"Huh? Rowena, you agreed?!" Helga's eyes widened at once.
"Of course. Salazar is an important companion of ours!" Rowena said seriously. "The only reason I stopped you from going before was because Salazar had only just been reincarnated and needed to absorb 'nourishment.' It wasn't the right time to bring him back yet."
"Nourishment?"
"Yes. Our old friend clearly made quite a few preparations. He's really the kind of person who puts others at ease," Rowena said with a smile.
As for which of the four was actually the troublesome one, everyone had their own opinion.
Helga immediately understood, but then suddenly realised that Rowena's words had revealed an extremely important piece of information.
"Salazar is already alive?"
Rowena nodded.
"He was reincarnated some time ago. But I felt we shouldn't disturb him yet, so I never told you."
Rowena knew that if Helga heard Salazar had already revived, she would most likely insist on entering the alchemical world to see him.
But doing so would only create trouble for the newly reborn Salazar.
Now, after more than ten years of recuperation, Salazar had most likely recovered the majority of his memories from his previous life.
It should finally be possible to enter the alchemical world and make contact with him.
"How did you know?" Helga froze for a moment, then asked in delight, "You've regained control of the alchemical world?"
"Yes."
A trace of joy appeared on Rowena's face.
"Thanks to Salazar, he cleared out all the factors in the alchemical world that were beyond my control. I have regained control over that world.
"Now, within the alchemical world, I can practically be considered omniscient and omnipotent. Naturally, I was able to find his reincarnated body."
Helga stared at her for a while in silence before asking a question.
"If you call yourself omniscient and omnipotent, then why did you lose control of the alchemical world in the first place?"
Rowena: "..."
"All right. You can set off now."
Helga: "???"
Don't change the subject!
But after so many years together, Helga understood that no matter how much she pressed, Rowena would not reveal anything more.
That was simply how this woman was.
She only disclosed part of the truth to them when she needed something from them.
Only Salazar could forcibly see through the mysterious veil she wrapped around herself.
Unfortunately, the one and only "anti-Ravenclaw weapon," Salazar, was temporarily absent, so Helga could do nothing about Rowena.
'Just wait. Once I enter the alchemical world and meet Salazar, I'll naturally learn the truth!'
Helga quickly found a way around the problem.
Rowena seemed not to notice what Helga was thinking.
With a smile on her face, she sent Helga into the alchemical world and thoughtfully placed her near Salazar.
After sending Helga away, Rowena's expression gradually returned to calm.
Everything happening now was within her calculations.
Or rather, within the calculations she and Salazar had made together.
That included deliberately sending Helga away.
Things had continued developing smoothly according to their plan.
Now that their move had been made, it was time for the descendant of the gods, the Norse God of Fire, Loki, to make his move.
'Loki, don't disappoint us...'
Standing before the window of her office and gazing at the clear blue sky, Rowena sincerely prayed in her heart for the God of Lies and Deception.
Thud!
Helga landed on the ground of the alchemical world.
'Although I've heard plenty about the alchemical world before, and I've even watched its customs and scenery alongside the teachers and students of Hogwarts, this is actually my first time setting foot here myself.'
Helga could not help carefully examining this artificially created world.
A few minutes later, a look of shock appeared on her face.
If she had not been told in advance, she would never have imagined that the world before her was man-made.
It looked no different whatsoever from the real world outside.
'With Rowena's abilities, could she really create something like this?'
Helga could not help beginning to doubt it.
It was not that Helga looked down on Rowena. Everything before her was simply too astonishing.
And the experience was completely different from watching it through a screen. Only by actually setting foot on this land could she sense just how unusual this world truly was.
After recovering from her brief shock, Helga began searching for traces of Salazar.
Before long, she discovered the snakewood tree hidden within the dense forest.
Even from a considerable distance, Helga noticed the mass of snakes coiled throughout its crown. At the same time, she also spotted some unusual traces nearby.
'This seems to be... traces of a Basilisk?'
Helga bent down and picked up a handful of soil, quickly identifying the familiar presence within it.
The earth itself was her eyes. Through it, she could obtain information that ordinary people would never notice.
"Salazar really is cautious."
Helga could not help sighing in admiration.
When it came to preparing for resurrection, Salazar had done far more than Rowena.
Perhaps this was simply the survival instinct of an old-generation "Dark Wizard"?
Helga continued silently criticising both of her old friends.
As an unfamiliar intruder suddenly entering their territory, Helga naturally attracted the attention of the snakes.
As she approached, every serpent in the tree began growing restless, while faint noises came from deep beneath the roots.
"With defences this dense, most people who came here would never leave alive."
Helga's understanding of Salazar's caution was refreshed yet again.
He truly had made extensive preparations.
In this world, where he had already wiped out all the top-level combatants, there was practically nothing left capable of threatening Salazar's life.
Just as Helga prepared to suppress the snakes through gentler means, a series of hisses sounded from underground.
"Hiss, hiss. (There's no need to worry. She's one of us.)"
The agitation among the snakes temporarily subsided.
However, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of eyes remained fixed firmly on Helga, as though they might attack her at any moment.
A black-haired young man emerged from beneath the roots.
Only after he appeared did Helga notice that there was actually a narrow hole at the base of the tree, not even wide enough for a person to comfortably pass through. There seemed to be an underground space hidden beyond it.
The young man's skin was extraordinarily pale, so much so that the veins beneath his face were clearly visible. One glance was enough to tell that he had spent years without seeing sunlight.
He wore no clothes, only a layer of green hide wrapped around his waist.
Helga immediately recognised it as shed Basilisk skin.
'Salazar really does make full use of every part of a Basilisk.'
Helga muttered silently to herself.
As for the young man's face, Helga burst out laughing after just one glance.
He looked exactly like Salazar, only much younger.
He even appeared several years younger than the Salazar Helga had met in Egypt.
She had no idea whether Salazar had deliberately arranged this, or whether the gradual influence of his recovered memories had caused his reincarnated body to grow into the appearance of his previous life.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss. (It truly has been a long time, my friend.)"
The black-haired young man opened his mouth and spoke in a series of hisses.
____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI