TL: Zimmings
That was definitely Booneâs voice.
I hurriedly turned the door, but the door could not be opened.
Knock! Knock!
I knocked on the door harshly and shouted.
âBoone! Itâs me, open it!â
[Child⦠without it, the door wonât open.⦠go back⦠Myâ¦â¦.]
I couldnât hear him clearly for some reasoj.
âBoo-â
Suddenly, someone pulled my hand.
âWhat are you doing here?â
A low voice entered my ears.
I turned my head stiffly in surprise.
âSourireâ¦â
My pale face was reflected in his eyes.
âC-chief, Hate. Touching the altar.â
âThe altar?â
âThis, here is the altar of Kuhelm. The passage leading to the God of Kuhelm.â
I took a big breath.
Boone is behind this door. Then, the God of Kuhelm is Boone?
âOh, I see. The nymphs also thought of Pur as their God. So itâs not strange that thereâs a tribe that regards Boone as their God.â
Suddenly, Booneâs words came to mind, âThe door cannot open without it.â
âI think that I need to find a passage for Boone.â
When I remembered that the passage of Pur was at the altar of the nymphs, I quickly looked around.
However, no minerals or jewelry could be seen.
âSourire, is there any jewelry or stone used for ancestral rites?â
âGod- Godâs stone.â
âYes! Do you know where it is?â
âC-chief always carried it with him.â
âYou mean, it belongs to the chiefâ¦â
I thought it would be stored in the safest place because it was a valuable item of the tribe.
âItâs a relief that itâs not in a place where there are several barriersâ¦â
I thought for a moment about how to get my hands on it.
âA deal? No, thereâs no way. Letâs go back first. If they know Iâm gone, itâs harder to get my hands on Booneâs passage.â
âSourire.â
âYes.â
âCan you keep it a secret that I was here?â
âNi- nice person. I keep my promise.â
âYes, Sourire is a good person.â
I smiled broadly and tapped Sourireâs shoulder.
And we left the place together.
As we returned to the stable, Emeline opened her eyes wide, surprised that I came back with Sourire.
I handed him the chick I had entrusted to Emeline.
âCh- chick.â
âIs it the chick that you want?â
Sourire was smiling while staring at the chick.
I couldnât see his face because of his hair, but he seemed to be delighted.
âThatâs a relief. Then weâll get going.â
I waved to Sourire and left the stable with Emeline.
It was not until we reached a deserted place that Emeline asked me.
âWhat? How did you come back with that guy?â
âWe met downstairs. More than that, Emeline-â
When I explained what was underneath, she, whose eyes were getting bigger, accidentally shouted.
âWhat? You summoned him for the first time-â
Emeline covered her mouth with both hands and looked around.
She knew about Boone because I once told Tri and Emeline about my ability to summon devils when we were in seminary.
It was only after confirming that no one was there that Emeline continued.
âHe was behind the door?â
âYes, thatâs why I need the passage that the chief had. Itâs like jewelry or minerals, I need it to summon the devil.â
âMaybe thatâsâ¦â
Emeline muttered and I opened my eyes wide.
âDo you see it?â
âThe first day I came to this village. You and Mina are trapped somewhere different from us.â
âYes.â
âThe chief came to see us that day. I saw it then. A mysterious pendant hanging on the chiefâs neck.â
ââ¦â¦ It must be that. I have to steal it somehow.â
âItâs going to be dangerous. Wouldnât it be better to give up and aim for another devil?â
âBooneâs ability is necromancy. He can summon the dead.â
âThen my mom and your momâ¦â
Emeline looked at me with a stiff face.
âYes. Your mother too. And there are countless people who miss the dead like you and me.â
âYou need to get my hands on the passage⦠how?â
That was the problem.
***
I went back to the prison, where the students were locked up with Emeline. There was a lot of empty tableware, meaning that food came in while we were away.
âLeblaine.â
Mina, who was talking to the students, called me.
âI talked to the kids while you were out, and I think itâs the right time.â
âWhat?â
âEscape. We canât stay here forever. We have to eat and escape when we have stamina. Soâ¦â¦.â
Then, Alan interrupted Mina.
âYou help us out. Focus their attention on you. Weâll run in the meantime-â
Emeline shouted.
âYou mean Leblaine will be the bait!?â
âGive me a second. In the meantime, we will also help you with the barrier. In case of an unexpected situation, we will let some escape first.â
âWhat are you saying? What If you break your promise and run away alone!â
âYouâve been helping the tribe, but you donât believe us?â
âWhat?!â
Alan said, but Mina stopped him.
âStop it, Alan. Itâs something we canât force on Leblaine.â
âButâ¦â¦!â
âThereâs a second best option.â
Mina, who sighed, held my hand.
âWeâll prepare everything. Letâs escape together when the signal is given.â
âWhatâs the second option?â
âThat-â
Alan shouted, âDonât tell them!â as his eyes widened.
âWhat if they confess our plans to the chief?â
âAlan, Leblaine is not like that.â
Alan closed his mouth only after Mina frowned.
I told Mina.
âWhatever it is, donât do it.â
âLeblaine.â
âHow are we going to escape when there is a barrier at the entrance of the village? If we do something wrong, we will burn to death, let alone escape.â
âThank you for your concern. But we should do it. We might not have the chance again tomorrow.â
âStop it!â
ââ¦â¦.â
âI have a plan too. If you really trust me, donât do anything useless.â
Mina sighed, as I looked around the students and warned them once again.
âDonât be silly and be still.â
The students looked reluctant, but there was nothing much to say.
I asked Emeline to make sure they donât do anything stupid and left the prison.
As I headed to the room provided by the chief, the young man, my escort, ran to me.
âWhere have you been? Iâve been looking for it for a long time.â
âI donât intend to escape, so donât worry. I stopped by the prison after taking a walk.â
âThe chief is looking for you.â
âThatâs great. I wanted to see the passage of Boone with my own eyes.â
I nodded and followed him to the chief.
When the chief saw me, he raised himself.
âOh, our noble is here.â
He joked and laughed.
Unlike when I first came, they treated me without any hostility.
He gave me a seat and sat in front of me.
âI got a call from Hannibalâs mercenary guild. He said heâd give the money sometime this week.â
âGood for you.â
âThatâs why, I have a favor to ask of you.â
âPlease speak.â
âI want you to come up with certain precautions to prevent similar things from happening again. Will you help me?â
âIâm sorry, but thereâs nothing I can do to help.â
âDo you think things like the kidnapping will continue to happen if there is wealth in Kuhelm? You donât look like a very righteous person, so why?â
I smiled and nodded my head.
âThatâs right. Iâm not a righteous person. The reason why I canât help is that the same thing will happen again even if I told you the prevention method.â
âWhy do you think so?â
âPeople donât change easily. There are many trashy people in this world.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âItâs the mercenary guild that tricked you once. Without me, Kuhelm wouldnât know that much about the world, and if they had a chance, they would try to trick you again.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âSo, you need to have a new business partner. Thatâs what I can help with.â
âKuhelm clashed with Odis and Neliard Church, who would trade with us?â
âHope mercenary guild.â
The chief burst out laughing.
âYou mustâve looked down on me. The hope mercenary guild is located in the country where Neliard is their official religion. They canât do business with me, can they?â
âThey could.â
âHow could you say for sureâ?
I answered with a big smile.
âBecause Iâm the leader of the hope mercenary guild.â
ââ¦Youâre lying.â
âI can let you hear from Sese, the manager of the hope mercenary guild.â
ââ¦â¦.â
The chief looked into my eyes. After being silent for a long time, he burst into laughter.
âOh my. Itâs true.â
âThen, shall we start negotiating properly?â
âAre you asking me to let you go alive? Okay. Iâll send you back, your friend, and half the Odis students. But not everyone.â
I didnât think heâd send them all back in the first place.
As far as I know, they have kidnapped us by using all of the silver coins left in their warehouse.
No matter what, they will not forget the purpose of our kidnapping.
âThereâs one more thing.â
âWhat is it?â
I pointed to the chiefâs chest.
âLend me the pendant.â
âWhat!?â
The chief shouted and raised himself.
âNonsense! This is a gift from God and proof as the chief!â
âI wonât take it, Iâm just borrowing it. Just five minutes. Let me take a look at it for five minutes.â
Anyway, the passage will lose its power when the devil is summoned.
After summoning Boone, Iâll return the pendant to him.
I grabbed the skirt tightly and looked at the chief.
âWill 5 minutes be too much?â
âYou can give me escorts and barriers around this room.â
âOkay, thenâ¦â
Just then,
Boom!
A loud sound rang out.
The chief hurriedly opened the curtain and looked out the window.
The village was seen burning with flames over the window.
The chief, who turned pale, opened the door roughly and shouted.
âWhatâs going on!â
The young man, who was my escort, rushed over and shouted.
âThe Odis students tried to escape!â
âWhat? How do they know the code of the barrier?â
âThey didnât figure out the codeâ¦â
The young man continued to speak with a stiff face.
âThe second child of fate forcibly destroyed it.â
âI- I canât believe it. Our barrier is an ancient heritage. No matter how strong they areâ¦â
After mumbling with a pale face, he suddenly realized something and said to me,
âDid you take your time here so that we wouldnât look at prison?â
What nonsense is this?
The chief then roughly pulled a sword out.
âDamn kid!â
âItâs not true! I-â
Before I finished my words, a familiar voice came from outside the door.
âGet your hands off Leblaine!â
Mina, who was exhausted, approached us, supported by Alan and Sandra.
âDonât provoke him, you idiot-â.
Even before I finished talking, the chief pointed a knife at my neck.
Look at how this turned out!
âThey are driving me crazy.â
My blood began to flow to the tip of the sword.
âIf this happens, I canât do it.â
I moved my eyes slightly to the pendant hanging around the chiefâs neck.
And,
âPur-!â
When I shouted while holding my etwal, dark clouds came into the room as it shone brightly.
Rain began to pour with thunder.
While the chief was surprised, I grabbed the pendant on his neck and started running.
âBoone, answer me!â
As I gave divine power to it, a pillar of white light appeared in front of my eyes.
âI am the twenty-second pillarâ¦â
ââ¦â¦.â
ââ¦â¦.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âI miss you, child.â
I missed you too. My dearest devil.
âââââââââââââââââ-