They must have thought of me the moment they heard the plan and kidnapped me at the perfect timing.
“Were you the ones who drew the monster summoning circles at the hunting competition?”
Klen threw out another question.
Come to think of it, the investigation back then said guild members had drawn the circles.
“No. We don’t handle work that sloppily. Besides, we don’t take other requests while in the middle of a job. Unless it’s the same mission, we don’t even acknowledge each other’s existence during a task.”
“It must have been a lower-ranked group than us.”
It seemed they had their own hierarchy and system for their work.
And not acknowledging each other during a mission?
They certainly knew how to separate business from personal life.
“Then what have you been doing all this time?”
“Doing odd jobs, leaking a bit of information?”
“Drawing various circles in the forest and practicing.”
As expected, the things drawn like graffiti in that area were their handiwork.
Since they had an excuse to draw as much as they wanted without worrying about anyone, they wouldn’t have held back.
“Did you draw the teleportation circle as well?”
“Teleportation? Was that a teleportation circle? Anyway, if you’re talking about the large circle being drawn, the client drew that one alone. When drawing something over a long period, you can’t let someone else’s mana mix in.”
“But I heard that it suddenly shattered?”
“Yeah. Like… like someone threw a rock through a window and made a total mess of it.”
“He seemed desperate to find the culprit. It appeared that whoever used such incredible dispelling magic didn’t leave even a trace of mana behind.”
“…….”
“…….”
Klen and I kept our mouths shut.
Of course, no trace of mana would be left.
It wasn’t broken with magic, but with a sword.
The memory of breaking circles with Levatein was vivid in my mind.
The sensation and sound in my hand felt like breaking glass, so the expression “breaking a window” was quite accurate.
As I thought, that must have been what pushed Rodney over the edge.
“And this time, he provided a lot of scrolls.”
“What are the scrolls for?”
“Ah, our rule is not to ask for such details.”
“Meaning you don’t know.”
The two shrugged their shoulders and nodded lightly.
The one Rodney made himself and the large quantity of scrolls the two had bought.
What kind of magic was he trying to contain with a body suffering from mana depletion?
He surely didn’t expect his own mana to run out.
If he’s still trying to carry out his backup plan, he might be planning something more absurd than I thought.
As if my anxiety was showing, my fingers were tapping against my arm before I knew it.
“So, where is Rodney now?”
“We don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“As we said earlier, the rule is not to ask about anything beyond the job we were given.”
“But at least he isn’t nearby, right?”
“Hmm.”
“Well.”
Heinz gave a strange smile.
Even though his face had been cleaned up, the mess he had been made of made even his smile look odd.
The two were surprisingly relaxed despite being held here.
Even if they had given up, they should have shown signs of anxiety if the client were nearby.
Yet, they didn’t seem to be acting.
They didn’t even glance around while we were talking.
In that case, he wouldn’t be in this immediate area.
He wouldn’t be close to here either.
A place suitable for a person to hide, yet somewhere he could cause trouble as soon as he made up his mind.
Is it the forest after all?
“…….”
Klen and I exchanged glances as if we had reached the same conclusion.
He might not have been able to enter, but he was almost certainly lingering somewhere near it.
“You’re not going to let us go, are you?” Heinz asked tentatively.
Despite his nonchalance, he seemed afraid of being taken away.
Naturally so.
We had chosen a relatively peaceful method, but the guards would not be so kind.
“If you hadn’t sent that note, maybe.”
“Now that a declaration of war has been made, wouldn’t it be a disgrace to the Valuncio family to let you go?”
“…….”
Their expressions hardened.
Sending a foolish note saying they had kidnapped me was the biggest mistake they had made.
If it had only been sent to Klen, there might have been a tiny chance he would have let them go here.
But because it was announced so grandly, rescuing me and capturing them had become a matter of family honor.
What family in the world would quietly let go of those who kidnapped the partner of the heir?
They would hunt them down relentlessly.
From their perspective, it might have been the best scenario for buying time, but in the end, it turned out to be the worst choice.
“B-by the way, is it okay for you two to show your true colors to us like this?”
Heather asked, as if trying to change her strategy.
“Both of you were completely different from the rumors. One person is strong enough that magic doesn’t work on him… and the other has such a cold personality and uses magic powerful enough to be terrifying.”
“And?”
Did she feel there was room for negotiation?
She slightly adjusted her posture and looked straight at us.
“If you let us go quietly, we’ll keep this secret in our hearts for the rest of our lives.”
There was no lengthy explanation.
It was a request to be released in exchange for keeping the secret.
Klen gave a light smile.
His expression was light, but the chill flowing around him pressed down on us heavily.
Even though he hadn’t opened his mouth yet, it was as if I could hear him saying it wasn’t even worth listening to.
“You still don’t seem to understand the situation.”
In an instant, a look of deep murderous intent could be felt from him.
The chill gathering and swirling above his open hand was a visible blue color, with tiny ice particles whirling around.
He toyed with it precariously on his hand as if he were about to throw it immediately.
I didn’t know exactly what it was.
But seeing the color drain from Heather’s face so noticeably, it was clear it was a dangerous spell.
“Just for the fact that you kidnapped my wife, you have already committed a capital crime worthy of losing your heads.”
“……!”
“Surely you don’t think that just because your bodies are healed, you are in a position to demand anything from me?”
Klen gave his hand a light flick.
“Argh!”
“Gah?!”
The magic he had been displaying right in front of us was still spinning on his hand.
What had struck the two was the magic he had already spread around the area.
After drawing their attention to his front, he had instantly condensed the surrounding magic to strike them down from behind with great force.
Due to the sudden blast of freezing cold, the two, who had been sitting defencelessly, lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.
“Klen.”
The eyes looking down at them were still cold.
