The Place of Waking Up

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When Aina came to her senses, her vision was filled with darkness.

For a moment, she blinked, unable to comprehend the situation. But then, she quickly recalled her last memory. A reflexive sigh escaped.

“…Hmm, did you notice?” (Sheila)

Immediately after that, Aina heard a voice, and that was when she finally recognized someone other than herself in this place. She turned her gaze while being surprised with her goofiness for not noticing this until she was approached. Then, she squinted at the scene in her field of vision.

She knew from the voice that it was Sheila, but her figure was in chains with her hands raised above her head. It was definitely a situation that should be called a prisoner.

“Is this… a prison?” (Aina)

“…Maybe so.” (Sheila)

“When did you wake up?” (Aina)

“…I was just a little while ago. So, I don’t know the details.” (Sheila)

“I see. Well, I can pretty much predict what’s going to happen.” (Aina)

“…Yes.” (Sheila)

As she talked with Sheila, her vague memories gradually became clearer.

To sum it up, Aina and Sheila were defeated by that man. Well, it wasn’t surprising, considering the situation.

“My arms hurt, and I’m in the same condition as you. Besides, the shackles are tightly fitted.” (Aina)

While grasping the situation, she reflected on the previous battle she just had.

No… could it be called a battle? This was because Aina and Sheila were only unilaterally beaten.

In the first place, they couldn’t even attack. It wasn’t that they were sunk in front of an overwhelming attack. In a way, it was earlier than that.

Just as they were about to start the battle, Cecilia collapsed on the spot first. Aina wondered what the heck had happened to her that she hadn’t even felt any signs of an attack, but soon, she would have no time to worry about Cecilia. For some reason, she suddenly felt intensely sleepy.

It was certainly late at night, but there was no way she was going to feel sleepy when she was about to fight a battle. In other words, it was clearly the work of the enemy but… even knowing that, there was no way to resist.

Sheila had fallen to the ground next, and there was nothing Aina could do about it, even though she had caught sight of her out of the corner of her eye. Without releasing a single bit of magic, Aina also felt her entire body relaxed.

“When I realized, I was here. Even so, it was a bit surprising.” (Aina)

“…Yes, I thought they were going to kill us.” (Sheila)

“Yeah. But in reality, we are just captured like this, and… there’s no evidence of anything done.” (Sheila)

There wasn’t a single hint of pain or even a wound on their body. They had fallen asleep due to what she thought was an enemy attack and had been brought here.

Anyhow…

“Sheila, where is your weapon?” (Aina)

“…As I expected, it’s not with me.” (Sheila)

“Well, he can’t be so careless as not to take it away, right? And mine is…” (Aina)

When she focused a little, she noticed that the flow of mana was blocked. This made it impossible for her to use magic.

It might be possible to just let it explode, but… if she did that in this situation, it would probably tear her body to pieces. There was no point in doing it.

“It seems impossible to break this apart… Sheila?” (Aina)

“…I can’t do it.” (Sheila)

“Right. But you never know what he will do to you if you don’t…” (Aina)

Normally, she would think Soma would do something about it, but… she couldn’t always say that this time. Whenever he was sent away, it was unlikely he would be harmed, but there was a chance that he wouldn’t be able to come back soon enough.

In fact, there was already a precedent for this. She couldn’t say that a situation like the one that brought them from the Holy City to the royal capital of the Empire wouldn’t happen again.

Besides, she couldn’t keep relying on Soma forever. In fact, if he was in such a situation, she should help him.

Yes, this wasn’t a pinch. One the contrary, it was an opportunity. It was an opportunity to repay the debt to Soma that had accumulated.

“Leaving this matter aside, I’m worried about what’s going on with Cecilia.” (Aina)

“…If she’s not here, then maybe, that guy is doing something.” (Sheila)

When Aina thought about what she had seen along the way, nothing good came to mind. And if they were going to abandon Cecilia, they wouldn’t have come here in the first place.

Well, she was surprised when Soma suddenly woke her up in the middle of the night and told that Cecilia wasn’t there and that she had probably been taken to the castle. No, it was still better than being told how to get into the castle.

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He told her that he didn’t expect that they could sneak in from the ground, so they could go from the sky, which was too unexpected. However, by using Aina’s magic and applying attack magic, they were able to come to the castle. However, it would have been possible only in the middle of the night. Anyhow, she should make sure to help him to the end.

“But in the end, the question was how to get out of here…” (Aina)

“…Just a bit more.” (Sheila)

“Eh? What’s a bit more…” (Aina)

Just as she was about to say it, a dull sound echoed through the place.

It was the sound of something falling to the ground, and when she looked in the direction of the sound, she saw a chain lying on the ground that had been cut in half. Unless Aina was mistaken, the chain looked like the one that had bound Sheila’s arm and connected to the wall, but shortly after… it became clear that she wasn’t mistaken. Sheila’s eyes widened as a dull thud sounded once more, and she slowly rose to her feet.

Of course, her arms weren’t chained, nor were they shackled. The shackles that were supposed to be in place were lying in pieces at her feet, as were the chains.

“…Eh? Sheila, I thought you said you didn’t have any weapons…” (Aina)

“…That’s why I did this.” (Sheila)

As soon as Sheila said it, her arm was shaken.

In her hands, he didn’t have the sword that she always held, but… the chains that bound Aina’s hands were easily cut through. Sheila’s arm swung once more before the slashed chain fell to the ground, and this time, Aina’s shackles fell apart and rolled.

Her cheeks unintentionally pulled.

“…How can you slash like this with your bare hands?” (Aina)

“…Soma told me that without a weapon, it’s no problem to use your hand as a sword, so I practiced. It’s the first time I’ve succeeded though.” (Sheila)

“That’s not something you can practice and then pull off on the sport. Goodness, you guys are really weird…” (Aina)

“…Well, since Soma could do it, I could do it as well. That’s it. However, I actually cheated a little bit.” (Sheila)

“Cheated?” (Aina)

“…Yes. Maybe, it’s because I had a sword, my mana wasn’t hindered.” (Sheila)

“Oh… does it mean you use mana too? Come to think of it, I definitely felt a little bit of mana.” (Aina)

The reason why she was somewhat surprised by this situation was because she had heard that Aina suddenly became able to use magic one day, but she had almost never seen her use magic before. When she told her about it, it was about the only time she saw her use it as evidence.

Although Sheila had never specifically said why… Well, it was usually because she was thinking about Soma. Maybe, he felt guilty because he was the only one who could use it. And yet, Sheila used it here, either because Soma wasn’t there, or because it was indeed not the time to be concerned about it.

With that in mind, this was a matter between Sheila and Soma. Aina thought that she shouldn’t say anything else, so she continued to say something different.

“But the mana I felt was really only a bit, and it didn’t make much difference. Even if you did borrow some of the mana, there are only a handful of people who can do it on their own…” (Aina)

And as she let out a sigh, Aina suddenly remembered what Soma had said to her before.

One of the handful was Aina.

“…So, if you’re willing to do it, and you think you can do it, then, there’s nothing you can’t do, huh…” (Aina)

“…Aina?” (Sheila)

“…No, it’s nothing. Let’s just go for now.” (Aina)

“…Sure. But where to?” (Sheila)

“Well. If we look hard enough, we’ll find where we’re looking.” (Aina)

“…Aina, you’re starting to sound similar to Soma.” (Sheila)

“Aah… surely, that’s a line he would say. Well, we’ve been together for quite sometime. It happens.” (Aina)

“…As expected, isn’t it?” (Sheila)

Anyhow, their first priority for now was to find Cecilia.

With Sheila easily slicing through the iron bars with her bare hands, they left the prison.

 

 

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