Hostage 3

Raphdonia was a ruthless city.

Even more so if the individual was an evil spirit.

Evil spirits who awakened here in the bodies of complete strangers had to struggle desperately just to survive, and even then, countless died simply due to bad luck.

But Eltora was different.

It wasn’t that he was exceptionally brilliant or possessed some extraordinary talent. Rather, he had something that surpassed all of that.

His surname was “Tercerion.”

Nothing more needed to be said. The name ‘Tercerion’ meant his father was the second most powerful man in the kingdom. This alone was enough to transform Eltora’s story from a ‘survival chronicle’ into a ‘lifestyle in another world.’

Of course, he had his own share of troubles. But compared to other evil spirits who had to scratch and claw from the bottom just to stay alive, he had a luxurious life.

However…

‘Damn that bastard Marquis.’

The marquis suddenly lost his reason, allied himself with Noark, and turned his weapons on the royal palace. From that moment on, Eltora’s position fell back to the same starting line as the other evil spirits.

Like them, he began to worry about survival. So when he later heard that the marquis had led his forces to join Noark and ordered him to follow, he obeyed without resistance.

And why wouldn’t he? Guilt by association no longer existed back on Earth, but this was an isekai based on the Middle Ages. There was no need to describe the treatment reserved for the son of the traitor who had started the war.

Simply put, he had no choice but to side with the Marquis…

And now, looking back, it was his greatest regret.

‘I never imagined there was a secret like that.’

Unable to shake his unease after joining Noark, he conducted a secret investigation on his own. In doing so, he uncovered a shocking secret within the marquis’s house, a secret so massive that it finally explained all the doubts and inconsistencies he had felt.

That secret was—

THWACK!

Eltora’s train of thought was interrupted by a back-smashing blow from Aynar.

“Ugh…! What was that for all of a sudden!?”

“Just because? I felt like it.”

The sight of the barbarian’s calm expression nearly drove Eltora into a fit of rage. He wondered how things had come to this, but he pulled himself together. After all, they were his only lifeline.

‘If Baron Jandel testifies later that I betrayed the Marquis and played a major role in capturing him… then I can live.’

This wasn’t just a wish; it was a certainty. Jandel was the most famous hero in this city. With a single word from him, the son of a traitor could instantly become the comrade of a hero who stabbed his own father in the back for the sake of justice.

Even as he groaned from the impact on his back, Eltora didn’t ask why. He knew if he did, she’d just say she felt like hitting him again.

“Stop grinning like that.”

“If you keep smiling like that, I’ll have no choice but to assume there’s something wrong with your head.”

This damn barbarian woman…

Why did Jandel keep such a violent and foolish person as his ally?

That thought crossed his mind, but…

‘Ah, he’s a Barbarian too.’

The thought vanished as quickly as it arose once he accepted the situation and stopped resisting, aside from the small glare he directed at her.

“Stop it, Aynar.”

Thankfully, Jandel’s legal wife candidate possessed enough common sense to save him from further humiliation.

“If you behave like that again, I will have no choice but to respond in kind,” she warned.

“F-fine! I won’t hit him!”

“My apologies. She has a bit of a childish side.”

“Haha… It’s fine. We have a far greater undertaking ahead of us. There’s no time to worry about trivial matters. That said… what shall we do now?”

“First… we should inform Jandel of this. It would be disastrous if he came charging in here without thinking.”

“There’s no need to worry about that. The Chancellor intended to reveal the Divine Spear’s location only after all the traps here were prepared. Jandel will never come here.”

“Never, you say… Still, it’s best to prepare for any contingency.”

“Haha… As expected, my lady, you are truly wise. I can see why he relies on you so much.”

At the word “my lady,” Amelia pressed her lips together, and Eltora smiled inwardly.

What he had been uncertain about was now clear.

That woman was weak to remarks like that.

He planned to keep dropping those lines subtly to build up favor, so she would speak well of him to Jandel later—

“Betheelraaaaaaa!!”

Suddenly, a battle cry echoed out.

Not from within the vault, but from outside.

It was so loud that it clearly penetrated even those thick doors.

“BJORN!! That cry is Bjorn’s………………!!”

The female barbarian warrior recognized the source of the battle cry and answered it with a shout of her own, clearly stirred. It was as though she herself had become the signal for rescue.

“Uh…”

Eltora’s eyes met Amelia’s.

“Didn’t you say there was absolutely no chance?”

Eltora had no answer to her short question. He couldn’t understand it at all.

After the marquis, the mastermind behind the plot, collapsed, the trap using the Divine Spear had not even properly taken its first step yet.

“Bethelllllraaaaaaa!!”

How did he know to come here?

***

The Royal Army, which had remained silent and focused solely on defending the Imperial Capital even as Ravigion and Commelby were destroyed, finally began to move.

It wasn’t because they could no longer tolerate injustice, or because they finally decided it was time to strike. It wasn’t that grand.

It was just because I told them to.

To be precise, one could say it was the astonishing authority that came with the status of “King’s Knight…. but since I was the one who moved them, it’s the same thing.

“…If it’s just drawing their attention, I can do that much.”

The power Astarotta held was truly amazing. He simply went to see the commander and spoke a few words, and the Carnon standing army, which had stubbornly insisted that its mission was to defend the Imperial Capital even as District 4 fell completely into Noark’s hands, changed its stance.

Though it was more of a ‘pretend’ full-scale invasion than an actual one…

It made me curious. If the King’s knight had that much power, how massive must the authority of the ‘King’ be?

“Hmm”

The thought only made me depressed, so I decided to focus on the present.

While the royal army drew attention, I slipped into District 4 and moved stealthily. I was now standing in front of the main entrance of the ‘Alminas Bank.’

Or rather, I was weighing my options.

‘Front door, back door, or climbing the wall.’

Which route would allow me to rescue Aynar most safely? My deliberation didn’t last long.

‘Front door.’

There were two reasons. No matter which route I chose, I would be discovered quickly with this body. And the front entrance had the shortest path to the underground vault.

Right. So…

“BETHELRAAAAAA!!”

I asserted my barbarian authority over the two guards who were yawning at the main gate.

[The character has cast [Swing]

[The destructive power of blunt weapons greatly increases in proportion to Strength]

The Barbarian authority specialized in crushing, breaking, and cleaving things.

“Hey. It’s Baron Jandel…”

“Stop him!”

“Why are you running after telling us to stop him?”

“Run away!!”

As mu authority descended upon the Alminas Bank, the Noark soldiers guarding the front did not even dare to resist and fled in panic. There was nothing strange about it. Low level mobs were expected to behave this way. Now that I had caused such a disturbance, the real enemies should appear to stop me.

What the? Why is no one coming out?’

After smashing the front entrance and entering, I quickly headed underground. Calling it quick would have been an exaggeration considering how long I spent running, yet not a single real enemy appeared before me.

Could it really be because the trap was not ready yet?

I had rushed here as fast as I could with that very goal in mind, and yet…

Why is it so easy? It was almost incomprehensible.

But the more it felt that way, the more I recalled my past memories. Experience taught me that these were the moments of true danger. The moment a taut string goes slack is the moment everything falls apart.

Therefore…

‘Could it be…?’

I assumed the worst.

“The trap is already complete…?”

The enemy had anticipated everything. They pretended they were unprepared to lure me in alone, deliberately placing only mobs to make me lower my guard.

Of course, if I were to assume the absolute worst-case scenario, I’d have to consider that Aynar was already dead and I was just going to find her corpse… but fortunately, that wasn’t the case.

“Bethel!”

“BETHELLRAAAAAAA!!”

As I destroyed everything in sight and headed underground, I heard Aynar’s battle cry clearly. It was proof that she was alive and the compass that guided me.

When I shouted,

“Betheelllllraaaaaaa!!”

Aynar’s shout returned from below.

In a way, it felt like I was moving like a bat using echolocation. Well, not exactly. Still, as we drew closer, our shouts continued to answer each other.

It seemed she had heard my cry and was signaling her position.

“Betheelllllraaaaaaa!!”

“Betheelllllraaaaaaa!!”

“Bjooorrrn!!”

Thanks to that, I was able to navigate the unfamiliar layout of the underground vault along the optimal path and reach Aynar.

For some reason, Aynar was not locked inside the vault but was standing outside perfectly fine…

Amelia… and Auyen…?

There were even two familiar faces, along with one that evoked a different reaction.

“Eltora Tercerion…?”

“Haha, it’s been a while, Baron Jandel…”

…Why is this guy here?

It didn’t take long to piece together the whole situation.

“So you figured you’d die anyway if you stuck with the Marquis, so you decided to side with me instead? Like a bat.”

“…It’s not exactly that.”

“I’m not taking you in if you start babbling about the ‘greater good’ or some such nonsense.”

“Understood.”

Yeah, he should have done this from the beginning.

In any case, the Marquis’s son falling into my hands was a very good situation. I’d have to deliberate more on how exactly to use him, but for now…

“Amelia, I’m glad you’re safe.”

“…The same goes for you.”

I exchanged a brief greeting with Amelia, whom I was finally seeing again, then turned my gaze to Auyen.

A strange feeling washed over me.

“…Well done. You accomplished something neither I nor the royal family could.”

“P-Please don’t say that! I-I was just lucky! I mean, that essence was something you gave me in the first place, Captain!”

“It’s not about essence or luck. I’m talking about the fact that you were able to make that choice in that situation.”

“Even if you gathered a hundred ordinary people in your position, none of them would have made the same decision you did.”

This wasn’t empty praise. I meant it sincerely.

But perhaps she thought it would be a burden on Auyen?

Amelia, standing beside us, stepped into the conversation.

“That’s enough. Auyen Rocklov is a full fledged member of the Anabada Clan.”

“Isn’t it only natural that he’s different from ordinary people?”

“Ah…”

I had thought she was about to tell me to stop embarrassing him, but instead she wanted to praise him too.

Whether from embarrassment or emotion, Auyen twisted his body awkwardly and bowed his head deeply.

Alright, praise time ends here.

“Bjorn! It’s great to see you safe! You should praise me too! If not for me, Rotmiller never would have taken you that far. By the way, what happened to him? Did you not bring him along this time?”

…She doesn’t know.

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