Chapter 28 – Witch Hunt (3)

Guided by the servant, the two left their weapons at a nearby guardpost and entered the dungeon.

As with any prison, moisture rose from the floor, and the air was damp.

To the point that one’s body would shiver if they stood still even for a moment.

Passing by criminals imprisoned on charges of poaching, blasphemy, and theft, she was in the very last space.

It was a solitary cell. Inside, the guard’s voice echoed viciously.

“You dirty witch. Will you still not open your mouth?”

The guard, who had stripped off his shirt, applied the poker in his hand. Along with a hissing sound of burning flesh, the naked woman hanging from the chains struggled.

Intense pain swept over her, but all the more, her brown eyes filled with malice.

“Mmmgh!”

The guard, receiving that gaze, momentarily shuddered. Even though her mouth was stuffed with cloth and she was gagged, that bitch was a mage.

An existence he wouldn’t have dared to make eye contact with under normal circumstances.

‘No. Anyway, she is just a bound cripple right now.’

The guard shook his head, driving away his fear. He had a duty to extract a confession from the sinner.

For this land, and to save the suffering people of the city.

“Tough bitch. Fine. Next is the whip. Then water torture, and finally, I’ll cut off your fingers.”

Laughing despicably, the guard took out a studded whip he had draped over the table. Duty, responsibility—to be honest, he didn’t care about such things.

This woman, who had seemed so haughty, had fallen to the bottom. The guard liked the fact that he could do whatever he wanted with this bitch the most.

“Hehehe. Come to think of it, the lord said I could do whatever I wanted as long as I didn’t kill her.”

Using the handle of the whip, the guard tilted Cara’s chin up. Although she was covered in blood and scratches all over her body, her beauty was still intact.

Lust welled up in the guard’s eyes as he looked at Cara. Just as the guard flicked his tongue and unfastened his trousers,

“Keeper! You have guests!”

“W-What?!”

Flustered by the servant’s voice, the guard hurriedly adjusted his pants and went out of the cell. Then, he saw two heavily armed knights. They were not knights of the territory. They were unfamiliar faces.

‘Who are they?’

Although he hadn’t received any prior notice, the guard bowed his head first.

“What brings noble sirs to a place like this?”

Velloc roughly related the conversation he had shared with the lord. At that, the guard nodded in understanding.

“I see. You sirs also had business with that spellcaster bitch. Haha. Understood. That bitch is inside right now. She’s so tough, she won’t open her mouth.”

“Can we go in?”

“Of course. Would you like to watch the torture?”

“No, we just want to talk among the three of us for a bit.”

When Velloc spoke while pointing at Adel, the guard’s eyes momentarily turned strange. Two women and one man in a confined space?

After thinking for a moment, the guard grinned. ‘Even a knight is just a man in the end.’ Wiping his sweaty forehead, the guard said,

“Of course, sirs. Haha. Take your time enjoying yourselves before coming out.”

“Thank you.”

‘It’s convenient that he misunderstood on his own.’ Velloc nodded.

“Adel. Let’s go in.”

No response returned.

“Adel?”

Velloc turned around with a puzzled face. Adel was blushing and kicking the floor. She was also muttering something. Velloc’s face turned dumbfounded.

‘Why are you like this too?’

“Ah. You must never remove the gag and cloth in her mouth. The witch will perform sorcery!”

“Don’t worry.”

*Creeeak*

The thick iron door closed, and the two were able to enter the cell.

“Master Velloc… I’m not mentally prepared yet. Ouch!”

Velloc struck the head of his spaced-out squire.

“Keep a good lookout.”

“Ah… Understood.”

Adel, startled by her master’s scolding, leaned against the entrance and listened closely. Only then could Velloc properly assess the situation in the cell. In the space filled with the smell of sweat, blood, and filth, the faint light of a torch flickered.

*Clank*

Right in the center of the room.

He saw the witch bound in chains, glaring this way.

Not something made of polygons and text, but a real, living, breathing human. The red-haired witch, Cara.

“You look like a mess.”

Clicking his tongue, Velloc approached Cara. With every step he took, Cara’s writhing grew more intense.

Accordingly, the chains binding her wrists rattled. As her tender skin scraped, blood dripped down.

“Mmmgh!”

Cara glared at Velloc, her eyes wide with rage.

From her perspective, the lord who wanted to kill her, the guard who tortured her, and the newly appeared knight bastard were all the same bastards.

They had surely come to insult and play with her, who had been thrown to the bottom.

‘If only I could cast spells… I would have killed them all! I would have dragged out their guts and cut them to pieces!’

But since her hands and mouth were blocked, there was nothing she could do. The one here right now was not the mage Cara,

but a woman waiting for the day of her death, stripped naked. She had acted tough in front of the guard, but perhaps due to the harsh torture, her strong mental power was also gradually weakening.

At that moment, a rough touch was felt near her body.

Cara recalled the guard’s insidious gaze from earlier. ‘This bastard is the same. Fine, do whatever you want.’

Cara closed her eyes in resignation. At that moment.

*Clink*

“Ugh.”

The gag and cloth stuffed in her mouth were pulled out. At the air entering through her mouth, Cara let out a groan.

Saliva dripped, and her throat coughed. However, her feeling was infinitely refreshing.

Without even thinking of chanting a spell, she gasped for breath for a long time. Then she stared at Velloc with a dazed face.

“Pant, pant. Why… why?”

“Are you asking why I freed you?”

Velloc smiled bitterly as he looked at the trembling eyes of the witch. He hadn’t wished to reunite in this kind of state.

Crouching down, Velloc checked her wrists and ankles, which were suspended.

“Ugh.”

“Fortunately, nothing is severed. It seems you can walk…”

“What do you mean?”

“At first, I intended to propose a deal. I was going to tell you to follow me, in exchange for unlocking the secrets of the magical items you possess.”

“What on earth does that…”

Velloc spoke, cutting off Cara.

“But things got tangled. You were falsely accused and locked in prison, and I have to break such a witch out. Because as far as I know, you are the best mage.”

His gaze turned toward the chains binding Cara. ‘Hmm. With that thickness, I think I can break it.’

After some time passed, perhaps having regained her senses, Cara asked in an absurd tone,

“Break me out of prison? Why on earth? Who are you to…”

“It is unfair.”

At Velloc’s single sentence, Cara’s words caught in her throat. She bit her lip. Yes… it was unfair. And fucking so.

She was neither whimsical nor evil like other mages. She had simply done her best in her assigned duties.

If they asked to tell their fortunes, she did. If they asked to make potions, she did. However, all those actions returned as spears and swords. They called her a witch who colluded with the demon. It was dumbfounding.

“Shit, what… what did I do wrong…”

She sobbed, tears spilling over. The woman’s slender back trembled.

Having cried like that for a long time, Cara, her eyes completely red, raised her head.

It was a resolute expression. Even so, she only looked like a pitiful woman hanging in chains, but Cara spoke in a much calmer tone.

“First of all, thanks for saving me. I will introduce myself formally. I am Cara. A mage.”

“Velloc. That over there is my squire, Adel.”

Adel, who stood near the door, lightly gave a nod. Coughing a few times, perhaps because her throat was dry, Cara spoke again.

“You said you wanted to recruit me as a companion? Fine. As long as it’s not this filthy space, I will follow you anywhere! Since you saved me. But before that, step back first!”

“Why?”

Cara said, looking at the restraints binding her.

“Because I have to undo this. I will use magic.”

Having finished speaking, Cara muttered with her lips and began to chant a spell. There was no telling when the lord’s faction would notice. The faster the escape, the better.

Her brown eyes flashed with brilliance, and a strange energy began to surge.

*Grab*

“Ugh?”

But her spell was blocked by Velloc’s hand. Being interrupted during her incantation, Cara looked at Velloc in annoyance.

“Why on earth…”

“Your body is in bad shape, so don’t push yourself.”

“Who doesn’t know that? I have to undo this first to get out of here… What?”

Cara’s eyes filled with astonishment. As Velloc exerted strength in his grip, the restraints tore away like sheets of paper.

Cara, suddenly freed, stumbled and fell. However, Velloc caught her body.

“Be careful. You are a precious mage.”

Cara, held in Velloc’s arms, stammered with her lips.

“What in the world… Are you a descendant of an ogre or something?”

“That’s not what’s important right now. First, we must escape from here.”

“Don’t worry. Now that I can use magic… Ugh.”

Cara writhed at the sharp pain felt throughout her body. ‘See? I told you not to push yourself.’ Velloc, gently soothing her, called Adel.

The approaching Adel’s gaze lingered slightly on Cara’s chest and then her own chest. Soon, clicking her tongue softly, she spoke.

“Did you call?”

“I’m sorry, Adel, but you’ll have to carry her on your back. She can’t even move properly.”

“Understood.”

When Velloc handed over the woman he was holding, Cara protested, muttering something, but Adel easily ignored her and hoisted the witch onto her back.

Adel’s face suddenly contorted at the heaviness felt on her back. Experiencing it directly, it was beyond imagination.

Although she resisted at first, soon, perhaps because the coolness felt from the armor was pleasant, Cara spoke with a slightly relaxed expression.

“By the way, how do you plan to escape? You’re even carrying me.”

Velloc said without a moment’s hesitation,

“Sometimes the answer lies in simple things.”

“Hmm?”

“It means the Lord of Hameln might put a bounty on us.”

Velloc, smiling slightly, kicked the cell door violently.

Bang!

At that, the guard, who had been napping while sitting on the floor, blinked and raised his head.

“Oops. Lord. You finished faster than expected?”

His grinning gaze froze like stone. Because the witch carried on the female knight’s back was staring at him as if she wanted to kill him.

‘Uh. Why is that bitch freed?’

“What is this…”

“No hard feelings.”

Velloc kicked the guard’s head violently.

*Crack*

The guard was shoved into the corner with his neck snapped, without even solving his query.

The iron bars clanged, and other prisoners locked in the dungeon screamed.

“He wasn’t a guy who should be killed so easily! We should have torn him to pieces!”

Cara, carried on Adel’s back, threw a fit.

Since he was the man who had been tearing and burning her just a moment ago, Velloc understood the feeling. However, the culprit was someone else. They were also busy with their path.

“I’m sorry. Next time, I will kill more brutally.”

Making a promise that wouldn’t even be fulfilled, Velloc walked ahead. Soon, exerting his monstrous strength, he began to bend the iron bars of the prison. The prisoners inside were terrified.

“Why are you doing this?”

“A merciful knight is simply giving you an opportunity to escape.”

Velloc answered casually and continued to free the prisoners. Cara, who was watching from behind, whispered in Adel’s ear.

“A meat shield… to divert the lord’s attention.”

“It tickles, spellcaster.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Wherever the three walked, the prisoners were freed. Finally, dozens of people rushed out of the prison, their mouths wide open.

“Freedom!”

“Glory to the merciful knight!”

Slipping out of the prison amidst the prisoners’ commotion, Velloc’s group stopped by the guardpost and retrieved their weapons they had left.

“My god. A human swings something like that?”

Seeing the greatsword Velloc carried, Cara opened her mouth again.

Of course, to Velloc, who had swung that greatsword countless times, it was a reaction both familiar and tiring.

Passing off Cara’s admiration indifferently, Velloc came out of the guardpost first.

Then, he saw dozens of soldiers glaring at him with stiffened faces.

The gleaming spear points and tensely drawn arrowheads looked ready to rip his body apart at any moment. However, Velloc’s expressionless face did not crack.

“Fast response.”

As he muttered briefly, the Lord of Hameln emerged, pushing through the gap between the soldiers. As if he had expected this, he sneered at Velloc with an arrogant attitude.

“I prepared this just in case, but to think a fellow who calls himself a knight would commit such a despicable act.”

Velloc pondered whether he should reveal the truth even now.

‘Actually, the Bishop you believe in is a real demon, and the mage was falsely accused. How about that? Doesn’t it sound plausible?’

Velloc smirked. It was a story even a dog wouldn’t believe. So he threw a different question.

“I don’t particularly want to see the blood of innocent people… must we fight?”

The Lord of Hameln also smirked.

“You say you’re scared in such a grandiose way. You accomplice of the witch.”

“Then the answer is clear.”

Velloc wishes to draw his sword. (Wait, ” .” -> “Velloc silently drew his greatsword.”)

Velloc silently drew his greatsword.