Delphine, who had changed into comfortable clothes he had given her, spoke to the doll wearing a flowing dress in her place.

“When the maid knocks on the door to tell you to eat lunch, say ‘Not today. I want to finish reading my novel, so don’t disturb me.’ Understood?”

The expressionless doll that looked exactly like her nodded its head.

After those words, Delphine quickly grabbed Lin’s hand first.

Lin, who had been staring down at her for a moment, silently snapped his fingers.

Delphine felt her body being suddenly pulled somewhere.

After that pressure disappeared, she slowly opened her eyes to find herself in the residential area of District 3.

Where narrow, long houses like chicken coops were clustered together.

Delphine asked in a puzzled tone.

“Didn’t you say you had an idea where the factory might be? Why are we in a place like this…?”

Lin glanced at Delphine’s face covered with a handkerchief and led her to a corner of an alley.

“…It’s not good to stand out too much, so let’s go this way first.”

Delphine, who was new to this kind of operation, followed his words obediently without any questions.

“To find out where the factory is likely to be, we first need to stake out this place.”

“Then where is Belly?”

Infiltration is best done with a small number of people.

So she was told that she, Lin, Belly, and two sword-wielding knights would be part of this operation.

“He’s distracting Pryde for now.”

Lin answered, glancing at his watch.

“We just need to wait here until we get his radio signal.”

“…I see.”

Delphine replied in a heavy voice.

The two stood side by side against the alley wall for a while.

How long had it been like that?

“…Will you be alright?”

Lin suddenly asked, awkwardly rolling his eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“We’ll go back to headquarters when today’s work is done… if it ends well, that is. Without anyone dying.”

Lin, uncharacteristically beating around the bush, continued while furtively glancing at her.

“You’ll have to go back to the mansion, won’t you? …Where that man is.”

Delphine’s face was as calm as the sea after a storm has passed.

She answered briefly.

“I’m prepared.”

Lin stared down at her intently.

“…Really, you’re unexpected.”

Why does he keep saying things like that lately?

Just as she was about to ask him, feeling a bit upset, that it was about time he acknowledged her, that’s when it happened.

“Damn it.”

Lin suddenly cursed.

He urgently grabbed her wrist and led her deeper into the alley.

“What, what are you doing?”

He gave no answer.

Instead, he hurriedly covered her head with the cloak he had been wearing, still gripping the posium in his hand.

It was quite a large cloak, but too small to cover both of them, Delphine thought for a moment.

Suddenly, the cloak expanded in all directions, completely covering both of them.

“What in the world…”

“Shh. It blocks our presence, but don’t speak too loudly.”

Lin whispered softly as he held Delphine in his arms.

Strangely, even though they were covered by the cloak, the scenery in front of them was visible in a semi-transparent way.

Delphine pressed her lips together with a tense face and surveyed the street.

They were still in the chicken coop-like residential area of District 3.

However, the atmosphere had changed subtly and dramatically.

The people on the street were all looking in one direction with tense faces.

“What is that…?”

“Something black…”

Delphine finally turned her head in the direction everyone was looking.

From far away, a group of fully armed men with swords and armor were advancing, blackening the street.

The emblem of the Emperor’s personal guard was boldly emblazoned on their armor.

That familiar emblem sent a chill down her spine.

‘Please, don’t let it be. Please don’t.’

Not him, please not him…

But sometimes, desperate wishes only bring extreme disappointment.

At the very front of the army, Delphine could easily recognize the man sitting high on a huge warhorse.

‘Ioan.’

No, is that really him?

Delphine looked at the man sitting on the huge warhorse with a confused expression.

His expression was more expressionless and cold than ever before.

That appearance was neither the shy slave boy who only smiled in front of her, nor the man who wore an aristocratic and elegant mask.

He looked just like a different person.

No, she was even confused now about who he was different from.

“Ioan Pryde.”

As if confirming her doubt, Lin gritted his teeth and muttered behind her.

“Why would someone of his caliber come out personally for a ‘human hunt’?”

Human hunt…?

What is that?

But before she could ask Lin, Delphine could understand its meaning.

Behind the intimidating troops appeared a cart carrying a wooden cage (*mobile prison) used for holding criminals.

The peculiar thing was that the size of the cage was excessively large.

Even from a distance, Delphine could see Ioan’s lips moving.

That was the beginning.

The armored knights on warhorses began to indiscriminately throw people from the street into the cage.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

“Run away! We have to run to live!”

The situation on the street changed rapidly.

People on the streets scattered in panic, either running away or hiding in the residential areas.

“Please, just let our child into the house! Please, just the child!”

Those who couldn’t escape to their homes in time pleaded, banging on closed doors.

But it was a meaningless act.

The knights broke down doors without hesitation and captured everyone inside as well.

It seemed they intended to arrest all the humans in an entire district.

“What is this…”

In response to Delphine’s groan-like words, Lin whispered with a deeply furrowed brow.

“This happens occasionally in District 3. The imperial troops taking people away.”

“But why…”

“I don’t know. Until now, we haven’t even been able to attempt to find out.”

He whispered, squeezing her hand held between the posium.

“…But now that we have you, we’ll be able to find out.”

Because she could charge the posium and use magic freely?

Delphine turned her gaze back to the street with a pale face.

It was a scene no different from hell on earth.

Knights on horseback indiscriminately caught fleeing people and threw them into the cage.

People were crammed inside the cage, reaching out through the bars and writhing in despair.

Just then, a woman carrying a child ran into the alley near where they were hiding under the cloak.

But her escape was easily thwarted.

Immediately, a fully armed soldier with a blue spear followed closely behind her.

The woman holding the child cried out desperately.

“No! Please! Please just take me! Let the child go!”

The soldier lifted the woman by the nape of her neck without blinking an eye.

The woman quickly released the child from her arms, but the child clung to her, crying loudly.

Delphine, who had been watching the situation silently, finally couldn’t bear it any longer and opened her mouth.

“…Just the child.”

Her voice trembled miserably.

Delphine whispered into Lin’s neck, suppressing her trembling.

“Just the child, isn’t there any way we can…”

“…It’s impossible. It’s too dangerous.”

Lin squeezed her waist with his hand and mumbled.

His voice was also tinged with heavy guilt as he said those words.

“Didn’t you ask me if I was prepared?”

Delphine whispered desperately to Lin.

“I am, but… are you not?”

“…”

Lin’s dark eyes shook greatly at those words.

He looked at the crying child in the distance and at Delphine with a conflicted expression.

Then, as if he had made up his mind, he muttered quietly through gritted teeth.

“…Damn it. A crazy thing. Shall we try it once?”

He intertwined his fingers with Delphine’s hand holding the posium.

As soon as he touched her hand, the crystal filled with a five-colored light.

“Follow me.”

He led Delphine by the hand towards the child.

When they got very close to the knight and the child, Lin whispered something quietly.

At that moment, the eyes of the knight who had been emotionlessly dragging the child became momentarily dazed.

“…Just like that, go forward.”

As Lin whispered softly, the knight suddenly turned around and walked mechanically towards another place.

Seizing that opportunity, Lin quickly covered the crying child on the ground with the cloak.

Delphine could feel the cloak grow a bit larger during that time.

“Mommy… *sob* Mommy.”

The frightened child kept sobbing.

“Child. Please. Please be quiet…”

Delphine whispered, holding the trembling child tightly in her arms.

If their voices leaked out, it would all be over.

“Please, just for a moment. Be quiet…”

That’s when it happened.

From far away, Ioan, who had been supervising the knights with an indifferent expression, turned his gaze towards her.

Delphine and Lin both took a deep breath at the same time.

No way.

It can’t be.

In this street, even hidden by Lin’s magic?

Lin covered the child’s mouth with a somewhat rough hand.

Yet the child’s sobs still leaked out a little.

Can he hear it?

As they watched with bated breath, their necks stiff with tension, Ioan turned his warhorse with his strong thighs.

Then he began to approach them, his horse’s hooves clattering.

For a moment, it felt as if her heart had frozen.

Lin quickly embraced her and the child, taking small steps backward.

As slowly as possible, so no sound would leak out.

Ioan, who had now come very close, dismounted from his horse.

Then he slowly reached out his hand towards the empty air.

Exactly where Delphine had been standing just moments ago.