Ch.5252. The Iron-Barred Knight (1)

“That means… will you be going up to the capital for the coming-of-age ceremony with Lady Sione?”

“Yes. All preparations will be completed within a week.”

“…I see.”

The news that I only had a week left to rest comfortably at the mansion made my energy drain away.

I’d been able to take it easy since injuring my arm, but that had only been for a few days.

And now I was hearing about another long-distance outing.

Seriously, Sione or whatever. Maybe I should just run away from here.

“I will inform Sione at an appropriate time later, so wait quietly.”

“I will do so.”

Ainel one-sidedly told me about the princess’s upcoming coming-of-age ceremony, what we needed to do in the capital, and things I should keep in mind going forward.

Everything Ainel ordered me to do in the capital was troublesome and cumbersome.

“…Will I be allowed to accompany the princess to her coming-of-age ceremony?”

“You’re not just an ordinary servant, but a Sianella attendant. You needn’t worry about that.”

The tasks she wanted me to do at the coming-of-age ceremony were all incredibly burdensome and nerve-wracking.

I seriously doubted whether Sione—who had so boldly proposed breaking off her engagement to her fiancé—could even hold a normal conversation. Yet I was supposed to help her socialize with other noble children, specifically those from counties and marquisates.

I worried that Sione, who typically responded with unnecessary sharpness to anyone other than me or Siabel, might make a mistake.

What if I got caught in the crossfire because of her? It was terrifying.

When our conversation with Ainel ended, she dismissed me without hesitation.

As I quickly bowed my head and turned the doorknob to leave, her relaxed voice came from behind me.

“Take good care of Sione.”

“Leave it to me.”

“I’ll have you take a Mana oath later. I’ll call for you when I find a suitable mage.”

“…Understood.”

I nodded at Ainel’s words.

A Mana oath.

Even on Earth, when important contracts were drawn up, mages were often brought in as mediators for Mana oaths.

Even if the oath would force certain behaviors upon me.

I had no intention of betraying Sione or the Sianella family anyway.

Since I would only be swearing oaths about things I had no intention of breaking in the first place, there would be no problem. I casually agreed to Ainel’s words and left.

Only after I had walked far enough from Ainel’s office did I feel comfortable enough to sigh.

“Haah…”

I was completely drained.

Being suddenly grabbed by Ainel and dragged to her office for interrogation was bad enough.

Having a sharp blade placed at my throat made it even worse.

No wonder I was exhausted.

The one fortunate thing was that there was at least a small reward as consolation.

I checked the completed quest.

[Quest completed.]

[Your physical abilities have slightly increased.]

“Not bad.”

As the quest description had indicated, my physical abilities had improved.

However, the increase wasn’t significant enough to really feel. I just felt a bit more refreshed and energetic than usual.

It wasn’t a huge difference, but having something was better than nothing.

As I was thinking this and trying to shake off my fatigue…

A status window remained in my vision.

[Ainel Sianella has begun to take interest in you.]

[Mana recovery ability increased.]

“Huh? Mana recovery ability?”

Of all things, my mana recovery ability increased?

I rubbed my eyes and checked the status window again.

Is this a dream or reality?

The status window was still there, confirming that my mana recovery ability had indeed increased.

“Wow.”

An exclamation of amazement escaped my lips.

Increased mana recovery ability.

This was truly cause for celebration.

The implications of increased mana recovery were simple.

It meant faster replenishment of depleted mana, and when suffering from mana exhaustion, quicker recovery with fewer aftereffects.

For someone like me who experienced mana exhaustion whenever I used magic, this was an invaluable ability.

“Jackpot.”

This unexpected gain cleared my tired mind.

With this development, it would be good to stay on Ainel’s good side from now on.

As I was heading back to Sione’s room with that thought, something Ainel had said suddenly came to mind.

“The seventh slave in the iron cage…”

Hearing her words reminded me of when I first met Ainel in that iron cage, and I briefly fell into memories of the past.

* * *

“Phew… let me think. Let me think.”

I sat down with my backside against the cold floor.

Then, closing my eyes, I slowly began to retrace what had happened to me.

‘Right, I was definitely in the middle of conquering an S-rank dungeon.’

The dungeon type was Wave.

I had been shooting arrows and cutting down enemies that got too close in a dungeon where monsters and demons poured out at regular intervals.

I had been struggling with the sheer number of monsters, which was on a completely different level from the A-rank dungeons I usually frequented.

‘I could have cleared it.’

Though it was extremely difficult, I thought we could conquer it.

To tackle this S-rank dungeon with its 50-person limit, we had formed a raid party with three S-rank Hunters and 47 elite A-rank Hunters.

These were Hunters ranked within the top 500 out of 700 million—truly the cream of the crop.

Even for an S-rank dungeon, we should have been able to clear it.

And indeed, as I had thought, our raid party had successfully conquered four out of the five waves, fighting valiantly.

‘The demons were troublesome, but we could kill them somehow.’

That’s not to say there weren’t any crises.

The boss-level demons that appeared in each wave attacked us with various abilities.

But thanks to the S-rank Hunters taking the initiative, we had somehow managed to defeat them.

‘We were so close to clearing it… the fifth wave was the problem.’

But the fifth wave was different.

The already numerous monsters doubled in number.

They were stronger and more cunning than normal specimens.

And that wasn’t all.

‘That demon bastard who appeared at the end.’

The demon of the fifth wave.

That thing was off the charts.

As soon as it appeared, the whole world filled with viscous demonic energy.

The already difficult monsters were all corrupted by the demonic energy and went berserk.

Countless Hunters lost their lives.

Then the demon hunted down our most reliable S-rank Hunters.

After losing all three S-rank Hunters in an instant, the raid party quickly fell apart.

And so, after everyone died helplessly, I was the last one standing.

Since I was going to die anyway, I remember charging like a madman into danger, firing my last arrow at that demon bastard, and then being torn apart by the monsters that pounced on me.

The memory is so vivid, and yet…

“I really have a long lifeline.”

Opening my eyes again to check my surroundings, I found myself not dead but trapped in an iron cage, dressed in rags.

Clank. Clank.

There were even shackles on my feet.

Looking again, this body wasn’t even my original one.

With barely any mana and this emaciated form, there was no way this could be my body.

“What the hell is going on?”

The situation was hard to comprehend.

As I was racking my brain trying to figure out if I was having a pre-death hallucination or if I had entered some afterlife, a status window appeared.

[You have stepped onto the fate of a world destined for destruction.]

[The world’s will to survive begins to lead you to a new destiny.]

Entering a world destined for destruction?

The world’s will to survive?

You need to say something I can understand.

Ignoring the status window with its incomprehensible messages, I tried my best to grasp the situation when finally, the status window said something I wanted to hear.

[Would you like to receive information for smooth adaptation?]

I nodded at the status window’s question.

Then, information about this body’s original owner and the general nature of this world began to seep into my mind.

Regarding the memories of this body’s unknown owner, recent events and life-changing moments came through relatively clearly, while older memories were hazier.

And about the land where I was now breathing and standing, only very basic information seeped in.

I frowned as I digested the memories.

The feeling of having memories forcibly overlaid wasn’t pleasant, but it couldn’t be helped.

I needed this information to get some bearings.

And as a result of receiving that information…

“…Shit.”

I cursed.

After absorbing the memories of this body’s owner, I roughly understood how this place worked, and also realized that this was the ancient form of the S-rank dungeon I had been trying to conquer.

As I was denying reality in this barely comprehensible situation…

“Number 7, Ray. Lunch.”

A fat woman approached and pushed food through the iron bars.

Watery soup and hard bread.

This was the daily meal of the original owner of this body, Ray, who was imprisoned in the seventh iron cage of a slave trader.

As I was staring at that unappetizing food, wondering how anyone could eat such a thing…

Growl.

This stomach was crying out for food.

Now that I roughly understood my situation, and with nothing else to do sitting here, I picked up the bread placed before me.

“Haah…”

Following Ray’s memories, I skillfully dipped the bread in the soup and took a bite.

As I chewed the terribly hard bread, I thought to myself:

My life has become way too complicated.