Chapter 338

"I never thought they would go this far."

When he came to his senses, it was an unknown place.

There were no windows and no light at all.

The floor he was lying on was hard and cold, so he could only tell it was made of stone.

When had he been here? How many days had passed?

His last memory was the Queen looking at him with a shocked expression while his esophagus burned.

And then he had lost consciousness immediately. Until then, he thought he had been in the Great Hall.

Feeling the clothes he was wearing, they seemed to be the same as what he had worn in the 3rd Prince's palace.

The veil was still covering him, and when he groped around, he could touch what was presumed to be Eibon's staff.

He gripped it tightly and muttered.

"Aphoom-Zhah."

Aphoom-Zhah would be hiding his form.

However, knowing that he could reveal himself by his side immediately if he wanted, he called him quietly.

But at first there was no answer.

"...Aphoom-Zhah? Are you there? Aphoom-Zhah!"

[-This, this body...]

He couldn't hear. Had something gone wrong with his ears? What had he eaten at the mourning banquet?

Holding the staff in one hand and groping ahead with his empty hand, he moved forward on his knees.

In the darkness where he couldn't even see his own hand, something cold and damp touched him.

"Aphoom-Zhah?"

[Believer, this body strange. Asgard... magical interference.]

"Is that you? Is this really you?"

[This body, was trapped. Asgard, white forest. Interference, exists. Can't long...]

"Are you melting? Is this you melting? I'll give you blood. Wait a moment. You just need to eat my blood. Then you'll be fine!"

[Magic... believer, no use, this body. Keep trying.]

A sloshing sound came from below.

His palm holding the melting snowball felt painfully cold.

Only Aphoom-Zhah's voice came through like broken words.

[Careful. Believer. Escape. Here. Escape and call me.]

"Aphoom-Zhah!"

[Here, existence impossible. Magic flow interference. Believer. Go out. Request. Help.]

"No. Don't go. Why? What is this place? I don't know anything, help me. Without you, what on earth can I do-"

-Drip.

A chillingly clear sound of a water drop.

Before his words could finish, his hand felt light first.

The snow disappeared without a trace, and instead water pooled in his palm with a gentle splash.

Aphoom-Zhah had disappeared.

He wasn't afraid of darkness. But being left alone in a space where nothing could be heard was worse than dying.

Moreover, he didn't have the grimoire Pnakotic now. All he had left was this useless body and the staff Eibon had left behind!

Suddenly an intense impulse he hadn't recognized swept over him. He suddenly wanted to ■■. More precisely, he wanted to ■■■ himself for being unable to do anything in a situation where he didn't even have Aphoom-Zhah. Really, ■■■ irritating. ■■■■ about his existence ■■■■■■. Unbearable ■■■■. It felt like becoming a ■■■ that didn't need to appear in the story, so he ■■■■■ just this ■■■ would be ■■■ to ■■■■■■■...

When the staff slipped from his weakened hand and fell to the floor with a loud noise, he was momentarily startled.

What had he been thinking? No, calm down! Don't think about this 'impulse.' Let's turn his attention elsewhere. Stay composed.

He looked around the pitch-black place.

"Is anyone there?"

No echo returned. It probably wasn't large enough for echoes to resound.

As he gradually grasped the size of the space, his mind began to calm down bit by bit.

Then, where was this place?

If his guess was right, probably inside the royal castle. If he had been taken outside the royal castle, Yurik wouldn't have stayed still.

Moreover, his clothes and Eibon's staff hadn't been taken yet. That meant not much time had passed since the Queen collapsed.

Then no one had touched him since he was confined here.

Then why had he been abandoned here?

That was probably because he.

-Mage... why on earth...

"That's right, indeed. I had forgotten."

Because of the fact that he had poisoned the Queen.

But no matter how much he thought about it, he had never fed poison to her.

He was even a victim who had eaten poison too. But why confine an innocent person in such a place?

Later, even if he claimed enormous damages from Aquilonia, Yurik would have nothing to say.

He picked up Eibon's staff and stood up.

After walking a few steps around where he had been standing, his thoughts suddenly turned to Cellinne, Dardin, Eva, and Valter.

If he had been misunderstood as trying to kill the Queen, what would have happened to the four people?

Was Yurik running around busily trying to prove his innocence?

He didn't know anything. Nothing at all.

After standing for a long time, he crouched down on the floor again. It was fortunate that he had a veil covering his face.

Since there was no one here, no one would see his expression now,

But still.

"...Nothing bad will happen."

Nothing bad should happen. Really.

He could be revived even if he died, but others couldn't.

Yurik would probably take good care of them. It might not be the case, but still, they all had bonds formed in the east.

If worst came to worst, it might be the best method for Yurik and the four people to leave Aquilonia and go far away.

Ah, then who would rescue him? Should he try to find a way to escape from here by himself?

He didn't know. Really, he didn't know anything.

He wished someone would get him out of here.

* * *

Having heard the intentions of the client he served, Valter raised his thumb high.

"Right! A correct decision a thousand times over! What this old mercenary learned from mercenary work is nothing but black market routes, identity forgery, and illegal border crossing!"

"What? Shouldn't you learn other things too?"

"The frail young man too, let's see, six adults? Emergency identity forgery costs a lot extra."

"Won't His Highness pay for it? If not, let's peel off some gold leaf from the walls here before we leave!"

"Uhahahah! Gold leaf! Uhahahahah! This dancer miss, you're more tenacious than you look! Uhahahahah!"

Valter, with his long career in mercenary circles, was experienced. He quickly shared the locations of unofficial guilds they could contact as soon as they left the capital,

And simultaneously devised an operation to rescue Yesung trapped in the Mage Tower.

The operation itself was very simple.

Targeting the time when guards changed shifts, Cellinne, who was quick in action, would infiltrate the tower.

The Mage Tower might have devices to suppress mages' magical power usage,

But since they were devices made with mages in mind, there was a high possibility they wouldn't work on ordinary people.

Then they would escape the Mage Tower with Yesung, and the personnel waiting below would distract the guards to draw their attention.

When Yesung and Cellinne came out of the Mage Tower, they would escape the royal castle through routes Yurik knew,

Use horses to leave the capital and move to the unofficial guild's trading post that Valter had suggested.

The plan was to forge identities and then leave Aquilonia for a third country, the Barakan archipelago.

They could expect Asgard's cooperation, but first Yurik didn't want that,

And since Asgard was still burning with ambitions to unify the continent, they couldn't know how they might be used.

For this plan to succeed, they first needed to find out the guard duty rotation schedule for the guards patrolling the Mage Tower.

Here, the servant who had been fed Eva's diarrhea medicine disguised as poison played a big role.

He was in such a state that he felt like he was going crazy from stomach pain, so he spilled everything.

The mage trapped in the Mage Tower had the strongest security applied due to charges of attempting to assassinate the Queen Dowager,

And since the Captain of the Royal Guard personally patrolled the Mage Tower, no one was allowed entry or exit.

But Dardin's thinking was a bit different.

"If the Captain of the Royal Guard personally patrols the Mage Tower, it's obvious who could have given such orders. So there must be a way to get in."

"Can we get to the Mage Tower safely without being caught?"

"Yes. Since a frontal assault is impossible, naturally we have no choice but to deceive the opponent."

"How will we deceive them? Put out bait and use diversionary tactics?"

"We can't handle what happens afterward. So we'll adopt a mimicry method."

"Mimicry?"

Mimicry. When insects or animals imitate their surrounding environment.

Cellinne wondered if she should wear servant clothes according to Dardin's words,

But seeing him stare intently at the servant clutching his gurgling stomach, she snapped her fingers.

"You want us to become one of the Queen's lackeys!"

The four people moved the servant and maid suffering from diarrhea to steal clothes.

The servant secretly brought Royal Guard uniforms that had been put out for laundry by the Royal Guard,

The maid similarly brought maid uniforms that had been set aside for mending.

Since looking natural was key, the four people also decided to wear robes that could hide their faces.

They had sufficiently communicated the situation to Yurik, who would be in the 3rd Prince's palace, through the maid,

So all that remained was to smoothly recapture Yesung and leave the capital.

The deed was carried out secretly and swiftly.

As the day was ending.

One trembling servant, two maids, and two Royal Guards came out of the 3rd Prince's palace annex.

They passed through receiving salutes from the guards who had been providing security at the 3rd Prince's palace,

Went into the 3rd Prince's palace and soon came out with the 3rd Prince with a calm face.

Seeing this, the guards were startled and blocked their path.

"Knights, we've received orders not to let anyone out. That's the same even if it's His Highness the Prince."

"Orders came down from above... Orders came. They told us to urgently bring His Highness the Prince to the main castle."

"Ah, is that so? Then I'll first report to the Captain of the Royal Guard."

"He'll be returning from the Mage Tower soon. I'll go and report directly. It's an urgent matter, so step aside."

"Yes!"

It was fine for the guards to report to the Captain of the Royal Guard.

Originally, the Royal Guard affiliated with the royal family, the Royal Guards responsible for the royal castle's security, and the Guards who actually protected the royalty were all separate organizations with different reporting systems.

This time, due to an unprecedented incident, the Royal Guards and Royal Guard had to cooperate,

But strictly speaking, the Captain of the Royal Guard wasn't his superior.

The guard was reasonably convinced on his own and let the Royal Guards taking the 3rd Prince pass.

Huh, but why were they taking the maid and servant from the annex? Were they important witnesses?

Having safely escaped the 3rd Prince's palace, they slowly headed toward the main castle and stopped in a deserted place.

The maid with pink hair hidden in a coif handed a dark-colored robe to the prince.

"Wear this. It came from the laundry, so it might smell a bit, but you won't be wearing it long anyway."

"I never said anything."

He who was called Yurik den Aquilonia, His Highness the 3rd Prince, put on the robe.

When Yurik's conspicuous appearance was hidden, the two Royal Guards and two maids also put on the robes they had brought.

Then they put the still terrified servant at the front.

The pink-haired maid said gently.

"You know the way to the Mage Tower, right? Let's go quickly. You want to be safe after finishing this too, don't you?"

"Do I really have to go there? I've told you everything I could, and I really worked hard."

"Ah, why are we taking you along? Good question. Dardin, what do you think?"

At the maid's sarcasm, one of the mild-looking Royal Guards replied.

"Because your diarrhea is less severe."

"Just for that reason!"

"Hey. Can't you be quiet, little thief cat?"

The servant was conscious of the pink-haired maid standing behind him.

That was because he felt an alienation in the middle of his back that he had never experienced before.

The maid whispered.

"Listen carefully. If you quietly guide us to the Mage Tower and don't pull any tricks, we'll behave quietly too. What we want is to take the mage and leave."

"Hii, hiik."

"But if there's even a very, very small mistake. You either don't get the antidote... or a new hole gets drilled in your back. It'll be one of the two, won't it?"

The servant swallowed his saliva.

He had just wanted to get ahead a little in this royal castle.

So he grabbed the opportunity when it came,

But how had such a tragedy come to pass?

But appealing such things here and now wouldn't change anything.

In the end, the servant began guiding the party while feeling the sharp blade touching his back.

There was only one place in the royal castle that people called the Mage Tower.

The Mage Tower inside Aquilonia's royal castle, which had a very close relationship with the royal family.

However, since most mages who should have been in the Mage Tower were stationed inside the palace,

The building itself called the 'Mage Tower' was operated more like preserving archaeological sites from the Acheron period.

Therefore, Aquilonia's Mage Tower wasn't as grand or well-equipped as Asgard's.

Rather, being located inside the royal castle, it was considerably reduced in scale.

Moreover, though the Mage Tower received investment from the kingdom's foremost family,

Aquilonia was just a remote small country in the western Thurian.

With insufficient magical research, a grand and imposing Mage Tower was unthinkable.

The party that reached Aquilonia's Mage Tower, which was considered modest for various reasons,

Saw someone standing in front of the Mage Tower and hurriedly hid behind nearby bushes.

The pink-haired maid glared at the servant whose eyes had grown wide.

"You said this was shift change time...!"

"I-it's true, really! Why would I lie!"

Though the servant knelt down and claimed his innocence,

That didn't mean the Captain of the Royal Guard guarding the Mage Tower would suddenly disappear.

Moreover, he wasn't alone. Two more knights were stationed beside him, maintaining ironclad surveillance.

The mild-looking knight muttered.

"This is serious. I don't know if they've already changed shifts or are planning to. We can't stay here until the next shift change happens."

"Oh my, what do we do? Should this old man go and knock them down?"

"We can't fight here, Grandfather! Eva, do you have any good ideas... Eva?"

The maid called 'Eva' was just staring intently at where the Mage Tower was.

After maintaining silence for a long time, she finally looked at the others.

"Go."

"What are you saying? Go?"

"Exactly what I said. I'll handle this place. Let's go with the plan. Watch from here, and when I signal, enter the Mage Tower."

"Wait, Eva. You can't even fight. Eva! Wait!"

Leaving the panicked people behind, she stood up and came out of the bushes.

Tap, tap. Wearing her robe, she walked forward looking only ahead.

The knights guarding the Mage Tower were somewhat flustered.

A maid had suddenly appeared from over there and was approaching the Mage Tower just like that.

But having received orders, they couldn't let suspicious people wander around this area.

When they took a step forward to stop the maid.

"Stop."

The Captain of the Royal Guard commanded.

The knights just stood there awkwardly, watching the Captain of the Royal Guard pass them and go forward.

The maid and the Captain of the Royal Guard.

The two people stood facing each other for a moment.

Black hair swayed over the shoulders of the maid slowly removing the robe that covered her head.

The Captain of the Royal Guard's eyes wavered.

Cold, resolute, black eyes that contained nothing.

"I,"

He tried to say something several times to the one looking directly at him, but couldn't manage any words.

In the end, the maid opened the conversation first.

"It's been a long time, Captain. I heard you became the head of House Eivanshter. I'm sorry for not being able to congratulate you for so long."

"Primavera Viscountess."

"Are you uncomfortable with this title? Or would it be more comfortable if I called you 'Milo' like in the old days?"

Milo Eivanshter.

The young head of House Eivanshter,

A promising figure who held the important position of Captain of the Royal Guard.

His old first love's words struck him coldly.