A Wish to Grab Happiness

Volume 2, Chapter 31: The Captive People and the Envious Person

「Let’s give you some time in this room you profane people. This is the right moment for you to repent for your disrespect and sins, and plead forgiveness to God.」

After professing those words, the holy woman started walking and returned to the chapel. She wasn’t interested in asking who we were and what we were doing here. She probably thought that we were treasure hunters. We weren’t. But, to be honest, I did steal some small goods.

We were trapped in a room piled with books. There were small items scattered around. I stood in the corner of the room where Filaret la Volgograd was taken before.

I looked at her and noticed that her eyes were filled with tears. Her body seemed to show evidence of her terrified feelings. For example, wet cheeks after she started to cry, and pale skin that showed that she was frightened.

Still, her behavior wasn’t unreasonable at all. The escape route was far from our location, and worst of all, the executioners kept an eye on us in the room. They wanted our lives. Summing up, this was one of those situations where our “hands were both tied”.

Although that holy woman was frail looking, she still had seemingly strong underlings at her command. But, this wasn’t the moment to shed tears. We had to think of something. Yet, I started to feel some despair as well. It looked almost impossible to break through those well-equipped men and run away from this place.

A candlestick made of monster fat and pottery was placed in front of us. It was meant to watch our movements from afar. The room was dark and the light of the flaming candle created our shadows on the wall. If we moved a little, they would see immediately what we were up to.

「So, how long can we live? 」

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Filaret whispered on my ear. She wanted to know for how long we’ll live. She kept murmuring with a low voice 「I’m going to die, I’m going to die. 」. She needed some water for her dry lips. She wasn’t looking okay. I called for the men in the room.

No reaction. Well, the guards weren’t allowed to talk with the prisoners. It seemed that they were following that rule strictly.

Well, if I thought deeply about it, even if I were to ask for their help, they would probably think that I’ll bargain with them. Either in gold or some other sort of negotiations. Either way, they wouldn’t fall for these types of trickery. They were historically famous as fanatic Heraldic Knights that only lived their lives for their holy cause.

I twisted my back and exhaled deeply through my lungs. I took a deep breath and I sighed nervously.

The situation was bad. And not only for us, it seemed. I noticed that the amount of soldiers decreased. It was probably to capture the other intruders, Caria and Helot Stanley. They were separated from us when we arrived in the underground temple. I never heard of them since then. But, there was a high possibility that they were caught as well. On the other hand, maybe they weren’t. They were skilled with the sword, so they probably wouldn’t be that easily caught. Or, perhaps, they decided to return back to the city-state to ask for help after Filaret and I got trapped inside.

In other words, the worst problems were from our side. There must be a reason why they kept us alive for now. Maybe they were trying to deal with the rest of the intruders. Or, maybe they were waiting for the right moment to torture us in exchange for some information. It seemed that the former was more likely case scenario. That’s why they tied us up and left us here. Of course, in the worst-case scenario, both of those reasons could end up happening at the same time.

However, they were waiting patiently for something. But, that patience was getting to my nerves. I felt frustrated that my life was in the palm of their hands. Besides, I lived a lot longer in the future. It would be absurd to die here and now.

「Helot…Helot…Save me… 」

Filaret weep next to me. It looked like she wouldn’t last long if this situation continued. She kept calling for Helot Stanley’s help with a hollow expression. Her cheeks were wet and red from her overflowing tears.

I’ve never seen her like this before. She was always serious-looking in the future. Who would’ve thought that she would weep for Helot like this. Not to mention how distraught he was not long ago. In the future he was always a serene and calm person.

Anyways. Her eyelids trembled and her forehead was burning hot. She was feeling sick and scared for her life. Certainly, Helot was a man that she could rely on. It was hard for me to admit, but he was someone who acted immediately and efficiently. He was totally different from me. I never did commendable things just like him. I wondered if he’d managed to get out of this.

「Ah…You know, it’s better if you moved to that side. We have to do something about this. 」

While we whispered to each other, we moved the rope that tied our hands. Our shadows only shook a little on the wall.

The only fortunate thing about this situation was that Filaret was a Sorceress, and the enemies didn’t find out about this fact.

Filaret couldn’t do much if she didn’t possess one of her magical tools. But, at least, she could perform simple magic. Moreover, it was not every day that a Sorceress was tied next to a lowly adventurer like myself. Which meant that I could do things that she couldn’t do, such as close quarters fighting. This was our opportunity to combine our skills.

I explained the following. The rope was simple, without any other elements other than fiber. Filaret would have to change the flow of the wind, so that the fire sparks from the candle would fly on our rope’s direction. We had to do something to avoid the impeding consequences. It was not as if we were dying already.

Upon hearing my words, Filaret paused for a moment. She muttered afterwards. The lightening flame of the burning fat from the candle shined on her wet cheeks.

「…Impossible. I can’t do that in a situation like this. 」

She was filled in tears. Her lips trembled. She didn’t look like the fearsome Filaret I knew. Looking at her hopeless state, I wrinkled my eyebrows and opened my mouth in a slightly aggressive way.

「Hey, this is not the right time to refuse our only chance of escape. You just need to do a little magic. That’s all. You don’t need tools for that, because you’re a genius, you know…」

「Whom are you calling a genius? Don’t joke with me…We’re not in a situation to say useless and silly things to one another.」

Her words didn’t make sense. They were sloppy and unreasonable.

After she said those words, Filaret started to cry again. Her cheeks were wet, and her face looked horrible.

This situation was too much for her to handle. But, honestly, this was making me upset. I’ve never seen her like this before. I’ve never imagined I’d see such vulnerability from that Filaret. From that powerful Sorceress.

「You know, I am…I am an average person. I’ve never made any action to be noteworthy since I was a child. All I could do was create common but poor equipment with magic. 」

Summing up, Filaret couldn’t use her magic now because she was put into a life-and-death situation. Meaning that her emotions were unstable, therefore, she couldn’t concentrate on her magic abilities. Filaret spoke all of those words with a frail voice.

My head was empty. Nothing came to my mind. I remained speechless. I didn’t truly grasp what she said to me for a long while.

She was far from being an average person. Filaret la Volgograd was special, not common. This current situation was too far-fetched. During the rescue party days, she was a skilled person well versed through an overwhelming rage of magic. She was more than ordinary on every possible way. At least, the one who always did her best and always stayed focused was Filaret and no one else.

And, who was this person next to me? This girl was too small-minded and frightened. She trembled incessantly, and looked feeble and weak.

「It’s impossible anyway. I am a person who always gives up. I can’t do this. It was not long ago that I came to study at that prestigious school. And then, I came to this place at last. I finally found it. But, it was for nothing. It seems that I’ll die in vain. It’s a foolish end, isn’t it? Ah, I’m sure I’ll be a laughing stock among my family members.」

My head started to hurt badly. She just gave up. How dare she say those idiotic words? She wasn’t like this before. That ridiculous sentence was someone else’s line, not hers.

First, wasn’t she respected as a talented woman in Garoua Maria? At least, that’s what I’ve heard from the people back then.

What on earth was happening just now? How could I know that her story would be presented with a twist. I wondered if Filaret was like this originally. If yes, then something happened in order to change her demeanor and personal feelings.

I tried to think of something to respond to her. Yet, it was hard after witnessing Filaret’s self-abuse of fear. Then, she spilled some quivering words at me.

「What can you do if your rope gets broken? 」

I barely could hear her speak to me. She spoke with a teary voice and sounded like a small child that has been crying helplessly.

I narrowed my eyes after hearing her voice. My spine didn’t move as if it was pierced by something frosty. My eyelids hurt. But, my body was burning with heat because I was upset. Blood ran through my veins vigorously. The heat increased and I burst angrily.

「I’m the same. I’m just the same as you. I can’t do anything worthy. I’m sick of this. We were caught, and none of us is willing to help each other. There’s no other way than just wait for help to come…」

I said what was on my mind without hesitation. I was tired and my head hurt severely. I didn’t want to hear her hopeless and useless words anymore. Those silly words came inside my head forcibly. My heart was no longer silent. It roared for everyone to hear.

「Ah, you’re the one I got caught together with…Helot…I wish I had been with Helot Stanley instead…!」

I felt an awful and envious feeling creeping from my eyebrows and fingertips until the tip of my hair.