Chapter 125: The Unexpected One

Chapter 125: The Unexpected One

“What’s wrong?”

“Those who attacked us couldn’t have been limited to just those two. Logically speaking, if they wanted to attack us, why didn’t they wait until we went deeper inside? Blocking the exit then would have practically guaranteed no escape route for any of us.”

“…”

“Yet they abandoned that optimal strategy and attacked us with such small numbers. They even let us escape through the exit. Even someone like me, who doesn’t understand much about tactics, feels something’s not right.”

Right after being attacked, Rand had considered evacuating the group deeper into the ruins, as it would at least prevent sudden raids from the outside.

However, with his years of experience as an Adventurer, Rand also sensed that something didn’t smell right about this situation.

But these were all just speculations, which was why he hadn’t shared his thoughts with anyone except Faima.

(It’s fortunate that I learned the Lady’s sound transmission spell. This is better shared only with her.)

If Rand’s suspicions were correct, revealing this publicly would be very helpful, but if it was just his imagination, it could worsen the group’s psychological state and trigger panic.

“Aaaaaa…”

But Rand’s train of thought was suddenly cut off by a scream.

Turning toward the sound, he saw Kalkudo being supported by the guide, who was pressing his hand against Kalkudo’s stomach. Between his fingers, red blood continued to seep out. Beside them, Skaria was clutching his bleeding arm.

Meanwhile, the guide’s son, Marito-kun, was being restrained by a man wearing an Imperial Army uniform.

In his hand was a sword stained with blood droplets, and that cold weapon was pressed against the boy’s neck.

“Don’t move.”

Agaht and Kiska had intended to move to rescue the boy, but they couldn’t possibly be faster than the sword slicing into Marito’s neck, so both were forced to helplessly stop.

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While continuing to hold Marito hostage, the man kept pulling the boy further back.

“Who are you?”

Forced to stand watching helplessly, Agaht asked angrily, but the kidnapper showed no clear reaction. He just stared intently at one person—not Agaht, but the person standing behind him, Faima.

Meanwhile, Kiska slowly approached the wounded Kalkudo while keeping her eyes fixed on Marito and the kidnapper. Having retreated to a safe distance, he allowed her to approach.

“I’m sorry… for letting my guard down.”

“Save the apologies for later. Are you alright?”

Skaria, though wincing in pain, managed to speak up.

The attacker was a soldier from the Royal Army, the one in charge of managing this historic site.

“At first… when the monster army came… I thought they were still outside…”

When he appeared, due to the chaos of the situation, no one, including Kalkudo, had paid attention to him. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

It wasn’t until the strongest fighters had left and only Kalkudo and Skaria remained that he showed himself. With the advantage of surprise, he easily subdued both before taking Marito hostage.

“You… using a kid as a shield… you coward.”

That was all Kalkudo could say before he stopped breathing. The wound was too deep, and the blood loss was draining the strength even from a trained soldier far too quickly.

Fortunately, Kiska always kept first aid supplies on her, so the wound wouldn’t be life-threatening, but at this rate, there would be more injuries, possibly even fatalities.

“If you don’t want this brat hurt… shut your mouths and follow my instructions.”

The kidnapper roared with an angry voice.

“What do you want?”

“I said shut up…”

Though Faima tried to calm the situation, it only seemed to make the kidnapper more frantic. He pressed the cold blade closer to Marito’s neck, causing the boy to cry out in panic, unable to escape from the murderer’s grip. Faima had no choice but to fall silent.

“So, tell us, what must we do?”

Hearing this question, the kidnapper’s eyes darted in another direction and he shook his head. It was the direction where Kanna had rushed into the forest minutes ago to attack and take down the mages who were sniping at the dragons in the sky.

“… tell him to come back here.”

“That’s impossible… while not too difficult, at this distance, I’m not sure my message would reach him. Moreover, there’s a noisy, chaotic battlefield over there.”

“I don’t care, you have powerful magic abilities, figure it out yourself.”

Though it was a spell she used frequently, at this distance, it was enough to make Faima feel discouraged.

But she didn’t have the luxury of hesitation.

“Hurry up.”

Faima’s spell had one weakness: the transmitted message could easily be blocked by obstacles between the source and the target. In this chaotic battlefield, it would be very difficult for the communication spell to reach a target at such a great distance.

What does this man want?

Though the questions kept nagging at her, faced with the urgent situation before her eyes, Faima bit her lip and tried to activate the magic formula to transmit sound to Kanna.