Chapter 194: Kidnapping (2)

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Mashed forget-me-not petals, the fang of a drake, the tender flesh inside the tail of an alligator from the Swamp Zone…

Yuria wrote down the ingredients for the Mana Beads on the parchment, just as Carl instructed.

Even as she moved her pen, she doubted whether this was correct, but since he told her to write, she did.

Now that Carl had arrived here, her safety was as good as guaranteed.

Rather, with her mind and body at ease, she could accept the situation more calmly.

“Is this correct?”

“…It seems so. They’re mainly ingredients used to extract concentrated essence. It depends on what you mix them with.”

It was correct?

She thought it was just a meaningless list of ingredients.

Yuria, who had been quietly watching them while scribbling with her pen, was startled inwardly.

‘Is he actually making a real recipe for Mana Beads?’

Tap.

Yuria stopped her pen.

The man furrowed his brows and opened his mouth with a questioning expression.

“This can’t be all, can it?”

“This much should be enough to prove I know how to make Mana Beads, right?”

“…You’re saying you’ll tell me the rest after securing your safety?”

Yuria nodded.

Of course, this too was part of Carl’s instructions.

“Hm.”

The man narrowed his eyes.

To be capable of making Mana Beads, she must be an exceptional mage.

He couldn’t be unaware of the current situation.

Using one’s knowledge as a bargaining chip for survival was only natural.

It would have been stranger to believe she’d reveal everything and expect to be spared.

In fact, this made her seem even more trustworthy.

“I swear. If you give me the recipe, I’ll spare your life.”

“Just your word?”

“Hmph.”

The man scoffed, as if he had anticipated this, and pulled something out of his coat.

It was a mana oath, used for important contracts.

The man bit his thumb to draw blood and gestured at Yuria.

Yuria didn’t like the idea of using her own blood, but lightly scraped her skin with the pen nib to make it bleed.

“If you give me the Mana Beads recipe you know, I’ll let you go.”

“Alright.”

Yuria nodded.

On the surface, the contract looked flawless.

Soon the contract was activated, and the man gestured for her to continue writing the recipe.

Scratch, scratch.

Yuria resumed writing the recipe according to Carl’s voice transmission.

Once she had filled three pages completely, she set the pen down and stretched her arms.

“That’s the basic recipe. You can adjust the effects by altering the concentration or adding more ingredients.”

“…Impressive. How did you come up with this kind of formula?”

The man was genuinely impressed.

Yuria, who had been watching from the side, felt the same.

Was this the difference of an expert?

To her, it looked like a meaningless list of materials and mixtures, but he seemed to grasp the essence just by looking at it.

‘Well, I suppose it’s similar to interpreting spell formulas.’

Even if others couldn’t understand a thing, she could read just one line of a formula and infer its purpose.

“Then you’ll let me go, right?”

“Yes. A contract is a contract.”

The subordinate who received the recipe from the man left the room.

Thinking the situation was over, Yuria let out a short sigh—then suddenly opened her eyes wide at the sight of the man drawing his sword.

“Why? We even made a contract.”

“You should’ve been more precise with it. If it were me, I would’ve added a clause like ‘release without any harm’ at the beginning.”

“No…!”

Yuria’s face twisted.

Releasing her should’ve been enough—what kind of condition was that?

“You never know how a contract will be interpreted.”

“The contract is focused on the ‘release.’ It doesn’t care whether I kill you or not. You think this is my first time making this kind of contract? Sorry, but…”

Just as the swung sword was about to slice Yuria down, the man’s head fell to the floor a split second earlier.

“…Hk!”

The other masked assailants nearby flinched as they watched the scene unfold.

They were startled by their superior’s head suddenly dropping with no warning.

But even they couldn’t avoid the invisible blade.

Thud.

Almost simultaneously, all of the masked assailants collapsed to the ground.

Carl, who revealed himself from among them, sheathed his sword and looked around.

‘The subordinate who took the recipe left immediately.’

Having given instructions to a nearby subordinate through voice transmission, Carl approached Yuria.

“You did well.”

“Yeah, I really did. What the hell was that?”

Yuria let out a deep sigh.

“Don’t tell me… you predicted I’d be kidnapped?”

“I thought there was a chance, so I was going to warn you, but they acted a step faster.”

“…Tsk.”

Yuria clicked her tongue as she looked at the corpses on the ground.

She had rejected Carl’s offer to go with her and gone to the restroom alone.

“So what now? We can’t just let them have the recipe like this.”

“I’ve already handled it. And the recipe is a failure.”

“Right? I was almost scared I gave them the real thing. That so-called expert kept praising it.”

“If they make Mana Beads with that recipe and consume them, they’ll suffer from severe stomach pain and diarrhea.”

“…But seriously, how did you come up with it? There weren’t any Mana Beads in the original game, right?”

“It was one of the Hidden Pieces.”

Carl brushed it off using Yuria’s own words.

She had said she didn’t know everything about the game, so it was a good excuse.

As expected, Yuria nodded and said, “I see.”

“There really were some interesting things. Well, there were lots of potion-like items too.”

“Do you know where any of them are?”

“Elixirs? Of course. Ah, but they’re not something I can retrieve by myself right now—how about a 50:50 split?”

“Alright.”

Carl immediately nodded.

Yuria’s knowledge had been valid in that world as well.

Therefore he had not pried about the hidden piece he had mentioned, so as not to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs.

He thought she might find it odd otherwise.

Yuria seemed to think similarly and did not ask which hidden pieces he knew.

‘Still, I couldn’t just let the elixirs pass.’

Internal energy was better in abundance.

Even if she could not consume them herself, she could give them to other NOX officers or cadets, so it was best to stock as many as possible.

“Yuria, you should now——”

“If you’re going to tell me to go back, I’ll say no in advance; are you planning to go handle this alone after I was kidnapped?”

Seeing the look that said she wanted to watch too, Carl gave a wry smile and nodded.

“Right, but we’ll have to move quickly, so excuse me.”

“…Ah!”

Carl reached out and wrapped his arms around Yuria’s waist.

There was no time to explain directions and positions one by one, so he planned to carry her and pursue the enemies.

Whoosh!

They left the hut and ran through the forest at once.

Yuria, who had settled comfortably in Carl’s arms and dawdled a little, looked up at his face and asked.

“But can we just leave that hut as it is?”

“Subordinates will take care of it.”

“Ah, members of NOX; they have a hard job, dealing with the aftermath of such a cold boss.”

“I’ll make sure they were well taken care of, so don’t worry.”

Whoosh─!

Carl increased his speed.

Yuria suppressed her hair blowing in the wind and looked around.

They moved so fast that the scenery whipped by.

Yet the effect on her had felt like a gentle breeze, so she could not properly grasp how exceptional Carl’s skill truly was.

‘How strong is this man?’

He had to be at least a Sword Master.

From the feeling she got, he emitted an aura similar to that of her master, the Gray Magic Tower Lord.

So how strong exactly was he?

If counted only within the Empire, he would probably be in the top fifty…

“Found them; they hadn’t gotten far.”

“…Indeed.”

While lost in thought, Carl’s words that came to her ear snapped Yuria back to attention.

With her arms wrapped around his neck and only her eyes shifting, she could see a masked assailant riding a horse and fleeing up ahead.

“I’m curious where they were headed; what bold fools would try to kidnap me at a Merchants’ Guild event? Do you have any guesses?”

“Of course.”

“There you go with that bad habit again; you know everything and still don’t tell me why?”

“You didn’t ask.”

“…….”

Yuria lightly pinched the nape of Carl’s neck.

How could each word he uttered be so annoying?

Without offering to feign pain, Carl jumped between the trees and chased the horse.

“……Huh?”

Soon Yuria, who had no trouble discerning the direction, voiced her question.

If they went that way they would return to the city.

She wondered why they were taking such a detour as they rode toward the entrance of the city they had first left.

“Whoa, whoa.”

After keeping some distance they even abandoned the horse and ran by foot.

Yuria frowned.

“Could it be the same merchants?”

“Who else do you think it would be?”

“You mean NOX or some underworld group; if they committed murder to silence a kidnapping that would make sense, right?”

“You think too simply; the Upper Realm wasn’t that easygoing, and they were worse than most underworld organizations in their crimes and behavior.”

The Upper Realm was harsher than the underworld.

If one was looked down upon, it wasn’t only thugs that would finish them off.

Shik.

Carl pursued the man across the rooftops of the city.

The man, who had threaded his way through the crowd, headed straight for the Merchants’ Guild building.

“Hah.”

Yuria wore an expression that was no longer prayerful but cold.

She then asked Carl.

“What will you do now?”

“There were easy and difficult ways.”

“The easy way has less return, right?”

“Obviously.”

“Then let’s take the difficult way.”

“Agreed.”

Thud.

Carl landed with Yuria in front of the Merchants’ Guild.

He carefully set her down on the ground and straightened her appearance.

“…….”

Even though she had just been held in his arms, Yuria tensed slightly at his helping hands.

Maybe it was just her imagination, but her heart seemed to beat faster.

“That’s fine; go.”

“……Alright.”

When Carl slightly lifted his arm, Yuria grabbed it and strode forward with determination.

As they approached the Merchants’ Guild entrance, a clerk standing guard blocked their way.

“Sorry, the guild had an event today, so outsiders could not enter; if you were here on guild business, please use that counter over there——”

“I am Galak of Madeira.”

“……Ah.”

The guild member paused.

At that reaction Carl gave a short laugh and motioned for them to stand aside.

But the guild member still refused and showed reluctance.

“Even if you are Galak, due to the guild’s event right now——”

Wham.

Carl lightly kicked him.

The guild member flew off and crashed into a distant shelf, destroying it.

Yuria, who did not expect such an open attack, tightly gripped Carl’s arm and whispered.

“May I beat him up?”

“He’s a staff member too; since there was guilt on their side we couldn’t make it a public scandal anyway, and our visit here also served as a notice.”

As if sensing the commotion from outside, Merchants’ Guild staff came running out from within.

Carl glanced at them and smiled at Yuria.

“Want me to give you a chance for revenge?”

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