GDTEA Chapter 119

Kidnapping

It didn’t take much time to slip completely out of the heavily guarded Chelonar Count’s mansion.

No matter how ironclad the security was, there could be no place without gaps where people came and went.

Ren wove through the blind spots in the rotation of the knight order’s patrol routes, carrying Tein on his back. The merchant, hauling a heavy bag, scrambled frantically after Ren.

……Tch.

As he scaled the fence near the back gate connected to the servants’ quarters, Ren glanced at his left hand — which had gone past throbbing and into numbness.

The pain in his hand had worsened from climbing a tree to sneak in through the high second-floor window.

“Hold on tight.”

The moment Tein’s arms — eyes squeezed shut — tightened around his neck, Ren pushed off with his legs and cleared the fence in the blink of an eye. After that, it was smooth going.

Ren wrapped his face more thoroughly in the merchant’s overcoat, then swiftly put distance between himself and the mansion.

A moonless dawn. And a strong gusting wind.

Amid the tension and the chill, Ren suddenly felt a strange sense of déjà vu and turned his head for a moment.

“……”

All he could see was the merchant, panting breathlessly as he struggled up a small hill after him.

Tein, who had turned to look back following Ren’s gaze, tilted his head.

“Ren, is someone chasing us?”

“……No.”

Without knowing the source of the fleeting déjà vu, Ren kept running.

Even with Tein on his back, even with the merchant chasing after him — strangely, his back felt empty.

Am I feeling uneasy? How unlike me.

Inwardly scoffing at himself, Ren crested the hill and was finally able to enter District D.

Joy flickered across the merchant’s face the moment they reached the safe zone — only for Ren to grab him by the scruff of his neck a second later.

“……!”

The merchant, instinctively clamping his own mouth shut, rolled his eyes to follow Ren’s gaze.

Guards were visible between the buildings of District D.

There was no way they’d have made wanted posters yet, but there was no harm in being careful.

I need to get the magic tool first, as quickly as possible.

Ren wiggled his numb fingers.

The finger that had worn the ring felt strangely bare.

“We’ll take the alleys and go around.”

Time was pressing, but there was no other choice.

Ren cradled the now-sleeping Tein in his arms and quietly stepped into the alleyway.

It was fortunate enough that the merchant had a map of District D — they managed to reach the herb shop near the inn without any further trouble.

“I’ll just catch a wink or two……. A-Ah, no, that’s fine. Haha……”

The merchant, who had been planning to hand everything over to Sharti and retreat into the inn for some rest, let out an awkward laugh under Ren’s sharp gaze. Perhaps due to the greed he’d indulged in trying to claim a large share, the flesh of the merchant’s face had sagged noticeably over the course of a single day.

While the merchant grumbled quietly, Ren kept glancing at the bag he was carrying.

I could’ve sworn it moved.

Strangely enough, now there wasn’t so much as a twitch.

Whether she had woken or not, whether she was showing signs of sleepwalking — Ren badly wanted to check right then and there, but he couldn’t carelessly open the bag in the middle of the street. The two of them quickly ascended the stairs of the herb shop building.

……Sha.

With every step toward the room the merchant pointed to, Ren felt the frozen tension in his body beginning to thaw.

The anticipation — or perhaps relief — of seeing Sharti was draining the taut rigidity from his limbs.

It was absurd, the way his body was reacting as though he’d been aching with longing after being apart for only a single day — but there was nothing he could do about it.

The heart that had already been tamed by her was simple, and the corners of his mouth lifted in an automatic reflex, like a tail wagging for its owner.

“Sha—”

After briefly reining in his impatience, Ren knocked and opened the door — and immediately a thick herbal fragrance washed over him.

“Ren?”

His heart reacted to the voice that reached him from the dim room lit only by a small lamp.

He was unconsciously reaching toward the figure in the darkness.

“Oh goodness, my lady!”

The merchant shoved Ren aside and barged into the room first, scurrying straight to Sharti.

Ren, eyes narrowed, followed him inside and shut the door.

And then he understood.

“What’s going on? And at this hour, everyone……”

He could hear the flustered voice — but he could no longer monopolize her expression.

Even as he tried to paint her face in his mind, imagining the expression that had once been his alone to see, it wasn’t easy.

……So this is what it feels like.

The moment he looked at Sharti, he could only tell the placement of her eyes, nose, and mouth — her facial contours, the shape of her eyes, the fullness of her lips, the line of her nose — none of it registered at all.

Even while consciously aware of the magic tool’s existence, it felt as though his very capacity to perceive was being obstructed.

All because a single tool is missing.

The thought that he couldn’t recognize her even when she stood right before his eyes left him feeling strangely low.

Just then, the herbal scent rushed closer, and his numb left hand was suddenly seized.

“Ren! Your hand……! How did — who did this to you?!”

Sharti’s small hands grabbed his left hand, making distressed sounds as she held it.

She was surely making that worried, tearful face.

Ren stared at her blankly for a moment, then quietly withdrew his hand.

“……Something came up. It’s nothing serious.”

He was embarrassed to show off a wound that wasn’t something to be proud of — that he had no right to be proud of.

Glancing briefly at the table as he’d come in, it was covered in evidence of a full day’s hard work, shut away in the herb shop.

While Sharti had been diligently making the antidote on her own, he had come back having caused nothing but trouble — he couldn’t even lift his head.

“Stop that. Tell me what happened.”

Sharti’s voice, filled with worry, made his heart stir.

A shameless, impudent part of him was about to surface — but the merchant, who had been watching with narrowed eyes from behind her, wasn’t about to stay silent.

“I’m the one who brought the Count’s daughter! Me!”

“What?!”

Sharti spun around, leaving Ren standing there alone, and turned back to the merchant.

The merchant poured out a day’s worth of pent-up grievances in sorrowful torrents.

“Your husband went and caused a proper disaster! We were trying to escape! How could we leave empty-handed after all that? How do you just walk away and pretend not to notice a sick patient?!”

“Don’t tell me you actually kidnapped someone.”

“No, well, it’s not exactly kidnapping……. We just brought her along for a bit. Very carefully.”

Watching Sharti’s reaction nervously, the merchant carefully opened the bag he had set down on the floor.

“Huh—!”

“……!”

Both the merchant, who had been about to show what was inside, and Sharti standing nearby froze in place with their hands over their mouths.

Sensing something was off from their reaction, Ren — who had been laying Tein down on the table — walked over.

And Ren too let out a sharp, involuntary intake of breath and flinched.

“……”

Inside the bag, the Count’s daughter — Eryl — who should have been asleep, was staring up at them with two vacant, unfocused eyes.

Her face devoid of any vitality, expressionless, made it feel as though they were looking at an unsettling doll.

****

Sharti stared at the dark blue liquid in her hand, lost in thought.

Ren and the merchant kept their mouths shut, waiting for Sharti’s decision.

What do I do.

Sharti kept glancing at Eryl, who was sitting blankly on the blanket.

At present, Eryl had her eyes open but her consciousness could effectively be considered asleep. Sharti had touched her body to examine her, but there was barely any reaction to speak of.

Yet the child’s large eyes kept rolling around — and that was unsettling.

This is more severe than what was written in the report.

Sharti recalled the contents of the [Experimental Report on the Combined Use of Poison, Forbidden Magic, and Curses] that she had tucked away in her bag.

Reading the passage about a successful experiment conducted on a child had made her skin crawl — but seeing it confirmed with her own eyes brought a different kind of horror entirely.

It was a good thing so many shops stay open at night.

Having caught a thread of the poison through the report, she had purchased the additional ingredients she had lacked or newly needed, returned, and finished the antidote.

Of course, a single antidote made by her alone would be of no use in fully counteracting all three evils — poison, forbidden magic, and curse.

Sharti worked through the three evils written in the report in her own way.

Antidote, then healing magic, and last — a blessing.

She had a method for everything up to the healing magic, but what gave her pause was the blessing required to lift the curse.

If a curse was something cast with the intent to harm someone, then wasn’t a blessing a prayer for someone’s happiness?

With only an abstract interpretation coming to mind, she was once again at a dead end.

That was precisely when Ren had returned.

The symptoms and condition this child is showing match the report.

She had her confirmation — but she lacked confidence.

She wanted to at least use the antidote to rid her of the sleepwalking symptoms, but there was a chance of side effects from the forbidden magic and curse still remaining in the body.

“……”

Sharti unconsciously looked toward Ren.

Meeting the deep teal eyes that were watching only her, her grip on the vial tightened.

If, when I first met Ren, the antidote I used on him was incomplete — and that’s why he’s suffering from memory loss……

Then what on earth were the lingering side effects of the forbidden magic and curse still inside his body?

“Huu……”

Sharti steadied her anxious heart and gripped the antidote tightly.

If she stayed frightened, paralyzed by the fear of imperfection, she would never be able to do anything.

Saving a person required belief that the patient would be alright — and.

……The patient’s will.

Struck by a sudden hypothesis, Sharti turned around.

She reached over and shook Tein, who had been sound asleep on the table.

“Teacherr……?”

The drowsy voice and sleep-filled face brought a wave of guilt washing over her like a tide.

Sharti touched Tein’s soft cheek, and the child’s eyes snapped wide open.

“Teacher!”

Reunited safely with his teacher, Tein flung both arms wide and threw himself into Sharti’s embrace.

The sharp little child told Sharti he’d been doing just fine, reassuring her first.

Only then did Sharti smile and hug Tein back tightly.

“Tein, I heard you were the one who wanted to bring that Count’s daughter?”

“Yes. Little Angel is very sick. Teacher might be able to heal her.”

Tein whispered, watching Sharti’s expression carefully.

Sharti ended her brief moment of deliberation and placed the antidote in Tein’s hand.

Tein blinked at the deep blue liquid he had never seen before.

“I’ve made the antidote, but I can’t guarantee its effects yet. You know too, right, Tein? There were cases where things went wrong even when using a verified antidote. This time it could be even more dangerous, or it might have no effect at all.”

Tein, who had been staring up at Sharti with a clear face, glanced over at Ren.

“Even so, I intend to use this antidote on the Count’s daughter. What do you think, Tein?”

“Teacher’s medicine saved Ren. There’s nothing in his head, but Ren is alive. Healthy, except for his head.”

Tein gave a decisive nod.

“Little Angel is very sick right now. It’s dangerous. If it takes too long, we won’t be able to see Little Angel’s smile anymore.”

“……Right.”

Sharti took a deep breath.

“If Tein helps me, a way might present itself.”

“I believe in Teacher!”

Sharti leaned in and whispered quietly into the eager Tein’s ear.

Tein cupped a hand behind his ear, vowing to catch every last word — and his eyes grew resolute.

“—Teacher is amazing. Teacher is wonderful!”

“Do you think you can do it?”

“I can do it!”

After exchanging a pinky promise with Sharti, Tein hopped down from the table.

Noticing Eryl belatedly, Tein approached her with careful steps.

“Little Angel is not alone.”

The child’s small hand clasped the even smaller hand firmly.

“Ren! It’s time to go back!”

“I’ll take them and come back.”

“Okay.”

Ren, having roughly pieced together Sharti and Tein’s plan, was lifting Tein and Eryl into his arms — when the merchant, who had been checking out the window, ducked quickly beneath the sill in a panic.

“The-there are Chelonar knights in the street!”

“……!”

“Seeing them going around here and there with the guards, it seems they’ve noticed that the young lady has gone missing……?”

It was because they had taken too long.

There was no clear way to shake off the knight order and the guards now combing every street, then sneak back into the Count’s mansion.

Except for one.

Ren looked at Eryl with resigned eyes, then met Tein’s gaze.

It was inevitably his turn to make the sacrifice.

The Chelonar Count’s knight order was enough to drive anyone mad.

How could they possibly fail to keep track of a single child, and end up scouring the entire county in the dead of night every time?

On top of that, with Count Chelonar away this time around, a significant number of people had vanished in the night.

“We couldn’t find them in Districts A or B.”

“Same for District C.”

“Damn it! We must find them in District D!”

The mercenary who assaulted the knights, the merchant who ran a con, and that child doctor too.

Surely they had all been working together, sneaking into the mansion to kidnap the young lady.

Just as the knight commander was gritting his teeth and pressing the search harder——

“Commander! Here, inside some strange bag……!”

What the knights carefully carried over, reporting they had discovered it during the search, was a large bag.

A strangely familiar bag — the commander reached out to check inside, and within it were two small children, sleeping soundly with their hands clasped tightly together.

“——Found them!”

And so Tein, having safely returned to the mansion along with Eryl, answered the knight commander’s questions the next day like this:

“A bear! Tried to take Little Angel! I stopped it! So we both got kidnapped together!”