WSRN 28

Chapter 28

‘For now, I have no choice but to trust him.’

Besides, he was someone personally assigned by the Duke.

I swallowed and asked,

“Please tell me.”

“There’s an opportunity, yes—but no way to make use of it. My combat ability is barely above garbage level.”

“…What?”

“I’m the kind of person who never invests in something that’s doomed to fail.”

“Ah.”

I understood.
The only one with actual combat ability, Marianne, was still unconscious.
That meant it was just Havel and me who had to somehow make this work.

‘So, in other words, escaping is practically impossible.’

But even so, I couldn’t just sit still and do nothing.

Seeing that my expression didn’t change after hearing him out, Havel met my eyes directly.

“…Strange.”

“What is?”

“Isn’t this a pretty hopeless situation? But you don’t look particularly shaken.”

“I am shaken. I even cried earlier.”

“Hmm… If you’re not planning to give up, then good. Move back a bit.”

“So suddenly? …Like this?”

“A little more. That’s fine. Now, three steps to the right. There’s a sharp piece sticking out from the floor.”

He was right. I immediately understood what he was thinking.

Holding my breath, I carefully surveyed the situation.
No one seemed about to come in just yet.

‘Please…’

I kept rubbing the rope around my wrists, hoping it would snap.
My arms were going numb and trembling, but I didn’t stop.

‘They tied this really tight.’

Who could have done this?

If I thought about it rationally, I wasn’t worth much right now.
I had just received my name and was still basically a powerless child.

What benefit could anyone possibly gain by going to the trouble of tracking my schedule, planting spies, and kidnapping me?

If anything, it would’ve made more sense to just kill me.

It didn’t feel like a personal grudge. And it was hard to believe it was because of Hilberk either.

‘I’m not important enough to be used for negotiations with His Excellency.’

Just when I was running out of breath—snap!—a small sound broke the silence.

‘Got it.’

I quickly tried to undo the rope around my upper body, but Havel whispered urgently.

“Wait. Stay lying down. Pretend you’re still unconscious.”

“What? I almost have it loose.”

“Hurry.”

Reluctantly, I followed his instruction and lay back down.

‘I was lying about here, right…?’

The moment I closed my eyes, I heard footsteps—and then creak, the door opened, and someone walked in.

“…What the hell. You’re awake?”

‘Gasp—did he notice?’

My heart pounded in panic, but the reply came from the other side.

“Not long ago.”

It was Havel’s voice.

‘Ah, he was talking about Havel, not me.’

I quietly exhaled in relief. Thanks to him drawing attention, my awkward act wouldn’t be noticed.

“Then cooperate nicely. You wouldn’t have had to go through all this pain.”

“…”

‘Gilbert.’

Even as I eavesdropped, I tried to keep my breathing steady, pretending to be asleep.

“With that brilliant brain of yours, you should’ve thought about it.”

Gilbert sounded irritated—perhaps still annoyed by something Havel said earlier.

But Havel didn’t seem fazed in the slightest.

“Hmm. I suppose you have a point.”

He even replied in his usual composed tone.

“Yeah, let’s make this easy on both of us. Though… it’s not like you’ll have a choice soon anyway.”

After a brief silence, Gilbert slammed the door hard enough to shake the room and left.

Havel clicked his tongue.

“…Tch. Can’t read that man at all. Anyway, he’s gone now. Let’s continue.”

I used my strength to sit up.
Because I’d loosened the ropes earlier, they came undone faster than I expected.

Once free, I rushed over to untie Havel and Marianne.

As I was working on the rope around Marianne’s ankles, Havel flexed his wrists and spoke.

“This place… is actually Baron Duntin’s villa.”

“…Who’s that?”

“A boastful man who loves traveling—not that it matters. The point is, it’s a place no one visits regularly.”

I finished untying Marianne and gently shook her, trying to wake her up, but she didn’t respond.

Havel continued.

“The Baron’s connection here is probably minimal. They’re just using an empty house.
No way they’re planning to stay long—they’ll move again soon.”

“…Right.”

“If we only had to endure, we’d have a chance of survival.
But that’s why we have to resolve this before then.
Once their reinforcements or whoever hired them arrives, things will get worse.”

I tilted my head. Something didn’t add up.

“Why would just holding out give us a chance? Havel, is someone coming to rescue us?”

He paused, scanning the room carefully, then looked at me and asked suddenly,

“Disciple, isn’t Blair Hilberk the one who buys your clothes?”

‘What does that have to do with anything?’

I blinked, not following, so he elaborated.

“She’s surely assigned someone to watch you. Once news reaches her, she’ll come for you.
That woman’s that type.”

‘Blair… would come for me? But why?’

“What type of person do you mean?”

“The type who can’t stand having what’s hers taken away.”

I couldn’t quite understand what he meant.
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t imagine Blair helping me that much.

“Fortunately, I have good hearing—and I’m decent at pretending to be someone important.”

“So you’re saying we should stay alert and buy time, huh.
Why didn’t you just say that from the start?”

“That’s what I should do. What you should do is a bit different.”

“…?”

While crawling around, looking for something, Havel straightened and pointed beneath the floor.

There was a small gap—barely big enough for me to squeeze through.

“While I cause a distraction, you hide yourself there and escape if you can.”

“…Why just me? We can wait together.”

He clicked his tongue lightly and sat back down.

“What I’ve said so far is the best-case scenario.
My predictions are rarely wrong, but if I am this time…”

He took a quiet breath. I couldn’t see his face, only his back.

“…then the risk we face is all three of us dying.
And I don’t gamble with those odds.”

His sharp, unwavering gaze turned toward me.

“So I’m suggesting the option with the highest probability of success.”

A metallic taste filled my mouth from my cracked lip. I moved closer, standing in front of him.

He still looked calm—too calm.

‘Why that expression?’

Havel’s reasoning sounded logical, even practical. But in the end, there was only one conclusion.

I’ll buy you time, even if it kills me. So you escape.

I barely swallowed down a sob.

‘Why do people who’ve accepted death always wear that same calm face?’

Aria had looked the same—no hesitation at all when she faced the enemy.

‘You expect me to go through that again?’

No way. I didn’t want to die. I came here to live.

But I didn’t want to live at the cost of Havel’s or Marianne’s lives either.

‘That would just add another debt I could never repay.’

Havel flinched slightly at my expression.

I looked him straight in the eye and said, slowly and firmly,

“I’m not running away alone.
If that’s your plan, then I’ll think of something else.”

“…Why bet on such a slim chance?”

“Because my great teacher took a gamble on the slim chance called me.
So why shouldn’t I?”

Havel’s eyes widened.
While he was still taken aback, I moved to Marianne, still lying unconscious.

‘I’m sorry, Marianne…’

I started searching her clothes for any hidden weapons.
Rude, yes—but under the circumstances, she’d understand.

I found about five small knives when Havel finally spoke in a low voice.

“I wasn’t gambling on you. I just thought it was the better option.”

I kept searching, but nothing else turned up—just a random piece of candy, which I pocketed anyway.

Then I turned back to Havel.

“Why? What makes that the better option?”