As expected, it got long, so I’m splitting it and posting it ahead of schedule.
Chasing after the kidnapped Elena, I advance through the small side passage.
Even if that maid was leaking information, there wouldn’t have been enough time to dig this many holes beforehand, so I can only assume that there’s an Earth Magic user among the kidnappers.
Even with Sera’s companions keeping watch, they couldn’t investigate underground…
In the first place, there’s a shortage of manpower, which is why they’re even using kids like me. I heard that the Sera’s companion who was on Elena’s side this time was just a maid who wasn’t particularly skilled in stealth or detection, but only had some warrior skills to act as a meat shield.
Not everyone in the organization can have Sera’s high scouting skills, and most of them are probably spies who gather information. That’s why Sera tried to teach skills to an unknown child like me.
Even if they can contact the senior butler outside, it will take more than ten minutes to catch up. By then, I need to find Elena and hold them back by myself.
If they moved through such a delicate place, barely passable for a child or a slender woman, while carrying a child, then the opponent is either a scout or a Thief, or…
“…an Assassin.”
An Assassin who uses Magic is the worst opponent I can imagine. Even so, I have to chase them. But it’s not because it’s a job I took on.
After advancing through the underground equivalent of three houses, it suddenly turned into a vertical shaft. Using Stealth and Body Enhancement, I nimbly climbed the hole, using my fingers on the earthen wall. Peeking out of the hole while sensing for any presence, I saw a dirty man preparing to run away in a fluster.
So, he wasn’t alone. Maybe he’s just a looter, but I had already decided to attack.
“…【Feel】…”
As I chanted in my mind, the man turned around towards the entrance in surprise. In that instant, I jumped out and threw the two knives hidden in my sleeves.
“Gah!?”
The man, who lost his balance after receiving two knives in his back, was kicked in the legs and rolled over. I knelt on his back, as if kicking him, and pressed the Black Knife against his neck.
“Where are the woman and child who escaped?”
“…W-What are you!? I didn’t do anything… Gyaaah!”
I slashed the man’s neck to his back with the knife as he tried to play dumb, then pressed the knife against his neck again.
“I don’t have time for torture that can be healed with 【Heal】.”
As I threatened him and slid the knife across his neck, the man’s face turned pale in an instant.
“I-I was just getting paid to keep watch! Please spare me!”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“Gyaaaaah!”
This time, I stabbed the knife into his back and twisted it. Unable to bear the pain, the man started talking.
“That woman went to the right… no, to the left while carrying the child! There’s a carriage there!”
I twisted the knife even more when he changed his story so smoothly, and the man, realizing I was serious, hurriedly changed his words.
“Are there any other accomplices? If you lie, I’ll come back and kill you.”
“T-There’s no one else! They said there are companions outside the city! It’s not a lie!”
“I understand.”
Thud!
“Gah…”
I struck the handle of the knife against his head with my Body Enhanced hands, knocking the man unconscious.
I judged that it was useless to ask him any more questions. Besides, if I left him alive, Sera’s companions who caught up would be able to get more information and chase after them.
I retrieved the thrown knives and went outside, finding myself in a narrow, deserted back alley.
The man said they went to the left, but he initially said right. Just in case, I lowered my face close to the ground and Body Enhanced my eyes. I could see footprints going to the right, but I also found faint traces of footprints being erased on the left. I ran in that direction.
It was my first time in actual combat, but I was able to confirm the activation of 【Feel】.
This is a combined illusion Magic spell that I constructed with 【Dark Magic】, specifying the location with a “Dark Magic” spell and giving only the effect with “Dark Magic”.
The effect is simple, only giving the sensation of being “touched” at an “arbitrary location” on the target’s body. Since it’s not actually touching them, it can’t even move a leaf, but as a result of cutting down the composition as much as possible, the Mana consumption was suppressed to just 5.
Magic can be activated just by chanting the spell, but with Magical Arts, I have to assemble the composition in my mind, so it’s still difficult to use on the spur of the moment. But it can be used effectively in situations like this, and the consumption is low, so there will be many situations where I can use it once I get used to it.
“…This way, huh?”
I continued to track them, occasionally checking for footprints. There was only one set of footprints. They were walking carefully to avoid leaving footprints, but there were faint traces of shuffling footprints, as if they were readjusting a “load.”
I don’t know if Elena, who was being carried, was heavy, or if Elena was struggling, but considering that the person was a woman, I felt that she wasn’t very strong.
I assumed that the enemy was an Assassin, but why didn’t they kill Elena?
Sera guessed that the enemy was sent by a rival faction. If that’s correct, then the kidnapper’s goal is to take Elena back alive and use her.
If that’s the case, then they don’t need to be an Assassin. Considering her low strength, the opponent is probably not a combat-oriented person, but a Thief-type scout?
If so, she won’t be killed. I can assume that, but I should stop being naive and assume that they can kill her at any time if necessary.
Our victory objective is, first and foremost, Elena’s life, followed by her recapture. Defeating the enemy is not the goal.
I want to know the enemy’s identity, but that’s not my job, and it would be a disaster if I got the priorities wrong.
Even if the scout is not combat-oriented, the enemy will probably be a formidable opponent, stronger than a Hobgoblin. I ask myself why I’m taking such a risk to chase after them alone…
It’s not because it’s my job. I just… don’t want Elena to die.
I hammered the priorities into my head and ran through the back alley. In a slightly open space, I saw a carriage that a personal merchant would use.
“Found them.”
I confirmed a slender shadow outside, and saw golden hair from inside the carriage. While running, I flipped my skirt and pulled out several knives strapped to my leg.
＊＊＊
When Elena came to her senses, her mother’s elite education had already begun.
Having never felt the warmth of a mother, the young Elena continued to receive strict education, seeking only that warmth.
As a result, she acquired four Magic attributes and intelligence that rivaled that of an adult, but as a price, the attributes and strong Mana she acquired at the young age of four eroded her young body, making it impossible for her to run around with children of the same age.
Although it is not well known even among nobles, acquiring many attributes comes at the cost of the caster’s lifespan in exchange for gaining great power.
In Elena’s case, if she could grow into an adult body, she would be able to live normally, even if it would be difficult to bear children. But that was fatal for obtaining the throne, and her mother’s interest quickly shifted away from Elena.
What supported Elena, who had neither gained her mother’s warmth nor even lost her healthy body, was her older brother, the Crown Prince born to the Queen Consort.
A gentle brother who was calm and able to feel the pain of others. Elena adored him and became so attached to him that she felt he was the only one she could rely on. …Or so Elena pretended to be.
If she remained at the mercy of her mother, the country would one day be divided into the King’s Faction and the Aristocratic Faction. She was saved in part by the kindness of her brother, the Crown Prince, and personally held affection for him as a sibling, but her brother’s “kindness” was not the “strength” to unite the divided country.
Elena as she was would not have been able to reject the words of the Aristocratic Faction. That is why it was necessary to show both internally and externally that she was part of the King’s Faction, even to the point of acting out “attachment.”
The only people who know this fact at present are her father, the King, the former King and her grandparents, the Empress Dowager, and a few close aides, including her wet nurse.
If the Crown Prince was judged to be “weak” as the next King, Elena’s royal education continued without the knowledge of her mother, the Second Queen, in order to fulfill the role of “education” until the Crown Prince’s child came of age, and the role of “Queen” as the King’s proxy.
The result of the Second Queen’s education, which was intended to take the throne from the Queen Consort’s child, was that Elena was given the “intelligence” to think about the country’s peace, even to the point of betraying her mother.
The recuperation at Dandole this time was not to cool down Elena’s overzealous head, but a “rest” recommended by her father, who was concerned about Elena, who was adjusting the balance of the royal family at the young age of seven, not a recuperation.
The reason why Dandole was chosen as the place for her rest was because her cousin, Clara-san, was there.
Clara had lived in the Royal Capital for three years, from the age of three to six, during which time she visited the castle three days a week as Elena’s playmate.
Unlike other children, she neither fawned nor acted violently. Elena admired Clara, the Dandole princess one year her senior, like a true sister.
That’s why she came all the way to this place seeking her comfort, but Clara, whom she hadn’t seen in two years, seemed a little different.
You could call it a subtle “discomfort.”
Clara retained her gentle nature, but she also possessed knowledge that even Elena didn’t know. At first, Elena was happy to finally have someone she could talk to, but as they conversed, she felt as if she were talking to a “different person.”
The look in Clara’s eyes had changed from pure affection to a wary gaze. “Something” had happened to Clara. She was hiding it.
To find out what it was—honestly, because she wanted to return to their previous relationship—Elena forcefully scouted the maid who seemed to be the person Clara was wary of, just as Clara had looked at Elena.
It wouldn’t have mattered if she was different. Her pink-blonde hair was the same color as the hair depicted in the portrait of the previous Queen, and when she was younger, she secretly admired pink hair more than gold hair.
The name of that Pink-Haired Girl was Aria. Elena didn’t know her age, but if she were a commoner, she would be around 10 years old, and her appearance wasn’t much different from Elena’s, who was growing with Mana.
What was impressive was her eyes… Even Elena, who was used to seeing beautiful and glamorous people, thought she had a lovely face, but her emerald eyes held a strong power, as if she were facing something.
Her inner self was also different from that of an ordinary child. She was calm and cold beyond her years, yet she observed people meticulously, and when Elena wanted something, she immediately noticed and approached her.
Was it empathy…? Aria’s solitary existence gave Elena a sense of relief, making her feel that she was not “alone.”
Once, when another maid dropped something, Aria instantly moved to shield Elena, so she began to think that Aria might be one of the Shadow Unit’s “Combat Maids” she had heard rumors about.
As for Clara, it seemed that Aria was indeed the one she was concerned about, but before Elena could confirm Clara’s reaction, Clara distanced herself from Elena, perhaps because she had a trauma related to that hair color.
If that was the case, so be it. Right now, being with Aria was more stimulating, and it felt like her heart was coming back to life.
That’s why she felt like going shopping on her own for the first time in a while. But that was just carelessness.
Elena, who was supposed to be on the King’s side, was still the hope of the Aristocratic Faction. At the same time, as long as she was alive, she was nothing more than an obstacle to the noble families who wanted to establish a symbol to unite the new Aristocratic Faction.
Whether she was drugged or not, she instantly lost control of her body, and the maid who was with her collapsed and stopped moving. The culprit was the shop assistant who was supposed to take her measurements. The woman carried Elena, who could no longer move freely, and easily took her outside through a hole in the floor where the furniture had been removed.
Where did the information about Elena’s whereabouts leak from? She shouldn’t have hired any servants from the Aristocratic Faction, but perhaps the maid she saw betraying her on the way out had done it.
Elena glared at the maid whose eyes met hers, vowing not to forget her face, and tried to neutralize the poison by generating Light Mana from the Magic Stone in her heart and filling her entire body with it.
“Oh, you can move already? You’re quite talented, as expected.”
“…Aren’t you going to kill me?”
She had neutralized some of the poison, but her body still wouldn’t move. Elena could use Light Magic up to level 2 at this age, but even so, she couldn’t completely remove it with 【Treat】 if she didn’t know what kind of poison it was.
If they knew she could move even a little, it was better to gather information than to remain silent.
“The client doesn’t want you killed. Besides, I wouldn’t have accepted a job that involved killing, even through the Guild.”
The surprisingly talkative shop assistant smiled with her bright red lips and even winked. She wasn’t going to kill her. If she was someone who took jobs through the Guild, she must be an Adventurer or…
“…A Thief?”
“That’s right. We are not scouts who wag their tails for the country or lords, nor are we barbaric Assassins who can only kill. We are proud Thieves who have perfected our skills to the level of art.”
Someone from the Aristocratic Faction had commissioned the Thieves’ Guild. A Thief who had mastered infiltration and theft, unlike the scouts who fought Monsters or the Assassins who had mastered interpersonal combat, would be perfect for an abduction mission.
“It’s fun to talk to smart and cute girls, but please be quiet until we leave the city. I’m going to give you an additional dose of poison now, but you can resist if you want, okay? I’ll make it very painful for you.”
“…Ugh.”
Judging from her skill, it would be useless to resist. But if she was handed over to some noble in this state, she would probably be forced to sign something, have information extracted from her, and then be disposed of.
Her tongue was slightly numb, and she didn’t know if she could activate Magic. There was nothing she could do, but even so, when Elena glared at the Female Thief, the woman’s hand, looking delighted, was about to touch Elena when—
Clang!
“!!”
A single Knife pierced the carriage, as if slipping between the two of them.
Elena and the Female Thief’s eyes turned simultaneously to the direction from which it had flown, and Elena’s blue eyes reflected the figure of a Pink Hair girl wearing a black maid uniform.
“…Aria!”
We didn’t make it to the battle.
Next time: “Reclaiming the Princess, Part 2”
The next update is scheduled for Thursday, one day from now.