"How did you know she was in trouble?"
As he watched the servant’s body begin to contort strangely, Raphael also understood that the situation could not be delayed.
While walking toward her again, he was also asking Ronald, who was beside him.
However, unlike Raphael who could examine and provide healing,
Ronald’s ability to act was much more limited now.
Waving one hand, dispersing the black fog around him and continuously monitoring the changes in the room, he finally spoke:
"It was a hint from my spell."
"You first examine her body, I’ll take care of the surrounding alert."
With that, silence soon fell over the room again.
Raphael stood before the dining table, his hand gently on the servant’s body, his brows furrowed, revealing an expression that suggested he had discovered something that prevented him from helping her as directly as at the beginning.
Clearly, the condition of the servant’s body was now beyond his normal range of judgment, requiring extremely cautious assessment and analysis.
Ronald’s investigative efforts yielded nothing as well.
Besides the servant lying on the table, there were only the two of them, him and Raphael, with no sign of any additional people or things.
What the heck was going on?
There had been no arrivals and no signs of magic used.
It made no sense that after Raphael’s treatment, the servant’s body would undergo such changes again.
Ronald was still analyzing the information provided during the trial at the moment.
In times of peril, lending a hand to those who suffer...
His pupils suddenly narrowed.
The canonical trial’s information had no reason to mislead him.
If the tormented person was this servant, then this mansion was the so-called land of peril!
Realizing this, Ronald immediately waved one hand, manipulating the black fog to crash towards the main door. Without considering the trial’s requirement, it wasn’t time to linger in this building any longer.
Simultaneously, Ronald warned Raphael, who was still examining the servant’s body:
"We need to leave here immediately, this house is dangerous!"
Soon, the manipulated black fog slammed onto the door.
Ronald distinctly felt the black fog dragging the door handle and attempting to open the door.
However, the idea failed.
The door lock was indeed turned by the black fog, but the door itself seemed to have fused with the wall, the wall and door forming one seamless surface, completely different from when they had entered.
There was no exiting through the main door.
Muttering in dissatisfaction, Ronald understood it wasn’t the time to hold back.
With a forceful wave of his right hand beside him, the black fog initially covering the door immediately spread around.
Windows, door cracks, chimney of the fireplace...
The black fog did not spare any spot that might lead outside of the house, covering them completely.
However, the feedback that followed proved to be a tough conundrum for Ronald.
This small two-story building seemed to have become completely isolated from the outside world, the black fog unable to escape the confines of the room from any position.
All the gaps that originally could have served as exits were now firmly locked by a powerful mana.
Suddenly, a loud noise erupted above the main door.
It was Raphael who noticed the change and also tried to find a way out.
Unlike Ronald, who kept using the black mist to search for an exit, Raphael kicked the door fiercely.
It was a loud noise that made people want to cover their ears.
The sole of his shoe collided violently with the fragile wooden door, creating a noticeable crack in the center of the door that quickly spread across the entire panel.
However, even though the door was already shattered, the wooden fragments still clung tightly to the door frame, their positions unchanged.
Such was the strength of the barrier that his power could not break!
Faced with this result, Raphael frowned and then turned to look at Ronald, who was controlling the black mist to find a way out:
"Ronald, there’s a bit of trouble here."
"Do you have any discoveries on your side?"
Ronald shook his head in reply:
"Not on my end either."
"Now it’s not just the two of us; this house is completely sealed off, not even a fly could get out."
Regarding this outcome,
Raphael did not continue to express his terrible mood.
Instead, he turned straightforwardly to the side of the maid and began to work on the innocent servant.
From the looks of it, he obviously intended to resolve the maid’s physical issues first.
Watching Raphael’s actions, Ronald asked,
"So, do you think she has anything on her that might help us get out of here?"
Raphael shook his head quite generously:
"My abilities mainly focus on combat, not exploration or finding exits. Rather than wasting time on things I’m not good at, I’d rather leave such tasks to a professional like you, while I take responsibility for this woman’s life safety."
"After all, I don’t want to keep idle here either."
Faced with Raphael’s reasoning, Ronald nodded approvingly:
"Then I’ll leave it to you."
"Next, I’ll try to find a way for us to leave this place."
Seeing Raphael focus intently on the woman, Ronald also resumed organizing his thoughts, trying to find a way to escape from the room.
From the current situation,
they knew nothing about the Elva School, so they couldn’t deduce what kind of spell it might be.
So, using the information they had at hand, what could be inferred...
First, it was the information previously revealed by the maid.
Elva should still be teaching at the university, so he couldn’t possibly rush back here.
Then, the changes in the house must be due to a pre-set defensive spell being activated.
What was the condition for activating this spell?
Defensive spells couldn’t be indiscriminately triggered; if it was another friend of Elva visiting, and the spell was activated upon their entry, it would trap them here!
Was the spell targeted at people with a mysterious background?
No! It probably wasn’t that either.
Raphael had mentioned earlier that Elva usually disguised his mysterious side-world identity.
In a major city like Springs, if there were to be an urgent population survey or other tasks, activating his spell could easily expose him.
Therefore, the target of the spell was most likely not people with a mysterious background.
—Thus, a bold idea emerged in Ronald’s mind.
Perhaps the condition for activating Elva’s spell.
Was Ronald’s arrival here?