Chapter 3

***

“Zera, you d*mn…”

My old friend, who said she would keep my secret even if they gave her 5,000 gold, has sold me for exactly 6,000 gold++.

She said that I can trust her. Zera that shrew really broke her promise.

“Sir, the description.”

“Yes I already saw it.”

To make things worse, the knights who checked my face seemed half certain.

I rolled my eyes with my mouth closed.

Can I just run away if I push and pounce the knights in this instant?

I thought about it for a moment, but I quit right away.

The ending is obvious even if I didn’t do anything. But if I don’t do anything, then I will probably get caught within ten steps.

No, I am lucky if my skinny body didn’t stumble before then.

“Hey, knights?”

After finishing my calculation, I called them as calmly as I could.

Ten pairs of eyes went on me all at once.

Looking at their big eyes, my mouth went dry.

I then rubbed my sweaty palms on my skirt hem.

Let’s stay calm, Sophie. Even if you get caught in a tiger’s den, you’ll live if you wake up this instant.

“I don’t know what you heard, but I’m just an ordinary waitress.”

Ta-da, are you surprised? I smiled refreshingly with open arms.

“………”

But no one is laughing except me.

“…ahaha.”

It’s not working. A cold sweat broke out.

Oh no, it was just a matter of remorse.

Now that I am doing this, I have no choice but to pretend to be crazy and stand out.

By the time I was in agony for survival, the other side seemed to have come to their own conclusion.

The knights whispered among themselves several times and adjusted their posture.

“Lady.”

It was not long before the leader went up next to me along with a single knight beside her and its eyes sparkled.

It was a woman with red hair tied tightly in a ponytail.

The tail of her eyes were sharp. She looks taller than I am. She is probably approximately 180 centimeters tall.

While I was staring at the woman in daze, the leader asked me carefully.

“If you don’t mind, may I have this knight check your leg?”

I backed away in surprise. That’s crazy. I’m going to show you that?

“Oh, no!”

“Pardon?”

“There’s no scar on that right leg!”

A moment’s silence came. The whole army from afar had a strange look.

After a brief silence, the leader said.

“… I didn’t say it was a scar on my right leg.”

Do I perhaps have two IQs? I had completely convinced the general manager’s eyes right before when I heard about the scar.

He turned slightly and winked at his men, and the knights moved in unison.

“We’ll take you.”

“What, what do you want?”

“I beg you, but it’s a little hard to say here. We’ll tell you as we go.”

They surrounded me politely but menacingly.

I was then surrounded by bigger people than I am.

“Come on, wait a minute.”

She reached out in a hurry and said.

“I’m not really Amelia Cedrick?”

“Okay, Sophie. Let’s go together.”

“Oh no! I can’t go!”

There is nothing to say after that. They led me in a polite but tough manner, and I climbed into the carriage like a pig being dragged to a slaughterhouse.

And just before the door closed, I had an eye contact with Zera, who was greeting from behind the pillar.

Way to go, Sophie!

…that b*tch, I’m not gonna let you off unscathed.

* * *

Looking back, my life has always been a series of accidents.

Of course, it was when I fell into the university I thought I would get accepted to, when my first boyfriend of my previous life cheated on me, and when I became an extra in a novel overnight.

But no matter what happened, I wasn’t as desperate as I was today.

“Life…”

I am being kidnapped now by the knights that are from the capital.

“Sigh.”

As the ground was elevated, I sighed and leaned against my back.

It was freaking fluffy.

No, can a chair of a wagon be this nice?

This carriage is luxurious enough.

In addition, how splendid it is, that it hurts my eyes because of the decorations and jewelry stuck all over the wagon.

What a philanthropist they are. How much is it all if I sold one of these?

I turned my head after a while.

The beautiful eastern scenery passed over the open window.

The knights on horseback were right in front of me. They were all walking in line around the carriage, all dressed in their uniform.

This is just too luxurious a ride in going to purgatory.

In the meantime, the only woman in the knights that has scarlet hair is the only one who accompanied me in the carriage.

The captain said it is just for safety reasons, but it is all an excuse and in fact, they are only monitoring me discreetly.

No matter how tactless I am, I know that much.

As evidence, she had been keeping a close eye on my side even before we left the town.

…so this is an utterly great planned kidnapping.

“A-are you uncomfortable?”

“Pardon?”

“Please comfortably say anything. Tell me if you don’t like the seat.”

My kidnappers’ approach is a little strange, or rather unusually kind.

They are conscious of my sighs that I let out when they forced me to ride in the carriage.

In particular, the female knight on the other side used to be surprised by dilating her turquoise eyes dubiously even if I just twisted my body a little.

“Is it because the carriage is shaking too much?”

There’s nothing to worry about. I also thought that we can just set up a card tower here due to the size.

“Please speak comfortably. If you’re getting motion sickness, I’ll give you water right away.”

The knight looked like he was about to pour water in the instant.

No, it’s okay, so please don’t look at me with such a burdensome look.

I gulped down my thoughts into my mouth.

To make matters worse, the knights who heard our conversation outside began to whisper audaciously.

“She’s got motion sickness?”

“That’s what they said. Ma’am, shall we stop the carriage?”

“Hey, Xenia. Are you in a bad condition?”

I’m going crazy, I just sighed, and at this rate they are all going to pull up the wagon. I shook my head.

“I’m fine.”

“Do you have motion sickness?”

“No, not at all.”

“Okay. Let me know if you feel uncomfortable.”

You guys are the most uncomfortable.

I managed to swallow my words that were up to my neck and raised my voice very well.

“Okay.”

With my soulless reply, the knights stopped talking and got back in line.

“I’m going crazy…”

I silently recited my chant and set my eyes out of the window.

What kind of kidnappers in the world are looking at hostages so closely? If you’re going to do this, don’t kidnap them instead.

“…Oh, by the way.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Look, I’m just saying it casually, but they all turned their head right away.

“Please do so, Lady Amel-… No, Ms. Sophie.”

She smiled in a state of disarray.

I insisted to these knights, “I’m Sophie even if I am dying soon,” and they did call me that way.

And besides, why are they being polite to a commoner? And I just heard Amelia.

“Is this wagon going to the capital?”

“Yes, it is.”

I was devastated again by her confirmation. I was hoping it wasn’t.

Even if I couldn’t go from the eastern village where I was to the capital, I had to run all the way.

It meant that these knights should be in the same boat as I am during the two weeks.

It was dizzying to be dragged to the capital, but spending about 15 days with the knights is utterly terrible. My head really went blank just by thinking of it.

It’s suffocating just to be together for a few hours, but I think I’ll die before I even go to the capital.

Though if they arrive quickly, my life will be cut short as soon as they have arrived. If it is too late, I’ll probably be suffocated as soon as possible. And also what do they mean by that

The knight recognized my dubious expression and said.

“Don’t worry, we’ll go through the portal.”

“Portal? Oh.”

It was only after I asked again that I remembered. There is magic in this world.

Here, most of the Earth’s advanced technology is replaced by magic.

If you are curious then thermal magic is the alternative of a boiler while space travel magic is commonly used instead of an airplane.

Well, it’s an advanced ability that is never seen by a commoner’s life.

With my question in my head, the knight had his eyes dubious as if he were asking for something obvious, and soon nodded with an “Ah-ha” look.

“Yes, it is.”

Apparently, I still think that I’m pretending to be a commoner and doing cosplay.

Thanks for pretending you don’t know, but that’s not it.

“There are a lot of portals that are placed in some areas and in the area that connects to the capital, we need to go another half an hour to reach it. After the portal, we will be able to reach the capital, so it won’t take that much longer.”

“Half an hour to the capital?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, awesome.”

It’s only 30 minutes from the east to the capital.

With my violent reaction, the knight twitched his mouth finely. He then looked away with a straight face.

I can see what you’re thinking. Why didn’t you laugh out loud?

But I couldn’t say anything, so I  just shut my mouth.

Meanwhile, the carriage reached the end of the eastern forest.

The formation changed when the leader stopped the procession and instructed his men what to say.

I peeked out of the window and looked at the scene.

“Are you getting ready to use the portal?”

“Yes, you may be a little surprised.”

Soon there was a blue light on the ground, and I felt my body floating.

“Oh, what is this?”

It was similar to what I felt when I climbed to the top of the Viking. My lower abdomen and shoulders felt goosebumps.

Without realizing it, I crossed my arms and covered my shoulders.

Then there was another laughter that had been held back from the other side.

As I slightly raised my head, I saw the knight coughing and turning his head. I told you to just laugh out loud. An enormous amount of light went into the carriage and soon disappeared. Almost at the same time, my slightly floating body sank slowly.

I stretched out my curled body and looked out the window. An exclamation came out of my head.

“…Wow.”

There were straight stone roads, crowded buildings, people dressed in colorful clothes, and carriages that passed by.

It was a completely different sight from the quiet eastern countryside.