BSS 60

Chapter 60

╻What kind of world is this so cruel!

I was frustrated for so many reasons.

Frustrated at the oppressive situation I was in, annoyed that if only Rai had been by my side, I wouldn’t have been captured. Frustrated by everything happening beyond my control.

“Hey! You!”

“Hmm…?”

I called out irritably to the boy quietly cornered in the room.

“How long have you been captured? Do you even know what time it is?”

“I don’t know.”

“When were you caught?”

“This morning…”

I had been captured around midnight. That meant this boy had been held for at least twelve hours.

“I tried leaving through the castle gate… At first, I thought it was someone my father sent. But when I opened my eyes, I was here.”

I let out a deep sigh as I listened to his gloomy words.

By now, the delegation must be in an uproar. I didn’t know how long I had been unconscious, but at least a few hours had surely passed. That would be enough time for them to realize something was wrong with me and Iruse.

I worried about Hansen and Philo getting scolded because of me.

“No, no… this isn’t the time to worry about others… Hey, come here.”

“My name isn’t ‘Hey,’ you know?”

“Whatever. Just come if I say so.”

First, I needed to figure out where I was being held.

The room itself was about the size of a single-occupancy inn room—not very big.

It was square-shaped, with very sturdy walls, impossible for a child to escape from. The only exit was a door with bars, and the small window on the door was too high to see outside alone.

“Lie down here.”

I pointed toward the door for the boy, who was just a dark shape in the room.

He just stood there blankly.

Realizing he couldn’t see my fingers, I roughly grabbed him and pushed him down. His hands were tied, making him hard to control, so I was a bit rough.

“W-what are you doing?”

“Trying to see outside.”

I immediately stepped onto his back.

“Eh? Aah! Heavy!”

What a fragile boy.

For a delicate girl like me to climb on his back and have him shiver like a leaf—it was almost comical.

“Can’t you hold still? I can’t see!”

“Ugh…”

After stomping and scolding him, he grunted but started bracing himself and giving it his all.

No strength, but plenty of guts!

I stood on my tiptoes and peered outside the door.

The dark corridor had no windows, just a few torches crudely attached to the walls.

I tried clinging to the bars to look sideways, but it was impossible. Only straight ahead was visible.

I glimpsed a shadow of someone with a weapon and then stepped down.

“Hmph, looks like we’re in the basement.”

“Ugh, my back…”

“Undine!”

At my call, Undine appeared in the air, her pale bluish glow faintly illuminating the room.

The summoned Undine floated around me slowly.

[Master, where is this place?]

Even Undine seemed to sense how precarious my situation was.

“Wow… what is that?”

“My spirit.”

“Spirit?”

In the dark room, Undine’s glowing form was unusually clear.

The boy, fascinated by this first-time sight, moved closer to me.

I could barely see his face in Undine’s light—it was around my age.

“First time seeing a spirit?”

“Yes.”

“Remember it well. It’s precious.”

The boy nodded obediently. I could guess why he’d been captured—so naïve, he was an easy target.

“Undine, turn completely invisible.”

As soon as I said this, the blue glow drained quickly from Undine’s body.

Only a slight shimmer remained in the air.

If you didn’t look carefully, you wouldn’t notice the tiny distortion in the space—it was perfectly invisible in the dark.

I hadn’t expected to use the transparency technique in real combat so soon, having only experimented with it a few times.

I thought I wouldn’t need it because the mana cost was extreme.

“Go out that window and check how many dangerous people are around. Look at the surroundings… and figure out which floor we’re on. Be careful.”

[Yes!]

With her spirited reply, my mana began to drain at an alarming rate.

I couldn’t see her, but it seemed Undine had gone outside.

The further she went from me, the faster my mana depleted. Using magic to push a spirit far away wasn’t something to do often.

This was exactly the moment I wished Rai were here.

Still, the idiot was nowhere to be found when needed.

[Master!]

“You’re back. Where are you? Return to your original form, Undine.”

It was uncomfortable not being able to see her.

[I’m still here.]

“Alright. How’s it outside?”

[There are many rooms like this. Each room has a few people. Some rooms have only girls, some only boys. There are even non-human ones!]

I see—this must be the floor where children are held.

I stroked my chin and asked again,

“What floor is this?”

[Third basement floor! As you go up, there are more people. Big, scary people. All of them are armed.]

“How many?”

[More than this.]

Undine showed ten small fingers.

Conversation was possible, but she didn’t understand difficult or uncommon words, like numbers—not used in the spirit world.

“The people outside… can we defeat them?”

Hoping against hope, I asked. Undine shook her head sadly.

[I’m sorry. It’s impossible.]

“Of course… no, it’s fine. You don’t need to apologize.”

It wasn’t my lovely, cute Undine’s fault.

It was my fault as her inadequate master. I should have trained my mana harder.

For some reason, whenever Undine was involved, it always felt like my fault.

I felt weakhearted, like I was exploiting a child.

“Hey, why are you talking to yourself?”

“I was talking with Undine. You just can’t hear her.”

“Ah, I see.”

“From what she said, breaking through forcefully seems impossible.”

“What? Well, of course! What could we do?”

I pondered for a moment—could Undine and Adore take down over ten slave merchants?

I was reckless, but even I knew it was impossible.

I might handle four, maybe, but that was solo. Iruse was asleep, and leaving behind a stranger was also troublesome.

I stared intently at the barely visible boy.

“Can you do anything?”

“Do anything?”

“Magic, for instance.”

“Magic? I can’t! But… swordsmanship, a little…”

Phew. At the academy, mages were everywhere—I hadn’t realized how valuable they were until now.

Swordsmanship without a sword was useless.

The best option left was calling for help.

My only hope was Undine.

“Listen carefully, Undine. First, use invisibility and leave the building without being noticed. Once outside, remove invisibility to save mana.”

[Yes!]

“When you go outside, there will be people. Request help… no, be careful not to talk to just anyone. They might be part of the enemy.”

If exposed carelessly, only our plan would be revealed, making things worse. How to choose the safe person?

“Yes. Find knights. You know, people in armor.”

[Yes!]

“Find knights as quickly as possible and request help. Bring them here.”

[Bring them here?]

“Yes. Some delegates might be searching the city. They may call out our names. Bring them too. Can you do it?”

Undine, listening intently, nodded resolutely. She understood the gravity of the situation.

[Yes! I can do it!]

“Bring people here no matter what.”

[Master, what if people don’t follow me?]

“Then call out. Tell them to save their master.”

[Got it!]

This was another technique I thought I’d never use—making Undine’s voice audible to others.

It drained enormous mana, though.

“Go quickly! Undine, I trust only you. If you find Rai, bring him too!”

Finding people and relaying messages was usually the wind spirit’s specialty. Water spirits weren’t ideal—they moved slowly and were easily detected.

But now, it was the only way.

I watched Undine fade and took a deep breath, sitting on the floor.

I leaned against the wall and got comfortable.

The boy observing me crouched next to me, quite close.

“What?”