I Was Reincarnated As The Brother Of A Villainous Young Lady, But I Couldn't Use Magic, So I Used My Sword To Slash Down The Doom Flag - Chapter 21

When I woke up, I found that Tilti and I were tied up and thrown into a dim, warehouse-like place.

Around us were men dressed all in black. They wore masks to hide their faces, but I was sure they were men from the marquis household.

They might be mercenaries hired privately by the retainers, or low-ranking nobles who had been abandoned and were now used for such tasks. Either way, I knew I had been kidnapped for some purpose—and that it would likely harm my brother.

(I’m sorry, big brother…)

Before I lost consciousness, I had whispered an apology in my heart. I repeated those words now.

For a long time, Like kept me hidden so that I would not get caught up in political struggles. He let me wander around the lands freely so that everyone would think I was just a useless, wayward daughter. He even arranged it so that I might leave the mansion easily.

Knowing this, I tried to help by doing my best to maintain order in the lands, following his plans. But all those efforts were ruined by this one mistake.

(Even if they kill me, it will not benefit them much. So… perhaps they will force my brother to make some concessions in exchange for my capture, or pretend to save me in order to repay a debt.)

From the timing, it seems that our kidnappers suspected that Like had secretly started his dungeon conquest. They do not want his position to grow stronger, but that is a path he must take eventually. So perhaps they plan to force him to give them a favor by putting a collar on me.

(I won’t let them do that.)

I have always been a big brother’s girl. As a high-ranking noble, I do not have much contact with my parents, so I naturally grew close to the brother who always cared for me. Because of this, I could not accept the idea that my very presence would hold my brother back.

(First, I must try to escape on my own. If that fails… then I will choose death.)

With a resolve too great for a nine-year-old, I began to move. Fortunately, the kidnappers were not very skilled. They fidgeted and looked around nervously, or chatted meaninglessly with each other. None of them paid much attention to me.

Taking advantage of this, I quietly moved closer to Tilti.

“Tilti, wake up. Tilti.”

“Mmm… huh?”

Thankfully, Tilti quickly responded to my call and slowly opened her eyes. Not sure of our situation, she lay there and started to look around. I urged her to be quiet.

“We have been captured. Let us escape together.”

“H-how can we do that…?”

Tilti’s face turned pale as she saw the men in black. I then explained my plan.

“We will use your magic to escape. You have practiced it, so you can do it.”

Tilti is able to use several types of magic, but her strongest is dark magic—magic that works with space. Although she has not yet been able to teleport all the way out of the mansion, she has improved enough to teleport over a wall for a short distance. She has never teleported a living person before, though.

“O-okay…! I will do my best…!”

Her small, determined voice made me feel braver than I expected. I had thought about using my brother’s name to urge her on, but that was not needed now. Then, out of nowhere, I secretly took out a hidden knife.

“Tilti, where did you get that?!”

“A lady’s delight.”

Ignoring Tilti’s surprised look, I quickly cut the ropes that bound both of us. Magic would have been faster, but these ropes were enchanted to block magic. That is why using a simple knife worked well.

“I will signal you. When I do, please—”

“Yes…!”

Even though the ropes were cut, we pretended to remain bound. Casting magic takes time, depending on its difficulty and the caster’s skill. If you try too quickly, the men will notice before you can teleport. I waited until the men’s attention turned away, and then I cast my magic.

“Air Bullet!”

In an instant, I sent a basic wind attack that pressed together the air and released it, hitting the warehouse entrance with a loud sound and strong impact.

“What the—!? What is happening!?”

“It is not time for the signal yet!”

While the men shouted in confusion, I looked at Tilti. She understood my meaning and quickly got up. Carefully, she cast her magic.

“Teleportation…!!”

This was her first time trying to teleport a living person. If she failed, part of her body might be left behind in the gap between dimensions—a very dangerous spell. Taking a slow, deep breath, she cast the spell. As the portal opened, I jumped in faster than Tilti.

“Eek!?”

“You look okay. Come quickly.”

Normally, the user should go through first and check that it is safe. But I grabbed Tilti’s hand and pulled her out of the warehouse.

Once we were outside, I immediately knew where we were, since I often wander around the lands. Now, all that was left was to use wind magic to fly home with Tilti. At that moment, I thought everything was going well—until I saw a flash of red flame from the corner of my eye.

“Ah!?”

“Kyaa!!”

A burst of flame exploded near our feet. The shock knocked both of us to the ground. We tried to get up immediately, but a sharp pain shot through both our legs, and we both grimaced.

Looking down, I saw that our legs were badly burned by the explosion, and we could barely stand. When I looked up at Tilti, I saw that although she did not have any major injuries, she seemed to have hit her head when we fell and had lost consciousness.

Then, in front of us, a man stepped forward and blocked our path.

“Hey, hey… you cannot run away just like that… You kids are not going anywhere, are you?”

I recognized the man immediately. I whispered his name softly:

“Dogora.”

Dogora was the slave trader who attacked the Ranger family’s carriage and was later captured because of Sold’s efforts. He was supposed to be in prison, in the middle of a trial to decide his punishment, so I quickly understood that one of his retainers must have set him free. I sighed in frustration.

(He was supposed to be locked up. Now he has escaped and kidnapped us… and someone—the mastermind—will later try to use this to force concessions from my big brother. This is the worst.)

I could almost read the plan of whoever caused this whole incident. They intended to kidnap both Tilti and me so that later they could demand a favor from my big brother. In the game, if you do not gather clues in time, you enter a bad ending. I never thought that such an event would happen now!

(No, calm down. I played that very difficult game many times to collect all the stills. I remember all the details about the place where I would be held.)

“I will save you both. Wait for me, both of you…!!”

So, please do not rush, Siluria. I will not let you cause trouble for my big brother. I will not let Tilti be lost because of me.

My heart pounded loudly in my chest as I vowed to protect them.