The Capture Target Only Loves Magic

2-2. Elfien Town

_____Bertram______

It was in the forest. The place was quiet for miles- only the sounds of local wildlife were heard. Bertram looked around, noticing where they were- Celia did have a knack for finding uninhabited places. An abandoned mine, he guessed. The shack was close to the forest, so this must have been the maid's solution. Celia's face was ashen. The butler looked down, clearly knowing what was going to follow.

"What were you doing, dumbass?" Celia hissed angrily to Bertram, who winced "Our employer almost got killed. The Queen would have gone nuts!"

Bertram shook his head. "Celia," he answered with a lazy flourish of his hands,
"At least everything turned out okay, right?"

Celia shrugged. "You know, I don't actually mind you being killed for failing your job," she snarled, "But the thing is, I just happen to have a trashy partner and I really don't want my head to fly off by an ax."

Bertram chortled.

Celia rolled her eyes. "Figuratively, of course." The two both knew better than to assume they would be gifted a painless death. Putting it in a good way, they weren't important enough to be killed in public. If you put it in a more negative way, as pawns, a far worse fate would be waiting for them. Simply being 'disposed' of would count as being lucky in this situation.

"Useless." Celia grumbled, kicking a small pebble on the ground. Bouncing off her foot, the pebble crashed into the stone wall and shattered, creating a small dent. Bertram didn't twitch an eye at the scene, instead opting to keep the conversation going.

"The Queen will dislike it more if we let the second Prince know of us." Bertram said after a while, his voice quiet. "She will dislike it more than if we were to let the child die."

Celia disagreed, "The Queen's orders are the Queen's orders."

There was no convincing her. Celia was headstrong, and Bertram knew it. She was one of those types who valued her life above all else, and took everything literally- there was no persuading the kid that the Queen was more than what she thought. Of course, Bertram doubted Celia was completely ignorant. She knew even more than him in some areas. She may not be the best, but Bertram was quite confident he was the worst.

But the Queen... she was a complicated person. All royalty was complicated. Celia didn't know that. She thought that simply following orders would allow her to live- which wasn't true sometimes.

Perhaps she could beat some sense into her... Bertram thought, then shook his head. No, she was even more feather-brained than Celia, whose head was made of rock. Only he seemed to have his head screwed on right, in a world filled with danger. He looked downwards. His hands subconsciously brushed against his old scar.

"That's why you're the lowest ranked among us." He said.

Celia simply looked annoyed at that statement. Not rash, not angry. Just a bit pissed off.

What he said was right, though. Bertram thought to himself. Bertram started to wave his arms around in a small circle, twisting the top part to make a peculiar gesture. He snapped his fingers, causing the air to glow and writhe. Celia watched their surroundings with an alert expression, her eyes constantly scanning the forest, which was empty of human beings.

Bertram took out the prepared letter and parchment from his storage space. With Celia guarding his back, Bertram quickly sent the parchment flying away into the sunset, until it disappeared from view. There was only the cawing of crows to be heard.

"Let's go back."

__________Elian___________

A week had passed since the aircraft (blimp) explosion, and there was still little progress. Money was indeed harder to earn than what everyone had thought. Part of it stemmed from Amanda's blind optimism, Celia and Bertram's non-helpfulness, and the wrong information everyone had about the world.

We were mostly all from noble families. Few of us had any idea how to earn cash outside of our home countries, and our skill-sets weren't suited to it, either.

Elfien was currently at peace. There were no monster attacks, apparently the monsters in Elfien usually stuck to their habitats, which was why the Royal Elf Guard hadn't killed them all yet. Yep, there was a guard. And mages. The Mage Tower was very active here.

Or that was what I had heard. Surprisingly, there were fewer mages than I had seen even in Faehnrut. No priests were present either, no robes, no staffs. Nobody who looked even remotely wealthy. Everyone was dressed in the same dye-free, boring clothes, looking like they didn't have any money to spend.

I stepped on the dirt road and moved my head around, looking at the scenery. It was all mountain. All forest. There weren't any tall buildings or such in the vicinity. Unlike Faehnrut, there didn't even seem to be proper roads or any sort of town structure, though that could just be because I had lived in the capital of my home country. The countryside could be different.

The undergrowth was thick, blocking much of my vision. Down the dirt path, there were many small dirty houses similar to the ones we were staying in. There were also shacks, tents, and people. I was still small. Dressed in the plain clothes Hanok gave me, I still somehow stood out.

It was my looks. As a capture target, Elian had been given looks so beautiful they looked like they were given by God. Some people looked at me as I passed by. I subconsciously tried to make myself look a little smaller, my eyes turned wary. I tried to wrap my head up with a hood, then I remembered I didn't bring anything. The hood wasn't there.

The place was dingy and smaller than what I expected of a town. It did get bigger as I continued walking, the space between houses were small, all living spaces were cramped together. There was the sound you hear when you go to places with a lot of people.

I spotted people selling some sort of fruit by the street. There weren't many stalls, but I could still find a few. Children ran around, but they weren't playing- I noticed many were holding jugs of water in their hands. I was around their size, so I guess they were around eleven or maybe even younger.

I heard yelling. Talking. This must be a place in the lower rungs of Elfien Country, I decided. It was a pity. If we had ended up at one of the more wealthy towns, perhaps I could find actual mages there. Actual mages who could perhaps, even teach me magic, for a generous fee. Or even if there weren't any mages, I could settle with books about the subject. I could settle with anything. Though there were probably others at the bottom, these people didn't look like they had it easy, either. There were shacks that made the house we were staying in look nice by comparison. Tents were crammed together, and I imagined living in those wouldn't be pleasant. There was a peculiar smell.

I couldn't understand any of the language- I didn't know Elfien, but I knew that Amanda, Patrick, and everyone else would have their work cut out for them in this sort of place. It would be difficult to amass enough money to do something, since there probably wasn't any money here to begin with. Not unless we moved to a different place.

I slowed my pace. The houses were fewer as I went closer to the forest. It was getting dark, I should probably get back.

I sighed. I should ask Hanok about the capital of Elfien later. I didn't escape from my home country and to Elfien for this. Not that the lower class were bad, the problem was that they didn't have anything I wanted. No information.

I should look around to make sure.

I looked up to the sky, right in front of the undergrowth, before turning around to go back in the opposite direction. That was when I heard a voice. I stopped.

"Stop." Was that Hanok?