Ariane already had a hand on my shoulder. I teleported down from the roof of the watch tower to the hedges near the residence.
Through one of the glass windows that lined the building, I could see a wide, empty hallway, so I teleported us inside. We were now fully exposed.
The hallway ran along the perimeter of the residence, its walls decorated with an eclectic selection of furnishings.
Ariane walked lightly to keep her footsteps from being heard. She approached one of the doors lining the hallway and quietly opened it, peering inside.
She waved her hand, indicating for me to follow her into the room. Inside was a wooden table and chairs, all polished to a shine, sitting atop a decorative wooden floor. The walls were also covered with massive paintings. At first I thought it might be a reception room, but a closer look suggested it would be better suited for meetings. The room was dimly lit, making it difficult to see anything.
There was another door directly across from the one we’d just entered. Ariane crossed the room and opened it a crack.
The residence had looked deceptively small from the top of the tower, but now that we were inside, it felt rather spacious. I wondered if this building also had its own dungeon in the basement.
Ariane stepped through the door and out of the meeting room. I followed a few steps behind her.
The next room appeared to be another hallway, about half as wide as the one running along the perimeter. Both sides of the hall were lined with doors, the spaces in between adorned with small paintings. The hall turned to the left at the end, so I couldn’t see what lay beyond.
I teleported to the end of the hall and slowly stuck my head around the corner to get a better look. The hall ended in a wooden door with a latticed window. In front of the door, a guard dozed in a chair. Compared to the other doors in the room, this one seemed strange.
I teleported next to the guard, wrapped my arm around his neck, and began choking him. His eyes opened instantly and his limbs started flailing, but that lasted only a moment before he lost consciousness. Once his body went limp, I put him back into his chair so it’d look like he was still sleeping.
I found a key attached to the guard’s waist with a leather strap, so I ripped it from his body and tried it in the nearby door. The lock released with a satisfying click. I slowly turned the knob and stepped into a small, square room. The only thing inside was a stairwell leading down. Since we were already on the first floor, that meant these stairs led to a basement. Taken together with the guard posted at the door, that suggested my initial hunch was correct.
I called out to Ariane, who’d followed me to this section of the hallway and was busily searching the other rooms.
“Miss Ariane.”
Even though I’d spoken in a low voice, she quickly turned her head in my direction. Apparently, elf ears really were that sensitive.
I gestured with my chin and she nodded, following me into the square room. After checking the stairwell in the center of the room, Ariane led the way down.
Despite the wooden steps, Ariane was somehow able to reach the bottom without making a single sound, almost like a ninja. There was absolutely no way I’d be able to do that in my armor, so I teleported after her. I thought briefly about imitating a certain fire-breathing Indian character from a popular fighting game, if it came to using any of my flame attacks down here, but my thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of battle up ahead.
I could hear a man groaning, followed by the thump of something slumping to the floor. Apparently, there’d been another guard standing watch.
I found myself in a hallway illuminated by several lamps. On my right was a stone wall with three steel-reinforced wooden doors. There were no windows in the doors, and I had no idea what could be on the other side.
“My name is Ariane Glenys Maple. Are any of my comrades being held here?”
Ariane knocked on the first door and identified herself. A reply came back almost instantly.
“A soldier from Maple? I can’t believe my luck! Please, get me out of here!”
Evidently, Maple soldiers were known for their fighting prowess. The woman on the other side of the door sounded slightly nervous, but her relief and excitement were clear.
Ariane rolled the dead guard over to search his body for a key so she could let the woman free, but she came up empty.
She shouted in annoyance, “I can’t find any keys!”
An answer came from the other side of the door. “The owner of this place has them. They put a mana-eater collar on me, so I’m not able to use any spirit magic to break down the door.”
So, only the marquis held the keys? It made a certain amount of sense. If the guards held keys to the room, they could take advantage of the captives whenever they pleased. But if the door could be broken with spirit magic, then we didn’t need to worry about the keys at all.
“Please, step back from the door.”
I took a deep breath and gave the steel-reinforced door a solid kick.
An awful clang resonated throughout the basement as the locking mechanism shattered. The door, covered in only a thin plate of steel, screeched as I shoved it aside, bending under the pressure. With this much power, I could probably escape any jail on my own, if it came down to it.
A thin, pale woman stood on the other side of the twisted door, a look of shock on her face. She had the long ears and green-tinged, blonde hair typical to elves. Her beautiful body was covered in nothing but a thin robe, under which I could faintly see the outline of pink nipples. I quickly redirected my eyes to her hands, which were bound by wooden shackles held together with nails. Elves weren’t known for their brute strength, so it was probably enough to keep her restrained.
For me, however, the wooden shackles broke easily. The enslaved woman rubbed her newly freed wrists before bowing her head low.
“Thank you for your help. Are you also a soldier from Maple?” she spoke, in a slow, gentle voice. Her bob-cut hair shifted gently as she tilted her head to the side, fixing me with a curious look.
“No, I hired him to help me save you.” Ariane popped her head out from behind me, a chagrined look on her face as she explained the situation. “He may look intimidating, but he’s a good guy. You have nothing to worry about.”
She asked me to remove the mana-eater collar. I nodded and summoned the Uncurse spell. A moment later, the metal collar dropped to the ground with a clang.
The woman rubbed her neck gently. “I can’t believe it! I didn’t know there was anyone out there who could lift curses without chanting!”
“Please, take this, if you’d like.” I removed my black cloak and handed it to the scantily dressed woman.
“Thank you so much! W-Wow, this is pretty big…”
After draping the cloak over herself, she looked around the room. Maybe it was my imagination, but she seemed to be in remarkably good spirits despite having been locked away. I couldn’t tell if she was just used to living on the cusp of death, or if all elves were like this. Either way, she came across as quite strong.
“By the way, I heard there were two elves being held here. Do you know anything about that?”
The woman slammed her fist into her hand as if she’d just remembered something.
“That’s right! They took Sena off to the marquis’s room tonight!”
So, Diento had decided to have the other elf brought to him. That meant we’d need to get close to the marquis himself to rescue this Sena. The situation had just gotten much, much worse. If I rescued an elf from the marquis himself, I’d undoubtedly be putting myself on the bad side of the influential people. Considering Diento was violating the laws of the kingdom, he probably wouldn’t want to spread the story about me, but he could still make it difficult for me to move about freely.
“What if we come back for her later? We don’t even know where the marquis is located.”
It wasn’t an easy suggestion for me to make, but Ariane quickly shot me down.
“We can’t do that! If we let this opportunity go, they’ll increase security, and it’ll be even harder to get in next time.”
Of course, she was right. We needed to take advantage of the situation tonight. We’d already come this far. I just needed to steel myself for the next part of the mission. Besides, I couldn’t really leave the other elf in this place.
“The marquis? He’s up in his bedroom on the top floor. I can show you!” The once-enslaved elf made a fist with her right hand.
“I see. Are you familiar with the layout of his residence?”
“Of course I am. I’ve been here two years after all…” She frowned, her eyes drooping slightly.
“Two years… That’s quite a long time.”
“We elves have long lives, so it’s different for us. But I can’t say it’s been short either.”
Ariane stepped up to hurry us along. “We’ve gotta hurry. You said you could lead us to the marquis, umm, Miss…?”
“Oh, I’m Uhna. Pleased to meet you, Ariane. Now, follow me!”
The woman introduced herself quickly, then took the lead and jogged up the stairs. Ariane took off after her, and I followed before they could leave me behind. Given how big this place was, I’d never be able to find them again if I lost them.