Ch. 65
“Well, if you don’t trust me, there’s nothing I can do. Then how about we both let go of the hostages at the same time?”
“No. My friend comes first.”
There was no guarantee she would let us go peacefully.
The moment she got her brother back, she’d turn on us for sure.
Of course, I felt the same way.
Even if she released Iruze, there was no way I was going to let that scumbag brother of hers go.
Not while those dozen or so slave traders were still clustered by the door, ready to strike.
Neither side could back down.
It was a standoff of hostages, and on the surface, I was at a disadvantage.
I had to protect not only Iruze but Ash as well. This was enemy territory, and the chance of escape was practically zero.
That is, if we didn’t count on the assumption that the knights were looking for us.
“Guess you don’t understand the situation… If you just hand over my brother, I’ll let you live.”
To me, her words just sounded like she was trying to find a way to kill me.
“Not really a tempting offer.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“We’ll see about that.”
In a tense standoff, the one who panics first loses.
She clearly didn’t know the knights were on their way, so she couldn’t figure out why I was stalling for time.
I deliberately gave her a smug grin.
I looked like I had everything under control, but truthfully, my insides were a mess.
My [Mana] was gone, but I kept forcing myself to summon spirits. My stomach was twisting violently, and cold sweat soaked my back.
My body was rapidly reaching its limit.
My vision blurred, my legs began to give out—I could collapse at any moment.
Internal injuries always hit you all at once.
I had to hold on.
[Master, are you alright?]
Rai must have sensed my condition.
Well, we were spiritually bound.
Just like how I could sense it when Rai was in danger.
[I don’t think I can last much longer.]
[Then let’s just kill everyone already.]
[No. Iruze is still a hostage.]
[So we drop her and—]
[We’ll die.]
[Tch, shame. It was a good idea.]
Trying to casually toss Iruze aside—typical Rai, always showing his true colors.
[I can feel Undine nearby. The knights will be here soon. If we just hold out until then… we can get out of here safely.]
Whether I could actually hold out, though, was another matter.
[I think the knights are already searching the upper floors.]
[What?]
[I can hear a crowd moving around up there.]
[You can hear them?]
[Yeah, they’re right above us.]
Thank goodness!
They were almost here.
Just a little longer. I gave a small nod and wiped away the drool that had started spilling from my mouth with the reflux.
“Whatever you’re up to, give it a rest, kid.”
“Don’t call me kid!”
“You’re not getting out of here. Give it up.”
While I was locked in a battle of nerves with the woman, the thugs near the door suddenly stirred.
One of them rushed into the room.
“Boss!”
“What is it? I told you to stay outside.”
“Well…”
“I said don’t come in!”
The woman snapped, but the burly slave trader urgently whispered something in her ear.
[The knights are forcing open the hidden passage entrance.]
[Too late!]
[They’re saying it’s just a matter of time before we’re discovered and we need to run.]
[And what, just show up now after losing a child?!]
[The one who disappeared is at fault… uh, no, never mind. Forget I said anything.]
Rai relayed everything he overheard without even being asked. Maybe because he’d been in trouble all day, he was trying hard to stay on my good side.
Of course, “overheard” wasn’t really fair—there was a five-step gap between Rai and the woman, but his hearing wasn’t normal.
I usually used him like an intercom.
“So that’s it! You were acting calm because you were stalling for something!”
Apparently Rai had nailed it. The woman’s eyes lit with fury.
“You people… you kidnapped the wrong girl! No—kidnapping anyone is wrong!”
“You damn little brat!”
Honestly, “brat” was better than being called a ‘bitch.’
The woman, who’d been calm until just moments ago, was now shouting, clearly rattled by my biting honesty.
“All three of you—if you don’t let go of my brother right now, I’ll kill you all!”
The knights were coming. She couldn’t hide her impatience.
Clutching Iruze under one arm, she stormed toward me.
I backed away with Ash in my arms and summoned another version of myself.
“Undine.”
Undine quickly returned to me.
She instantly took a battle stance—not that it amounted to much. Her tiny body swelled slightly, and the flow of water that formed her rippled like a wave.
It was the kind of threat level you’d expect from a panting kitten.
[Master, are you okay!?]
Even though I called her, I didn’t have any [Mana] left to attack. I could barely maintain the summon.
[What about the others?]
[They’re upstairs! I showed them where the door was!]
[Good job.]
That was the most bluffing I could manage.
Undine stood fiercely between me and the woman.
“Oh, so you’re a Spirit Mage.”
“Don’t come any closer!”
“What now? I’ve dealt with spirits before. They weren’t that strong. Weaklings, all of them.”
Ugh, damn it.
It was true that Spirit Mages were generally weak, but most people didn’t know enough about them to say that. Usually, it stayed a secret.
“You really think I’m scared of that?”
She twirled the dagger in her fingers, reversed her grip, and jabbed it deep into the space beneath Iruze’s neck.
A thin line of blood trickled down.
Threat meets threat!
“You said spirits were weak?”
“Yeah! Now let go before I—”
“Rai!”
Because guess what—he’s a spirit too. A rare one, even.
“Gah—! Aaaaaagh!”
“Gragh!”
Apparently, Rai interpreted my signal to escalate the threat by casually tearing off the man’s ear.
Yeah. He bit it clean off.
It fluttered to the ground.
“Ugh…”
A severed human body part was the perfect thing to make someone nauseous, and I ended up vomiting a little. I wanted to blame it on the internal injuries.
Rai proudly flapped the man’s ear still clenched between his teeth.
It worked well enough—startled, the woman froze in her tracks.
[Master, how was that? I did good, right? Right?]
[How did you even come up with the idea to bite his ear off…?]
[Missing an ear is a symbol of defeat, you know.]
[I don’t know any symbol like that!]
[In ancient times, they’d cut off the ears or fingers of the losers.]
I couldn’t decide if I should scold Rai for acting on his own or praise him for stopping the woman from coming any closer.
While I scowled deeply, the woman took a step back and spoke.
“Fine, you win. Alright. I’ll give your friend back.”
Maybe it was because the tide had turned in my favor—her attitude flipped quickly.
“Put her down over there.”
“I’m putting her right here. There, satisfied?”
Still unconscious, Iruze was gently laid down in front of Undine by the woman.
She handled him very carefully.
“Please. Let my brother go now.”
Judging by her behavior, she must’ve had an escape route ready.
All the other slave traders who were by the door had vanished without a trace.
So much for loyalty, huh. Now it was just her and her brother.
“S-sister… kuh…”
The man, still dangling with Rai wrapped around his neck, glanced nervously at me and staggered toward his sister.
A heartwarming sibling moment. So slave traders have family bonds too… how completely irrelevant.
“What are you doing?! Get this snake off me!”
“…Hm.”
“You promised!”
“That I did.”
But do I really need to keep a promise made with bad people?
If I let him go now, they’d just run.
The knights were closing in. If I held on a little longer, they’d be caught. Maybe even executed.
“I gave your friend back!”
The woman yelled, trembling with fury. She and her brother desperately tried to peel Rai off, but Rai didn’t budge an inch.
His body wrapped tightly around the man’s neck, there wasn’t even space to slip in a finger.
“You’re seriously going to do this?! This wasn’t the deal! Let him go!”
“…Should I really do that?”
