C279: Meeting with the Shadow (2)
The moment Madeline saw Rudger, she was as stuck as a frog in front of a snake.
In a way, it was a natural reaction. This man was Jack the Ripper, who wiped out all the Black Ops she belonged to seven years ago.
How could she forget?
Madeline's mission is to gather information about Rudger's past identities under the orders of First Princess Eileen but in her role, Madeline couldn't help but be clueless.
"Answer me, Madeline. Why are you here?"
As Rudger squinted his eyes and said so, Madeline's body trembled like a thorn. The fear of that day remained like a scar deep in Madeline's bones.
As Rudger's momentum grew sharper, it was none other than Eileen, who lent a helping hand.
"Stop. She's my loyal subordinate now, so I hope you won't press the matter anymore."
Rudger realized he had been too sharp and pulled back. He couldn't help but scold Eileen.
"Embracing someone who turned against you, that's not the kind of courage you usually have."
"Normally, I wouldn't have, but Madeline is an unusual character. I'm intrigued, so I'm keeping her."
Rudger nodded in agreement at the mention of unusual.
Team Black Ops is a group of covert specialists who will stop at nothing to accomplish their mission. Kidnapping, blackmail, torture, and murder are part of their daily routine.
As a result, Team Black Ops is mostly composed of psychopaths or people who show very little emotion, barely human, except for their loyalty.
Madeline was an exception. She had a lighthearted attitude that doesn't take orders seriously. A coward who prefers not to fight, even though she has anti-magic that gives her a ridiculous advantage against wizards.
Madeline has an unusual temper that makes people wonder why she was in the Black Ops at all.
"I remember that when you faced me you begged for your life."
"Ugh!"
Madeline's shoulders slumped as Rudger brought up the past.
"Ho-ho. Did it happen to you too?"
"No, not again……?"
"Same thing. When I came to nip the coup in the bud, you knelt before her and threw your hands up in the air."
Eileen remembered that day.
Madeline raised her hands and said, as soon as she saw Eileen, who was mixed among her pursuers.
-I surrender, I surrender, just let me live!
The pursuers, who had been nervous when they heard that she was from Black Ops Team Alpha, lost all will to fight at the sight of her stupidity. That included Eileen, who was about to bring down her mace mercilessly. She was so ridiculous that Eileen didn't even think about killing her.
Rudger thought back to seven years ago. Back then, Madeline had surrendered the moment she saw Rudger.
She had cowered in the corner while the rest of the black ops team had tried to fight him.
'Yes, it was then.'
She was lying on the ground begging for her life in such an ugly way that even Rudger wondered what was going on.
But that's why Madeline is still alive today.
"Well, maybe once upon a time, but now she's my faithful dog. Don't worry."
"But my lady I'm not a dog, am I?"
"Don't you like it? I can take you off the leash and make you a wild dog again."
Madeline looked thoughtful and shook her head vigorously as Eileen gave her an eerie glare.
"Ah, no, how could I not, just give me orders, I am the Princess loyal dog, hehe."
"……."
Looking at the way Eileen squeezed Madeline's hand, Rudger felt that she was being pitiful rather than being amused.
'More than that, I wanted to ask her how she managed to teach Aidan anti-magic.'
But now it wasn't a good time to broach the subject.
Now that I know that Madeline, who thought she would be wandering around the world, has become a hound under the direct control of Eileen, there will be another opportunity later.
"So, Madeline. Any news?"
Eileen immediately got to the point because she didn't call Madeline to chat.
Madeline also had a serious look on her face and told her the news she had found out.
"Yes, I followed their traces as you told me to……It has been confirmed that they are still inside the capital."
"Inside the capital? I thought we searched everywhere, but we must have missed something."
That's what she said, but Eileen responded as if she already knew the answer. It was the same with Rudger, who was listening with her
"An underground aqueduct."
"Yes."
Madeline nodded, confirming their guess.
"I followed their trail into the underground capital, but I decided it was impossible to go further, so I turned back."
"Oh, impossible?"
Eileen asked interestingly at Madeline's honest report.
Madeline's usual words and actions seemed to be not very reliable, but her skills were real. She didn't parachute (got in through connections) into black ops, and she didn't get lucky when she learned anti-magic.
She just has a weird personality, but in terms of pure skill and ability, Madeline is definitely one of the best.
If she said so, it was clear that the capital's underground had already become their lair.
"Was it impossible to infiltrate? Why?"
"There's surveillance everywhere, so the only place I could get in without being spotted was near the entrance."
"Hmm. I didn't send you there to fight, but told you to spy on them, so that's enough."
Now that they know the enemy was underground, that's a win.
Rudger, who had been listening to the conversation in silence, spoke up.
"I thought I could finally get a rest, but it seems my timing was bad."
"You've got a way with words that even a passing child wouldn't believe, so what are you going to do now?"
"Wait."
When Eileen asked that, Rudger lifted his head as if waiting for something.
It was a puzzling moment for Eileen, too but in the distance, something black and whitish flew toward them. It was a large crow.
'A crow?'
But to Rudger's surprise, the crow had a note tied to its ankle.
Rudger held out his hand, and the crow casually landed on his forearm.
"Oh."
Madeline, watching from the sidelines, gasped in admiration. The sight of Rudger casually reaching out and calling to the crow was like watching a masterpiece.
Of course, it's a funny thing to think about when the man in question was a freak of nature who nearly killed her.
Still, scary was scary, and cool was cool.
"Well done."
When Rudger said so while collecting the letter brought by the crow, the crow cried once and flew back up.
"That's amazing. Did you know how to call a bird?"
"It's not me, it's my subordinate."
Rudger replied, quickly skimming through the letter. Then, with an impromptu blast of magic, he burned it to ashes.
Eileen, seeing the spectacle, asked in a blunt tone.
"Why read it alone?"
"It's just that I have a habit of paying attention to security."
"Is there something I shouldn't know about?"
"Not really."
"Ho-ho. And yet you burned the letter in front of me? That's an attitude worth emulating, and one I wish my men would learn."
"Uh, really?"
Madeline asked innocently from the side, and Eileen glared at her.
She gave her a look that said, "Are you clueless?" and Madeline's shoulders slumped in defeat.
"So what did the letter say? You're not just going to pass it off, are you?"
"It says that there's something underground, something huge."
"Something huge?"
"Yes. Like, an unimaginably huge plant."
Eileen's eyes narrowed at the mention of a giant plant.
* * *
"Ha, Mr. Hans. Did you send it right?"
"Of course. By now, he must have received my letter."
In a huge underground facility in Lindebrugne Hans and Belaruna moved silently through the darkness of the underground capital.
"Still, it's interesting. I knew the capital was large, but I didn't realize it was so deep underground."
Hans frowned as he remembered the intricate pathways. He'd gotten a map of the interior, but the paths were so convoluted, he wasn't sure he was moving in the right direction.
Even rats, Hans's strong suit, were nowhere to be seen around here. They were all too afraid to approach.
"This is no ordinary sewer. It's much deeper than that, and a bit more sophisticated."
Hans muttered as he looked around and Belaruna nodded in agreement.
"I know it's called the Millennium Empire, but I didn't expect the underground to be so complex and huge."
"Buildings can't rise above a certain height over the ages, but the ground can be dug up and dug down over and over again. Judging by the lack of maintenance, it's practically an abandoned area. It's unheard of for the Empire to have such a facility."
It was strange that rats did not enter these abandoned places.
The place where the two are now is deeper than the underground waterway. It was an abandoned underground facility that had once been used as an underground waterway, but was no longer in use.
"And that thing we saw on the way in. Were they the roots of a giant tree? Do you know anything about them?"
The roots of a giant, twisted tree that Hans had seen as he entered the facility were something he had never seen before.
"How can there be a tree underground when there's a city above?
Hans's question was a natural one.
Belaruna pondered his question, then spoke up.
"I can't think of any trees that big, to be honest."
"No, you're an elf, why don't you know that?"
"Eh, not all elves know about trees, and since I don't, I'm learning!"
"Such an elf tried to use me as a guinea pig?"
"That's part of the getting-to-know-you process."
"Is that so?"
"Don't worry. Mr. Hans is no ordinary man, so you'll be fine."
"That's a compliment, right?"
"That's why I think it's okay to be rough with you again and again."
"That's a compliment, right?!"
As they walked along the road, they came across another giant tree root. It was shriveled and faded, more ivory than dark brown.
Hans's expression grew grave as he realized it was sticking up through one of the walls of the aqueduct system.
"We walked a lot, right?"
"Probably?"
"But the fact that it's sticking out on this side too……."
"That means the roots are quite large."
"Do you think these roots are normal?"
"To be honest, they're definitely not normal."
"So you still don't have a clue? Are you an elf?"
"Elves don't know everything."
Belaruna retorted, still staring at the tree roots through her orange bushy hair.
"This……."
"No matter how you look at it……."
The two opened and closed their mouths at the same time, then stared at each other.
"What is it, tell me."
"Didn't Hans notice it?"
"Actually, it occurred to me a little while ago, but I'd rather not say anything. I'll defer to the elf, who is an expert on plants."
"You treat me like an elf only at times like this, right?"
"Only at times like this."
Belaruna was no good at arguing, so she sighed and walked over to the root.
"This, no matter how you look at it, looks like that."
"What is it?"
"……The source of our elves. World demand."
Belaruna stared at the wall where the root protruded and beyond it, where the source of these roots lay.
"Crunch!"
A strange sound came from somewhere and Belaruna looked back at Hans, and Hans looked back at her.
"What?"
"What?"
"Didn't you just make that noise?"
"I thought it was your stomach."
"What do you mean, don't set me up. How does a man's stomach sound like an animal?"
"Then, as an elf, does it make sense for me to make animal noises?"
"Crrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"
"……."
"……."
Both of them shut their mouths at the same time then looked at the passage from which they came from.
Through the faint light in the distance, they could see a shadowy figure coming toward them.
'Run!'
Hans and Belaruna fled at the same time, neither of them knowing what to do.
* * *
"Princess, is there something underground in the capital?"
According to the reports Hans had received, there were things like tree roots underground along with huge structures. It didn't make sense that something like that would be underground in the thriving capital but it was unlikely that Hans would have lied in a letter.
All things considered, Hans was telling the truth about the underground facilities and giant roots.
"There's something more under the underground water."
"……."
There is something and Princess Eileen was dimly aware of it.