#77
First, it was important to escape from the palace. I briefly considered who might help me get out of the palace, but not a single face came to mind. Despite visiting the palace frequently when I was younger, I’d been at odds with the palace employees and never had proper conversations with the guards or other royals.
In the end, all I could rely on were my own legs and my knowledge of the palace’s layout. I firmly gripped the sword in my hand and moved as quickly as possible. Fortunately, I’d been able to move without major issues so far.
“Phew…”
Before I knew it, I had passed the guard training grounds. Now came the problem. Beyond this point were the palace residences where the princes lived, and I needed to navigate past these buildings to reach the main gate.
The corridor connecting the training grounds to the other palace buildings was open on both sides. Along the corridor were flowers as tall as a person, blooming in profusion. Any other time, it would have been a sight to lose oneself in. From a security standpoint, decorating with such large flowers wasn’t a good choice, but they must have considered it acceptable since royalty rarely passed through here.
Just then, I spotted guards walking in formation in the distance. I quickly hid myself among the flowers. Though my body was hidden, it would be disastrous if I bumped into them. I held my breath as I watched the guards pass by.
In that moment, my eyes met with someone walking alongside the guards. I had to restrain my immediate impulse to grab his hand. I couldn’t understand why he was even here.
Rikin, who was walking with the guards, stopped and stared directly at where I was hiding.
“Is something wrong?”
A guard walking beside him asked.
“There’s something strange here.”
Something strange? I wanted to shout in protest, but I couldn’t. I wanted to retreat deeper into the flower bed, but that might cause the flowers to rustle, which would be problematic. Instead, I lowered my head while trying my best not to disturb the flowers.
“I’ll check it out and catch up. Please go ahead.”
“Will you be alright?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine.”
The other guards nodded at Rikin’s words and entered the training grounds. It was clear that the perceptive Rikin had noticed something. I couldn’t understand why someone who should be at school was here.
Just as I was about to dispel my magic and ask Rikin what was going on, the sword fastened at his waist swung quickly over my head. I had no idea when he’d drawn it. If I had been standing, my body would have been cut in two.
“Come out.”
Rikin called out with murderous intent to whoever was hiding. The tip of his sword touched precisely near my neck. Even if I had cast an invisibility spell, someone sensitive to magical energy would notice the faint traces of magic floating in the air. But even so, they shouldn’t know exactly where I was. I was newly impressed by just how remarkable Rikin was.
I slowly dispelled the magic cast on my body. Rikin’s fierce eyes gradually filled with shock.
“What? Ana?”
Rikin quickly withdrew his sharp blade. Then he swiftly knelt in front of me. He must have thought we might be seen by others if we talked while standing. I let out a small sigh and brushed off the leaves and flowers that had fallen on my head.
“How did you get here? I didn’t hear any news about you entering the palace?”
“I was kidnapped.”
“Kidnapped?”
Not only had I suddenly appeared, but I was also saying something completely unexpected—Rikin was so surprised he could barely speak.
“And what about you, Rikin? What brings you to the palace? Is something happening?”
“No, they urgently requested additional security from the temple. They’re short-handed, so I came to help.”
If they were assigning work to a minor who wasn’t even an adult yet, something significant must be happening. The temple must be where the sword’s body was. I tightly gripped the sword in my hand.
“What do you mean, kidnapped? And that sword—”
“There’s no time to explain. I need to get out of the palace.”
I deeply felt the limits of what I could do. Just because I had the sword didn’t mean I could storm the temple to rescue him. According to Rikin, the temple was under strict surveillance with additional guards. If I went there, I’d only be doing Yaksi a favor.
First, I needed to get outside and seek help from the Duke or Persis. With that in mind, just as I was about to persuade Rikin again, my head became dizzy. Losing my balance, I fell straight into Rikin’s arms. As soon as Rikin touched me to catch me, my vision blurred.
My sight then captured the dark space beneath the temple that I had seen just before. People were gathered, exchanging opinions. Though I couldn’t hear the sound, some seemed to be losing their temper. I also saw Yaksi urgently entering the space. She was moving her arms dramatically while explaining something to the people.
One of them extended his hand over the glass tube where he was trapped. As his palm touched the glass tube, the black ring he wore began to glow red. Suddenly, I felt all the magical energy inside my body being drained at once. This wasn’t the sword’s magical energy. It felt like the magical energy I had been continuously using to maintain the connection with the sword was being pulled away.
It felt like someone was roughly digging into my insides. As I opened my mouth to scream, my breath was choked with a “kuk” sound.
The sword was awakening.
“Ana!!”
“Kuk.”
As soon as I heard Rikin calling me, I was forcibly returned to my body. I could no longer hold the sword. I continued coughing without even properly checking the sword that had fallen to the ground. It felt like my throat was burning up. It was as if someone had been strangling me tightly and then let go. My shrunken lungs were screaming for air, but every time air entered my body through my bronchi, it felt like someone was stabbing my throat with an awl.
“Ana! Are you okay!?”
I clutched Rikin’s arm tightly with my trembling hands. This dizziness was incomparable to what I felt during the seminar. Back then, I had also felt magical energy draining, but not to this extent. I struggled to maintain my body, which felt like it could give out at any moment. There was no time to lose consciousness. I stared at Rikin with wide eyes.
“We need to go to the temple.”
“What?”
“Right now.”
At that moment, a loud boom was heard from a distant part of the palace. There was the sound of something breaking, and a black light shot high into the sky.
I had seen that light before. In the original story, when the Duke first used the demonic sword after stabbing Andelion in the stomach, it caused a similar phenomenon. It was like a flare signaling the awakening of demonic power.
* * *
Though he must have had many questions, Rikin didn’t ask me anything and accompanied me to the temple. Unlike Rikin, who had received permission to enter the palace, I had entered without authorization—even if I had been kidnapped—and there was no record of my entry, which could cause problems. But there was no choice. It could be quickly resolved if we contacted the Duke’s residence, but there was no time for that.
I considered using the remaining power in the sword to cast an invisibility spell, but the area in front of the temple would be crowded with people from the imperial palace anyway. Among them, there would surely be at least one person who could detect magic like Rikin could.
The sight of the temple appeared in the distance. The black light that had pierced the white building had long since disappeared. Part of the temple’s ceiling had collapsed, leaving a large hole. From above, it would look as if a large hole had been created by the black light shooting up from below.
This was all as I had predicted. What was different was that the imperial knights, who should have entered the temple to subdue whoever was causing the anomaly, were guarding the front of the temple along with the holy knights.
Faced with this unexpected scene, I stopped before reaching the front of the temple.
“What is this…?”
The answer to Rikin’s question came from a nobleman who was arguing with the knights. A nobleman who had entered the palace for business was pointing at the temple and shouting loudly.
“No, how can you say nothing’s wrong when it’s all collapsed like that?!”
“We have everything under control, Baron, so you need not worry.”
“Talk sense! How can you say it’s under control when things are like this! Shouldn’t you be issuing an evacuation order right now?!”
There had been quite a number of knights entering the training grounds earlier, but the fact that so many knights were here meant they had been deployed even before the light rose from the temple. As if they had anticipated this event.
I tightly gripped the sword, which I had wrapped with the cloth Rikin had given me. I could still feel a small line connecting to him inside the sword. It hadn’t been completely severed yet. But it was so faint that it wouldn’t be strange if it broke at any moment.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
