In the next instant, Theodore's System Interface began flashing messages wildly.
You use the Eight-Nine Mystical Art to transform, breaking the Underworld Judge's inner demon.
Your relationship with the Underworld Judge improves.
You and the Underworld Judge become casual acquaintances.
Reward obtained — Talent: Netherland Blessing.
The Judge dwells year-round in the Netherlands; his every action is protected by Netherland providence.
Though you are not a Judge, with this talent you too may receive Netherland protection.
When entering the Netherlands, you will not be corroded—rather, you will be strengthened.
You and the Underworld Judge become close friends.
Reward obtained — Talent: Adjudge Soul, Sever Spirit.
A Judge's authority is to rule upon souls.
With a single stroke, the three souls and seven spirits may be decided.
One stroke may destroy a soul; one stroke may restore it.
Its might upon the path of souls is immeasurable.
With this talent, you too can adjudge souls. (Consumes mana / spiritual energy.)
Only then did joy appear in Theodore's eyes.
Netherland Blessing—for now, he couldn't tell what it would be used for.
But Adjudge Soul, Sever Spirit…
That was exactly what he needed.
With this talent, he could destroy only the soul fragment attached to the diadem—without damaging the diadem itself.
And later, if he obtained Slytherin's locket or Hufflepuff's cup, he could preserve those Founder relics intact as well.
Theodore had always felt that records of the Founders had been deliberately buried.
Even their exact times of death, locations, and graves were lost to history.
Yet despite that—despite the fact that the Founders, especially the first three to encounter misfortune—Slytherin, Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff—were clearly overwhelmed…
They still each left behind a relic.
There had to be meaning in that.
In the original story, aside from Gryffindor's sword appearing often and repeatedly saving the day, the other Founder relics barely appeared at all—and were destroyed before their full functions could ever be revealed.
Perhaps this time, Theodore could explore what lay beneath the surface.
Watching the Bloody Baron—still too ashamed to turn around—Theodore's eyes flickered with curiosity, and he asked in Helena Ravenclaw's voice:
"Baron… before Mother sent you to find me, what exactly happened in the castle?"
"Was anything strange going on?"
"I never asked you before, but… something about those years always felt wrong."
"Could you tell me in detail?"
The Baron's body trembled, as if something buried deep within his mind had been disturbed.
But since it was Helena—the woman he loved—asking, he did not hide anything.
"You know… not long after Hogwarts was founded, the four Founders seemed to fall into constant disputes."
"They spent day and night in the library, studying strange books from some unknown source. Their arguments grew more frequent—until Salazar Slytherin left."
"At least then, the conflict among the remaining three was still… manageable."
"But soon after you stole—took—the diadem…"
"The fights grew violent."
"And more and more strange things began happening in the castle."
"Godric Gryffindor went into the deep sea multiple times. Each time he returned, he became more unsettled—like his mind was slipping away."
"The last time, he left his sword at Hogwarts and went alone into the depths… and he never came back."
"The Forbidden Forest—back then it was only ordinary woodland—began to fill with a strange grey mist."
"Several students vanished in ways that made no sense."
"Helga Hufflepuff went deep into that mist. When she came back, she sealed the forest."
"And then one night… she left her cup behind, walked into the depths of the Forbidden Forest… and like Gryffindor, she never returned."
"Only Lady Rowena Ravenclaw…"
His voice shook.
"She still seemed lucid—but she was terribly ill…"
"I always felt she was resisting something horrific alone."
"She spent the last of her strength arranging countless protections across Hogwarts… until she simply couldn't hold on anymore."
"In the end, she begged me to bring you back—so she could see you one last time."
At that point, the Baron lowered his head in shame.
He had failed Lady Ravenclaw's final wish.
Not only did he fail to bring Helena back from Albania—
He had lost control, murdered her, and then killed himself.
For someone who valued reputation above all else in life, it was a sin that could never be washed away—even in a thousand years of death.
Listening to him, Theodore's pupils narrowed.
The pieces of information he had gathered so far… were beginning to connect.
History recorded that the Founders' disputes began over admissions and blood status, leading to Slytherin's departure.
But that didn't explain Gryffindor and Hufflepuff vanishing.
Could disagreements over policy truly escalate into that?
Now it seemed the philosophical disputes were merely what outsiders could see.
The true cause was likely tied to the mysterious Book of the Dead Madam Pince had once mentioned.
After coming into contact with it, the Founders began encountering something terrifying.
Slytherin chose to face it alone.
The remaining three relied on the diadem to resist.
But when Helena stole the diadem, everything worsened.
Gryffindor and Hufflepuff couldn't endure—whether they went to seal the threat or trace its source, they left their relics behind and departed Hogwarts.
Ravenclaw held on bitterly until the end, desperately wanting to see her daughter and recover the diadem—
And then the Baron failed her.
With those thoughts, Theodore looked at the Baron, still bowed in repentance, and asked another question in Helena's voice:
"Baron… before you left for Albania… did you already hate me?"
The Baron cried out.
"How could I?"
"How could I hate you?!"
Theodore's voice turned soft—almost ghostly.
"My mother was the smartest woman in the world."
"If she chose you to bring me back… she wouldn't have chosen wrongly."
"You—a noble of great renown, who values honor above all—"
"You didn't hate me. You only loved me…"
"So what was it…"
"What made you do what you did?"
"Baron, I'm not blaming you."
"I just want to know what truly happened."
The Bloody Baron fell silent for a long time, as if torn apart from within.
At last, he spoke.
"I know what I'm about to say will sound like an excuse."
"But I swear… every word is true."
"The night before Lady Ravenclaw ordered me to find you—when I was about to depart…"
"I had a dream."
"A terrifying dream… so vivid it felt like waking."
"I dreamed of a vast, dreadful shoreline—jagged rocks, black viscous seawater… a place that didn't feel like it belonged to this world."
"And in the distance… there was a city. Grand beyond imagination."
"On that beach, I heard echoes coming from that city…"
"The echo of R'lyeh."
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