Chapter 453: Saving Maid Eunbyul (4)

Using my plant magic, cold magic, and the temporary ladder made with Sihee’s help, I climbed up the outer wall of the Geumhyang Manor to the upper floors.

Since I couldn’t use the elevator, this was the best method I had to enter the upper floors of this manor, and my black butler uniform was perfect for blending into the dark winter evening scenery.

「Good job, Sungchul-ssi. Now, into the open window on the 5th floor….」

“No, I’m going up one more floor.”

「Yes…?」

“There’s no time. Please quickly shoot the next arrow upwards.”

The reason I kept climbing the outer wall all the way to the 6th floor without entering through the 5th-floor window was simple.

Even after reaching one floor higher than the 4th floor, the red arrow pointing to Eunbyul’s location was still pointing upwards.

While it wasn’t impossible to enter the 5th floor and look for an entrance to move upwards, my prediction was that the path leading further up would likely require using the elevator.

Rather than waste time on a half-hearted search like that, it was better to just keep climbing the outer wall as high as I could right now.

「…Okay.」

Fortunately, Sihee understood my intention and shot an arrow upwards, connecting it along the vine plant’s stem.

I just held onto the makeshift ladder she made and crawled up one more floor.

The hallway on the 6th floor of the Geumhyang Group manor, entered by climbing the outer wall for nearly 10 minutes in that manner.

Perhaps due to the pressure of needing to move quietly and the fear of crawling up 20 meters in the air, cold sweat was pouring down my back like rain.

To avoid leaving any trace, I immediately wrapped my way back down the vine plant’s stem, retrieving Sihee’s arrow along with it.

‘I can just put the arrow in my subspace pocket.’

The plant and ice shards could simply be dispersed with their original magic power, so they didn’t matter much, but I stored only Sihee’s arrow, which could clearly leave evidence, in my subspace pocket.

Leaving any room for error could have led to the identification of not only my entry method but also the identity of the intruder who broke into the manor.

Of course, by the time they realized Eunbyul was rescued, they would most likely suspect Sihee, but there was no need to leave concrete evidence.

Meanwhile, time had already passed, about 40 minutes since I first entered the manor.

This meant that time was running short before I could continue with the rest of the operation.

‘At most 10, 20 minutes… and considering the escape time, that’s tight in many ways.’

I had to finish everything as quickly as possible. Even just to hide and escape in the midwinter evening after sunset.

Fortunately, as soon as I entered the 6th floor, the direction of the red arrow pointing upwards changed to a horizontal direction, so all that was left was to search the 6th floor of the manor and find Eunbyul.

I had a plan for the escape, after all.

「Sungchul-ssi, did you arrive?」

“Yes. It seems Eunbyul-ssi is probably on the 6th floor. I’ll find her as quickly as possible and escape immediately, so Sihee-ssi, please wait at the meeting place.”

「…Okay. Please take care of it.」

After cutting off contact with Sihee, I immediately followed the arrow’s direction and searched the 6th-floor manor.

Something about the inside of the 6th floor hallways felt strangely gloomy, considering it was the residence of a conglomerate.

‘I think I can roughly figure out what this place was used for.’

Seeing that almost all the door locks were designed to be opened from the outside, it was clear that this entire space, this floor, was made for the purpose of imprisoning someone.

I didn’t have time to check the 5th floor, but it was probably a place similar to this, or forbidden for entry in a different sense.

-Click.

Just in case I could use it for something else later, I took a couple of pictures of this hallway scene.

Of course, rescuing Eunbyul was the top priority, so I couldn’t waste too much time on this.

As I hurried down the hallway, following the red arrow pointing to her location.

Among the several steel doors, I found one made of reinforced plastic.

Furthermore, the red arrow indicating Eunbyul’s location was also pointing inside.

‘…This is it.’

-Knock, knock.

This door, presumably built to guard against someone who could manipulate metal, was likely the one.

First, I knocked a couple of times on the plastic door, which was designed to open easily from the outside, so as not to alarm Eunbyul inside.

Immediately, I sensed movement from inside, like someone scrambling in a hurry.

It seemed I had found the right place.

“Eunbyul-ssi, it’s me.”

“…….”

“It’s me, Kim Sungchul. If you’re in there, please answer me.”

“……Kim Sungchul-nim?”

“I’m coming in now.”

I pushed open the plastic door, designed to open easily from the outside, and propped it open with a spear I took out from my subspace pocket.

Then, I immediately spotted the black-haired maid lying inside the room.

“Finally, I found you.”

“K, Kim Sungchul-nim…?”

Eunbyul’s appearance upon first sight was quite pitiful in many ways.

Her hands and feet were bound so tightly that parts of the rope were digging into her flesh, causing pressure.

There were visible signs of extreme fatigue and tear stains around her eyes.

Adding to that, her messy hair, haggard appearance, and the maid uniform, which looked worn out from being dragged around, suggested the hardships she must have endured.

“Are you really, really Kim Sungchul-nim?”

“It’s been quite a while since we last met, but surely you haven’t forgotten my face already?”

“N, no… It’s just… I can’t believe Kim Sungchul-nim is here…”

After a brief, lighthearted conversation to ease the mood, I approached her with another spear from my subspace pocket.

“Come closer. We need to escape quickly. If we can’t get out while Do Yehee is buying us time, things will get troublesome.”

“Do Yehee…?”

Ignoring Eunbyul’s bewildered question, I used the blade of the spear’s tip to cut through the ropes binding her.

As the ropes binding her arms and legs were loosened, she finally regained freedom in her limbs.

Though red rope marks still remained on her wrists and ankles.

“I have a lot to ask, but let’s focus on getting out of here first.”

“Th, thank, you….”

“Thank me later. We have more urgent matters right now.”

“Okay…. Ugh, hhaak…!”

As Eunbyul tried to stand up to follow me out, she lost her balance and stumbled.

It seemed her muscles had cramped from being bound for so long in an uncomfortable position.

As I instinctively caught Eunbyul before she fell, I picked her up without hesitation.

We didn’t have time to wait for her muscle cramps to subside.

“Uhh, K, Kim Sungchul-nim?!”

“There’s no time, so we’ll just move like this.”

“Ah, okay…”

Given the circumstances, Eunbyul clung to me in a bridal carry, and we quickly left the space that looked like an ‘Eunbyul-exclusive confinement room.’

We made a daring escape through the window on the 6th floor that I had used to enter.

“Hold on tight, Eunbyul-ssi.”

“…Okay.”

Holding Eunbyul, who wrapped her arms tighter around my neck, I boldly leaned out the 6th-floor window.

Since the weight I had to support had doubled, I couldn’t use the same method as before to descend.

Even though Eunbyul weighed much less than me.

The good news was that descending was much easier than climbing.

I didn’t need to support all the weight; increasing friction was enough to descend without major issues.

I created a ‘climbing vine plant’ on one wall, adjusting the acceleration to fall as slowly as possible. I didn’t forget to use cold magic to help it stick better to the wall.

If I had had enough soil and time, I could have made a more stable rope, but unfortunately, I had neither at the moment.

-Fzzt, tuk, tuk.

The plant magic created from my fingertips repeatedly formed and broke, and Maid Eunbyul and I gradually descended.

When we reached about two floors down, I kicked off the wall while holding Eunbyul.

“……!”

Eunbyul looked startled by my sudden, impulsive action, but I couldn’t explain every step of the process.

Jumping from that precarious height, I cleared the high wall of the Geumhyang Shin family estate.

As my feet hit the ground with a jarring impact, I rendezvoused with Sihee’s black sedan, which was waiting for us.

“You really worked hard, Sungchul-ssi.”

“…M, Master?”

Seeing Sihee approach us, Eunbyul murmured in disbelief, looking at both our faces.

Sihee met her gaze and offered a gentle smile.

“You worked hard too, Nari. I’m sorry I took so long to find you.”

“Ah, no…. I, I thought I would never see you both again…”

Overwhelmed by Sihee’s calm words of comfort, Eunbyul was speechless with emotion.

Although I wanted to savor this reunion for a while longer, escaping this place quickly was the priority.

“I don’t want to interrupt your reunion, but it’s best we get away from here for now. Teacher Do Yehee, no, I’ll send Do Yehee the signal that the operation is complete.”

“Ah, yes…”

“Yes, that would be best.”

After placing Maid Eunbyul onto the back seat of the sedan, almost like laying her down.

I also sat in the back seat and immediately sent two blank text messages to Do Yehee’s number.

It was a signal that the operation was successfully completed and we would regroup later at an appropriate time.

“Ah, I can drive…”

“What are you talking about driving in your condition? Just lie down in the back seat.”

“…….”

“I apologize to Sungchul-ssi, who just went through so much, but could you please treat Eunbyul’s wounds?”

“I was planning to do that anyway.”

Otherwise, there would have been no reason for me to sit in the back seat with them.

I wasn’t too worried about Do Yehee, who mentioned having another means of transportation prepared. After all, that woman could probably handle any situation herself.

The sedan, carrying the three of us with a different composition than before, immediately headed towards Seoul.

Well, I guess this counts as a success somehow.