Attempted Kidnapping

"Myne-sama, would you consider taking on a new Attendant to replace Delia?"

Fran's sudden question made me tilt my head in confusion. Unlike during winter, I wasn't actually living in the Temple, so the workload shouldn't have been heavy enough to demand an immediate replacement for Delia.

"Is there really such urgency?"

"I believe it would be best."

Fran explained that with Dirk gone, he and Gil could handle the physical work and still get a good night's sleep, but Rosina didn't like doing menial tasks that might hurt her fingers, so eventually they would need a replacement.

"To speak honestly, Myne-sama, you still worry about Delia even now, and your tendency to be swayed by sentimentality is a concern. If you redirected that affection toward others, we would feel more at ease."

Being confronted with my own softness, I choked on my words. It seemed he had noticed me absentmindedly searching for Delia's figure in the somewhat empty space.

Fran was right. Rather than endlessly worrying about Delia who had left, it would be better for the future to ease the concerns of Fran and Rosina. I let out a soft breath and lowered my eyes.

"...You're right. If we were to bring in a new Gray Priestess, would Monica and Nicola work?"

Monica and Nicola were the two who had helped with Ella's cooking throughout winter. Vilma had recommended them, and I already knew they worked briskly and efficiently. Not only could they handle menial tasks, but they could also serve as cooking assistants.

In fact, the Italian restaurant was about to open, and once it did, the cooks would leave the Temple for the shop. Ella had chosen to stay here since she felt she could develop more recipes in this environment, and she had already finished negotiations with Benno. She would be in charge of training the next cook Benno sent over. Monica and Nicola would work well with Ella since she already knew them, making things easier.

"Monica and Nicola? Myne-sama, are you sure you can take on both of them?"

Fran furrowed his brows anxiously, knowing the room's financial situation. It was true that things could get tight depending on the season, but the winter handicrafts had additional orders coming in, and if the picture books continued to sell well, we should be fine.

"They both worked so hard over winter, didn't they? If I chose only one, it would be difficult to ask for help again next winter. If we're going to hire them, I'd like to take both at once."

"I don't think Myne-sama needs to worry about that sort of thing..."

Rosina smiled wryly, but there was a clear difference between staying in the orphanage and becoming an Attendant. Even knowing that, choosing between the two was difficult for me.

"Having them as Attendants would give me more peace of mind than leaving it all to Delia. Should I go speak with the two of them?"

"Yes. Neither of them has experience as an Attendant, and considering the training period, it might be better to approach them sooner rather than later. What do you think, Fran?"

Before the Italian restaurant opened and the kitchen staff dwindled, Monica and Nicola needed to learn the room's menial tasks. However, Rosina couldn't demonstrate them, so Fran would have to be the one to train them. If Fran didn't have the bandwidth, training would be difficult.

"I've been able to shift some of the paperwork to Rosina, so I do have a bit more room now."

"Then let me contact Vilma, and we can go to the orphanage tomorrow."

Just as the next day's plans were settled, there was a knock at the door.

My Attendants would just come in without knocking, and Temple personnel like the Chief Priest and his attendants used the bell. The ones who knocked were Commoners like Lutz and Turi.

"Is it Lutz? But it feels a bit early for him to be heading home."

Not much time had passed since the fifth bell. Fran went down to the first floor to greet the visitor, and I stepped out toward the staircase to look down.

Damuel opened the door with a guarded expression. As expected, Lutz was there. But he wasn't alone — Turi was with him.

"Come in, both of you."

Fran invited the two inside and was about to close the door when he heard Gil's voice shouting "Wait!" from some distance away. Fran held the door open, and Gil came running up, out of breath.

"Turi, what's going on?"

"Myne, I came to walk you home. Let's go together."

Turi grinned as he watched me rush down the stairs.

"You might trip, you know? I'll protect you, Myne."

Turi thumped his chest as he said this, and Gil stepped out from beside him in response, puffing out his chest and standing tall.

"I'll protect Myne-sama too! Because I'm an Attendant!"

Their enthusiasm was heartwarming, but did we really need more people? I looked up at Damuel, who would have to serve as their escort, and he shrugged with an exasperated look.

"...More people to guard makes things more dangerous, not less."

"Right? You were worried about me, so just for today, I'm counting on you, Damuel-sama. I'll tell Turi not to come again."

What was done was done. It was a little earlier than usual, but we would just head home together. I had Rosina help me change, and quickly prepared to leave.

"Fran, please contact the orphanage for me. We're heading home early today."

"Understood. I look forward to your swift return."

Once we left the Temple, we walked along the main road in a procession: Lutz and Gil in front, followed by me and Turi, with Damuel walking behind.

"I appreciate the thought, but Turi, you really mustn't come to pick me up again."

While walking, I admonished Turi. He tilted his head, not understanding.

"Why?"

"If something dangerous happened, Damuel-sama could protect me if I were alone, but with you here too, he might not be able to protect both of us."

No matter how capable a knight Damuel was, his ability to protect was limited. And while Damuel was obviously assigned to guard me, in an emergency my safety would come first, and he might not be able to help Turi. Turi could end up being left behind when fleeing, or worse, used as a decoy.

"If something really happened, you'd be the one in more danger, Turi."

"...I understand."

Turi puffed out his cheeks and looked at me unhappily. Even making that cute face while saying "But I want to protect Myne too" wouldn't change things. I could accept risk for myself, but I couldn't allow Turi to be put in danger.

We passed through the Central Plaza, turned onto Artisan Way to head south toward home, then turned off into a less-traveled alley. After walking a short distance, we ran into Otto. He looked almost like he was on patrol, carrying a spear-like weapon and glancing around as he walked.

"Otto, it's been a while."

"Myne-chan!"

Otto's face lit up when he spotted me.

"You're safe. Good. That means I won't get pummeled by the Chief."

The fact that "safe" was the first word out of his mouth was somehow ominous. Had he done something that would get Father to pummel him?

"...Did you do something?"

"Not me — the guards at the East Gate."

Otto shrugged. He himself had been inside doing paperwork, so he hadn't been standing guard, but apparently the East Gate guards had made a blunder serious enough for Father to pummel someone, and Otto had been dragged in to clean up the mess.

"This afternoon, the Chief gathered the gate squad leaders and told them there was an important matter. He contacted all the squad leaders except the East Gate one while he went to the center. It was about what happened while he was away."

"Huh?"

Otto's words made me blink.

Could it be that Father's "important matter" was that no new permits would be issued while the Lord was away? I had a terrible feeling about this.

Father normally worked the day shift, but he had gone to his post at the East Gate much earlier than the handover time. He spoke with the East Gate squad leader right away, had all the squad leaders summoned, and gathered them at the center. There, he informed them about the Lord's absence and the possibility that permits could be forged, then returned to the East Gate.

"But the noble's carriage had already been let through by then. The squad leader hadn't notified anyone, so no one thought the permits were forged. The Chief found out about the blunder during the guard handover and was furious, demanding to know why the important information hadn't been communicated to all the guards. He ran to the Temple to confirm Myne-chan was safe — did he meet you?"

Whether Father had met me or not, it was the words "noble's carriage" that caught my attention. I couldn't help but look up at Damuel. Damuel's eyes went wide in disbelief.

"A carriage was let through!? Don't tell me it was the one from the other day...?"

"That's right. You really know your stuff. That noble. Right now, they've mobilized every soldier at the East Gate except the gate guards to search, but they haven't found him yet. Has he already gone to the Noble District?"

Otto tilted his head. He had expected the noble to be found quickly since the gate to the Noble District was guarded by knights, but even though the Lord had prohibited outside nobles from entering the city, it seemed the soldiers had absolutely no shared sense of crisis or urgency.

"You've notified the Knight's Order, haven't you!?" Damuel snarled at Otto, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

Otto squinted and scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"...I'm not sure? Did the squad leader handle it? The Chief rushed out immediately, so it might still be in progress."

"Tell them now, you idiot!"

Damuel berated Otto with raised eyebrows, then immediately pulled out a gleaming baton. Otto's eyes went wide — "What? A noble...?" — but before he could finish, Damuel fired a red rescue signal into the sky.

The Knight's Order should come now, I thought with some relief, but the instant I looked up at the red light soaring high into the air, Turi's figure at the edge of my vision suddenly vanished.

"Huh? Turi...?"

Before I could even turn around, my world went black. A sensation of floating washed over me, followed by a jolting, swaying motion.

"Wha—!?"

From the feel of hands pressing against my back and legs, I realized someone was carrying me on their shoulder. I struggled in a panic, but my hands met nothing but rough fabric, and I could barely move.

The occasional glimmer of light filtering through suggested that something like a burlap sack had been thrown over me before I was hoisted up.

"H-Help..."

"Myne! Turi!"

"Give them back!"

I could hear Lutz and Damuel's shouts from beyond the darkness, along with the sound of multiple footsteps giving chase. It seemed Turi had been taken too. I thought I heard Turi scream.

The noise of the main road grew steadily more distant, which meant we were running through side alleys.

"Chief! Myne-chan is in that bag!"

"What are you doing to my daughter!?"

I heard Otto's shout, followed by Father's roar. My body spun around violently — it seemed Father had attacked and forced the kidnappers to throw me. In the pitch-black darkness, unable to comprehend what was happening, I was hurled onto the cobblestones, my body slamming against the ground in several places.

"Ow!"

"Myne!?"

"Myne-sama!"

At the sound of Lutz and Gil's panicked voices, the sack was yanked off with brute force, and my body was pulled upright. While I was still seeing stars in the dark, the burlap sack was ripped away with a sudden whoosh, and I was plunged into bright light. My eyes stung from the abrupt transition.

I blinked several times and looked around from where I was sitting on the ground. Lutz and Gil were peering down at me. Behind me to the right, Damuel stood with his back turned, on guard. Beyond him, Father was grinding his teeth with weapon drawn, and past him was Otto.

"Where's Turi!?"

"That way..."

Gil's violet eyes burned with frustration and rage. Where he was looking, I could see Turi being held hostage. A man was trying to flee while pressing a knife against Turi, and Turi was frozen in terror, unable to look away from the blade, a small gasp escaping his lips.

"N-No..."

My focus locked onto Turi, whose face had gone white as a sheet, tears welling in his eyes as he trembled. In an instant, blood surged through my entire body and Magic Power surged with it. My patience snapped in a heartbeat.

"Myne!?"

"Myne-sama!?"

I slowly rose to my feet. My body was burning hot enough to boil, yet the core of my mind felt ice-cold. I recognized this feeling.

Over the past year of making offerings at the Temple and conducting rituals with magic stones, I had grown far more accustomed to handling Magic Power than I had ever thought possible. The intimidation I had once directed at the High Priest — where everything in my field of vision had been caught in its path — I could now aim at a specific target.

"Hey. What do you think you're doing to my Turi?"

I glared at the man pressing the blade against Turi, and his complexion shifted rapidly. His face, flushed red with anger and excitement, turned blue with terror, then darkened to a dusky, purplish hue as if he had stopped breathing. The man tried to squirm free of my intimidation, but he could barely move, his eyes wide and his face rigid with fear.

"Get your filthy hands off Turi right now. Or you'll die. You."

As the flow of time around me seemed to slow, I gradually increased the pressure of the Magic Power bearing down on the man, who had begun to foam at the mouth and tremble.

"U... ah..."

The instant the man's mouth moved slightly, a blade flew through the air with a whoosh and plunged deep into the arm of the man holding Turi.

"Huh?"

I blinked in surprise as my rational mind returned, and almost simultaneously, Father — dagger in hand — lunged at the man. Unable to move under the weight of my intimidation, the man couldn't dodge and took the blow head-on.

"Uwah!"

The man screamed as blood sprayed upward. Then, as if he had been shoved, Turi came tumbling out from between the two grappling figures.

Gil and Lutz immediately rushed to Turi's side, wiping the blood that had splattered on his cheek.

"Turi!"

"Are you alright!?"

"...I-I was scared."

I took a step toward Turi, who had collapsed to the ground, but at the edge of my vision something flashed. I whipped around and saw the ring on the hand of a different man from the one Father was wrestling — presumably the one who had tried to snatch me — glowing with light. I instantly understood it was a magic stone ring that had absorbed Magic Power, and I shouted at Father, who was about to finish off the man.

"Father, dodge!"

"Gunther, get back!"

"Guh!?"

Damuel shoved Father aside with his left arm. A shield-like barrier of Magic Power materialized in front of him and deflected the beam of light that came flying straight at them. The man stared at Damuel in shock — clearly he hadn't expected his attack to be blocked — and began to retreat.

"He's a Magic Power user. I'll handle him! You three get back to the Temple and notify Ferdinand!"

"Understood! Otto, grab Myne!"

Father scooped up the paralyzed Turi, threw him over his shoulder, and broke into a full sprint toward the main road. Lutz and Gil snapped to attention and followed. I was scooped up by Otto in a side carry, and we headed back toward the Temple.

"Myne-chan, you're bleeding..."

As we ran, Otto's face twisted with concern. His gaze was fixed on my knee, where blood was trickling down my shin.

"When I was thrown earlier."

I had been too excited to feel any pain, but the moment I saw the wound, a throbbing ache washed over me. Looking at my own blood, I recalled the spray of blood from the man earlier.

"...Otto, this is a situation where I really need help, isn't it?"

I watched Father charge ahead with Turi slung over his shoulder while Lutz and Gil wove through the crowds on the main road at a dead sprint. When I asked the question, Otto let out something like a scream.

"What else does it look like!?"

"I just wanted to confirm that I wouldn't get in trouble for asking for help."

I pressed my thumb against the wound on my knee, coating it with blood, then pulled out the necklace I always wore and pressed my bloody thumb hard against the black stone that looked like onyx.

The stone flashed gold for just an instant, and after that, golden flames flickered faintly within the black stone — but nothing else seemed to happen. It was probably some kind of Magical Tool that would send a message to Sylvester or broadcast my location. I had tried pressing a Blood Seal, but I had no idea what it actually did.

"What is that?"

"It's a charm. I'm told it'll help me in a dangerous situation."

Without knowing what the Magical Tool actually did, I slipped the necklace back under my clothes. By then, we had arrived in front of the Gilberta Company.

Father set Turi down in front of the store and immediately issued orders.

"Turi and Lutz, you'll wait at Otto's place with Otto."

Lutz looked up at Father, huffing and puffing.

"Uncle Gunther, I want to too..."

"You'd be in the way."

"But Gil is going!"

"Gil is with the Temple. You're not."

Those who couldn't fight weren't needed — Father cut down Lutz's plea without a shred of sympathy, then turned a stern gaze to Otto, who was setting me down.

"Otto, I'm counting on you for Turi. I'm taking Myne back to the Temple."

"Chief, Myne-chan. Please, be careful."

Otto clenched his fist and bent his elbow. Father did the same, pressing his fist lightly against Otto's.

"The Knight's Order has mobilized."

His expression remained grim as Father raised a fist toward the sky. I could see knightbeasts made of magic stones racing through the air above. They were probably heading toward Damuel's position. They would be able to regroup soon.

"Let's go, Myne."

"Mm."

Father lifted me into his arms and broke into a run toward the Temple.

It's been a while since I last saw Otto. Father and Damuel worked hard.

I'm keeping the fact that I lost control from the Chief Priest.

Next time: the outside noble.