Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: The Kidnapped Princess (3)
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A request to help with a quest.
Those were the words Theresa had hesitantly uttered when she showed up late that evening.
But Yuri couldn't make sense of it and tilted his head.
“What quest? How am I supposed to help with your quest, Tessa senior?”
He and Theresa were from completely different cohorts.
So how could he possibly assist with her quest?
As if sensing his confusion, Theresa began explaining calmly.
“Quests that people from different cohorts can join together do exist. The end-of-year Grand Melee, for example—all cohorts can participate. And even outside of that, joint quests involving multiple cohorts pop up from time to time.”
“Is this one of those? A quest where first- and second-years can participate together?”
“No, this one’s an integrated quest just for the 49th Cohort.”
“…….”
Yuri’s face fell immediately.
The look in his eyes screamed that he was about to lose it, like she was just messing with him.
Theresa quickly pulled a sheet of paper from her pocket and handed it over.
【On the day of the quest, assemble at the following location with one acquaintance from among the Cradle’s cadets.】
Yuri tilted his head again as he read the text on the paper.
“What’s this?”
“An order slip. It was distributed to every member of the 49th Cohort at the last assembly.”
“They announced the quest in advance?”
“Yeah, it’s my first time seeing a quest like this too.”
“Interesting.”
Yuri’s eyes sparkled faintly.
He handed the order slip back to Theresa and asked,
“Was there any other info besides this?”
“At that assembly, these slips were the only things handed out individually. They didn’t say what the quest was.”
“The ‘acquaintance’ mentioned here doesn’t have to be a junior, right?”
“Nope.”
“When does the quest start?”
“Tuesday.”
“Tomorrow?”
Nod.
As Theresa nodded, Yuri’s eyes narrowed and his lips twitched.
“The last assembly was two days ago, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re only now asking me to come along?”
“…Yeah.”
“Why me, of all people?”
“…….”
Theresa fell silent.
In that brief pause, Yuri patted her shoulder with a look that said he understood.
“It must’ve been desperate…….”
His tone dripped with pity, which made Theresa bristle with irritation.
That smug face of his, like he was saying, “How friendless do you have to be to come begging me?”
Her fists clenched involuntarily.
‘How can that face be so infuriating?’
Did he practice it every day?
Or was it just some innate talent?
As she tried to calm her rising frustration, Yuri rubbed his hands together.
“Alright then…….”
But Theresa cut him off.
“You want to talk compensation, right?”
“Exactly! You know me so well.”
Perhaps their time together hadn’t been wasted after all—Theresa instantly clocked why he was rubbing his hands like that.
No, she’d anticipated this exact reaction when she decided to ask him in the first place.
That’s why she’d come prepared.
She stated firmly,
“50% of the final reward.”
“Half... neat and tidy.”
Yuri stroked his chin.
He still had no idea what the quest entailed.
For him, this was a gamble.
‘They’re asking us to bring an acquaintance, so they must have some role assigned for them…….’
If the acquaintances’ roles were a big deal, he’d sweat for his 50%. But if they weren’t, he could coast to half the reward easy.
‘Either bust my ass for half, or sip honey while taking half.’
Since this was an integrated quest just for the 49th Cohort, the odds leaned toward the latter.
Yuri made up his mind in a flash and declared boldly,
“Deal! I’m in! Your acquaintance, Tessa senior!”
Theresa felt a twinge of regret watching Yuri grin from ear to ear.
Had she made the right call dragging Yuri, of all people, into this?
‘…Should I look for someone else, even now?’
She decided to mull it over one more time.
* * *
The next day.
Crunch-crunch.
Braving the light rain that had begun to fall, Yuri and Theresa headed to the assembly point together.
In the end, after much deliberation, Theresa had chosen to team up with Yuri.
“Come to think of it, the 49th always assembles on Tuesdays? First-years on Mondays. Is that set in stone?”
“Yeah.”
“Third-, fourth-, and fifth-years on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays?”
“Probably?”
“Hmm… Are the Blackblades scheduling assemblies like that on purpose so they only work five days a week?”
“That’s plausible enough.”
They bantered idly like that until they arrived right on time.
But what greeted them at the assembly point wasn’t a crowd of people—it was a fork in the road.
At the entrance to the fork stood two signs.
〈49th Cohort Entrance〉
〈Acquaintance Entrance〉
The arrow-shaped signs pointed out their paths.
Quite a few people must have already split off, judging by the clear footprints on the wet ground.
Theresa and Yuri exchanged glances.
“This is a first for quests…….”
“Man, it reeks of shady from the jump.”
They bring along acquaintances, then separate them from the 49th Cohort?
You could practically smell the Cradle scheming already.
The two stood there for a moment.
But they couldn’t linger forever.
At the sound of footsteps approaching from behind, Yuri stepped onto the right path first.
“Catch you later.”
“Yeah.”
Theresa watched Yuri’s retreating figure for a second before heading down her own path.
What lay at the end of this road?
Even she had no idea.
* * *
After parting ways with Theresa.
The path Yuri took was narrow but well-maintained.
It was obviously a proper road, so he kept straight ahead without veering off onto any side paths.
Nothing inconvenient about it.
Except for one issue.
“…How long does this go on?”
The road stretched on forever.
He’d been walking a solid fifteen minutes, and the end was nowhere in sight.
‘What the hell are they setting up?’
Yuri scanned the situation so far with cautious eyes.
‘They’ve twisted the path to disorient us. But one thing’s clear: it’s heading upward.’
The dense forest hid the way behind them, but the steepening slope was undeniable.
They’d climbed pretty high, but the road’s constant left-right turns made it hard to feel.
Yuri pressed on for quite a while longer.
By the time the rain that had started when he left the hideout had thickened.
He finally reached the end of the road.
The moment he emerged from the forest path, a blast of wind and rain lashed his face.
Whoooosh-.
Patter-patter-patter-.
At the same time, Yuri let out a gasp at the sight before him.
“Whoa, this is something else.”
At the end of the forest path loomed a sheer cliff of dizzying height.
And beyond that cliff.
Another cliff squatted across a chasm at least fifty meters wide.
Two cliffs facing each other, with raging waters rushing below.
Of course, that alone wouldn’t have impressed Yuri.
What drew his awe was the massive structure perched on the opposite cliff.
A solitary gray castle rising from the cliffside.
Drenched by the rain, it took on an even darker hue, exuding a gloomy, sinister vibe.
It looked just like……
“…a demon king’s castle.”
It resembled one straight out of a fairy tale.
Rumble-crash!
No sooner had Yuri muttered than lightning struck behind the castle, blackening its silhouette.
As he stared at the gray castle in a trance, Yuri finally spotted another sign.
〈Acquaintance Entrance〉
Following the arrow, he turned his head to see a rickety suspension bridge made of wood and rope.
It was obvious: cross to the other cliff via that bridge.
Sure enough.
〈Acquaintance Entrance〉
At the bridge’s entrance stood another arrow sign pointing across the chasm.
“Hmm…….”
He looked around, but the swaying bridge was the only connection between the cliffs.
Yuri clicked his tongue at the violently rocking bridge.
“One wrong step, and you’d get flung off.”
The narrow canyon channeled fierce winds already.
With the weather turning nasty on top, the bridge thrashed like mad.
Even standing still was a challenge.
‘Fall, and you’re dead, right?’
Yuri squatted at the cliff edge and peered at the rapids below.
They were as insane as the bucking bridge.
The current wasn’t just fast—it was swirling with deadly eddies.
As someone who’d swum a fair bit, he could say with confidence:
Even a fisherman with decades in the water wouldn’t survive those rapids.
Having surveyed the terrain, Yuri stood and stepped onto the bridge.
Step-.
Swoosh—whoosh-.
Left-right, up-down.
The ferocious swaying would give anyone vertigo just watching.
But Yuri’s face as he walked across was utterly serene.
Not just his face—his whole body moved with calm.
Despite the bridge flailing wildly, he looked like he was strolling a flat plain.
He wasn’t even gripping the side ropes.
A movement so astonishing it bordered on acrobatics.
Unlike the many who’d crossed before, Yuri traversed the bridge with ridiculous ease.
And just like that, he reached the gray castle.
Splash-splash-.
At the castle gate stood a Blackblade in a raincoat, legs crossed on a chair.
“Huh?”
Her head was bowed slightly, hood pulled low hiding her face, but the cigarette poking out from under it was familiar to Yuri.
He approached her and murmured softly.
“Coco?”
His near-whisper of a call ended, and her head lifted a bit.
Whoosh-.
With a puff of thick smoke, she pushed her hood back slightly.
Revealing her dark face.
“Oh?”
Coco, spotting Yuri at last, spoke in a bored tone.
“…What? You’re in on this too?”
“Something like that. What about you, Coco? Side gig again?”
“Eh, looks that way.”
“So what’s today’s gig? Gatekeeper?”
At the question, Coco silently rose and beckoned Yuri over with a finger.
He sauntered up casually.
When the two were about a meter apart.
Clank-.
“……?!”
Yuri’s eyes widened at the sudden cold bite on his wrists.
He raised his arms in shock to see black handcuffs locked around them.
‘When did she…?!’
He hadn’t seen a thing.
But instinct told him.
Coco was the one who’d done it.
Seeing Yuri flustered, Coco smirked.
And at the same moment, an unfamiliar sensation gripped his ankles.
Clank-.
“Huh?”
Yuri let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a groan, dropping his gaze.
Sure enough.
Black shackles now encircled his ankles.
Scowling, Yuri tried to channel his mana in response.
But what the—?
The mana that always jumped at his call didn’t budge.
“……?!”
It was a first, and Yuri panicked hard.
Sensing his bewilderment, perhaps.
Coco chuckled.
“Mana’s not moving, huh?”
“What the hell is this? What did you do to me?”
“What do you mean? It just means those things on your limbs are working as intended. Don’t break ’em—they’re expensive.”
Yuri let out a small sigh at her nonchalant words.
“Sigh… Why are you doing this to me?”
“You were curious about my side gig, remember?”
“……?”
“Today’s gig is kidnapper.”
“…What kind?”
“Kidnapper.”
“Then this is……?”
Yuri lifted his hands to eye the cuffs.
“Yep, that’s right.”
Coco dangled the key tauntingly.
“You’ve just been kidnapped.”
* * *
Some time after Coco kidnapped Yuri.
The short-haired Blackblade overseeing the 49th Cohort announced.
“The name of this quest is Save the Princess!”