Chapter 65
*
“Mmm...”“Freya let out a low groan and opened her eyes.
The first thing she noticed upon opening them was a smell.
A stale, bitter smell.
Next came the chill of a stone floor beneath her.
"...Where am I?"
Freya looked around.
At first, there was only darkness, and she couldn't see anything.
But as her eyes gradually adjusted to the dark, shapes slowly came into view.
As her vision cleared, Freya belatedly spotted someone lying beside her.
"Senior?"
Freya sat up.
The person lying beside her was Valeria.
The hair tie that had neatly bound her black hair had come undone, and her hair was scattered across her face.
For a moment, seeing the student council president she admired collapsed like that startled Freya.
Only after confirming the thin but steady sound of her breathing did Freya let out a sigh of relief.
"You're awake."
Then a voice came from behind Freya.
Freya knew who that voice belonged to.
"Senior Carl, right?"
"I didn't expect our discipline chief to be here too."
Carl, the top student in the Swordsmanship Department.
As a member of the student council, Freya had met him a few times at award ceremonies, so they knew each other.
He was sitting with his back against the wall.
The sleeve of his uniform was torn, and there were severe bruises on his face.
"Senior Carl... what happened?"
"Beats me. The moment I got here, they snatched my sword and beat me until I ended up like this. I didn't even have time to resist."
"No way... then do you know where the other person is?"
"There."
Carl jerked his chin lightly into the darkness.
In the direction he indicated, another girl was huddled up with her knees drawn to her chest.
The girl with Carl's coat draped over her shoulders wasn't moving, as if asleep.
Her head was bowed, so her face couldn't be seen, but the green tie symbolic of the Alchemy Department was faintly visible.
Freya thought she knew who that girl was.
"Senior Ellie?"
The girl's head slowly lifted.
Her hazy gaze turned toward Freya.
"That voice... Lady Nihirit?"
"Yes. Are you okay?"
Ellie slowly shook her head.
Unlike Carl, she didn't have any obvious injuries.
But this place itself seemed to weigh on her, and she didn't look well.
Considering that even speaking seemed difficult for Ellie, Freya didn't press her further.
Instead, she continued questioning Carl.
"Senior Carl. Do you know where this is?"
"If I knew that, wouldn't I have gotten out already?"
Carl gave a wry smile.
"How long has it been since we disappeared outside?"
"Two days."
"Two days..."
"Have you found anything out in the meantime?"
Carl shrugged.
"I don't know much either. So far, only two people have come and gone from this prison."
"Do you know who those two people were?"
"No."
Carl shook his head.
"One was a big man. He didn't talk, so I don't know his name, but he had imprint marks on his body. Looked like he'd undergone enhancement surgery."
"His rank?"
"Zero-rank. But because of the enhancement surgery, he's stronger than me even barehanded. This bruise is proof."
Carl lifted his chin to show the bruise on it.
"One hit, and I couldn't even keep my wits about me."
"What about the other one?"
"That one was the bigger problem. The brute I could've handled if I had a sword, but the other one was a first-rank mage."
Freya rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought.
A first-rank black mage and a zero-rank who had undergone enhancement surgery.
Even if Carl was the top student in the Swordsmanship Department and an aura user, he was still a student.
Fighting a first-rank mage after having his sword taken was all but impossible.
"Did you try escaping? If you use aura, you should be able to break a lock or something."
"Unfortunately, I tried that too. But as you can see, I'm in this state."
Carl shook his head and pointed at the floor.
Freya lowered her gaze.
Even with her eyes adjusted to the dark, it was hard to see, but something was thinly scattered across the stone floor.
When she brushed the floor with her finger, a fine powder clung to her fingertips.
"This is...?"
"Opium powder."
Carl sighed.
"It's sprinkled on the floor as powder, and it's floating around in the air too. Breathing normally isn't much of a problem, but if I take a deep breath, my head goes fuzzy. Thanks to that, I can't use aura."
Freya's expression darkened.
Just as magic requires knowledge and symbolism,
aura requires meditation and willpower.
That was why aura was called the miracle of fools.
Because even if you're not smart, you can still use it as long as you have the will.
But this miracle had a fatal weakness.
To raise aura, meditation and breathing had to come first.
It was the process of calming the mind, taking a deep breath, and gathering one's will in one place.
With enough skill, one could bring it up in a single breath, but Carl, at a student level, needed a longer breath.
"When the guard opened the door, I tried to raise my aura and break through. After two deep breaths, the world started wobbling. My legs gave out before I could gather power."
Carl pointed to the large bruise on his face.
"This is from then."
Freya's gaze returned to Ellie.
That was why Ellie was so listless despite having no visible wounds.
That was probably why Carl had taken off his coat to drape it over Ellie and seated her at the spot farthest from the powder.
Freya bit her lip.
"Then how do we...?"
Just then,
"Mmm..."
Valeria let out a low groan and opened her eyes.
Valeria sat up.
Freya moved to support her shoulder, but Valeria lightly raised a hand to signal that she was fine.
She leaned back against the wall and swept her mussed black hair up with both hands.
The student council president bit down on the loosened hair tie and, with practiced motions, retied her hair.
Then she gave the tied hair a light tug to check the knot before looking around.
Her gaze moved from Carl to Ellie, from Ellie to Freya, and from Freya to the iron door.
Satisfied, Valeria gave a small nod and opened her mouth.
"Another black mage?"
"Another one?"
"Ah, the discipline chief probably doesn't know. The academy's upper school has an incident like this once every three years. The world is that grim. Kidnappings targeting noble children for ransom happen from time to time too."
Then Valeria looked at Freya and suddenly gave a bitter smile.
"Come to think of it, you're the only noble in this room, discipline chief."
Valeria gave her head a light shake and tidied her hair one last time.
"Student Carl, could you tell me about this place?"
With no sign of reluctance, Carl repeated to her exactly what he'd told Freya.
"...So that's what happened."
"Thank you, Carl. Seems you've already told the discipline chief as well."
"Not at all, President. But may I ask one thing?"
"What's the matter?"
Carl asked Valeria.
"President, how did you and the discipline chief end up here?"
"Probably the same as Carl and Ellie."
Valeria turned to look at Freya.
"Miss Nihirit was the first to notice something was wrong. When the two of you were absent for two days, she thought it was strange and immediately informed your homeroom professors."
"What did the professors say?"
Valeria narrowed her eyes.
"They didn't seem all that interested in the disappearance of commoners."
"I knew it. Damn that status."
Carl gave a wry smile.
Valeria included, Carl and Ellie weren't exactly the kind of top students the school welcomed warmly.
There were plenty of people in high places who didn't like commoners beating nobles through skill alone.
"Haha..."
Knowing that background, Freya, the only noble lady in the room, let out an awkward laugh.
Carl quickly bowed his head, saying he hadn't meant it that way.
"I didn't mean it that way, Lady Nihirit."
"It's okay. I feel the same way."
Valeria continued her explanation.
"Anyway, the discipline chief was the first to notice the two of you were missing. But the school didn't seem inclined to act, so the student council investigated."
"The president and I checked your dorm rooms first. Your belongings were still there, but neither of you was anywhere to be found."
"So the discipline chief and I expanded the search around the dormitory. We were passing the corridor to the laundry room when—"
Valeria shrugged.
"I suddenly got dizzy, and when I opened my eyes, I was here. I imagine the way we came here is probably similar to how you two ended up here, too?"
Carl nodded at Valeria's words.
"Actually, Ellie had made some laundry detergent and wanted to test it on my clothes. So we were on our way to the laundry room together when we were kidnapped like this."
"Then was the corridor to the laundry room a trap? But if so, only two people went missing..."
Valeria tilted her head.
What on earth did the kidnapped people have in common?
For a moment, the keyword "Director Shun's scholarship students" flashed through her mind, but she shook her head.
As far as Valeria knew, Freya had nothing to do with Director Shun.
And there was no way the half-elf director would support the wealthy Nihirit barony, so perhaps thinking of Director Shun was just a mistake.
"Yeah, I still don't know."
"At first I thought maybe they were only targeting Director Shun's scholarship students, but seeing the discipline chief makes me think that's not it either."
"..."
Freya clamped her mouth shut and, glancing at the other students, crept toward the corner.
A brief silence fell.
In the end, the conversation died without them finding any common point.
Valeria changed the subject.
"Carl."
"Yes."
"When did you get so close to Student Ellie? When you first met, I thought it couldn't possibly have been a worse meeting. And now you're close enough to take off your coat for her and even go to the laundry room together?"
Valeria's gaze shifted from Carl's torn sleeve to the coat draped over Ellie's shoulders.
The tips of Carl's ears turned red.
"...It's chivalry."
"Really~?"
"..."
Valeria snorted a laugh.
Freya also let out a small laugh.
She knew this wasn't a situation to laugh in.
But inside this dark, cold prison, even little jokes like this were necessary.
Otherwise, this situation would be too hard to endure.
Valeria let the expression fade from her face and spoke.
"Anyway, how do we get out of here?"
Valeria returned to the main topic.
Carl shook his head first.
"Like I said before, aura is hard to use in this place. Because of the opium powder."
"Magic?"
"That'll be difficult too. There aren't any symbols or catalysts. There can't possibly be anything here that can be given magical significance."
Valeria nodded.
Carl's words were right.
This empty prison maintained an almost obsessively bland, odorless environment, as if it had been designed with even a mage in mind.
"Ice magic... would be difficult."
Valeria briefly considered ice magic based on the symbols of cold and gloom, but soon shook her head.
It lacked catalysts.
Then Freya walked over to the iron door without saying a word.
She knelt and quietly examined the lock.
Carl said from behind her,
"Discipline chief, I tried to break that open too, but..."
Click.
The lock Freya had touched opened.
Carl's mouth fell open.
Valeria's eyes widened slightly.
Ellie also lifted her head blankly.
Freya stood and turned around.
"It's an esoteric magic, so I can't explain it in detail. I'll just say it's strong against magical locks like this."
After finishing, Freya took two items out of her inner pocket.
One was a self-defense sword.
Clack-clack.
When she pressed the lock on the folded hilt, the blade nested inside unfolded in three sections, one after another.
When a straight blade shot out from a handle barely longer than a palm, Carl's eyes went wide.
"Lady Freya. What's that?"
"It's a self-defense sword. Nobles always carry one."
Freya handed the sword to Carl.
"You handle swords well, Senior Carl, so you use it."
Carl took it reflexively.
He gauged its weight in his hand and cut through the air a couple of times.
The metallic sound rang briefly through the corridor.
"Not bad. The balance isn't bad either. But what about you, lady?"
"I have this."
Then Freya showed her self-defense pistol.
Carl nodded in understanding.
"How many shots do you have?"
"Ten regular rounds and one slightly special bullet."
"A special bullet?"
"It's for the black mage. Since it's special, it should work on that black mage too."
Freya remembered something Erica had told her in the past.
A story about defeating a second-rank black mage with a sanctified silver bullet.
A gun didn't become any less effective just because of who fired it, so if it was a first-rank black mage, Freya's silver bullet should be enough.
"President, you have a self-defense item too, right?"
Nodding, Valeria pulled a staff from within her robes.
Once they were out of the prison, Valeria would no longer be a helpless mage.
"I'll support Ellie."
Valeria rose while drawing Ellie's shoulder up with her.
Ellie leaned weakly against her.
"Discipline chief, do you have a plan?"
"Senior Carl, about how many guards are there?"
"It looks like the guards are ghouls controlled by the black mage. I can handle that much without using aura."
"Then please have Senior Carl take care of the guards as much as possible. I think we should keep the gun and magic as a last resort."
"Leave it to me."
After getting Carl's confirmation again, Freya placed her hand on the iron door handle.
Carl gripped the sword and stood in front of the door.
— Ready.
Carl nodded to show he was ready.
Freya pushed the door open.
Creak.
The sound of rusted hinges echoed through the darkness.
*
At the moment the students slipped out of the prison.
While the students cautiously climbed the stairs and quietly dealt with the guards.
Further up the stairs was a room used as an old office.
And inside that room—
Bang!
The desk split clean in two.
Wood fragments flew from the broken desk leg, and papers scattered across the floor.
"What the fuck is this situation?"
The one who slammed the desk was a huge dark-skinned skinhead.
Black markings densely carved from the left side of his face down to his forearm writhed with his anger.
In the corner of the room,
a man sitting against the window frame with a cigarette in his mouth slowly raised his head.
The thin man with hollow eyes under a gaunt face quietly eyed the brute.
A hoarse voice came from the man's mouth, as if the shadows under his eyes had swallowed half his face.
"...What?"
"I'm talking about the guys newly summoned in the prison below. I saw the black-haired one, but did you see the silver-haired kid lying next to him?"
The gaunt man shook his head without taking the cigarette from his mouth.
The brute leaned forward, bracing his hand on the broken desk.
"There was a crest on the cape. Do you know what it meant?"
"..."
"It means noble, asshole."
The tip of the gaunt man's cigarette trembled slightly.
"Are you sure you saw it right?"
"Damn right. I spent plenty of time on the battlefield before coming here, too. I spent years doing shit for those damn noble lords back when I was a mercenary—how could I not tell the crests on their cloaks apart?"
The brute pointed to his left eye, the one not stained black.
"This eye still works fine. That crest was definitely a barony. I don't know which one, though."
"..."
"Those fairies you use. How the hell did they mess up the job? Didn't they promise to bring back only Director Shun's scholarship students?"
"Huu..."
The gaunt man exhaled a long plume of smoke.
The smoke brushed across the moldy stone ceiling and vanished.
Then the gaunt man slowly shook his head.
"Magic is absolute by nature. It never lies."
"Then why did a noble get caught up in it?"
"Listen. The Fairy Ring is a spell that filters targets with conditional clauses. It was set to bring back anyone bearing Director Shun's signature."
"Then why did a noble lady get snagged?"
"Magic is absolute. But the one who sets the conditions is ultimately human."
The man flicked ash to the floor.
"That lady probably made some kind of deal with Director Shun, or a check bearing her signature got mixed in."
"Fuck. So your magic caught the wrong person."
"Let's just say it was my mistake for not ruling out the possibility."
"Same damn thing. You're too long-winded."
The brute spat a rough "khak, ptoo."
While he used his foot to push the scattered wood fragments into a corner.
The gaunt man asked the brute,
"So, what did you do with that lady?"
"What else? I hauled her up here before she even woke up."
"She didn't see your face?"
"Just in case, I grabbed her as soon as I confirmed she was a noble. Didn't even get to properly search her belongings."
"That's fortunate, at least."
The gaunt man nodded slowly.
Taking another drag and exhaling, he said,
"Let's withdraw."
The brute's eyes widened.
"What?"
"Catching Director Shun's scholarship student was fine. He's a commoner. Even if it caused trouble later, our backers could handle it, and at worst we could negotiate with the merchant caravan."
The man snuffed the cigarette against the windowsill and continued,
"But it's different if a noble gets involved. If a baron starts looking for us, things get complicated."
"Can't we fight them? Didn't the two of us take down a knight last time?"
"A baron's house is at least third-rank. It's a different league from a second-rank knight."
The man looked up at the brute.
Deep fatigue was visible in the eyes with heavy dark circles.
"Nobles are beyond what we can handle."
"So we're going back empty-handed? That crazy bastard Belgian won't sit still."
The brute grabbed the shaft of his great hammer and scratched the back of his head hard.
Rather than fear, it was more like he was disgusted by the idea.
In response, the gaunt man let out a snort of laughter.
"He's been a spent force for a long time. Ever since he got beaten by Director Shun, he can't even use curses properly. Supposedly second-rank, but right now he's barely scraping by as a first-rank at best. What could a guy like that do to us?"
"Then what about the elders? Those old bastards who were meddling in the succession fight and making a nice profit? Getting the concubine to bear an heir behind an impotent clan head and making money off it."
"Come to think of it, there were those guys."
"Ah, those old fossils. They were red in the face and causing a scene at the last meeting. Those geezers won't leave us alone either, will they?"
"Then we'll pin it on Belgian."
The brute raised an eyebrow.
"Belgian's fault?"
"It's the truth. From the start, the information Belgian handed over about Director Shun was full of useless crap. The Fairy Ring spell was sloppy too. That sloppy spell is why the lady got caught up in it."
The gaunt man exhaled smoke.
"It's the responsibility of the side that didn't give enough clues. We owe them nothing. It goes both ways."
"...You've got quite the tongue. Are mages all like this?"
"To survive in this business as a black mage, you need to be this slick."
The brute sniffed loudly.
Whether he was convinced, or just decided there was no point arguing further.
In any case, no objection came.
"Fine. Then are we burning this place down?"
"That's probably the cleanest way. Leaving no evidence—"
Bang.
Then a sound came from the lower floor.
The two of them turned their heads at once.
"Damn..."
The brute clicked his tongue and clutched his forehead.
"Was the problem not cuffing the sacrifices? Rescuing those things was a pain too."
"Don't waste regret on sacrifices."
The gaunt man stood up and said calmly,
"As long as they live under the sun, humans will inevitably create new ties that can be used as sacrifices."
The man took a folded cloth from his chest and wrapped it around the lower half of his face.
"The commoners saw your face, so deal with them. As for the lady... focus on keeping your face hidden."
"They say if you call a pigeon, it'll circle overhead. Of all times, they just had to escape now."
"It's not a pigeon. It's a crow."
The brute muttered too and pulled up his hood.
The gaunt man stood up.
The two of them put on their hoods and walked toward the door.
And just before stepping out,
he flicked the cigarette in his hand lightly.
The ember arced through the air and fell onto the papers scattered on the floor.
Flames blossomed over the stack of papers.
The broken desk fragments became kindling.
"Ignus"
Immediately after the gaunt man's brief incantation.
The sound of wood burning rang clearly through the empty room.
"Go."
The gaunt man did not look back.
Neither did the brute.
As the sound of their footsteps descended the stairs, the fire in the office began to climb the walls.
notes":"Kept the split chapter title in numbered-part format and smoothed a few awkward or repetitive phrasings. I also kept role-based, neutral wording where the source context made gender/identity less explicit."}]}】']]}}}】'}]}