Esper From The Ring Of Frozen Dragon

Chapter 5 The Secret Room in the Library

"Saber, can you let go of this girl and her entourage?" asked Kidnagan still in a sitting position without looking at the other person.

Saber adjusted his seat and looked at Kidnagan's back. "This is a departure from my plan. Your request is too merciful."

"What if I take this girl, and you take the women there too?" asked Kidnagan as he looked at the group of women about to be executed.

"Kidnagan, believe me, we are not willing to take nobles as slaves or wives."

"I want this girl."

Saber changed his sitting position again and brought the fingers of both hands together on his lap. "What if we sell the women who are not taken, to the Land of Lenka kingdom as slaves. This is not against my original plan. This way, the ferocity of our group will spread more quickly."

Kidnagan looked at the girl before him. "That's all I can do. Do you accept it?"

Aretha replied with a nod and wiped away tears.

Saber exhaled a sigh of disappointment. "In that case, let the maids offer them first. The rest, we'll sell to the Land of Lenka kingdom."

Saber ordered his retainers to look around for the women of Aslup city. Unfortunately, none of them were interested in taking them as slaves or wives. Ever since the Land of Lenka had done something stupid, mages like Saber's group had never liked nobles. That's because becoming a mage is the last resort when it's difficult to master internal power.

Mages are people who cannot learn 'internal power' or what is often referred to as 'extrasensory perception'. That is, mages are people who are unable to reach the title of 'esper'. This is what makes mages seem to be viewed as lower than esper throughout history.

Nobles can actually become an esper without the need to try harder because of the uniqueness of their blood. Moreover, nobles always maintain the purity of their bloodline. A noble woman could not make her child a noble if she married a commoner or a mage. It is this basic rule that makes magic fanatics reluctant to deal with nobles. Mages consider the tradition of maintaining blood purity an insult to them.

Moreover, the destruction of the glory of the Land of Lenka kingdom in the past did not escape the queen's extremist thinking that mages were the source of the change in human attitudes to become uncivilized. It was that history that changed the views of some mages to avoid living with nobles.

***

Since the bandits were unwilling to accommodate noblewomen and their maids, Saber ordered his subordinates who did not participate in the war to sell them. Horse-drawn carriages with wagons used to transport prisoners were used to transport them.

Aretha asked Kidnagan for permission to say goodbye. "My lord, may I see my family?" Although she did not cry, Aretha's tears could not mask her sadness.

"I will take you," Kidnagan responded.

The two of them walked towards the horse-drawn carriage. Aretha looked so sad when her mother and two sisters tried to smile despite being in a carriage with iron bars.

"Mama, I'm sorry," Aretha said through tears.

"You are innocent, my daughter. Whatever made us escape the massacre, we will be grateful. We believe this change of fate is a blessing created by you," said a beautiful woman named Eryana. She was Aretha's biological mother.

The women in the cage smiled even though they were also unable to stem their tears.

"My sister, Aretha, believe that we would rather be slaves than die," said Aretha's younger sister.

"I'm sorry that I didn't do anything to make you happy," said Aretha.

"Aretha, you are our lucky charm." Eryana touched Aretha's cheek to look at each other. "As a woman, always remember to obey your master. Always remember to do good even though someday you might be ordered to kill innocent people. Women can still reach the Garden of Heaven as long as any sin is not of their own will," Eryana advised.

Aretha wiped away tears and smiled. "Take care of yourselves. I hope this is not the end of our meeting."

"Yes. We hope to see you again," Eryana and her daughters responded.

They waved goodbye to each other as the carriage began to move away.

Kidnagan had suddenly disappeared from Aretha's side. The masked youth was now standing on the roof of the lead carriage. "Someday, I will meet these women. If you kill them, I will kill you too."

The driver and the other mage broke out in a cold sweat when they realized that the person who spoke like that was Kidnagan. Before they could respond, Kidnagan had disappeared and reappeared beside Aretha.

Kidnagan said nothing and let the girl beside him stare at his family's departure.

***

As the day wore on, Saber and his followers held a feast at the campsite to honor themselves for taking control of Aslup City. A sumptuous meal seemed to have been neatly arranged as the two 'walking kitchen' buildings that were also brought along did not stop producing food. This was also proof that Saber's group seemed to live on a higher level than everyone else in the world.

Saber sits on the throne accompanied by five people between the ages of 50 and 70. The five people were people chosen by Saber as executives because they had become fifth-level mages. The five of them did not intervene in the conquest of Aslup City. During the war, they just relaxed in the 'walking house'. The five of them only enjoyed the war through ambient sounds that could be manipulated as visuals.

On the other hand, there is an empty seat that should be filled by Kidnagan. Unlike most bandits, Kidnagan disliked crowds. The yellow-iris youth was actually in the palace of Aslup City together with Aretha. To be more precise, the two of them were inside the palace library.

Kidnagan sat silently with one book on the table but seemed to be unread. Although not being read, in reality, Kidnagan's body emitted a unique wave that could bounce around into the smallest of cracks until it was able to project whatever was there. In this way, Kidnagan can know the contents of each book even if it is just copied into his brain.

For about an hour Kidnagan remained like that until the sun had set. The room became dark.

Aretha just sat with Kidnagan. After a long time the blue-iris girl waited, but Kidnagan's movements were different from her expectations.

Kidnagan walked to a different-looking bookshelf. By slightly manipulating certain waves, Kidnagan was able to execute the mechanism of the secret door disguised as a bookshelf. Hearing Aretha stumble due to the darkness of the room, Kidnagan took the girl's hand to be led into the secret room.

In the center of the thickly dusty room, there was a round table with several chairs. In stark contrast to the previous room, this abandoned secret room was filled with only one bookshelf on each side. Kidnagan opened each cabinet door without picking up a book. He sat down and again stayed still long enough to copy all the contents of the book. Kidnagan had always been very fond of reading books because he wanted to find a way to restore his memory.

During his time with Saber, Kidnagan's memory was exceptional. However, until now Kidnagan had not found a way to restore his memory. In searching for useful books in the secret room, Kidnagan actually found some unique stories that were so taboo. Kidnagan found records about the Pioneers who were allegedly greater than the paranungsa. This certainly made Kidnagan enthusiastic because the existence of humans who were stronger than the paranungsa might be worth knowing in order to restore his memory.

Aretha tried to look around but to no avail as the room was too dark. This was the first time she learned that the palace library had a secret room. As a landlord's daughter, Aretha didn't even know anything about the room she was in. This certainly made her curious because when she tried to touch the chair she was sitting on, it was covered in thick dust as if it had been abandoned for hundreds of years and escaped the knowledge of her father, grandfather, or ancestors.

Kidnagan suddenly stood up and took a book from one of the cabinets. "It seems that there was an incident where the heir of Aslup City didn't get to tell this room to his descendants," Kidnagan said.

Aretha only tried to look in the direction Kidnagan was standing even though she was only capitalizing on guesses from the sound.

Kidnagan then held Aretha's hand to give her the book he was carrying. "These are the records of your ancestors. Perhaps you will know since when and from whom this room became forgotten."

While holding Aretha's hand, Kidnagan took some books that Saber might want. The two of them exited the secret room after returning it to its original state.

Instead of heading to the campsite, Kidnagan took Aretha into a room in the palace.

Different from all the prejudices, Aretha was only told to go to bed immediately after finishing eating the dinner dishes served by Saber's maids. Aretha don't know what happened in her life this time. She was really confused about Kidnagan's every behavior. In Aretha's eyes, now, Kidnagan did not reflect the most dangerous person at all.

Although she tried, Aretha could only sleep after a late night. When she dreamed of seeing her mother's figure, Aretha immediately woke up.

"Mama!" Aretha gasped and immediately tried to grab Eryana who she saw in the dream.

The beautiful girl with brownish-black hair did not realize that the night passed so quickly. Even now the sun was almost directly above the sky of Aslup city.

"Aretha."

Kidnagan's voice sounded soft, but the girl who was still on the bed instantly became fully awake. The girl with blue-gray irises was seen wearing an expression of fear mixed with anxiety. She immediately knelt down to face the man who was now her master.

Aretha bowed. "My lord, I apologize if I disturbed you."

Kidnagan, who was sitting beside the bed, changed his position and placed his crossed fingers on his lap. "I want you to know that I am your father's killer."

Aretha cried at that statement. Looking at each other several times, Aretha still could not believe that the young man nicknamed Demon Boy would easily admit his barbarism.

On the other hand, Kidnagan deliberately said that in order to show Aretha the power of the glowing smoke that was previously released. Unfortunately, for as long as Aretha cried, Kidnagan did not see the girl in front of him trying to rebel.