laulau20
patreon
Chapter 26: Narrow Escape
🕑 Added 2023-11-19 13:15:02 +0000 UTC"Die!" He swung his blade. I thought nothing was going to happen with how far he was. However, as a fellow mage, I saw mana building around his cutlass and heading in my direction. The so-called wave slash was coming my way.
"Oh, you see that? Then dodge this!" He charged at me, throwing several knives in random directions. I deflected the knives with my dark binding. As he came closer, I whipped my tentacles around him.
"Tch! Dark mages. You are an elite, aren't you?" He jumped away again.
"No. I just registered yesterday." I answered honestly. There was no need to lie. As advised by R25B, I tried to gain distance from him, and I knew just where to lead him. However, that place was quite a distance away.
"Hey! Hurry up! She is getting further and further! What if she had a backup?"
Sounds of galloping horses were heard in the distance. I tried to flee as wind blades raged behind me. I haven't used my skills yet. I simply need a good distraction to get away from him. However, he locked eyes with me, and I couldn't use my camouflage that way. Sensing that I was simply trying to escape, his attacks became bolder. My beast instinct had already saved me countless times now.
"Hey! Hunter 25! Let me join the fun!" His cavalry soon arrived. There was still more than a hundred meters to the cave. Should I risk it?
"Ugh!" My instinct was telling me to dodge again. Icicle bullets were shot from his hands. Then, another one flanked me from the side as he fired more fire bullets. I dashed with all my might, disregarding the recoil of my skills. I will probably faint at this rate. However, if I manage to reach the spawner, I could use the distraction to hide. It was a gamble.
"Hey! She sped up all of a sudden. 25!"
"On it!" 25 was chasing me. As I thought, he had a similar skill to mine. His speed matched even mine. And he was using it from the beginning? I only managed to use it for several seconds.
"Hey. Give up already. Althemer is still a distance away. You look like you could collapse any moment now. That skill was using your stamina and not mana, huh?" He gave me a mocking grin as I sluggishly walked toward my goal. I mustn't faint now. The cave is within my sight. I sat down while leaning on a tree.
"Too bad I have to kill you now. The reapers were certainly correct in hiring you. You have a lot of potential. Your voice seems very young. How old are you? 14?" He said.
"25! Did you kill him?"
"Not yet. Want to capture him?"
"Well, I doubt she will have many uses. Let's capture her either way."
"Hahaha. I am not done yet." I removed the dark cloak that engulfed my face, revealing my grim red eyes.
"Whew! She is more beautiful than I thought. Probably will fetch a fortune at the slave trader! Good job not killing her, 25!"
"Damn lolicon!" 25 cursed at his comrade.
"Damn goblins! This forest was infested with them. I already killed 20 on my way here." the other counterintelligence agent finally caught up to me. The counterintelligence agent cursed as he burned a goblin with his glance. Just by looking, a goblin was fried. The fire mage with a short sword and buckler, the ice mage with a longsword, and the wind mage with a cutlass.
"Hehehe. You haven't won yet." I giggled. As I moved my hands before me, I cast multiple shadow balls in the direction of the wind mage.
"Hmm? What's that? Is that your last attempt?" The wind mage easily dodged it by side-stepping, but my true aim was a spawner inside that small cave. A roar was soon followed by thundering steps from the caves. Trolls, ogres, and numerous goblins spawned forth from the cave, coming straight at me.
"What? How come there are so many monsters?"
"That's a spawn point!" The wind mage then looked at me with contempt.
"Damn it! Kill her fast, then deal with the monsters!" he charged. However, in his panic, I managed to put an illusion moments before his sword connected. As I dodged, he bisected nothing but air. He was a mage; my magic won't last long on him. He could see my magic and dispelled it with his own. But the momentary distraction was enough. I activated my camouflage and fell into the bushes.
"Damn it! Show yourself." The counterintelligence agent trio was angry. If this happened when they were calm, they would surely be able to find me by either tracing my mana or by destroying the surroundings. But they had more pressing matters now. The monsters had already swung their clubs at them.
"Damn insect! We can't fail the mission now! Clean up these insects and find her!" the wind mage cursed as he bisected a troll in two.
"Whoa! He managed to bisect a troll into two? These guys are insane," I muttered as the fire mage blasted another troll in the head while the ice mage dealt with the goblins that charged at them all at once. I used my Kamera to take a picture and left. I didn't know if I was able to take a good picture because they were moving so much. But at least I was able to get their faces, I think. R25B will check the result later.
"R666, are you still alive?"
"Barely. I lost them, but I think I am going to faint now. They are dealing with that spawner."
"They could? They were elite then. Monsters are crowding that place. Find somewhere else to hide and rest. The top of the trees, for example. Do you think they will win? If yes, then don't go in the Shadowstep direction. Go west."
I did as he recommended and took a breather on top of a tree. Explosions resounded through the forest, along with cries of monsters gathering on them.
Several hours later, the sun was beginning to rise. The agent had won. Three mages won against a stampede of monsters usually held by over 100 knights. I could only laugh. I was wondering if they could decimate my county alone.
"Damn it! Where is that girl!" the wind mage was drinking some blue liquid as he chopped the wood a little far away. I had almost regained my strength. But now, we had to play hide-and-seek. They really wanted me dead. When I was resting at the tree, I wondered if I knew those trio. But there were no illustrations of them in the webnovels, so I wasn't sure. But they resembled the Three Musketeers that joined the hero's party later as they came to rescue the heroine in volume three. I was already dead by that point, but their names were Beryl, Samuel, and Agathe. Their names received specific mention because they were also the ones who killed the second prince.
But that story would only happen far in the future. I had my own worries for now. Let's return.
The sun was already high in the sky by the time I returned to County Shadowstep. I messaged R25B about the horse I rented. It was dead. He simply replied it would be taken care of by subtracting 5 points from me. Ugh. It was a whole 5 gold coins. But the price of a healthy horse surpassed 15 gold coins. I wonder if the stable owner will get adequately remunerated. I felt guilty for the stable owner. My points were now 20.
I walked to the mansion with a heavy heart. What should I tell Alicia? She must have been freaking out by now. As I walked through the town square, I saw a stall selling food, and a light bulb popped out in my head. I quickly went over to them and bought kebabs, then I went to another stall, and the peddler there sold some necklaces. I purchased two matching ones. Alicia was a simpleton. This should be enough to appease her.
"Excuse me, have you seen Elidranthia? The count's second daughter?" Knights were questioning passersby and stall owners. Huh? They summoned the knights? What should I do? I should go back to the mansion immediately.
When I sneaked into the mansion, Alicia was pacing back and forth with Zach in front of Father's room. I hugged her from behind to surprise her.
"Alicia!" I tried to surprise her.
"Hieek!! Oh my god, where have you been, Eli!" Alicia hugged me as tears poured out from her eyes.
"Eli! Where have you been!" Zach glared, his eyes full of reproaches.
"Hmm? I woke up early and went outside. Look! I found kebabs and hamburgers wrapped up for you!" I tried to play dumb. Alicia and Zach gave dubious glares, but they sighed in relief.
"Eli, please don't go outside without telling Alicia or me ever again. She knocked on my and Father's door first thing in the morning while crying."
"Alright. I am sorry." I nodded my head.
"As long as you are safe, Lady Eli." Alicia hugged me again.
"Whew, you are exaggerating things. You are not her mother, Alicia." Zach sighed. "I am going to call off the soldiers I sent to search for her."
"Sorry, brother."
"Huah…" I yawned. Alicia's breasts are too comfortable. They were soft and enveloped my head nicely.
"Hah, this is because I let you sleep on my lap yesterday. Your sleeping schedule has become erratic." Alicia started to scold me. However, when I looked into her eyes, she didn't seem to be that mad.
"This is fine! We are on holiday anyway…." I replied lazily. Ugh. I still need to recon the forest. That forest was huge.
"Well, that's true." Alicia nodded.
"R25B. I took a photo of the antispy yesterday. When will you pick it up?" I said in my bedroom. After much pleading, Alicia let me sleep again. This is a three-week holiday. I need to make good use of it.
"Right now."
"Huh?" I immediately shot up from my bed.
"Your reaper card could transfer data. Hold on a minute. I will prepare the transfer. Put the feystone and your reaper card on your head and channel mana into it."
I followed the instructions and found myself in the virtual room. However, this room was no longer empty. Hologram pictures were flying about the room. This was the first time I saw R25 B's face. He looked young, around 27 years old, with an ordinary salaryman face. He was so common that I might forget his face as soon as I left this room, just like I forget ads on YouTube.
"Whoa, you are smaller than I thought. Your eyes really are intimidating. Please hide your killing intent better. You are too conspicuous," R25B commented on my face. This was the face I was born with. Do you have any problem with it?
"I see. You captured their picture at the perfect moment. I am impressed. This picture alone is worth 40 points at least."
"Huh? That much!?" I shouted. That was about as much as a whole commission!
"Yeah. I could tell from the picture that you face three-elite sword mages with good coordination. I could see their weapon, their magic, and even how they swung their weapons in this photo. Let's transfer the data."
"So, how many points do I have, and what can I buy with it?"
"Glad you asked! You currently have 25 points. I will submit your picture. It could net you some points. Then, from your commission, you will have 40 and 50, respectively. But since you haven't finished mapping the forest, and we haven't got feedback from the Ministry of Defense, you will have to do with 25 points for now."
"Ugh…"
"However, seeing our inventory catalog is free! And I advise you to see it!"
