NOVEL NEXT Book 3 Ch 29: Gerda - Any Fool Who'd Read an Isekai Should Know the Drill by Now
My [Oracle] abilities only applied to the characters that I had met previously. Which was why I had no idea until today that the Keeper of Fate was walking around in a plot-panic trying to undo my expertly crafted story deviations.
For the hundredth time, I wished I’d managed to actually face off against the void mage who’d destroyed my bridge in Peldeep. Unfortunately, her powers had undone my carefully crafted dimensional link.
I’d been sitting at my table, happily folding pastry dough around spiced apple slices into the shape of a nest for a homemade gillette when my entire house shook. Pink magic warred with my teal and then a notification told me that my portal link had been severed. I’d been directly connected to the bridge at the time, and it had taken all of my effort and mana to move my dimensional home elsewhere and at the same time catch my dishes.
The clean up had taken all day.
Now, I was finally going to get to meet the woman... after I took the time to down two advanced mana potions. I had assumed that the villian was going to use Julia's kidnapping to separate everyone into groups to better pick them off. Now I wasn't too sure that was her only goal, especially when she'd kidnapped the very woman required to actually hold a wedding and get everyone into place for her final attack.
It didn't make sense... so either I missing something, or she was going to let Julia go before tomorrow morning.
Either way, I wasn't going to chance it.
This entire area was highlighted on my map. Duke Julian’s amulet was moving through the building to my left, so I decided to search the storage bays on the opposite side. To do so, I did what any decent video game player would do in my situation.
I cheated.
It was a fact that I'd been living in this world for five years… and more specifically, I’d been living in the Dark Enchanted Forest. Any fool who’d read an isekai should know the drill by now, and I was no exception.
The combination of [Appraise] and [Hero’s Spatial Ring] was about as broken as I could get.
I pulled out a [Juliper Petal] and slipped it under my tongue.
[You are under the effects of [Juliper Petal] and will remain invisible until removed or the petal dissolves. The duration of a [Juliper Petal] is equal to its lifespan before harvest. Time remaining: 00:13:46.
One time use item.]
I walked straight down the road, moving as quiet as I could. Inhuman dexterity helped. Suddenly, a swordsman rushed past me going so fast as to be indiscernible by Perception 25 or below.
They almost hit me, but I managed to stop just in time. No one else on the street seemed to notice them rush through the port gates.
“Hurry it up!” An elf with grey skin and dark black hair called out to the four laborers packing the last wagon. “Alice is on her way back from the guild and we need to be ready to head out as soon as she gets here.”
“Two more trips,” A panther beastman called out, having just dropped his crate onto the back of a wagon. “One trip for the rest of our cargo and then another for the decoy."
"Who's staying behind to deliver the letters?" A second panther beastman asked. The pair looked like siblings, though the later was shorter by a hand length.
"No one you know." The elf frowned. "Now silence. We aren't the only ones using the port gate today."
"Evan's crew says they might be delayed until tomorrow." The taller beastman said.
That was the last I heard as I slipped through the open storage gate while they were talking. I was going to just assume the decoy they were talking about was Julia, and that anyone sent down to the docks to find her was going to get ambushed... Something to worry about if I didn't find the countess in time to call off the search.
Once inside, I searched the main bay for any larger crates. I found nothing, but the back wall had three doors. One was open and a hired hand was loading up the last few sacs from the small storage room into a cart. Figuring the other two rooms were also smaller storage rooms, I moved to the middle door and pressed my ear to it.
My Perception 43 came through, and I could comfortably say that unless it was guarded against perception, there was no one in the middle storage room.
I would have heard their breathing. I could hear the blood running through veins if I concentrated hard enough. It was unpleasant, so I usually chose not to.
I moved to the last door and I was with luck. I heard heavy breathing beyond. My rogue skills were non-existent, but I could potentially use acid slime, or maybe just break the door off it's hinges with my strength. There was the chance it was guarded with magic... but there hadn't been anything obvious in my vision. At this point, I took a gamble and just tried the handle. It was unlocked.
The only thing in the room was Julia, chained to a wall with St Veralyn’s Restraint Manacles, unconscious. She wasn’t wearing her usual armor, and instead had on a loose button up tunic open to reveal a thin-strapped shirt showing off the woman’s muscular frame. She had on heavy leather pants with pockets sewn just above the outer knee. Her midnight black skin had a sickly sheen to it, but she looked otherwise uninjured.
I checked the inner handle of the door before I closed it behind me, and shook my head when the storage room was unlocked from the inside as well. Not the most secure for keeping a highly skilled prisoner.
Someone trusted in Fate a little too much.
“Julia?” I knelt down and touched her on the arm. The half-elf was seated, legs sprawled out, back against the wall and hands up as the manacles attached to a ring overhead. She didn’t wake up; The countdown on her status debuff still in effect.
“Alright, I guess I’ll have to do this the hard way.” I cracked my fingers in front of me and then pulled out my jar of earlier mentioned acid slime. It wouldn't burn through the manacles themselves, but it did a number on the ring. Carefully, I made sure Julia didn't just topple to the hard earth when I lowered her arms.
I could princess carry her out, but I wanted to have at least one hand free. The paladin was tall and muscular - though nothing for my strength stat. I decided over one shoulder would do. “Time to get out of here.”
“[You have attempted to use the Perk: World Bridge. You have succeeded. You have the ability to travel between bridges you control with World Bridge. All +Troll Magic [Dimension] captured bridges are included. Select bridge from the available options:
Alora Troll Bridge
Alkor Troll Bridge
Ander’s Widow Bridge
Baltor Troll Bridge
Crystal Pass Bridge
Coral Palace West Bridge…]
I mentally selected Coral Palace West Bridge. I could tell which bridges were which because Troll Bridges were noted as such, and any linked from my World Bridge skill were not labelled as Troll Bridges. After choosing the bridge, I selected myself and Julia.
That was when the door of the storage room opened and the Keeper of Fate walked through. I knew, based on my notification tab, that I had at least a minute left until I became visible again. I knew that, but the blond woman did not.
“You!” She yelled, looking me directly in the eye and pointing a finger at me. Pink magic erupted from her hand, but it was too late.
Dimension magic engulfed me.