"Are you surprised? These are special slimes made for breaking women. These slimes have very special mucus. It melts clothes and serves as an aphrodisiac."
"…"

When he spoke of the predictable development, I blinked my eyes.
Andre continued, looking like he was enjoying it.

"You"ll now be tormented by the slimes. They told me to not lay a hand on you and hand you over unhurt, but I"m not going to lay a hand on you directly and it"s not like you"ll be hurt, so there"s no problem. These guys absorb magic and magical arts, so it"s useless to attack them. Because they"re made of magical power!"
"… Magical power."

With a self-satisfied he gave me words that would normally be a final notice.
However, I regained composure with each word, although Andre didn"t notice it.

"Serves you right. Be tormented and made to pant by slimes.  Go insane having your deepest place violated by tentacles while waiting for help that won"t come! Aah, serves you right. Honestly, I wanted to rape and kill his mate with my own hands, but I feel satisfied with this!"

Hahaha, Andre laughed loudly.
While I couldn"t move from being bound, slimes slowly surrounded me. Having confirmed that, Andre turned back.

"It seems amusing, but I don"t have a taste for watching women violated by slimes. Until the time I have to hand you over, go insane as much as you like. It"s a shame I can"t show it to Freed."

Saying that over his shoulder, Andre left while laughing, confident of his victory.
I saw him off in silence and breathed out.

"… Hmm. Ropes and slimes made of magical power, huh."

Before my eyes are slimes. My hands and feet are bound with ropes.
Normally, these are certainly hopeless circ.u.mstances. However, I don"t feel any danger.
Because――.

"Heave-ho."

First of all, I touched the ropes made of magical power binding my hands and erased them. Immediately my hands became free. I similarly touched the ropes on my feet, erased them, and stood up.

Before me are three not very pleasant flabby objects. Since they seem to be made of magical power, objects is probably more correct than creatures. They look different from ordinary slimes.
I wonder if they recognize people by movement. They seem to be awaiting their chance. One slime extended something like a tentacle, and although not very willingly I also reached out my index finger.
… It looks like I"m communicating with an alien.

"… There."

The instant my index finger touched the tentacle, the slime disintegrated.

"Haa…"

I patted my chest in relief.
I"m glad it went as expected. When I heard they"re made of magical power I guessed I"d manage, and I was right. On the contrary, if it had been an ordinary slime, it might"ve been impossible for me.
Alright. I nodded and similarly erased the remaining two. Immediately my surroundings once again turned empty and silent.

"… I"m lucky that I can use neutralization magic."

Them being made of magical power saved me. Thanks to that I could escape danger.
I predicted if I"d suddenly erased them, Andre would have been more wary, and I would have gone through something worse, so I pretended to be obedient for the time being, but each time he said "Magical power!" with a self-satisfied look, I calmed down thinking "Ah, then I"ll manage".
Since I became aware of it, I"ve had unexpectedly many opportunities to use neutralization magic. When I first learned about it from Ms. Delris, I thought what a troublesome thing it was, but now I"m glad that I can use it.
After all, if not for neutralization magic, Cain, Freed, and Milly might not have been saved.
Besides, the thing just now.
The slimes were awfully creepy, but knowing I could manage, I didn"t lose my composure.
Also, I"m glad Andre left immediately.
I was worried about what to do if he was a prevent who likes watching women violated by slimes.
I stretched my body and looked around.

"There! … After all it"s impossible."

Just in case I tried touching the iron bars, but as expected they weren"t made of magical power and didn"t give an inch.
Unable to exit this way, I gallantly gave up on going out through the door and decided to explore the rest of the room. I looked around here and there, and in the end when I tried moving the bed a little, I found a spot looking like a largish vent.

"Aah! So the hidden pa.s.sage was here!"

The vent was blocked by an iron railing, but because it was old, it came off with just a little shaking.
I tried looking into the hole. It was a little dusty and a chilly wind blew from it.

"… It seems I"ll manage alone."

I recalled what Cain had said before. a.s.sa.s.sins use vents for moving quite often. Cain had said they"re connected to every room and are a blind spot n.o.body expects to be used.
Having recalled that, I thought a little and nodded.

"Alright, let"s try going in."

I could wait here, but Andre is likely to come back.
If I was completely fine then, he"d absolutely be suspicious.
According to Andre"s plan, I"m supposed to lose myself in slimes" pleasure.
Besides, afterwards it seems he"s planning on handing me over to somebody, so I can"t stay here any longer. Andre seems to be connected with Sahaja… I couldn"t bear being taken over there. I want to be with Freed, not anywhere else.

"Where is this?"

Because Andre was here, I convinced myself I"m in Wilhelm, but perhaps I"m outside the country. There are no windows in this room, so I truly have no idea where I was brought.

"… I wonder if Sahaja truly went to war."

I suddenly recalled what Andre was saying. Speaking of Sahaja, there"s Crown Prince Maximilian. I wonder if Freed is fighting him now.
… While being worried about me.
Somebody I became overcome with emotion and whispered "I"m alright" towards the Royal Flower.

I"d expected it, but there was no particular change.

"Well, of course there wouldn"t be."

It"s not really a communication device, so it"s only natural. It can"t be helped. I stopped idling about and decided to at once enter the vent.

"Heave-ho… Ooh!"

First of all, I tried putting my head inside. The entrance was rather narrow, but inside it was unexpectedly wide. It"s enough to go through. Using my elbows, I crawled inside. The dust that danced was slightly painful.

"Cough… I see. So it"s like this inside. Hee…"

The inside of the vent made of stone was cold.
For a while I remained still and only looked around, but gradually I got tired of just waiting in this cramped place.
Because, I have nothing better to do. Besides, thinking about it carefully, if I"m so close to the room I might get found by Andre and dragged out. It"s better if I go further inside so I don"t get caught by him.

"… Freed should know my location, so it"ll be alright."

The Royal Flower still feels hot.
Surely Freed is impatient to pick me up. However, as Andre said, he"s a person with strong sense of responsibility. I think it"s fine if he comes pick me up after making Sahaja retreat.

"Do your best… I"m alright, so don"t get hurt."

I knew it wouldn"t get transmitted, but I still said it.
Because wars are scary after all. All the more so since Freed stands at the front.
After praying for Freed"s safety with all my heart, I raised my face.

"Good, then let"s go. For now, it"s okay as long as I don"t get caught by Andre."

If I successfully escape, I win. Matches like that are my forte.
Focusing on my objective, I crawled along the vent. While thinking that I"m saved that the skirt of my dress is not of the puffed-up type, I proceeded straight. Right away, the path split in two. I wondered about which one to take and whimsically chose one.

"Well, I"ll manage somehow. Go go!"

I muttered cheerfully and moved. It felt as if I was exploring a labyrinth.
It"d gotten strangely fun. With a relatively cheerful feeling, I headed deeper.

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