77. Witch Hunt (8)
77. Witch Hunt (8)
A sudden intruder.
Everyone's gaze locked onto the female student who had emerged through the wall.
Bewilderment, shock, disbelief, irritation.
The space filled with hostile stares. Elisa shrank under those gazes, but she swallowed hard and extended her hand toward the female student.
"Q-quick, come this way!"
Time, frozen for a moment, lurched violently back into motion. Kain and the three unidentified men. Elisa and Viola. The ground shook like mad as five pairs of feet pounded it.
Fortunately for Viola, she had been standing closest to Elisa and reached her just ahead of Kain's group. The instant Elisa felt a soft hand in hers, she pulled. Viola's weight sent her toppling backward.
Their vision spun as their bodies tangled together and rolled down the passage. Naturally, there was no time to close the door.
"Eek!"
"O-ow, that hurt..."
"What is this passage? Why is that bitch here?! After them, now!"
"We are not your subordinates."
"Then do you intend to let this all fall apart?"
The irritated voice traveled down the passage and instantly snapped the two dazed girls back to their senses.
They had to run. Far away. And fast.
Both scrambled to their feet at once and sprinted through the passage. Fortunately, it was wide enough to run through, so they squeezed out every last ounce of strength and raced down the narrow tunnel. They fled away from Dawn Hall—a decision Elisa made amid the chaos.
If they were caught while heading toward Dawn Hall, the situation would become far more complicated.
"I never knew a place like this existed!"
"W-well, it hasn't been that long since it was made..."
"It hasn't been that long?!"
Her curious gaze swept over the tunnel. She was bursting with questions about it, but curiosity wasn't the problem. If the men behind them caught her, she would suffer something terrible before she ever had a chance to satisfy it.
The two of them dashed frantically through the tunnel.
Their hearts pounded and their feet throbbed, but they had no time to stop and rest. The distance between the girls and their kidnappers was steadily shrinking. No matter how much of a head start they'd gained, the difference in their basic speed was too great.
Unlike Knight Department students, Alchemy and Magic Department students who spent their days buried in cramped research rooms had poor physical abilities and would soon be caught. The only reason they had lasted this long was Viola, running directly behind Elisa and hurling vial after vial at their pursuers.
"Fucking bitch! Just you wait until we catch you!"
"As if you'll catch me! Piss off! You think you can catch Viola, the genius of the Alchemy Department?!"
Viola gasped for breath as she shouted defiantly. It was bluster anyone could see through, but ridiculously enough, Kain and the kidnappers, who were on the verge of losing Viola and Elisa, turned red-faced as if about to burst.
They'd never imagined things would go this absurdly wrong.
"Fuck!"
"Kain! What the hell is going on?! You said there were no secret passages!"
"This is news to me too! If I'd known about a passage like this, I'd have used it ages ago!"
'This had gone completely to shit.'
According to the original plan, they should already have escaped the academy. Elisa's unexpected appearance had thrown everything into chaos. If things continued this way, the Guard would inevitably suspect him, and if the affair was exposed, even his backers would struggle to bury it. Kain was burning up inside.
'...If things went wrong, every last one of them...'
Should he just bury every last one of them? This tunnel was a place even he didn't know about. He'd managed to close the secret passage door in the rush of pursuit, so for now this place was practically a sealed room. If he somehow killed them all here...
'...There was no need to take that risk yet.'
People said high returns inevitably came with high risks, but there was no reason to take one unnecessarily. Kain pushed the plan of killing both the kidnappers and the female students to erase the evidence into a corner of his mind, then wrapped his body in mana.
He'd once trained with a sword in the Knight Department.
The constant barrage of vials had kept him from accelerating, but none had flown his way for a little while. In other words, running was the only option those two had left.
It was very important information.
'...This was a chance to snatch up Elisa, the final target, in one go.'
"Move aside! I'll catch them!"
He would turn the crisis into an opportunity. Impressed by his own judgment, Kain pushed off hard. His body shot forward like a bullet, moving so violently that the kidnappers ahead of him were knocked aside. The backs of the two students, once some distance away, rapidly drew closer.
"Wh-what do we do?! I-if, haah, we get caught..."
"I don't know! Run!"
They were gasping for breath, and both sensed that they'd soon be caught. That was only natural. The creepy Squad 3 Captain had earned excellent marks in the Knight Department and hadn't received his command for nothing. His skills hadn't dulled.
"What is with that speed?!"
Viola's shriek filled the tunnel.
A pursuer was charging at inhuman speed, more like a horse than a man. No matter how much they ran, two people with the stamina of ordinary female students were fated to be caught. To twist that fate—
'I-I had to use it!'
Outrunning him was impossible, so only one option remained. But Elisa couldn't help hesitating.
'If I-I was found out, I could be expelled from the academy. And...'
It wouldn't end with expulsion. At least, that was what she believed. Witches were treated the same as dark Wizards. If her identity was exposed, she wouldn't be the only one harmed. Fear crossed her face as she thought of Professor Lennon.
'I didn't want to be expelled.'
Had she not studied diligently to repay Professor Lennon, who had raised her? Her modest dream had been to graduate from the academy with excellent marks, become his successor, and assist with his research. Now that dream was in danger of shattering.
But if she got caught, her dream would also smash like a glass cup hitting the floor.
'I had no choice but to use it.'
"G-go on ahead!"
"What? What are you going to do? That guy's the Squad 3 leader!"
"I-I have a way!"
Elisa, who had been running ahead, slowed down and moved behind Viola. Casting magic required concentration, even if only for a moment. It was a situation where she ultimately had no choice but to lag behind. Viola hesitated briefly, then kicked off the ground and ran. There was nothing she could do to help.
"I'll go get someone! So don't get caught!"
With Viola's fading voice behind her, Elisa closed her eyes. A witch's magic required neither complex formulas nor precise mana control. It required only a desperate prayer to cast magic upon the world as she wished.
Elisa clasped her hands together and shut her eyes.
Calm settled over her heart.
Peace settled over Elisa's sweat-soaked face. The atmosphere was such that even the Squad 3 leader, who had been charging at her, flinched and slowed down. Kain, who didn't know much about Elisa, drew the sword at his waist in response to her sudden action.
Whatever she attempted, he'd cut it down with his blade.
'I had to block the path!'
"Don't come any closer!"
As though answering her firm resolve, enormous roots erupted inside the tunnel—roots drawn from the trees nearby. The thick roots filled the passage and forced the Squad 3 Captain to stop.
"I've never heard of magic like this."
"A witch. That little girl is a witch! We have to catch her! At least if we can catch that bitch—"
"Do not interfere! You're in my way!"
Kain silenced the kidnapper who had finally caught up with a single roar, then poured mana into his sword. A faint gray energy flowed from the blade: aura, the destructive force every knight was expected to wield.
"Something like this cannot stop me!"
The sword swung in a diagonal line. The grayish energy transformed into a crescent-shaped blade of aura and flew toward the roots. The roots clustered tightly as if to resist, but no matter how sturdy they were, roots were ultimately just roots. The roots had no choice but to be cut down, spraying sap.
'I-I was going to be kidnapped...'
She had forced magic from an utterly exhausted body and no longer had the strength even to run. A dark shadow fell over Elisa's eyes as she stared blankly at Kain approaching with a sneer.
'Th-that person had gotten away safely, right?'
She'd saved someone. A faint smile touched Elisa's lips. Even if she herself was caught, as long as that person was safe...
"Kyaak!"
The blow to her stomach sent Elisa tumbling across the ground with a scream. She couldn't breathe properly. Clutching her abdomen, she gasped for air.
"You maggot of a bitch. You should have stayed buried in the Curse Removal Department like usual. What made you crawl out here?"
A gaze filled with fury bore into her face.
Elisa could do nothing but tremble.
'It hurt... It hurt so much...'
Every breath sent terrible pain through her stomach. She'd never experienced anything like it. Through her blurred vision, Elisa looked up at Kain. She couldn't see his face properly, but she was certain a twisted smile had formed on his lips.
"Do you have any idea how much we've lost because of you?"
A combat boot ground down on Elisa's face. She could only lie helplessly beneath Kain's violence.
Her consciousness began to fade.
A single tear streamed down from her eye.
"Let's stop there. This bitch is the most important part of the deal..."
"Quite a lot of vermin."
"What?"
An unfamiliar voice.
The echo made it difficult to tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman.
Kain and the kidnappers glared into the darkness beyond the passage where the voice had come from. A small lamp came into view. Kain placed his hand on his sword's grip and spoke.
"Who's there?"
"Who I am doesn't matter. For now, I suggest you cool your heads a little."
"What? You crazy son of a bitch..."
"Craft."