I Will Not Fall For the Villain’s Flirtations - Chapter 85

“What are you doing out at this hour?”

The men who appeared snickering surrounded Josh and me. Like proper thugs, they didn’t hesitate to nudge Josh provocatively.

We were cornered against the wall in an instant, but I tried to stay calm. Although this was my first time in a situation like this and I was nervous, I believed I could subdue three men with restraint magic. I had practical experience from using it on Nizaz and his subordinates during the ruins site survey.

“The sun has set, you know. Who knows what might happen.”

“……”

I was contemplating when to cast my magic while glaring at the frivolously laughing man. Suddenly, Josh, whom I thought was a coward, punched the man in front of him.

“Ugh!”

“Duna, run!”

He grabbed my hand and we sprinted away. As I ran, I looked at him wide-eyed.

My god, was he always this brave?

“You bastard!”

Soon enough, we realized we were in serious trouble. The man, whom we thought was an ordinary thug, pulled something out of his pocket and threw it at us.

While I couldn’t grasp what it was, my instincts told me to set up a barrier. That choice turned out to be exceedingly wise, almost as if I was guided by divine intervention.

Bang!

The ground was deeply gouged with a loud explosion. Thanks to the hastily erected barrier, we were safe, but the vibrations alone were enough to imagine the horrific consequences if we had taken a direct hit.

Seeing the thick dust rise, Josh’s legs gave out, and he collapsed. As an ordinary person, he would have never seen a bomb, no matter how small. If I hadn’t built up my courage at the ruins, I would have fainted by now too.

“Hey, was it worth using that? Such a waste.”

“What if the security forces come because of the noise again?”

Even his companions seemed to think his impulsive action was excessive, as they murmured among themselves. But soon, one of them pointed at us, drawing their attention back to us.

“Hey, isn’t that holy power?”

“It looks like it, with that blue glow.”

Their eyes changed at the mention of ‘holy power.’ One man began contacting someone with a magical device, while the other two approached us with unidentified objects in their hands.

Seeing this, I realized they weren’t ordinary thugs.

Ordinary street punks wouldn’t have such magical items. If their intention was merely to extort money, they would have run away as soon as they knew I was Stella. Moreover, they wouldn’t have been able to distinguish between a barrier made with holy power and one made with magic.

Could they be the ones who kidnapped Hemosi?

[What if the security forces come because of the noise again?]

I carefully recalled the man’s words. He definitely said ‘again.’ Perhaps they were the armed robbers the security forces were currently chasing.

Maintaining the barrier, I bent down and helped Josh up. Then I quickly whispered in his ear.

“Josh, when I lift the barrier, run to the security forces and tell them you encountered robbers with powerful artifacts. That way, they’ll send mages too. I’ll go in the opposite direction.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Listen to me. They’ll chase me, so don’t worry. Just run. Got it?”

“……”

His face was ashen with tension. But, like someone who had punched a man and tried to escape in a critical situation, he quickly regained his composure.

“Be careful.”

Nodding, I counted down in my mind: three, two, one. Then, grabbing Josh’s arm, I started running at full speed.

“Catch them!”

The men chased us. Fearing they might throw another weapon, I kept glancing back while running with all my might, like in a relay race in my past life.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too secluded, and we soon reached the main road. Although it was late and there were few pedestrians, the thought of being on a main road eased my mind a bit.

One of the three men chased Josh instead of me. Seeing this, I quickly cast a restraint spell, successfully binding his ankle.

“Argh!”

The running man fell with a thud. That should buy some time. Since my goal was to be caught by the remaining two, I did nothing but keep running.

When I felt like my chest might burst from the exertion, I stopped running. The man I had restrained earlier had already freed himself and was chasing me again.

“Wait! Stop! Stop!”

I raised my hands above my head in a gesture of surrender, trying to catch my breath. I was so tense that I even spoke in a foreign language I had learned in my past life, but they didn’t seem to care at all.

“What is it?”

“I, huff, am so, tired.”

This wasn’t a lie. It had been a long time since I had run so hard that I was out of breath.

“I’ll cooperate. What do you want from me?”

“……”

The men exchanged silent signals with their eyes. Then, with a sinister smile, one of them spoke.

“Don’t move an inch, then.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he threw the magical item he was holding at my feet. Fearing it might explode, I hurriedly set up a barrier, but instead of exploding, it began to emit smoke.

“…A smoke bomb?”

When I looked up at the men again, they had covered their mouths and noses with handkerchiefs they had pulled out from who knows where. Seeing this, I realized too late that I shouldn’t have inhaled the gas.

“Ah…”

Through my blurring vision, I saw one of the men tearing what seemed to be a magical scroll. Soon, I faintly felt the familiar waves of teleportation magic.

I tried to muster all my strength to stay conscious, but it was to no avail. It seemed I was destined to be kidnapped like this.

As I felt myself being lifted, I curled my toes and dropped my shoes. The best I could do at the moment was to leave a trace before I was completely taken away.

* * *

I was complacent!

The first thought I had as soon as I regained consciousness was that.

I expected them to use force, but I hadn’t anticipated they would throw something with a sedative effect. If that smoke had been toxic gas, I would have crossed the River Jordan long ago.

Fortunately, I could still feel my limbs. Apart from being tied up with ropes, it seemed there were no other issues with my body.

This place, which was evidently dusty and dirty, looked like an old warehouse. I could hear voices right in front of me, so I cautiously scanned the inside of the warehouse, trying not to attract their attention.

Before long, I found Hemosi, whom I had been desperately searching for. It seemed those men were indeed accomplices of the kidnappers.

In front of the bound Hemosi was an unfamiliar old woman squatting. Wearing a black hood and looking suspicious to anyone, she repeatedly made consistent hand gestures as if performing some ritual on Hemosi.

A strange form of black smoke circled her hands in thin rings. The dull color and appearance, the complete opposite of clear holy power, were unsettling. What was that? It didn’t seem like magic.

Then, all of a sudden, she reached up to the ceiling. Only then did I realize she was holding a small jewel in her hand. She kept reflecting the light coming into the warehouse off the green jewel and then grumbled, seemingly dissatisfied.

“Ugh, where did you find a kid with such weak holy power?”

“Well, that’s why we brought another one.”

“That’s even worse!”

The old woman snapped back sharply at the man who had spoken defensively.

“Do you have any sense? Don’t you know the longer the tail, the easier it is to step on?”

“We’re moving the village constantly anyway. It’ll be fine.”

It seemed they were talking about me. So Hemosi was indeed their target?

Why? Because he’s still young? Or because he can’t properly wield holy power? What criteria did they use to select her as a target?

“She better have ample holy power to be worth the risk of bringing her.”

“Don’t worry. I saw her setting up a barrier earlier.”

“A barrier?”

The old woman’s voice rose. Although I couldn’t see it, I felt she was about to look my way, and I squeezed my eyes shut. Judging by her rough breathing, her expression must have been twisted as well.

“Did you bring a priest?”

“So what? It’s just one rural priest.”

…Liche is not that rural!

As a native of Liche, I wanted to protest vehemently, but I held back and continued to listen. The old woman sighed loudly and grumbled as if she wanted me to hear.

“It’s a waste to give you guys artifacts! You handle things so poorly!”

“Just clean up afterward. Right, old hag?”

“Shut your mouth and get rid of this girl. Make sure to dispose of her outside the city.”

Hearing her words, which seemed to refer to Hemosi, I opened my eyes wide. Could it be that they had already killed her?

There was no time to devise a plan. My body moved before my rational mind could catch up, driven by anxiety.

“Hemosi!”

Temporarily unleashing light magic to sever the ropes with its heat, I hurriedly ran toward Hemosi. Thanks to the men being caught off guard and pushed aside, I was able to reach her quickly.

Seeing her chest moving, it seemed she was still breathing, fortunately. Holding the unconscious girl, I spread a dome-shaped barrier and shouted at the enemies.

“Don’t come any closer!”

“……”

Having just recovered from the sedative, my body felt heavy as if it were buried in mud. Even a short sentence left me breathless.

The old woman, unfazed by my sudden action, carefully examined the barrier. With a hardened expression, she spoke coldly.

“To be this unaffected after inhaling halen, she must not be a mere country priest. Kill that girl to silence her.”

“……”

More figures emerged from the darkness. There seemed to be about twenty of them.

Each armed, they approached slowly like beasts about to pounce. The murderous intent directed at me made it hard to breathe.

Looking down at the unconscious Hemosi, I swallowed hard. Holy power alone couldn’t inflict fatal wounds on humans. But using attack magic at my level wouldn’t even handle thirty percent of the enemies.

Ah, why did I become a healing priest instead of a combat priest?

But now wasn’t the time to blame my past self for lacking foresight. Holding Hemosi tighter, I desperately tried to think of a solution.

Holy power would eventually deplete, so maintaining the barrier wasn’t a good strategy. What if I lost strength? Would Keene’s life stone create a barrier in time again?

“Du.”

“……”

At that moment, a low voice echoed from above. Mesmerized by the familiar voice, I looked up.