The Rescue
Zeroa and Aslan dashed out after Lydia, dragging Drex and his crew along with them as they fled the scene.
Almost kidnapped herself, Pia twisted her head violently to shake off the hand covering her mouth.
With a curse, Pia kicked Aslan in the gut and finally broke free, tumbling onto the dirt floor.
The girl, covered in dirt, shot up and glared murderously at him, but Aslan ignored her and turned to check if anyone was chasing them.
"You... well, I can see why you'd do that, but why are Drex and the others running away?!"
Pia's fury arrowed straight at Drex.
The other two hadn't been original party members, so they had no reason to risk their lives for Lydia. The adventurer world wasn't warm enough to throw yourself in for a stranger you'd just met.
But Drex was different.
They had spent years together. The trust they'd built was real. A leader couldn't abandon a teammate like that.
Drex stared back at Pia with a pale, troubled face.
"I said I could save her."
"Who?"
An irritable question made Drex glance at Zeroa.
He, like Pia, had already been about to bolt the moment Lydia was captured by the cultists.
But Drex had grabbed his waist and refused to let Zeroa go.
Hot with anger, Drex tried to yank him away roughly, yet his voice stayed calm.
'I can save her. But right now, I can't go.'
His eyes were neither filled with fear nor selfishly looking out for himself. They were honest, straightforward eyes that showed no lie in the words he'd just spoken.
Those eyes convinced Drex. He watched Lydia being dragged away by the cultists with pain in his gaze, then turned and left.
Pia, still clueless and snatched by Aslan, followed the direction Drex's eyes were looking.
Zeroa and Aslan had spread out a map and were deep in discussion.
"She wasn't regular army, right?"
"Yes. The command structure wasn't unified. It might be better to think of them as local militias... or self-defense teams."
Neither paid any attention to Drex or Pia. The two kept talking.
They had already sketched the village buildings in detail—the ones they'd just glanced at—and noted the exact number of cultists who had left the area.
"The central building where we took Lydia has a lot of windows. I haven't checked the other side, but I bet there's more underground space."
"Usually prisons are underground."
Zeroa added another layer to the underground spaces and sketched the expected layout inside the building.
"I'm not an expert on architecture, but it probably looks something like this inside. Anyone have a different idea?"
"No. I never paid attention to that guy's lectures anyway. Let's go with what we drew."
"All right. Let's go."
Once their conversation ended, Zeroa turned to Drex and Pia, who had been watching them the whole time.
"Let's go back and rescue Lydia."
"... ..."
The two who hadn't caught up with the conversation stayed silent.
"... If we're going back, why did you run away?!"
Pia, snapping back to herself, scowled as she spoke. Aslan, who had been checking the surroundings again, answered.
"To draw out the main force's troops so they could track us. If we charged in then, we'd have been used as hostages."
"... ..."
"According to Aslan, the main force should have thinned out by now, chasing our trail. Since they're not regular army, the alert level is probably lower. We can slip in easily. Of course, we'll have to verify that."
Zeroa explained it once more kindly, but Pia and Drex, who knew nothing about unit tactics, had no reply.
They were not top students, but having been trained as academy elites, the two quickly formed a plan based on what they'd learned.
The way they moved felt so natural that Zeroa, who had looked foolish moments ago, and Aslan, who had seemed dim-witted, suddenly felt like they might be the ones who didn't belong.
"Ah, one of us has to go for the rescue request. Which of you two can run the longest?"
Zeroa's words made Drex and Pia look at each other.
"Send Pia."
"What? No way. I'm not leaving. I'll rescue Lydia myself."
"I'm the leader. My teammates are in danger—I'm the one who has to go. This situation is too dangerous right now..."
"Too dangerous? What do you expect me to do? Because it's dangerous, you want me to abandon my comrades and run away? Do I look like a coward to you?"
"I... I'm sorry to interrupt, but..."
The two were about to start a heated argument when Zeroa quietly stepped in.
"Right now, whether you're leader or teammate isn't important."
His cautious words were cold and precise.
"What we need is someone who can run the longest and reach the defensive squad first. Drex, take off your armor and you'll get there quickest."
"But I..."
"Yes, we need to save Lydia. If everyone does what they're best at, we can do it."
Drex stared blankly at Zeroa. The cold words from the person who should have been most affected by those emotions felt strangely unsettling.
"Every second we waste brings them closer. We move now."
Aslan's words left Drex with no choice but to accept the role.
After the rest, Zeroa approached the armorless Drex and gave him a final warning.
"Leave as many traces as possible."
Even without knowing tactics, Drex understood. From now on, he would be the courier and the bait.
They had to make the pursuers easily discover the trail and keep following.
"Tell the defensive squad it's an academy student who was captured. That way they'll move more easily."
Compared to adventurers, the value of an academy student was greater. Especially in Legandia, students were treated differently.
Drex nodded at Zeroa's command to use the cruel truth, then turned and ran without looking back.
Once everything was settled, Zeroa, Aslan, and Pia left no traces and circled back toward the village.
When the hazy consciousness that had felt like sleep returned, Lydia shivered at the cold stone floor against her cheek.
She blinked her eyes for a moment, then stayed still and rolled them to survey the situation.
Dark. Damp. The iron bars were rusted but still solid. One window showed nothing but a dark corridor lit by a single torch attached to the wall.
Realizing she was trapped in a prison cell, Lydia laughed bitterly at her own stupidity and tried to stand.
"You woke up."
Outside the iron bars stood two hooded men.
Ignoring the sinister one, Lydia glanced around and let out a long sigh.
"I've been caught... Now I'm going to be tortured until I become a cultist meat slave..."
"... ..."
"Tortured from morning to night and turned into a sow? No way— if they keep stabbing like that, I can't hold on."
"Hey..."
"No! They'll corrupt me to the bone, make me a body without a soul, and finally sacrifice me as a sacrifice?! They'll violate me with tentacles all over and force that sticky white liquid down my throat!"
The men outside the bars exchanged glances without a word, then placed the tray they were holding through the gap.
The tray held enough food for one person.
"Brainwashing with drugs? That's too much!"
The men, watching Lydia cover her chest and shout, said nothing and left.
"Are all the young ones like this these days?"
"I don't know. They're all horny and tsk tsking. The end times, the end times. How depraved their lives must be. Kerthasine-nim should purify the world already."
"Aah— Kerthasine-nim—"
These cultists who worshiped evil gods were surprisingly normal men worrying about the world as they vanished into the dark corridor beyond.
Difference from regular priests? Just remove the title 'evil god' and they were no different.
Lydia blinked in surprise at the unexpected atmosphere and examined the tray they'd given her.
The bread looked old and hard, but there was no strange drug in it.
Just plain, tasteless bread.
Just in case, she took a small bite and waited to see if any effect appeared. Nothing happened.
Only then did she start nibbling the bread like it was her last meal, sitting in the corner and thinking about her situation.
Her companions had left.
They hadn't abandoned her. Even though they'd only been together for a short time, leaving her behind felt too painful.
With so many cultists, they had retreated to notify the imperial army.
No one else was in the prison, and they hadn't mentioned capturing her companions, so they should have safely reached Legandia by now.
Lydia hoped Drex and Pia would arrive with the city guards before midnight or at latest dawn. She decided to wait calmly.
The sight of her comrades charging in to save her had been quite cool.
And she remembered the two of them being roughly pushed away and retreating.
Logically, that was the right thing to do, but she couldn't help feeling a little resentful.
"Tch. Ruthlessly abandoning us."
Aslan looked scary enough that it was no surprise, but the image of innocent Zeroa using every ounce of strength to stop Drex had been shocking.
Was he really that afraid of taking risks?
"Zeroa, you bad boy. I took such good care of you, and you hate me!"
"Huh? Did you call me?"
From the darkness, Zeroa stepped out and answered, making Lydia jump like a cat and slam herself against the wall.
She wasn't sure if what she saw was real or a hallucination. Shocked beyond belief, Lydia stared at him with huge eyes.
"Z-Zeroa...?"
"Yes. How did you know I came? I thought I hid perfectly, but sneaking really is hard."
Zeroa nodded calmly, as if reflecting on his mistake. Lydia stared at him blankly, then hesitantly approached the iron bars.
"Y-You came to save me?"
"Of course. I had to come."
Seeing the bright smile, Lydia clutched her chest and collapsed.
"L-Lydia. Are you all right?"
"No... my chest hurts so much. I had a heart attack."
"What happened to you? There's a potion here. Want me to give you one?"
"No, no. I'm fine... Wait, can you lend me your hand? If I get touched for a little while, I think I'll feel better."
With a seductive smile, Lydia reached her hand through the bars. Zeroa looked flustered and hesitated.
Touching her breast was a huge challenge for someone with no immunity.
And another hand rose instead.
A small, delicate hand with a raised middle finger.
"Get lost."
"What? You came too?"
Lydia shook off Pia's dirty hand with a disgusted look and scowled. Though she was annoyed at the interruption, a smile crept onto her lips—she was secretly happy that someone had come to rescue her.
"Then let's escape. Lydia, your equipment is a shame, but it looks like it's not underground. I couldn't find it."
"It's fine. Life is more important than equipment. Even if I found the key, where would it be?"
"No, we couldn't find the key either."
"Huh? Then how?"
At the mention of no key, Pia looked bewildered. Aslan approached from the side.
Proving her suspicion, Aslan grabbed the bars and scowled.
"Ugh—"
With all his strength, Aslan pulled. A terrible screeching sound echoed as the door began to crack open little by little.
"Should I help?"
"Uwah— ahh— I can't speak properly with my teeth clenched—"
Zeroa understood the words 'it's better if I do it alone' and stepped back.
As he held the iron bars, they began to bend. Lydia, feeling uneasy, stepped back a little.
Scowling and pulling with all her might, the bars tore free. Aslan, unable to withstand the force, was thrown backward.
The door wasn't opened, but one of the bars he was holding came out, creating a gap.
Lydia squeezed through the narrow space, hugged Zeroa, and Aslan, who had strained himself the most, swung the pulled-out iron pipe in the air with a complicated expression.
Pia kicked his back.
"You big dummy, your strength is insane."
"I told you, my muscles are well developed..."
"That's weird, so shut up."
Pia cut off Aslan's attempt to emphasize the point and kicked the butt of the scheming Lydia, then handed her the bow and arrows he'd brought.
"Good. With just this bow, I can handle my part."
"Please do your part. Don't get captured because you got cocky."
"What? I was just unlucky."
Checking her status while twanging the bowstring, Lydia exchanged words with Pia, then followed behind Zeroa.
On the way to the prison, bodies of the guards they had already killed littered the corridor.
Most had faces too smashed to recognize. Anyone could tell.
Seeing the gruesome corpses, Lydia subtly looked away. Pia, who had seen the scene, noticed a hint of fear in her eyes.
No need to say anything. Lydia closed her mouth and followed silently.
"This isn't good..."
"Yeah, I noticed it too."
The two looked up the stairs and talked.
It wasn't certain, but when Lydia strained to listen, she heard footsteps on the stairs above.
Someone had already noticed the intrusion. Multiple people were blocking the escape route, so Aslan drew his half-broken sword and looked at Zeroa.
"Is it okay? We'll have to fight people."
"... ... Yes. That was already decided since that moment."
Aslan worried about Zeroa, who had never killed anyone, but he nodded as if he had made his resolve.
He couldn't be just a burden like before. That kind of experience was enough once.
With his mind set, Zeroa drew his sword and shield and took a fighting stance.
Pia and Lydia also prepared to fight and steadied their breathing. Aslan stepped forward and said:
"From the check earlier, there wasn't a strong guy around. If we can't break through, we'll collapse the tunnel and come back. Our goal is to break through. Or hold out until the rescue force arrives."
"Even though you're just adding filler, you sound like a real leader."
Aslan took the jab from Pia, shrugged, and gathered mana.
"Stone Tornado."
Mana surged from the greatsword in Aslan's hand and pulled in the surrounding stones.
Stones ripped from the walls and ceiling swirled around the short sword. Aslan prepared to dash forward.
"H-Hey... Aslan-kun?"
"What? Scared because you thought it was real?"
With a cool smile, Aslan turned around, but Zeroa's face was one of pure panic.
"If I use that here... the building will... collapse..."
"Huh?"
The technique that had made maintenance manager Tenon cry—wrecking the entire surroundings.
The old building needed repair anyway, and ripping out stones like this would make it impossible to hold.
The ceiling shook and showered dust. The frantic voices of people on the upper floors who had sensed the danger. The people staring blankly at him.
Aslan rolled his eyes around, then said quietly:
"Run."
"You stupid idiot!"
At Pia's shout, the four dashed desperately toward the stairs.