Chapter 22: Attack

I was flustered by the sudden attack, and Anna hugged me tightly.

“Don’t worry, Miss. I’ll protect you.”

“Uhm. Th, thank you…”

Outside, I could hear the sounds of escort knights fighting to protect me, and a loud sound resonated from the sky.

[Rescue Signal]

The carriage I’m riding in is specially made so that in case of emergency, it sends out a rescue signal by launching huge fireworks high into the sky.

The rescue signal is set to go to the Duke’s family and the Magic Tower, so the knights and mages from the Magic Tower will come to rescue me.

However, the screams I heard outside subsided, and just as I was about to check if the situation had been resolved.

The carriage door opened, and I was kidnapped by the strangers.

I thought about escaping with the help of the fairy Elin, but it would be difficult to find out who was behind it, so I decided to be kidnapped for now.

With that thought, I lost consciousness the moment a handkerchief with a strange smell covered my nose.

I opened my eyes in a damp and musty-smelling warehouse.

Is it because we didn’t use the Duke’s crest for the secret operation…?

That can’t be true.

I came to my senses and looked around to grasp the situation, when I found Anna nearby.

Fortunately, Anna was also next to me, but she had been injured while resisting to protect me, and her complexion wasn’t good.

If I made a loud noise, the kidnappers might hear me, so I quietly approached Anna and started tapping her cheek to wake her up.

“Uhm.”

“Shh!”

I put my finger to my lips to tell Anna, who had come to her senses, to be quiet, and I was racking my brain to escape when I heard a sound outside and the door opened.

The door opened, and masked strangers came in.

“Damn it. Why is it so hard to kidnap one noble lady!?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Well, which family is she from?”

They were talking among themselves, looking at me trembling. It seemed that these guys didn’t know which family I was from…?

If not, they wouldn’t have kept me locked up in the warehouse like this.

“More than that, did you contact the client?”

“He said he’ll be here soon. Let’s hurry up and hand her over and go have a drink.”

“Ex, excuse me, oppas… Why did you kidnap me?”

“That’s because we’ll receive enough money to live on for the rest of our lives if we kidnap and hand you over.”

“It’s easy to kidnap one noble lady.”

They answered my questions when I asked the kidnappers with the most pitiful expression possible…?

“Th, then, the client who requested my kidnapping will be coming here now, right?”

“That’s right. I don’t know what they’ll use you for, but live well.”

“Thanks to you, we’ll live well, you know.”

I organized my thoughts while looking at the surprisingly kind kidnapper oppas.

If I wait here, the client who requested my kidnapping will show up.

Then I won’t need these guys anymore.

“Still, it was quite an experience.”

“What do you mean…”

“Elin, please.”

The kidnappers instantly lost consciousness and collapsed.

Beings who usually act playful, but when the contractor is in danger, they protect them even if it means sacrificing themselves.

Humans who know this fact have exploited many fairies and lost their lives.

After the same thing has repeated for hundreds of years, the fairy world finally took drastic measures to stop contracts with humans.

The queen who exists in the fairy world ordered all fairies to return to the fairy world.

However, Elin was sealed and couldn’t go back.

Thanks to that, she became the only fairy left on the continent, and humans only know the stories of fairies as legends.

When I asked if Elin had to go back to the fairy world, she said she wouldn’t listen to the old hag.

A reliable being who protects me by my side.

“Thank you for always protecting me, Elin.”

I smiled and looked at Elin, who was flying around me, and then took Anna and went outside.

The place I was trapped was a shabby warehouse located in the outskirts, and those who appeared to be kidnappers’ colleagues were guarding.

I confirmed that and tried to escape without being noticed when I heard the sound of a carriage approaching.

I hid in the corner and watched, when the carriage stopped, and a person in a robe got off.

“Where’s the item?”

“We’re keeping it in the warehouse.”

The client and the kidnappers are talking, and how dare he refer to me as an item!?

More than that, it was a familiar face, where have I seen him before…?

…Ah, he’s one of the mages at the Magic Tower.

I remember him, he looked at me in a peculiar way.

I heard he is the second son of some count family, what is he doing with such lowly acts…?

“Elin, hide our presence.”

When I asked Elin, we instantly became transparent, as if I had used a cloak of invisibility.

The moment the kidnappers entered the warehouse, there was a commotion with shouts.

“Damn it! Where’s the item!? You guys handle it this way!?”

After a while of shouting, he came out of the warehouse and ordered a search.

“Find it quick! If I have that power, I can become the Master of the Tower!”

“She wouldn’t have gone far. Since she is from a lower noble family, she wouldn’t be able to ask for help from anyone.”

“Damn it! That lower noble family is making me, the second son of a Count family, do all this…”

I was listening to the kidnappers’ conversation, and they knew me as a lower noble.

I frequented the Magic Tower so diligently, but they didn’t even know my identity…?

Are they out of their minds?

I was working in the office as usual.

There were hurried footsteps, and the door opened without even a knock.

“D, Duke! It’s an emergency! The youngest Miss’ carriage sent a rescue signal!”

“…Deploy the entire army to find her. No, I’ll go myself. Prepare.”

How could this happen again when it hasn’t been long since I got rid of those rats?

‘Please, be safe, youngest, Dad is coming.’

The news that the youngest daughter of Liberica had been kidnapped shocked the empire.

The Magic Tower, with the next Master of the Tower, used tracking magic to estimate the location and movement of the kidnappers.

The Robusta Duke Family dispatched many high-ranking mages for their benefactor.

‘Irina Liberica’, the student council president at the academy and heir to the Liberica Duke Family, summoned her subordinates as soon as she heard the news.

An organization that she wanted to have when she was young.

She summoned the ‘Black Lion’, which is now known as one of the strongest forces in the empire, and started the search.

The Laila Trading Company, which controls the commerce of the empire, started to move.

They dispatched many troops belonging to the company to search every corner of the empire to find their youngest sibling.

The organization ‘Crimson’, which controls the underworld, gathered information and handed it over to the Duke’s family. At the same time, they also dispatched their troubleshooters all over the empire.

The moment the kidnappers were about to scatter to find me, a change happened.

A tremendous vibration started to shake the earth as if an earthquake had happened.

The moment the kidnappers were flustered by the sound of many horses’ hooves.

A huge magic circle appeared in the sky, and a barrier was unfolded to keep the kidnappers from running away.

On the ground, I started to see numerous flags, including the Liberica Duke Family and the Robusta Duke Family.

The most noticeable people among the flags.

Dad, Mom, and sisters…

I was convinced when I saw them.

That the actions I’ve done so far were not meaningless.

The kidnappers were suppressed instantly and gagged.

And, my family is looking for me at the front.

I asked Elin to remove the invisibility, and my presence appeared to the world.

The moment they found me, they ran towards me in one step and hugged me.

“Our youngest, are you alright!?”

“Are you okay, my daughter? Were you scared?”

Mom and Dad hugged me gently.

“Youngest! Are you safe! Are you hurt!?”

“Is our youngest okay…?”

“Were you scared? It’s okay. Unnie’s here.”

My three unnies, looking at me with warm eyes.

“Are you alright!? Are you not hurt!? I brought all of our Duke’s mages!”

And finally, Bella unnie, worried about me…

I smiled brightly and said I was okay, and without saying anything, she hugged me.

After that, a bloodbath swept through the empire.

Anyone who had anything to do with my kidnapping was caught by the Duke’s family without question.

And, the Conpanya Count Family who had ordered my kidnapping.

Count Conpanya claimed that his second son had done it alone, but it didn’t work.

Less than a day later, the Count family, a high-ranking noble in the empire, was destroyed.