Chapter 357

Invisible Enemy [Part 3]

Joanna's POV

Feeling my body crash on something after being thrown down, plus the hard floor on my cheeks, I knew I had arrived at my "kidnapper's" destination.

I still couldn't move body and could only lay on the floor in the same uncomfortable position after being thrown down.

" " "Mmph! Mmph!" " "

When I turned my head with difficulty to the source of the grunts, I saw my subordinate and the other three magicians lying on the ground in the same state as me, with their bodies tied and mouths covered.

For magicians to be abducted this easily... Just what have the Imperial soldiers been doing? What's the point of always sticking to us like glue only to turn out to be useless during crucial times?

"Oh? And here I have been wondering who could it be. Isn't this Holy Maiden Joanna? It's a surprise to see you in this kind of place."

I heard what seemed to be my abductor's voice from above my head.

When I managed to raise my head after struggling with my immobile body and spinning head from the impact of the high-speed transport, a slightly familiar freckled face entered my sight.

"Mmph!"

If my memories served me right, this person... should be a student at the academy.

But if my abductor was an academy student, things would make less and less sense.

Or rather, more importantly, where even is this?

I knew I was indoors, but it clearly looked different from the Empire's ships.

No, let alone the Empire, this place didn't even look like it belonged to the Kingdom.

The room's interior was full of designs I had never seen before.

As an Imperial citizen with frequent interaction with other countries, was there even a country where I had no idea what their floor was made of?

The ceiling was generously lit with magic stone-fueled magic tools that even the Kingdom's Royal Castle didn't use, and inside the room was as bright as day, even though outside, it was already sunset.

"Oh, how troubling. I wonder why [the Kingdom's] Holy Maiden the Church acknowledged was in the Empire's ship? How did you come to Simmons from the Royal Castle? Joanna-sama, who is treated as a guest in the Royal Castle, surely needs Her Majesty the Queen's permission for long-distance travel, no? I don't think Her Majesty will grant you such a permit when His Majesty the King is away from the castle, though. It sure is strange, isn't it?"

The boy with freckles tilted his head without looking any confused or surprised like he was doing it just for the sake of posing.

"Mmph!"

Cold sweat trickled down my back as I had a foreboding feeling.

What and how much does this boy know, and what does he intend to do with us?

Does he perhaps even know about that plan too... No, calm down.

This plan can't be leaked by anyone.

Everyone privy to this plan has been bound by a non-disclosure restriction magic. The Empire even used a precious magic stone to prevent any information from leaking.

Besides, it's impossible to figure out this plan on their own thinking.

The idea itself doesn't exist in this world.

A country attacking another country... Such an absurd idea doesn't exist in the minds of people of this world.

Even if an excellent spy could grasp the current state of the Empire in detail, he would never reach this conclusion unless he was a great genius.

It's unimaginable to anyone since there's no precedent.

You have to be a genius AND a well-rounded superhuman with extraordinary energy, willpower, military power, and crisis management skills to be able to deal with such things with confidence.

How can such a person exist?

"Forgive me, but I cannot release you even if you are the holy maiden. It will be a problem if you fire the artillery on the ships, after all. As it seems you also have magicians with you, I would hate it if you extend the firing range all the way from here to the Royal Capital..."

"Mmph!!!"

He exists.

A genius exists.

A superhuman exists.

It's all been found out.

He has seen through everything.

But, this won't be a problem.

Anyway, the Kingdom people have never had contact with magicians for more than thirty years.

They don't know what magic is and how it works.

I signaled my magician subordinates with my eyes.

This was nothing.

Our bodies might be bound and our mouths blocked and couldn't let out any sound, but we could still use magic.

The Kingdom people living in this country underdeveloped in magic didn't even know of that. They had no chance of winning from the beginning.

With magic, a thread like this can be easily untie... untie... untie... un... tied?

"Mmph? ...Mmph? Mmphhh?"

I couldn't untie it.

"Mmph?"

" " " "Mmphh mmphh mmphh!!!" " " "

All of my subordinates were shaking their heads. The one who couldn't untie it wasn't just me, they too.

We can't use magic...?

There was only one reason why magicians couldn't use magic.

That was magical power (mana) exhaustion.

However, I had kept my charm magic to the minimum today and preserved my magic power for the artillery shells firing later. So there was no way I ran out of magic power. As proof, I could clearly feel the abundant magic power flowing through my body.

Even so, the channels to activate my magic power were blocked by something. It was my first time experiencing this.

I had no idea [what] was blocking them.