The Kidnapping (1)
Our gourmet club’s first activity ended like this. And with all the monthly activity funds spent.
“How are we going to cover the activity funds?”
“With my allowance!”
Not cutting off Lirith’s allowance was the best thing I did today.
Who would’ve thought we’d be running the club on her personal funds? I figured it might not be enough, but I didn’t expect her to cover it with her own money.
“Then let’s call it a day! Everyone, think about what to eat next time!”
With that, Lirith hurried out of the club room. She was probably going to contact the Emperor.
We had quite a few protective talismans made. So I gave one to each of our kids.
“You all saw it earlier, right? Even the Emperor begged for one, so take good care of them.”
“Yeah!”
“Here it is!”
“Thank you, Master!”
Estelia, Luka, and Serena answered well. Only Eileen was sweating nervously and avoiding my eyes.
“…What’s wrong?”
“W-well… I gave one to Elesia…”
“What? You gave it to her? 5 billion gold coins?!”
Serena was shocked by Eileen’s betrayal, whom she had thought was an ally. Eileen also avoided eye contact, as if she hadn’t expected it to be that big of a deal.
“5 billion gold coins… I thought it was obviously a joke!”
“Ask for it back quickly!”
It might seem like she’s an idiot, but I know. Even though she knew it was real, she gave it to Elesia. Eileen, who had made up her mind with a stern face when the party disbanded.
She’s putting on a dumb expression, but the kid loves the original work…
“Uh, what do we do? What should I say to get it back!”
“First… say you gave it by mistake! Say you meant to give a lucky charm but handed that over instead!”
“Ooh, that’s not bad? Will that work?!”
…It probably will, right?
***
Elesia’s family is an ordinary noble house. A common baron family that runs a livestock business in the southern empire. Elesia, the eldest daughter of an unremarkable family.
Her world changed the moment she opened an alchemy book out of curiosity.
“A genius… Our daughter is a genius!”
“We have to send her to the Academy! The Academy!”
At six years old, having just learned to read, she created the lowest-grade mana potion in one go—a feat that normally required five years of training under a proper master. And it wasn’t luck; she succeeded repeatedly.
The alchemist in the family praised her as a genius of the century, and her parents believed it. Now, she spends her days among people far above her station in the Academy’s support department.
“Haa… haa…”
“…Radion?”
A feeling she had never experienced in her life—love—was now stirring in her heart.
This emotion toward the opposite sex, which she hadn’t felt even at twenty, was something Elesia, like any typical romance fantasy heroine, didn’t recognize. She simply thought it was friendship with a friend.
“Ah… Elesia.”
“You’ve been working really hard lately…?”
He notices even her small calls. Elesia’s heart tickled at Radion’s appearance.
“Haha, I have no choice. I promised to protect you, after all.”
Thump thump thump thump
‘W-why is my heart like this? Should I go see the school nurse…’
Radion is still training hard for her sake. To keep him from worrying, Elesia quickly replied.
“Eat this while you work…!”
What Elesia handed over was Pokiri. Radion’s expression turned subtle as he received the ion drink.
“…Thanks. Then head back carefully.”
“Mm..!”
Radion stood there blankly holding the ion drink, staring into space. Not wanting to disturb him, Elesia quickly left.
A thought that crossed her mind as she walked.
‘He used to never let me go back alone before…’
Radion is busy, so it can’t be helped. Even knowing that, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
She kicked a rock on the ground for no reason. Swish
“…?”
A masked man in black stood before her. She tried to scream, but Elesia was only a 2nd-circle mage with no combat experience. Just like that, she disappeared.
***
When I woke up in the morning, the Academy was in an uproar. Elesia, already a famous figure at the Academy, had suddenly vanished.
‘Hmm…’
I had given proper warning. But to think they’d be this bold.
“Kanahan…! What do we do?!”
Eileen came running over with a pale face. When she shouted, everyone’s eyes turned to me. Their gazes were filled with expectation.
“Yeah… Maybe Kanahan would know?”
“Kanahan’s close with Elesia!”
“It’d also look good to the Draken family.”
They naturally assumed I would save Elesia. But Estelia, who had approached at some point, spoke up.
“You’re not planning to save her, are you?”
“Nope.”
The surroundings fell silent at my words. And from the quiet crowd emerged Radion.
Thud
“…I beg you.”
“Radion, you…!”
Radion, kneeling on the ground, spoke. His body trembling was pitiful to see. However, I have no reason to save her. But I have plenty of reasons not to.
First of all, saving her would be a hassle. Luka was a childhood friend I’d known from the neighborhood. The reason I saved Estelia was nothing grand. Those assassins tried to kill me, so I dealt with them. There was no way I could send away high-quality Cheongbing-i when she came to me on her own. The reason I saved Serena? That wasn’t saving. I just gained a slave. In that sense, I have no intention of saving her.
“Instead, take this. It’s a tracking talisman. You know how it works, right?”
“…Thank you!”
Radion quickly took the tracking talisman. The place he attached it to was the ion drink can. When he stuck the talisman on the can, it glowed briefly before floating up and flying off somewhere.
“Let’s go!”
Led by Radion, Dierban and Serdian rushed off. Eileen tried to run after them too, but I stopped her.
“Eileen. If you go, you’ll just die for nothing.”
“But…!”
I grabbed her shoulder to stop her. She was about to turn her head and say something, but closed her mouth. Probably because she saw my resolute face.
“You’ll only get in the way. You know what I mean.”
“…She’s your friend too! You should go!”
“Can’t. There’s a reason.”
If the other side pulls some extreme move, maybe, but fundamentally, as someone who has become a transcendent being rather than human, I can’t intervene. There’s nothing more I can do now. Selling the tracking talisman to him after receiving payment. That’s as far as I can go. Anything beyond that is impossible.
“What… So you can’t go?”
“Not going is also correct. It’s a pain.”
“This bastard…!”
Eileen smacked away the hand on her shoulder, looking annoyed. She seemed really angry.
While Eileen was watching indifferently, Estelia asked from beside me.
“Will it be okay? Elesia and the others.”
“One of them looks like he’s gonna die.”
Radion. A black aura was faintly emanating from him. His chance of dying… 60%? Over 50%. If his luck’s bad, he’ll die.
“You lot! Go to class!”
Teachers shouted at us gathered there. The students headed to the lecture halls one by one. I did the same.
“They’ll handle it just fine.”
***
Radion and his companions stood before a cave. Fortunately, it was a mountain not too far from the Academy. If it had been farther, something might have happened in the meantime.
“Let’s go in.”
Radion entered. Dierban nocked an arrow on his bow, and Serdian had already deployed magic. They couldn’t bring the new party member, the special forces student, given the situation.
“What, they really came? Bro! The brats really came!”
“Hey, dumbass. Don’t let your guard down just because they’re brats. One of them’s a Master.”
They already knew Radion and his group would come here. Even knowing their levels, they were smiling leisurely.
In this situation, it would be natural to turn back. But looking behind them, the group showed no intention of doing so.
“Let’s begin.”
Fwoosh… Thud!
Dierban’s supersonic arrow pierced the heart of the man in front. The next arrow flew toward the heart of the man called “bro.”
However.
Grab…
“Whoa, he really is a Master. He really is, bro!”
“I told you not to let your guard down. We just lost one sacrifice because of this.”
The man whose heart was pierced was still fine. He even caught the arrow that had flown past him. At minimum, he’s at the peak of Expert.
“Judging by the mention of sacrifices, it seems they have plenty of lives.”
“Yeah.”
Killing them would mean killing the ordinary people held as sacrifices. But everyone here had experienced war. Their opponents had been enemy nations, black mages, and demons alike.
“All I feel is sorry.”
The three, who briefly mourned in their hearts, attacked in an instant. Radion’s sword decapitated the man standing in front.
Whoosh…!
And an arrow pierced the face floating in the air. Serdian’s magic flew toward the powerless collapsing body.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Leaving behind the corpse that had instantly turned into chunks of flesh, Radion charged forward again.
“They’re pretty good?”
The man smiled leisurely and raised his hand. When he clenched his fist, the blood that had splattered everywhere from the earlier fight gathered together.
Pop…!
“Guh… guhck…”
Naturally, the blood on the floor wrapped around Radion’s body. Then the blood droplets in the air took on bullet-like shapes and pierced through Radion’s body.
Ratatatatatatatat!
“Kh… Now!”
Dierban immediately fired arrows. A Master’s rapid fire. A full twenty arrows shot almost simultaneously toward the man called “bro.”
However.
The man who had already offered a sacrifice and finished regenerating blocked the arrows with his body.
Pababababababang!
His body exploded as if hit by a bomb.
“Huff… huffhahahaha! Keep it up! It might be the life of the bitch you’re looking for…!”
Pop!
His face exploded and his words were cut off, but the rest was clear. Even so, Dierban continued firing arrows.
“Arc Discharge!”
Zzzzzzzzzzt!
Serdian finished casting, and a 6th-circle lightning spell exploded from his fingertips. The regenerating body stopped, and the blood droplets hanging in the air lost their power and fell. Even the man standing behind was instantly electrocuted, spewing black smoke from his mouth.
His internal organs were all burned by the lightning.
“Khaha… That’s exhilarating. Don’t you think so?”
“Don’t drop the honorifics.”
However, they instantly regenerated by offering sacrifices. One was a peak Expert powerhouse. The other was a blood mage. They were beings who could revive countless times by offering sacrifices that might even be Elesia.
The man who had turned into chunks of flesh spoke.
“Now, let’s keep going. Until the bitch you’re looking for dies!”