Hello again!

Welp, my PC got fried by a lightning strike. Thankfully, only the power supply part got damaged. It shouldn't take too long to get a replacement, hopefully.

Regardless of my personal woe story, here's the next chapter. Cliffhanger is there, but on a much lighter note than the previous chapter.

See you again in the afterword.


[X][X][X]


Second Day, 23:20

"This is already way too late"

"Right. Something must have happened to them"

Hekkeran and Imina looked at each other and went back to the hut. Both Rose and Roberdyck were already asleep on their beds at this time, but the situation has changed so Imina woke Roberdyck up.

"Hey, wake up. We got a situation"

Roberdyck's eyes quickly snapped open, and he went up into sitting position on the bed. He was wearing ordinary clothes as his sleepwear, so it would naturally take some time until he became ready for duty. Rose on the other hand, was sleeping in her full attire, alien-looking boots and all, including the hat, yet she didn't seem to have any discomfort with that. The team had been wondering about it for a while, but they just concluded that she was wearing some kind of magic attire which included such life quality.

"This quickly?"

While asking that question, Roberdyck quickly went to the spot where he had put his gears and began getting changed.

"Yes. Sheep and Arche are way too late. Keep watch here while the two of us scout the situation for info. If we're not back in 15 minutes, assume the worst and flee"

"Alright. Be careful out there, Leader"

Hekkeran and Imina looked at each other and nodded, then they left the hut. They silently walked through the garden into the front entrance since they didn't have the key of the side entrance. During the night, the front door had two private guards stationed right in front of it in addition to the two guards at the entrance gate. The door was locked, but a spare key of the door was entrusted to one of the guards.

Hekkeran boldly walked to the guards, and both of them were not fazed at all.

"Hello there, Mr. Adventurer. Your shift now, I assume?"

"Yep, would you care to open the door for me?"

"Why the front door tonight?"

"Gotta make our patrol routes unpredictable to potential enemies after all"

"Alright, that makes sense"

The guard then unlocked the door and opened it.

"In you go"

"Thank you, Valek"

Hekkeran and Imina entered the mansion without trouble. Hekkeran was glad that befriending one of the guards yesterday had shown its benefit, though he was not really fond of the fact that a situation had come up for him to use that benefit.

It was a given that the mansion had become dark at this hour. All the residents and staffs were already asleep, and so the ones awake were only the night shift guards outside.

Hekkeran took an illumination magic tool from his bag and activated it. It functioned the same way as a torch, but without the heat and potential fire hazard. For Hekkeran, it was still not enough to provide clear vision of his surroundings. However, for Imina it was quite a godsend, enabling her recon skills as Ranger to function more effectively than in a total darkness.

Imina then took out an item from her bag. It was a magic item which she and Hekkeran had bought in preparation for a case when a member went missing without explanation. Its form was a small bag filled with powdery substance. This item was a magic consumable named Tracker Wisp Powder. By applying a tiny part of a certain person into the bag beforehand, be it a strand of hair, a drop of sweat, a drop of blood, or anything similar, the powder would provide a limited guidance towards the tracks of the person in question as long as they had been there quite recently.

Imina checked to make sure this one bag was the one set for Arche, and then she threw a small amount of the substance up in the air.

The thrown substance glowed green like a bunch of tiny wisps and spread to all directions. Seconds later, some spots on the floor started to glow green in the shape of footprints. Some glowed slightly brighter than others.

Imina approached the the brighter spots and threw some more of the substance in the air. More footprints showed up, and the two began to follow the footprints.

The footprints guided them to the hallway of the second floor. Both Hekkeran and Imina walked very slowly and cautiously, their senses put into overdrive for any possible ambush coming at them.

And then, the track ended with a very apparent sign.

The last glowing spot of the track was a complete silhouette of Arche flat on the floor instead of footprints, in a pose which was clearly telling them that she had been knocked unconscious right there and then brought away somewhere, most likely along with Sheep as well. There were no more tracks afterwards.

"Hey, over there"

Imina noticed something on the floor and went to pick it up. It was the side entrance key.

"Let's go back right away. It's too dangerous for just two of us now"

Imina nodded hearing Hekkeran's remark, and the two immediately went back. They had just confirmed that Arche and Sheep had been abducted during their patrol, and it was also confirmed that there were enemies inside the mansion. They now could no longer put any trust towards anyone there.

Thankfully, Hekkeran and Imina managed to get out of the mansion safely through the side entrance. After locking the door, they walked fast towards the hut, fearing that the enemies might have attacked the hut while they were inside the mansion.

Hekkeran cautiously opened the door, and right in the room behind the door there was Roberdyck, still standing guard. Rose was also there sitting on a nearby chair. Roberdyck seemed to be delighted seeing Hekkeran and Imina.

"Great! You made it back!"

Without saying anything, Hekkeran closed the door and locked it after Imina went in.

"Unfortunately, we have bad news"

At this point, Hekkeran believed there was no need to speak in code. An enemy within the mansion had captured two members of the team, so they naturally would expect the remaining members to get alerted. Continuing to play dumb would not be a good course of action.

"We have confirmed that both Arche and Sheep have been captured. Most likely through an ambush or sneak attack which knocked them out instantly"

Both Rose and Roberdyck didn't hide their surprise.

"Damn... So what should we do now?"

"It's difficult to take any action without any information. Like, we are still in the dark-"

Sssszzz

Suddenly, the room became totally dark. Everyone got alerted by the sudden darkness, but within a few seconds one of them remembered why it happened.

"Light!"

With one word from Imina, the room's illumination returned. The hut's oversensitive lighting system had received the word 'dark' from Hekkeran's speech and turned the lights off in response. After a bit of annoyed expression, Hekkeran resumed his speech.

"We still don't have any information regarding the objectives of the enemy. Also..."

Hekkeran was silent for a brief moment, and then he glanced at Rose.

"With Sheep's strength, shouldn't she be able to break out of confinement?"

"Uhh..."

Rose hesitated, but then she spoke up.

"P-Please don't think of Sheep so highly. She might be strong, but like me, she has no magic resistance..."

The words got Hekkeran thinking. Indeed he and the other members of the team had been thinking very highly of Sheep's combat strength, but they had been neglecting the fact that anyone had a weakness somewhere, and for Sheep's case it was magic resistance. Humans normally didn't have any magic resistance without specialized job skill or equipment, but some monsters possessed innate magic resistance or outright magic immunity. He had been falsely assuming that Sheep, being a kind of demon, would have some magic resistance. But with what Rose had just said, if Sheep was restrained with some kind of debilitating magic, she would be as helpless as any other human.

Roberdyck got slightly annoyed by Hekkeran's silence.

"Leader, the longer we don't take action, the more dangerous it will become for Arche and Sheep"

Roberdyck spoke his opinion out. He looked serious and also concerned.

"You have a point. Let's just break down our options into two; Act immediately or wait and see what happens next"

"Act immediately!"

Both Roberdyck and Imina answered in unison. Hekkeran nodded with a little smile.

"Alright. For starter, let's raid Rossaur's bedroom and question him, since he was suspicious from the beginning. Just to make sure, are you all ready for the risks involved? The worst case scenario most likely will become true after this"

"No question about that, Leader. Arche is our comrade, and we all have been through thick and thin together. I will take all risk for her"

Roberdyck answered with a confident pound on his chest.

"Took the words out of my mouth"

Imina said with a confident grin.

"Alright, team. Let's go!"

As Hekkeran and Imina walked out of the hut's door, Roberdyck gave Rose a pat on the back.

"Don't worry, Rose. We didn't forget about Sheep. We will save her too"

Rose smiled, being assured by Roberdyck's words.


[X][X][X]


Second Day, 23:31

"W-Who are you!?"

Arche, still being confined and restrained in the prison cell, asked in surprise. She had never seen the little girl in front of her before.

The little girl didn't give any answer.

"It's no use..."

Arche got startled by the voice from right next to her at the left. She had been too distraught on her situation that she had been unaware of the fact that Sheep was right next to her, restrained in the same way.

"I came to a few minutes earlier than you and asked the same question, but that girl just kept staring at us silently..."

Right after Sheep said it, the mysterious girl seemed to notice something, but not on the two captives since the girl's eyes glanced upward very briefly at that moment. Without saying anything, the girl turned away and disappeared into the dark corridor outside the prison cell.

"Nggh!"

Arche tried to struggle against the bondage, but it was of no use. The shackles were rigid, firmly holding her wrists horizontally behind her back with her left wrist being the one at the bottom. Trying too hard would only serve to hurt herself.

[Lesser Break Item]

Arche tried casting a spell which she had learned in case of getting tied up like this. The spell would disintegrate a part of a target object, but it was limited in a way that the target item had to be fragile enough to begin with. She had tested the spell a few times with the help of her partners, and it had been enough to break herself free from bondage by making a cut to the ropes.

However, as she had feared from the beginning, she didn't feel the shackles getting any looser. The spell was not enough to damage steel shackles. Not being able to see if she had made any progress didn't help either.

"Sheep, can you move a little and show me the shackles on your wrists?"

Without saying anything, Sheep moved her body a little so that her back faced to Arche. Arche couldn't get a closer look since both of them had their neck shackled to the wall, preventing them to get closer. But she still could see the shackles being most likely the same as the one binding her wrists.

"Sheep, I'm gonna try casting a spell to break the shackle. Hold still"

"Hold still, heh. Funny"

Arche laughed a little hearing Sheep's reply. Indeed, there was no need at all to tell a tied up person to hold still. This was not a good time to laugh, but it helped to lighten up the mood a little even though the situation didn't change at all.

[Lesser Break Item]

Nothing happened. Arche could not even sense any trace of magic going to the shackle, but she clearly felt her mana diminishing.

This was the point where Arche realized the futility of her effort.

The shackles were enchanted to absorb and nullify magic.

"Ah, dammit!"

Arche shouted in frustration.

"So we are now damsels in distress, eh?"

Sheep said it as she returned to the position of her back leaning flat to the wall. She sounded calm, too calm in fact.

"How can you be so calm in this situation!?"

"I'm used to this already"

"Eh, what?"

Arche was confused at first, but then she immediately remembered Sheep's terrible past.

"Oh... Back then..."

"Yeah... Back then, I was as frustrated as you. Struggling to break free, shouting for help, but nothing ever happened. For Luther, everything I did was just a laughing stock"

"How did you escape then?"

"I have no idea. It was just suddenly, without explanation, the shackles holding me inside that wretched lab broke off. More precisely, it seemed as if those shackles were slashed open with a blade"

"What? Doesn't that mean someone invisible helped you?"

"Probably, but I have never found out who, or what. Anyway..."

"Huh?"

Sheep was silent for a bit before she spoke again.

"You seemed to be very intimidated when you saw that girl. As if you saw something very powerful. Did you see something I didn't?"

"Ah yes, I haven't told you and Rose yet. I have this Talent, which allows me to see how strong someone's magic capability is. From seeing that girl, I knew I would have little to no chance fighting against her"

"So our enemy is really that little girl, eh? This is bad"

"Huh? Couldn't catch your drift"

"The others most likely won't suspect a little girl being the enemy"

"Ah, you're right. I'm the only one who can see through her cover, yet I'm stuck here. Dammit!"

Arche shouted in frustration again. Getting captured like this was a fatal failure on her part. She had failed the team, and now she had also potentially brought the downfall of the team.

Less than a minute later, when Arche seemed to calm down, Sheep spoke again.

"By the way, about your Talent, have you seen how strong Rose is with that?"

"That is one puzzle which confused me. Her energy is... different. I couldn't make any measurements on her"

"How come"

"Let me put it this way. My Talent allows me to see the magic potential of people in the form of fire-like aura around them, usually colored blue. The bigger and brighter the aura, the stronger their magic potential is. Now, what would you think if I said Rose's aura is like an energy whirlpool of yellow color?"

"That's... way too different"

"Exactly"

"Do the others know?"

"Yeah, but none of us had felt any harm from that peculiar aura, so for now we just agreed to let it slide while keeping watch"

"Oh..."

Sheep's short reply made both of them silent for half a minute before she spoke again.

"By the way, why are you telling me all these? This was supposed to be your team's private info, wasn't it?"

"Heh, I just figured that it won't do any harm if you know anyway. Also, since this is about a person you care, you have the right to know"

Sheep smiled a little without saying anything after hearing Arche's reply. There was one info which Arche didn't tell Sheep about, though.

Sheep herself also had a peculiar aura, the shape of which was like a miniature tornado with its color being green with a mix of blood-red. Its size was comparable to Rose's aura but slightly smaller. What had been intriguing her was the fact that the size of Sheep's aura became overwhelmingly large whenever she wielded her demonic-looking bow, which she could summon out from thin air effortlessly.

Putting every topic aside, Arche had to accept than now both she and Sheep had become damsels in distress and there was no choice other than wait.


[X][X][X]


Second Day, 23:40

Click!

With the help of a magic item and her own skills, Imina managed to pick the lock of Rossaur's bedroom, which was one of the forbidden areas at the second floor of the mansion.

Imina opened the door slowly, being cautious of possible traps even though she didn't detect any. She didn't sense any people other than one person on the bed. Curiously, the person, who was Rossaur himself as expected, was still awake reading a book with a small magic illumination over the bed. Thankfully, it seemed he had not noticed them yet.

Imina looked at Hekkeran and Roberdyck, and the three of them exchanged a nod. They had decided to boldly walk in and confront Rossaur directly. All his actions from the beginning had been suspicious in the eyes of anyone with common sense, so he was their biggest suspect for the disappearance of Arche and Sheep. They were aware that this action carried a high risk, but they had decided not to waste more time.

Hekkeran opened the door wide and walked into the room boldly with serious expression. The others followed behind him. Rossaur noticed them coming and put his book away, and then he put himself in sitting upright position with the lower half of his body covered in blanket. He folded his arms, not looking intimidated at all despite only wearing a sleeping robe.

"I suppose you have a good reason for entering my bedroom, which I believe is off-limits, at this hour"

Rossaur's voice was the same as before, which was quite intimidating. Hekkeran, still unfazed, stepped forward and took the act as the team's spokesperson in this matter.

"Two members of our team went missing during their shift"

"Then you should have recruited more trustworthy members. What does it have to do with me?"

"We have reasons to believe that you are involved in this"

"Ridiculous! From where did you get into that conclusion?"

"Your behaviour from the time we met was already suspicious. In short, it all seemed as if you only wanted some outsiders in your house for whatever reason"

Click!

Before Rossaur could respond, one door at the side of the room, which seemed to be connecting to the room next door, opened with a click. Everyone looked at the door and saw a little girl coming out from the door. Her features matched with the girl Roberdyck had described recently, including the doll she was hugging. She rubbed her sleepy eyes with her hand.

"Papa... who are those people...?"

"It's nothing, dear. Go back to sleep"

Rossaur replied to the girl with a very normal voice compared to the loud and heavy voice from before.

"Are they... bad people?"

"Just go back to sleep. They are not of your concern"

Hekkeran and Imina were getting impatient at this point, and their expression showed. They still had the courtesy to not act too aggressively in front of an innocent girl, but the fact still remained that Arche and Sheep were in danger somewhere and every second would count.

The girl noticed their expression, and her own face began to show anger.

"They are bad people..."

The girl began to shine. At this point, Rossaur's face became grim while the others were surprised.

"Bad people must die..."

"Emerile! No!"

[Burn Lance]

[Freeze Lance]

[Shock Lance]

The girl, seemingly named Emerile, casted three spells simultaneously. Three bolts of different elements were created and launched towards the Foresight members.

"Watch out!"

Hekkeran shouted, jumping towards Imina to push her away. At the same time, Roberdyck put himself in front of Rose and braced himself.

BOOM! CRASH!

The bolts made an explosion on the spot where the four people stood. A few seconds later, the dust settled, revealing the condition of the four persons.

They were all fine. There were some light wounds on Hekkeran, Imina, and Roberdyck, but they were still in perfect condition for combat. All of them were very surprised that they had just survived multiple spells of a tier they had never seen before. They also noticed that for a brief moment before the bolts hit their bodies had glowed blue.

"Defensive buff? But who-?"

The moment Hekkeran said it, he and the other two looked at Rose. She was not injured at all, which already raised a question. But their biggest question was the thing she was holding; A long purple staff which might as well be a halberd, seeing those sharp edges all around its head. An ominous magic circle was spinning around the staff head.

"Are you all right?"

Rose asked the others with a concerned voice and face. The others took a few seconds to let everything sink in.

"Y-Yeah, I'm still fine"

Hekkeran looked at Roberdyck and Imina as he replied. Both of them nodded, so Hekkeran continued.

"We're all fine. Good work, Rose"

"Nice save, Meru. I was worried for a second there"

"I was as worried as you, Rose. I'm glad that Deband tech was strong enough to protect them"

"Yeah, but still, be careful. The enemy is a magic caster. Please don't make the same mistake I did back then"

Meru, who had been in control of the body to keep playing as 'Rose' in purpose of making her apparent personality consistent towards Foresight Team, kept Rose's warning in mind. In all possibilities, Emerile could have the capability to cast spells of weird effects which photon armor would not protect against. But unlike before, she now had partners, and one of them in particular had willingly used his own body to shield her from the recent attack. She was now determined to protect them with the best of her abilities.

"There's no use asking about this since you've done it, but are you sure with revealing your sinister-looking Nox Lipher? They might question us later, or worse"

"I know, Rose. But don't want to let them die if I can help it"

While Rose and Meru were having their conversation inside her head, Foresight Team noticed that both Rossaur and Emerile had escaped through the connecting door when the bolts had struck.

"Let's chase them and save Arche and Sheep"

Everyone else nodded hearing Hekkeran's words, and they quickly began their pursuit.


[X][X][X]


Second Day, 23:48

Several more minutes had passed in the prison cell. At this point, Arche already felt really uncomfortable. Sitting on a hard ground for an extended period of time had already made her bottom hurt. In addition, the shackle around her neck had been rubbing her neck skin and it also started to feel painful.

Out of frustration and desperation, Arche tried to cast spells again.

[Lesser Break Item]

[Lesser Break Item]

[Lesser Break Item]

None worked. The shackles absorbed the magic energy and prevented the spells from getting casted. All her effort had been nothing more than a waste of energy which made her start to run out of breath.

"A-Achoo!"

Sheep sneezed all of a sudden, which startled Arche.

"A-Are you alright? Did you catch a cold?"

The prison cell indeed was quite cold. The current season was not the coldest yet, but it was already cold enough to make the room too cold for anyone not protected against cold, especially in the dead of night like this. Arche herself didn't really feel cold thanks to herself still wearing full attire. Though one part of her body, particularly a small part of her upper thighs, still felt cold because they were exposed to the cold air. Putting that aside, Sheep's attire seemed less protective against cold, so Arche was genuinely concerned.

"Don't worry. I'm all right. Probably someone out there is talking about me"

"Don't you feel cold?"

"Don't worry about that either. My clothes are... enchanted so that I always feel at a comfortable temperature as long as it is not too hot or too cold. What about you?"

"I will manage. Thanks for the concern"

"You too. By the way..."

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't your magic work?"

"These shackles are enchanted to absorb all mana I let out to cast spells"

"So, when you try to cast a spell, your mana went into the shackles instead of getting turned into the spell?"

"Unfortunately, yeah. So I'm now as powerless as an ordinary girl"

"Hmm..."

Sheep seemed to be thinking for a brief moment. Her whole body then glowed blue, followed by the shackles, and suddenly all those shackles binding her shattered, setting her free. Arche was totally dumbfounded seeing what had just happened.

"What? What happened? What did you do?"

"I just tried making these things overloaded"

Sheep then moved to Arche and put her hands on Arche's shackles. Her hands glowed blue again, and the same thing happened to the shackles binding Arche, setting her free within an instant.

It took Arche a few more seconds to understand what had happened. She was unable to measure Sheep's potential thanks to the peculiar aura, but it seemed that Sheep had an overwhelming mana reserve which she could unleash to be absorbed by the shackles' enchantment. The shackles, unable to contain the overwhelming amount of mana, were shattered as the result.

"So, if these things have been just ordinary steel shackles...?"

"I wouldn't have been able to break free. My physical strength isn't much different than yours"

It was a lucky coincidence that Sheep had been bound with the same anti-magic shackles as Arche. Had them been ordinary steel shackles, the method Sheep had used wouldn't have worked and they would have remained stuck inside the prison cell.

"We could have been free sooner if I have told you the info earlier, but good work, Sheep"

Sheep nodded with a smile as they both stood up. Sheep then summoned her bow and shot an energy bolt towards the bars of the cell. They broke off easily, and now the way out was wide open.

"Let's go back to the others"

Arche nodded hearing Sheep's words. She was determined to reunite with the others and tell them everything she knew.


[X][X][X]


Afterword:

You can take a look at my gallery, the links of which are in my profile, if you need a reminder on how the weapon looks like. Now let me reply to a few comments.


rmarcano: I don't know how many more chapters this story will have, but I can say that Volume 9 is the planned 'end point' initially. Whether this will really end there or not, nobody knows

UndeadLord: Well, who knows? Though I can say that it is not the case here.

MadDan: Like before, we have our chat somewhere else. ;)

DanielSilverjay: Thank you, and I will try my best.


Next chapter will mark the end of the first half of this arc.

See you again later.