NOVEL NEXT Chapter 10
“How dare you! Do you know who I am!”
The girl trapped in the translucent magic sphere thrashed about, screaming wildly.
It seemed she was unaware that sound was muffled by the soundproofing magic and couldn’t escape to the outside.
“What the hell are you guys! Who dares to insult me like this…!”
“Sister, do we really have to take her like this? It’d be easier just to knock her out.”
“Shut up. If we act recklessly, we’ll get in trouble.”
We must bring her out without any disturbances or issues.
At first, I thought it was a ridiculous task.
To kidnap no other than the Second Princess.
Even the infamous Sara Sisters would hesitate to lay hands on the royal family’s bloodline.
—“Don’t worry. Angela being there is officially confidential.”
The silver lining is that the fact the princess is staying in a southern rural village has not been disclosed.
That means we can’t bring the royal forces recklessly.
In reality, the princess had deployed knights around the four mountains leading to the village to provide cover.
What a foolish act it was.
“To work in the shadows, you need to be smarter than those in the light.”
No matter how much they tried to avoid causing a ruckus with minimal defenses, any underground information would inevitably leak.
Bribing and contracting other bandits.
Find the weakest route to infiltrate and take the princess.
I suspect that by now, the entire area of these mountains must be swarming with bandits.
“The knights are probably too busy dealing with the others right now.”
“Hahaha! That’s so like you, sister.”
From beneath her hood, a nasty laugh escaped.
“Damn it! I was careless!”
Angela grimaced within the magic sphere.
The reason she was staying in the southern village was due to her innate constitution.
Since birth, Angela had her energy center fully open.
At first glance, one might think she has a natural talent for examination, but in reality, it was a constitution bordering on a curse.
The energy center continually absorbed energy, but her body couldn’t withstand it and gradually fell apart.
To make matters worse, she had no talent for swordsmanship.
This meant she couldn’t expend energy by nature.
So, she regularly came to this village to recuperate and dissipate the energy within her.
This village is a special area where the four sacred mountains block any incoming energy and absorb it, leaving the air devoid of any energy.
For the sake of the royal family’s prestige, Angela’s constitution hadn’t been publicly disclosed, but she would come here every few years to purge her energy.
For a princess to step outside means she could become a target.
Until now, such cases had been nearly nonexistent, leading to her careless complacency.
“Cough… ugh!”
Suddenly, deep within her body, an agonizing spasm shot through her.
“Damn it….”
She hadn’t fully expelled her body’s energy yet.
Moreover, this mountain was filled with energy mixed in the air.
Every breath she took jolted her energy center painfully.
“Hey, are you okay? You’re about to die here.”
“Just leave me alone. As long as there are no external injuries, I don’t mind if I die by myself.”
“If you were a prince instead of a princess, we’d be having much more fun~ What a shame.”
Angela bit her lip tightly from the pain and humiliation.
“How dare they demean me…!”
What was truly humiliating was that even in moments like this, her life was in their hands.
If only she were a bit stronger, if she had the talent that matched her constitution.
She wouldn’t be in such a pitiful state.
“How lamentable… my incompetence….”
A woman shouldn’t shed tears so readily.
Your hands exist to dry your partner’s tears.
Her mother’s words, heard countless times, suddenly echoed in her mind.
“I don’t know, Mother.”
What could these powerless hands caress?
What could this hand, struggling to hide her own pathetic state of being on the verge of death, possibly protect?
Throb!
“Ugh….”
Pain gnawed at her sanity.
It was the end.
The princess, Angela, would meet the end of her life so wretchedly…
“…Are they really coming this way?”
In that moment, a voice cut through her numbness.
Straining to turn her head towards the source of the sound.
“It’s definitely you guys.”
There stood a boy about her age.
*
I stayed put at the camp without moving.
Not that I was deep in thought or anything.
“This area should be guarded by the Third Division.”
Besides, if this really is an ‘event’ due to the ‘Valdeon Saga,’
The kidnappers of the princess would have to encounter me, the ‘player.’
If this hypothesis is wrong, then I’ll bump into other members, so I had my insurance ready.
However, the fact that I managed to meet with the ‘Sara Sisters’ just like that means,
“It’s safe to say that other obligatory events are also occurring.”
…My head is already pounding.
“Tch, there are people around.”
They both wore masks, making it hard to identify them.
The taller one must be the sister.
The Sara Sisters.
They are antagonist characters that appear when the player is in the ‘forest’ during the princess rescue event.
They are weaker than the ‘Black Pirates’ at sea or the ‘Outlaws’ in the desert.
“Just the two of them?”
That makes it a bit tricky.
If I engage one, the other attacks from behind.
“Sister, that guy’s a man!”
“…A man? Now that you mention it….”
“What? You freaked out for no reason.”
The younger sister approached while shrugging her shoulders.
“He’s not bad-looking, but we have to kill all witnesses, right?”
The moment she drew her sword.
I spoke in the deepest voice I could manage.
“Sara Sisters. You’re much later than I had expected.”
Upon hearing my words, the younger sister froze in her movements.
Confusion and hostility gleamed from her black eyes, visible through the mask.
“…Who are you?”
“Who do you think? Why not try to think it over yourself?”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
The elder sister aimed her sword at me.
“Answer me quickly.”
“Geez, you’re so impatient….”
The most important thing during a bluff is to remain calm.
I deliberately stood up slowly from my seat.
“I am a supporter sent by that person.”
“A supporter…? We haven’t heard anything like that.”
“Of course you haven’t. I was sent in a hurry. The carriage for transporting the target got held up at the checkpoint, so I had to find an alternate vehicle. Thus, my arrival location changed, and I was sent here to guide you.”
“…That sounds plausible.”
Despite my words, the hand holding the sword still had a firm grip.
“By the way, I don’t think I’ve seen your face around here?”
“Right. I’m not one of you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean….”
I pointed my index finger to the sky.
“I belong to that person directly.”
That person.
The one who ordered Angela’s abduction and hired the Sara Sisters.
“If I handle this well, I’ll be able to fulfill his desires.”
I deliberately cast a cold expression and glanced at Angela, who was panting in the magic sphere.
“…That the fact I’m involved in this hasn’t even been disclosed to him.”
As far as I got to that point, the aura of suspicion emanating from the sisters lightened a bit.
Well, considering I had put out a story only insiders would know, it made sense.
“Are you starting to believe me now?”
“…Just hurry up and guide us.”
Though she kept her sword out, she didn’t seem ready to slash me immediately.
Originally, I had intended to target the elder sister first, but…
There’s nothing to be done about that.
“Time has already been considerably delayed, let’s move quickly.”
“Hmph! If it weren’t for you, we would have arrived already….”
The moment the younger sister approached me with a voice full of dissatisfaction.
I manipulated the energy within my energy center.
Woooom-!
The red energy gathered to the blade.
Flame-like energy bloomed in the shape of a great sword.
「Rending Claw」
A devastating strike resembling a beast’s claw cut across her shoulder.
“Huh?”
The sensation of tearing through flesh and shattering bone transmitted through the handle.
Thuck!
Her arm dropped to the ground.
Blood spurted up like a fountain from the severed end.
“Augh! Aaaaah! What the hell!!”
Originally, I had aimed for her neck.
Yet still being human might have held me back from carrying that out.
“What the…?!”
At that moment, the elder sister was dumbfounded.
I gathered the remaining energy into my legs.
「Wave Strike」
The green energy wrapped around my feet and rippled like shoes.
Boom-!
With vigor, I kicked off the ground, closing the distance toward the elder sister.
“My ‘Wave Strike’ still lacks power.”
While ‘Rending Claw’ was focused on damage, it was still uncertain if ‘Wave Strike’ would be enough to neutralize the elder sister effectively.
In terms of experience and raw skill, the Sara Sisters were superior.
So, my best option now was to—
“Run!”
To escape with Angela.
I quickly applied the method of ‘Wave Strike’ to carry the sphere containing her and rushed away.
I could faintly hear them shouting behind me, but I dismissed it lightly.
“For now, I need to get as far away as possible.”
Despite their appearance, the Sara Sisters were set up to be exceptionally cruel and vile characters.
They might pursue me to get revenge for turning the younger sister into a cripple.
At the very least, I needed to escape the mountains to be considered safe.
“Ugh… ugh….”
At that moment, Angela in the sphere opened her eyes slightly.
“Who… are you…?”
“You’ve awakened. I’ll get you to safety soon.”
Normally, I wouldn’t have time to speak while running.
Yet, this was the royal princess Angela.
I might get charged with royal contempt if I mess up my words, so I spoke as respectfully as possible.
“Ah… I see….”
Fortunately, she seemed to understand and nodded her head.
“So, you are my destined partner…”
…….
Huh?