Youngest 067
by Cristae67
“There.”
I muttered in annoyance.
“Excuse me.”
I pushed the face clinging to me aside.
“Could you please let go?”
“Euuung.”
The mage whined like a child, shaking her head.
From the moment we first met, she had not stopped petting my hair with her cheek pressed close to mine.
“It’s been so long, I missed this feeling.”
“…”
Sighing deeply, I felt dizzy.
Is this really the time for this?
“Asya Drukan.”
“Yes!”
Asya answered with a beaming smile.
So happy, huh…
Thud. The carriage jolted hard, as if hitting a large stone.
“It’s great you’re enjoying our reunion, but we’re being kidnapped right now!”
When I snapped, Asya just shushed me, placing a finger to her lips. When did she slip out of her restraints?
“If they notice you’re awake, things get complicated. Quiet.”
Asya quickly untied the rope binding my wrists. It had been tied so tightly the skin was left red and swollen.
All around was darkness; the only light streamed in through the misaligned window.
‘Ugh, to be kidnapped…’
Pathetic, Rubian.
Infuriating, Rubian!
“I never expected there’d be another group after these noble girls…”
Asya whimpered, dragging out her words. I calmed my churning stomach and scanned the interior.
Titi, Liv, and Licht—all slumped, unconscious.
I methodically retraced the steps of this absurd predicament.
So, Titi and Liv had been the kidnappers’ targets from the start.
‘They probably thought they’d disguised themselves as commoners…’
Honestly, their efforts weren’t enough—they still looked like children of some minor noble.
As the kidnappers lured the girls into a side-street, Asya happened to tail them, making her a target as well.
While Asya was momentarily confused after the noble girls suddenly vanished from the alley, that’s when I appeared.
And then, caught right in the chain, was Licht…
‘It all happened in the blink of an eye, so it’s no wonder it’s all jumbled.’
In any case, everyone was helpless against the sudden ambush and the anesthetic vapor attack.
There were too many of those hulking men jumping out from all corners for anyone to resist.
‘Weren’t they caught already? Seriously, knights!’
After all that praise I heaped on you, is this how it turns out?
“Ugh, I’ve used up all my forced-awakening artifact charges…”
Asya pulled a small round device from her pocket and tossed it aside. Thanks to that artifact, she’d managed to wake herself and rouse me as well.
“So. How’ve you been? You came all the way to Babylon, why didn’t you contact me?”
I rotated my wrists and stared at Asya.
Her youthful, seventeen-year-old face was just as I remembered.
A mischievous smile revealed her small snaggletooth; her short, curled hair made her look cute and a bit clueless—a strong impression.
‘I didn’t think we’d reunite like this.’
I felt a strange pang.
Asya Drukan had been a low-ranking mage who made artifacts with me in the mage corps.
‘We weren’t close enough to really call each other friends.’
So neither of us ever revealed our true thoughts.
But once, when we were both collapsed from magical exhaustion, Asya had asked me quietly.
“When this war ends, what will you do?”
“I’ll return to the Kingdom, obviously. You’ll go back to being a stationed mage. Isn’t that all?”
“Aha.”
Asya looked strangely disappointed. She stared at my exposed face, my collar having dropped open.
“I just thought… you might choose differently for some reason.”
“Why would you think that?”
“My grandmother used to say—a person’s gaze will always rest, without thinking, on the place they most want to return to.”
“…”
“On difficult days, like this one, you do that a lot. You always looked north, toward somewhere in Babylon.”
That was our last conversation.
It unsettled me that she’d seen right through a habit even I hadn’t noticed, and I’d avoided her on purpose. Soon after, I was reassigned.
If I hadn’t by chance rescued that young mage with the Drukan surname at Canalran Gorge…
If I hadn’t become, unintentionally, Asya’s one and only savior…
I would have simply forgotten her.
“Hey, could you tell your sister… could you tell Asya that grandmother was right?”
I wouldn’t have left those words hinting at my whereabouts.
Nor did I think she’d drop everything and come searching for me.
“Do you know how worried I was? I was terrified a tracking mage would find you first… But look at this, fate brought us together all at once!”
Asya clung even closer, whining. Snapping out of my thoughts, I narrowed my eyes.
“Ugh. Even so, why go around kidnapping girls?!”
“K-Kidnapping?! That’s not it! I just spoke to them—just wanted to see if they had magic! What was I going to do if you disguised yourself and played dumb? I even brought bread to share as thanks, see…”
She stared miserably at the cream bread, now mashed to pulp on the carriage floor.
“I only wanted to protect you by finding you before any tracking mage could…”
I let out a long sigh.
‘I really, really didn’t expect this.’
“They say girls are being targeted.”
“I heard both noble girls and boys are being taken.”
There were two rumors for a reason.
‘Because there really were two separate groups.’
Of course, Asya had been acting alone.
The noble kidnapping gang ambushing us now were, in fact, motivated by money.
The rumor that they were selling fugitive mages was a bit exaggerated…
‘It must’ve come from Asya, with her artifacts, approaching the girls.’
Real attempted kidnappings and Asya’s independent search had blended into a swirl of baseless gossip.
On top of that, Asya, trying to hide her identity, cloaked herself in black, making herself even more suspicious and deepening the misunderstanding…
“Of course they’d be scared if a stranger talked to them!”
“I-I was very polite! I wasn’t scary at all!”
Asya pounded her chest in indignation, lips jutting as she looked me up and down.
“I never dreamed you’d be disguised as a boy…”
I closed my glaring eyes and tried to steady my breath. Carriage sickness was setting in.
Asya pressed closer again.
“So why did you decide to disguise yourself anyway? As expected, you’re a magician who always exceeds my expectations—seventh time now!”
“Augh! Don’t call me that! Call me Rubian!”
“What’s the problem? They’re all asleep.”
Asya cuddled against my head, glancing aside.
“Shall I wake these three?”
I hesitated a moment, then shook my head.
“Only if we think of an escape plan.”
They’d make a racket the moment they woke—best to keep them asleep for now.
“Ugh, what a sight.”
I pressed my ear to the dark carriage wall.
Maybe because of the noise, it was hard to make out the driver’s voice.
The carriage rocked again. We seemed to be on a steep mountain road now, judging by the rough climb.
“Must be Ipsen Mountain.”
Just as Titi and Olivia had wished, setting out to study medicinal herbs—should I call it funny, or tragic?
“Rubian, your lips are white.”
“I’m carsick…”
“You should’ve ridden a blue horse. It would’ve been smoother.”
“This isn’t a sightseeing trip, okay?”
The carriage slowed, then finally stopped altogether.
All was silent, with only a light drizzle falling. As Asya started to speak, I pressed a finger to my lips.
Men’s voices drifted faintly from outside.
“Is this really okay? Kidnapping even high nobles… That blonde kid seemed different. I thought I saw the Zevert family crest…”
“Shut up and wake them up! It’s all or nothing now!”
Thump, thump—the footsteps drew close, and with a crash, the door burst open.
“What’s this? Some of them are awake!”
“How’d they get out of their restraints?”
“Hmm…”
The sudden flood of light made the foreheads of the three sleeping children twitch. I leaned into Asya and whispered.
“Can you keep those three under longer?”
“Of course.”
Asya sent out a quick pulse of her magic.
As soon as I confirmed the three slept peacefully, I turned.
At that moment, a rough arm shot out to seize me.
“What are you whispering about? Get over— Aagh!”
But the man’s hand was bound fast by the shadows trailing along the floor.
“I won’t forgive anyone who harms my friend.”
Asya stood tall, voice firm.
Though only a low-ranking mage from the kingdom, she wasn’t about to be overpowered by mere non-mages.
“Asya, how’s your magic?”
“Feels like both nostrils are stuffed thick with snot.”
“Did you really have to use such a dirty metaphor?”
“How about jammed with troll mucus…”
“Even worse!”
“Still, it’s better than you, Rubian—without even a nose.”
“Wow, cranky now, are we.”
Hmph, I got something from Karl too, you know!
I jumped out of the carriage together with Asya.
“Mmph, mmph!”
The man bound by Asya’s shadows struggled fruitlessly. The remaining kidnappers shrank back. They carried every kind of brute weapon imaginable.
“W-what are you? What kind of artifact does that—how—!”
“It’s not an artifact.”
With the first man already down, there were ten left. Quickly, I drew on my own magic and glanced back.
The three children were still deeply asleep.
Around us spread a dark forest. Drizzle fell through the gloom.
“And I even have a little magic saved up…”
Well, then. Just perfect for a little mayhem.
Crouching down, I pressed my hand to the earth without hesitation.
“Hup.”