Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 494

494.

“What’s wrong? Did you get swindled a little? You know I can fix that easily, right? Do you think a meticulous guy like me wouldn’t account for that?”

“But…”

“Frankly, that guy isn’t entirely without suspicious aspects. You said every spy we’ve sent has died, right? But why didn’t he kill that guy and just let him live? Doesn’t that seem strange?”

Honestly, I hadn’t thought that far. I was speechless and closed my mouth, and Lamias chuckled lightly.

“Don’t be naive. You can’t trust anyone in this business.”

“…”

He wouldn’t say this for no reason. He’s been through all sorts of situations as the head of the intelligence agency, so he’s entitled to say that. But my decision hasn’t changed either.

“I still want to save him. Just tell me where he is.”

“You really don’t listen to others, do you?”

“If he was just imprisoned, I wouldn’t be so involved. But life is only once. You can’t undo it after you die, even if you regret it.”

Of course, I fundamentally trust Davian. Thinking about the situation when he handed me the documents on the train that day, he didn’t seem like someone capable of meticulous schemes. Above all, Trowel wouldn’t have helped someone filled with lies.

Lamias was staring at me with a deeply furrowed face. I understood he’s upset, but I couldn’t figure out why he was smacking his lips and looking regretful.

“Don’t act so likable. You’re just Elquines’ contractor, not someone I can make my successor. You’re my rival!”

“…Doesn’t it get tiring doing this every time?”

“Tired? Only weak and feeble humans like you would! I can do this for a hundred or a thousand years! My heart for Elquines is always a burning volcano!”

Right, no wonder Elquines went into hibernation because he didn’t want to experience the moment of his extinction. As I was about to sigh deeply, Lamias’ head snapped around. His gaze was directed towards the window. Ellyuen was sitting right in front of it, reading a book (and showing no interest in this conversation).

“Do you understand, Elquines? I’m serious! So come to my lair! Read books in my lair too!”

Of course, Ellyuen was merciless.

“Noisy.”

“…I’ll be quiet.”

The burning sincerity was extinguished so weakly.

“Comparing Elquines to a volcano, he’d be thrilled to accept that. Is he stupid?”

“…”

Ifrit’s confirming shot followed as he looked at him pathetically. Lamias, who had let go of many things for a moment, stared at me intently. The problem was that I was so used to it that I didn’t care much.

“Fine. I’ll tell you the location, so go save that guy. I don’t plan to save him myself, but I’ll clean up the mess if you bring him. Just don’t get your identity exposed.”

“Really? Thank you.”

“But let’s get some practical benefit too. I’ll attach someone to you, so go with that guy.”

“Who?”

Is he going to attach someone from Aegis? As I looked at him questioningly, he grinned. Maybe it’s because of the mischief in his eyes. I felt more ominous than when he glared at me.

“You know the saying, keep your friends close, but your enemies closer?”

* * *

I should have realized it from the moment he said that.

At dusk, I stared at the person who appeared in the narrow, dark alley with a sullen feeling. The blue light was clearly the promised signal, but the face holding it was too familiar.

“El? You’re El, right?”

…What should I do with this damn dragon?

It wasn’t a mistake, as the other person recognized me as well. I suppressed a rising sigh and forced the corners of my mouth up.

“I didn’t expect to meet you here, Ain.”

Ain Idris’s face, which had been surprised, flushed.

“To think the person I was supposed to meet was El. I never imagined it. Were you an Aegis agent?”

“No, we’re just cooperating for a while. I’m more surprised. Ain isn’t an Aegis agent either, right? What did you hear to come here?”

“Duke Sepion said he needed my help. He said to help the person I meet at the designated location and rescue someone imprisoned in Tenebre Prison. I owe the Duke a lot. I’ve also been very interested in Aegis activities.”

Ain Idris answered shyly. He must have laid a lot of groundwork, saying he’d marked him as his successor. Was this what he meant by running him around busily? I swallowed another sigh. Everyone knows I’m trying to prevent the prophecy, so I can’t openly say I don’t want to get involved. Either way, it was my own doing.

“How did you know it was me?”

“Yes?”

“I didn’t expect you to recognize me right away. I’m wearing a magic tool right now.”

I had borrowed it from Ifrit again because I had to infiltrate the prison. But to recognize me again in one go, I couldn’t help but be surprised this time. Ain Idris replied with a nonchalant face.

“I recognized you not by your appearance, but by your aura. Everyone has their own unique aura, or rather, the flow of the air they breathe is different. Magic tools can’t hide that well.”

“Wow, that’s like a wind spiritist.”

To be honest, even for a wind spiritist, it’s rare to sense such subtle details. As expected of someone contracted with Minerva, his innate talent is amazing. I admired him purely, and he widened his eyes slightly and smiled shyly. It must be a compliment he’s heard countless times, but his shy appearance didn’t look bad.

“…Shall we go for now?”

“Yes!”

Ain Idris quickly moved his steps, following me as I started walking ahead. We made a rescue plan while going, and fortunately, Lamias had roughly informed me of Davian’s information, so I didn’t have much to explain separately.

After leaving the outer castle and walking for a while, I saw a rough, bleak building. It was Tenebre Prison, where Davian was imprisoned. Tenebre Prison, meaning ‘shadow’ or ‘darkness’ in some languages, was a prison exclusively for heinous criminals who had received the death penalty or life imprisonment. It was also famous as the prison of eternity, where once you enter, you can never come out again. As such, the security was strict, but since it was a place where people came and went, there were bound to be gaps to exploit.

Waiting for dawn when the guards’ shift changed, I summoned Siquel to create dark clouds. Taking advantage of the sky completely darkening, this time Ain Idris summoned a djinn [a powerful spirit in Arabian folklore]. The djinn, carrying us on both shoulders, quickly soared into the sky and landed in front of a small door at the top. It seemed to be a door made to go back and forth on the roof. Sticking close to the wall and looking inside, I saw a dimly lit corridor. I couldn’t feel any patrolling yet. The problem was that the inside was wider than I thought, and it was divided into two areas.

“Shall we divide the areas and search separately? Let’s release the spirits here and scan them. I’ll take the left side, so Ain, please take the right side.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Ain Idris, who nodded, gestured to the djinn who hadn’t been sent back yet. I wondered if he was going to enter as it is, but it seemed like he was planning to do so. Surprised, I grabbed him, and his wide eyes turned to me.

“Is this your first time scouting?”

Ain Idris looked embarrassed. It was his first time after all. Well, someone contracted with the Spirit King usually doesn’t stand on the front lines of battle, so there wouldn’t be much to scout. It’s not a time of war, and most of the battles are monster subjugation. There would be almost no need to use spirits in a narrow and limited space.

“High-level spirits are too big and have a strong presence, so they’re not very suitable for scouting the inside of a building. It’s better to send sylphs [air spirits] here.”

“But sylphs have too narrow a search range. It will take a long time.”

“You can summon a lot of them. It’ll be okay if you spread them out as much as possible.”

“Ah, that’s a good idea too.”

But unlike agreeing, he still seemed hesitant. Wondering, I saw him trying to summon a sylph, and I summoned a spirit as well.

“Naias Summon.”

Ten Naiases [water spirits] popped out in the air. The spirits, resembling small mermaids like fairies, sparkled their eyes and surrounded me. Smiles appeared on their faces, full of anticipation as if wondering what to ask.

“Can you go inside and find someone? He’s a man in his twenties, with black hair and purple eyes.”

The Naias group, nodding, scattered towards the inside. Feeling a gaze, I turned around and saw Ain Idris with a dazed face. As our eyes met, he smiled awkwardly.

“El summons spirits very easily.”

I wondered what he meant, but he hadn’t finished summoning spirits yet. Sylphs were appearing one by one, riding the wind around him. I’m faster, but he didn’t seem very used to summoning many at once either. Soon, Ain Idris, who had finished summoning ten, awkwardly instructed them to scout.

Still, the wind spirit was faster, so the sylphs returned first even though they started later. The spirits, who had diligently run to Ain Idris, who greeted them with a bright face, chattered about this and that. They seemed to have found a few people with overlapping descriptions, but it wasn’t certain if they were the person we were looking for. It seemed like things wouldn’t be easy. Ain Idris was also making a difficult face.

“Tell them to point out the locations of the people they’ve identified for now. It’ll be much better if the search range is narrowed down.”

At that moment, he looked at me with a surprised face.

“Why?”

“…Did you understand what the sylphs were saying?”

Ah, that was strange. Summoned mid- to low-level spirits cannot communicate verbally, so they convey their intentions in their own unique way. It’s a structure that only contractors can understand, but he seemed flustered that the water spiritist understood the wind’s intentions.

“I’m just looking at it roughly. Sylphs and Naiases have similar delivery methods.”

Of course, I can hear them if I want to. This is a part that only makes me troubled if I reveal it, so I didn’t show it. It’s true that they recognize it even if I don’t do that. Sylphs and Naiases are especially close because they have similar sizes and appearances, so they often act similarly. It seems that friends resemble each other even for spirits.

Ain Idris didn’t say anything for a while. I was wondering about his somewhat hardened face, but the Naias group also returned after finishing their patrol, so the gaze naturally shifted.

“You’re here, how was it?”

The Naiases busily moved their arms. The content they conveyed wasn’t much different from what the sylphs had told them.

“Is black hair and purple eyes such a common combination? Why are there so many?”

“Ah, is it hard to distinguish the colors because it’s dark? Then you just picked out the male gender with the darkest hair color? Well, I can’t help it. How long were their hair lengths? Two with long hair? Which side are those people on?”

The Naiases diligently pointed out the locations. Looking at the rough map, it seemed like I would have to wander quite a bit. I sighed and sent a gaze to Ain Idris.

“How many candidates are there on that side?”

“Ah… I think there are three.”

“Shall we move separately for this too?”

Ain Idris, who seemed to be contemplating for a moment at that word, slowly nodded. It would be better than finding them together. The conclusion was easily reached.

“Let’s send spirits when we find them. If there’s a problem, prioritize escape.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Then be careful.”

Ain Idris, who had finished his short eye contact, put on a mask on his face. Immediately after, he and I entered the path we were in charge of. The corridor with a faint light was quiet and gloomy. Iron doors, tightly closed, were lined up on the walls. According to Naias’s explanation, they were all solitary confinement cells, and there were no small windows. The only open parts were the narrow gap that the guard had made in the iron door to look inside and the hole at the bottom to put in meals. Even if it’s a prison, the environment is so barren. It was fortunate that I was rushing to rescue him because the execution was tomorrow. Even a healthy person wouldn’t last long in a place like this.

There were a few crises where I almost ran into the patrolling guards, but fortunately, I safely examined the inside without getting caught. In addition to the two most likely people, I seemed to have visited all the places that were pointed out in case the hairstyle had changed. But no matter how much I looked, I couldn’t find Davian.

‘Is he on Ain’s side?’

There was no other signal from that side yet. Could it be in a completely different place? Since the execution is tomorrow morning, there was a possibility that he had been moved in advance.

At that moment, the surroundings suddenly brightened, and urgent footsteps rang out. Quickly hiding next to the corridor, soldiers with lights rushed past. I heard shouts from afar that there was an intruder.

‘What is it? Did I get caught?’

Looking at the direction the soldiers were running, it seemed that Ain had been discovered. I pressed my body tightly against the wall and hid myself deeper in the dark. I had to get out of here and join Ain. What if he was already caught when we decided to escape if there was a problem? I was about to stick my head out a little to check the situation. Someone tapped my shoulder from behind.

“…!”

I was so surprised that I reflexively swallowed my breath as soon as I turned around. A person as white as moonlight was standing in front of me. It was Minerva. As I reflexively blocked my mouth, Minerva reached out and lightly scanned the surroundings. Then, the surrounding air vibrated lightly, and I felt like I was being wrapped in something. A calm gaze fell on me as I stared blankly.

“You won’t be caught, so you can speak comfortably.”

A calm voice followed, but I couldn’t easily open my mouth. My surprised heart wouldn’t calm down easily.

“How…”

Why is Minerva here?