Ch.7777. Unbroken Shackles (5)

Rwena’s hands trembled as she took the item from the executive.

“…Did you really, truly find this in Levrant?”

“Yes. I would like to apologize for seeing it by chance, but it was so similar to what you possess…”

“You don’t need to apologize with lengthy explanations. This… I should be the one bowing to you, and even that wouldn’t be enough…!”

In the guild leader’s trembling hands lay a blue hair tie.

And wrapped around her left wrist like a bracelet was something that looked exactly like it.

A blue cloth that she wore like a charm or bracelet despite not being one. Anyone would say that it matched the hair tie in her hand in almost every characteristic except for length.

Indeed, this wasn’t merchandise handled by the guild, but an item carrying the past. It was a trace of her daughter that Rwena had been searching for so desperately.

“So she really was… at the Academy.”

There had been no concrete evidence, only vague suspicions.

The only clue was that a child of that age might be attending the Academy now, considering her current age, but this secured one piece of physical evidence.

It was just a ribbon, but there couldn’t be more definitive proof.

Unlike the times when she kept thinking her daughter might not even exist in this world anymore, now she could see a ray of hope.

However, as if to say it wasn’t time to relax yet, the executive continued speaking.

“I understand your joy, Guild Leader, but there is one problem.”

“A problem?”

“The owner of this ribbon seems to be in troublesome circumstances at the moment.”

It was an issue with Count Kutelli’s family. And the female student they had abducted.

***

‘Silvia… how dare you try to deceive me?’

So that’s why she was so obediently following along to the engagement ceremony.

The fact that few people knew Silvia’s face outside of a select few at the count’s residence—due to her being an illegitimate child—had worked against them fatally.

And of all people, the one who had disguised herself was none other than the daughter of Duke Lantana. The social position of the person they had dragged into this was far beyond what the count could handle.

Nevertheless, the count maintained his composure as he attempted to converse with Renias.

“I see the young lady enjoys such innocent pranks. You must still be quite young. Where is Silvia?”

“Why should I tell you that?”

“Naturally, I need to properly proceed with my daughter’s engagement ceremony.”

If he were to harm her in any way, he would have to face an all-out war with the Lantana Duchy of the Empire, which would be like hitting a rock with an egg.

Therefore, the count cleverly redirected the conversation, focusing on the fact that Silvia had brought Renias into this.

“And this is a place where someone else’s daughter is holding an engagement ceremony, albeit a simple one. How could you deceive people like this?”

Nothing has been decided yet.

For now, there’s still leverage in the fact that she’s disrupting the engagement ceremony by disguising herself as the bride at the count’s residence.

If he frames it as an uninvited person showing up on the day of the count’s precious daughter’s engagement, he could establish legitimacy.

Neither the duchy nor the empire could interfere with this engagement.

“So, Count, you’re the type who would resort to kidnapping with knights to hold an engagement ceremony? And a student from the Academy at that.”

“Hmph. Quite bold. Are you planning to cause trouble with baseless claims, relying solely on your family name…?”

Renias fired a spell as if she found his words distasteful. And then.

BOOM!

With a tremendous sound, part of the stage prepared for the ceremony collapsed from the flash of light, and the engagement venue crumbled spectacularly.

“There were about three knights who intercepted me at the festival night market. They were all knights from Count Kutelli’s residence. Don’t try to deny it—you’d better tell me where Senior Hena is.”

Originally, he had planned to excuse her as one of Silvia’s academy friends attending the engagement ceremony as a guest.

But Renias was speaking as if she had witnessed the scene herself.

If he had simply denied everything, no one from outside could have interfered, but now a witness had appeared claiming a student had been kidnapped.

Given the circumstances, the count’s residence was no longer just a place for an engagement ceremony. There was only one option left.

“Dispose of that wench!!”

The only solution was to draw his sword and eliminate the witness.

No matter how high Lady Lantana’s status might be, if they buried her without a trace, that would be the end of it.

The knights drew their swords and began to rush at Renias all at once.

.

.

.

Should she have turned and fled when the man who looked like a knight ordered her disposal?

Should she have run away as soon as she saw them blocking her path while walking through the festival?

Was it wrong to cut across the open space for the sake of taking a shorter route?

She didn’t know.

Where did it all go wrong?

She shouldn’t have been struck by the knight who suddenly appeared while she was walking through the festival night market.

She should have turned around and fled as soon as she noticed those suspicious men.

She should have taken the wider path, knowing the dangers of nighttime shortcuts.

…No. What was the point of all that? In the end, she herself was the problem.

Hena, who had heard every word of the conversation between a knight and the man who appeared to be the head of the count’s family, could only shed tears endlessly.

‘I’m sorry, Silvia…’

With a gag tied around her mouth, she couldn’t even mutter those words, so all she could do was repeat them in her mind.

Their goal was to lure Silvia to the count’s residence and complete an engagement ceremony with some man.

Even then, it wasn’t about leading a happy life after the wedding, but rather selling off a virgin after a forced engagement and then discarding her miserably.

She could avoid coming to the count’s residence, but someone as gentle as a lamb like her would surely come this way because of her personality.

Rather, Silvia would probably take the obvious bait of the trap, showing an awkward smile and saying she was sorry for causing trouble.

That fact couldn’t be denied. All Hena could do was blame herself for being captured and shed tears endlessly.

-Who the hell i… Argh!

Amidst all this, what reached Hena’s ears was the sound of a guard outside collapsing.

Could it be that Silvia had already arrived here?

“Mmph. Mmm.”

Why did you come, you fool? Run away, run away! I’m telling you to run far away, even now!!

Hena tried to shout from the dark basement, but her voice couldn’t reach anyone because of the gag in her mouth.

Eventually, the basement door opened.

At the sound of the door opening, Hena squeezed her eyes shut, denying reality.

She wished it was someone coming to torture her out of revenge because Silvia hadn’t shown up.

She wished it was someone coming to threaten her into luring Silvia.

“Wait a moment, Hena.”

It was a woman’s voice, but not Silvia’s. Who could it be?

-Slash.

The ropes binding her hands and feet were cut, and the gag in her mouth was removed.

Now that her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Hena could finally recognize the person who had freed her.

But to her surprise, the person before her was even more unexpected than Silvia.

“Senia, how did you…”

“We’ll talk later. We need to get out of here now.”

There was no way to know how Senia had come to the count’s residence.

Whatever the case, this was clearly an opportunity to escape. Hena also struggled to move her body, which had been immobile for a long time, and tried to leave the basement with Senia’s support.

However, the basement, which had been filled with darkness, gradually brightened with light until it filled the entire room.

“An ignition stone?!”

Senia identified the cause of the light illuminating the basement, but at the same time, the basement collapsed with a deafening explosion.

***

“Cough!”

“Aaargh!”

The most common method to defeat a powerful opponent, especially a mage, is a prolonged battle.

The tactic is to drag out time until their mana is depleted.

Most mages tend to concentrate their firepower, consuming mana more like a sprint than a marathon.

Therefore, if they use their mana like sprinting at full speed, they should inevitably tire quickly…

‘Why isn’t she getting tired?’

Despite continuously firing spells, nothing seemed to change.

Who knows how much time had passed while stalling at the count’s residence, and the number of knights falling one by one with cries was not small.

The mage’s weaknesses—prolonged battles and close combat—weren’t working at all.

‘…Is she a type strong in prolonged battles? No, that can’t be!’

Occasionally, those who have reached the extreme limits of mana control can pace themselves and exert power even in prolonged battles. It’s a strategy like running a marathon rather than sprinting at full speed.

However, as the intensity is adjusted, the power should be weakened, but Renias’s magic showed no signs of this, which was the problem.

Far from gradually weakening, her magic was landing solid hits, steadily breaking the knights’ momentum.

Then there was only one answer. Overwhelming mana capacity.

The knights were helplessly falling due to the unfathomable depth of her mana reserves—an invisible vessel whose capacity couldn’t even be estimated.

“The Arcab Party… I thought it was just an exaggerated tale…”

He had thought they were mere students, but they were monsters who shouldn’t be dismissed as such.

Those who had actually been to the battlefield all said the same thing.

The two members of the Arcab Party were different caliber individuals. All they could do was watch in awe as the two defeated enemies regardless of type or rank.

But the count, consumed by lust for power and worldly desires, had not heeded these warnings.

The result was the dozens of fallen knights before him and those who had lost the will to fight.

The count was now painfully realizing why they were called divine at the Academy, why it was said that no one could follow or approach their level.

But he still had one last resort.

“Huff… Very well. It seems I’ve been defeated by the young lady.”

“Rather than such admissions, I’d prefer you tell me where Senior Hena is.”

“Ah, yes. I’ll gladly tell you about that.”

As the count replied with a smirk, an explosion was heard from within the residence.

Then, with acrid smoke, the lower part of the building collapsed.

“…!”

“Oh my. She was probably there. It seems someone caused an explosion in the basement? Hahaha!!”

The reason he was speaking so compliantly was clear. The count’s final measure, a fuse, had been located there.

The source of the explosion was undoubtedly the basement below the building.

If anyone had been there, they would inevitably be crushed to death by the collapsed debris.

“How unfortunate! Who would have thought a girl invited as a guest to my daughter’s wedding would lose her life in an unexpected accident? Don’t you agree, young lady?”

The count referred to Hena as a person invited as a guest and claimed there had been an unexpected accident.

With the victim dead, there was no one to testify about being kidnapped.

He had already taken care of the knight who had kidnapped Hena, so even the suspect was unclear.

Now even Renias’s testimony about Hena being kidnapped had become mere suspicion without evidence. And that wasn’t all.

The place prepared for the engagement ceremony had become a chaotic mess where it was impossible to distinguish truth from falsehood.

Although a battle had taken place, who would be identified as the one who caused the disturbance and brought down the knights?

There was a reason the count spoke with such confidence and showed such a bold demeanor.

“Now, what compensation will you offer? How will you atone for the crime of trying to ruin a count’s family’s engagement ceremony? It seems your childish prank has greatly lowered the prestige of the Lantana Duke’s residence. Don’t you agree?”

Due to the count’s cunning and vicious scheme, Renias had become nothing more than a troublemaker who appeared at the engagement venue disguised as the bride.

Of course, that was only until now.

“Urgh…?! What is this…!”

“Following the kidnapping of a female Academy student, I arrest you for attempted murder, Count Kutelli.”

Ophelia, who had witnessed the basement explosion, heard the count’s confession and immediately arrested him.