I kicked off and jumped, hanging onto the eagle’s foot. The eagle wobbled greatly.

“I’m turning into a squirrel!”

Heron, who was shouting nonsense, quickly turned into a squirrel at my words. Her shrunken body slipped through the eagle’s claws. I did the same. I turned into a hedgehog and jumped straight down. But at that moment, something covered over my head.

It was a tightly woven net that made it impossible to escape.

As the eagles pulled up the net, the entrance of the net tightened into a pocket shape. In the blink of an eye, the ground moved away through the hole.

They aimed for this from the beginning.
This enemy, with its small number of eagle-tribe warriors, cannot reverse the tide, so they are trying to capture the lords as hostages.

Then, did the eagles that scattered a while ago go to capture the lords who escaped earlier?

In a turn of events, after I was captured, our allies couldn’t launch any attacks against the eagles.

They had become the most effective shields and had obtained hostages.

Now I was floating in the middle of the sky.

I stopped chewing the net into pieces. At this height, even if I escaped, I couldn’t save my life.

Below, Central, which had turned into a battlefield, was visible at a glance.

Now what should I do? Really. Why is my life so miserable? Just a moment ago, I was a war commander, and now I’m a hostage?

Rather than fear, a sigh came out first.

If Edrish finds out about this, he’ll probably faint.

Right, Edrish, I told you I would follow, didn’t I? I told you not to leave me. Anyway, my words weren’t heeded…

The eagle that caught me and Heron left Central and flew to the opposite side.

At first, there were clearly two eagles, but somehow, they had become a flock of eagles. They were each holding a net in their claws.

And are the lords in those nets?

I recalled the faces I saw a while ago. It was annoying that they escaped, but I hoped they weren’t dead and were safe.

We flew for a while. When we had flown a certain distance, I could arrive only after vomiting three times due to severe motion sickness.

Each time we rode the air currents up and down, how dizzying it was. Ugh.

After barely landing on the ground, I realized where I had arrived.

A row of green flags was lined up on top of the high castle walls.

This is Serbien’s territory.

Judging by the state of the castle walls, they didn’t seem too old. Probably built in preparation for this war.

Well, Fercope originally planned to turn everything except Serbien into a sea of flames, so it’s likely that Serbien’s defense system is sturdy enough to make him bitter.

The lords who arrived with me were dragged into the massive central mansion and then, one by one, confined in the basement.

I was the same. Leaning against the small iron bars attached to the basement door, I looked around.

The doors, similar to the one in my room, were lined up in the corridor. Probably other lords who were captured together were in there.

Among them, there was one door that stood out, the one located directly to the right in the front of this place. It was the door just behind the man guarding it.

It was almost identical to the other doors, but the fact that even the window in the door was blocked by wooden boards set it apart.

Is there someone in there too?

“Get in there right now!”

The man who stood guard in front shouted and violently struck the window I was peering out of with a large club. Bang, the sound of the iron impact echoed loudly in the basement.

I quietly entered the room again.
It was a brief moment, but I’ve seen everything I need to see. There is one lookout soldier visible here. Although I can’t see them, there are likely more lookout soldiers lined up behind.

How did those people manage to shake off the guards and escape?

Oh, of course, it’s when I left this room. Yes, I should deal with that first.

“Sigh.”

I exhaled a sigh and hugged my knees.

Was Central taken over?

If Central is taken over, the situation will become extremely disadvantageous. All the routes to every territory will be open.

But the last situation I saw of Central while flying didn’t seem that disadvantageous. The collapsed defense line had been rebuilt.

Moreover, the fact that they brought all of us here means that Serbien wasn’t confident in completely taking over Central.

So, if Edrish arrives without delay, we should be able to defend Central.

But…

Now I’m the problem. I’ve become a hostage.