50
Come to think of it, since that chaos happened in the salon…
Riette and Cedric would have noticed my disappearance right away and by now they would surely be searching for me.
Prometil also seemed to be saying that…
‘Will it really be soon?’
I don’t remember exactly how I was kidnapped since I was unconscious, but seeing that there haven’t been any signs so far, it doesn’t seem like someone is immediately pursuing the escape trail.
But Prometil was confident.
[Trust me.]
Since he says so, what can I do? I have no choice but to trust him.
I kept watching the man who was still frozen motionless while slowly wiggling my body.
I felt anxious and restless thinking that crazy bastard might come to his senses at any moment.
‘Sigh. Anyone is fine, so please hurry…’
I wish someone would come.
The moment I had that wish, Cedric came to mind reflexively. That guy is also looking for me… right?
“…Come quickly.”
I curled up my body while grumbling resentfully for no reason.
* * *
It was something that happened while his guard was down for just a moment.
‘Damn it!’
Lionel, who had been vaguely outlining traces of Seraphium’s activities, had already anticipated hands reaching out toward Edgar.
Count Lowell was worried about how avatars all ended up badly, but the real problem to worry about was something else.
So he had given Count Lowell advance notice and the members of the merchant group including himself had taken turns secretly watching Edgar.
And today, when he said he was going out with his friends, Lionel followed… and sure enough, an incident broke out.
Lionel, who had revealed that he came for escort purposes without Edgar knowing and had entered the mansion, was in panic and barely pushed through the crowd moving without order before heading to the terrace.
But only Cedric and Riette were there, and in that brief moment, Edgar and whoever had attacked him had vanished without a trace.
“That’s Eddie’s!”
Riette screamed. The brooch in Cedric’s hand seemed to be something Edgar had dropped when the pin fell off during his resistance.
“What, what should we do? What happened to Eddie…”
“Miss, please calm down first.”
Lionel first comforted the distraught Riette. Only then did Riette and Cedric turn to look at Lionel.
“…Who are you?”
“I’m called Lionel, vice-leader of the Lowell merchant group. I followed for the young master’s security purposes to prevent this kind of thing from happening… I’m deeply ashamed.”
Then earnestness appeared in Riette’s eyes.
“Find Eddie. Can you find him?”
“Yes, absolutely. First, I’ll deploy people…”
That’s when something caught Lionel’s eye.
A small rod stuck in the terrace floor.
It was an object that didn’t quite fit this place, and it looked familiar somehow. Just as he was about to go closer and examine it.
“This is…”
“A location transfer magic tool.”
Lionel looked at Cedric, who had answered the identity of this object instead of him.
Cedric, who took a shaky breath, seemed to have barely regained his composure.
“That’s correct. You know it well.”
It wasn’t easy to immediately notice what kind of magic tool it was just by seeing traces of its use… Was this a young master who usually had a lot of interest in this area?
While Lionel harbored such curiosity, Cedric glanced at him and touched the rod. Immediately after, characters that appeared to be ancient language appeared in a circle around the rod.
This ancient language was ‘coordinates.’
In other words, it was a record showing where the person who used this location transfer magic tool had moved to, so anyone who could interpret ancient language could immediately figure out where the user had arrived.
“They did something stupid.”
Lionel muttered.
Actually, unless someone had delved into divine artifacts and ancient language as much as he had, there were virtually no people who could interpret it, so it was more like a mistake than stupidity.
‘The place they moved to is…’
Just as Lionel was about to read the transfer coordinates.
“You said Lionel, right?”
Cedric stood up from his seat.
“I’m going down to Kibne Village first, so you contact Count Lowell and organize a few more soldiers or whatever to follow.”
As Lionel’s gaze followed him, he left only a brief command and exited the salon first.
“Wait, Cedy!”
“Ret, it’s dangerous so don’t follow me.”
“What?”
Riette’s flustered cry echoed through the now quiet salon. Cedric had left without looking back.
Lionel immediately agreed and followed while internally panicking.
‘How did he interpret the ancient language?’
Kibne Village.
That was exactly the location the ancient language had indicated.
* * *
I don’t know how much time has passed since then.
Being alone in this dark space with nothing to do, just staring blankly with my eyes open, I felt like my senses were disappearing.
From what I can feel, quite a bit of time seems to have passed… Are they really looking for me? Why hasn’t anyone come yet? Could it be that they are searching but haven’t discovered this location?
‘Ugh…’
I’m hungry and thirsty. Maybe because I’ve been lying on a hard surface for a long time, my body is starting to ache.
The man… still wasn’t moving. He was sitting in exactly the same position as before without any movement, and sometimes he didn’t seem alive, which was creepy.
I was also scared that he might suddenly move.
‘God, god.’
[Why are you calling me, honey.]
‘…How long are you going to keep saying honey?’
[Would you prefer darling?]
‘……’
[I’m joking. Why did you call?]
Sigh.
‘Everyone is looking for me, right?’
[They would be.]
‘Can’t you just tell me for certain?’
[There’s nothing ‘certain’ in this world.]
…What very sage-like words.
I was quietly swallowing a small sigh when it seemed like someone was calling my name from outside, saying Eddie.
“…!”
The only people who would call me that are Cedric and Riette. I concentrated all my senses on my ears to hear the sounds outside accurately.
“……”
I think I hear footsteps too…
Or maybe not… I’m not sure.
‘Was it just auditory hallucination?’
I dragged my body a little closer to the door. In the process, my body bumped into wooden boxes stacked in the warehouse, making noise.
Thud…
At that moment, twitch. I felt subtle movement from the man who had been motionless.
‘Gasp.’
My chest felt chilled and I even stopped breathing while closely watching the man. The man’s body was intermittently flinching and trembling.
[…Oh no. Time has been quite delayed.]
Prometil muttered in a low voice.
‘Is it because of me?’
[No. If he can break out of the illusion with that level of noise, it means he was already at his limit… it would have happened soon anyway.]
From then on, cold sweat started running down my spine.
‘What should I do? Cast magic one more time?’
[No, that won’t work. Something might happen to your body. People who have already been under an illusion develop immunity, so even if I cast it again, the effect won’t last as long as before.]
“Ugh… ugh, ugh.”
The man was stirring and making strange moans as if trying to wake up from deep sleep. My heart was beating so loudly that my head felt dizzy.
“Ahhh!”
Finally, the fully awakened man screamed while grabbing his head, then raised his face. Red bloodshot veins were spread through his pupils.
Without realizing it, I swallowed a sharp scream into my mouth.
Then, once more.
“Eddie! Where are you!”
This time I heard it clearly.
Cedric’s voice.
“Fuck, again, again?”
Around that time, the man who had gotten up while staggering and holding a knife handle stepped closer.
“How many more times do I have to kill you…”
“…!”
“Must feel refreshing, huh?”
He was muttering incomprehensible words while waving his arms around like a madman.
“Ce, Cedy… ugh.”
I somehow twisted my uncomfortable tied body and moved closer to the door, leaning against it.
I used my back to pound on the door with all my strength.
“I’m here! I’m here! Save me!”
Bang bang, the door shook violently. The man watching my desperate struggle smiled wickedly and raised his blade.
“This time for sure… I’ll kill you.”
Following that, with a tap sound of stepping on the floor, the blade flashed in the darkness. Just as I inhaled in my confused state of mind.
“Eddie!”
My back that had been leaning against the door tilted backward and my vision went white. While squinting at the blinding light, I heard the man’s scream followed by noisy commotion.
By the time I barely managed to compose myself, I felt urgent yet gentle hands wrapping around my shoulders.
“Eddie! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
The one who ran to my side, knelt down and met my eye level was Cedric. With a body trembling more than mine, constantly asking if I was okay, with that long-awaited voice.
“Sorry for being late. I’m sorry.”
…I had endured well.
The moment I faced that expression, tears burst out without me realizing it.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
