“Hey, you. You’re finally awake.”

Those time-honored words reflexively left my lips the moment I saw Radeca’s eyelids flutter as she stirred. It was the first line in the opening scene of a famous game back on Earth and as such, gained quite a bit of notoriety online.

Of course, I hadn’t actually played the game since I never had the chance to get a computer that could actually run it, but I was familiar with most of the game thanks to videos. The internet truly was a convenient thing.

“...Where... am I?” Radeca’s exhausted and bleary voice was actually a relief to hear despite the situation that we found ourselves in.

Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure what to do if she’d ended up dying after Liandra and I managed to escape with her.

“Good question.” I said, earning me a withering gaze from Liandra.

After getting out of the sewers, the three of us hurriedly left the immediate vicinity of the academy as well as the city that it occupied.

I didn’t exactly have the best sense of direction, nor did I know where I was going since I was pretty much in uncharted territory. Unfortunately for me, Liandra didn’t really know much either.

She’d seen a few maps of the Sylphid Alliance’s territory back when she was still working as a librarian for the Black Constellation, but she hadn’t committed them to memory in enough detail to actually help us maneuver through the almost labyrinthine alleyways of the nation’s outer cities.

And so, we ended up hiding out inside of an abandoned lumber mill in the middle of nowhere. We weren’t anywhere close to the academy, but we were still pretty far off from actually making it out of the alliance entirely.

“We’re inside of a lumber mill,” Liandra began, explaining to Radeca how I’d saved her from the assassins and our subsequent escape after being chased by various academy guards and military personnel that had suspiciously appeared once the assassins lost track of me.

Eventually, we managed to make our way outside of the city proper and arrive at a logging camp that had been long abandoned.

Thanks to the plethora of half-cut logs, derelict buildings, and large pieces of debris all strewn around the logging camp, it wasn’t too difficult for us to lose our pursuers, especially after we’d discovered a trapdoor that led to a rather spacious underground room.

Now that Radeca had finally awakened, it was time for us to start making plans on getting the hell out of here.

“I see... Thank you very much, Ryuuko. Liandra.” Radeca’s voice still carried some measure of uncertainty, but I could understand how she felt. It was difficult to believe that everyone you trusted would suddenly turn on you.

The first time was always hit the hardest.

“Save the thanks for later. We’ve still gotta get you outta here. It won’t be long ‘till they find this place.”

Liandra nodded, joining in the conversation. “Have you finally come up with a destination?”

“Yeah, kinda. I was thinking we could head across the Fissure. The Sylphid Alliance wouldn’t have the balls to send any forces over there right now, and we could deal with any assassins pretty easily.”

“I see... That might actually be a wise decision, but wouldn’t you be kidnapping the princess for real in that case? They’ll be able to officially brand you a criminal.”

“Huh, that’s true...” I paused, considering Liandra’s statement.

It was almost certain that word of Liandra and I having “kidnapped” Princess Radeca was already spreading far and wide throughout the entirety of the Sylphid Alliance. In fact, I was willing to bet that such rumors had already reached the ears of the other western nations.

We’d be incredibly hard pressed to find anyone who would actually help us in either the Alliance or even Ardene. I doubted that Cyrus was very happy about us throwing a wrench in his plans even though Liandra did end up killing the rector in the end, meaning that he probably wouldn’t help us either.

In the end, going back across the Fissure and seeking aid from the Zaltsel clan was probably the only option we had at this point.

It was either that, or Liandra and I would take on the full might of the Alliance’s military forces. I wasn’t sure whether or not I could actually manage to win a battle of that scale, but something in me was tempted to test it out.

Gah! Stop thinking about such reckless bullshit! I slapped myself on the cheeks to quell my sudden thirst for battle and then directed my attention to Liandra.

We could probably afford to hide out here for a day or two, but I didn’t want to risk it. If the Sylphid Alliance requested aid from the Ardene Kingdom, it would be pretty easy for them to locate us thanks to the collar that was still bound to Liandra.

Although its restrictive properties had been deactivated, she hadn’t been completely freed from its shackles yet, and though I tried to destroy it using [Devouring Healing] by removing any mana that could’ve been powering it, my attempt ultimately failed.

It was an incredibly complex magic item that I simply couldn’t understand even with the help of [Complete Analysis]. If there was anyone who had a chance of removing or destroying it, it would probably be Aurelia thanks to her wide array of interests.

Yet another reason to cross the Fissure...

“Alright, Liandra. I’ve made up my mind. It doesn’t matter whether or not they actually denounce me for kidnapping Radeca. I mean, I’m pretty sure I’ve already committed a crime for beating the shit out of those academy instructors. Unless you’ve got a better idea that doesn’t involve crossing the Fissure, that’s what we’ll have to do.”

Liandra nodded reluctantly after a moment’s hesitation. It was pretty clear that neither of us could think of any alternatives, and I knew that she was nervous about staying put in one place for too long with the collar still bound to her.

To our surprise, Radeca protested even as the two of us stood up and dusted ourselves off to prepare for our imminent departure.

“W-Wait! Don’t I get a say in any of this!?”

“Huh? Of course not. I’m kidnapping you, remember?” I smirked.