Chapter : 27
I’ll Save You on the Bad Ending Route
Illegal Magical Weapon
Beyond the iron bars, I saw two thugs sitting on a wooden crate. One of them was the guy I had stabbed in the shoulder with the rapier before, and the other was a face I didn’t recognize.
The thugs began drafting a threatening letter.
“Bosses, step out for a moment. There’s a message from the client.”
A door on the ceiling opened, and another man poked his head out. It seemed the place I was trapped in was underground.
The man lowered a ladder, and the other thugs began climbing up.
“Leaving that girl here?”
“Where do you think she could run off to? It’s fine, it’s fine. No magic, no way to escape the bars.”
The men disappeared upstairs, and as soon as the door closed, I pressed myself against the wall. With my hands still tied, I began groping around for something sharp.
‘Is there anything I can use to cut the ropes?’
In movies or games, people usually scrape the rope on something sharp to free themselves. If that didn’t work, I was doomed. By some stroke of luck—or maybe just all my gaming experience—my palm soon touched something prickly.
‘I’m alive! This is actually possible.’
I immediately began sawing at the ropes binding my wrists. With a scrapping sound, the rope gradually frayed. After about three uninterrupted minutes, the rope snapped with a sharp twang.
I quickly removed the cloth covering my mouth. Fresh air filled my lungs.
‘I’m alive… at least my hands are free now.’
But another problem remained. When I tried to summon the Swift Rapier, no magic came out.
I looked at the device strapped to my feet. A circular contraption tightly bound both my ankles, with a gem embedded in the center emitting a green light. It looked like a magical seal.
Recalling the settings of magical seal devices, my indispensable Observer’s Vision activated.
[Shackles of Sealing (1500G): A tool that seals a magician’s magic. Single-use. When magic of the same element as the sealed person touches it, it breaks.]
So, do I need wind-element magic to break it? This is a bit tricky.
I grabbed the iron bars. One seemed unusually old. I gripped and shook it, and it rattled violently. Maybe if I tried, I could pull it out.
But for now, I decided to stay calm. Even if I got out of the cell, there was no way to escape this underground area. One wrong move could break a limb, like in the movies.
‘It’s fine… Aaron and Rowen will come to rescue me…’
I muttered those words like a charm and sat down. I had gathered enough information about the bars to use it if needed.
“If only I could free my foot shackles…”
Beep-rook!
At that moment, I heard a sound like a bird responding to my muttering. I lifted my head and saw a small hole in the wall where a bird was poking its head through. I immediately realized it wasn’t an ordinary bird.
‘Rowen’s messenger bird!’
A canary-like messenger bird with a warm yellow glow fluttered down to my feet. It was one of Rowen’s birds.
“I knew you’d come! Rowen sent you, right?”
As expected of an S-tier character. There had to be a way. Now this kidnapping would end cleanly.
The messenger bird seemed to have tracked my magic and would now guide Rowen to my location.
‘I knew I could trust you.’
I smiled warmly and placed the bird on my hand.
“Did Rowen send you to find me?”
Beep-roo-long!
It seemed to answer yes. That gave me a great idea.
“Ah, can you do me a favor?”
About thirty minutes later, the men came down again, talking loudly. I turned my body against the wall and lay down to hide the fact that I had freed myself.
They were drinking and getting rowdy.
“Did you send the letter properly?”
“They’ll probably be in Shadow Forest soon. What can I do? Otherwise, the poor girl dies.”
“What are you talking about? I want to see the second son of the Zennight family crawl! Don’t you know? That family’s second daughter…”
It wasn’t easy lying there, listening to their voices. Suddenly, their laughter stopped, and I felt like they were staring at me.
“Why is that girl lying there?”
“She must be drained. Better than the noise, right?”
“What do you mean?”
Suddenly, something sharp hit the back of my head. A piece of wood they had thrown rolled on the floor.
“Hey! Show me that pretty face of yours!”
Crazy.
“Ah, this is funny! Hey, let me try one too. Throw it!”
“Want to hear her cry? Girls should cry, right? Or… maybe play a little more with her?”
“The letter said we’d safely return her.”
“Hahaha! You believe that?”
I squeezed my eyes shut. Just a little longer, and I could strike decisively.
‘Prepare to feel real pain.’
They needed to learn the consequences of messing with the companions of S-tier characters. Soon enough, there was a thud from above.
“What, what was that?”
Two men jumped up and looked upward.
“Hey! John! What’s going on?”
But John didn’t answer. One impatient thug shouted again.
“What’s happening?! Report!”
“Ugh… Aaaah!”
Instead of an answer, screams echoed. I knew it was the perfect moment. I stood up and shouted:
“Swift Rapier!”
My feet felt light, and the rapier in my right hand felt feather-light.
“What, what?!”
The thugs staggered back in shock. I kicked the iron bars open with all my strength, sending the two thugs flying backward.
“Ugh!”
“W-What’s happening?!”
“Wait, her seal device!”
They seemed to realize now. Earlier, I had asked the messenger bird for a wind magic orb. I had long since freed my foot shackles!
Even lower-stat characters like Ailran couldn’t compare!
“You kidnapped me? I’ll pay back tenfold!”
I couldn’t wait quietly for rescue.
“Ugh, ughhh!”
“Hey! John! Come down now!”
From above, John’s screams could be heard.
“Please, save me!”
Finally, Aaron’s voice rang out:
“Don’t even think about running!”
The two men were trapped like rats, with no escape above or below. Just as I planned:
‘This time, I’ll destroy them completely.’
“These… damn pests!”
They pulled out the gauntlets they had used before and set them on fire. One flew toward my abdomen. But I was twice as fast as the sluggish men. I dodged and gripped my rapier tightly.
“”
As I cast the spell, wind swirled around my feet. The fools charged at me, and I leapt lightly into the air using wind-powered steps.
I kept using Ailran’s skills to attack the thugs. The swift rapier struck their shoulders and abdomens in quick succession.
“Aaah!”
“Catch her, idiot!”
With Observer’s Vision, I could see their health and my skill status.
‘The skill isn’t fully activating. Only about 50% of Ailran’s real power.’
Still, the thugs were sent flying by my attacks. I scratched them repeatedly. Their health slowly drained, and soon they couldn’t think straight.
[Illegal Weapon Thug A Health: 54]
I punched the last thug in the abdomen. He spat on the floor and collapsed.
“Gah!”
“W-What?!”
I dodged a following thug without even looking and slashed him with the rapier.
[Illegal Weapon Thug B Health: 12]
“Ughhh!”
“I’ll kill you!”
The thug got up like a zombie and charged again. But then someone in black landed on him from above.
“Gah!”
His spine broke backward, and he collapsed unconscious with 0 HP.
‘Too late?’
It was Aaron, standing with his golden Sword of Judgment.
“Miss, are you okay?!”
Rowen’s face appeared from the ceiling door.
“Both of you come down! I’m fine.”
Aaron looked around and said,
“Looks like our lady handled this herself.”
Seeing Aaron’s face, confidence welled up in me, and I smiled.
“I am a magician too, after all.”
Aaron simply nodded. He stared at the thug backing away alone.
“Kidnapping a student from Roas Academy? Bold move.”
“Impossible! How did you find us?!”
The thug lunged at Aaron. He held his sword firmly, then suddenly turned to grab me from behind.
“Eh?!”
I was caught off guard. The thug twisted my arm behind me.
“I-I’ll give up! You’re born as a noble magician, living comfortably! Why can’t we use magic?!”
‘What is he even saying?’
Aaron shouted loudly:
“You talk too much for someone who kills people to make illegal weapons!”
His voice carried the roaring force of a lion. He slashed at the thug with his sword.
This was it! “Villain Strike”! Aaron’s specialty skill—striking only criminals while avoiding hostages!
Seeing it in action firsthand… please hurry, Aaron! But the thug gripped me tighter.
“You think I’ll back down?!”
He chained something to my wrist and threw me to the floor.
“Ugh!”
“Miss Ailran!”
Rowen hurried down and caught me.
‘What a nightmare today.’
I tried to rise and punch the thug but felt strangely weak.
“Huh? Where’s my sword?”
The thug shouted.
“Swift Rapier!”
Suddenly, my rapier appeared in the thug’s hands. Aaron and Rowen were both shocked. So was I. The thug cast a wind spell.
“!”
Wind swirled around him as he charged at Aaron. Aaron blocked it with his sword, slightly startled. As their swords clashed, I realized my magic was draining.
“Miss… this is…”
Rowen noticed the bracelet on my wrist—the same one the thug had put on me. Strange magical runes resonated with something.
“A linked illegal weapon…”
Rowen frowned.
“This bracelet lets him use a magician’s magic as his own. Also… any damage one side takes is mirrored on the other.”
Rowen tried to remove it, but it wouldn’t budge.
“This just got annoying!”
Aaron immediately shifted from attack to defense.
‘So that thug is attacking with Ailran’s skills…’
I wasn’t worried.
“Hahaha! Come on! Try attacking! If you do, we both die!”
The thug seemed delighted.
“Or I’ll kill you first! I’ll unleash her ultimate magic!”
A huge wind aura swirled around the rapier he held.
“Miss, what kind of magic is that?”
Rowen asked me to explain. Aaron braced to defend. I calmly said:
“Don’t worry… just stay still.”
“Huh?”
“Aaron will be fine.”
“Hyaaaah! !”
The thug shouted a spell, sending a blade of wind at Aaron’s chest. Aaron lowered his sword and stared at the thug in disbelief.
“……?”
“……?”
The thug and Aaron stared alternately at my rapier and me. Aaron had taken no damage.
‘An F-tier character doesn’t stand a chance against an S-tier…’
I looked at the thug with faint pity.
