A Suspicious Invitation
“Tell me where the children and the search party are. You’d better answer before the hourglass runs out. Otherwise, for every grain of sand that falls, I’ll put a hole in your body.”
When she stopped praying, blood dripped from the wound torn open in her side.
Time remaining until the Dare Event ends: 1 minute 44 seconds
Remaining duration of the Dice of Adversity effect: 2 minutes 44 seconds
The grains of sand falling through the hourglass were dwindling by the second.
“Ghhk.”
Lucy yanked the spear out of her belly with a trembling hand. Before the shaft even hit the ground, black energy swallowed it and turned it to ash.
“Y-you foolish stunt. I told you, didn’t I? If you kill me, the children will be in danger. Hah, hahah...!”
“Wouldn’t that be the case even if I didn’t kill you? It’s not like they were taken for a game of make-believe.”
Lucy’s tongue seemed to have frozen in her mouth. Only after several seconds did she finally manage to part her lips.
“If you kill me, you’ll never find the clue. You don’t care what happens to the children or the soldiers?!”
“If I had meant to kill you, I would’ve done it on the spot. I don’t know what you’re up to, but you must need you alive for that filthy little scheme of yours.”
Joren did not budge an inch, not even under the shrill howl she squeezed out as if clawing for life.
“You seem to think you’ve taken the children hostage, but the hostage here is you.”
Some of the holy knights had raised their lances instead of spears. Seeing that, Lucy’s teeth clenched so hard they clicked together.
“You cult leader or whatever you are, if you’re watching this, make the right choice. Release the children right now, and Lucy Perhela will be released as well. If you refuse? Then I’ll kill your subordinate and find the children anyway. While I’m at it, I’ll find you too and kill you.”
Time remaining until the Dare Event ends: 1 minute 10 seconds
No answer came back. Joren tossed out a single line to rattle Lucy.
“That’s convenient.”
“Convenient? What the hell are you talking about?!”
“You were the one spouting that you were an angel. Then it’s good news, isn’t it? You can go straight to the real heaven now. I’ll send you soon enough. Apparently hell’s in a hurry for angels too, so maybe I should put in a recommendation.”
“Shut up!”
She abandoned healing and poured her mana into activating a dimensional rift as quickly as possible, but it would not go. Her body was already full of injuries.
“Stop. I can see right through whatever you’re trying.”
Remaining duration of the Dice of Adversity effect: about 2 minutes
The dice values for the stats essential to magic-use, mana, mental power, and intelligence, were all fixed at zero. No matter how desperately she tried to gather mana, it only clustered for an instant like grains of sand before scattering again.
“Y-you... Is this your doing too?”
“I don’t think that’s the important part right now. Why don’t we use this chance to see whether your loyalty actually gets rewarded? Your little pope, or whatever he is, what choice is he going to make? Will he really let one of the grandly introduced executives, the so-called Four Heavenly Kings or whatever, die like this? Isn’t that interesting?”
Lucy, grinding her teeth and trembling, finally dragged herself back to a semblance of calm.
“...Humans are nothing but vermin. Those children are merely larvae. There’s no way the archangel would abandon me for the sake of mere larvae—”
“Larvae? Listen to you, you insane bitch—!”
Joren drew his sword and yanked his arm back hard, but...
Warning! The Guardian's anger level is rising rapidly. If it exceeds the threshold, the item Burning Blood Droplet will activate automatically.
Seeing the warning window rimmed in red, he barely managed to suppress his rage.
Lucy, who had been frightened into thinking he was about to hurl the sword, seemed to realize something as she watched him hold back his temper.
“Oh?”
No matter how much she had mocked him, he had worn a smiling face, but now that the children had come up, he was getting riled up.
“Heh. Hehhehheh.”
With a rotten smile, Lucy touched the ring on her forehead.
Archangel, I’ve found his weakness. And I’ve thought of a fine plan.
Time remaining until the Dare Event ends: 45 seconds
As Joren took a deep breath, the notification jolted him back to his senses.
“Have you given up? What’s so funny? Well, if you die, you won’t even be able to laugh then, so laugh your fill while you can.”
“Wait!”
Lucy held up a hand toward Joren, who had raised his sword.
“Look there.”
The place she pointed to was the pile of elite troll corpses. Troll blood was streaming down and pooling in one place.
“The archangel is leaving you a message.”
A mysterious event has occurred! An invitation has arrived from a highly important enemy NPC.
This invitation is a top-priority event. While the invitation event is ongoing, the timers for all other events will not advance.
The pool of blood bubbled as if boiling, and letters appeared in the empty space.
A magic for leaving messages? No, this must be holy power or something like purification authority.
“If you harm the Guide of Twilight, the children will die.”
Each time the roiling blood evaporated, another sentence remained behind.
“If you want the children back, and if you want to meet me, come find me whenever you like. I left the clue on the hogryphon’s corpse.”
Thinking of Vulcher the hogryphon, Joren ground his teeth.
“Remember this. From now on, only five people may come. If even one fewer or one more arrives, the children will not be safe.”
“What did you say?!”
The letters in the blood kept etching themselves onward.
“If only those five appear, I will safely return the children to the village. I promise that much. Consider it a small tribute to your courage.”
“...Who are those five?”
“Joren Tamer, Demis Ezef, Kristian Iolid, Keiji Iolid.”
“W-why our brothers?!”
“Father! What in the world is going on here...?”
“Could the last one be me?”
The marquis family’s magicians were shocked, but Demis merely frowned.
Joren had expected his own name to come up, so he showed no particular reaction.
This is definitely a trap. They’re probably trying to eliminate me because I’m standing in the way of that grand little scheme of theirs. And, while they’re at it, Demis Ezef too, since he’s an important figure. But why name the marquis’s sons? They didn’t seem all that significant... Is the last one the marquis himself?
He was already reading the enemy’s intent with a cool head, but then...
“And Peach, the maid of Joren Tamer.”
At the utterly unexpected name, he could only shout in disbelief.
“What? Peach? Why in the world?! She’s just an ordinary girl!”
The writing appeared with deliberate pauses, almost as if mocking him.
If you want to know why, bring her with you. I will say it again: not one of the five may be missing or replaced. If that happens, you will not meet me. Nor will the children.
Joren bit down hard on his lip.
Why? Why are they singling out Peach, who has no power at all? Does Peach have some hidden trait I don’t know about? I don’t know. I can’t figure out the reason at all. If they were just stuffing in a useless extra person, that would make no sense with Demis Ezef included.
He hurriedly swallowed the blood flooding into his mouth, careful not to let his agitation show.
Will you accept the proposal? Decide before all this blood disappears.
Somewhere along the way, the positions had been reversed.
“Heh. Things have turned out nicely. As I thought, the archangel did not abandon me.”
Lucy was enjoying herself immensely, snickering openly.
Damn it! I can’t even ask Daliha right now. Ah, if only time itself would stop at moments like this.
The blood pool only heaved like congealed gore; it showed no sign of turning gray.
Still, as if she could read Joren’s mind, Daliha spoke to him.
The enemy’s intent in singling out Peach cannot currently be determined, but this invitation is clearly a dangerous trap.
However, if you do not accept the enemy’s proposal, the children and the soldiers, including Shrakhim, will die.
Joren froze.
Why Shrakhim too? Was he captured along with the search party? What in the world had happened while they were apart?
In addition, your reputation as the Guardian will take a massive hit, RP will drop sharply, and edification of the surrounding area and the holy knights will also decline significantly.
His head throbbed. It was a truly impossible position.
Should I ask them to leave out Peach at least? No, that won’t do. That would be the same as letting them get a hold of my weakness. For now...
Before he could finish sorting out his thoughts, the surrounding voices grew noisy.
“Lord Tamer! You’re not seriously thinking of accepting that absurd proposal, are you?”
“W-we can’t go recklessly. Not while we don’t know what those people are plotting...”
The marquis’s sons, having been singled out by the leader of the Cliad Sect, were cowering and backing away.
“How disgraceful! How can the children of a prestigious noble house care only for their own safety?!”
“Have you no shame?”
“This is our chance to save the children and strike down the mastermind of this heresy!”
The enraged holy knights were denouncing them in return.
“Calm yourselves. There are far too many suspicious points here to make a hasty decision. We must not rush in blindly and trust only their words.”
“Elves do not lie.”
“What a maddening lot! Did you not all see it just now? That elf, Lucy Perhela, deceived us time and again.”
The marquis of Iolid tried to step in and mediate, but the atmosphere only became more chaotic.
“To march ourselves into a place that is obviously a trap is no different from steering a ship straight toward a kraken with its jaws open.”
“My brother is right. Wouldn’t it be far more efficient for us all to search together? That way, even if something happens to the kidnapped children, we can respond accordingly.”
Demis Ezef, who had remained silent until now, widened his eyes at Keiji’s words and asked, “Respond accordingly? What exactly do you mean by that?”
“With all the holy knights gathered here... even if something unfortunate happens to the children, if we resurrect them—”
The third son had said something he should never have said.
“Do you call that a thing to say? ‘Respond accordingly,’ you say? You mean leave innocent children to die no matter what they suffer, and then bring them back to life afterward?”
Demis roared so loudly the whole field seemed to shake.
“Resurrection is difficult enough for knights who throw away their lives willingly and die in glory. What of the pain and shock those young children would endure!”
“Th-that’s not what I meant...”
“Shut your mouth!”
Even the holy knights who had stayed out of the argument until then blew up in anger.
“And what are you all so worried about? If anything happens, can’t we just resurrect them?”
“Marquis! Are the lives of noble magical bloodlines precious while the lives of ordinary children are not?”
“Keiji Iolid! You saw the aftereffects of your own brother’s resurrection with your own eyes, and still you speak such nonsense!”
They had even exposed the family’s open shame.
“How insolent! How dare you speak such outrageous slander!”
At last the marquis himself grew furious, and the whole situation turned to utter chaos.
“Kahahahahaha. At last, you worms reveal your filthy nature. Are the lives of flies that die within a hundred years so precious to you? Hahahahaha!”
Lucy burst into laughter. Every time she laughed hard, her wound tore open wider, but it was a spectacle amusing enough that she did not care.
“Your Excellency the Border Count...”
The dispatch guards were looking to Joren, at a loss.
The magicians are afraid of losing their lives. Demis Ezef is afraid of losing the chance to capture the enemy leader. The soldiers are anxious about losing their comrades and the children.
When the Anxious Evil Eye at his throat blazed scarlet with light and sent its notification, Joren finally drew a breath and cut the uproar short.
“Enough! His Majesty the King has entrusted me with command. I will make the decision. Anyone who disobeys me will be treated as though they have defied the royal command, and I will punish them severely!”
He drew his sword and silenced the commotion.
“Heh. You’d best decide quickly, Joren Tamer. Before all that blood is purified away.”
The blood pool was boiling, not so much purified as set alight.
Time remaining until decision: 30 seconds
On the meadow, now restored to silence, Joren exhaled slowly, as if cooling the heat of his boiling anger.
“I accept that proposal.”
He answered in a low voice, firm and unyielding.
“I’m pleased you accepted the invitation. Though late, shall we at least exch—”
He ground his heel down hard on the little blood that remained.
“I’ve received the invitation. I’ll give the greeting when we meet. The farewell.”
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