Chapter 27

# 27

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Nabia held her breath with a tense expression, thinking that if someone was guarding her outside, they might come in at the sound.

But nothing happened. It seemed there was no one guarding her.

"…Phew."

Nabia let out a long sigh and began to check the interior more actively.

It definitely seemed to be a warehouse, as she could feel boxes piled up inside. However, most of them were empty.

'If I keep searching, I might find something useful.'

In any situation, it wasn’t a given that she would die.

Despite the cold making her teeth chatter, Nabia sternly shook herself awake and began to check the items within reach.

How much time had passed?

Nabia discovered a thin beam of light shining through a crack in the wall.

She couldn’t hear the sound of insects chirping at dawn.

Chirp chirp!

Instead, she heard the familiar chirping of sparrows signaling the morning.

Suddenly, Nabia felt her vision spin and quickly grabbed the side.

Rumble.

'Ah… Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday morning.'

She was hungry. After shivering from the cold for so long, her whole body ached.

Her focus on escaping had been so intense that once it broke, all the conditions she had been ignoring hit her at once.

Still, she kept moving.

If she didn’t find a way out before Wood came, she would be…

Creak.

Nabia felt something in her hand as she pushed against the wall and brought it close to her face.

A small handle, a panel the size of her palm.

'…A hand mirror?'

If it was an object of this shape, it had to be a hand mirror, right?

Nabia suddenly lifted her head.

A beam of light from the crack in the wall was in her line of sight.

The amount of light entering this warehouse was ridiculously small.

To explore the interior more easily, she needed more light.

'I can reflect the light with the mirror to expand my field of vision.'

Nabia extended the mirror towards the sunlight shining through the crack.

Flash!

The thin beam of light hit the mirror and created a new beam of light.

Nabia moved the light to expand her field of vision and scanned the interior.

She saw the appearance of an abandoned shack covered in dust and spider webs, which didn’t differ much from what she had guessed from feeling around the inside last night.

'Was there such a place in the mansion?'

Even when she recalled her past eight lives, she couldn’t figure out what this shack was used for.

It was astonishing how Wood had found this place.

Nabia soon found where the door was.

Given how old this place was, maybe she could break the door with force? After taking a deep breath, Nabia rammed her body against the door.

Bang!

"Ugh!"

Despite being an old wooden door, it didn’t budge at all with Nabia’s strength.

It seemed her lack of strength due to hunger and the cold made it even harder.

Nabia tried a few more body slams before collapsing into a corner, exhausted.

Wood was incredibly persistent. He would definitely come to take revenge on her.

'Will anyone even know I’m gone?'

Wood knew she could steal magic, so he wouldn’t use his abilities.

Even if she were in perfect condition, she couldn’t defeat Wood by force, let alone now when she had no energy left.

The best strategy was to escape before Wood arrived.

Nabia leaned against a pile of boxes, feeling the damp floor with her hand.

"The floor is damp…"

Nabia frowned as she felt the slightly damp floor with her fingertips and turned around.

'The floor is damp?'

She felt around the floor. Only the area near the boxes was damp, while the rest was fine.

Why was only this part wet?

'Come to think of it, it rained a few days ago.'

If the rain had caused this, the entire floor should be damp.

Nabia started to move the boxes stacked behind her.

'There must be a reason for the water to seep in!'

What if, maybe….

'There it is!'

After moving the boxes blocking the wall, she felt a small hole.

Nabia fixed the mirror to reflect the light towards the hole and sent a beam of light to it.

'Can I escape through here?'

She extended her hand to check the inside.

It was narrower than she thought. But her emaciated body might fit through.

Nabia bent down and crawled inside.

The hole was even narrower than it looked.

She dug her fingernails into the ground and scratched hard to force her body through.

Her clothes and face were getting dirty from the wet mud, but she didn’t care.

The important thing was to escape!

'I can see the light!'

Nabia clenched her teeth and struggled.

'Please, just a little more…!'

Fortunately, her waist, which had been stuck in the hole, started to come out.

Yes! Finally, the outside…!

"Huh? What? She’s escaping!"

Wood, who was just arriving at the warehouse with a servant, shouted when he saw Nabia trying to escape.

Nabia pulled her body out completely and ran forward with all her might.

"Stop her!"

The servant, following Wood’s order, ran and quickly caught Nabia.

No matter how fast she ran, she couldn’t outpace an adult man.

But she wasn’t going to be caught like this.

Nabia pulled out the pearl hairpin from her hair and stabbed the man’s thigh with all her strength.

Poke!

The pearl hairpin wasn’t a good weapon. If it were real silver, it wouldn’t have pierced the skin so easily!

"Aaah!"

The servant screamed in pain and let go of Nabia.

Wood, witnessing this, was furious and raged.

"Useless worm! You couldn’t even catch a low-level like her?"

'If I let her escape, it’s over!'

Yesterday, the house was in an uproar for various reasons.

At first, the embezzlement by the servants caused a commotion, followed by the discovery of Charlotte, whom he had ordered to be locked up, causing more chaos.

The fact that Nabia was gone was quickly revealed to Nikan.

Wood was anxious that the servants might find Nabia.

But perhaps his choice of location was so excellent?

No one had come in here.

Instead, they suspected external interference and intensified the search outside the mansion.

Wood had quietly waited to avoid arousing suspicion and came here before dawn.

'I was going to beat her up and threaten her so she couldn’t say I kidnapped her!'

He had chosen a strong servant to ensure this task was done properly, but the servant couldn’t even catch a weakling like Nabia.

"Stop her! Stop her! You useless brat!"

He had to somehow silence Nabia.

Nabia could definitely steal his magic.

But there was a way to counter it.

He wouldn’t give her the chance to steal his magic! This was also a method used against copycat mages.

Wood shot a stream of water at Nabia.

"Splash!"

Nabia was hit by the water and fell to the ground.

Wood was completely elated, realizing his strategy had worked.

"Hahaha!"

The vague fear he had for Nabia was washed away by this one success.

"This is real power. You stupid low-level. Did you think you could beat me just because you got lucky and stole my magic?"

Wood approached Nabia with a victorious expression. Meanwhile, Nabia, using her trembling arms to push herself up, shouted.

"Please, save me!"

At her powerless cry, Wood laughed even louder.

"You should have run earlier, you fool."

This proved that he was stronger.

"A low-level like you, no matter how much you struggle, is still just a low-level."

Thud!

Wood kicked Nabia mercilessly. She was thrown to the ground again.

She turned her head sharply and glared at Wood with fierce eyes.

His arrogance faltered for a moment at her terrifying gaze.

'As long as I don’t use magic, I’m fine. She’s not a mage, so she can’t have any other abilities!'

"I don’t need to use magic to deal with someone like you!"

Wood forgot the slight fear he had felt and grabbed Nabia by the collar.

"Die!"

Just as Nabia reflexively grabbed his arm,

Thump!

Suddenly, a loud thump resonated through her entire body.

It was as if her whole body had turned into a bell, and someone had struck it hard, causing a deep, resonant sound.

With one thump, something strange happened.

The wind stopped.