Chapter 10 (Part 6)

Luda dropped thick tears as she banged her head on the ground.

“If only I weren’t a hostage… Because of me…”

Luda bit her lip hard enough to draw blood and banged her head on the ground.

If her death could resolve the situation, she could die countless times. But knowing her death wouldn’t be conveyed to Yuliana, she couldn’t easily take her own life. It was miserable and painful.

The worthless life Yuliana saved… She never imagined it would become a weakness wanting to use this life for her.

“What kind of battle maid am I… someone like me…”

After crying for a long time with her head on the dirt floor, Luda lifted her head.

“Crying is useless, Luda… At times like this, you have to pull yourself together… Survive… and definitely save Miss.”

Luda started to apply force to her thighs and ankles.

“I can break it…”

It was time to see the fruits of countless training efforts.

“Ugh!”

Luda broke all the chains wrapped around her legs. Similarly, she broke the chains wrapped around her upper body with force.

Luda searched for a place to hide in the location she was in. If they intended to use her as a hostage, they would give her food, wouldn’t they? If so, she planned to ambush whoever came in and escape through the open door. It might be dangerous, but she couldn’t just sit idly by.

Luda began to feel around the floor slowly. Stones and dirt scraped her palms painfully.

“There has to be something.”

Luda, after groping the floor for a while, bumped into something and felt it with her hands.

“It seems like a table.”

Luda stood up, feeling around the table legs. On the table, her fingers found a sharp knife, paper, and a quill pen. She also discovered a candle and matches. Lighting the candle, she looked around.

The door looked like a thick and solid iron door. It seemed difficult to break through, so she gave up on that and continued to look around. Upon closer inspection, she noticed various gruesome torture devices and bloodstains, indicating they had been used.

“What on earth happened here…”

Luda frowned, finding no suitable place to hide.

“I have no choice. I’ll have to ambush them when the door opens.”

Luda blew out the candle with a “whoosh.” Darkness descended once more.

How much time had passed… 

Luda, holding her breath, heard someone walking down. The footsteps grew louder and stopped in front of the door.

Clang.

She heard the sound of a key being inserted and turned. Luda focused on the sound.

Screech.

With a sharp metallic sound, the thick iron door opened. A person wearing a robe entered, carrying a basket smelling of bread and holding a torch.

The man entered, muttering in a sticky voice.

“I heard there’s a maid here.”

The man, with a lewd smile, walked to where Luda had been tied.

“Huh? Wasn’t she tied up here…? Why are the chains all broken?”

The man scratched his head, placing the basket on the table.

“I came to have some fun alone… What!”

Luda, hiding her presence, quietly moved behind the man. In an instant, she twisted the man’s arm, covered his mouth, and slammed him to the ground.

“Be quiet… unless you want to end up like those chains…”

The man nodded repeatedly.

Luda took out the rope she had prepared and began to tie up the man. Gaining freedom of speech, the man shouted loudly.

“How dare you do this to a priest serving the gods!”

“Does the god you serve teach you how to have fun with women by force?”

“What… What did you say! Ouch! It hurts! It hurts!”

Luda tied the man’s hands and feet as tightly as she could.

“I’m holding back from killing you… so don’t cry loudly.”

The man, losing his freedom of movement, began to shiver in fear of possibly dying.

“Where is this place…?”

The man remained silent. Luda became angry.

“Speak before I break your wrist. You said you’re a priest, so you’re from the Holy Kingdom, right?”

“Y-Yes, that’s correct.”

“Where are we now?”

“We’re in a forest near the Holy Kingdom…”

“Which direction is the Holy Kingdom? How far?”

“It’s a 30-minute carriage ride to the east…”

“You came alone, right? I heard everything you said earlier.”

At Luda’s question, the man lowered his head without speaking.

In truth, he had come here alone, planning to have fun before anyone else after hearing that a cute maid was locked in the torture room. The man was sweating coldly all over.

“If you touch a priest serving Agathaine, you’ll receive divine punishment!”

“I’ll take that divine punishment. But before that, you’ll receive some punishment from me.”

“Arrogant… Ack!”

Luda punched the man’s solar plexus. The priest foamed at the mouth and fainted.

Luda tied him up tightly. Opening the door, she saw stairs leading up to the ground.

As she climbed the stairs for a while, Luda emerged above ground. Fortunately, there was a carriage the priest had used.

However, no one was in sight. To ensure her escape was reported as late as possible, Luda hid in the bushes to deal with anyone who might come to the torture room.

* * *

Erzen teleported to the edge of the black forest near the Holy Kingdom with the shadows assigned by Anthus. Anthus had said it was certain Rybid had left the Sirius Empire by carriage. He couldn’t use teleportation with two women who had fainted from sleeping drugs.

<The distance that can be reached in the shortest time… And if necessary, a place where they can hide… They must have gone to the Holy Kingdom through the edge of the black forest.>

Anthus explained that the route Rybid fled by carriage was likely the edge of the black forest in the Holy Kingdom. He found a path that carriages could pass through.

Erzen felt that the black forest of the Holy Kingdom gave a creepy feeling rather than a refreshing one typical of a forest. It felt like standing on a battlefield full of corpses.

Shaking his head, Erzen looked for places where carriages could pass. He found several faint carriage wheel tracks that seemed to have been made recently.

“Faint, but there are several carriage tracks… I should follow the tracks.”

As Erzen walked, he recalled Anthus before he left for the edge of the black forest. Anthus must have been worried and distressed about Yuliana, but he showed no signs and was preparing for war.

<It’s fortunate that you seem calmer than expected, considering how worried you must be.>

<If I seemed that way, that’s good.>

<I’ll correct myself. You seem extremely dangerous right now.>

Every time Anthus spoke, he exuded a dangerous aura that made even the air tremble. The aura rose sharply and then subsided repeatedly. He was doing his best to control his emotions. It’s not something one can do with a normal mind.

<I could sneak in, but I’m planning to wipe out the trash completely this time, drop them to a position where they can never touch Lia again, and then tear them apart.>

Anthus forced a smile, raising the corners of his mouth. The sight was chilling.

“Erzen, sir, there’s a carriage over there.”

“A carriage? Let’s go!”

As soon as they approached the carriage in the forest, an unfamiliar aura was felt. With a rustling sound, someone jumped out of the bushes.

“Erzen!”

“Luda!”

Erzen, with a face of both distress and relief, hugged Luda tightly.

“What happened?”

“Since you’re here, Erzen, that means the Duke is here too, right? We need to save our young lady quickly! The pope is completely insane. The young lady is in great danger. Where is the Duke?”

“Calm down, Luda.”

Erzen held Luda’s shoulders, trying to calm her down.

“Because of me, the young lady…”

Erzen hugged Luda again and patted her back.

“Don’t worry, Luda. He’ll be here soon.”

“Didn’t you come together?”

“We didn’t come together. I came here first with the shadows of the Rockbellion family on the Duke’s orders to scout the situation.”

Luda began to worry if something had happened to Anthus, who hadn’t come with Erzen.

“He’ll be here soon, so you don’t need to worry too much. But why were you hiding in the bushes, Luda? Please explain the situation.”

Luda explained to Erzen the route of her abduction, the conversation she had with Rybid when she woke up, being dragged to a place like an underground torture chamber, breaking the chains after coming to her senses, subduing the priest who entered, and tying him up before escaping.

“Pope Rybid is a complete lunatic. He’s insane.”

Listening to Luda’s anxious explanation, Erzen raised an eyebrow and said.

“Could he be more insane than Duke Anthus…”

“Huh?”

“The person who’s dangerously insane right now isn’t Pope Rybid, it’s Duke Anthus. Just a moment, Luda.”

Erzen took out a piece of paper from his uniform pocket, wrote on it, circled their current location on a map, and handed it to the shadow assigned by Anthus.

“Deliver this to the Duke.”

The shadow carefully took the letter and map from Erzen and began tearing a ‘teleport scroll’ from top to bottom. The shadow disappeared in an instant.