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“Really, Mr. Repen. If you’re going to steal, at least do it well. Why did Siris and I have to end up in this mess because of getting caught?”

“But you don’t seem to blame Repenhardt, do you?”

He was supposedly a cleric. It was odd how Sillan didn’t seem to care much about being tangled in the crime of theft and ending up in jail, even though he served a deity.

“Well, I was complicit in the theft from the moment I agreed to it. It’s also my fault for not stopping it.”

Sillan smirked, suggesting that his feelings might have been different had they been tortured. He understood that Repenhardt wasn’t the type to covet others’ possessions, so there was no particular reason to hold a grudge.

“There are times in life when you can’t strictly abide by the law.”

In fact, the teachings of Philanence weren’t particularly concerned with legal and moral standards. The forms of love it acknowledged included affairs and homosexuality, among other things not accepted by secular law. Therefore, the clerics of Philanence tended to have a slightly loose sense of morality.

Siris widened her eyes in surprise.

“You’re more mature than you look, Sillan.”

“Hey, I’m not that young. I’ll be twenty next year. I’m only three years younger than Mr. Repen.”

“What! I thought you were at least twenty years younger?”

“…Hey, Mr. Repen would cry if he heard that…”

Despite being imprisoned, the two of them were carelessly enjoying their time. They were in the midst of their idle chat when suddenly a gruff voice of a guard was heard from outside.

“What? A slave daring to come here?”

Immediately after, there was a thud followed by a groan.

“Ugh…”

Sillan and Siris looked at each other with wide eyes.

“What was that?”

“What’s going on?”

Shortly after, the sound of a key turning and a door unlocking was heard. The prison door swung open, and a pretty young girl peeked in.

“Hello. Are you Sillan and Miss Siris?”

The two nodded bewilderedly, sensing the truth in her words. The girl, Tilla, smiled brightly and continued.

“I’m Tilla. I’m an assistant to Repenhardt.”

Sillan and Siris blinked at Tilla. She hurriedly added,

“We can talk more later. For now, we need to escape.”

* * *

Climbing up the circular stone staircase, Sillan and Siris followed the girl who introduced herself as Tilla.

“Your belongings seem to have been stored separately upstairs. We should find them first, shouldn’t we?”

“Oh, yes.”

Even as they followed, Siris couldn’t hide her bewilderment. The small girl leading the way, about the same size as Sillan, seemed like a human girl at a glance, but Siris was an elf. Hence, she had a fair amount of knowledge about other races.

‘The ample chest that jiggles as she runs definitely isn’t something a human girl of her age could have.’ Siris asked cautiously.

“Are you, by any chance, a dwarf?”

“Eh? A dwarf?”

Sillan looked at Tilla in surprise, examining her from all angles. Orcs and elves were often seen infiltrated into human society, but dwarves rarely emerged from underground, so even Sillan, a high-ranking cleric, had rarely had the chance to meet one.

“Heh, you just look like a human on the outside.”

Still, the ears, not as long as an elf’s but clearly different from a human’s with sharp auricles, made it quite evident she might be a dwarf. Sillan, intrigued by Tilla, caught Siris’s eye making a strange expression.

“Ears?”

“Huh? What’s up, Siris?”

“Is the difference only in the ears?”

“Huh?”

Sillan tilted his head in confusion, not understanding what she meant. Siris laughed heartily and then patted Sillan’s head.

“You’re still an innocent boy, Sillan.”

First, he was an adult, and now, suddenly, she was changing her tune.

“Hey, what? I don’t know why, but that feels insulting.”

“You’re kind.”

“…?”

Anyway, they didn’t have the luxury to dawdle in their fugitive situation. Tilla urged them on.

“Hurry, this way.”

The three continued running. Just as they were turning a corridor, two soldiers spotted them and grasped their spears tighter.

“Who goes there!”

“They are the accomplices of that thief! How did they escape the prison?”

Siris launched herself in a flash. Even without a weapon, her hand-to-hand combat skills were considerable. Kicking off the wall, she closed the distance in an instant and delivered a triangular flying kick, taking down one soldier. As Siris was about to target the next one, she was startled.

“Ah?”

The remaining soldier was being confronted by Tilla. It wasn’t with flashy martial arts like Siris, but by grabbing the shaft of the halberd that was swung down, lifting the adult soldier whole, and then slamming him to the ground.

“Ugh!”

The soldier, flattened like a frog hit by a carriage, screamed as he collapsed. Sillan gaped in astonishment. Where on those slender arms did such monstrous strength come from?

“You’re very strong?”

Seeing Sillan stumble over his words, Tilla grinned.

“Dwarves are generally quite strong.”

‘No, that seems to be an understatement.’

Leaving the dumbfounded Sillan behind, Tilla gestured for them to hurry.

“Come on, let’s hurry.”

Following Tilla, Sillan and Siris found their belongings in a small room. Sillan’s gold was safe, but unfortunately, Siris’s long sword was missing. Coveting gold was against chivalry, but taking precious-looking enemy weapons as trophies was not considered dishonorable, so someone had taken it.

However, the magical bow Nihillen was untouched. It seemed that to the untrained eye, Nihillen appeared to be just a simple wooden stick and its value went unnoticed.

Siris sighed in relief as she picked up Nihillen. The long sword was one thing, but this magical bow had really grown on her.

“Nihillen was even used in front of the knights, but they failed to recognize it.”

“It seems the information hadn’t been relayed properly. Anyway, it’s a relief, Siris.”

After gathering their things, Tilla urged them on again. They had barely walked down the corridor when Tilla pressed on the wall. With a touch, the wall slid open, revealing a small passageway. Sillan was startled.

“A secret passage? How did you know this was here?”

“Well, we built this castle.”

Tilla, looking slightly melancholic, gestured for them to enter. After Sillan and Siris had gone into the passage, Tilla glanced out the window. Then, she took a small pouch from her pocket.

‘If I safely rescue the group, I was told to throw this into the sky.’

Tilla threw the pouch towards the sky through the window.

* * *

Boom!

A loud boom echoed across the blue sky, drawing everyone’s gaze upward. A small flame burst into existence above Viscount Kelberen’s castle, only to quickly fade away.

Eusus von Tenes turned his head to glare at Repenhardt and shouted, “What is this? What have you done?”

Repenhardt smiled with a relieved expression, “It seems Tilla has succeeded.”

The flame in the sky was the signal alchemy potion he had given Tilla. It originally belonged to Lantas, but Repenhardt had thought it might be useful and had sneakily taken it. This signal meant that Tilla had successfully rescued Siris and Sillan.

Eusus quickly guessed the situation and frowned, “Don’t tell me… you were the bait?”

With newfound ease, Repenhardt replied in a relaxed voice, “Why else would I make such a spectacle?”

This had been the plan all along. While Repenhardt drew the attention of everyone in Kelberen Castle, Tilla would sneak in and rescue the two. Being as familiar with the castle as its maker, Tilla knew all about its secret passages and could infiltrate at will.

“To think you’d resort to such tactics…”

Eusus, showing a reaction of surprise, puzzled Repenhardt for a moment, ‘Isn’t this a basic strategy? Why is he so surprised?’

Repenhardt had intentionally been flamboyant, making sure everyone in the castle was aware of him. Such a tactic was quite basic; any competent commander should have realized he was a decoy.

Yet, Repenhardt chose this strategy to draw out the castle’s forces. Even knowing he was bait, Repenhardt’s prowess forced the enemy to mobilize fully against him.

It seemed, however, that Eusus had been completely unaware of this.

With an incredulous expression while still aiming his sword, Eusus said, “Why would you go through all that trouble…”

Equally baffled and with a clenched fist, Repenhardt retorted, “What do you mean, ‘why’?”

Both looked at each other, furrowing their brows in confusion.

In fact, this was due to the difference in their ways of thinking.

Repenhardt had volunteered for the role of bait out of concern for a potential hostage situation. If he tried to rescue the two himself, there was a possibility that their lives could be used as leverage. Thus, drawing out the main force and having Tilla rescue them was deemed safer.

On the other hand, Eusus was, at his core, a deeply rooted knight. His way of thinking could not even entertain the idea of threatening someone by holding a knife to a hostage’s throat. According to chivalry, hostages were to be well-kept and then released for a ransom. Perhaps one could say it was a concept of a lucrative side income? (After all, chivalry, contrary to popular belief, has its economically savvy aspects. The concept of ransom was adopted by the Principality of Chatan to such an extent.)

Of course, if Eusus had been certain that Sillan and Siris were valuable comrades, he might have thought differently. But since they were already deemed mere scapegoats, no proper lookout was established. Contrary to Repenhardt’s belief, Eusus didn’t even consider the possibility that he would come to rescue his colleagues.

“Ah, whatever. The fact is, Sillan and Siris have safely escaped, right?”

Repenhardt’s eyes sparkled.

“Good, now I can use my strength to its fullest!”

Though momentarily disconcerted by the escape of the prisoners, Eusus quickly regained his composure.

“It’s a problem of no consequence.”

The thief who stole the relic is right before him. The one who possesses the relic — or knows its hidden location — is also before him. Whether the scapegoats flee or not, if he can subdue this person, the situation will be resolved. Conversely, if he fails to subdue this person, he will also be unable to stop the thief from taking his comrades with him.

“I just need to take this person down!”

Eusus’s eyes gleamed. The distrustful look in his eyes would automatically disappear once he subdued this person. Subduing this person would solve everything!

“Taaat!”

The Golden Knight unleashed a series of sword strikes with the magic sword Eldran, embroidering the air with numerous blades of light, surrounding Repenhardt on all sides.

However, the situation did not unfold as Eusus had hoped.