Thinking I might have seen wrong, I blinked several times with my eyes wide open, but it really was Maxium.

“Lady Latieana!”

Maxium’s eyes widened as if they would fall out as he hurriedly ran towards me.

“Maxium!”

I stopped moving and tightly gripped the window frame with both arms to keep from falling, as I had been feeling around with my legs for a foothold beside the building.

“I’ll grab your arms!”

“Ugh. Ah, it hurts…”

“I’m sorry, please bear with it for a moment!”

Maxium grabbed both my arms and pulled me up, and I was lifted almost like a fish being pulled out of the sea.

As soon as I came back into the room over the window sill, I collapsed onto the floor.

I was out of breath, perhaps due to my ailing body and the energy expended from hanging on the window sill in a tense state.

I tried to get up but felt pain and curled up, wrapping my arms around my upper body as if to protect it.

“Ow…”

My body is in terrible shape due to the bruises from Ivy’s beating. Moreover, my arms where Maxium grabbed me to lift me up and the inside of my stomach that scraped against the window sill were hurting.

Damn witch girl! She deliberately chose places that wouldn’t show to hit me.

It hurt so much I could almost cry, but I endured it, catching my breath until the pain subsided.

Meanwhile, Maxium, who had been panting, suddenly raised his head. His face had turned pale, as if he had been very startled to see me hanging from the window.

“Don’t tell me you were trying to escape through the window?”

“I couldn’t escape through the door, could I?”

Maxium stood up, quickly turned his head to look out the window, and let out a deep sigh.

“There are statues attached here and there on the outer wall of the building, so it’s not like there’s nowhere to step… Aren’t you scared?”

Why wouldn’t I be scared? It’s just that.

“It’s better than becoming a mummy at Ivy’s hands.”

It’s just that that’s even more frightening.

No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t seem fair. The witch Ivy can take my power, but I can’t even properly defend against it. What good is having healing power? It’s only a power for others.

Maxium nodded slightly as if agreeing with my words. And only then did he look around, examining various parts of my body.

“But why are you sweating so much? Are you hurt somewhere? Don’t tell me! Could it be that your power was taken again…”

“No. It’s not that…”

I shook my head, putting on an awkwardly crafted smile.

If you look inside my clothes, it’s probably a mess because of the bruises. Even when I’m still, my whole body is throbbing. But if I show the wounds now, Maxium will worry more. Let’s try to endure since it’s not painful enough to hinder escape.

“More importantly, how did you know I was here?”

Maxium got up first and held out his hand to help me stand.

I took his hand and slowly got up from my seat.

“I went to the castle earlier today. I found something in the Archmage’s book that I brought last time that might be a clue. Actually, it’s more related to magical beasts than healing power… Anyway, I thought it might be relevant, so I wanted to tell Lady Latieana about it.”

“Magic related to magical beasts?”

“Yes. But when I got there, the castle gate and front door were wide open, and you weren’t there. It was lunchtime, so you should have been there.”

“It was in the morning. When Crown Prince Killian came to the castle.”

Maxium, who had started walking towards the door first, turned back to me in surprise.

“What? Don’t tell me Crown Prince Killian kidnapped you and brought you here?”

When I nodded, Maxium’s brow furrowed and he let out a deep sigh.

“So that woman ended up using even the Crown Prince.”

“But didn’t you think I might have gone north or just stepped out to the village for a moment?”

“I thought that at first. But then the Duke’s subordinate came looking for Lady Latieana, and the situation seemed strange. The northern wall had fallen, and coincidentally, Lady Latieana wasn’t at the castle. So I came to the temple wondering if that witch might have done something. There have been continuous incidents, after all.”

Maxium, who had been peeking out into the corridor, gestured for me to follow him.

“Let’s get out of here first. If we use the secret passage I use, we can secretly go to the castle.”

“Just a moment, Maxium.”

“Yes?”

“The butterfly grass we got from the secret space, do you happen to have it?”

“Ah! Of course!”

Maxium fumbled inside his priest’s robe and held out a small glass bottle containing butterfly grass leaves. It was preserved exactly as we had first discovered it.

“Here you go. I’ve been carrying it around, but I’m sorry. I haven’t had the chance to use it yet.”

“It’s okay. I’ll keep it with me now, just in case.”

“Alright.”

Maxium nodded and took a big step outside first.

That action was so confident that I hesitated as I was about to follow him instinctively.

It’s a much safer method than jumping out the window, but aren’t there knights outside?

“Follow me. This way.”

However, contrary to my concerns, Maxium’s face was very calm.

Come to think of it, he had broken the doorknob to get in, right? As soon as I followed Maxium into the corridor, I was startled. All the knights guarding outside were sitting against the wall as if they were asleep.

“How did this happen?”

When I asked in a low voice, Maxium smiled.

“Magic.”

“…?”

As I tilted my head, Maxium added an explanation.

“There was a paper flute in the Archmage’s secret space that could put people to sleep for a short time. Life is really full of surprises. To think I’d use the Archmage’s magical tool with my own hands!”

Maxium grinned, his eyes curving into crescents, seemingly satisfied with using the Archmage’s magic.

“When did you see such a thing?”

“Last time. Ah, I didn’t bring it then. I brought it today. It’s disposable and there’s only one, so I won’t be able to use it again, but it should be fine for about 30 minutes… Lady Latieana?”

Maxium, who had been walking ahead with a proud face, stopped talking and turned to look at me.

“What are you doing?”

I pulled out a sword from the side of a fallen knight. It’s a bit heavy due to its length, but it’s a thin single-edged sword, so I think I can carry it long enough to escape the temple.

“This is just in case too.”

I’ve never used a sword before, but it’s better than having nothing.

And sure enough.

“Ugh…”

On the way to the stairs at the left end of the corridor, one of the sleeping knights opened his eyes, holding his head.

“…Huh? What, what’s going on?”

“Eek!”

The knight, whose eyes met Maxium’s as soon as he raised his head, seemed flustered for a moment before immediately grabbing the sword handle.

“Damn it! Don’t move… Ugh!”

Crack! I struck the knight’s crown with all my might using the sword. Of course, with the back of the blade.

“Don’t open your eyes!”

Thud! Thud! After hitting his head a couple more times, the knight completely lost consciousness and fell forward.

Maxium, who had turned pale with surprise, looked alternately at the knight and then at me.

“Just now, it sounded like a skull breaking…”

I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead, taking deep breaths.

“Haa. It’s okay since it didn’t actually break. Let’s hurry.”

“Lady Latieana.”

“What?”

“Ah, nothing… I’ll grab a sword too.”

For someone who loves the Archmage, Maxium’s magic skills were utterly useless.

The sleep spell that was supposed to last for 30 minutes started wearing off quickly, and we reached the stairs, mercilessly hitting the knights’ napes and crowns. The one fortunate thing was that thanks to the effect of the sleep spell, the half-asleep knights easily passed out.

When we reached the first floor and exited through the door, we emerged into a beautiful garden located behind the temple.

A huge white circular fountain, seemingly made from rocks taken from around the temple, was spouting water.

Even though it was nighttime, lights were brightly lit next to the fountain, making the surrounding green grass and lush flowers clearly visible.

We began to move stealthily along the edge of the garden, following the building wall.

Maxium led the way, and I limped behind him.

Fortunately, no knights were visible, perhaps not expecting that an ordinary person like me could escape outside the building. When we safely reached the end of the building wall, Maxium looked at me with a solemn expression.

“Lady Latieana, are you good at running?”

Huh? Suddenly? Even normally, I can’t confidently say I’m good at it, but with this body, I don’t think I can run at all.

The pain from my wounds was getting worse, probably because I had been moving with tensed muscles while wielding the sword. In fact, even walking was difficult now. Although I was trying not to show it, my whole body was aching due to the bruises. It seemed like the areas where Ivy had hit me had developed blood bruises.

If the situation weren’t like this, I would have wanted to lie down right away, even if it was on the grass.

“Why do you ask about running?”

“Do you see that gap between those rocks over there?”

Maxium pointed to a space between rocks visible across the garden.

There was a gap between the white rocks that seemed just big enough for one person to enter.

I nodded and blinked.

“I see it.”

“We need to cross the garden and enter through that gap. There’s a side path inside the rock crevice that leads to the secret portal I use.”

I turned my head and quickly surveyed the surroundings.

It would be nice to walk along the outskirts of the garden, but due to the vast size of the garden, it seemed like it would take too much time.

“There’s a risk of exposure, but it’s much better to pass through quickly. It’s not a long distance, so if we run with all our might, we should be able to pass without being caught. I’m a pretty fast runner, so if you could just keep up a little…”

Running in this condition.

I tried to put a little strength in my legs. And unable to bear the oncoming pain, I furrowed my brow.

Not just my legs, but my whole body was tingling. Cold sweat trickled down my spine.

“Lady Latieana?”

But this is no time to hesitate because of pain. I can do this.

“Let’s go, Maxium. I’ll run.”

Just as I nodded, suddenly there was a commotion of knights talking loudly.

“She’s not here!”

“Not here either!”

Maxium and I looked at each other simultaneously without anyone saying anything.

“Run!”

As if we had made a promise, we threw down our heavy swords and started running.

But−.

“Kyaa!”

Before we had even run half of the garden, my body was enveloped in a blue light of supernatural power and lifted into the air.