I was carried by Chislon on the shoulder; pretending to be unconscious and to tell you the truth, it was uncomfortable!
Also, the Count was right, the robe smelled so damn bad that I wouldn't wonder if I suddenly fainted due to it.
"They ignored us."
He whispered. Maybe it was due to Chislon having the same height as the kidnapper, that was why the guards didn't suspect anything.
But since I couldn't see, I just responded anyway.
"Good."
Right now we had just been teleported to the slum area right in front of the house where that guy used to be in and out of regularly.
"I'm going in."
Chislon informed me and the sound of the door opening and closing could be heard.
"Umm… there's nothing here."
"What do you mean?"
I wanted to open my eyes and look around, but I had to devote myself to my act, so I decided to remain motionless.
"Wait, wait. Let me figure out something."
Uncertainty and confusion filled Chislon's voice.
"Oh, I know, I know."
–Drrttt!
The sound of gliding stone pricked my ears.
"There are stairs leading down."
Even though I couldn't see, I was amazed by Chislon because he kept me updated on what was going on.
"I'm going down."
–Tap –Tap –Tap
His footsteps resounded throughout the space and after a few minutes passed, Chislon murmured.
"Your Highness, there are five men guarding the entrance ahead."
He continued.
"I don't know if I can get past them or not, but please be prepared to fight."
"I understand."
Chislon continued to stride and there was no sign of him stopping.
Soon, an unknown voice entered my ear.
"Wait."
The Count turned to the owner's voice.
"Show me your badge."
I could imagine Chislon took out the badge and showed it to the gatekeeper.
A few minutes later, he began to walk again and Count spoke.
"I managed to pass them and the mana around here has been disabled."
"Yes, I felt it too."
"Also, here–"
Suddenly, two unfamiliar voices jumped into our conversation.
"Yo, we finally met again!"
"Before you go into the dungeon to place the brat, why don't you follow us?"
Chislon's steps stumbled, it seemed they forced him to follow them.
Soon, the sound of an opened and closed door was heard. And–
"You sonova–"
"Wait."
Chislon interrupted him and put me down on the floor. As they focused on the Count, I lifted my eyelids slowly.
Two men confronted him and they argued about something.
"How dare you trick us!"
"You promised to bring a new liquor, remember?"
Ah, I see. So the kidnapper was on the way to buy a new bottle of liquor when we kidnapped him.
One of them swung a fist at Chislon and he avoided it by tilting his head.
"Hei, help me!"
His companion now joined the battle and Chislon dodged their attacks effortlessly.
As they were fighting, I took out a dagger and threw it.
–Stab!
"Argh!"
A man groaned and fell to the ground. The man next to him gasped after witnessing the scene before him.
Blood was seen oozing from his friend's nape. He immediately spun backward and the moment he saw me–
–Stab!
A sword penetrated his head from behind.
Chislon pulled his sword and the man slumped down to the floor. His emerald eyes shortly landed on me.
"Your Highness, what are you doing? You killed him."
"Aren't you too?"
His lips quivered.
"That's true but–"
"We can't waste our time here. Let's go to the dungeon."
The man said 'dungeon' and 'that brat', so I assumed it was where the kidnapped kids were kept.
"Before that, let's hide their bodies first."
"Alright."
After taking care of their bodies, we exited the room and began to move once again.
Since we didn't know where the way to the dungeon was, we ended up exploring the underground here and there.
I knew it was my fault for killing them, but even if we captured them alive it was not like they would spill the information about this dungeon.
My point was, what if they blew themselves up instead of opening their mouths? It would make things much worse.
Also, the size of their hideout was not a joke! If they intended to store the kids they kidnapped, a gigantic underground was not needed.
I reckoned that they used this place for other purposes. But since we hadn't entirely explored this place, we had no idea what it was.
There weren't many black-robed men here and it seemed like they had their respective tasks as no one bothered us even though our intrusion had passed for hours.
As we still couldn't find where the hell was the dungeon due to how vast this den was, sometimes we would stop in an empty room to rest and Chislon made a manual map in a book.
Finished with our break, we resumed our mission and after walking for a while Chislon said something to me.
"Your Highness, I saw 10 children following a black-robed man willingly."
"Then I'll join them so you can look for the implanted Mana Disruption Device easily."
"Your Highness, will you be okay with it?"
"Yes. Also, it must be a burden for you to carry me around."
"I understand."
When they turned to the right at the fork Chislon flagged me down and I followed them. With that, we parted ways.
"Where are we going?"
I asked a brunette boy next to me. He turned to me and answered.
"We're going to meet our parents! How can you forget about it?"
I nodded my head.
"I see."
They were quite innocent to believe in the kidnapper's words. Why bother to kidnap them if they were going to be returned to their parents?
But I had a hunch that they would be taken somewhere.
Soon, the guide stopped in front of a door and looked at us. He frowned and spoke.
"Huh? Why are there eleven of you? Did I count it wrong?"
There was a brief silence but he shrugged and opened the door for us.
"Please, head inside."
We entered and my nose was greeted by a thick herbal scent. The room itself was filled with many types of research devices similar to the ones I saw in the Arcanist Tower.
There are ten iron chairs neatly lined up. Each chair had a 2x2m space and was separated by a cubicle curtain on each side.
"I think I counted it wrong, so there are 11 of them."
"Oh? No problem, just bring an extra chair."
A man who sat behind a desk responded. He didn't wear a black-robed, but instead, a white robe like a doctor.
He was an old man with glasses and his age was estimated around the seventies.
"I understand."
With that, the black robe man left the room.
The old man stood and spoke.
"Please have a seat."
The kids started moving around and sitting on each chair, leaving me standing alone.
"Please wait a moment, my assistant will be right back."
Did he speak to me? But, whatever.
"Yes."
Shortly, his so-called assistant returned and brought a chair.
"Please have a seat."
I sat down and–
He tied my hand to the armrest with a rope.
"Wait–"
A hastily grabbed his hands.
"What's the meaning of this?"
Yet, he remained silent and continued to tie my hands.
–Click! –Click! –Click!
Several clicking sounds filled the space followed by the children's protest.
"W–what is this?!"
"No!! Get me out of here!"
My eyes darted to them and their hands were bound by the thick metal that originated from the chair.
The doctor spoke louder while holding a shot.
"Don't worry, it's just that I will inject all of you with the serum to remove the virus from your body so that your parents won't be infected by you."
"O–oh, I–I see."
"I–I understand."
I was baffled. What kind of bullshit was that? There was nothing like a disease spreading around the Empire!
But then again, I thought I was kind of lucky because I was only tied by ropes and not by irons.
–Srakkk!
Soon, the cubicle curtains slid closed and the doctor along with the black-robed man entered one of the rooms.
Silence.
There was no voice or sound or anything for minutes and my heart skipped a beat in that lull.
However–
"Aaarrgghh!! AaarrRRGGHH!!"
I was stunned upon hearing a wail of kids had now changed into a roar of a beast and what made me more panic was that shriek!
I was familiar with that screeching!
It was the sound of a man who had turned into a Chimera!
Wait–was the one behind the kidnapping that happened the work of that shitty organization?!
The Chimera first appeared when I was 18. And right now they were developing it and using children as guinea pigs?!
How dare they!! This damn organization!!
I tried to get up but my hands were tied up to a chair.
The 𝘮ost uptodat𝑒 novels are pub𝙡ished on fre(e)webno(v)el.𝒸𝑜𝘮