"Are you even here..."
Al, it's time for the pursuers to come.
While only a small window for lighting illuminated the interior, Rona encouraged Aldis to look discouraged.
"I know."
When he answered briefly, Aldis turned his heel back and returned to the aisle.
After walking away with the golden four-legged beast, there remains a vast space where all the doors, the iron grating, are destroyed and there is nothing to block.
The prisoners, who had initially shown confusion, understood that they had unexpectedly gained freedom, and immediately began to flee with a voice of joy.
Four years had passed since Rouchell's whereabouts was unknown.
Four years ago, Aldis, who could not find Rouchell in the ruins of the collapsed facility, had no other choice but to leave with his disappointment.
Upon returning to the Wisteria Mercenaries, Ardis immediately embarked on a journey in search of Lucille.
Not one of his companions wanted to keep him, but Grace put her hand on Aldis' shoulder and said, "Come back whenever you want."
Assuming Rona was the only Syndicate, Aldis kept looking for her.
If I hear you have a black-haired female mercenary, I'll take part in a faraway war, and if I hear rumors of a young female sorcerer, I'll go see her.
If we can find a place like that facility, we will destroy it thoroughly and free the captives from their frustration.
Previously on Aldis, even with Lorna's help, we would not have been able to take such a forceful step.
However, every day of the battle without stopping, Ardis' strength was increased to no.
It's not so difficult for Aldis today to kick out a dozen or so guards and turn the facility into a pile of rubble.
After destroying five large and small facilities, Aldis was hunted down.
Fortunately, the people involved in that facility are limited to a few in the Kingdom of Rhodelia, and Ardis is not under any arrangement with the Lord of the Nation.
The design and operation of the facility is under the jurisdiction of General Jeriah of Rhodelia - or perhaps arbitrary.
I was fortunate not to turn the Rhodelia itself against my enemies, but that doesn't mean there's no problem.
At least this is how they responded to Aldis's raid with their pursuers, and even beyond that, they seemed to be taking a serious risk.
The number of facilities destroyed in four years is countless, even with the use of fingers on both hands and feet.
As a result, we were able to rescue many children, but for Aldis it was no consolation.
Because what Aldis cares about most is still missing.
Lou, I wonder where you've gone.
……
For the past four years, Aldis has been silent on Lorna's repeated crushing hundreds of times.
Looking for it like this doesn't tell us where Lucille is.
Are you unable to act freely?
Are you dying to escape the days of battle?
You've found a way home.
Or maybe you've lost your memory for some reason and forgotten about Ardis and the Wisteria Mercenaries.
But that was fine.
Even if our lives never crossed again, that would be enough for Aldis if they stayed safe.
It would be more of a salvation for Aldis to keep wandering away from his worst possibilities.
But Aldis's journey is not over.
He did not allow his desire to be alive to come to an end.
For four years, I've been searching for Rouxhelle without a second thought, and I'm sure I'll be able to wipe Aldis's mind off it.
There was a danger of being cut off by a trivial trigger like a string stretched to the limit.
It is unacceptable to stop walking while being crushed by feelings of remorse and self-repentance, and by one's own foolishness.
The long journey to Aldis, like a wooden puppet carrying out a given order, brings to Aldis a sophisticated combat technique, the means to earn road silver in its arms, and the fringes of an informant.
"So, new information about the black-haired woman you wanted--"
"How much?"
Ardis meets an information dealer who is becoming familiar with the town where he stopped to rest, and he interrupts the words of the person he was talking to and asks for the price.
Well, you're the one who talks fast.
The man from the information store smiled and immediately returned to his commercial face.
"This time, it's highly reliable information." I'll give you three thousand calves. "
Aldis did not complain about the amount, which was quite expensive as an information fee, and piled the coin taken from the silver bag in front of the man.
"It's nice of you not to be stingy."
"I don't need flattery. Just give me the information."
"It's your bad place to be in a hurry, but... well, it's more work than I've gotten."
When the pile of coins flowed into his pocket, the man from the information store moved his eyes to the left and right to check his surroundings, and then began to speak in a voice that could only be heard by Aldis.
"There is an old fort at the southern end of the Rhodelian territory, near the border with a neighbouring country. Now that we have a new fortress, border security is mainly there, but apart from that, it is also used as a facility for stationing and training troops to patrol the surroundings. They say there's a woman in that dungeon who's been captured for years."
For years, what do you mean?
"The sure thing is at least three years." It could be four years or so. "
Aldis's eyebrows twitched.
"So, the most important thing for you is the woman in the dungeon." In my mid-twenties I was in my mid-twenties. My long black hair and my pupils are also black. Well, I don't know why they've been capturing us for years. At the fort near the border, we would temporarily detain suspicious people, but if we captured them on an annual basis, we would transfer them to another place. "
The hair color is black to the eye color. Moreover, if you are in your mid-twenties, it is quite likely that the person is Rouchell.
Aldis asked calmly as he grabbed hope and sank his boiling heart.
”I wonder if that woman... is still alive?”
"If you're dead, you don't need to be captured, do you?"
"... that's right."
Convinced by the informant's objections, Aldis checked the location of the fort and took his seat.
Meet Lorna, who was waiting outside the city, and head south.
Let's go, Rona.
Did you get a clue?
Lorna, who had been bothered by the wait, was yawning and checking her results.
Yeah. Three thousand cales paid off.
Three thousand? That's a lot of fun again, isn't it?
"But the information is that the black-haired and black-eyed woman has been in a dungeon for three or four years."
Aldis's words narrowed Rona's eyes.
Hmm, where?
An old fort near the southern border of Rhodelia.
For a moment, Rona gave a complicated expression.
"That's a long way away again..."
Then he turned his carefree gaze to Aldis and asked.
"... do you think it's Lou?"
“I think it's very likely. It matches the timing."
When Aldis answered, Lorna began to stretch her body like a flexible exercise.
You'll be on your way, won't you? Anyway, they're going to sell our information to the other side. "
"That's because it's an informant." But we have the advantage of being on the move. You just have to infiltrate the fort and put pieces on it before the information gets to the fort. "
Well, that's what happens, right?
Answer each other as expected.
The two of them, who had been together for four years, had enough to get through to each other.
Would you like to borrow a horse?
"Unfortunately, thanks to the payment of three thousand cales, I didn't know what to do."
"Well then, there's nothing we can do." And then out of the sky? "
"Oh, that's the fastest."
"Just take a break on the way." I'm tired. "
"As far as I can."
"I really don't know..."
Lorna made an invisible scaffold in the air and jumped on it, saying words of suspicion.
"Let's go."
Likewise, Ardis, who was on the scaffolding of the universe, briefly declares his departure.
Creating a conical barrier hollowed out on the back of the scaffold like an upside-down lid creates a magic explosion in it, releasing the body into the cosmos from scaffold to scaffold.
Now that you've earned altitude, you can fly your body in the same direction and gain the first speed.
After that, if you intermittently throw a strong wind from the rear, it will be a pseudo-flying technique.
It's not very useful in combat because it doesn't allow for small turns, but it's a good choice for traveling long distances linearly like this one.
The view passed through Aldis' sight so quickly that the town he had stayed in was quickly lost sight of.