Firefinch (3)

"We will first go to the southern duchy of Harenga to investigate the herb flooding. It will probably take a month. Then we will take the north-south train to the lower reaches of the two rivers and head east to the eastern duchy to investigate the magical creatures on the sea cliffs. It should take less than a month. By the end of the trip, the east-west line will have been completed. After that, we will take the train to the western and southwestern territories."

Alex pointed to the map and planned the itinerary. Inger nodded, as this was what he had thought.

Alex's finger finally landed on a small piece of land at the foot of the mountains on the western border, with a look of nostalgia and deep pain on his face: "I want to go back home when I go to the western border."

Inger looked at the name on the map - Viscount Gazi Ridge, and reacted almost immediately.

There is only one place Alex can call home.

That's where his real family is.

Alex looked like a traveler who had returned home after a long absence. His homesickness was obvious. This long absence was measured in decades.

The two soon set out again. They booked a carriage and crossed the southern border of the Duchy of Neka and entered the northern border of the Duchy of Harenga.

The guard at the border city gate looked at the noble pass seal handed over by Inger and nodded thoughtfully: "Young Viscount, right? I wish you a pleasant journey. Please come in."

Inger and Alex had already gotten off the carriage. The coachman dropped them off here and then turned back directly.

They looked at each other and walked calmly into the town.

After they were a little further away, Inger said in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "The guard just now... was a little strange."

Alex got closer to him, scanning the people on the street. "The driver who brought us here was also strange... It was getting late, and we should have rested in the town..."

Inger walked steadily with his cane, not looking around, and said, "The people here have been staring at us since the beginning. We shouldn't be so sensitive to outsiders."

It was almost dusk when the two settled down.

They visited several innkeepers, and all of them were extremely welcoming.

The two agreed not to go to these hotels.

Finally, we found a hotel that looked deserted, and the proprietress was dozing off at the front desk.

"Come downstairs to the kitchen to get food in the morning and at noon. Try not to go out at night. Here is the key."

The proprietress opened her mouth again, rubbed her eyes, lay down on the recliner, and closed her eyelids.

After eating their dry food, the two of them had no time to play chess.

After entering the town, they both felt a lingering sense of weirdness.

Alex was restless and opened the curtains to see lights on everywhere outside.

"lamp?"

Inger was also leaning against the window.

Few towns had nightlife in this era.

Except for some big cities and aristocratic mansions, lights are not often turned on at night, especially by ordinary people, for the sake of saving money.

The Winter Fire Festival is the only day of the year when every household does not have to save money.

Alex thought for a moment and said, "I'll go down and take a look."

Inger pinched his brows and said, "I'll go this time too."

Alex shook his head: "No, I always feel that if you go, it will increase their vigilance."

Inger said, "Then be careful and come back quickly."

Alex nodded: "I'll go to a nearby bar and check it out."

Inger was in the room playing with Finne and reading the book he brought from the last town.

It was late at night and Alex still hadn't come back.

The lights outside are almost out. Today is a new moon, and even moonlight is not visible.

Inger coaxed Finne to sleep and went downstairs. The landlady was sleeping soundly.

He took a lamp and carried it into the street.

As he walked down the street, he caught a glimpse of a figure dimly illuminated by a light in a dark alley.

Those people sitting paralyzed in the dark with lifeless eyes were mostly skinny and skeleton-like, and even the beggars seemed to be in better mental state than them.

Inger just glanced at it briefly and didn't dare to look closely.

A strange shadow expanded within.

[Next time I have to get Alex a communicator.]

He has only given one pair of the test product so far, and the other one was given Norivas.

As he walked, the doors on the road closed, but he still couldn't see Alex.

He decided to go back first, and then...

then……

He smelled a rich, sweet fragrance.

The moment he noticed something was wrong, he lost consciousness.

The last thing I thought about before closing my eyes was.

[My magic circle can only detect magical auras, but cannot detect ordinary people and physical attacks...]

***

When I opened my eyes, the first thing that caught my eye was a dazzling golden color.

"Ying! Are you awake?"

The voice was muffled. It was Alex. His hands and feet were tied with iron chains and his eyes were covered with a white cloth.

Inger subconsciously drew a magic circle of soundproof barrier with his toes.

"Aren't you blindfolded? How do you know it was me?" Inger moved and found that he was in the same situation as Alex, except that he was missing the blindfold.

"Wow, this is the first thing you asked when you woke up? I guessed it from listening to their conversation." Alex answered him in a very low voice.

Inger looked around.

It looked like a farmer's warehouse, filled with farm tools and straw.

The light shining through the paper proves that it is daybreak.

There is also the silhouette of the gatekeeper outside.

Inger could not sense any magic from the people outside. Although the handcuffs on his hands were heavy, they were not made of magic insulating stone.

"This thing shouldn't be able to trap you, right?" Inger shook the chain.

Alex smiled and said, "I can't trap you either."

[The protagonist is always involved in all kinds of troubles. How long has he been out? He's been kidnapped. ]

Inger sighed inwardly. He now felt a little sympathy for these kidnappers because the minor villains in the early stages usually had a miserable end.

Inger saw his cane lying aside, but he made no attempt to reach for it.

He hooked up the fingers of his hands that were handcuffed behind his back and placed his fingertips on the iron handcuffs, ready to melt them with his magic at any time.

The same goes for Alex. If he wanted to break these ordinary iron handcuffs, it would be an easy task.

"By the way, Ying, please take the cloth off my eyes. I want to see."

"How do I get it?"

"Just pull it off with your mouth."

"…Then why don't you rub it off on the ground?"

Finally, Inger moved to the back of Alex's head, bit the knot of cloth, and pulled hard.

Alex opened his eyes and saw that Inger was intact. He smiled and said, "It seems they didn't do anything to you."

Inger looked at him, covered in dust. "Did they drag you here?"

"It was a little rough, but I'm strong, so I'm fine."

"Why did they kidnap us?"

"You are a noble, so I guess you want money?"

"If they have kidnapped the right person, we can use the money in our family to beat them to death."

"Hahahaha, what you said is interesting."

"We saw many vendors selling strange herbs on our way to find a hotel. We were in a hurry to find a place to stay and didn't ask much. Is that why?"

Alex nodded. "It's a pity that we don't have time to investigate, but it would be easier to just go directly into their lair."

Inger always felt that these guys had blatantly kidnapped outsiders and even nobles more than once or twice, and the whole process was very familiar.

But they probably didn't kidnap wizards or knights.

Looking at the dangerous signal in Alex's eyes.

This was the first time Inger had been kidnapped in his two lives, but he did not feel much of a crisis.

All he wanted to do was yell at the kidnapper to run.

A noise barrier prevents sounds from inside from getting out, but allows sounds from outside to get in.

"Thump, thump, thump."

The sound of slow footsteps.

Alex frowned, "Someone is coming."

Inger silently put away the magic circle.

The two of them sat together, neither of them thinking of pretending to sleep.

The door opened, and standing at the door was a petite girl with short curly reddish-brown hair, a flat nose, droopy eyes, many freckles on her cheeks, and tears in her reddish-brown eyes.

The gatekeeper looked very strong from behind, forming a sharp contrast with the little girl's figure.

"Um... I'm here to deliver water... and food..."

The voice was a little weak and timid.

The guard said in a deep voice: "Go in."

Two glasses of water and two loaves of bread.

The girl placed the food in front of the two of them.

"Well... they said it can't be untied... I'll feed it to you... okay?"

Inger looked at the plate of food and water and exchanged a glance with Alex.

Both of them understood each other tacitly.

The girl seemed to see what they were thinking. She picked up the cup, took a sip each, and took a bite of the bread.

"Don't mind... these are not poisonous... you need to eat something, otherwise you won't be able to endure..."

The girl handed the bread to Inger's mouth with trembling hands, and Inger smelled a strange herbal smell.

These breads had that strange herbal odor, too, which he had smelled many times on the street.

Inger ducked to the side.

The girl quickly withdrew her hand.

Then she huddled there, hugging her legs, shivering.

"He...they said that I have to watch you finish eating...otherwise...otherwise..."

Tears welled up in the girl's eyes.

Alex raised his lips into a smile.

Inger signaled him with his eyes.

"clang", "ka la", "clang"

A total of four handcuffs on hands and feet broke into pieces and fell to the ground at the same time.

A strong hand instantly grabbed the girl's neck.

Inger rubbed his wrist and reached for his cane.

Alex smiled and pinched the girl's fragile neck, lifting her up easily.

The doorman slammed the door and rushed in, but was kicked dozens of meters away by Alex.

Inger followed him with a normal expression.

"Ahem... Ahem... How could this happen..."

The freckled girl's face and neck turned red due to lack of oxygen, and she managed to squeeze out a few words from her throat.

Inger complained in his heart: "Even the lines are so classic..."

"You are so strong that it's easy for people to suffocate."

Inger said this, and then tapped the girl's hands and feet with his cane.

The magic chain clasped the girl's slender wrist.

Alex turned and lifted the back of her collar.

Inger went and cast a powerful sleeping spell on the guard.

Alex's smile remained on his face, looking extremely charming. "Where are your partners?"

The freckled girl was horrified: "... wizard... knight..."

Alex snapped her left wrist.

Inger was startled.

The freckled girl seemed stunned and couldn't even utter a scream.

Alex then smiled and said, "Show us the way."

The girl nodded desperately despite the pain.

"Turn left and go deeper into the corridor. Turn right and there is a lamp on the wall. Turn it and go in."

Inger deployed the detection array. This time, everyone, whether magician or ordinary person, was within the detection range. He used the temperature detection array.

"Five...six men...no knights or wizards."

[This vision is like an infrared detector...]

Alex wanted to reach out and turn the lamp holder, but Inger stopped him.

Inger cast another simple teleportation circle.

The two men stood directly in front of a group of kidnappers.