Chapter 277: Captured and Lost (Iola + Han)

In the cold wake of the night, Iolathane Sargon had her cloak draped over her shoulders and travelled on horseback through the city—she had a tassel in her hand and gripped it tightly. 

It was supposed to be easy to escape when you had a Lord backing you.

But then the Princess saw things that she thought weren't supposed to be happening in the city of Gloria. There were buildings in terrible conditions, a number of beggars that littered the street. Her gaze flitted amongst the streets and then caught on something unimaginable. She caught three people cornering a group of young children in one of the alleys and felt a cold sensation crawl on her skin despite her Lamia's Cloak shadowing her.

One of them had turned back and eyed her right back.

It was a woman with eyes that glowed brightly—piercing the night.

Her horse galloped away in that instant to get away, and she gritted her teeth. It was a passing glance. Nobody would bother with her. She soon reached the walls and just as promised, the Guardsmen in the gates allowed her to go throughout without even much as an inspection. 

The seal in the tassel was of Harrington's origin and gave her this leeway? She was supposed to be pleased—her own carriage from just a little week ago, which felt like a lifetime ago, had managed to burst through the city without any hindrance due to her position to deliver something to her aunt.

And now she was gone.

There was no more turning back at all—

Until she found her back pressed against a hard tree. A dead animal several feet away, burning amongst the forest. The scorch of the ground burned her nostrils and stung her eyes. She felt a force keeping her in place and trapping her… the sensation verged on agony. And yet she had tried. The Princess raised a hand for her lighting charged ring—and felt a slap across the face.

She was stunned.

No opportunity to talk and not even use her aura. Her gaze blurred on the number of people in front of her… Bandits? Thieves? How were they so organized enough—no, she was just stupid. Too confident in her near-relic class equipment that could have been enough to burn a village to the ground in the right hands.

She should have accepted the offer to leave in the morning with hired adventurers and protectors. But this was her situation now. The Princess assumed that it was safe, that the city of Gloria and the kingdom of Yegarian was rid of dangerous elements like criminals and crooks.

This was how far the reality of things to her own warped imagination of the world, wasn't it?

An unknown Princess captured by a brigand of thieves and petty criminals. What an untimely end.

Or so she thought.

Until one of them bowed to her slightly. Underneath the person's bandage-wrapped face was a grin. "Forgive us for the harsh greeting, Your Highness, and apologies for your horse as well. We may have gotten too overboard—we're glad to see you relatively unharmed."

Despite the aching in her body, her blood ran cold.

Nobody was supposed to know of her arrival… how did they figure it out? Her thoughts flew to the Harrington boy. But did he have enough time to 'help' her out and send an expedition against her all the same time? He wouldn't have wasted time to do such a thing and could have held her there in the Academy if he wished.

Who else could have known?

"Ah, I hope the Princess isn't mum from shock. Easy on the Binding Spell—you might squish her head off."

A few laughs erupted, but the tension that kept her in place slightly loosened.

She gritted her teeth and stared at the one in front of her. "What do you want from me?" She didn't exactly confirm it, but if they had a Mage, then a truth spell was all they needed to verify it. The Princess needed to hold her tongue now and avoid it, didn't she?

… the kingdom's safety was more important than her.

If she really had been cared for, then her father would have found her quite easily. He would have asked her Bodyguard about the delay. The only reason why she managed to layabout for a couple of days was because of his lack of concern besides her being another piece in his kingdom's board. The man obviously thought she'd come back running after a few days of freedom.

But she wasn't ever going to get back unless he offered a bounty to these men. Or whatever it was that they had planned for her.

A gruff voice spoke, "Strip her down."

"Huh…?"

A susurration formed in the group, and the Princess tightened her jaw. Her gaze struck at each one of them—she would bite whoever was in her personal space. Even if she couldn't kick or even move her body, she would chew something out.

She wasn't going down helplessly.

"Strip her gear, fools. Those are all supposedly high class and would fetch us a good sum."

The Princess found herself relaxing, but then chased the thought away. Standards or not, she would refuse to give in to any of their agendas. She felt her fingers twitch and the itchy feeling of the bronze band on her ring finger.

"Don't think of moving—before you can even use a ring of yours, you'd have an arrow in the heart. Whether you end up alive or dead is irrelevant to us, unless you can actually make yourself useful."

The Princess considered her chances and glared. "So be it."

.. .

Han opened the door and—found it empty. 

Except for the rats.

It littered the entire room with a horrendous stench that he immediately covered his mouth. He shut the door and then sank down the cold floor; he clasped a hand to his forehead. No person would have survived staying in there for hours without end.

But she was gone.

And Timothy was gone too.

Did they go their separate ways or had the man brought her along? He had no idea, none at all. "I mean, it's over… I should get to class. What's done is done." Han had no time to sit down here and do nothing. It wasn't like his life was controlled and overly connected with those two.

Han Jing needed to concentrate, and so he slapped a hand over his face.

Somehow it was so easy to get pulled away and sink into his persona as 'Han' and get attached for no reason. He thought that the Princess looked like his neighbor, but did that matter?

The same went for Timothy.

If he pulled up the Companion tab—he still found the name 'Timothy Cook' there and saw all the information that was available in regards to him. Until his eyes focused on the 'Dismiss Companion' button and he frowned. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm not collecting them like some monster pet or anything like that. Stupid." 

And then he sighed and pulled himself up.

His gaze scanned around the Dewrowan Tower. "Ah, glad nobody else was here to see that."

"See that pitiful act you were making?" a voice asked. Out from thin air, the presence of the Illusory Mage appeared.

Han glared at him, "Were you following me around all invisible—that's kind of fucked up, man."

"... I did not expect you to be this harsh." Kai cleared his throat. "But I suppose that is one of the many natural reactions to losing people important to you."

He frowned, "Even if that wasn't the case, it's still not cool for you to watch people. It's hella creepy."

"Says the Rogue who's supposed to lurk in the dark before killing their mark, how silly."

"How… how did you know my Class?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Kai crossed his arms. "I must confess that I had no intention of revealing my presence… but I would be a monster if I chose to ignore that pathetic look on your face when you saw that the woman in the room was nowhere to be seen."

He blinked and then stared at the Mage. "You know that Iola was with Timothy?"

"I figured it out before you do but was trapped in condition with Her Highness' Skill to not speak about her existence—but unfortunately, Timothy and Ellynn didn't keep their end of the contract and thus I can speak freely about it." Kai explained with a smile on his face. "She left last night with the help of Lord Harrington before everything started going wrong. Or perhaps that was the start of it."

"Wait just a second—Princess?" Han probably shouldn't have focused on this question, but he still had to be sure.

Kai then sighed and folded his hands together, "Indeed. Right under this Academy too, I suppose it makes sense that the Headmaster's levels in being a Headmaster isn't that high for them to not notice. Some higher ruling or supervising type Classes have something close to that from what I've read."

"That doesn't matter to me—what I want to know if she's alright."

"Why are you asking me? I wasn't the one who prepared her escape." Kai chuckled and waved a hand. "Besides, what about Timothy?"

"The guy's surely alright, or haven't you heard or seen what happened in the dining hall?"

The Mage shrugged. "I did—if I had known about it from the start, I would have primarily paid more attention to him than you."

"... for how long have you been spying on me, Kai?" Han didn't like it one bit. What was this guy getting from him? What exactly went through his mind? "Please don't tell me that you've done something like watch me when I'm asleep? I'd have to punch you in the face if you do."

"Aren't you supposed to be chasing after Sir Harrington now to ask about Her Highness?"