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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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A sudden intruder had appeared.
Everyone’s gaze fixed on the female student who appeared by opening the wall.
Bewilderment, shock, astonishment, irritation.
Threatening gazes filled the space.
Elisa shrank from those stares, but she swallowed hard and reached out her hand to the female student.
“Qu-quickly, come this way!”
Time, which had stopped, began to move violently again.
Cain and three unidentified men stared at Elisa and Viola.
The ground shook frantically.
A total of five pairs of feet were pounding the ground.
Fortunately for Viola, she was standing closest to Elisa, so she was barely able to reach Elisa before Cain’s group.
As soon as Elisa felt the soft touch in her hand, she immediately pulled.
With a heavy weight, her body fell backward.
As their vision rotated, the two bodies tangled and rolled down the passage.
Naturally, there was no time to close the door.
“Kyaa!”
“Ow, ow…”
“What is this passage? Why is that girl here! Chase after them quickly!”
“We’re not your subordinates.”
“Then are you going to ruin this job?”
The irritated voices echoing through the passage immediately brought the two disoriented girls back to their senses.
They had to escape. Far, and fast.
Without any prompting, the two got up and started running down the passage.
Fortunately, the passage was wide enough to run through, so they sprinted through the small tunnel with all their might.
The direction was opposite to Yeomyeong-gwan.
It was a decision Elisa had made in the chaotic situation.
If they were caught going to Yeomyeong-gwan, things could get much more complicated.
“I didn’t know a place like this existed!”
“W-well, it was made not too long ago…”
“Not too long ago?!”
Her curious gaze scanned the tunnel.
From her perspective, she was full of curiosity about this tunnel, but curiosity wasn’t the issue now.
If they were caught by the men chasing them from behind, they would suffer a terrible fate before they could satisfy their curiosity.
The two ran frantically through the tunnel.
Their hearts were beating wildly and their feet were aching, but they weren’t given the luxury to stop and rest.
The distance between the two girls and the kidnappers was gradually closing.
No matter how much of a head start they had, there was a fundamental difference in speed.
With the poor physical abilities of alchemy and magic department students who spent their time researching in rooms, unlike the knight department, they would soon be caught up to.
The only reason they hadn’t been caught yet was thanks to Viola, who was throwing vials from right behind Elisa.
“You damn bitch! Just wait till I catch you!”
“As if you’ll catch me! Get lost! How dare you try to catch the genius Viola of the Alchemy Department!”
Viola shouted boastfully while panting.
It was clearly bravado to anyone watching, but the faces of Cain and the kidnappers, who were about to lose Viola and Elisa in such an absurd manner, turned red as if they were about to explode.
They never thought things would go wrong in such a ridiculous way.
“Shit!”
“Cain! What the hell is going on! Didn’t you say there were no secret passages!”
“I just found out about this too! If I had known about such a passage, I would have used it long ago!”
‘Things have gone to shit.’
According to the original plan, they should have been out of the Academy by now, but due to Elisa’s unexpected appearance, things had gone terribly wrong.
At this rate, it was obvious that the Security would become suspicious of him, and if caught, this incident would be difficult to cover up even with his backing, so Cain was burning up inside.
‘…If things go wrong, everything…’
Should he just bury everything?
This tunnel was unknown even to him.
They had managed to close the secret passage door while chasing them in a hurry, so this place was close to a sealed room for now.
If he could somehow kill everyone here…
‘…There’s no need to take on that risk yet.’
While businesses with high returns inevitably come with big risks, there was no reason to forcibly take on unnecessary risks.
Pushing the plan to destroy evidence by killing all of the kidnappers and female students to a corner of his mind, Cain enveloped his body with mana.
He too had once wielded a sword in the Knight Department.
Until now, it had been difficult to gain speed due to the constantly flying vials, but for a while now, no vials had been coming.
In other words, those two now had no choice but to run.
This was a very important piece of information.
‘…An opportunity to catch Elisa, who was the last target, all at once.’
“Move aside! I’ll catch them!”
Turn crisis into opportunity.
Cain marveled at his own judgment as he put strength into his toes.
His body shot forward like a bullet.
The kidnappers running right in front of him were thrown off by that terrifying speed.
The backs of the two female students, who had been quite far ahead, started to rapidly draw closer.
“Wh-what should we do?! If, huff, we get caught…”
“I don’t know! Just run!”
In a situation where they were out of breath.
The two felt they would soon be caught.
It was inevitable.
That unpleasant 3rd platoon captain wasn’t just wearing the title for show, he had achieved excellent results even in the Knight Department, and those skills hadn’t died.
“What kind of speed is thaaaaat!”
Viola’s scream filled the tunnel.
A pursuer running at a speed comparable to a horse, not human.
No matter how much they ran, the two with the physical abilities of ordinary female students were destined to be caught.
To twist such a fate-
‘I, I have to use it!’
Since escaping by running was impossible, there was only one option left.
But Elisa couldn’t help but hesitate.
‘If, if I’m found out, I might be expelled from the Academy. And…’
It wouldn’t end with just expulsion.
At least, that was what she thought.
A witch was treated the same as a warlock.
If her existence was discovered, she wouldn’t be the only one harmed.
Fear appeared on her face as she thought of Professor Lennon.
‘I don’t want to be expelled.’
Hadn’t she been studying hard to repay the kindness of Professor Lennon who had raised her in place of her parents?
Her modest dream of graduating from the Academy with excellent grades and becoming Professor Lennon’s successor to help with research was on the verge of shattering.
But if she was caught, her dream would be shattered like a glass dropped on the floor anyway.
‘I have no choice but to use it.’
“G-go ahead first!”
“What? What are you planning to do? The opponent is the 3rd platoon captain!”
“I, I have a way!”
Elisa, who had been running ahead, slowed down and moved behind Viola.
She needed a moment of concentration to use magic.
In the end, she had no choice but to fall behind.
Viola hesitated for a moment, then kicked off the ground and ran.
There was nothing she could do to help.
“I’ll find someone to help! Don’t get caught!”
With her fading voice as a backdrop, Elisa closed her eyes.
A witch’s magic didn’t require complex formulas or precise mana manipulation.
Just a desperate prayer to unfold magic into the world as desired.
Elisa clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.
Calm descended upon her mind.
Serenity settled on Elisa’s face, which was drenched in sweat.
The atmosphere was such that even the 3rd platoon captain, who had been running to catch her, slowed down with a start.
Cain, who didn’t know much about Elisa, drew the sword at his waist at her sudden behavior.
He would cut down whatever she did with his sword.
‘I have to block the way!’
“Don’t come!”
As if representing her firm will, huge roots appeared in the tunnel.
They were tree roots drawn from nearby trees.
As thick roots filled the tunnel, the 3rd platoon captain’s feet were forced to stop.
“I’ve never heard of such magic.”
“She’s a witch. That little girl is a witch! We have to catch her! If we can at least catch her-”
“Don’t interfere! You’re annoying!”
Cain, who silenced the urgent voice of the late-arriving kidnapper with one shout, pushed mana into his sword.
A grayish energy flowed faintly from the sword.
A destructive energy that any knight should know how to use.
Aura.
“This kind of thing can’t stop me!”
The sword was swung diagonally.
The grayish energy transformed into a crescent-shaped sword energy and flew towards the roots.
The roots seemed to resist by clumping together tightly, but no matter how sturdy roots were, they were still just roots.
The roots could only be cut down, scattering sap.
‘I’m, I’m going to be kidnapped…’
Having forcibly used magic on an already exhausted body, she didn’t even have the strength to run anymore.
Elisa could only blankly stare at Cain, who was walking towards her with a sneer and dark clouds in his eyes.
‘Th-that person escaped safely, right?’
She had saved someone.
A faint smile settled on Elisa’s face.
Although she would be caught, if that person was safe…
“Kyaa!”
Elisa screamed and rolled over at the impact that struck her stomach.
She couldn’t breathe properly.
Elisa clutched her stomach and gasped for air.
“You worm-like bitch. You should have just stayed holed up in the Curse Department as usual. Who do you think you are, crawling out here?”
An angry gaze fixed on her face.
Elisa could only tremble.
‘It hurts, it hurts…’
The pain she felt in her stomach with every breath was terrible.
It was pain she had never felt before.
Elisa looked up at Cain with blurred vision.
She couldn’t see his face clearly, but Elisa had no doubt that a twisted smile had formed on his lips.
“Do you know how much loss we’ve suffered because of you?”
A military boot trampled Elisa’s face.
She could only helplessly be exposed to Cain’s violence.
Her consciousness was fading.
A tear rolled down from her eye.
“That’s enough. This girl is the most important trade target…”
“There sure are a lot of worms.”
“What?”
An unfamiliar voice echoed out.
It was difficult to tell if it was a man or a woman because the voice echoed.
Cain and the kidnappers glared at the passage beyond where the voice came from.
A small lamp was visible.
Cain placed his hand on the sword handle again and spoke.
“Who are you?”
“Who I am doesn’t matter. I recommend you cool your head first.”
“What? This crazy bastard…”
“Crafting.”
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