Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 179

Chapter 179

After meticulously treating each child, a considerable amount of time had passed. The children were now more stable, but they still seemed hesitant to fully trust me. Finally, one of them cautiously spoke.

“Um, mister, who are you? Did you come to save us?”

The voice was clearly trembling, and all the other children looked visibly nervous.

“Yes, that’s right. I came to save you.”

When I nodded, the children swallowed hard. Even though they were free from the prison, they still seemed to struggle to believe it.

“H, how did you get in here? The men said no one would come to save us.”

“Did they?”

“Yes. They said there was no one to help, so we shouldn’t even hope for it. They said it wouldn’t do any good anyway.”

“I see. They must be bad guys, because they’re good at lying. But I came to save you anyway, right?”

My playful answer seemed to ease their fears. The children’s faces brightened, and their eyes began to sparkle as they looked at me. Unable to hide my joy, I turned to them and said.

“We’re going to get out of here now. It’s dark, so everyone follow me carefully.”

“Yes!”

They answered energetically and lined up in order. Seeing them follow me like that made me feel like a kindergarten teacher.

As soon as we left the prison area, the surroundings became even darker. Torches hung at regular intervals, but the underground setting and the early dawn hours created an eerie atmosphere. The frightened children held each other’s hands tightly and constantly looked around. Meanwhile, Alisa, who was clinging to my side, whispered to me.

“El, you’re amazing.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I was really surprised. But did you come alone?”

“No, Sibel [short for Sibelius] and Isana are creating an escape route outside. We’ll join them soon.”

“I see.”

Alisa muttered to herself and smiled bashfully. She seemed happy that everyone had come to save them.

‘I wonder how the work outside is progressing?’

I was heading toward the exit, but I couldn’t risk going outside until the escape route was complete. I had to wait inside for a while. If the people I had knocked out woke up in the meantime, it would be quite troublesome.

Just as I had that thought, I saw figures lying in the passage. It seemed to be one of the groups I had knocked out before entering the prison.

“Eek!”

The children, who had also spotted them, screamed and clung to me. I smiled awkwardly and soothed them.

“It’s okay. They just fainted.”

“D, did you do that, mister?”

“Yes.”

When I nodded, the children finally relaxed, and their faces softened. But conversely, I hardened my face. I sensed a small movement among the people lying down.

“Ugh…….”

“……!”

As soon as I sensed the movement, a groan escaped from one of the men. It seemed like they were regaining consciousness faster than expected. As the surprised children quickly retreated, I immediately struck the back of the man’s head, who was wriggling, hard.

Thud! With a dull sound, the man who was trying to regain consciousness fell back down. It was another perfect crime, I suppose. I felt a little embarrassed by the children’s shocked faces, but it was better than letting them regain consciousness. The real problem was what to do now. The fact that one person had started to regain consciousness meant that others would wake up soon too. Even at this moment, there would be people regaining consciousness.

‘……What should I do? Should I shock their bodies again?’

It wasn’t difficult, but I wondered if I should show the children how I use my abilities. It wouldn’t be obvious, but I would have to close my eyes and concentrate my consciousness for a while, so it would look strange.

Perhaps sensing my serious mood, the children exchanged uneasy glances. Just then…

“……!”

Suddenly, someone grabbed my shoulder. I was so surprised that I immediately pulled away and stepped back. A short scream erupted from among the children at my sudden action.

Could it be that someone had fully regained consciousness? In despair, I tried to counterattack without even checking who it was. Then I felt the other person panicking.

“Wait! It’s me, it’s me.”

“……!”

At the voice, I immediately stopped trying to attack. Only then did I properly see the person standing in front of me. A tall, well-built figure, dressed in all black like me, was the first thing that caught my eye. Although he didn’t cover his face, Sibelius, whose skin color and hair had changed, stood right in front of me with a completely different impression.

“Ah…….”

As I stared in confusion, a man wearing a mask poked his face out from his side. It was Isana. As soon as I saw him, I let out a sigh of relief. The fact that the two of them were here meant one thing.

“Luckily, we’re not too late, right?”

Sibelius, as if reading my mood, said cheerfully, winking. I chuckled and nodded.

It was the moment when the rescue operation was successfully completed.

* * *

The escape route that Sibelius created with his magic was very mysterious. It looked like the same path as usual, but from the moment I took a step, I felt like I was wrapped in a transparent barrier. Even if we passed right next to the guards, no one found us. It was the same even if we stomped our feet or made noise. It was as if the world we existed in was separated, not just that our appearance had become transparent.

But this spell had one drawback. If you deviated from the designated path even a little, you would be out of the spell’s influence. So, until we were completely away from Ramus, we had no choice but to carefully follow the direction Sibelius was walking. Of course, even so, it didn’t change the fact that this spell was the number one contributor to the rescue operation.

When we were quite far from Ramus, we let the children go down to the village by themselves. If possible, I wanted to stay with them until they found their guardians, but the key to this operation was ‘to make sure no one knew who was behind it,’ so I couldn’t help it. For a more perfect ending, Alisa was also sent to go with the children.

At the dark blue dawn, the quiet village was turned upside down by the sudden appearance of the children. Parents who had been staying in Isiorta to find their missing children ran out barefoot as soon as they heard the news and greeted their children. Isana and Sibelius naturally mingled among them and staged a touching reunion with Alisa (of course, I was with them in spirit form). Fortunately, the children didn’t recognize the two who had removed their disguises at all.

The situation after that was smooth sailing. The children, reunited with their parents, immediately reported everything that had been happening inside Ramus. The villagers were just as shocked by the terrible truths revealed through their mouths. It was only natural, since such a terrible thing was happening at the academy that was their pride and joy.

The enraged people took torches and weapons and immediately stormed into Ramus. The guards, panicked by the sudden incident in the middle of the night, sounded an emergency alarm to wake people up, and the Ramus Headmaster, in his pajamas, greeted the angry villagers in a state of panic.

However, there was no one in the secret passage where they had all gone. As soon as they realized that the children were gone, they immediately left. Some of the accomplices in this incident, including Assistant Headmaster Ursula, were caught, but they were unable to track down all those involved. They seemed to have been carrying fast-acting poison with them in preparation for such a time. They were as vicious as the deeds they were committing.

But even if they had caught them all, there would have been no one to believe that fact in a state where trust had already been broken. This kind of atmosphere was bound to be fatal to the largest and most prestigious academy in the empire. In the end, the Ramus Headmaster dismissed all the faculty and staff, and he himself expressed his intention to resign. It seemed that all the students would also be sent home until a new headmaster and members were appointed. It was practically a temporary closure.

“To think that an academy with hundreds of years of history would become like this in an instant…….”

Isana was very saddened as she watched the baggage carts lined up in front of Isiorta from early in the morning. Most of them were carts carrying students returning to their hometowns. It seemed that similar scenes would continue for about a week. Sibelius also muttered with a bitter expression.

“Other academies will be hit hard as well. Since such a big deal has happened in Ramus, a major investigation will begin to see if there are any similar cases.”

“Could there be in other places too?”

“There will definitely be. If they’re aiming for a place as big as Ramus, infiltrating other academies will be a piece of cake. But it won’t be revealed that easily. It seems that it’s true that missing people are common every semester, so even if they’re involved, they’ll definitely pretend not to know. In the first place, there’s no way a secret passage would be discovered so easily. Rather, the methods will become more elaborate and secretive.”

“Hmm, that’s even worse. I wish they would at least know that it was the work of the Demon God Church. Should I have left an anonymous tip or something?”

While the incident was in progress, we immediately took care of Alisa and left the village early. Many of the other parents also hurried back as soon as they found their children, so we didn’t receive any suspicious glances. I was just a little sorry that we didn’t share the information we could give. But Sibelius shook his head at my words.

“Anyway, people here will be able to figure that out on their own. The problem is that they can’t do anything even if they know. The opponent is the temple, and among them, the Demon God Church is especially good at concealing things. There’s no way they’ll catch any evidence. It’s bound to end only as suspicion.”

“……Well, they even committed suicide when they were caught.”

“Demon God Church believers have always had a faith that’s close to madness. They’ll do anything to protect themselves. Besides, the Demon God Church is just playing a small role right now. Shaking them will only result in cutting off the tail. To end it completely, we have no choice but to strike the mastermind who is carrying out all of this.”

“You mean Duke Yukarte.”

I tasted bitterness at the inevitable conclusion. In the end, Duke Yukarte is the problem.

Ramus was also the pride of this empire. If the fact that the Duke of Swart Empire is behind this is revealed, it will have a major impact on international affairs. It was unknown whether the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the two empires would benefit or harm us. However, it was certain that Isana would have more work to do after his reinstatement.

In any case, until we defeat the Duke, it will be difficult to avoid his touch no matter where we go. That was the same as saying there was no safe place. Above all, there was one thing that bothered me when I thought about Alisa. Sibelius seemed to be thinking the same thing, and asked with a serious face.

“The more talented you are, the greater your value as a sacrifice, right?”

“Yes, he definitely said that.”

“Then it might be better to hide Alisa’s talent until she becomes an adult.”

I agreed with that. Even if they are the same target, if they have better conditions, they will naturally aim for that one more persistently. At this rate, Alisa was bound to become a target of the Demon God Church no matter where she went. At least until she was in her late teens, when she was out of the conditions for sacrifice, it was better to keep her out of sight. But I wondered if we could find a place to settle down without revealing Alisa’s talent.

As we repeatedly thought about the problem, we racked our brains. Then, Alisa, who had suddenly approached, asked in a determined tone.

“Can’t I just keep going with you guys?”

“Huh? With us?”

When I asked back in surprise, Alisa nodded, hesitating a little. Isana and Sibelius exchanged difficult glances for a moment before opening their mouths.

“Um, as I said before, our schedule is very dangerous. We don’t know what will happen in the future, and we’ll have a harder time than we do now.”

“It’s okay.”

“You know we’re not from this empire, right? When we’re done with our business here, we have to go back to our home country. In your position, you’re completely leaving your hometown. Once you go, it may be difficult to come back.”

“Whether it’s here or another continent, I have to adapt to a new place anyway. I don’t really plan to come back.”

“But…….”

“You said you’d take me to a place where people recognize my value.”

At those words, I immediately closed my mouth. Alisa looked up at me with a serious face.

“I’ve been thinking about it all along, but if I don’t talk about myself first, people don’t know anything. But you guys recognized my value before I even knew it. Will there be anyone who will recognize me more than that in the future?”

“That’s…….”

“Besides, even if they do recognize me, all they’ll see is me as a spiritist. They won’t know or care about the disaster girl who was despised in the village. Anyone can like me because I’m strong. But you guys were kind to me even when I was helpless and saved me several times. Isn’t that what it means to recognize real value? ……Am I wrong?”

“…….”

I couldn’t answer this time either. I stared at Alisa in silence, speechless. Her eyes, resembling marigolds, met my gaze without wavering. Seeing the face that had already hardened her mind, it seemed that it would be useless to stop her.

I sighed and looked at Isana. In any case, I intended to entrust the decision to him, as he was the central figure of the journey. As if reading the meaning of my gaze, Isana had a thoughtful expression for a while. Then, after a long time, he asked in a serious voice.

“……Alisa, are you really not going to regret it?”

“Yes, I won’t regret it.”

“Then Alisa, promise me too.”

“What?”

“No matter what happens in the future, or what you find out, promise to see us only for who we are.”

At those words, Alisa’s eyes widened. It was an expression that she hadn’t even thought of. In a way, it was like she was being asked to reciprocate what she wanted from us. But the reaction followed without hesitation.

“Okay, I promise.”