Ch. 81
The Young Master I Carefully Raised Became ObsessiveThis chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
Notes
TN: Don't worry guys, they'll be able to escape through power of Laila hehe *wink*
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
TN: Don't worry guys, they'll be able to escape through power of Laila hehe *wink*
I turned around and saw the people I had freed following me. Beyond them, the guards and prison wardens were cursing as they chased after us.
Soon, we arrived at a fork in the path. One side led to a staircase, while the other was a circular tunnel that connected to a nauseating sewer. The red-eyed rat immediately rushed into the tunnel without hesitation.
"I don’t want to go there. Ugh…!"
But the commotion behind us made me hold my breath and rush in.
❋ ❋ ❋
I screamed as I slid downwards. It seemed to be a water drainage passage, and my body became drenched. As I slid down in a daze, a dark area appeared ahead. Without time to think, I slammed onto the floor, and foul-smelling water splashed everywhere.
I quickly got up and looked around. It was a larger area than the tunnel I had come from.
"Is this a drainage system?"
At that moment, the commotion behind me grew louder, and people began to appear one by one.
"Ugh, what is this?"
They gasped while looking at the water that reached their ankles. Although it was hard to see in the dim light, the water was obviously not clear.
"At least it hasn't filled up completely," one of them muttered, inspecting the water with his feet.
I approached him. "You still haven't told me your name."
"Oh, my name? It's Zikard."
"Zikard?"
The name sounded familiar.
Seeing me fail to recognize him right away, Zikard chuckled. "Don’t you remember the fire at the Duke Orchid Mansion? Or have you really forgotten about me?"
A flash of memory streaked across my mind like a shooting star.
"Wait, are you Zikard, Ardion’s swordsmanship instructor?"
"Ah, now you remember."
"How did this happen?"
Zikard frowned. "It’s a long story…"
At that moment, the physician and Duke Delrit approached, glancing nervously at the tunnel we had just come down from.
"We should hurry. They’ve seen where we’re headed, and we could be caught."
Suddenly, an uncomfortable ringing sensation filled my head. It felt different from when I had no mana.
Seeing me hold my head, Derol looked at me with concern. "Master, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Where should we go next?"
Derol walked over to the red-eyed rat. The rat looked behind before quickly heading forward.
I followed the rat through the tunnel. The water splashing against my feet was unpleasant, but there was no helping it. As long as we could escape the prison, that would be enough. As I walked behind the rat, I glanced back. Fortunately, the people I had freed seemed to have made it here safely.
Zikard walked a little apart from me.
I deliberately slowed my pace and gradually got closer to him. "I’m curious how you ended up here."
Zikard glanced at me sideways but kept quiet.
I reminded him of what had happened earlier. "I kept my promise, so shouldn’t you keep yours?"
Zikard let out a small laugh and crossed his arms. "That promise is already over, isn’t it?"
With nothing more to say, I watched him. Compared to the face I had barely remembered earlier, his current expression seemed much sharper. Back then, he had looked like a carefree gentleman, and I hadn’t trusted him.
"By the way, you don’t have your sword."
"My sword was taken, and I lost my profession too."
I could guess who the mage he had mentioned was. "Was it because of Serina?"
Zikard’s face instantly hardened. "How do you know?"
"I’m planning to kill her myself."
"Is she still alive?"
"Yes, probably. She gave my mana to Rowell, so she should still be alive somewhere around."
Zikard’s expression turned grim, and his clenched fists trembled slightly. "Damn, I should have dealt with her back then."
I too regretted it. If I had known what kind of person Serina was, I would never have let Ardion give me his mana.
Now that I remembered her, I wondered where she was.
She certainly lived a tough life, like how I lived, I suppose.
Zikard said, "As soon as I get out of here, I’ll find Serina. It’s time to settle scores with her after all that I’ve gone through.”
"Serina is probably near Rowell. She acted according to Rowell’s aims.”
Zikard nodded. It seemed he agreed with what I said.
I looked at him thoughtfully and asked a question that had been bothering me. "By the way, how did you end up with Ardion on the frontier?"
Zikard paused to think for a moment before slowly speaking. "I was practicing swordsmanship late at night when I saw Ardion carrying just a scabbard, heading somewhere. It seemed odd, so I followed him. He said he was going to the frontier."
"So you just followed him without any questions?"
"I didn’t want to stay at that mansion any longer, and Ardion’s sword skills were impressive. I wanted to see more of it, so I went with him."
I was slightly impressed. In a way, it seemed that Zikard was serious about swordsmanship.
Derol came running over. “Master, the path is blocked by a pile of garbage.”
“The path is blocked?”
Then the red-eyed rat came running. I flinched. It got up on both feet. It was taller than Derol.
Derol approached the red-eyed rat. I heard a few squeaks, and Derol ran back to me.
“Until a few days ago, people could pass through, but now, it’s completely blocked.”
I headed towards the garbage pile with a stern face. People were standing around, all looking sad.
“If I can’t get out here, will I be trapped here?”
“I came here to avoid prison, but I feel like I’m trapped in a worse place.”
“Is there no other way?” someone asked me.
I looked at Derol, but he shook his head.
“It says there’s no other way. This is the only path out.”
I turned around and shouted, “It says there’s no other way. This is the only path out.”
“Then, what…”
“It’s so blocked up that if we clear the trash, we’ll be lucky if we don’t get swept away by the water spray and die.”
Water was definitely flowing between the trash in the garbage pile. On the other side, it seemed like the garbage pile had completely trapped the water.
I looked down at the floor. The water was up to my ankles, and where we were standing was a passage a little taller than a person.
And this passage was longer than I thought…
“We won’t get swept away like that even if we clear the garbage pile. After all, it’s only this passage, and the water here isn’t that deep.”
“But who’s going to clear away all the dirty trash?”
“We have to clear it up together. Otherwise, we’ll die.”
The physician started to clear the trash from above first. People looked at each other and gathered around the physician.
I looked at the passage and estimated the amount of trash. It was as tall as a person, and water was already flowing from above. It was obvious that everyone would be swept away.
I approached the people clearing the trash. The water quickly overflowed through the garbage pile. The physician and Zikard were clearing the trash as water flowed over their arms.
“I think it’s going to get more dangerous. Can you all stay against the wall for a moment?”
The physician turned around. “Are you going to try using water magic?”
“Yes, it’s dangerous to keep clearing the trash like this, and I think it’ll be faster.
”
“That’s a good idea, but…”
Suddenly, a sharp voice rang out from afar. “Where are you? I swear I’ll catch every last one of you…!”
Everyone’s faces hardened. It was the guard’s voice.
“There’s no time to waste.”
Hearing that, the people hurriedly pressed against the wall. I used water magic on their feet one by one, making heavy stones wrap around their feet.
And finally, as I finished and stood up, my head felt dizzy for a moment, and I almost tripped.
Derol said, “Master, are you okay?”
“I’m okay.”
My head had been hurting since a while ago, but it wasn’t enough to make me collapse. I held out my hand to Derol. “Derol, stay on my head. The water will overflow soon.”
At that moment, the red-eyed rat approached. I held out my hand to the rat as well. It saw Derol on my hand and climbed onto it. It felt heavy, different from Derol’s weight.
I forced a smile and held the rat on my head. “Derol, hold on to my hair tightly. It’s okay if a few of my hairs fall out.”
“But your precious…”
“Derol, your life is more important than my hair. And the red-eyed rat guided us here.”
“Understood. But I’ll hold it so that you don’t get hurt.”
At that moment, I felt the gazes of the people. They looked slightly surprised at the rat on my head.
“Are you okay? The rat on your head…” The physician pointed at my head with a disgusted face.
I gave a nod in assurance. “If these two weren’t there, we wouldn’t have even come this far.”
The physician nodded in understanding, then immediately stood against the wall.
I made a circle of water with my hands. If the amount of mana was just right, the circle of water would explode like a bomb.
“Everyone, stick close to the wall as much as possible. The water might suddenly overflow.”
The people nodded and stuck to the wall. I took a deep breath. Before I knew it, a large water ball had formed in my hands. It was almost the size of a watermelon, and it felt heavy to hold with both hands.
It was the first time I made one this big.
Please, listen to my plea.
I prayed to all the gods and threw the water bomb. At the same time, the water spread out widely and poured out all at once.