Bab 71: Is It Over?
***Normal P.O.V***
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Rupert and Cyan managed to arrive at Sakura Inn again, and the two of them hurriedly ran to reach the stairs after they put on their disguises.
"Excuse me, dear client, but please be quiet as it's night already—," the receptionist tried to warn the two approaching people, but then Cyan's words stopped her.
"Something bad might be happening upstairs, your inn was hijacked. Please call the local officers right away! I gotta go to my children!!"
Though she wanted to inquire more from the two of them, she couldn't do so as they have already fled upstairs. Unsure what to do, she decided it would be safe to call the officers either way.
Upon arriving at the hallway leading to their rooms, they noticed the presence of a separating magical barrier as something prevented them from proceeding forward.
Yes, the intruders managed to set up a separating barrier discreetly after somehow entering the inn, causing the others to be oblivious to what was happening.
After the barrier took a few blows of their water balls and dark balls, it was finally torn down—revealing two men guarding it.
Noticing that Cyan's bad omen was correct, Cyan and Rupert decided to go all out and managed to finish the battle quickly, using their most powerful magical attack.
"If you still love your life, tell us, why are you targeting us?" Cyan asked the men who were on the verge of passing out.
"…Because we know who you truly are."
--is what they managed to say before they passed out.
From that simple sentence, it's clear that they are targeting Cyan and his children because of their true identities, clearing up the doubt of them targeting the wealthy merchant family (which is their disguise).
Cyan and Rupert were surprised as to how they would find out about their disguises—but since it's confirmed that their identities were known by the ones who targeted them, they canceled their disguises in order to conserve energy and proceeded.
On their way to the room, they saw Gale's pitiful state as he was lying down helplessly on the floor.
"Gale!" Rupert called out.
"Urgh... never mind me... go to the room, quick!" Gale was conscious, but his body was still paralyzed and he could still feel the pain inflicted on his body as he grunted.
"Of course, that's obvious!" Rupert didn't even hesitate a bit and proceeded to the room.
"Gale, sorry, but we'll get back to you later!" Cyan apologized and quickly followed Rupert.
When they arrived at the room, Cyan and Rupert could feel blood draining off from their heads.
Currently, Lyra has already positioned herself quite far away from both the thunder ball and fire blast, while Altaire—who realized that his motion was stopped by the effect of magic—has already broken free from the magic that bound his movement and has approached Lyra.
However, both the man and the lady have already broken free as well, and they are now rushing off to attack their preys.
Rupert and Cyan both dashed forward full speed, positioning themselves between the children and the attackers.
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***Lyra's P.O.V***
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Somehow, everyone's movement stopped, except for mine. While it is quite a vexing phenomenon, I know what I should prioritize—for now, I gotta escape from both the thunder ball and the fire blast!!
As I managed to slip by the two attacks directed at me, I glanced at Alt-nii, worrying about what I can do to help him.
But seems like I was worried for nothing. Somehow, Alt-nii could move again and he's coming to me right now.
I was just about to sigh in relief when I noticed that... our attackers have started to move again!! Meanwhile, the thunder balls clashed with the fire blast, and they disappeared after a blast.
The two enraged people started to dash forward at us—the lady's intense crazed eyes made me feel nauseated.
Why couldn't they stay halted until I have frozen them?
Just as I readied myself to fight again—the door was loudly opened.
Enemy reinforcements?!
But then, two familiar figures could be seen—it's Dad and Rupert!!
Dad glanced at me and Altaire quickly—and I can see his tense face seems to be loosening a bit. Not too long after that, both Dad and Rupert dashed forward to counter the incoming attacks.
The man cast a fast fireball towards Rupert—and Rupert managed to dodge it. The fireball slightly grazed his hair, causing the wind to flutter from the speed it had, and in that short moment, Rupert's covered face could be seen. At least for me, who's way smaller than him, I can take a glance at his face perfectly.
On his forehead, close to where his hair is, there are two tiny, very tiny horns. But they're there. Rupert's line of sight matched mine and he only smiled gently, before proceeding to subdue the man.
In no time, because the man was tired after exhausting his energy to fight me with his fire magic, Rupert successfully managed to conquer the man. The man is right now lying down on the floor, unable to move, but his ragged breath can be heard loudly.
Meanwhile, Dad is handling Miss Trouble—wait a second, Dad's specialized in Water magic, it's clearly not a good choice against Miss Thunder!
The moment Dad's chanting water balls, Miss Thunder-Trouble returned them with her thunder balls, and Dad had to evade the returning attacks. Miss Trouble let out her mad laugh again when she watched Dad like that.
"Oh? Sure, laugh while you can~," Dad's cold voice managed to silence her noisy laugh.
With his cold voice and calm expression, Dad chanted.
[Holm Swelgnes] (Water Whirlpool)
The instant he finished uttering the chant, a whirlpool of water started to form, trapping Miss Trouble in it. Miss Trouble was surprised and tried to hold her breath so she could last against the water that enclosed her surroundings, but the whirlpool suffocated her. She became unable to breathe and started to asphyxiate, as she desperately grabbed her neck.
When she seemed about to pass out, Dad canceled the whirlpool, throwing the lady down to the ground, panting very roughly.
"Lyra, Altaire, are you alright?!" Dad hurriedly approached us and observed our bodies from head to toes, as if making sure that we didn't get hurt. Eeh, we did get hurt, but our whole bodies are intact, thank you.
"Dad, you came! We're fine!!" I tried to show him a smile to help him calm down. I never saw Dad's cold expression and that cold intonation of his voice before.
"Dad, thank you for coming at the right time!" Alt-nii said, feeling relieved.
"No, no… I'm sorry for not coming here sooner… Sorry for not noticing this whole scheme happening…," Dad proceeded to hold the two of us tightly. His arms shook a little, indicating that he was really scared that something would happen to us. Realizing this, we hugged him back tightly.
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After that, Dad successfully tied up every single attacker with his magical vines, gathering them all in the middle of the room while Rupert dragged Gale inside.
"Gale, are you alright?" Alt-nii quickly approached Gale and Rupert, asking worriedly.
"It's… okay," Gale weakly answered.
I also approached the two of them—and then I remembered the sight I saw.
"Uhm… Rupert?"
Rupert gazed back gently at me as if he already knew what I was about to ask.
"You saw… didn't you?"
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
LynneSuzuran
LynneSuzuran Hmm, somehow the last line, "You saw it?" reminds me of the typical line in horror stories...