“I don't know. He was supposed to bring her by the appointed time, but we can't reach him.”
“Did he die or something?”
“No way. You saw his regeneration ability. He's impossible to kill.”
Lunia listened intently to the devils' conversation.
Since Lunia couldn't resist at all, they talked freely without much thought.
Anyway, Lunia was a hostage. They had no intention of letting her go unharmed. Especially since she was their only bargaining chip with Aster or Frondier.
Right now, Lunia had almost no information. She had always been a model student, diligently attending Constel and focusing on improving her skills. Now, every little piece of information was precious.
“We lost more than expected at Constel.”
“Yeah, I didn't know they'd be that strong. Plus, we couldn't catch the one we were originally after.”
Devils took death lightly. For Lunia, who didn't know that, it was a very strange conversation.
‘There was someone else they were originally trying to catch.’
Hearing that made her more certain.
She hated to admit it, but it seemed she was behind in terms of growth at Constel. Of course, she was far superior to other ordinary students, but that was only in terms of theory, exams, and assignments. Lunia lacked actual combat experience.
‘……Because of that, I'm causing trouble for my friends. Great job, Lunia Fricell.’
Lunia was self-deprecating.
Meanwhile, the devils' conversation continued.
“But isn't this dangerous? What if they come when Marco is still out of contact?”
“What do you mean what if? We just do as planned. We exchange this woman for that guy, Frondier.”
At that, Lunia raised her head.
“Yeah. We were going to tell you anyway, but your life is going to be exchanged for that man's.”
Lunia was a little surprised.
Lunia had been sure they kidnapped her to use her against Aster.
From her point of view, it was natural. After all, Lunia wasn't that close to Frondier. Maybe Aten or Elodie, but Lunia had always been with Aster, and they were childhood friends.
But the person they mentioned was, out of the blue, Frondier.
Knowing or not knowing that, the devil pointed his finger at Lunia's restraints.
“That's good stuff, right? No matter how great someone is, with that, they can't use mana at all. The cheap ones can be forced open, but that one can't be.”
Lunia was experiencing that firsthand.
When she was bound by these restraints, of course, she also tried to use magic somehow.
The result was a complete failure. She couldn't even draw out a single ounce of mana.
“Whether it's Frondier or Aster, whoever comes here first, we'll offer the exchange. And put the restraints on them. They'll do as we say if they don't want to see your head roll.”
“……What is your purpose?”
“Heh heh, who knows.”
The devil kept his mouth shut as if it were some great secret.
It was a great secret, but it was one that Frondier already knew. To make the Empire the battlefield for the war the devils would start.
Of course, if Lunia heard it, it would be quite a fresh story.
‘……What is Aster going to do?’
Lunia was worried about Aster.
In a hostage situation, she couldn't imagine Aster abandoning the hostage.
It wasn't because the hostage was Lunia. Aster would try to save anyone. There would probably be no difference for Lunia.
That made Lunia a little sad, but it was because of that that she was by his side.
‘With them keeping such a close watch from all sides, I don't think Aster will be able to save me,’
Just as Lunia raised her face full of worry towards the ceiling.
A woman clinging to the ceiling of the building like a spider.
The woman soon took out a long needle-like object she was holding and fixed it between the cracks in the ceiling, then descended silently.
She hung a thread on the needle, hung herself on the thread, and gently descended like a spider lowering its height.
Lunia was speechless at the absurd sight.
Right now, the devils were on guard against Aster or anyone else approaching from all sides, so there were no eyes on Lunia herself.
They were only watching the outside, not looking up.
But that was only until now. Because Selena was still up there on the high ceiling.
If Selena really tried to come down like that and save Lunia, she would definitely be caught. Expecting not to be noticed until then was something that would only happen in novels.
As expected, Selena stopped her descent midway. She wasn't going to do something as reckless as coming down like that.
Instead, Selena rummaged through her pocket in midair and took something out.
She took it out, but Lunia couldn't see it well. It was something too thin. Selena held it with her fingertips and slowly lowered it towards Lunia.
Selena had come down with a thread tied to a needle, so it wasn't strange for her to be holding a thread.
But what was she going to do by lowering it? Lunia's hands were tied. It wasn't logical for her to grab the thread and climb up.
Surely she wasn't asking her to bite it with her mouth?
‘Wait, if I look closely.’
As Selena gradually lowered the thread, Lunia began to see it little by little.
The thread didn't seem to be long in the first place, as knots were visible. It was tied together to make a short thread longer.
Moreover, it wasn't colorless and transparent, but had a faint color.
……It was the same color as Selena's hair.
The moment Lunia reached that thought, Selena's long hair lightly brushed her cheek.
At that moment, Selena disappeared without a trace.
It was amazing how she disappeared, but Lunia was flustered by how she vanished so unceremoniously.
As if she had come for that brief moment.
As if she had accomplished her goal, Selena disappeared.