Here begins Part 2, Chapter 3.
Once upon a time… well, not so long ago, about fifty years in the past.
From the eastern great power, the Kingdom of Claydale, a single girl visited the western great power, the Calfaan Empire.
Among the Calfaan Empire’s people, with their dusky, tanned skin, her pure white skin was rare, and even more so, her vibrant, never-before-seen ‘pinkish-blonde hair’ caught the eyes of many.
The war between the Evil Race and humans, which had lasted nearly a century, came to an end with the defeat of the Evil King.
People, though wounded, felt the arrival of a new era, and as a harbinger of such peaceful times, the Crown Prince of the Calfaan Empire went to the Kingdom of Claydale for study abroad. Among the Crown Prince’s party, who returned after a year of studying abroad, was the figure of that girl.
Having traveled as an exchange student with only a few attendants, she was of the Melrose House lineage, renowned as an old royal family even in the Kingdom of Claydale, and the nobles of the Empire rumored that the Crown Prince had brought her back from his study abroad as a candidate for his consort.
The one who was heartbroken by such rumors was the Archduke’s Daughter, the Crown Prince’s fiancée, who had been waiting for his return from studying abroad.
Entering the Empire’s noble academy, the Pink-Haired Girl caused minor problems due to differences in culture and customs, and the Archduke’s Daughter, envying and jealous of her, clashed with the Pink-Haired Girl repeatedly, even hurling unkind words at her.
Because of that, discord arose in her relationship with her fiancé, the Crown Prince, and the Archduke’s Daughter was hurt, unable to be honest. But the one who understood her feelings more than anyone else was the Pink-Haired Girl.
At the same time, to avenge his father’s killer, the prince of the Evil Race Nation infiltrated the Calfaan Empire alone, seeking to assassinate the Emperor and Crown Prince.
In response, the Crown Prince and his attendants, along with the Archduke’s Daughter and the Pink-Haired Girl, joined hands while bickering, repelling the prince of the Evil Race Nation in a battle at the noble academy, and the two girls became irreplaceable friends.
Many sons of high-ranking nobles whispered their love to the Pink-Haired Girl, who had protected the Crown Prince and demonstrated her worth. If she had wished, she could have become one of the Crown Prince’s consorts. However, the girl chose the young man who was the Crown Prince’s childhood friend and attendant, whom he had also taken with him on his study abroad.
It seemed that the two had been communicating their feelings since their study abroad, even though they couldn’t put it into words due to their different positions. Thereupon, the Crown Prince took it upon himself to allow the princess of the high-ranking noble Melrose House to study abroad.
And the Archduke’s Daughter married the Crown Prince as she had wished and became the Empress, while the Pink-Haired Girl married the young man who was a Viscount and attendant, and several years later, they were blessed with a daughter.
The attendant’s and girl’s beloved daughter… a girl with fair, tanned skin and reddish-pink hair, grew beautifully by the time she entered the noble academy. The Archduke’s Daughter, who had become the Empress and had known the girl since she was a child, also successfully had a son and plotted to have her friend’s daughter marry her son and become the Crown Princess.
Many young men were captivated by the girl’s beauty and mysterious charm, inherited from her mother.
The new Crown Prince, who was her childhood friend, also thought well of the girl, but many high-ranking noble families disapproved of the Viscount’s daughter, and numerous obstacles lay ahead.
At that time, the former Evil Race prince, who had officially become the Evil King, invaded the Empire again.
Nearly twenty years had passed since the last time, but for the long-lived Evil Race, it was not enough time for his heart to change.
He had not come to attack the Emperor or Crown Prince. The last time, when he was repelled, he had fallen in love with the Pink-Haired Girl who had understood him, and unable to forget her, he appeared again to fulfill his desire.
When her mother, who was as beautiful as ever, was about to be kidnapped, the girl, along with the Crown Prince and her childhood friends, confronted the Evil King.
During that time, the girl learned of the Evil King’s clumsy and pure feelings, healed his heart, and by communicating their feelings to each other, the girl chose to marry the Evil King.
And as time passed—
A young boy who had heard about his grandmother’s friend’s daughter who had married into the Evil Race Nation set out on a journey to survive, and he met the prince of the Evil Race Nation, who had left his homeland for the same reason, in a desert town.
—Plink.
I wake up to the sensation of a drop of water falling on my cheek in the dim darkness.
“…………”
Where is this…? Almost no light in the dimness. Stone walls and a plaster ceiling barely visible… The temperature, which even feels chilly, and the high humidity, such as the water dripping from the ceiling, are clearly different from the desert.
“—Ugh.”
I grimace at the pain that runs through my entire body as I try to move, and I glare into the darkness.
The last memory I have is of fighting the Evil Race Army’s female commander in a one-on-one battle and ending in a mutual defeat.
This is probably some kind of dungeon… What happened to the battle after that? Why didn’t that Evil Race woman kill me? When I try to move my body again, the chain extending from the wall and wrapped around my arm makes a slight noise.
“—You’ve come to?”
A voice released from somewhere reaches my ears. When I sharpen my senses again at that voice, I notice that there is a faint presence other than myself in this dungeon-like space.
I hadn’t noticed it because its life force was weak. But there is a force of will in that voice, and I turn my consciousness towards the owner of that familiar voice from beyond the iron bars of the dungeon where I am.
“…Jesha?”
“That’s right. I’ve survived disgracefully… Aria.”
To my question, the owner of the voice—Jesha, the Adventurer’s Guild leader of the Hoglos Company—leaked a slightly self-deprecating voice. I thought she was dead, but we both survived… It seems that I have been treated enough to be able to speak, though only to stop the bleeding.
“What happened?”
“…Nothing much. I tried to stop the Monster Stampede, and the Evil Race and Earth Dragon appeared and blew everything away. Jilgun… that guy risked his life to let me escape, but in the end, I’m in this mess.”
“I see…”
She seems to have recovered to some extent and answers my question.
The Guild’s Adventurers were half-destroyed by a single blow of breath released by the Earth Dragon. Jesha and the elites, including Jilgun, were supposed to confront the Earth Dragon, but half of them were unable to fight with the first breath, and at that point, Jesha ordered a retreat, but it was already too late, and Jilgun became a decoy to let her escape and disappeared into the flames.
Even so, Jesha, who had been injured in the first attack, could not escape and was thrown in here, only because she was one of the town’s notables.
Jesha seems to have lost consciousness as well, but she woke up about two days earlier than me.
“Where is this?”
“Ah, you don’t know? It’s my first time seeing it too, but this is an Evil Race Army fortress.”
“Fortress…?”
“From Cutlass Town where we were, I had only heard rumors that there was a forward base of the Evil Race Army on the other side of the ancient ruins, Lace Veil. It was just something that the scouting party saw many decades ago, so it was dubious… but it seems it was true.”
A forward base of the Evil Race Army, huh. It seems the situation is not very good.
The opposite side of the ancient ruins means that in order to return to Cutlass Town, we have to cross the ancient ruins, which are about the size of a small country, or walk endlessly through the empty desert. To do that, we need to break through the Evil Race’s encirclement, and even if we can return, Cutlass Town will probably be occupied by the Evil Race Army.
But, I won’t give up. If I have life, I can do anything.
I’ve been living like that until now. This situation is no different from the “survival” I’ve been doing so far.
Then, first of all, I need to get information.
“Why were we put here? I don’t see any guards either…”
“I only saw a guard once the day before yesterday. I don’t know why we’re being kept alive. More than that, if we’re prisoners, they should at least give us food.”
Perhaps she has regained some energy while talking to me, who is in the same situation, and there is a little vitality in Jesha’s voice.
“I also tried to do something with my feminine wiles, but the Dark Elf bastards aren’t interested in women of different races. They’re weird to be dealing with beautiful girls like us.”
“I see…”
Perhaps Jesha just wanted to complain, and after saying what she wanted to say, she fell silent to conserve her energy, as she was injured like me.
I feel like the meaning is somewhat different, but it’s convenient if there are no guards.
Judging from the condition of my stomach, it’s been three or four days since I got into this situation. I feel hungry, but we, who are Rank 4 Adventurers, won’t die from fasting for a few days.
Mana Particles are a nutrient for the creatures of this world, and it is said that high-ranking Mystic Beasts can live on Mana Particles alone. Unlike the world that woman, who is the basis of my knowledge, was in, this world chooses not to feed high-ranking prisoners in order to reduce their HP. If they didn’t do that, they wouldn’t even be able to transport them safely.
“…………”
Currently, my Mana Capacity and HP are both about half… It’s only manageable because my base HP is high, but in this situation, I can’t expect any further recovery even if I absorb the surrounding Mana Particles.
I also check the condition of my body. My stomach was stabbed with a sword, but the wound didn’t reach my internal organs. If even one of the vital organs had been damaged, I might have died. Judging from the sensation in my limbs, there are no missing parts or severed nerves.
“…(Cure)…”
I consume my meager Mana to begin regenerating my body.
I judged that 【Heal】 wouldn’t be enough to cure me, so I used 【Cure】. Normally, it’s Magic that only heals a small area where you touch it with your hand, but with my current Mana Control level, I can now heal the area I focus on.
I heal the areas around my abdomen where I was hit by arrows and the tendons in my limbs. The Evil Race Army is too careless. Logically, when interrogating high-ranking individuals, they should weaken them before dealing with them, but don’t think you can stop me with such common sense.
I can heal the fine surface wounds later. My HP can’t be recovered any further in the current situation, so there’s no need to use 【Heal】.
My wrists are connected by chains extending from the left and right walls, but my feet are free. Judging from the feel, my main weapon, the Knife, the throwing Knife holder strapped to my thigh, the boots with Blades hidden in them, and the gauntlets have been taken, leaving me barefoot and empty-handed, but the rest of my equipment remains.
My feet are free, but the chains binding my hands are too thick to be torn apart with brute force, even with the Iron Rose.
Looking at the shackles on my wrists using Night Vision, there are no keyholes, and they are tightly fastened with something like bolts. Anyone with some tools could remove them, but in the current situation, they are more troublesome than locks.
I focus my Body Enhancement and put strength into my arms to check the recovery of my wounds. The wedges driven into the wall don’t budge, but I support my weight with my arms alone, lift my body upside down, and take out a ceramic bottle and a Hidden Weapon from my Shadow Storage.
“…………”
Still upside down, I grab the ceramic bottle with my toes and carefully remove the lid. Then, using my foot, I gently pour the oil from the ceramic bottle onto the bolts of the shackles.
It’s not as pliable as the one the Female Thief I fought before used, but I can do this much. I drip oil on both shackles and insert the Hidden Weapon pinched between my toes into the gap in the bolts, gradually shifting them over time.
From here on, it’s a battle of mental strength. I don’t make any noise during the work. I just insert the Hidden Weapon into the gap and repeat the process of shifting it little by little endlessly.
Thanks to my high Dexterity stat, the bolts have loosened considerably after what feels like half an hour of work. I continue to turn the bolts, using my toes as well, and after about an hour, I finally manage to pull one wrist out of the shackle.
I lightly move my right arm, which is finally free. There is some pain, but no major problems. Now that I can use one arm, I can remove the shackle on my left arm in half the time.
(…Good)
“Hey, what’s going on?”
Jesha, on the opposite side, notices me suddenly standing up and starting to drink pills and Water I took out from my Shadow Storage, and calls out to me in a bewildered tone.
“Why are the shackles off?”
“I took them off.”
“…Huh?”
I hear an even more confused voice.
“If I can take them off, I’ll take them off, right?”
“Haaah!?”
“Noisy.”
While opening the iron bars with the lock-picking skills I learned from Viro as a scout, I couldn’t help but frown at Jesha, who raised his voice.
I dripped oil on the hinges as well, opened the door silently, and was about to walk out when Jesha called out to me in a rare, flustered voice.
“Aria, take off my shackles too!”
“Not yet. Jesha, you don’t have Stealth Skill, do you?”
“What is it—Agh!?”
I flick a pill with my finger and slam it into Jesha’s mouth, who was about to raise his voice again.
“It’s a nutritional supplement pill. You can lick the water droplets dripping from the ceiling to recover your HP, so wait quietly. I’ll go check things out.”
“Hey!?”
Even if I get out of the dungeon, it would be difficult to escape even if I released Jesha if there were a thousand soldiers on the upper floors. At the very least, it was dangerous to make a big move without confirming the strength of this fort and the surrounding situation.
Besides, I also have questions. Why did they imprison me in such a careless way?
Did they just treat me as a mere prisoner? It’s a terrible environment for treating ordinary prisoners, but leaving me without even silencing me in a world with Magic is too lenient.
The walls of the dungeon should have some measures against Earth Magic, but an ordinary Magician could escape from shackles like these if they were prepared to crush their arms.
My current weapons are a set of Pendulums stored in my Shadow Storage, several Hidden Weapons borrowed from my master, and a Knife each from Feld and Sera.
I’m barefoot and empty-handed, but I also have Magic and poison, and a Crossbow with only a dozen arrows.
Even if my main weapon is taken away, my combat power won’t decrease that much. If there are few soldiers in this fort and there is no meaning in keeping me alive—
“I’ll assassinate them all.”
I use Stealth to make sure there are no other prisoners, and then move to the upper floor.
I don’t know if it’s day or night outside, but it’s dark because there are no windows in the fort. It’s possible that the dungeon is on the lowest floor of a multi-story basement, but it’s perfect for hiding.
When I move to the upper floor, I encounter soldiers several times. The familiar black armor confirms that they are indeed from the Evil Race Army. Each time, I cling to the ceiling and wait for the soldiers to pass.
Don’t rush. Don’t panic. There’s no need to kill them easily and cause a commotion.
From the looks of it, there aren’t many soldiers. Most of them are probably still stationed in Catlas. For the same reason, there are few high-ranking soldiers. If my HP and equipment were in perfect condition, I could probably just escape.
As I explore the dimly lit fort, I hear voices arguing from somewhere.
I don’t understand the content, but I can predict the appearance of the target to some extent from the tone and pitch of the voices. They are arguing, but it doesn’t feel like soldiers are fighting each other. From the way both of them are suppressing their emotions, they are likely to be commanders in this fort.
Commanders and leaders don’t necessarily have to be high-ranking, but high-ranking warriors and Magicians sometimes hold high positions on the battlefield.
There’s no need to approach such an opponent, but after waiting for a while, one of the voices heads towards me.
“…………”
Waiting for several tens of seconds… Just from the way he walks and the sound of his footsteps, I can tell that the person has a certain amount of combat power.
There’s no need to make a move. It’s enough to just check the enemy’s strength.
But the moment the person approaches, I let go of the beam I was clinging to on the ceiling and attack from behind.
“What!?”
A man in a uniform that looks like an officer of the Evil Race Army reacts in surprise, and I parry the man’s elbow strike with my hand while kicking the man’s chin with my knee.
I push him down as he is and stomp on his throat with my bare foot to crush his voice, while pointing a Crossbow at the man’s face.
“Since when did you become the enemy? Camille.”
Thank you!
What will happen to Aria and Camille?
Next time, the stage will move to the Calfaan Empire.
The story at the beginning is the same as the content of the second and third games of the Otome Game that existed in the past. The Heroine is the same in the first and second games, but the setting is different. No one has chosen the prince yet…