~Chapter 19~
Ivyn quickly looked around.
Just then, dead dogs hanging from trees caught her eye.
It seemed the bandits had caught them for food.
Ivyn sent a surge of black energy toward the dead dogs’ corpses, and energy stretched out with a gust of wind.
*Whoosh!*
The next moment, a green light flashed in the dead dogs’ eyes.
It was the moment undead hounds were born.
“See this lock here? Find the key bundle!”
*—Woof woof!*
Just as the undead hound, catching the scent of the lock, was about to dash into the darkness.
“Fire! Fire!”
A commotion erupted from the direction of the iron bars.
*Swish! Whoosh!*
Something was flying toward them.
“What is that……?!”
What was pouring down from the black sky were arrowheads tipped with fire.
It seemed the bandits inside the stronghold were firing flaming arrows.
*Whoosh!*
As fire splashed onto the piles of straw stacked around the iron bars, it spread in all directions instantly.
As the surrounding air rapidly heated up, a great commotion began inside.
“Save us! It’s hot, it’s hot!”
“Agh! The fire caught my clothes!”
“Magician! Help!”
They retreated as far as possible from the flames licking the iron bars and screamed for help at the top of their lungs.
*’What do I do? I haven’t learned any magic to open locks yet…… And I don’t have the strength to break the bars either……’*
As Ivyn watched the people screaming inside the iron bars, hopping anxiously in frustration…
*Uuuuung.*
Suddenly, a bright light seeped into the keyhole, and *clank!* The iron bar gate opened, didn’t it?
“Huh? It’s open!”
“Get out, get out!”
As the gate opened, the prisoners began pouring out in waves.
“We’re finally saved!”
“Thank you, knight!”
The miracle didn’t end there.
*Flutter, flutter.*
Clusters of light, like snowflakes, lightly scattered and began to descend onto the bodies of the prisoners, singed by the fire—one, then another.
“My wound…… my wound is healing!”
“It doesn’t hurt anymore…….”
Ivyn stared blankly into the air for a moment, then slowly turned around.
And there, standing tall, was the holy knight clad in white armor.
It felt as if everything was flowing in slow motion, like a scene from a movie.
“Ah…….”
Ivyn unconsciously let out a shallow gasp.
Was *this* what divine power was like?
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Theodore pressed, asking the dazed Ivyn.
“Huh? Ah, no…….”
He hasn’t recognized me yet.
He must think I came all the way here to find the prisoners.
But Ivyn was instinctively stepping back, one step at a time.
It was then.
*Pant, pant!*
Just then, something in the distance was rapidly approaching Ivyn.
Held in the undead hound’s teeth was a blood-stained bundle of keys.
“Gasp……!”
Ivyn looked at the undead hound and shook her head subtly, trying to signal.
*’Don’t come! Don’t come this way! Go! Go away!’*
But before her will could be conveyed, the undead hound had already reached her feet.
*Pant, pant!*
The undead hound spat the key bundle *thump* at her feet, then wagged its tail—now just bone—and looked up at her.
It had a bright look, as if expecting praise.
Seeing the holy knight’s face harden stiffly, Ivyn frantically waved her hand at the undead hound.
“Uh, uh, it’s a bandit stronghold, so there’s all sorts of weird things! G-Go play over there! Shoo! Shoo!”
Then, the undead hound made a *’Yelp! Whimper!’* sound and proceeded to nuzzle and rub its head against her hand.
By any measure, it didn’t look like two strangers meeting for the first time.
“…….”
“…….”
The holy knight turned his gaze toward Ivyn with a cold face.
His eyes were narrowed with suspicion.
Just as the peculiar tension between the two reached its peak……
“You.”
Theodore came right up close to her and reached for the edge of her mask.
And the next moment.
*Click.*
As the mask was pulled off, she felt the wind brush past her now-exposed face.
*Thud.*
“Huh?”
Hearing the sound of the mask hitting the ground, Ivyn unconsciously parted her lips slightly and let out a thin breath.
“……Ivyn Kinzello?”
The holy knight muttered in a disbelieving voice.
Feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, Ivyn stood there dazed for a moment, staring at him.
Was this what it meant to feel a chill down your spine?
This was less like being at a loss for words and more like having nothing to say at all.
The holy knight’s cold iron gauntlet touched the tip of her chin.
“What in the world…… is all this trickery?”
Theodore’s expression looking down at Ivyn was frozen as coldly as his voice.
“N-no, that’s not it…… I, I mean, so, um…….”
She wanted to utter proper words, but various phrases were tangled up and wouldn’t form properly on the tip of her tongue.
—
*—Next time you meet me, you will absolutely not leave alive.*
What do I do?
What do I do *now*?
The feeling of her mind going completely blank.
It was then.
“Sir Knight! All personnel in the main building have been neutralized!”
Just then, a holy warrior who had finished clearing out the bandits was running over to report.
It was the moment Theodore’s head naturally turned toward the soldier.
Ivyn was sharp enough not to miss that instant.
If not now, another chance won’t come!
“Bite him!”
*Grrrr!*
Seeing the undead hound charging fiercely toward the holy knight, Ivyn used the gap to swiftly move her feet backward.
Her initially hesitant steps soon began to pick up speed.
“It’s a necromancer! This way! Capture them!”
She could hear soldiers shouting sharply from behind.
*’If I get caught this time, I’m really dead!’*
Just then.
*Thump!*
Her right foot, stepping awkwardly with tangled steps, caught on a rock.
“Waaaaah!”
The moment her body lurched forward.
*Shwoooosh.*
Purplish-black poisonous smoke began to spew out in all directions.
“Cough, cough! Wh-what is this all of a sudden!”
The soldiers chasing her began to panic.
“Do not panic! Surround the smoke!”
It was just as Theodore’s voice could be heard from outside the smoke.
*Vwoom.*
“Huh?!”
Ivyn’s body, which had been tilting as if about to hit the ground, began to float into the air?
Next, sounds of grunting and flapping wings reached her ears.
“Ah, I gonna die ’cause of my foolish master! Ugh!”
When Ivyn cautiously raised her head to look up, she saw the fluffy underside of a plump snow rabbit’s jaw wobbling.
“O, O-Bok?!”
O-Bok was diligently carrying her body with its cotton-swab-like front paws.
“You, you! What the! Where were you! I looked for you the whole time!”
With a feeling of utter deflation, mixed with relief, resentment, and familiarity, Ivyn complained toward O-Bok.
“Went to report sit-nation! Why!”
“Report the situation? To Grandpa?”
“Yeah!”
Looking down, they were already quite far from the ground.
It seemed O-Bok was a pet with considerably more impressive abilities than Ivyn had initially thought.
To the point it was hard to believe Glyn Kinzello made it?
Suddenly feeling boundless trust in O-Bok welling up, Ivyn shouted.
“O-Bok, hang in there just a little more! This height seems enough, we just need to fly non-stop to Grandpa’s shack! Let’s all cheer together, heave……”
“……heave-ho my foot, I feel like dying from exhaustion right now so stop talking.”
“Sorry……”
Meanwhile.
The group of soldiers left on the ground were staring up at the sky in shock.
“……Could necromancers levitate too?”
One soldier who had been staring blankly at the sky muttered.
Since O-Bok’s form was invisible to their eyes, it could only appear that way.
*Whooosh.*
By the time Theodore had cleared away all the poisonous smoke around him, the situation was already over.
A white flash like a spark—*crackle*—flickered and vanished from his hand.
“…….”
This was already the second time.
Letting a necromancer slip away right before his eyes.
Both times, he had been deceived by the opponent’s cunning tricks.
*’How could this happen…… again…….’*
Above the deepening night, the holy knight’s anger rose clearly.
*’Are you testing me?’*
—
*—Theodor, the only way to save your soul, stained by your parents’ sins and the blood of sinners, is to take refuge in Goddess Flulla and overcome the trials of fate.*
—
“If that is the case, I will gladly accept it, Ivyn Kinzello.”
*Crack.*
Tiny metal dust scattered from beneath the iron gauntlet, crumpled from his tightly clenched fist.
—
* * *
—
By the time Ivyn and O-Bok arrived at Glyn Kinzello’s shack, all her other brothers were already gathered.
It seemed Glyn Kinzello had contacted the main house in advance in case the rescue operation failed.
“Vinnie!”
The first to rush out upon seeing them was Ron.
He seemed furious to the top of his head that his youngest sister had been in danger again.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I just can’t believe it. That our princess, who’s only just learning basic black magic, was put in such a dangerous situation……! We weren’t supposed to send you there alone in the first place…… From now on, don’t go anywhere else, learn at home, okay?”
*Shudder, shudder.*
Her knees were shaking.
Finally seeing her family’s faces in a safe place, it seemed all the accumulated tension had drained away at once.
*Slooowly.*
Her body, tilting to the side, was supported by the triplets—John, Hon, and Don.
“Oh dear! Our little squirrel came to the mountains for experiential learning and almost died, died!”
“This is all because of Father!”
“Experiential learning my foot, let’s go home right now! Quickly!”
