Chapter 3

The man had discovered the door leading to the basement. After opening the door in the floor, he descended the stairs that led downward, and Anasha could no longer see him.

‘Should I wait……’

It seemed a shame to turn back after following him this far. And she felt somewhat curious about whether the man would successfully complete his mission. Unlike the usual practice of moving in teams, she was also curious why he had stormed the base alone.

‘If he’s acting independently, he must be at least a vice-commander level.’

Quite some time had passed while she tried to recall who the vice-commanders of other knight orders might be.

‘Oh, he’s coming up.’

Eventually, faint footsteps could be heard coming from the basement. There was more than one set of footsteps. Anasha concentrated all her senses on listening.

“He looked like a noble, is it really okay to leave him like that……”

“Have you forgotten who’s backing us? He’s probably just some knight wannabe.”

“Deciding what to do with him comes later. First, we need to check if there are any others.”

Six men appeared as they came up the stairs. All of them had their noses and mouths covered with black cloth.

They stood for a moment, talking among themselves. After deciding which areas each would search, they split into pairs and left the house. Anasha waited until they had completely gone outside before quietly rising.

⁕⁕⁕

“…Hey… Look…”

A very faint voice was heard. Rihirt frowned slightly with his straight eyebrows. It took a bit more time for him to fully regain consciousness from the dim voice of someone.

Rihirt painfully lifted his heavy eyelids. His vision was momentarily blurry, but soon he felt it clearing up. The first thing he saw was someone’s face revealed through short black hair.

“Oh, are you awake?”

“……”

Once again, a clear voice penetrated his ears. Rihirt stared at the woman before him.

Round eyes, a small nose, and a small mouth entered his vision one by one. It was a youthful face that looked at most in its late teens.

“…Where is this?”

“As you can see, we’re in an underground prison.”

He took his eyes off the face in front of him and looked to the side. Rusty iron bars came into view. He quickly began to assess the situation.

The robe he had been wearing to conceal his face was gone, and his hands were tied behind his back. Moreover, his sword had been taken away. Just as he was about to raise his body from its sideways position with a low sigh, the moment arrived.

“I’ll untie you. Stay still for a moment.”

Rihirt stopped all movement at the voice from behind. The woman seemed to have her hands free, as she was quickly untying the rope with her small hands.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

With his hands freed, Rihirt sat up and loosened his stiff wrists. Then he stared at the woman sitting across from him.

Her skinny body was visibly frail. The dress she wore had black stains scattered here and there. Anyone would think she looked like someone who had been imprisoned for a long time.

While he was considering her to be one of the kidnapped people, Anasha was wondering if he was really a knight and if he was indeed the man in the black robe she had seen.

This was because the man’s face was so white and beautiful that it looked like he had never undergone any harsh training. His pale golden hair that seemed to flow with a subtle light and his blue eyes made her question if he was the same person.

“You’re a knight…… right?”

“Yes.”

The man answered Anasha’s question in a voice so plain it lacked any inflection. It didn’t seem like a lie. If the reason he had kept his robe pulled down during combat was to hide this appearance, it made sense.

“But did you come on a mission alone?”

“Yes.”

After a slight pause before answering her continued question, Rihirt completely turned his gaze away from the woman. He turned his head to look outside the iron bars.

Even if he escaped this prison, the problem would be dealing with the enemies likely waiting right outside the door. There was a great risk in facing multiple opponents without a weapon.

The situation wasn’t good. Since it was a confidential mission, only Crown Prince Erdion, who had assigned the mission, knew he was here. Being trapped in such an underground place, he couldn’t hope for outside help.

“The kidnapped people are in the inner prison.”

Rihirt looked to the side at the voice that sounded again.

“About twenty people are locked up. But it seems they’ve been burning sleeping incense. So everyone is asleep.”

He had to remain silent. Recalling how he had been overcome by irresistible drowsiness and mild paralysis as soon as he went downstairs, it was likely not just simple sleeping incense. He couldn’t be sure if those who had been intoxicated for a long time would be able to move properly.

“It would be impossible to escape all together quietly, right?”

“…It’s impossible for now, but I intend to rescue everyone somehow. So don’t worry.”

“Then I’ll help you. If you’re feeling well enough.”

He slightly raised his long eyebrows at the unexpected answer.

“There are two guards outside the door. The rest have gone outside.”

“……”

He was about to ask how she could be certain of that fact, but Rihirt had to remain silent at the woman’s continuing words.

“Before the rest of them come back, we should go outside and request support. Then we can wipe out the remaining gang and rescue everyone locked inside.”

Her black eyes sparkled with a hint of confidence and sense of justice. Rihirt quietly stared into those eyes. After silently contemplating her words, he finally nodded once.

“Are you ready?”

Anasha stood up and approached the prison door. Then she took the hairpin from her hair and inserted the end without decoration into the keyhole.

After turning it several times, there was a small click sound from inside the hole. Anasha flung the prison door wide open triumphantly and walked out.

“They might be burning sleeping incense outside the door, so it would be better to cover your nose and mouth.”

Anasha turned to look at the man who had approached her side. He tore off a long strip from the bottom of his tunic.

Anasha followed suit and grabbed the hem of her dress, but tearing it was not as easy as she thought. Just as she was struggling and wringing her poor dress, the moment arrived.

“It’s dangerous, please wait inside.”

“Can you fight alone? You don’t even have a sword.”

“I’ll be fine.”

The man said this with a calm face that showed no change in expression.

“Hmm, alright. I’ll stay out of the way then.”

Since he had no weapon, it seemed better to step back rather than step forward. As Anasha retreated, Rihirt moved toward the iron door.

After briefly checking for any signs outside the door, he grabbed the handle. Although he intended to open it as quietly as possible, a creaking noise echoed from the joints of the iron door.

As she had said, there were two guards standing outside the door. When one of the enemies closest to him tried to draw his sword, Rihirt immediately grabbed the enemy’s arm and twisted it in the opposite direction.

Then he drew the sword hanging at the enemy’s waist and thrust it into the enemy’s abdomen. After pulling out the sword that had penetrated the stomach, he immediately cut down the other enemy who was rushing toward him.

Just as he was shaking the red blood from the sword in the air, the iron door opened and a small head peeked through the gap.

“Did you take care of them?”

Instead of answering her question, he glanced at the two corpses lying on the ground. Anasha made a meaningless “oh” sound and sniffed the air.

“They didn’t burn incense here. Let’s get out quickly before they come back.”

At Anasha’s urging, Rihirt moved. The two found stairs leading to the upper floor and went up.

“Wait a moment.”

Just as they were about to open the door and escape outside, Anasha grabbed him. At the same time, as footsteps were heard from outside the door, Rihirt adjusted his grip on the sword handle and signaled to Anasha with his eyes.

“Step back.”

No sooner had his words ended than several men burst in from outside. The first man to enter the building spotted the two standing there and drew his sword. Following him, five men each pulled out their weapons and rushed toward Rihirt.

As they all rushed at him, Anasha was naturally left alone and ended up watching their battle from a distance.

Looking at the numbers, it seemed like an unfavorable situation, but in reality, the disadvantage was on the other side. After quickly dispatching three men, Rihirt slashed the backs of the two who were trying to escape, one after another.

Seeing this terrifying power, the remaining two men exchanged glances and attempted a coordinated attack. One rushed at Rihirt from the front, while the other tried to attack from the opposite direction.

“Kuk…!”

However, as the man rushing from the front was easily cut down, the remaining one found himself in an impossible situation. He quickly changed his target. Instead of the platinum-haired man, he rushed toward the small woman standing apart.

“Don’t move!”

Anasha had no chance to resist as her arm was roughly grabbed, and she was dragged away. At the same time, she slowly closed and opened her eyes at the sharp pain she felt at her neck.

The platinum-haired man, with his sword dripping with blood, had stopped all movement and was staring at her. Anasha rolled her eyes downward. A short knife was pointed at her neck.

“Drop that sword right now! If you don’t want to see this woman die!!”

‘…I’ve lived long enough to even experience being captured.’ Had her body become dull after just a few days of rest? More than the fact that her life was being threatened, Anasha was greatly shocked by the fact that she had been captured by someone. While she was staggering alone, lost in thought, she heard a thud and looked forward again.

The platinum-haired man had dropped his sword to the floor of his own accord. Even though his own life might be in danger, he had complied with those vile words to save her, a stranger.