This dark room was filled with the mixed smell of various magic potions, making people unable to help but frown and cover their noses as soon as they entered.
A mess of test tubes, flasks of different models, and copper balance trays were all scattered on the somewhat dirty wooden floor, and a variety of potion materials were piled up in a corner of the room. There seemed to be something else somewhere else, but because the curtains were drawn tightly, it was difficult to see clearly.
And the only place in this room that can be called "clean" seems to be the space where the bed is.
"Uh ah... um..."
Even though there were many things in the room that would make people concerned, the one thing that people couldn't ignore the most was probably the hoarse moan that was obviously coming from the bed.
"Ms. Granger."
Just when Hermione frowned and silently scanned the room, and finally moved her gaze back to the bed that had attracted most of her attention from the beginning, the wizard who led her up seemed to speak cautiously. :
"I believe you have noticed - yes, the one lying under the quilt is my father who is cursed and has almost lost his own will."
"Ah... Well," Hermione nodded slightly after hearing this, "But it seems that your father's current situation is quite—"
"That's right," the other party sighed, "and since it's impossible for Mr. McClain to come here, I think my father probably won't be able to overcome this biggest difficulty in his life! Now that things have happened, I don't think I can anymore. I hope Miss Granger can cure him... So now, the only thing I hope for is to stay with my father safely and send him off properly!"
Putting aside the young and energetic boy downstairs, at least it can be basically heard from his attitude and tone that there is indeed no malice in his heart.
No, maybe it's not just the "malice", but also the fighting spirit and belief in living that refuse to admit defeat are about to cease to exist.
But, to be honest, Hermione was not completely unable to imagine the other person's mood at the moment.
After all, according to what I learned downstairs earlier, not only was there a gap of twenty years between this man and his father, but his life must have been extremely difficult during these twenty years because of his father's crimes. Now he even needs a friend The father who is not easy to see again ushered in a more complete separation.
After all, dark wizards are actually human beings with their own life experiences and emotions.
In the face of this increasingly desperate disaster, probably only ignorant and fearless teenagers and girls, as well as those who truly have a firm will, can put aside fear and go on bravely.
"That is to say, you really still want to stay here and wait to die with your father?"
Hermione is indeed a young girl, but as she has been following Maka step by step over the past few years, she has obviously become quite strong inside without even realizing it. Maybe she will still hesitate and hesitate when encountering difficulties, but when she really needs to make a choice, she will eventually take her own steps firmly.
And perhaps it is precisely because of this that she does not want others to choose to give up easily - even for people like the "Dark Wizard" who have made mistakes, she does not feel that they should be painted with "death" The end of life.
Unless it's someone like Halpo, someone who would bring huge disaster to the world just by "existing" might be an exception.
Of course, this is just Hermione's personal opinion.
Seeing that the other party didn't answer after she asked, she simply shook her head gently and said:
"Anyway, let me see your father's condition first!"
As she said this, she suddenly stepped forward, stepped over several discarded flasks and test tubes on the floor, and went to the side of the bed.
She hadn't been able to see clearly due to the darkness in the room before, but now that she was closer, she realized that there was indeed an old man lying on the bed whose face was quite similar to that of the wizard behind her.
It can be seen that the old man's thin face is covered with wrinkles, his hair is withered and decayed, and he looks completely like he is about to die.
He had been humming since Hermione came in until now, and the purring sound in his throat sounded like an aging beast.
"That's right, like an aging... 'beast'!"
Hermione felt that this metaphor that came to her mind unintentionally was very vivid, and it was no coincidence that the living corpses that emerged from the fog seemed to be able to be described using this metaphor.
Because what the two have in common is that they will act according to their own instincts.
But when she thought of this, Hermione felt something was wrong for no reason, but she didn't know where the strangeness came from.
She pursed her lips slightly, suppressing the doubts in her heart for the time being, and then began to carefully examine the old man on the bed.
"...As expected, what I said still doesn't work, right?"
After a while, Hermione withdrew her wand and stood beside the bed, thinking.
"Although he also came to the conclusion that it should be some kind of curse, he also made a corresponding judgment on this point. Not only that, he even prepared a magic potion to temporarily suppress the effect of the curse-"
Thinking about it like this, Hermione paused suddenly, and then her eyes widened suddenly, as if she suddenly thought of something that surprised her at that moment.
"Miss Granger? What's wrong with you?" Seeing this, the wizard on the side couldn't help asking, "Could it be that... you have thought of a way to treat my father?"
"Uh, no... I'm sorry, I haven't thought of it yet." After hearing this, Hermione slightly put away the expression on her face, and then turned to ask, "Speaking of which, during the time when your father was in bed, … Have you ever been unable to move your whole body at all?”
"'Unable to move'?" When the other party heard this, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, "No... Although my father quickly became weaker and weaker after coming out of London, he can still move even if he has difficulty moving."
"Yeah?"
When Hermione saw him saying this, she frowned and said:
"Has your father ever talked about how he was injured, and does he have any clues about this curse?"
After a series of inquiries, as the information she wanted to know gradually increased, her expression not only did not relax, but instead became more tense.
At the end, after the other party had finished saying everything he could say very frankly, Hermione covered her mouth lightly and fell into a long silence alone.
After about a few minutes passed, she finally put down her hand and subconsciously turned her head to look in the direction of Canterbury, where Spiral Town is located.
"… Why?"