Ascendance of a Bookworm

Volume 7 Chapter 10: Doom Befalls (Part 2)

My arms had been pulled back and I couldn’t move them, someone had grabbed me and begun running. I tried my best to resist, but my attempts to do so were in vain and could only claw against the thing I was trapped in. I could see light seeping through the tiny gaps in the cloth, I had been stuffed into a bag.

“H-help me…”

“Myne! Tuuli!”

“Let them go!” I heard Lutz and Damuel yelling at the culprit outside the bag and footsteps chasing me from behind.

It turns out that Tuuli had been snatched too as I could hear her shriek. The sounds from the main street faded into the distance, so the kidnapper had probably ran into one of the alleys.

“Captain! Myne has been kidnapped!”

“Release my daughter!”

I heard Otto yelling after us as well as Dad who was booming with rage, then I felt myself fly through the air. The kidnapper had probably dropped me to defend himself against Dad’s attack. But I couldn’t see what was happening and could only let myself hit and roll across the ground.

“Ouch!”

“Myne!”

“Sister Myne!”

I heard Lutz and Gil yell for me and felt them pull the bag up such that I was now sitting on the ground. My eyes shifted around in the dark as I felt the bag being yanked open, and I could see again

I squinted my eyes because of the light and continued sitting on the ground as I waited for my eyes to readjust back to the light. Lutz and Gil watched over me as Damuel guarded my surroundings with high caution. Dad was armed with his spear and stood behind him along with Otto.

“How about Tuuli?!”

“She’s there,” Gil responded with rage and frustration.

I looked towards where he gestured towards and saw that Tuuli had been taken hostage. The culprit had a knife to her throat and was trying to use her to escape. Tuuli looked at the knife utterly petrified.

“N-no…” she begged as the colour drained from her face and tears poured down her face.

I could feel the mana within me rising and my body began to hear up. In that moment I felt something break inside of me.

“Sister Myne?!”

I got onto my friend. My body was burning like scalding water, but my head felt clearer than ever. I had spent the last year offering my mana to the temple almost everyday, and there was the recent ritual too. All of these had given me plenty of opportunities to practice my mana. Back with the incident with the High Bishop, the Crushing had affected everyone around me, but I could now direct it towards a single person, that was what my body was telling me.

“Hey. What on earth are you doing to my Tuuli?” I questioned the man who had his knife against Tuuli’s neck.

The expression on his face changed from that of anger and anxiety to a purplish colour, as though he was suffocating. He struggled to escape from my Crushing, but he could not move an inch. He could only stare ahead with a panicked expression.

“Take your filthy hands off my Tuuli and get lost. Otherwise, it will be you who will meet your end here.”

It felt as though time was slowing down as I watched the man twitch and foam began dripping from his mouth. I continued to put more power behind my mana.

“Kh… Ah!”

He let out a groan when something launched towards him and pierced him through his arm.

“What?”

I was shocked by what had happened and came back to my senses. Dad, armed with a dagger, seized the chance to charge at the man. The man had yet to recover from the Crushing so he took the full brunt of the dagger.

“Ah!”

He yelled in pain as blood spilled from his wound. Dad pressed him against the ground and Tuuli fell to the ground.

“Tuuli!”

“Are you okay?!”

Gil and Lutz dashed towards Tuuli and wiped the man’s blood from her face.

“…I-I was so scared,” Tuuli cried as she crumbled onto the ground.

I was about to run over to Tuuli when I caught a glimpse of something shiny in the corner of my eye. I flipped my head around to see the other man Dad had fought with and who was probably the one who kidnapped me, raising his hand towards the sky. He had a ring around his finger and the feystone in it was glowing. I immediately knew that he was channeling his mana into the ring. I turned towards Dad who was busy with the other culprit and yelled, “Dad! Watch out!”

“Dad! Look out!”

Dad turned back as Damuel screamed, “Gunther! Step back!” and launched himself towards Dad to push him away.

“Ngh?!”

He stood before Dad and released a shield over his left arm that blocked out the beam of mana that had been launched towards them. The man probably did not expect his attack to be negated as he retreated from Damuel in shock.

“Gunther, this guy is a mana-wielder. I’ll handle him! All of you need to retreat to the temple and get Ferdinand!”

“Got it! Otto, grab Myne!” Dad ordered as he carried Tuuli into his arms because she was too weak to stand and began running towards the main plaza. Lutz and Gil regained their sense and ran behind him too. Otto picked me up and we all dashed back to the temple.

“Myne, there’s blood…”

Otto said with a frown, looking sympathetic towards my pain. I looked at where was was looking and saw that blood was flowing from my knee to my ankles.

“It was probably because I was thrown onto the ground.”

I didn’t feel any pain because I had been so overwhelmed with emotions. It was only when I had seen the wound did I feel a sharp sting on my knee. The sight of my own blood made me recall the blood that had spurted from my kidnapper.

“…Otto, this isn’t good right, like, we really need all the help we can get?” I was hesitant to ask as I watched everyone dash through the crowd in the main plaza.

Otto responded in shock, “Are you joking right now?!”

“I didn’t want to get anyone in trouble if we called for help.”

I rubbed some blood from my knee onto my thumb and pulled out the necklace I had been wearing all the time. I pressed my blood-soaked thumb onto the obsidian-looking stone. For a brief second the stone shone yellow, but that was all except for the small yellow flame that was now burning inside the stone. This stone was likely a magic tool that would reveal my location to Sylvester, but there was no sure way to know what it was used for.

“What is that?”

“A protective charm. I’m supposed to use it if things get dangerous.”

I tucked the necklace back into my shirt and could only wait to see what it would do. I could see that we were now approaching the Gilberta Company.

“Tuuli, Lutz, go back in with Otto and stay with him,” Dad instructed them as he placed Tuuli in front of the door.

Lutz responded with bated breath, “Mr. Gunther, let me—”

“You’ll just make it harder.”

Dad cut Lutz off before he could say he wanted to come with us.

“But Gil is going!”

“Gil is a temple attendant, not you. You can’t fight and will only be a burden,” Dad’s words were brutal, but it was for Lutz’s sake. Otto had placed me down when Dad turned around to face him with a heavy look

“Otto, please look after Tuuli. I’m taking Myne back to the temple.”

“Captain, Myne, please stay safe, alright?” Otto clenched his fist and raised it up. Dad returned the gesture and bumped Otto’s fist.

“Nothing will happen, we have the Knight’s Order now.” Dad responded and raised his fist towards the sky.

We raised our heads to see feystone highbeasts soaring above us, they were heading towards the direction of where Damuel was. At the speed they were moving, they were likely to reach Damuel soon.

“Myne, let’s go.”

Dad carried me and made a dash towards the temple.