episode_0447

It wasn’t that hard to find the place where Mezlen was. Since the Whispering Leaf was originally an item created for the convenience of story progression, its function of finding missing people or lost items was always reliable, no matter where.

So, the place that my party of four, consisting of me, Ethan, a warrior, and a saint, arrived at was somewhere in the back mountain near the Academy’s technical department dormitory.

“… If you see something going down near here, it probably means that Princess Mezlen is somewhere below this mountain.”

“Sa, under the mountain…? That, that means Princess Mezlen is already… .”

“That’s not what I meant, Saintess! This item can’t be used to find dead people in the first place!”

“Ah, I, I see… . I, I’m sorry for saying such strange things… .”

Ignoring Serista’s remarks, which could be considered blasphemous if spoken incorrectly, Gyeomjoshaegi-geol, who had a rough idea of the situation, added his explanation.

“There must be some kind of secret facility built just for this kind of thing. Like the professor’s hideout in the basement of the building near the pension department last time.”

“Ah, that, just like back then… .”

“… Of course, there probably won’t be any monsters as horrible as the one I saw back then. If they had kidnapped Princess Mezlen in the first place, they wouldn’t have taken her to a facility full of such monsters. ”

“That, I guess so… .”

“It would be a good idea to start by searching the entrance. If you find any terrain or equipment that feels even a little strange while searching, please share your thoughts.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“… Yes, yes!”

Four people walk around the mountain, each with their own answer, searching the entrance.

First of all, Ethan and Serista are characters in the game, so they obviously wouldn’t know where the secret entrance is, and it was highly likely that Gyeom wouldn’t know the exact location either.

‘I didn’t write about the hideout behind the engineering department in my strategy guide.’

It wasn’t because the rewards weren’t that great or anything, but because there was nothing else to do besides the Technician route. The last round I played in my previous life and the one I left a walkthrough for was the classic Swordsmanship route of 『Luminor Academy』.

The only good thing is that the fact that the hideout was chosen as the hideout behind the Technology Department’s mountain hideout means that someone from the Academy Technology Department was involved in this kidnapping incident, and since there aren’t many villains I know who are from the Academy Technology Department, it was easy to guess.

‘If that guy was involved, the overall picture is similar to the Seraphine kidnapping incident. However, in the Seraphine kidnapping incident, there was a need for Seraphine’s blood, but why on earth was Mezlen involved…?’

Thinking about it alone wouldn’t give me an answer. With that thought in mind, I started searching for a few minutes, focusing on the location I remembered. I was able to find some unnatural grass that was slightly raised compared to the surrounding ground.

“This way, everyone. I’ve identified a location that appears to be the entrance.”

“Really…?! Then, hurry up… Ayat!”

Serista tripped over a rock on the back mountain while she was struggling, and Geumjoseogi came over and helped her up. Then, I told Ethan, who was already next to me, about the entrance I had found.

“Only the round part here is unnaturally tall. If you look closely, you can see that the ground is slightly raised.”

“… It definitely looks like there’s something down there. Unless the tech department buried some garbage there. ”

“What should I do? It seems like the structure can’t be opened arbitrarily from the outside.”

If it were up to me, I could destroy it with my Mana Blast, but if I misused that much magic, it could destroy the mountain behind me. It was a method that I couldn’t use unless I wanted to bury Princess Mezlen alive with her kidnappers. If I made that much of a fuss, the humans who kidnapped Mezlen would kill her and run away.

Fortunately, there was a head and second head of the swordsmanship department here, so there was no problem.

-Wow!

-Crunch!

As soon as I finished speaking, the warrior and Ethan took out their swords from their waists and swung them, cutting the upper and lower parts of the circle.

The two men’s swords cleanly cut through the locks and hinges that blocked their respective entrances, and the entrance to the underground passage, now free of its fasteners, was easily cleared by simply lifting it slightly.

“Well, is this good enough?”

“… It’s nothing special.”

… Anyway, I’m trying to show off in front of women.

It doesn’t really matter though, since I was able to get in easily thanks to that bluff.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

After coming down the ladder leading to the hideout on the mountain behind the technology department, there was a fairly narrow passage leading inside.

It was a dark space where you could barely see anything except for the light coming in from the entrance. The lack of lighting gave off the impression that it wasn’t a space for very good purposes.

“They must be quite dangerous, considering they have the capacity to build such a secret facility inside the Academy. It would be best for Release to stay behind me for now.”

“… Okay.”

“If possible, Serista, hide behind me. If you ever get in danger, let me know.”

“Ah, yes… .”

… How long is this braggadocio competition going to continue?

Ethan and Gyeomjoseogi were the only ones who could light the fire here, even though they could have just said that they would go first. They insisted on mentioning Serista and me by name.

“Ah, that, but still, we need light, the sacred light sphere… .”

“Just a moment, Lady Serista.”

“… Yes?”

After stopping Serista from trying to fill the passage with light all of a sudden, I used ‘Dim Light’ first, and then had Serista use ‘Divine Light Orb’.

-grasp!

“It would be good to move around in this brightness. If we suddenly shine a strong light inside, the people inside may notice our intrusion.”

“Oh, that’s right… . I, I was short-sighted, I’m sorry… .”

“No, Saint Cerista. This bright light will probably be of help soon, so don’t apologize.”

The divine light emitting splendid light is now engulfed in the fog I created, transformed into a soft light.

This light was bright enough, but not bright enough to immediately alert the guys inside.

Above all, the reason I covered Cerista’s divine magic in a hazy light was not simply for the brightness of the light.

‘It’s just a simple lighting spell, but… I guess I could use it in battle once.’

Four people make plans in their heads and move forward.

Fortunately, we seemed to have come to the right place. The whispering leaf pointed us horizontally instead of underground, and we followed the direction the leaf was pointing as much as possible at the fork in the road.

‘Certainly, it is a necessary item because there are events that are different from the original.’

I might have to give it to the warrior later when I get the chance. I thought I would need an artifact like this to make the story easier to proceed with because of me.

-Thump, thump.

“… Hold on a second, you two.”

“… … .”

“… … .”

“… I think it’s probably around here. I’ll take the lead from now on.”

“Release, but it is still dangerous for release to take the lead… .”

“… Sup.”

“… … I’m sorry.”

I understand that you are worried about me, but right now you need to focus on saving the princess’s life.

I, who was leading the way with the light of Serista wrapped in a hazy light, stopped in front of a door and pointed to the door in front of me with a hand signal to Ethan, who was following me.

“… … .”

-Swish, swish.

“… … .”

-Nod.

As soon as my hand gesture ended, Ethan swung his sword again and cut through the door in front of him.

With just two clean strokes of the sword, the door, its lock and hinges ripped cleanly off, tilted outward and collapsed, revealing the shadows of two people.

“Who…!”

“Take this, solar power!!”

-Whaaah!!

“What, what?! Aaaah!!”

As soon as I confirmed the image of the blonde girl inside the door, I threw the light bulb in my hand toward her and took off the dim light that I had put on to adjust the brightness.

As soon as the sacred light sphere stopped in front of Princess Mezlen and someone behind her and began to emit an intense light, a man’s panicked voice reached my ears.

‘You only get one chance.’

Taking advantage of the moment when the guy was still flustered and unable to come to his senses, he quickly moved to the center of the room and picked up a dagger in his right hand.

After checking Mezlen’s body tied to the chair, I used the ‘Silent Dagger’ to untie the knot and quickly lifted her body up.

“Huh?!”

… Somehow, compared to the last time I heard it, it felt strangely lighter. It could be simply because I lost strength, but when I saw the bucket of red liquid, I thought it wasn’t just because of that.

It would be nice if I could retrieve that, but I didn’t have the time to do that, so I held Princess Mezlen in my arms and tried to move my body quickly…

“This insolent bitch…!”

‘… Oops!’

The guy who came to his senses in the pouring light swung the automatic knife on his right wrist towards me.

“Release, dangerous!”

“… … !”

The knife was already stored away to hold Mezlen, and since he was using both arms to hold her, he couldn’t use either the sword or magic.

Just as I was contemplating whether I should give up at least one shoulder in the worst case scenario, a small magic circle appeared in front of my face and deflected the dagger in front of me.

“Shock, wave… .”

-Phew!

… I thought he was just passed out, but it looks like he still had the energy to use magic.