Three days later, another letter arrived at the palace. Fortunately, this time, only a letter arrived. They have pinpointed two places where Nasharis might be placed with the help of someone trustworthy.
A place was written in the letter for the exchange. The kidnappers had asked for money from the imperial family for the exchange, which was something easy to predict but weird in this case.
Why would they go to all this trouble by kidnapping a princess to gain money? There is some hidden agenda behind all of this.
A troupe had already been chosen to go to the said location in the second letter, and they have prepared another two groups to move separately to those two places they pinpointed, which are different and far from the stated location in the letter.
They already knew that the location in the letter was not the real one. That's why the Emperor has called someone with the ability to look for other locations, which are a secret to other people except the two separate groups, Raihan and Michaelis.
They needed to be prepared for any possible secret attack and the number of people on the other side.
Based on what Michaelis said, he just managed to see two people during the kidnapping, but there could be more than that. The possibility of a large group is also big based on how the kidnappers managed to get through the barrier around the palace without being detected.
It was like they were fighting an unknown enemy without knowing what they were capable of; that's why that troupe would be for distraction. The main group, which consists of two groups, had already been sent there stealthily and was led by Raihan and the vice-captain of the imperial knight brigade.
Michaelis fidgeted with his fingers while looking at the only abandoned house in the forest. It was a two-story mansion house surrounded by tall grass and creeping trees.
He was adamant about following the stealth group, much to Asteric's disapproval. He followed his gut to where he thought Nasharis would be. Sir Raihan was with the other group, and that made him feel reassured if this place was not where Nasharis were being put because Sir Raihan was a capable person.
"We did not sense any living being in there, Your Highness."
The vice-captain told him in a slow voice. Michaelis narrowed his eyes at the abandoned house. There are no traces of anyone having come and gone from there. It was truly an abandoned house at first glance.
"Vice-captain, you're in charge here."
Hearing that, the vice-captain nodded.
"Move closer."
The vice-captain gave the order, and his men obeyed. They, who had been hiding behind and on top of the trees, slowly moved closer to the abandoned house.
'That man who had knocked my head did not use any item to do so; I also did not see anything he held at that time except the knife. What could his power be?'
There is a possibility that the man used magic or an aura.
He heard a movement coming from the vice-captain. The man touched his earpiece, which was wrapped around his ear, and channelled some magic.
"Captain?"
– Lyucryx, there are no living beings in this place. Report.
The vice-captain, Lyucryx, made eye contact with him. The report given by the older man made Lyucryx look back at his men, who had managed to go closer to the abandoned house. When one of them gave him a signal, he moved his hand, signalling to everyone to make a move towards the abandoned house.
Michaelis also went down from the tree and moved closer when he couldn't feel any extra presence in the forest and its surroundings. There is also not even a single bird here, which makes him worried and uneasy.
"We are just about to go inside, but there is no presence detected either."
From the sentence uttered by Lyucryx to the earpiece, Michaelis knew that the other group was also making zero progress.
Tik.
He walked inside the house after the group inspected the area. They began to scatter around the house to check for anyone. The upper floor until the basement, but there is nothing here. They get together after the inspection on the first floor. There is not even a single piece of furniture in here, just dirt and spiderwebs.
"We couldn't find any traces of someone ever being here, vice-captain, Your Highness. This is not the place."
Michaelis' brows furrowed. If this house is not the place, and the other house is also not, then this must be a trap.
Tik.
He heard something.
"We should inform the other group about this."
Tik.
– Lyucryx?
"Captain, it's—"
"Shh!"
He put his finger in front of his lips to get them to shut their mouths. Michaelis looked around.
Tik.
It was true. He heard the ticking.
"Ask the captain if there is any ticking sound in that house."
Lyucryx did as told and asked his captain through the earpiece. There was silence on the other side before Sir Raihan spoke.
– No. This place is empty, without any traces of sound or humans. There are just animals that have built their nests here.
Tik.
Weird. The ticking sound reminded him of something. It was a slow yet dangerous sound.
Michaelis widened his eyes.
"Everyone, get out of here! NOW!"
Tik.
BOOM!!
×××××
"Lyucryx!"
Raihan pulled out his earpiece when he heard a really loud sound from the other side. One, he heard Michaelis suddenly shouting to everyone to get out, and then the bombing sound. A really loud bombing sound.
He ordered his group to move outside of the house, which is in an open space but isolated quickly. There may be another explosion here, but when he thought of the possibility that the explosion just occurred there, Raihan became agitated.
"Give me the transmitted cube faster!"
His subordinate pulled out a mirror-cube shape. Raihan quickly snatched it away and channelled his magic through the cube. The cube opened up into a flat surface and emitted a sparkle of light before he could see a familiar face.
"Raihan."
"Your Majesty, this is a trap."
Asteric turned serious, quickly looked away, and gave an order to the support group here to go to where Michaelis was.
This is an obvious trap. It looked like the letters had been fabricated from the beginning. No, the letters were true. The person they trusted to look for the location through the letters has been known from the start. There is no doubt that these two places are where the kidnappers have been hiding. The kidnappers just changed places every time.
The goal is not for the money. The kidnappers' goal was to overthrow the imperial family in a state of chaos. They wanted the crown prince to die when they knew he was alive. There is a mouse who has been giving information inside the palace to the kidnappers. It could be one of the noble leaders. Raihan needed to investigate further in secret.
Or the kidnappers had been listening since the beginning by putting bugs in the palace. Moreover, when they don't know what their enemy is capable of or what power they have.
He knew the emperor had come to the same conclusion. They would need to do some thorough cleaning after this.
"Check the house and the surrounding area in detail; I'll be going to where His Highness is. Report to me anything strange or if there is a trace of a bomb. Be careful."
"Yes, captain!"
He quickly took out a teleportation stone, which had the coordinates of the other location. The two locations were far from each other; this must have been to separate them. Raihan couldn't hear any explosions from here, which means the explosion was just around the area or had been in the sound barrier like before.
He crushed the stone before he was surrounded by light; his body turned transparent and vanished from there. He opened his eyes at the entrance of a forest. He could see the other support group arriving using the same method from the capital.
He looked around, and he finally could see the black smoke from inside the forest. It was far inside. They will need to run to get to the location faster.
'They want to postpone any reinforcement from coming too early.'
Raihan frowned at that thought. That's why the coordinates were far from the supposed house.
"Captain, we had heard the news from the emperor."
"Good, we need to move now. Make sure to be aware of your surroundings for any possible attack."
Just with that, all of them moved into the forest.
×××××
The black smoke rose into the air. The abandoned house, which was standing firmly just now, has collapsed into pieces with no more foundation to be called a house.
Many coughing sounds could be heard. Some of them lay against the forest with head injuries; some of them lay on the ground with broken bones; and some of them were unconscious.
Michaelis coughed and slowly raised his body from the ground after the harsh collision with the tree trunk. He grabbed the tree to support his body before he looked around in a daze. He counted everyone and let out a sigh after he could see the exact number of people from the beginning.
'I succeed.'
He succeeded in rescuing everyone, even though the impact of the explosion gave them this injury. They have been thrown away, but it was better than being blown away inside the house.
Michaelis touched his head at the buzzing sound. He wiped away the liquid that was slowly trailing down his forehead. He moved closer to the house with his hand on his ribs. There may be some broken ribs.
There is a possibility of a second bomb, but he is ready to defend himself.
Crack!
Michaelis quickly turned around. The sound was not made by his group because his group was still groggily awake from the explosion's impact.
Someone is here.
"Such a waste."
His hearing became clear after he heard the familiar voice.
Crack!
"But lucky for me!"
Crack!
There emerged a shadow inside the forest. Michaelis steadied himself.
Crack!
"You can die by my hand now."
A scarred man with a large build was now standing visibly for him to see. The voice was, no doubt, from that night.
"Let's see who will kill who first after you tell me where my sister is."
Michaelis gritted his teeth after he saw the face.
Grole smirked. He ran towards Michaelis.
"Take a guess, brat! Hahahaha!"