Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 178

178

“Why?”

“Because I first met you there.”

“Huh?”

“……No, it’s nothing.”

He immediately shook his head, but I clearly understood what he meant and smiled wryly. He was referring to the ‘El’ of the past. Although he quickly retracted it, it was the first time he’d mentioned it since his last emotional outburst, so I was almost glad. Maybe that’s why. Until now, I’d been too busy trying to avoid the topic, but suddenly I became curious about their story.

‘To meet for the first time at a slave auction… It must have been a very dramatic encounter.’

In fact, I was also curious about the world as it was 4,000 years ago. It felt like glimpsing a world both similar to and completely different from the present, which made my heart race. If I hadn’t been dealing with my own emotional turmoil, I might have asked him to tell me old stories right away.

Someday, as time passes, wouldn’t it become a topic we could bring up with a smile? When that time comes, the subtle distance between us now will completely disappear. Thinking that way, I felt a surge of hope.

“El, it’s midnight.”

Just then, I heard Isana’s voice and immediately checked the sky. The moon, leaning towards dawn, seemed even lower than before. It was time to rescue the children.

“Okay, shall we go?”

As I pushed myself away from the wall, Isana and Sibel nodded.

The plan we had devised was roughly as follows: First, I would teleport alone into the basement, then deal with the guards (more or less), and rescue the kidnapped children. Meanwhile, Sibelius would create an escape route from the secret passage (I had told him all the locations) to outside Ramos. Among the spells he knew, there was one with an effect similar to illusion magic, which he could use to create a path invisible to others.

However, the conditions for activating the spell were a bit tricky. If magic is a power that activates using the caster as a medium, the spell Sibelius used required a separate medium that met specific activation conditions. In particular, formations that manipulate space required anchors to support them at regular intervals, which took time. Therefore, Isana decided to guard the surroundings until he successfully set up the formation. If necessary, she would also act as bait to divert the guards’ attention.

In reality, it goes without saying that the two of them had much more difficult roles than I did. It wouldn’t be easy to install a formation over a long distance while avoiding the guards’ strict surveillance.

“Are you really okay?”

“Yes, don’t worry about us and go. We’ll head there right after creating the escape route.”

To my worried questions, the two of them smiled casually and replied. Compared to me, they didn’t seem as nervous as people about to be involved in a dangerous mission.

I entrusted the rear to the two of them and immediately teleported from that spot. I focused on the place I wanted to go and willed myself to move, and before I knew it, I was inside the secret passage. To be exact, it was in front of the bricked-up wall. The prison where the children were trapped was right inside. The location of the mechanism to open the door was already etched in my mind, so it wasn’t difficult to find. Twelfth from the top, three spaces from the right. When I touched it lightly, the feeling that resonated from the inside was distinctly different.

Before entering in earnest, I quietly focused my mind and looked around. In such a large secret passage, the guards wouldn’t just be guarding the prison; there had to be others nearby.

As expected. Two people at each end of the passage, and people moving in between. About ten people in total. More than I expected.

‘I can’t kill them all… I’ll just knock them out.’

At the same time as making the decision, I closed my eyes and sensed the surrounding water. Shoo-ooh, splash! With the feeling of bubbles forming, the quiet surroundings suddenly began to be filled with the sound of water flowing. A sound that only I could hear.

The sound of the underground water veins, the small water droplets mixed in the air… and even the flow of hot blood flowing in someone’s skin. It felt like all my senses were heightened, as if I myself had become the water. I focused on specific individuals and temporarily stopped the flow of blood within them. Then, small groans burst out, and their active signs began to subside. Everyone lost consciousness from the shock of the blood stopping.

“Hoo…….”

Even though it turned out as I wanted, a sigh escaped me. If I thought about the aftermath, killing them would be the more pragmatic choice. Even if they are villains, it is still difficult to harm people. I’ve already had a harsh experience with this, but seeing that my hesitation doesn’t disappear, it seems that this internal conflict will be a homework that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

‘But now is not the time to dwell on this.’

I forcibly suppressed the unpleasant feeling and reached out to open the wall. I only knocked out the people on the passage side, and if I went inside, there were still plenty of opponents to fight. Besides, from now on, I have to fight directly. I wanted to deal with them all in the same way as before, but I couldn’t because of Alisa, who was here. I was about to face her soon, so I had to avoid a method that was too flashy.

Urrung! At that moment, the wall began to crack slowly, even though I didn’t touch it. Someone was coming out from the inside.

“I’ll be back in a minute, so everyone stay in your places… What, who are you?”

‘……This is bad.’

A soldier in black armor, who was walking out while talking to his colleagues, stopped in surprise when he found me standing blankly in front of the entrance. I scratched my cheek in embarrassment and then sighed deeply. I hadn’t expected to be able to end it quietly in the first place (that’s why I put the people on the passage side to sleep first), but it seemed like it would be an all-out war from the start.

“I’m sorry. Excuse me.”

“What…… Keuk!”

At the same time as apologizing, I put all my strength into punching him in the stomach. I don’t have any proper fighting skills, but my innate strength is completely different from that of normal humans. The moment my fist connected, I could clearly feel the hard armor denting inward. The soldier couldn’t even scream properly and collapsed.

“What, what’s going on!”

“Intruder!”

When their colleague fell, the other soldiers behind him hurriedly drew their weapons and rushed out. I glanced at the scene beyond them. Inside the prisons that stretched out long on both sides, the children were stirring and sticking their faces out between the bars. They all seemed to have just woken up from sleep, and their eyes were full of sleepiness.

Alisa was in the furthest room among them. As soon as I found her, I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew she would be safe, but seeing her intact made me feel relieved.

“Where did you come from!”

The soldiers who had rushed over without giving me time to indulge in sentimentality immediately began to attack me. I clicked my tongue and barely dodged the sword being swung in front of me. The problem was what came next. Thanks to my excellent reflexes, I was able to avoid the blow, but since I had never learned any proper fighting skills, I couldn’t figure out how to continue the attack.

Even in my previous life, I had been unilaterally beaten by delinquents; I had never actually fought. Moreover, this opponent is not just a neighborhood delinquent, but a trained soldier. There was no way that fighting in an ambiguous way would work. I had no choice but to use my abilities. I pretended to fight and temporarily stopped the blood flowing in their bodies at the right moment.

“Keuk!”

“Heo-eok!”

This method was very effective. As soon as one person fainted, the movements of those who were attacking from the other side stopped momentarily. I didn’t miss the gap and immediately punched them, and another gap was created by the person who was hit by me and bounced off. I approached the side that wasn’t coming and induced an attack. After fighting like that a few times, the situation was neatly resolved.

Realizing that there was no one blocking my view anymore, I raised my head and saw people scattered all over the floor. Judging from the fact that there was no movement at all, it seemed that they had all completely lost consciousness. Beyond that, I saw the children clinging to the bars and staring at me with blank faces. They had all woken up, but it seemed that they hadn’t even properly recognized what was going on.

“Are you all okay?”

At my question, the children all shrugged and looked around. They seemed scared because a suspicious person wearing a mask suddenly appeared and started talking to them. Counting roughly, there were about twenty of them. More than the number of parents who were wandering in front of Ramos during the day. It seemed that children kidnapped from other places were mixed in with the children who came to register at Ramos.

At that time, I met a pair of round eyes. The owner of the wide-open eyes was Alisa. She seemed very surprised, as if she recognized me at a glance. Her lips were moving as if she was about to call my name, so I immediately put my finger to my lips. Fortunately, like a quick-witted girl, Alisa immediately covered her mouth with both hands instead of calling me. Still, she couldn’t hide her happy feelings, and her eyes were filled with tears.

I smiled and then looked at the bodies of the fallen soldiers. It was to find the key to open the prison door. Fortunately, I saw a round bunch of keys attached to the body of a soldier nearby. After taking it out, I looked around and this time I saw a pile of ropes piled up in one corner of the prison.

I tied the fallen soldiers tightly like dried fish and dragged them to one corner. I collected all the weapons and threw them far away. Now, even if they regained consciousness, they wouldn’t be able to move easily for a while.

After finishing a series of tasks, I approached the prison and unlocked all the bars. The children, who had retreated as I approached, looked bewildered when they saw the door opening. None of them thought of moving easily.

“Why? Everyone, come out quickly.”

At my words, the children looked at each other and swallowed hard. It was clear that they were still doubting whether they could trust me.

The atmosphere changed thanks to Alisa. As soon as the door opened, she ran out without hesitation and gestured to the children, looking back.

“Ugh, I thought I was going to die! It was really scary. What are you doing? You guys don’t come out quickly. Are you going to stay in there forever?”

The same words have different influence depending on who says them. To the children, Alisa was their peer in the same situation. At her call, the children in the same room, who had been hesitating until then, took their first steps. Then, the children in the other rooms seemed to gain courage and began to come out one by one.

Even while rushing out, the children kept looking at the fallen soldiers and giving them fearful glances. They seemed scared of them even though they knew they were unconscious.

“Are you hurt? Is anyone sick?”

At my question, the children looked at each other and then slowly shook their heads. Their nutritional status didn’t seem bad, and their clothes were all neat. I don’t know if I should call this fortunate, but it seemed that they had been carefully managed in their own way because they were scheduled to be sacrificed. Still, I wanted to check their condition in detail just in case, but no one easily opened their mouths. I had no choice but to look at Alisa. I thought that if she opened her mouth first, the other children might be encouraged.

“Ah, um, I’m not sick, but I can’t call Murden… I mean, I’m… no, I’m a spiritist!”

Alisa hesitated and opened her mouth as if she understood the meaning of my gaze. It was good that she was talking as if she was dealing with strangers, but her awkwardness was evident in her expression. This girl doesn’t seem to have any talent for acting either. I smiled and stroked her hair.

“Ah, it’s okay. It’s because of the bracelet.”

“Bracelet?”

Alisa frowned and looked at her arm. With a light metallic sound, the bracelet that was chained to her arm like handcuffs shook. It was the very bracelet that Ursula Bojosa had put on when Alisa lost consciousness.

“This……?”

“Yes, it seems that the bracelet has a function that interferes with the movement of mana [magical energy]. It doesn’t seem to have a separate key, so please bear with it a little longer. I’ll release it later.”

At those words, Alisa nodded with a greatly relieved expression. She seemed to be more embarrassed by the sudden inability to use spiritism than by being suddenly kidnapped.

And as expected, the sight of us talking had a pretty big effect among the children. One boy carefully raised his hand.

“I, I have a slight headache.”

“Really? How does it hurt?”

“It’s throbbing and stuffy.”

“Hmm, let’s see.”

I put my hand on the boy’s head and immediately used healing magic. Then, the bewildered boy looked at me with wide eyes.

“How is it?”

“C, cool! It doesn’t hurt at all now!”

“Okay, that’s a relief.”

When I smiled and replied, the boy didn’t know what to do with his red face. At that time, Alisa intervened as if she had been waiting.

“Ah, now that I think about it, I think I have a headache too…….”

“Huh? You too?”

“Yes, no, yes. I think it’s been like that since I drank that strange tea.”

It seems that the anesthetic ingredient mixed in the tea is the problem. I used healing magic on Alisa as well. Then, from that point on, the other children, who had only been watching, started raising their hands and talking about where it hurt. Most of them had headaches, and some complained of mild stomachaches.

When I found the cause, it was all a toxic reaction caused by drugs. It seemed that they had been forcibly putting the children to sleep by feeding them drugs whenever they were scared, crying, or whining. They couldn’t bear to injure the bodies that would be sacrificed when they threatened them, and they couldn’t just leave them alone because it was annoying, but I couldn’t help but say that it was a truly ignorant method.