If the enemy is out front, we should defeat them. Even that would be a difficult task, but with Ferris' help, they would be able to manage. But if they are locked up in a picture book with an unfamiliar mechanism, there is nothing we can do.

Alicia's expression clouded.

"I guess I'll have to go back to school after all.... I hope it won't be too late in the meantime..."

"What if it's too late? What if it's too late?

Ferris shriveled up.

At that moment, the head maid of the villa passed by in the hallway and caught sight of Ferris and Alicia.

"...Oh? You have something unusual."

"What do you mean?"

When Alicia tilted her head, the old head maid pointed to a picture book.

"It's a picture book that belongs to a friend of yours. Where did you find it?"

"In the attic, but..."

"Oh, of course. It is a book that Alicia's mother used to read to her when she was a little girl.

"Your mother?"

"Yes. When she came to visit the villa, the previous wife gave it to her as a gift. Since then, Alicia's mother really loved that book. Every time she came to the villa, she said, "Someday I will live with this Kuma-san! She said that it was so adorable.

The chief maid's wrinkled cheeks flushed.

"By the way... that bear called me Leticia. Right, Ferris?"

"Yes, yes. Who is Leticia?"

Ferris wondered.

"Leticia is...my mother's name. Maybe you misunderstood me because your mother and I looked so much alike when we were little."

"But how could such a picture book be a cursed item?"

"I don't know. I don't know, but I think I know what we need to do. Let's go back to the attic!"

Alicia took Ferris's hand in hers and ran out of the room.

"Oh dear. It really is like looking at the old Leticia-sama.... If only Leticia-sama were here..."

The head maid mumbled sadly as she saw Alicia and the other two off.

Ferris and Alicia returned to the attic, out of breath from their haste.

"So...so...what are you...?"

Ferris was mid-sentence, huffing and puffing.

"That bear is after my mother. If that's the case, I'm sure your mother would put the bear in the storybook if you asked her to."

"Then I'll have to call Alicia-san's mother!"

Alicia lowers her voice.

"Your mother... she's already gone."

"Eh..."

Ferris blinked.

"Your mother died in the war when I was little. That's why...I can't call your mother."

Alicia's expression was ever so forlorn as she said this.

"Uh...ah..."

Ferris doesn't know how to reply. He feels sorry for himself for having said something that made her sad.

But he felt that apologizing was not the right thing to do.

Ferris pinched Alicia's sleeve tightly.

Alicia patted Ferris on the head and laughed.

"Don't look so sad, even you. It was a long time ago, I won't cry now."

"Alicia-san..."

"Anyway. I can't ask your mother to help me, so I'll have to pretend to be her and call on her. If it's a picture book that your mother cherished, I'm sure she'll respond."

"...I understand. I will go into the book with Alicia-san and save Jeanette-san!"

Ferris tightened his fists.

"Yes, please, Ferris is the only one who can help me."

The other party is an unknown cursed item. But with Ferris, the most powerful mage, with her, there was no need to be afraid.

Alicia clenched Ferris's hand tightly and looked at the cursed picture book.