Yet despite Charle's low, eerie murmurs, Dak never showed himself.
Seeing this, Charle sighed regretfully, feeling as though he had missed out on a fortune.
But then he turned his gaze back to this incomparably real desolate shore.
The roiling black seawater, thick as petroleum, the jagged strange rocks, and the grayish-white sand all looked anything but ordinary.
Suddenly, an idea sprang into Charle's mind.
"Why not have a taste?"
He pinched his nose and found a puddle where the thick black seawater had gathered.
A mouthful of black seawater, reeking intensely of fishiness, went down his throat—and was actually converted by the Deep Blue System into a considerable number of Deduction Points.
"Deduction Points +200."
This was more than Charle could accumulate from who knew how many ordinary meals.
Yet here, all he had to do was take a sip of seawater.
And before Charle's eyes, an entire black ocean churned!
Charle took a deep breath, his eyes brimming with wild delight.
If he drank up the entire black ocean outside R'lyeh, how many Deduction Points would that be?
It would probably have to be counted in the hundreds of millions!
Then Charle reached out, and within this dream, the Wand—the only thing he had ever touched in reality—actually appeared in his hand.
As he recited the incantation, a high-frequency laser shot from the Wand's tip, effortlessly slicing a black strange rock into pieces.
Charle picked up a piece and tossed it into his mouth. A taste even more disgusting than seawater spread through his mouth.
But what followed was the pleasant notification from the Deep Blue System.
"Deduction Points +400."
Charle took a deep breath.
Going by this, the jagged rocky beach might contain even more convertible Deduction Points than that black ocean.
Even this outer region contained so many Deduction Points. Then what about the ancient city called R'lyeh at the end of the rocky shore?
If he ate that city, along with whatever was inside the central temple, how many Deduction Points would that yield?
And if he invested all those Deduction Points into the Lumos spell, what would the already-developed Eternal Blazing Sun Spell become?
Charle could no longer imagine it!
At that moment, none of the panic he had felt upon arriving remained. Instead, he felt as though he had come to some earthly paradise.
R'lyeh ×
Deep Blue's Cafeteria √
"Thank the Ancient Ones, thank the Great Old Ones, praise R'lyeh."
"Then I won't hold back."
The next moment, as if he were eating a baguette dipped in mushroom soup, Charle held black rock fragments in one hand, dunked them into the thick seawater with the other until they were coated, then shoved them into his mouth.
Notifications of Deduction Points increasing continuously rang out in Charle's mind.
After taking several bites out of Dak and gaining over thirty thousand Deduction Points,
Charle's total Deduction Points shot upward like a rocket, quickly surpassing fifty thousand again.
Anticipation appeared in his eyes as he asked Deep Blue in his mind.
"If I continue deducing the Lumos spell and keep upgrading the Eternal Blazing Sun Spell, roughly how many points will it take?"
Deep Blue gave him an answer.
"Based on the previous deduction process, the Eternal Blazing Sun Spell may have multiple upgrade paths ahead. For example, it could continue evolving toward a celestial body, increasing the density of the sphere fired by the spell, raising its energy level, and adding a powerful gravitational confinement effect."
"Another possibility is strengthening its energy emission effect, enhancing its lethality in a direction similar to a Gamma-ray burst."
"..."
"An estimated minimum of one million Deduction Points will be required."
If he had heard that number before, Charle would probably have cried out over how long it would take to save up.
But now, Charle only wanted to say—only one million?
If he could stay in R'lyeh, he could probably eat his way to over a million Deduction Points in a single day.
"Then I'll just add a new dish here—Gamma-ray burst-roasted Great Old Ones!"
But just as Charle excitedly imagined it, he was stunned to discover that the scenery of R'lyeh around him was rapidly receding.
He only had time to swallow one last huge mouthful of black rock fragments before he watched helplessly as R'lyeh vanished before his eyes.
His dream shattered, reality descended, and the place where Charle was came into view.
It seemed to be a hospital ward. The sheets, curtains around the bed, and window drapes were all clean white.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, making the room feel especially warm and bright.
But to Charle, none of it was worth even a strand of hair compared to R'lyeh's creepy, bizarre scenery.
Glorious Great Old Ones, mighty Great Old Ones.
Please, let me go back to R'lyeh one more time!
I admit I was talking a little too loudly just now. That Gamma-ray burst stuff does sound a bit scary.
But believe me! It's just like warming yourself by a little space heater in winter—very warm and comfortable. Believe me!
Charle sat up blankly in the hospital bed, his face full of grief and regret as he muttered softly.
"I'm such an idiot, truly. Such an idiot."
"I was so busy thinking about all that, why didn't I eat a few more bites?"
"Where else can I find a free Deep Blue buffet that doesn't even charge admission?!"
But while Charle was immersed in the grief of losing R'lyeh, Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Moody, Fudge, and the others from the Wizarding World standing beside his bed also showed expressions of sorrow as they watched him.
"Charle Evans, this child who had only just escaped death..."
"Has he gone mad?"
"Yes. We simply cannot imagine what kind of brutal torment he suffered at Dak's hands."
"Just now, while he was asleep, I heard him shouting Dak's name. He was even saying something about giving him another bite. That deranged dark wizard must have tortured him through starvation."
"Poor child. This is the Wizarding World's failure!"
Dumbledore sighed, drew the Elder Wand, and said softly.
"Let me use magic to calm him down for a while."
"After some rest and recovery, perhaps the shadow of this terrible ordeal will fade from his mind."
"Hogwarts will always have its doors open to you, child..."
A silver glow emerged from the Elder Wand's tip, like the light of a Patronus.
Simply seeing it gave one the feeling of being healed, of forgetting all one's worries.
Dumbledore slowly brought the Elder Wand closer to Charle and said softly.
"Sleep. Go back to sleep, Charle."
"Forget these terrible things you have experienced..."
The others also wore solemn expressions, as though praying for Charle, this pitiful child who had been caught up in a horrifying incident.
But when the Elder Wand's glow drew near him, Charle had already recovered from the sorrow of losing R'lyeh.
Or rather, a new idea had replaced his longing for R'lyeh.
This old bearded man in front of him had to be Dumbledore.
Then the Wand in his hand must be the legendary Deathly Hallows—the Elder Wand, said to possess incomparable magical power.
In Original Harry Potter, even when Voldemort clashed spells with the Elder Wand, he had to suffer as a single Expelliarmus rebounded his Killing Curse.
The magical power of this item was absolutely the pinnacle of the Wizarding World.
So what if...
he took a bite?
How many Deduction Points would that be?
Thus, in the shocked gazes of everyone in the ward, Charle opened his mouth and bit down on the Elder Wand.
The spell Dumbledore had been preparing vanished completely from the shock of Charle's sudden action.
"???"
"How long has he been starving? He's so hungry that he's chewing on a Wand?!"
"Dak, look from hell at what you have driven this poor child into with your sinful soul!"
Before you continue