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Chapter 17

Clip-clop, clip-clop.

As the horse began to move, Emilia tensed her legs and bit her lip.

"You can hold my arm comfortably, you know."

He acted kind, but he was entirely high-handed.

Emilia had no choice but to grip his arm tightly.

The man spoke to her again.

"You could lean back further, you know?"

"No, I'm fine."

Emilia refused in a cold tone.

"Why not? You said it's your first time on a horse. Aren't you scared of falling?"

"Rather than that, I think I should be more wary of someone who casually abuses his authority."

At her words, the man let out an amused laugh.

"Me? That's a first."

Still, he urged the horse a little faster.

---

Emilia rode with the man into the forest.

Before long, she spotted cracks zigzagging across the ground.

A little further in, there would be a sinkhole caused by a disruption in the underground magic flow.

"I think it was around here."

"Is that so?"

The man pulled the reins and stopped the horse.

At the jolt, Emilia's body bumped lightly against him.

"Oof."

The man let out an exaggerated sound and hopped off the horse in one smooth motion.

Then he spread his arms toward her.

"Come on."

Emilia frowned.

She didn't feel like obediently following the whims of a man who'd put her on the horse without her consent.

So she gripped the saddle with both hands and carefully dismounted.

The man lowered his arms and folded them, watching her with an interested gaze.

Emilia spoke to him brusquely.

"Let's hurry."

"Sure."

With a shrug, the man tied the horse to a nearby tree.

Then he followed behind Emilia, who had started walking ahead.

---

After confirming the deep magic sinkhole, Emilia turned to the man behind her and spoke.

"It was here. The strange place I saw."

Of course, what she'd actually seen was in the original story, not in person.

Deep beneath the Empire's land, magic flowed as a matter of course.

According to the original, the ore used to create the hunting ground had reacted with something, causing the sinkhole.

It caused an explosion by reacting with the magic underground.

It had affected areas where magic was particularly concentrated—including the spot where her house had stood.

Looking at it this way, I really was unlucky.

As Emilia thought this to herself, the man's voice came.

"Hmm. It does look suspicious. The magic flow inside seems tangled too."

At that, Emilia felt relieved.

Unlike her, the knight seemed able to sense something.

He walked around the edge of the sinkhole, stroking his chin.

Emilia crouched down nearby and peered inside.

It's quite deep.

The depth to the bottom looked to be about two meters.

The diameter was about the size of a room.

Just then, the man glanced at her and spoke.

"By the way, how did you happen to come across this place?"

"Huh?"

Emilia was flustered by the sudden question.

She hadn't prepared an excuse since she hadn't expected to be asked that.

"W-well, I suppose you could call it a tour of the capital."

"A tour of the capital?"

"I haven't been in the capital long."

Emilia smiled awkwardly and averted her gaze slightly.

Then she straightened her bent knees and stood up.

"Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you could investigate. Since I've shown you the location, I'll be heading back now..."

Just then, the ground beneath her feet trembled slightly.

"Wh-what?"

Having just been rising, Emilia lost her balance in an instant.

At the same time, her body lurched toward the magic sinkhole.

Emilia reflexively squeezed her eyes shut.

Given the height, falling in would certainly cause serious injury.

Scrrrrape!

Just then, the rough sound of something scraping against the wall—

"Ugh!"

She felt a tight grip around her body.

She felt herself falling, but fortunately, there was no impact.

Soon the grip released, and Emilia slid to the ground.

"Are you alright?"

At the voice from above, she raised her gaze.

"Ah..."

The man who had been standing on the opposite side of the sinkhole was now right in front of her.

Emilia spoke, somewhat dazed.

"Th-thank you. But how—"

How had he reacted so fast?

Reading the question on her face, the man smiled.

"I heard a faint explosion sound from underground just now."

"Ah."

Emilia nodded.

She took a moment to calm her racing heart, then looked up at the top.

From down here, it looked even deeper than it had from above.

"...We can get back up, right?"

"Of course."

He shrugged as if it were no trouble.

Thank goodness.

If she'd fallen in alone, she would have been injured—and getting out would have been difficult.

Just then, the man leaned leisurely against the wall and spoke.

"Ah, but if I don't help, you won't be able to get up easily. Right?"

He seemed to have had the same thought.

But the way he said it felt a bit off.

Emilia looked at the man.

Unlike before, his eyes had shifted—dangerously. The playful, cheerful atmosphere was gone.

Soon the man pushed himself off the wall.

He approached with slow steps.

No way...

Suddenly, Kayden's earlier words came to mind.

"Kidnappings happen frequently."

Emilia backed away cautiously. Of course, the man was faster.

She clenched the hand pressed against the ground.

She felt rough dirt beneath her fingers.

If the man showed any sign of making a move, she planned to throw the dirt in his eyes.

And then—

If she climbed up over his back while he was in pain, she could get out easily.

Emilia spoke to the man with wary eyes.

"I have no family and no money—I'm completely penniless."

But the moment she said it, she realized her mistake.

That only made her sound like an easier target to sell off.

But the man's eyes went wide for a moment.

"Hmm. What kind of self-introduction is that? Are you trying to have a blind date with me in a place like this?"

He lifted the corner of his mouth and continued.

"I'm Lucas."

By now he was right in front of her, and he bent down.

"Ah, if you're worried I might do something weird, don't be. Once my little curiosity is satisfied, I'll safely take you back up."

He'd suddenly switched to informal speech.

"What curiosity...?"

"You seem to know quite a bit about this ground collapse. And it's not just guesswork."

Emilia's expression flickered guiltily.

"So tell me—how do you know this kind of information?"

"Well..."

At a loss for how to escape, Emilia trailed off.

Then the man leaned in closer and spoke.

"As a member of the Capital Guard, I can't let this suspiciousness slide. Who knows? Maybe you created this collapse yourself and are pretending to report it."

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