𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕𝟕
𝔞𝚠𝕖ḃ̇𝕤𝚝𝕠𝘳ɪė̇𝘴.𝔠ᴏ𝙢
「 𝘼𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙝𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡? 𝙒𝙝𝙮? 」
Well, if they planned to raid, the best time would have been before the exhibition ended, this morning, but the timing is very coincidental.
If they had been a little late, they might have run into Black Yin, who was stealing the Lantern of the Glowing Night.
I could also feel it intuitively.
The fact that the exhibition hall was raided would be closely related to the main story that will take place this time.
「. . . 𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣. 」
My prediction seemed to be correct. Not long after, an urgent message came from the Royal Academy of Spain.
It was that Princess Laura had been kidnapped.
“. . . What the heck is going on?”
As Jung Han-sol said, the situation is not normal.
It didn’t end there. Laura was not the only one who was kidnapped.
In addition, some of the academy students from various countries gathered at the venue disappeared.
And among them were Yoo Ha-on and Baek Eun-seo from Cheonghwa Academy.
Kwaang.
“This is crazy! How did they take the students away so easily in a venue where there are so many people watching?”
Baek Ji-eun, one of the accompanying teachers, slammed the wall as if she couldn’t understand.
When we asked around in a hurry, there was an eyewitness account that Yoo Ha-on and Baek Eun-seo were talking to Princess Laura.
Only then was I able to grasp the general story.
「 𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡. 」
Harvey Martinez.
Judging from the traits he possesses, he must have been a great master of transformation.
It is highly probable that he first kidnapped the princess, took her form, gained trust, and easily lured other students.
As he was an aide to the princess, it would not have been difficult for him to subdue the bodyguards as he pleased.
「. . . 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙤, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚. 」
It doesn’t add up that he did all this alone. If my guess is correct, there must be some kind of collaborator.
While we were immersed in shock, new news came.
The demands of the group that kidnapped the princess and the students were revealed.
“. . . If you want everyone back, release a prisoner held in a special prison.”
“Huh, who the hell is that?”
“Damian of the Red Blood. He is a former special-grade fugitive who was a royal knight.”
I don’t know who he is, but judging from the hardened faces of the royal family, he doesn’t seem to be an ordinary person.
“Damian is a very dangerous man. If he is released, he will surely bring greater chaos to the world.”
In the end, it meant that it was a demand that could not be met.
The academy teachers calmly asked questions and sorted out the situation.
“You must have identified the location of the criminal, right?”
“We are currently mobilizing all personnel to narrow down the encirclement. However. . . . . .”
The man, who paused for a moment, opened his mouth again, looking embarrassed.
“The trace has completely disappeared from the middle. It’s as if they flew into the sky.”
“Then, in the end, did you miss the opponent?”
“. . . I’m sorry, but that’s the current situation.”
Hearing it roughly, the situation seemed to be worse than expected.
Especially if we completely lost track of the criminal, we would have no way of responding to them afterwards.
「 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙧𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩? 」
It wasn’t easy, no matter how thoroughly planned.
It’s not even been that long since the incident started.
At that, I thought of one technique in my head that satisfied those conditions.
「 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙧? 」
Then it makes sense that the traces have completely disappeared.
If they had prepared the plan in advance, it would not have been impossible, as long as there was a skilled barrier user.
“. . . First of all, you guys wait here with the supervising teacher. We will cooperate with the authorities to help search for the criminals.”
As the teachers dispersed, the remaining students gathered with people from other countries and waited for the situation to be resolved.
However, even after an hour, two hours, there was no change.
Only the response from the other side became more aggressive.
『 There’s no response. It seems that they didn’t understand what I said properly. 』
Now the criminals were filming and sending them to the royal family to present their demands.
Even when the situation did not change, they began to gather the captured students in one place and once again demanded the release of the prisoner.
『 From now on, we will kill one hostage every hour. We hope you make a wise choice if you don’t want the situation to worsen. 』
The contents of the video sent ended there. Behind it, Yoo Ha-on, who had been captured, could be seen, and blood was already dripping from the corner of her mouth, as if she had already fought.
Seeing that, I felt a sudden surge of irritation inside me.
「. . . . . .」
