*Creak!*
The door was slowly opened as the receptionist that Noel saw earlier politely entering the room as if she was trying to ask something.
But the moment she entered there were no words coming from her. Instead, she locked the door as if she had known that both Noel and Melia had passed out.
With a single glance, she could know what happened inside the room. Both glasses fell on the bed, so they had to clean the sheet after this. Still, this pose also meant that Melia and Noel had to drink at the same time. No, Melia was forced to drink together to make it not suspicious.
The receptionist suddenly grabbed Noel and lifted him up easily despite not showing enough muscle to do something like that. She even carried the unconscious Noel with one hand.
When she came out, there were two other girls waiting for her. She said, "Clean up the inside. I'll bring him to that place."
The two women nodded and immediately entered the room. Meanwhile, the receptionist continued carrying Noel to the first floor before entering the waiting room.
Even with his eyes closed, Noel could easily sense the number of people inside the room. And it was more serious when those girls actually talked like it was normal.
"Is he the target this time?"
"Is he a Spirit User?"
"I don't know, but seeing his vitality, he doesn't seem to be a normal person either. Anyway, he will be a good catch for the lord."
"Indeed."
There seemed to be another door leading to the basement as the receptionist carried him for a while. Noel couldn't see it, but the basement he suspected wasn't actually a basement. Instead, it was a tunnel.
Noel tried to count the steps and roughly measure the location. He was quite surprised to find the receptionist carrying him for a whole ten minutes in the tunnel.
His body still managed to sense the direction, so he could roughly calculate the direction and the distance to locate his current position. As he expected, they were moving toward the city lord's mansion.
Still, Noel didn't plan to break his cover just yet. Hence, he kept pretending to be asleep. The receptionist didn't know yet that she was carrying an explosive to the city lord's mansion
After another few minutes, she gradually climbed the stairs again and said, "Exelam Monda."
The instant she said it, the grumbling sound started as if there was a mechanism for the door in this side. Noel soon sensed two more people in this new room.
"Put him down. We have to tie him first."
The receptionist followed the order and tied Noel's hands on the back. Since the drug had made everyone depraved from their spirit, even a normal rope was enough to stop them. So, they didn't put too much effort in using chain or metal to bind them.
Noel felt that his hands and feet were tied up. He didn't put up any resistance because he thought of them as fools. Even if they could seal his Spirit Seal, they couldn't seal a living spirit.
Soon, he was lifted up again and carried to a certain area. It seemed that they had to go through the hallway before they had to climb down again as the sign of a basement.
This time, Noel could feel multiple presence inside the basement, but with how they were separated, he could imagine what kind of place this basement was.
Suddenly, the one carrying him stopped as if she noticed something. She turned around and asked, "What's wrong, Demon Banner Army weaklings? Ah, it seems that you recognize this man. He must be someone from the Demon Banner Army then. Haha, to think we would get someone from the Demon Banner Army again.
"The Demon Banner Army this year is a pair. I see, so that blond woman was his partner. We could use him to bait that woman out and catch her too."
"You…" Kirika roared. "Release him right now!"
The woman kicked Kirika on the stomach and blew her away. "Shut up. A mere weakling dares to talk to me."
"Gah!" Kirika coughed a few times. Her face was filled with anguish. Not only was her Spirit Seal was sealed, but she couldn't help Noel too. She had sworn to help Noel to repay him, but when the chance appeared, she wouldn't be able to do it… again.
She had lost against Anna and this time, she was useless too.
Noel, on the other hand, was angry. However, he couldn't show it just yet since he didn't know how many enemies he had to fight in this place.
He knew that Dimitri, his father's most trusted knight, was following him. He didn't want to rely on Dimitri for everything. Just because his life was assured, he never considered Dimitri as a factor in his plan.
After all, it would just make him weaker since the only thing he could do was telling people to do the job that he should actually do.
Hence, Noel remained silent, while remembering this receptionist.
After being satisfied with Kirika's reaction, Noel was thrown to the cell next to her.
Kirika reacted even more. She tried to release herself from the rope but to no avail.
After the basement was closed again, a man's voice echoed in the basement. "Is that Noel?"
"Yes." Kirika nodded. It turned out, Lokhar was also locked in this place and his cell was right in front of Kirika.
The receptionist must want to make them suffer like this. Hearing the weak voice from Lokhar, it was clear he had been tortured.
Watching her own pair getting tortured must be painful. And now, Kirika had to experience the same thing with Noel.
They wouldn't stop with only Noel. They would catch Anna too, making them fall into despair.
Of course, Noel couldn't blow up his cover for the time being. After all, he had promised Anna to wait for her reinforcement.
Twelve hours.
Anna had the same thought as she had left the city. Since there was no one who would spot her anymore, lightning began to spark around her.
"I have to hurry." Anna took a deep breath as her blond hair gradually turned into purplish white like that of a lightning. Her body was enveloped by a thin layer of light of the same color. "Lightning Possession."
Anna's eyes gazed upon the terrain she had to cross to reach to the neighboring city. "Here I go."
The moment she leaped forward, she disappeared as the lightning trail blasted the ground and soared up to the sky. If she actually used this ability when she was running together with Noel, she would have run around the Demon Banner Army fort in just ten seconds instead of half an hour.
"Wait for me, Noel."
