Chapter 113
It was dizzying.
How long had it been since she’d been in such a pinch?
‘Ha, seriously.’
Erica barely managed to open her eyes.
She couldn’t gauge how long she had been unconscious.
Starting with her vision, her bodily senses slowly began returning.
Clang―
She instinctively tried to move her hands, but they were bound to something and wouldn’t budge.
What followed next was a chill and pain.
Erica was locked in a prison made entirely of stone, and it was clear at a glance that her condition was far from normal.
Her clothes were torn in places, and blood still flowed from her right arm and leg.
When Erica had faced off against Princess Arte, she resisted as much as possible but was ultimately captured.
Caught in a trap she hadn’t noticed, Erica couldn’t properly wield her sword or cast her magic.
Judging that escape was impossible, she resisted to her utmost, but it wasn’t enough in her state.
Having been captured by Princess Arte, Erica was subjected to interrogation disguised as torture.
Her greatest fear had been having her mind invaded through magic, but fortunately, no such mage was present.
Thanks to that, Erica endured the physical torture and, to this point, hadn’t uttered a word.
‘Hoo…’
Despite the agony coursing through her body, Erica gritted her teeth and focused.
There was no way she could escape here alone with her own strength.
Initially, she had tried to escape.
She thought that once her strength returned, she might have a chance, even though she had been rendered powerless by either poison or magic.
But it proved to be futile.
The chains binding Erica’s hands and feet completely blocked the flow of mana.
As a result, she couldn’t do anything at all.
‘It’s humiliating, but…’
Even as she bit her lip, Erica allowed a faint smile to emerge.
She had really hoped not to resort to this, not unless it was a last resort.
Although her captors had thoroughly searched her body and confiscated all her weapons, they hadn’t removed the magical artifact embedded within her.
Erica’s focused senses identified the artifact implanted in her abdomen.
Drawing upon her remaining mana, Erica began activating the artifact in her abdomen.
When she had it implanted initially, she had sworn she would never need to use it.
The small communicator hidden in Erica’s abdomen was a sort of emergency device created by Ryu Yeong and the captains for situations like this.
Once mana was injected into it, it would send a signal to the connected communicator, regardless of distance.
It was part of the emergency communication system established at Yuria’s suggestion after the current leadership structure of the four captains had been established.
As she felt the mana successfully activating the small communicator, Erica let out a long sigh.
“Haaa…”
“…She’s awake.”
The guard, who had been dozing off outside the cell, spoke in a groggy voice.
He shook his head a few times, trying to wake up, and then approached Erica.
“If you’ve come to your senses, we should resume. You little rat.”
“Go ahead.”
“Still putting on airs, huh.”
Clang―
“Urgh!”
When the guard pulled a lever outside, the chains binding Erica stretched tautly in all directions.
The tension sent sharp pain coursing through her limbs.
The jolt was enough to snap her hazy mind to full attention.
“Ha, this is great.”
“You crazy wench. Just wait.”
Clang― Clang―
As the guard left to summon someone, Erica silently prayed.
She hoped her rescue would come soon—and that it would be Ryu Yeong.
Or Jacqueline.
‘I’d rather not have those other two see me like this.’
Erica was confident someone from the organization would come to rescue her.
The communicator embedded in her abdomen wasn’t just sending a distress signal.
It was also transmitting the location of the connected communicator.
If Ryu Yeong caught wind of this, he could show up within minutes.
‘Tsk. The commander’s villa should be nearby…’
Erica bit her lip tightly, silently hoping for Ryu Yeong to arrive.
***
Wind magic proves more useful in everyday life than in combat scenarios.
Take this moment, for example.
Whoosh―
There was no need to dry off with a towel after a shower when the wind could blow the water off your body.
For anyone who hasn’t experienced it, they’d never understand just how convenient it is.
Using pleasantly warm wind to dry your body feels cleaner and more refreshing than using a towel.
“Ahh…”
The sensation of stepping out of a warm shower and immediately drying off with warm wind was invigorating.
It felt as though all the exhaustion from the previous day had evaporated.
Coming home to shower had been the right decision, Ryu Yeong thought to himself.
Wearing freshly laundered clothes afterward only added to the pleasant feeling.
There was nothing more he could ask for.
He had completed his quest, avoided having his identity exposed—though some seeds of doubt lingered.
Perhaps it was because he was in such a good mood.
On a normal day, he would have skipped stopping by the office and headed straight back to the O’Neill Kingdom, but today, he felt like dropping by.
Whoosh―
“Addy! Long time no…”
“…Commander?”
“Huh?”
He had deliberately teleported behind Addy’s desk to surprise her, but surprisingly, Addy wasn’t sitting there.
At this time of day, Addy would usually be seated and deeply focused on her work.
Instead, she was standing idly in the middle of the office.
Her expression was grave.
Seeing her face immediately made me feel uneasy as well.
Even though Addy always had a serious and composed demeanor, this was different—it was much more severe.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ha, seriously.”
“Huh?”
Addy let out a deep sigh, which seemed to be one of relief, though I couldn’t be sure.
Although her response consisted of a single word, her voice trembled slightly.
I could instinctively sense it.
Something serious had happened.
“What is it?”
“Just now, we received an emergency signal from Captain Erica.”
“…What?”
I turned around reflexively.
The painted night sea on the wall now had the leftmost star glowing and flickering.
There was no doubt.
That was Erica’s signal.
“Where’s the location?”
“The West. I’ll need to get closer to determine the exact spot, but…”
“The West… Wasn’t Erica supposed to be with Jacqueline?”
“I contacted Jacqueline as well. According to her, they split up. Jacqueline is with the Lorelai Coalition forces, while Erica went to infiltrate the Flora Kingdom.”
“So the infiltration didn’t go well.”
Erica was better than even me at concealing herself.
The fact that she had sent an emergency signal meant the situation was dire.
There was only one possibility that came to mind.
Though I didn’t know the specifics, Erica had been captured during her infiltration of Flora.
“It seems that way. Judging by the signal, she’s within the royal palace of the Flora Kingdom.”
“I need to leave immediately.”
This felt even more urgent than when Elaine was kidnapped by the First Elder.
With Elaine, I had been confident that the quest system would ensure her survival.
But this wasn’t the case with Erica.
Not only did no quest appear, but the emergency signal itself had come directly from Erica.
When Yuria first suggested creating an emergency communication system for the captains, Erica had been the most dismissive of the idea.
She had scoffed, saying, “Do you really think captains would ever need something like this?”
To this day, Erica had never once used the system.
The fact that she had now activated it meant the situation was truly life-threatening.
“Have you ever been to the Flora Kingdom before?”
“…No. But my villa is nearby. I can start there and work my way closer.”
I recalled the location of the villa.
Though it was quite a distance away, it wasn’t too far from the Flora Kingdom.
Of course, sneaking into the kingdom, especially the royal palace in the middle of an ongoing war, would not be easy.
But now wasn’t the time to be worrying about the mission’s difficulty.
The more I thought about it, the more alarming the situation seemed.
Erica wasn’t someone who would mistakenly activate the emergency signal, and the device wasn’t designed to be triggered accidentally either.
The fact that the signal was still active meant something was genuinely wrong.
“With the Flora Kingdom at war, infiltrating the royal palace won’t be easy.”
“…”
“Erica likely failed during her infiltration. If we rush in…”
“What choice do we have? We can’t just sit around and do nothing.”
“I know. That’s why…”
Addy cut me off with a determined look, as if she already knew what I was going to say.
“If infiltration is too difficult, we’ll have to invade.”
“…What?”
“Trying to sneak in will only waste more time. It’s better to move quickly and invade outright. If Jacqueline and I join forces, we can reach the palace.”
“…Huh?”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
For Addy to outright suggest an invasion…
It was clear that even she understood the gravity of Erica’s emergency signal.
“This is a time-sensitive situation.”
With that, Addy opened a drawer and pulled out a neatly folded black uniform.
It was the official uniform of the Black Shadow Corps.
“Addy, you…”
“I’ll inform Jacqueline right away. Get ready and meet me here.”
Addy’s expression was filled with conviction.
She looked at me, as if wondering why I wasn’t already preparing.
‘Wait… This means…’
Just as I was about to grab my uniform, I suddenly remembered.
Elaine, Cynthia, Emily, and Professor Amilion.
If I headed to the Western Continent now, I wouldn’t be able to return to the O’Neill Kingdom for at least a few days.
According to our plans, we were supposed to return to Crescent tomorrow.
‘…What do I do?’
Would it be okay to disappear without saying anything?
—
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