Side Story 3

Annibella felt a throbbing pain in her head. While it wasn’t uncommon for people to approach her, Dan and Sarah always stepped in to block them. 

“Just take me to the entrance of that alley over there, Young Lady. This old woman is begging you.” 

Even as Annibella tried to shake off the stubborn old woman, she clung to her and showed no intention of letting go. Annibella grew increasingly anxious, needing to reach the teleportation point at the port quickly. She decided it would be faster to escort the old woman to the alley she had mentioned. 

“All right. I’ll take you to the fortune-teller’s sign.” 

Letting out a small sigh, Annibella reluctantly supported the old woman. 

It was when they entered the alley the old woman had pointed out. Men began to follow behind them. Annibella turned her head to look back. Four men were blocking her path. 

From deeper within the alley, three more men emerged. Together, they surrounded her to prevent any escape. As the men sneered and jeered, Annibella felt an ominous foreboding, her heart pounding frantically. 

“What’s going on? Please step aside.” 

Annibella said calmly. But the men showed no intention of moving. 

One of the men pulled a pouch from his pocket and tossed it to the old woman. The pouch hit the ground with a clinking sound of coins. 

The old woman, who had been clinging tightly to Annibella’s arm, suddenly walked without a limp and picked up the pouch. She opened it with a sly grin. 

“Oh my! Thank you. Young Lady in the red cloak, may you be well-received wherever you’re going.” 

As Annibella began gathering mana at her fingertips in an attempt to escape, a small-framed man threw a dagger at her feet. 

“Don’t try anything foolish!” 

Annibella scanned the men glaring at her. If all seven attacked at once, there was no way she could chant a spell in time. 

“If you stay still, we’ll take you to a good place, Young Lady!” 

In an instant, the men approached and clamped a hand over her mouth. Fear consumed her entire body. 

“Mmph!” 

Annibella clawed desperately at the hands covering her mouth, scratching at the men’s arms. 

Her arms were twisted and bound behind her in the blink of an eye. She was captured by strangers before she could even react. 

“Chex, put on the mana-sealing device.” 

“Yes, Boss.” 

Though Annibella tried to scream, all that came out were muffled sounds. 

“This is our lucky day.” 

“Exactly! What a windfall. That person was right—she didn’t have any guards!” 

“That person requested we humiliate her….” 

“What’s the best way to humiliate a woman?” 

At their mocking laughter, Annibella was struck with terror. 

“Make sure she doesn’t bite her tongue. Stuff a rag in her mouth or something.” 

As the men’s sinister voices filled the air, Annibella struggled desperately to break free, but she was helplessly dragged deeper into the alley. Thoughts of what might happen if her body were violated began to dominate her mind. 

It was then. 

“Stop right there.” 

A clear, refreshing female voice pierced Annibella’s ears. Her captors froze in their tracks. A glimmer of hope surfaced in her heart. 

“Just as I thought.” 

The woman spoke as she removed her hooded cloak. 

“Boss… it’s a woman.” 

“I see that. A very beautiful one.” 

“Wow… I’ve never seen silver hair like that before.” 

“Should we take her too?” 

“Focus, everyone!” 

The men, momentarily mesmerized by the woman’s beauty, shook their heads and regained their composure. 

“I understand your feelings, but… witnesses must be eliminated. Chex!” 

“Yes, Boss!” 

Chex, the small-framed man who had thrown the dagger at Annibella, darted forward swiftly. With daggers in both hands, he zigzagged left and right, moving rapidly through the narrow alley. 

But Chex never reached the woman. Suddenly, a sword emerged from behind her and impaled him. 

“Gah!” 

“Chex!” 

“He’s dead….” 

“How dare she kill our comrade!” 

“She must have a guard, which is why she called us out so confidently.” 

“What do we do, Boss?” 

“There are six of us. We’ll win with numbers.” 

As the men drew their weapons, they tossed Annibella into a corner. 

“Are you all right, Mei? I didn’t think about your dress getting dirty when I swung my sword to kill that filthy fly.” 

“I could’ve handled it, Theo….” 

The black-haired, black-eyed man fussed over the silver-haired woman, inspecting her from head to toe. 

“Thankfully, no dirty fly’s blood stained your dress.” 

He sighed in relief. 

Annibella was certain. She would be saved from this situation! 

She screamed with all her might, but with her mouth gagged, only muffled sounds escaped. 

However, the silver-haired woman’s blue eyes met hers. 

“I’ll save you.” 

The silver-haired woman spoke to Annibella, who nodded vigorously. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was the kind expression on her savior’s face. 

“It was strange, just as I thought.”

Meia gathered mana at her fingertips. A cold energy formed in the air, and a sharp ice spear pointed toward the men.

“She’s a mage!”

“Dodge!”

The men hesitated, gripping their weapons more tightly.

“I’ll give you time to escape, so it’s better to drop your weapons and leave.”

Meia smirked, gathering even more mana into one hand.

“Don’t lose focus. It’s just a man and a woman!”

“But, Boss… that woman is a mage! We should run for now.”

“In that case… we must kill her!”

The man, referred to as the boss, suddenly charged toward the unconscious Annibella with a murderous intent, wielding his sword.

Meia extended her arm and hurled the ice spear at him. The spear pierced the man’s heart in an instant. He collapsed, coughing up blood.

“Ice.”

As Meia chanted another spell, the legs of the men who had tried to kidnap Annibella began to freeze, rendering them immobile.

“Agh!”

“My… my legs!”

The men screamed, staring at their frozen feet. Trembling in fear, they looked at Meia as she slowly approached them.

“I told you. If you stayed quiet… I would spare your lives. Versha, Agnita.”

Versha and Agnita, who had been secretly guarding Meia and Theodore from behind, revealed themselves.

“Call the local guards.”

* * *

Theodore and Meia used teleportation to arrive in the Gradi Empire on the same day from the Florence Territory.

It was said that Lady Annibella of the Marquis Zenovil’s household in the Gradi Empire would be coming to greet them. To arrive earlier than the arranged meeting time, Meia and Theodore reached the teleportation point in the Gradi Empire and decided to explore the harbor and marketplace together.

“Theo, look at that fountain over there. It’s so beautiful. I think it’d be nice to build such a splendid fountain in the Florence Territory.”

“It might also be a good idea to host small puppet shows regularly in front of the fountain.”

“That’s a great idea.”

Sitting on a bench near the large fountain, Meia and Theodore enjoyed each other’s company. However, Theodore noticed that Meia’s smile was gradually fading.

“What’s wrong?”

“It feels odd.”

Theodore followed Meia’s gaze. An elderly woman with a frail appearance was clinging to the arm of a woman wearing a red cloak, covering her face.

“I was watching because she looked like she was having trouble walking…”

Meia pointed at the elderly woman again.

“Why would a frail old woman cling to that lady’s arm like that?”

“Is she begging?”

“That’s strange too. If she were begging, she’d kneel in front of her and hold out her hands for help. It doesn’t make sense to grab and cling to a noblewoman’s arm like that.”

“A noblewoman?”

“The cloak that woman is wearing is enchanted, just like mine. Enchanted cloaks are expensive items typically purchased by nobles.”

Theodore nodded, agreeing with Meia’s observation.

Enchanted cloaks provide protection from heat and cold. Additionally, when a trigger word is spoken, they can create a protective shield around the wearer.

“Look, Theo. The old woman is starting to cry.”

The frail old woman, clutching the lady’s arm, began to shed tears, seemingly pleading for something. The lady started glancing around nervously.

“She looks quite distressed.”

“Mei, should we approach them?”

“Yes.”

Meia and Theodore cautiously approached the old woman and the lady. They hoped nothing serious was happening, but if it was, the lady might be in danger.

“It’s a small favor, Young Lady. I twisted my ankle a little… Could you just help me to that alley over there?”

Meia frowned slightly at the old woman’s words. If she needed assistance due to her frailty, it would make more sense to ask a strong-looking man passing by, rather than clinging to a delicate woman.

“This is really strange.”

Meia muttered under her breath.

“Could she be a noblewoman who secretly ran away from home?”

“That could be the case. If so, it would explain why she’s unaccompanied…”

As Meia and Theodore whispered to each other, the flustered lady began to assist the old woman. They headed toward a dark-looking alley that the old woman had pointed to.

“Theo, doesn’t that lady… seem to be in danger, or is it just me?”

“For a noblewoman with no escort to enter such a dark alley… it seems like something we’d hope wouldn’t happen is about to happen, Mei.”

“In such cases, her belongings might be stolen…”

“Even her enchanted cloak…”

Meia and Theodore exchanged glances, their eyes widening.

Meia quickly walked toward the alley where the lady and the old woman had disappeared.

Moments later, a piercing scream echoed.

Just as Meia had suspected, a group of men surrounded the lady. Meia shouted loudly at them.

“Stop right there!”