PHIM 17

Chapter : 17

In the meantime, Noah was in a surprisingly good mood after finding what appeared to be ingredients mixed into the potion used for Adele’s curse.

Man, today really was a lucky day. If only he had managed to keep that slave consent document he wrung out of Adele intact, it would’ve been a perfect day.

Thinking of the document—now shredded to pieces and tossed aside as trash in one corner of the lab—Noah smacked his lips in regret.

“Hey, I’m done. Let’s go. …Huh?”

Stepping out into the center of the shop, Noah looked around with a blank expression when Adele was nowhere to be seen.

He immediately grabbed a passing employee and asked where Adele had gone, but the employee only replied that Adele wasn’t in the shop anymore and didn’t seem to know where he’d gone.

“Don’t tell me that damn brat—!”

Noah’s face twisted as he snapped his head toward the exit.

I told him not to go out!

The underground city was, quite literally, a world ruled by survival of the fittest. Anyone even slightly weak would end up as a slave or an experiment.

Thinking he needed to tell Luisa about this immediately, Noah flung the door open. And then—

He froze in place.

Imagining Luisa scolding him for being irresponsible, Noah slowly loosened his grip on the door handle. Then, with a resolute expression, he turned toward the stairs leading to the second floor.

“Move aside!”

I gotta roll right now!

Yeah. This was the only way to avoid her wrath. At least if he showed up injured like this, she wouldn’t yell at him, right?!

Recalling the vivid sensation from four years ago when he’d been beaten half to death, Noah shuddered—and without the slightest hesitation, rolled himself down the stairs.

Gasps of shock burst out among the surrounding alchemists.

They said he was crazy, but seeing him in person—this was a whole different, untouchable level of insanity!

Ignoring the murmurs around him, Noah looked down at the small wounds scattered across his body and grinned.

“Perfect!”

Watching Noah leave the shop with a bright smile despite clearly being in pain, the alchemists inside silently vowed to avoid getting involved with him at all costs.

Despite not being given Adele’s appearance, gender, or age, the vice master quickly figured out which merchant group had kidnapped him.

Proof that he wasn’t made the guild’s second-in-command for nothing.

“The merchant group suspected of kidnapping Adele-nim is the Feril Trading Company.”

“Feril Trading Company?”

I frowned at the unfamiliar name. In ten years of coming and going through the underground city, I’d never heard it once.

Leon, on the other hand, clearly knew them well—he clicked his tongue and muttered a curse.

“Hah. That place.”

“What about it?”

“The bastards who sold me that piece-of-shit artifact. That place.”

Even as he said it, Leon let out a dry laugh, apparently amazed by the absurd coincidence.

Sensing that Leon might lose control again, the vice master quickly continued.

“They’re a merchant group that’s only recently extended their reach into the underground city. It appears Adele-nim was kidnapped for the purpose of a slave auction.”

“Exact location.”

Heat rose up to my throat as I listened. The vice master hesitated, then bowed his head slightly.

“I’m sorry. It seems a special form of magic is required to access the auction site.”

“So?”

Can you find it, or not?

“…Only designated individuals can enter. Tracking the exact location will take considerable time.”

In other words, they couldn’t.

Suppressing the surge of anger, I let out a slow breath.

The people I needed to be angry at weren’t them.

“Luisa… I’m sorry. This is my fault.”

Noah spoke carefully, watching my expression. Guilt was written all over his face.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. Anyone could’ve lost track of him.”

“Y-Yeah… that’s true, but still…”

Unlike his usual self, Noah couldn’t keep his eyes still and kept biting his lip.

Feeling bad, I lightly patted his shoulder.

“Don’t beat yourself up. I can’t use magic, but I’ve got a body. If it comes down to it, I’ll just sacrifice myself. I’ll get kidnapped and become a slave for now—”

“What?! Hey, what the hell are you talking about?!”

Leon, who had been silently cooling off nearby, suddenly grabbed my shoulders in shock. His face flushed bright red as something clearly went wild in his imagination.

“No matter what, that’s not okay! A slave?! Even if that kid’s important, that’s—!”

What the hell is he imagining now?

“You weren’t that kind of person! Just wipe them all out! Why are you trying to sacrifice yourself?!”

How much do you think I’m sacrificing, you lunatic…?

I forcibly pried Leon’s hands off my shoulders.

Ugh. I’m getting dizzy.

“Think about it, Luisa! Even then, s-slavery is not an option! What if you get caught by some weird perverts?! Then this and that and—ugh, anyway! That’s not okay!”

“What do you mean it’s not okay? If I get kidnapped directly, it’ll be fast and easy!”

“H-Huh?”

Leon froze stiff at my words.

“Leon, do you not have a brain? The way you imagine things is something else. What is this, the animal kingdom?”

Unable to watch anymore, Noah tossed in a blunt comment.

Honestly, every word out of his mouth was pure gold.

As Noah shook his head at Leon in visible disgust, Leon drooped, sulking.

Regardless, Noah turned serious again and lightly tugged at my sleeve.

“Luisa. I’m coming too.”

“Why would you come? It’s dangerous. Stay here.”

“No—no, I should come too…”

Maybe he’d grown attached to Adele. Hiding his trembling eyes, Noah firmly insisted again.

“Alright. Then stay right beside me—you’re injured. I’ll handle everything.”

“Mm. Okay.”

He looked oddly drained. Guess he was really worried about Adele. For someone whose personality used to be so far gone I wondered if he’d ever become human, he’d grown a lot.

The vice master handed us a small note.

“These are several locations where the Feril Trading Company is suspected of kidnapping civilians. The mercenaries they use are hired externally, so there’s a strong chance they won’t recognize you, Luisa-nim.”

“Got it.”

“Oh—and this…”

Hesitating, he handed over an item. A ring.

“It contains a location-tracking spell. If you wear it, they may aggressively target you for kidnapping… are you sure that’s okay?”

“Luisa, you don’t have to wear it. Just keeping it on you is fine.”

Leon quickly added, looking just as uneasy.

I wanted to brush it off, but this was a big deal.

‘Rings are restraints used exclusively for slaves.’

In other fantasy worlds, rings meant the same thing they did in Korea—but not in this one.

At this point, it really felt like the author was deliberately writing a misery novel.

Why make a ring—the symbol of a proposal—a slave restraint?

Clicking my tongue internally, I slipped the ring onto my ring finger. The loose band immediately shrank to fit perfectly.

“Are you sure about this?”

Noah frowned at the sight.

“If I’m getting kidnapped anyway, might as well wear it early. Besides, Leon needs the location to follow.”

Of course, I could destroy the entire merchant group on my own. The aftermath was the issue.

“Let’s check the nearest spot first. Noah, get on my back.”

Even if it was ‘near,’ it was still a slum at the edge of the underground city. Carrying Noah would be faster than walking with his injuries.

Normally he’d complain about being treated like a kid, but this time Noah climbed on without protest. That alone made me smile.

“We’ll storm in the moment the location’s confirmed.”

“This time, I’m coming too. I’ll kill every last one of those bastards.”

Leon growled, grinding his teeth.

I nodded roughly, then bolted out of the guild.

Crack—!

With a powerful running start, I leapt forward. Each step left behind golden afterimages of mana that scattered into the air.

The earth-shaking noise was just a bonus.

Normally I’d move quietly—but this time, it was better to be seen. So no one in the underground city would ever dare touch Adele again.

Sure enough, shocked reactions erupted around us. Even those who’d been shouting in anger immediately bowed their heads once they saw my face.

“Damn… that killing intent is insane…”

I heard Noah mutter behind me.

Seems I’d been unconsciously releasing it. Since even street folk could feel it, mercenaries definitely would—so I deliberately reined it in.

After running nonstop, we finally reached the slums at the far edge of the underground city.

Heading into the alley marked on the vice master’s note, we saw a few people loitering about.

All of them looked like part of the slum—ragged, miserable.

They eyed us warily at first, thinking we were newcomers.

“H-Huh… a w-w-witch!”

But the moment they recognized me, they bolted.

“Luisa… what kind of life have you lived…?”

Noah muttered from behind me in disbelief.

Avoiding his question, I leaned against a wall as naturally as possible. Rather than wandering aimlessly, I decided to act like someone with nowhere to go. Something damp pressed against my back—but I ignored it.

Ignorance is bliss. Knowing only gets you hurt.

Seeing me, Noah crouched down beside me.

We waited like that for three hours.

Growing bored, I pressed my fingers to my temple. If nothing happened in another hour, we’d move elsewhere.

Then—

Heavy footsteps echoed through the alley—far too solid to belong to slum dwellers. Noah, who’d been dozing, slowly opened his eyes.

It was them.

“What is it? Is today some kind of lucky day or what?”

“Huh? Boss, look at that chick’s ring finger. Ain’t that a restraint? Looks like a runaway slave.”

“That kind of thing really gets people going. Stealing someone else’s property just feels so good, y’know? Heh.”

“Damn. Is she begging to be taken? Tempting us or something?”

Yeah. I am. So bite the bait already.

“P-Please…! Don’t touch my sister…!”

Noah threw out a huge piece of bait.

Wobbling to his feet—probably from sitting too long—he staggered in front of me, head bowed low.

Judging by the tremble in his voice… he was holding back laughter.

“Boss, uh… that kid crying?”

Nope.