You’re not perfect and ultimate, are you?
“Huk.”
No, that’s not it. Get a grip. Who are we?
We have Cardinal-level paladins, including His Majesty Hanan Rumayan (for now), and a munchkin who is an Archbishop-level paladin, a 7th-circle battle mage, and an 8th-level swordsman.
Plus, an 8th-circle battle mage. As a bonus, we have the divine beasts Rhea and Tete, and the divine object, Gugus.
Although I’m a non-combatant, I pride myself on being the best on the continent when it comes to aether treasures [magical items powered by aether, a mystical energy].
So, this iron cage is nothing to us. Really, nothing at all.
Of course, Rhea alone could smash this with her vines.
“Ah, it’s cramped.”
“Just a moment, Young Master. Rhea will take care of this.”
-Kkiuu!
The only problem is that the prison we’re trapped in is too small.
It’s fine for five men to stand, but there’s not enough room to sit.
I quickly supported the butt of the divine beast as it climbed onto my shoulder.
She’s still a bit timid, but our Rhea has become much braver while adventuring with us.
I could trust her with this much.
“Rhea, you can do it, right?”
-Kkiyaa!
The little one cried out valiantly, as if saying, ‘Of course!’ and raised her front paw.
I closed my eyes, expecting the deafening sound of the iron bars crumpling like a tin can.
-······.
“······.”
“······.”
“······.”
“······.”
“······.”
-······Kking?
But the only sound I heard was Rhea’s flustered cry.
My surprised eyelids shot up.
“Rhea?”
-Kkieueu, Kkieueueu······
“Oh, oh, that’s right. Something’s not working? It’s okay.”
The lesser panda hugged my head with tearful eyes.
At this point, I became really uneasy.
Why is she like this? Is it too much pressure for her? Or is she sick?
“······This iron cage is blocking the emission of aether.”
Then, Sir Johan said something shocking. I wondered if I had heard him correctly.
The Cardinal turned to his disciple with a cold, sinking gaze.
“What about mana?”
“······Same here. They’ve prepared quite well.”
The man, who had returned to being the Cedric Liester I knew, spat out the sentence in a low voice.
The dagger in his palm showed no movement.
I whispered to the divine beast, ‘It’s not our Rhea’s fault. This iron cage is to blame,’ while looking back at my friends. I wanted to believe that everything would be alright, but I had an ominous feeling.
Tete also flapped her flipper-feet, as if feeling frustrated.
Jibril Diop shook the bars hard with a face full of annoyance. Ka-ga-gang!
“Damn it. What makes this so sturdy?”
“It seems to be a combination of the highest-grade magic stones used in the production of mana confinement tools… and an alloy of meteoric iron, which is contained in small amounts in aether confinement tools.”
‘Probably,’ said Sir Johan, licking the fingertips that had touched the iron bars.
Then, the Crown Prince frowned.
“Meteoric iron is excessively rare.”
“Yes. I heard from the main headquarters that even the Liester Imperial Family’s reserves were depleted for a while after forging the treasured sword Durandal [a legendary sword]. It’s just as precious in the Venetian Theocracy… Raso is certainly a wealthy noble.”
It was an admiring tone, but his gleaming eyes held a clear murderous intent.
The Gugus flicked their tongues and wrapped around Sir Johan’s neck.
I quickly grabbed his elbow.
“It’s not your fault. Who would have imagined that a prison would fall from the empty ceiling? This isn’t happening because Sir Johan was careless or inadequate, but…”
“Thieves!”
Flinch! My shoulders trembled at the shrill voice.
His Majesty Hanan landed quickly on the floor, and I reflexively hid Tete and Rhea in my arms.
-Drrr, squeak, drrr, squeak…
And I was horrified by the scene filling my vision. Piercing through the darkness that had settled in the castle…
“Damn it, damn it, the world’s. The world’s trash! You rats, you little rats…”
“Aaaah! Micah, Micah, please! Please forgive me!”
-Drrrr, squeak, drrrrr…!
A gown-clad old woman appeared in a quaint wheelchair, rolling the wheels with her left arm, which was just skin and bones.
Water dripped from her dark hair and wrinkled face.
Upon closer inspection, a long rapier was stuck on one side of the wheelchair without even a scabbard.
It was an exaggerated and unrealistic sight, like a painting by an expressionist artist.
The old woman’s right hand was grabbing the hair of a young servant, who was being dragged along the floor, covered in tears.
His terrified face repeatedly turned pale and then red, and blue veins bulged on his breathless neck and pained forehead.
I was greatly shocked by the sight before me and momentarily lost my words.
Rhea and Tete, terrified, began to tremble their small bodies.
The same was true for Duke Raso.
“How dare you, how dare you. How dare you come here. How dare you! Trying to steal my things again! Again!”
“Aaaah…!”
“Mother. Mother.”
Each time the old woman shouted in slurred pronunciation, the servant’s head flopped around like a toy.
Judging from his simple attire, he must have been the one assisting her with her bath.
He seemed to be held captive by her because he was small and weak.
The Duke was trembling, his face pale.
Just as I was about to somehow soothe him—
“Get a grip.”
Sir Johan’s cold voice brushed against the back of his neck.
The Duke flinched and turned to look at him.
“Right now, you are tens of thousands of times stronger than that old woman. You know that without me having to explain it in detail.”
“······.”
Then, the man, who was on the verge of panic, stammered and nodded, wiping his sweaty palms on his pants.
Meanwhile, I felt someone tapping my shoes.
-Come here.
“Heok.”
It was His Majesty Hanan. To be exact, the cloth doll elder who was ‘outside’ the bars!
“Your Majesty, can you do something about this iron cage…!”
I quickly hid behind my friends and grabbed the iron bars.
Diop, having grasped the situation, immediately shielded me.
I was breathless because of the urgent circumstances.
-I cannot destroy what contains meteoric iron. Even if it is a small amount, meteoric iron is still meteoric iron.
“Then, then…”
-You will have to collapse the ceiling or pierce the floor.
“······Opening those doors would be the first step.”
-Indeed, clever and convenient.
As His Majesty said, destroying the entire study would allow us to escape the prison in an instant.
However, doing so would make it impossible to find the Venetian royal family’s secrets or the halo grass hidden here.
Quickly understanding, I quickly found the Gugus.
The clever fire lizards quickly ran over and slipped behind the iron bars.
Then, they began to diligently climb the square doors like pan chocolates.
I tried desperately to help the lizard hanging from the golden handle, but no matter how much I stretched my arm inside the iron cage, I couldn’t reach it.
Of course, they would have designed it this way, damn it!
“Gugu, fire, no. That would be a disaster.”
I was about to set a fire for a moment, but then I realized that it would destroy the secrets of the study as well. How stupid!
I hurriedly looked back at my friends.
Sir Johan, having received his disciple’s dagger, was clearly preparing to throw it at Micah Raso.
He could hit her without using aether, but he had to seize the opportunity well since the gaps in the bars were narrow.
Meanwhile, the old woman’s son was calmly continuing his words.
“For decades, I have never once thought of taking revenge on my mother. That day, that day’s incident was an accident, but… Looking back, I think it was fortunate that it happened. Although countless servants were caught up in my stigma, and suffered irreparable wounds…”
“Look at me. It’s okay. Breathe.”
“Kueuk, what on earth are you doing…”
“You’ll get better soon. Please bear with it, even if it’s damp.”
Cold sweat began to form on the man’s forehead, and I tried to calm down as I wiped his face.
I couldn’t give him aether right away, so I had to do something like this.
What on earth is going on? Is Ms. Gain in great danger?
But, but several divine beasts went with her, and Gyu should be there too. Most of the knights were dealt with on this side—
“Still, I don’t regret it. I feel heartbroken for hurting the servants, and I am sorry that my mother lost her hearing and became senile, but… Since that day, I and my people have truly become free.”
“You sneaky and petty thief!”
“KHeuk!”
-Kaang!
“Good heavens.”
When Cedric’s crimson irises flashed blue for a moment, I unknowingly stopped breathing.
He was experiencing extreme pain from the vessel, having deliberately hit the back of his head against the bars.
Due to the rebellion caused by a ‘fragment of another’s soul’.
“What! What’s so great about you! Taking away your mother’s title and then coming back! A traitor, a traitor, an ignorant, utterly idiotic shaman!”
“Yes, I know nothing. Even though I’m over forty, I’m far less capable than a ten-year-old mountain child. But, I am learning. So, I want to become a better person than my mother someday.”
“You’re just running your mouth, you dog-like bastard—!”
-Drrrrr! Drrrrr!
The old woman approached, pulling the wheelchair with a knife in one hand.
She was already out of her mind with madness and twisted inferiority, but perhaps the time she had been sane in her life was very short.
Just as Sir Johan was about to aim for her vitals and throw the dagger, the Duke grabbed his wrist. 탁!
“Royal family! Sneider! Summoning circle! You, who don’t know any of those things! How, how are you going to protect this family!”
-Swoosh! Swoosh!
“Mother, don’t come any closer. I can now protect myself. I will somehow protect the family too.”
“Foolish one! Raso must live like this! Without making a sound! Flat. Lying flat on your stomach! Selling beasts and touching money! Pretending not to know even though you know everything!”
Swoosh! The old woman grabbed the blade of the sharp rapier and aimed it at her son’s neck.
‘Kueuk.’ At the same time, Cedric’s upper body shook greatly once.
I held the back of his head tightly and tried to breathe with him. And at exactly the same moment—
-Srrr…
The two Gugus, working together, finally opened one of the doors to the secret room.
The contents were revealed to me and Diop.
-Poook!
“Keuheok!”
“Serenite.”
Several purple tulips trapped in a glass dome.
I glanced to confirm that blood was splattering on Duke Raso’s body.
The dagger he held pierced the old woman’s heart.
The man was trembling all over, but he didn’t let go of the hilt or back away.
My head was turning slowly, as if it were broken, and the earth was also turning strangely slowly.
It was like a moment just before a very great event was about to occur.
Or just before a very, very unfortunate situation occurred.
“······Run away.”
“Pardon?”
What?
“Langbui is going berserk.”
Even though the whisper pierced my eardrums, I couldn’t understand the man’s words.
His eyes, which I hurriedly checked, were a clear blue-gray.
A shiver ran down my spine.
“Yeser, hurry.”
“No way. No. No, it can’t be…”
-Kugugugugu…
Through the window of the inner wall, where the bookshelf had disappeared and was now exposed, a shadow close to darkness was cast.
Almost simultaneously, the main building began to shake from top to bottom, left and right.
It was truly tremendous destructive power. His Majesty Hanan and Sir Johan quickly exchanged glances.
Diop muttered, looking out the window.
“Wait. Is that perhaps…”
And I heard her voice echoing in the night sky.
[Obey the Mother Ship and shatter into waves.]
[NavigoNávĭgo [Latin for “I sail” or “I navigate”].]
-Kwakwakwakwakwa…!