After leaving Cyve's presence, my consciousness returned.
Even so, I still fell to the ground. But this time I was more prepared, and only my chest felt slightly sore.
I looked down and ahead of me, and Rosa-chan had completely disappeared.
That meant what Cyve said was true. That they had taken Rosa-chan again.
People around me were surprised to see me fall; some approached and helped me stand.
I brushed off the dust from my cloak. This cloak got dirty from the dust, even though it still looked really cool.
I activated my status screen and checked the number of skills I had now.
Of course, I received two additional skills from Cyve: Boost and Vision.
Both of these skills were very useful in this situation, as they made it easier for me to chase Rosa-chan.
But, for some reason, the Vision skill was written in golden letters on my status screen.
This made the skill's appearance different from the other two.
Naturally, I was curious, so I pressed on the skill name, and some text appeared.
Currently, the skill -Vision- can be activated just by saying the target's name in my heart.
This is the highest level of this skill, meaning it cannot be upgraded any further.
Crazy, I only just realized that the Vision skill had multiple tiers.
Then, if even Cyve could use this magic to the maximum level, there's no denying that he is an incredibly powerful magician.
Surely, he must have many other extraordinary skills. Hopefully, some of them could rub off on me.
As a test, I called Rosa-chan's name in my heart while closing my eyes.
When I opened them, I saw what looked like a red circle not far from here.
That meant… it worked, right?!
I immediately ran toward the red circle to confirm whether the mark indicated Rosa-chan's location or not.
The closer I got to that point, the more certain I became that Rosa-chan was there.
Just a few meters away from that spot, I stopped at a very narrow alley.
Rosa-chan must be on the other side of this alley, because at the end I could see an empty area illuminated by sunlight.
But… could I get through this narrow alley?
Of course, I forced myself into the alley.
It was so tight that even a small movement made my body feel trapped between two large rocks.
It was very difficult to move, but still possible if I went slowly.
Was there really no other way to get to the end?! If they were there, then how did they get in?!
Some of them were twice my size, and I already felt so cramped—what about her?
She could easily get stuck and be unable to get out.
---
(Rosalia side)
My eyes felt very heavy as I tried to open them, and I felt like someone was carrying me.
At first, my vision was blurry, but eventually, I could see clearly.
I saw a man with a mustache carrying me somewhere.
He… must be running while holding me, could he be chased by someone else?
In this condition, it should be Vern-san. Of course, he would chase this person to bring me back.
I knew I was being kidnapped because this person was someone I had never seen before.
In other words, a stranger. Moreover, at that time, Lotte had left me to buy water.
So, it was understandable that I got kidnapped. But I was no longer panicking.
Because I had been kidnapped before, all I could do was stay still and wait for reinforcements.
Honestly, I didn't expect much from Lotte, because I thought he had no combat ability.
He was more suited to being a maid and doing household chores.
Even so, if he could save me, maybe he really was the man I had been looking for all this time.
Maybe… I would ask him to marry me when he succeeded in saving me this time.
But if not, well, I'd have to marry Luis. Although that would never happen.
I had already resolved that when I got married, I would take my own life.
But I would reconsider later; maybe something would happen that made me lose this dark desire.
---
I felt myself being brought into a room, and when I tried to open my eyes again—
I saw my hands and part of my stomach tied by the man with the mustache.
"Let me go—" I naturally reacted.
Then he immediately covered my mouth with his right hand and signaled me to be quiet.
But why should I obey? Of course, I shook my head to try to remove his hand from my mouth.
Quickly, he drew a knife from his pocket and pointed it right in front of my eyes.
Naturally, I felt very scared. So I decided to stay silent.
I still preferred ending my own life rather than being killed by someone else.
---
I looked around; the walls of this room were entirely made of wood.
The place felt like a house built in the middle of the forest.
The mustached man repeatedly went in and out of the room. He also looked sweaty and a little panicked.
Could he be afraid that Vern-san would find me? Let's just see, I'd let Vern-san handle all of this.
For fun, I tried moving my hands, and the ropes felt very loose.
If I wanted, I could free myself immediately and try to escape from here.
But that would be a bad choice; how could I get past the man guarding me?
Judging by his body alone, it was certain that he wouldn't let me through.
So I abandoned the idea of freeing myself now.
But I would wait until he was careless, then I would run as fast as I could to escape.
——
(Yukito's side)
Finally, after a painfully tight and exhausting passage, I managed to get out of the alley.
It felt extremely tiring, leaving my breath in disarray, and perhaps I was no longer able to run.
The Boost skill… that skill only increases speed, not change body shape.
And increasing speed tenfold might only apply to those who have mastered it.
I had already used this skill to run, but my speed was probably only slightly faster than usual.
Maybe because it was my first time using it, I hadn't yet mastered the technique.
Mana capacity also greatly affected skill usage.
And my mana… I couldn't specify the exact amount, but it was small.
I also didn't know how to increase mana. As for magic, I could only learn from Yuu-chan or Hime.
But regarding mana, maybe they knew how to increase it.
When I played online games before, mana could only be obtained in certain situations.
Like defeating monsters or completing missions.
In short, mana wasn't something instant; it had to be earned through experience. That's why I was a little lazy to increase it.
In the case of the Vision skill I used earlier, since it had reached the maximum level, I could use it without wasting any mana.