Chapter 434 – Chapter 434 Magic School Shutra (3-45)
The entrance to the cave collapsed.
Karin and I managed to get inside the cave, and we didn’t get caught in the collapsing cave, but we couldn’t be relieved.
I called her while holding Karin’s arm while I couldn’t see her.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I-I’m fine. What is this….”
Karin was bewildered, but she held my arm tightly and didn’t let go.
After being silent for a while, I took stock of the situation and then opened my mouth.
“I think they lured us here on purpose.”
“Ha… I can’t believe I would do something like this….”
“I must have been too angry to live with what happened to me for the rest of my life.”
“… Yeah? First of all, surviving is important. No matter how much you retaliate….”
I explained slowly while drawing a magic circle.
“For a wizard, the arm is more precious than life.”
“Is it more precious than life?”
“Yes. Let’s assume that Lady Karin learned magic.”
“….”
I was just giving an example, but Karin heard me and she winced for a moment and she didn’t say anything.
She continued to explain, holding Karin’s hand, who had flinched for a moment.
“But the magic is to use her hands after all. If Lady Karin learned magic, how would it feel if she lost her arm and couldn’t use her magic properly?”
“… It will be like hell.”
“Right. To wizards, mana is a given talent anyway. Nothing suddenly disappears. But her hands are different.”
If it was a consulate-like worldview, he would have found a way to use magic even if he had no arms.
However, Shutra is basically a world where magic is used by making full use of magic circles.
In this world, the concept of not using a magic circle does not exist.
Even though only one arm was crippled, it was natural in a sense to feel vengeful towards the guy who crippled his vital arm.
After completing the magic circle that I slowly drew, I stared at Karin while lighting up the surroundings.
“That’s why hands are so important to wizards. I overlooked that part.”
“….”
Karin’s gaze was on her arm that I was holding.
She gently loosened her left hand and started looking at her palm.
Her palms still bore the red scars from catching her arrows flying at her yesterday.
Karin put on the most apologetic expression she’d ever shown, and she started apologizing to me.
“I’m sorry. Because of me… Hand….”
Yesterday, too, I put on an apologetic expression, but after hearing my story, it seemed that I was beginning to realize how important the wound on my hand was.
“It’s okay. If it’s to save Lady Karin, you have to be prepared to be pierced.”
“….”
Karin listened to me, stared at her palm, and she smiled.
“I was really sick of hearing about that… Emotions vary from person to person.”
“Yes?”
“It’s nothing. We will resolve the situation from now on.”
I nodded in agreement with Karin’s words and began to look around.
The inside of the cave was wide enough for four people to walk side by side.
The problem was the fact that there were no structures nearby that could illuminate the view.
“No matter how you think about it, it’s strange. Even if it’s a secret hiding place, you can’t live without fire like this….”
“… Could it be that it was made for a trap?”
“….”
If it was meant to be destroyed in the first place, that would be the correct answer.
He must have calculated that the subjugation team would surely come if he robbed them.
In preparation for such an event, it could be seen that the intention was to bury a large number of soldiers when they entered.
“The fact that such a large-scale trap was used against us… Maybe they’re trying to get out of the situation by kidnapping the two of us. Or maybe it’s just to get some cool revenge before he dies.”
Karin, who had heard about the wizard earlier, agreed.
“… I guess it could be both. Because if you want to use both a way to live and a way to get revenge, kidnapping the two of us is the best.”
If they catch me, they’ll release my arm first.
There’s no way that would happen, but….
“Let’s move first. Even if it’s a cave made for confinement, there will definitely be an escape route.”
“Yes.”
“Unconditionally, hold my arm. No matter what happens, it must not happen.”
“… Yes.”
When Karin heard me, she put on a slightly embarrassed expression, then began to clasp my arm.
She didn’t pay much attention until now, but she seemed to feel ashamed when she recognized the situation where she was doing skinship.
First of all, it was nice to see her relying on me.
However, if she showed reliance, she has to pay for it.
For Karin, as much as she brags, she will like a man who delivers results.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
So Karin and I began to move her steps into the dark cave.
..
..
I sighed as I walked through the cave.
“It’s a big deal. Wouldn’t it be easy to use magic?”
“Why?”
“The cave we are in now… It is a cave covered with iron ore.”
“Ah!?”
After Karin listened to me, she started running her palms across the wall.
She murmured as she rubbed her fingers in the rusty iron dust on her palms.
“Could the entire cave be like this?”
“I will. It must have been an iron ore mine.”
“Incredible…. But why are you saying you can’t use magic here?”
“Remember how I showed you magic with iron ore for a few days?”
“Ah!?”
Karin seemed to start to understand the situation only after she heard me.
I don’t know much about the properties of her brain, but the words I warned her about were imprinted in her mind.
“If you use magic here… All of us touching the ground will have an impact.”
“Right. My specialty is brain properties… You won’t be able to use that magic.”
Even magic was an existence that had an effect on oneself.
The moment I am relieved to be alone and unleash magic, I will become like an electric eel that gets electrocuted.
It was because of his own magic that the Professor of Thunder attribute died.
And another….
“The fire attribute is also blocked.”
“Torimseok… It’s dense here.”
Karin looked around and began to scan the orange jewels.
In this cave, there was a torim stone embedded between the iron ore shafts.
It was speculated that the easy collapse of the cave earlier was also possible by blasting the earth stones distributed in the cave all at once.
If you use fire magic in a place like this, you will be crushed to death in a cave.
The main power, the thunder attribute, and the fire attribute, which can pose a threat, are blocked.
Even Karin and I don’t know the way because it’s our first time entering this cave.
It could be said that it was an overwhelmingly unfavorable situation.
That’s when Karin shut her mouth and walked slowly, leaning on her arm.
Suddenly, from beyond the dark cave, the sound of cutting the wind resounded, and something began to fly.
Shoot!
“Kyaaak!”
I dodged the flying object by pulling Karin to the wall at the same time as the sound.
Several slender arrows pierced the place where we were and shot through, disappearing into the darkness behind.
Tumble, tumble, tumble.
Several footsteps began to be heard from beyond the darkness from which the arrows had flown.
And as the lantern turned on from beyond the darkness, I could see the other person’s face.
“Hey… I felt it yesterday too, but it kills one reaction speed.”
“….”
He was a one-armed wizard whose arm was broken by me.
And beside him, a healthy wizard who had been freed earlier and several thieves were aiming at us with bows.
I smiled bitterly, hiding Karin behind my back as best I could.
“Even if it’s a hiding place, isn’t it too gloomy?”
Haha… Do you think this is a real hiding place?”
“It suits you well.”
“… This cave is not a hiding place. It’s a live burial cave made in case there are guys like you that bother me.”
As expected, it was a cave made for deception.
Torimseok was attached here and there. It’s ridiculous to live in a place where you can’t light a fire.
I tried to talk as carefully as possible.
“I tried to save you, but it came out like this? Do you think the dean’s arrival is a lie?”
“Quack…. Don’t think it’s a lie such a monster… Where do you often see them?”
“Then why are you doing this? Shouldn’t we at least run away if we want to live?”
“… Don’t bullshit.”
The sorcerer, unable to gain strength in his one arm and tangled, looked at me with a stern expression and began grinding his teeth.
“Do you think you’ll just let me go after making my arm like this?”
“… Are you going to drive all your colleagues to death just for revenge?”
I was deliberately reminding the thieves that what they were doing was not helping them at all.
After hearing my words, the thieves looked at each other and began to look anxious.
The wizard immediately caught the intention of my words and began to block them.
“Do not be ridiculous. Don’t you think you’re doing this just for revenge?”
“Then?”
“I will cross the border with you two as hostages.”
Anyway, stealing was meaningless here.
So at least it was a plan to kidnap Karin and me for safety.
Brandrup’s daughter and Stra’s student.
As hostages, they were perfect beings.
The one-armed wizard glared at me and began to warn me.
“I admit that your hands are fast. But I’ll warn you. The moment you move, I’ll make a beehive with arrows. Even the young lady there….”
“….”
As much as possible, I kept my hands where they could see them and proceeded with the story.
“Do you think we can safely cross the border by kidnapping us?”
Haha… If I take the two of you, there’s a chance, right? Without it, even that slim chance would disappear.”
“….”
“As a hostage, I will treat you well. Raise your hands right now and turn around. Or I’ll make a beehive with arrows.”
“….”
I was silent and turned her head to look at Karin’s face.
It was an anxious expression.
Being a hostage with the young lady’s body wasn’t just a pitiful situation.
Rumors will linger around her for the rest of her life that she was held hostage by bandits and that she was subjected to dirty work.
In the meantime, she has been working behind the scenes, and she has barely ruined Jeff’s reputation. If she becomes her hostage, Karin’s reputation that she has built up so far will fall into the abyss.
If that happens, she will be married to Jeff as a woman raped by a bandit.
Far from establishing the status of Brandt Ruf, which she longed for, she will simply be the seed of the Potts family.
You will have to live by saying thank you for accepting the seed.
The strong castle built up so far is destroyed by magic, and with this incident, it completely sinks like a sand castle.
I turned my head again and spoke to the mage who held my hatred for me.
“I’m fine, so let Lady Karin go here.”
“Puhahaha! Can’t understand the situation? A situation where you can kill both of them?”
“So you want me to release you.”
“… ?”
“If they both die, the hostage will be gone too, right?”
At my words, the thieves looked at each other and began to whisper.
From their point of view, they must have been eager to take Karin rather than a boy like me.
Because Karin’s appearance was on a different level from ordinary women passing by.
Where else would she embrace such a woman if it were not for this opportunity?
However, the one-armed wizard acting like a leader here seemed to have a different idea.
“… Great. Let that girl go But before she lets go, there’s something you have to do.”
“… ?”
The mage snatched the sword from the other thief and threw it at me.
Chaeng-Geurang!
The iron sword rolled in the iron ore-covered mine shaft, making a tremendous noise, and the noise spread throughout the cave, creating an echo and then disappearing.
When all the echoes were gone, the sorcerer smiled at me and opened his mouth.
“With your left hand, cut off your right hand. Then let the woman go.”
