episode_0073

Thud. Thud.

A menacing sound echoes through the floor.

In this dark and gloomy place, the trickle of liquid that barely flows sends shivers down the spine.

The chill creeping up the back soon spreads goosebumps all over the body.

Teo spoke up.

“Oh. I see. Since I gagged you, you can’t speak. I made such a mistake.”

The wall, accustomed to darkness, illuminates Inyoung approaching.

Slowly approaching, he lowered his posture.

“But Miss, you shouldn’t scream, okay? Got it?”

The gag in her mouth comes off.

Immediately, she screamed for help.

“Help me!!”

This must be inside some building.

If so, someone will come to help.

If they know she touched the youngest daughter of the Viscount Bagrand, anyone would come to help.

Even though her voice was not that soft, and she even shouted for help after screaming, someone should have heard her.

Except for Teo, who was laughing like a maniac in front of her.

“Miss, what are you doing? If you do this, I might be mistaken for the kidnapper who took you. Well… even if I say that, no one will hear, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Here, it’s not the Viscount’s mansion.”

Flora’s pupils began to tremble.

In the darkness, her pupils began to clearly perceive Teo’s expression.

“Don’t worry, Flora. You’re innocent. The bad one is ultimately him, right?”

Teo Ramstair, who always smiled at her.

His gentle attitude and kind smile always put her at ease.

But now, the smile she saw with her own eyes…

It was not the kind and gentle face she had always seen.

‘How did I not notice this person until now?’

Now she feels a sense of discomfort.

Now she sees what was contained in that smile.

She had been completely deceived by that artificially created face.

That’s right.

Without knowing anything, she…

Teo took a step back, sat down on a chair, and began to bandage his wounds.

“I didn’t want to bring you here like this.”

“What?”

“I said I only thought about dealing with that guy. I only thought about dealing with him gently, but since you didn’t come to the trial, my innocence couldn’t be proven, right?”

“…”

“If you had helped, if you had sided with me in court, proved my innocence, and condemned his crime, I wouldn’t have been pushed this far. Why didn’t you come?”

Nonsense.

Even if she had been there, she wouldn’t have sided with Teo.

“…Ah. I heard that the idiot who was kicked out of the 2nd Knight Order said he couldn’t even come into the courtroom. Is this it?”

Flora remained silent.

Teo replied with a disgusting smile, saying that it was probably the case.

“Well, it seems like that guy is up to his tricks again. Yes. How much loyalty I showed to you, you wouldn’t betray me like that, right?”

“Don’t talk about loyalty, it’s disgusting.”

“…Miss?”

“What you showed me wasn’t loyalty, it was just a behavior to win my favor!”

Even though her arms were tied behind her.

Even though her legs were fixed to the chair.

Even though her whole body was bound, Flora had to say these words.

“You bastard. I shouldn’t have trusted someone like you from the beginning…!”

At that, Teo grabbed her shoulders with a menacing expression.

“No. Miss, you shouldn’t say that.”

“Get your hands off me!”

“You need to speak. Miss Flora. I’ve loosened your restraints, so if you don’t say anything, I won’t be happy.”

Theo tightened his grip on Flora’s shoulder as she tried to push his hand away.

He then approached her and showed her the wound where blood was flowing from the cut by his sword.

“It’s all because of you. I was kicked out of the 2nd Knight Division for acting foolishly, and after rescuing a guy who was being chased by them, I had to deal with all the eyes watching me. I went through all this for you, avoiding the stigma and escaping from the Tulea Mines, which are like hell. But if you keep acting like this, it won’t end well. Understand?”

With eyes that seemed to pierce through, he said.

“Ahaha, yes. Yes, you could also fall for the lies of that Karsein guy. But if it’s you, everything will be resolved. I can get rid of Karsein and take the blame for everything.”

Lowering his posture.

With the hand that killed guards, Emma, and subordinates.

“Let’s start over. Your only knight, Theo Ramstair, will kill the heinous criminal Karsein Vagrand here. And face the consequences. I’ll receive a reward for eliminating the one who kidnapped you.”

This should be easy for you, right?

Theo said with a sinister smile.

-Splut!

A thin stream of saliva landed on Theo’s face, filled with betrayal.

“What are you doing, Miss?”

“You… you…”

Unable to contain her anger at the disgusting sound, Flora spat out.

The sticky liquid.

As he wiped it off with his sleeve, he revealed his true colors.

“You bastard. I treated you like a lady, and you do this to me? Look at you!”

“Ack!”

Flora’s golden hair was grabbed tightly.

“I went through so much trouble because of you. How annoying it is to take care of a naive girl like you?”

“Let go of me!”

“Among the nobles, a whining girl like you is the worst. But I stayed here all because of the Vagrand Duke. Because of your lineage.”

Unable to bear it, Flora spat on Theo’s face again.

“Hey, have you still not come to your senses?”

Theo’s hand rose high.

-Smack!

A red mark was left on his precious cheek, untouched by anyone except his mother.

“You fool. Don’t you understand the situation yet? You’re the youngest of the Vagrand family. You’re trapped here. If I don’t let you go, you’ll just be a trapped girl in a place where no one will know.”

“…!”

“You acted like you were mine because you accepted everything I did, right? You have nothing special compared to the other two sisters, just a useless girl.”

She couldn’t say a word.

Her two sisters were competent enough to handle the Vagrand’s affairs.

Compared to them, Flora was a fool who avoided reading a single word and distanced herself from books, not knowing how to do anything.

So when this situation arose, she didn’t know what to do.

She should have shouted for help when the restraints were loosened.

She should have called for help.

She didn’t know what to do.

‘…It’s all true.’

The world outside the Duke’s mansion was harsh.

Anything could happen.

Right now, she felt like she had been kidnapped.

The glamour of being the Duke’s daughter caught Theo Ramstair’s attention.

With no status, she was helpless.

In a cold, dark, and frightening place, the hand reaching out to her was tinged with the remnants of malice hidden beneath kindness.

And it was trying to exploit her.

To make Karsein the criminal.

There was never a single mistake in Karsein’s words that I heard once.

The fact that this world is so cruel.

I realize it now.

That’s why Flora was able to tremble but still answer Teo straight.

“Yeah. That’s right. I can’t do anything. But I won’t help someone like you. Never.”

“What did you say?”

“I’ll make sure scum like you won’t even have a chance to blame Karsein. I’ll even testify that you were trying to deceive and use me!”

I won’t be fooled anymore.

“Just because you say so, you think I’ll take your side.”

A thick vein popped in Teo’s neck.

“Well, yeah. If you come at me like that, I have no choice. I didn’t want to go this far, you know.”

“Tsk!”

“Since you’re a half-and-half woman, you’d be perfect to sell as a slave. If you go into exile in another country and offer yourself, money will come in.”

“…!”

“It’s your own fault. Live as a beggar in a foreign land for the rest of your life.”

Teo raised the whip again.

“Ah! Let go! Let go!”

“Stay still, you bastard! If the merchandise gets damaged, its value decreases!”

Flora struggled and thrashed around.

-Slap!

“Eek!”

“I knew it would come to this if you came at me like that. Tsk!”

The rough hand grabbed Flora’s chin and the whip struck again.

Blaming her own helplessness, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

And when that single tear reached the ground.

A beam of light suddenly appeared in the dark space.

Clang!

With a heavy metallic sound.

***

Flora’s kidnapping.

Teo Ramstair, who succeeded in escaping for some reason.

That means one thing to me.

I will bring him down.

That was the only conclusion I could draw.

In Episode VI, Karsein completely eliminates two enemies from the aristocrat.

Until that is resolved, the next chapter will not progress.

Therefore, simply finding Flora will not be the end.

As I pass through the hidden episode in the status window, what I want is not exploration.

Eliminating the enemy.

Dealing with the obstacles blocking Karsein’s path.

It meant showing results not only internally but also externally.

From the moment I realized that, I had already caught on.

This situation is nothing more than an early appearance of Chapter 2.

The appearance of a serial killer in the early part of Chapter 2.

Surprisingly, the culprit who succeeded in escaping was Teo Ramstair.

In the worst case scenario, Flora would be taken hostage, and I would have to go alone to rescue her.

The reason was not revealed, so I didn’t know either.

Only the words remained that Teo Ramstair escaped with someone’s help from the aristocrat’s prison and then eliminated all witnesses.

‘If I think that his escape was foreseen somehow…’

I also missed one thing, so this situation could be considered foreseen.

The day Claire came. One guy was taken away to the Second Knights.

If I had called him and escaped, I might have been able to escape from the prison in the same way. There would have been a hiding place between the aristocrat and the mine. And then, instead of taking them to the palace, I would have spent a day in the aristocrat’s prison and then taken them to the Tulea mine.

This one day grace period would have been an opportunity for him. The guard was also Emma’s person, so it would have been easy to manipulate.

However, even if I had figured it out and dealt with it afterwards.

Would this game have allowed me to manipulate the development so easily?

‘No. That’s not possible.’

Teo was alive, so he would have tried to distort the development of the episode in any way possible.

The system had consistently shown such an attitude…

The escape of Teo Ramstair was an inevitable fate.

[Time limit: 7 minutes 22 seconds]

Fortunately, I didn’t forget this and came alone.

If I had brought Harnier, the person who felt threatened might have killed the hostage and escaped. Just like when I faced a bad ending in Chapter 2.

“…Is this the place.”

A dark cabin.

I arrived at the place where the man had been secretly conducting transactions.

My body, already on edge, warned me not to let my guard down.

Every hair on my body stood on end at the stench of blood that permeated this place.

“Can I win?”

Perhaps, if I go inside, I too will shed blood in that place.

Because the man’s sword will be aimed at my neck.

So, in order not to die, I must do everything in my power to win.

Against Teo Ramstair.

But, is that really possible?

I asked myself.

The answer came quickly.

So, I had to use all my skills, whatever it takes.

-Clang!

“What the…!”

Clang!

The man drew his sword in response.

Even though I had suddenly attacked, I expected him to draw his sword to counter. Karsein’s body is so weak that there is no power to incapacitate him with a single blow.

-Clang! Clang!

-Shoot!

“Argh!!!”

I must not stop.

In this state of being unable to regain my composure due to the sudden attack, I had to keep pushing the man relentlessly.

If it were Bruce Ivey, who looked down on his opponent and was overly confident, he could have closed the gap and brought him down in an instant, but even he was significantly inferior to Teo Ramstair.

His stats were lower.

Even excluding the game system differences represented by numbers, the same applied.

Even if he was not properly prepared, could Karsein’s weak body really win against Teo Ramstair?

It’s impossible.

So, without going easy, I rushed in.

Swish!

I cut his left thigh.

Perhaps he was not in normal condition, as the moment I cut his thigh, he began to falter.

I had to finish it like this.

I had to render him unable to even hold his sword.

But.

-Swish!

“…!”

“It’s just a simple trick, right? Yes, no matter how you wield your sword, it will be the same.”

I too had been cut on one shoulder.

The man grabbed his sword again.

In the dim cabin, the will to survive was laid bare.

“How dare you, think, you could win against me?!”

-Clang! Clang!

Relentless attacks continued.

I was pushed back.

From strength alone, I was clearly pushed back.

The significant gap in physical strength and the grip on the sword made it impossible to compare.

Even though I launched a surprise attack, my stamina did not decrease. Instead, my HP, already affected by the bleeding condition, was decreasing.

He was one step faster. If I moved one step, he moved two. There was a difference even in the speed battle. Even though he would have been more tired, he was the one who was clearly more tired.

Without a moment to catch my breath, I had to experience the heavy weight and the disciplined physical skills of his body along with the sword that relentlessly came at me.

When I clashed swords and engaged in a strength battle, I couldn’t withstand the pressure from his sword and had to give way.

After barely blocking, the next sword strike was coming towards me.

Before I knew it, I was being pushed back into the cabin, gasping for breath.

However.

“It’s nothing. Because of you, many are suffering. Huh? Hurry up and die, die already─”

-Clang! Swish!

“Argh?!”

And so I knew.

That I can win.

“I’ve figured it all out. A kid filled with nothing but inferiority complex.”

As Kim Minhyuk, not as Karsein, I will never lose to him.

It was a sword that relied solely on power.

Even though physically far superior, his sword was pathetic.

“Come on. Make me suffer as much as you can before killing me. You will never win!!”

Clang!

“You, you…!”

-Whoosh!

That’s why I could easily deflect it.

With much less force. At a slower speed.

Because the only thing contained in that sword was inferiority complex.