CH 32

Left alone in the dark and gloomy hallway, Serdel wore the veil she was holding in her hand. He told her to hide in a safe place, but she couldn’t move ahead of time because she didn’t understand the structure yet. It would be safer to remain here and blend in with the nobles who will soon pour out than to wander around.

‘They won’t be able to open for a while due to what happened today.’

Slowly, she scanned the ceiling, walls, and floors thoroughly. It will take a considerable amount of time to restore this space, which is almost entirely magical. 

‘I wish this cruel place would just disappear in the morning, but it won’t be that easy.’

Even if it disappears, there will only be another place with similar structure and similar shady dealings. In any era or at any level, it was tough to root out such a shady business.

At the very least, there will be no inhumane behavior happening during the recovery period, so that alone should be considered fortunate. 

‘It hurts my stomach, but there is nothing more I can do.’

She knew that, but when she thought of the dead slaves in the bag, she was not comfortable. With her fists rolled up, she counted the numbers inwardly, shaking off her heavy thoughts. Blenn will be back soon after finishing the job.

It was then. 

Boom—!

The floor shook with a huge explosion from the basement. The heat from the blast could be felt even where she was. Noticing that she could see that Blenn had taken care of things properly.

Piit! Piit! Pit!

Something loudly broke several times on the wall in a sequence. Inside, the transformation and distortion magic had been installed, and the wide hallway had suddenly become narrow. The high ceiling was the same.

Whoaaaaaaaaa! 

A loud scream could also be heard from the location where she was watching the ‘show.’ Serdel smiled and touched the old wall that lost its splendor.

At that moment, Ping- the corners of her eyes went blank, and certain scenes began to unfold in her mind forcibly. It wasn’t the same as the previous phenomenon, but she felt a familiar sensation throughout her entire body.

It wasn’t a side of foresight, it was foresight. The future was seen, not the ‘present’ of one side.

Upon recognizing it, Serdel instinctively focused.

A space that looks stuffy because it’s dark and full of things. 

“Sniff, sniff.”

A small child was alone in the corner. 

There was a long tail on the child’s buttocks seen through the rags they wore, and considering that the child’s ears were pointed out on the child’s head, the child seemed to be a beast. The sight of the child crouching in the corner and shivering broke her heart.

“Sniff, sniff.”

Someone came up to the child, who couldn’t even make a loud noise, and timidly expressed his sorrow. The hands trembled as if they were burned, and the breathing was very rough.

“Kyaaaa!”

The child showed his teeth when the hand tried to reach his back.

“Ssh, it’s okay.”

—A familiar voice.

“It’s okay. I’ll help you.”

Gasp!

The sense of reality, which had been dulled for a while, almost dazzled her sensitive nerves as color returned to her blurry vision.

The premonition was short, but even in that small time, the surroundings had filled with smoke. The suffocating stink made it hard to breathe. The hallway shook so loudly as if there had been an earthquake, and she almost fell over. 

“Ugh!”

She paused for a moment after standing back up precariously. 

‘It was definitely my voice.’

Perhaps, the main character of the vision and the hand shown in it was herself. Serdel raised her head. There was going to be hell soon. She knew she shouldn’t jump in recklessly, but she was worried about the child she saw in her foresight.

If she turns a blind eye to it, the child would definitely die.

‘You saved everything else, but you’re giving up on one weak child?’

She can’t do that. She couldn’t do that. 

‘I don’t think I saw that suddenly for no reason.’

Perhaps it was a message to rescue the child. At that moment, Serdel’s eyes changed. She took each step carefully. 

Just in time, people poured out. She kept walking as close to the wall as possible. Each time the aristocrats rushed out in panic and collided with her shoulders, her body was pushed back more and more. 

Then, the hat she was wearing was struck by a nobleman’s elbow and fell. In the aftermath, the veil was removed. She tried to pick it up quickly, but it was not easy to even bend over. 

‘Darn it!’

In the end, she had no choice but to keep her head down and not be pushed away by them.

“Open the door!”

“Where’s the gatekeeper!” 

The voices full of anger and confusion were full of fear. The more people that gathered, the deeper they felt the desperation of the situation. 

Arsenic came out as they began infighting with an appearance that was no different from what she had expected.

‘It serves you right.’

Serdel, who had been clicking her tongue inwardly, ran in the opposite direction of the crowd as soon as there was a little more space. 

Stop. 

A man who had just passed her stopped. Turning his head, he covered his face with his arm and saw a small back walking to the opposite side of the entrance. 

“—Young Lady.”

He didn’t see it wrong. There’s no way he couldn’t recognize his ex fiancée. Why is she in a place like this? No way, is she here to watch the ‘show’?

Did she have a hobby like this? He’s here because he has something to find out. 

‘She likes this kind of thing?’

“Ha—!”

For a moment, even though he laughed in vain, he stared in the direction she had moved away. 

“I hope you know that there’s a fire, right?” 

Didn’t she see the phantom goblins fighting amongst themselves that suddenly started attacking everything in sight?

‘It would be dangerous if you went that way.’

“…..”

For a moment, he remembered Addis, who swung her sword at him and gave off a fierce look. He still can’t forget the humiliation at that time.

“Tsk!”

He doesn’t care if she gets hurt or not. So what if he knew?  

Turning his head, Count Maient approached the entrance again.

*****

When she reached the middle of the hallway. A stairway to the top appeared. As soon as she was about to go up to the place where it would have been covered with magic and looked like a wall, Krrrrr—.

A terrifying cry came from behind her. 

Dozens of phantom Goblins were focusing their eyes on her as she turned around swallowing despite her dry mouth. Perhaps because the shield was lifted, they looked more violent than when they were on the stage. 

Glancing behind them she gritted her teeth. 

One, two, three. The number of Goblin’s gradually increased around them. She took out the scrolls she had kept in her bag. She had three scrolls in her hand, three chances to attack.

Whoo. 

Although she was trembling all over, she couldn’t be intimidated in front of the situation she was in. Serdel expelled a low breath, aiming for the right timing, and tore the scroll one by one.

Boom boom boom! 

With a loud roar, lumps of gas poured out like bombs through the paper the size of a palm. A sharp blade of ice was created at the same time, Hwiiik! Swinging in a wide arc it cut through a few Goblins at a time.

Syaak! 

Once the sleek wave of gas stirred the space loudly, the illusion in front of her disappeared. Instead, she felt heat closing in on her so she ran up the stairs without looking back. 

Fortunately, there were no monsters chasing her. Without a moment of relief, she breathed in at the sight of the thick wooden door blocking her eyes.

Clank, clank!

‘Is it locked? It’s not opening.’

She stopped thinking about tearing up more scrolls. Even if it was a lower-class spell, it had some kind of magic. 

Didn’t she get rid of a lot of Goblin at once just now? There was a high possibility that it would not only destroy the wooden door, but also sweep through the inside. With her teeth clenched, she pushed the door with her shoulders as hard as possible. 

However, no matter how old the door was, her power was not enough. 

‘Darn it.’

It was pathetic. In the end, she kicked it with all her might with her feet.

Boom, boom, boom! 

There was a whining pain from the tip of the toe, but she didn’t stop. 

Boom! 

Fortunately, the door opened after that. When she turned her head and looked down the stairs, the flames were already following her, perhaps because she took too much time with the door.

She hurried up and went inside and closed the door first.

“Cough!”

It was getting more and more uncomfortable to breathe in as the smoke that seeped through the cracks in the door filled the room.

Covering her nose and mouth with her sleeves, she quickly looked inside.