An Incident Sparked with Inquiry
By the time Phil returned to the mansion, the sun had completely set and night was falling.
“Ma, seriously? A mage hiding among thieves?”
A pitch-black shadow with no visible bottom suddenly materialized in the empty room.
From within it, Phil slowly emerged, crawling his way out like surfacing from deep water.
His expression showed traces of fatigue—something different from usual. It seemed the “Hero of the Shadow” had struggled with his good deeds today.
However, the fact that he’d shown himself meant he’d successfully completed the task.
Once Phil crawled out into his room, he carelessly yanked off the cloak and mask he’d been wearing, tossing them haphazardly.
“I’m exhausted… I should just take a bath and get it over with. If I sleep smelling like this, Kahlua won’t come near me.”
Everyone should still be awake. In fact, if the time was as usual, it would be dinner time right about now.
His stomach was growling too. He’d clean himself up, eat, then sleep.
With that thought, Phil changed into his room clothes and reached for the door to leave.
Then—
(Hmm?)
He heard hurried, rough footsteps from beyond the door.
Curious, Phil twisted the doorknob and poked his face out into the hallway.
“Noisy…”
It was unusual for commotion at this hour. Because of that, he became even more curious about what had happened.
Just as he was thinking this, a servant passing by noticed Phil and hurried over in a panic.
“Master Phil! Where have you been?!”
“Oh, just out in the town for a bit.”
He couldn’t honestly tell them that he’d been helping someone as the “Hero of the Shadow.”
Even after all this time, Phil was still hiding his identity from the servants, regardless of whether they’d actually figured it out or not.
“Anyway, did something happen? The mansion seems unusually noi—”
“Lady Lily has gone missing!”
Huh? At the sudden announcement, Phil found himself momentarily stunned.
Lily had gone missing. That princess who’d never wanted to leave the mansion before, no less. And it happened during the half-day he was gone.
Even if he couldn’t believe it, seeing the servant’s frantic state made him understand that this wasn’t a lie.
Phil suppressed the confusion that welled up within him and asked with sharpened eyes.
“What exactly happened? Don’t tell me you looked away for a second and she got kidnapped like some fool’s plot twist?”
“Y-yes, we did look away for a moment… However, it was only when she was taking tea on the terrace! Besides, the guards have remained vigilant and none of them saw Lady Lily leave!”
“Yet she went missing anyway?”
That didn’t make sense.
In Phil’s mansion, the main gate was constantly monitored by knight guards, and there were no other exits. So if anyone were to leave the mansion, they’d inevitably be spotted.
Yet they claim they didn’t see her face. That raised the question of how she even left in the first place.
Phil didn’t think the knights or servants were lying. After all, if a royal princess were to be kidnapped on their watch, they’d know full well what would happen to them. Besides, there was no merit in it for them whatsoever.
“T-the knights are currently searching the surrounding areas, including the town. Under Lady Kahlua’s orders, we’re conducting the search discreetly so as not to alarm the citizens, but…”
“And where is Kahlua now?”
“She’s searching alongside the knights. Lady Ilya is doing the same!”
It was the right call to have Kahlua and the others search as well.
If Kahlua ran through the town without concern for collateral damage, they’d find her quickly. And if Ilya searched from above, it would be more efficient too. If Phil had been there, he would have given the same orders.
(However, if she’s still not been found from when they discovered her missing earlier until now, that means even Kahlua couldn’t find her. In other words, the possibility that she simply snuck out and got lost is becoming thin.)
As much as he didn’t want to imagine it, based on what he’d heard, it had to be kidnapping.
Who? For what purpose? These questions and anxiety swirled in Phil’s mind. He needed to find her quickly.
(… Calm down. Panicking won’t change the situation. In that case, I should contact the shadowy contacts nearby and increase our search efforts…)
Then, his thoughts suddenly stopped.
Lily had been taking tea on the terrace, and they hadn’t looked away except during that time.
Given the circumstances, she must have been kidnapped during that afternoon tea time. If that’s the case, then Kahlua and Ilya being there yet her still being kidnapped becomes understandable.
Then, what was the person who was with her at the time doing?
What was Sherry-Alarde doing?
The vague sense of discomfort floating in Phil’s mind gradually became clearer.
Because of this, Phil asked the servant with an “I don’t want this to be true” sentiment.
“Hey, what about Lady Sherry?”
“About that! Lady Sherry has gone missing too! Because of that, we’re searching for both Lady Lily and her now!”
“… I understand. You all keep searching. I’ll search too.”
“Understood,” the servant said loudly, and given the circumstances, immediately ran off down the hallway.
Watching the servant’s back disappear, Phil turned around and returned to his room once more.
The moment he closed the door, Phil dissolved into the silence that filled the darkened room. His eyes were sharp, with a strange, dark anger seeping through them, and the corners of his mouth were slightly raised.
No, he wasn’t smiling.
It was just that the emotions he could no longer suppress were overflowing uncontrollably.
(A mage like Sherry wouldn’t lose to some random person.)
No matter who the opponent was, a mage with enough power to shift the tide of battle itself couldn’t possibly be defeated.
And if, giving it a hundred chances, the opponent was also a mage, the intense sounds of combat would have alerted someone in the mansion to rush over. Before that even, if they were about to be kidnapped, both Lily and Sherry should have screamed.
But that didn’t happen.
Which means—
“If the knights didn’t see anything, then using magic to abduct her is the only damn method!”
Phil began mentally contacting his underworld connections.
What he needed to do was clear. Above all else, finding Lily was the priority.
And once she was found…
“I don’t know what your purpose is, but laying hands on Lily… I’ll absolutely make you regret it.”
She’s someone important who’s entered my circle, he thought.
Phil spat out those words, his expression wrapped in rage.
His enemy was a mage who also ruled a country—a princess of one nation.
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Her head was spinning.
As consciousness slowly returned, the first sensation she felt was that of being shaken.
When Lily opened her eyes, she saw a dimly lit, empty space—or rather, a cave-like place with no infrastructure. The walls were covered with rocks here and there, and torches hung in places throughout.
The space was large enough to run around a little in, and old chairs and tables lay scattered about, apparently left behind by someone.
(Where is this?)
Lily looked around once more, but it was a place she didn’t recognize. The only thing she could determine for certain was that this was definitely not Phil’s mansion.
“Hey, did you wake up?”
Clack. A footstep echoed from the front, accompanied by a voice.
When she lifted her head, a woman slowly emerged from the dimly lit space.
She had long golden hair that glowed faintly in the torchlight, and a beautiful, elegant face marked by shadows. Her clothing was the same casual outfit Lily remembered.
(Where… am I?)
She tried to ask, but then she realized something.
Her voice… wouldn’t come out.
She attempted to shout from deep in her stomach, but her stomach had no strength at all.
“Ah, you can’t speak? I guess my inquiry wasn’t thorough enough. I managed to take away consciousness, but never expected the drawbacks to show up in such a way. It seems less practical than I thought. Perhaps those aspects weren’t accounted for?”
Without a hint of concern, Sherry picked up one of the scattered chairs, set it upright in front of Lily, and sat down.
In fact, she was even humming a little tune.
(Why is she so calm? This is a place I don’t know…)
Lily tried to approach her, putting strength into her legs, but… nothing.
When she looked down, her body was lying limp against the wall as if carelessly discarded. Judging from the coldness she felt against her back and lower half, she must be leaning against the wall as she sat.
She could breathe. She could move her face enough to look around.
But that was all.
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