Sense of Responsibility
The sound of struggling echoed from the cargo hold of the carriage. It seemed the sleeping drug had finally worn off.
“Didn’t you say two hours?”
“I told you, everyone’s different… She’s a mage, so maybe she has some resistance.”
I had no idea what mages had to do with sleeping drugs, but… we’d be arriving soon anyway.
“We’re here.”
The box kept shaking because of Serein’s thrashing. We unloaded it and carried it straight to Sane’s house.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
What now… For the moment, I left the blindfold on and only removed the gag from her mouth.
“Mmph… Haa… Ha… W-who… who are you people?!”
Her voice was thick with terror. I whispered to Sane.
“Sane. She might recognize my voice, so you speak for me. Lower your tone a little. Can you do that?”
“Yeees… What should I say?”
Serein was still squirming. We needed to quiet her down.
“Tell her if she doesn’t stay still, something bad will happen.”
“……”
Sane’s gaze, looking at me like I was garbage, had become strangely familiar by now.
“Be quiet. This is your final warning. If I hear another sound, I’ll break your fingers one by one.”
Her voice was so cold and low it was hard to believe it came from the usual Sane.
“I didn’t order you to go that far…”
“Old habits die hard…”
As expected from a seasoned professional. Serein, now thoroughly terrified, trembled silently. Tears soaked through her blindfold and streamed down her cheeks.
I gave Sane the rest of the instructions.
“We need to leak some information, so make it look like we kidnapped Serein because we have business with Hero.”
“Tell her that Hero is needed to open the academy’s underground labyrinth.”
“Underground labyrinth? What’s that?”
It must have sounded strange to Sane, who didn’t know about the labyrinth’s existence, but there was no time to explain.
“Just say it. I’ll explain the rest of the plan where Serein can’t hear.”
“Got it…”
After giving Sane a brief script, I watched from the side. Soon, she began speaking loud enough for Serein to hear.
“What a pain… Why do we need that guy to open the underground labyrinth? Kidnapping is such a hassle.”
Her acting was good enough to rival a professional.
“Hey. You’re Serein, right? Answer only with yes or no.”
As she spoke, Sane pressed a finger against Serein’s throat. That alone seemed to strip away what little courage Serein had left.
“Y-yes…”
“Next question. You. You’re close with Hero, aren’t you?”
The moment Hero’s name came up, Serein flinched visibly.
“N-no… I don’t know him.”
What a heartbreaking display of friendship. Or maybe love, in this case. She was probably pretending not to know him to keep him from getting involved. But Sane didn’t seem to like that Serein had added extra words beyond a simple “no.”
Bang!
“H-hic!!!”
Sane slammed her hand down on a nearby table with a loud crack.
She’s really getting into character…?
“I told you to answer only with yes or no…?”
“Y-yes!!”
Sane was following the script I’d given her perfectly.
“We already know you’re especially close to Hero, so don’t even think about lying… You’re going to be our hostage now.”
A hostage whose role was to lure Hero into the underground labyrinth.
. . .
“So, is this enough?”
Serein had cried herself to exhaustion and fallen asleep again. I was now explaining the real plan to Sane.
“Yes. From now on, just keep Serein here until I contact you again. And… take this.”
I handed her a small stack of papers.
“Huh…? What is this? Demon race collaborators…?”
The papers contained brief information on several demon collaborators inside the academy. These were the people who would work with the demons when they launched their full-scale assault later. Of course, they were probably already in contact with the demons even now.
Once second year got underway, Hero would be chosen as the hero. At that point, the demons would attack the academy to eliminate him, using these collaborators. It would be best to clean them up now while we had the chance.
Their positions ranged from regular administrative staff to teaching assistants. I didn’t know exactly how they’d made contact in the original story, but this was a good opportunity to find out.
“Exactly as it says. We’ll verify the details later. I’m giving you a mission.”
“A mission…?”
Yes. A mission. To create the kidnappers who would take the fall for all of this.
“After you subdue those collaborators, brand them with the Mark of Submission. Deadline is tomorrow.”
“The Mark of Submission?”
“That’s right.”
From now on, those demon collaborators would become the damn student kidnappers.
“Serein disappeared?”
Lily had suddenly shown up at the boys’ dormitory on the weekend. She was Serein’s roommate and someone I was acquainted with.
“Yeah… Serein suddenly vanished yesterday evening… I thought maybe you’d know something…”
Serein?
We were supposed to have lunch together today…
“I don’t know anything either. She disappeared yesterday evening?”
“That’s right… We were going to eat dinner together, but the moment I stepped into my room for a second, she was gone. And this…”
Lily pulled something from her pocket and showed it to me.
This is…
The brooch I had bought for Serein as a birthday present when I was ten. Ever since I gave it to her, Serein had worn it every single day without fail.
Something felt wrong. After sending Lily away, I returned to my dorm room only to find a suspicious note stuck to the door that hadn’t been there before.
Come to the basement of the academy annex. If you don’t, Serein will die.
— Several strands of what appeared to be Serein’s hair were attached.
Academy annex basement…?
I tried to stay calm, but worry and rage made my hands tremble uncontrollably.
“Serein…!”
I headed straight for the location written on the note. The annex housed club rooms and storage, so it should still be open even on the weekend. I hurried there as fast as I could.
. . .
When I entered the basement of the annex, all I saw at first was a dusty storage room… but something out of place immediately caught my eye.
“This is…”
Traces of mana. It looked like someone had deliberately left them behind. After clearing away the objects marked by the trail, a door leading to an endlessly deep underground passage appeared.
It was obviously suspicious. But since the trail continued inside, it seemed the one who had kidnapped Serein was trying to lure me here.
I guess I have no choice but to go in…
Creak.
As I pushed through the darkness following the mana trail, I suddenly sensed a presence behind me.
“…Who’s there!”
The person who stepped forward was none other than Logue.
“Why are you here…?”
Logue looked slightly awkward at my question.
“I had some business in the annex and saw you running down into the basement. I thought you were up to something strange, so I followed… What is this place?”
Did I pass someone on the way here…?
I felt a flicker of suspicion, but this wasn’t the time.
“Sorry, but I don’t have time to explain.”
I was about to continue on my way when—
“Does this have something to do with Serein?”
The moment Serein’s name left Logue’s mouth, my sword was already at his throat before I realized it.
“…How do you know that?”
Current Perspective: Hero
Right now, Hero’s sword was pressed against my throat.
That’s pretty intense…
Of course I could have dodged it, but showing that I had no intention of resisting came first.
“…Yesterday around sunset, I saw someone who looked like Serein being carried by someone. At first I thought it was you, but there were several people, so it felt off.”
Bang!
The moment he finished speaking, Hero suddenly grabbed my collar and slammed me against the wall.
“Why did you just watch?! If you had at least told me…”
He was extremely agitated. His feelings for Serein were painfully clear.
I feel a little guilty…
It was already too late to turn back. I pulled Hero’s hand off my collar and spoke.
“…That’s why I’m here now, isn’t it?”
Some time passed. Once Hero had regained his composure, he apologized.
“Sorry. I got too worked up.”
“It’s fine. …Can you tell me what’s going on?”
Hero hesitated for a moment before explaining the situation.
“…Serein was kidnapped. It seems to have happened yesterday evening. This note was stuck to my dorm door this morning.”
The note Hero showed me was written in Sane’s handwriting. Since I already knew the contents, I only pretended to skim it before beginning my act.
“Is this… real?”
“…Yes. That’s why I came here.”
Luckily, Hero didn’t notice my acting. He looked at me with a devastated expression. At a glance, it seemed like he was holding back tears.
“I’ll help too. Whoever wrote this note seems to want to lure you here. Going alone would be too dangerous.”
“But…”
He was probably about to say that if the two of us went together, Serein’s safety would be at risk. The note had specifically said for Hero to come alone.
“The reason they took Serein hostage is to control you for some purpose. Do you really think they’d throw away that leverage just because one extra person showed up?”
Hero still looked conflicted even after hearing my words.
“Besides, going alone is exactly what they want. In the worst case, it could lead to a bad outcome for both of you. …And I feel responsible too.”
Though the responsibility I felt wasn’t the kind Hero was imagining. He probably thought I felt guilty for failing to protect Serein.
“Alright. I’m counting on you.”
Reluctantly, Hero nodded. Good. We had cleared the biggest hurdle of the plan.
I sent separate instructions to Sane through communication magic and began heading toward the underground labyrinth together with Hero.