(EP-251.2) Caged #6

251 – Caged Bird #6

Grumbling to herself, Elga had no other choice but to follow the passage Stella showed and escape the mansion. After walking for about 20 minutes, she would reach the outskirts.

“I’m not sure if it’s okay to send her alone.”

As I worried about Elga, Mirna nudged my side.

“Sir Theo, now is not the time for us to worry about anyone.”

She had a point.

Mirna and I followed Stella Bellhawk, climbing up onto the ceiling. It felt like we were thieves or ninjas crawling through the ventilation shafts above.

Life sure brought a variety of experiences.

“Going down this way will lead us underground. We mustn’t make too much noise.”

There was a steep, challenging slope, but we managed to safely descend to the second basement floor through the vents.

Dalgak, giiiik-.

Opening the door below, a small room appeared. There was a carpet, a chair and a table in what looked like a gap between bricks.

“Feels like a hideout.”

Mirna glanced around and agreed with that assessment. Indeed, it was a place perfectly fitting the term “secret base.” If it weren’t for the circumstances, it might have even felt a bit romantic.

“It’s nice to have at least one private place in the mansion where you don’t have to be bothered by anyone, don’t you think?”

Stella rummaged through a drawer and pulled something out for us. It was clothing.

An all-white outfit with something resembling a gas mask. Like a hazmat, it was cylindrical in shape, with a zipper running straight up the abdomen, and could be worn over the entire body.

“Everyone, put these on. Wearing this will give you access to the third floor. And I have fake IDs prepared, so take one each.”

Thorough, indeed…

I didn’t know when she prepared this, while acting like a fool as an Ark professor. You could say she was competent in her own way.

Seureuk, seureuk-.

Following Professor Stella’s instructions, Mirna and I put on the protective suits over our clothes and zipped them up. Our identities were now the dubious researchers A, B, and C.

“From now on, it’s best to stay quiet. Follow closely.”

Dolgak, tarrrrrreuk-.

We opened the secret brick door. After confirming no one was around, we stepped outside to find cold stone walls reminiscent of a dungeon.

There was no one.

Afterward, we each grabbed a nearby cart and walked down the corridor. Mirna, discovering something filled inside the cart, murmured quietly.

“This, isn’t it lightning turmeric…? It’s been identified as a plant that contaminates the mind, directly prohibited by the church…”

“Miss Mirna. If you’re surprised by each of those things, you might faint when you see downstairs. Just bolden your mind.”

Screek, screek-.

As we rolled the wheels, we soon boarded what could be called a lift. Finally, with the gears starting to creak and turn, we descended to the seemingly nonexistent third floor.

Thunk, thunk, thunk.

After hearing the pulley turn for a while, I could feel a cold, chilly wind blowing through my protective suit.

“It’s cold.”

Mirna felt it too, as she lightly rubbed her arms. We all fell silent as an unexpectedly massive facility unfolded before our eyes.

‘Tall.’

That was my initial impression.

Ceilings that seemed to reach several meters high.

And the scene of people busily going back and forth in a pathologically white world. Beakers scattered here and there. Flasks bubbling vigorously.

Specimens of unknown beasts in tanks, and magic engineering devices so complex their purposes were indiscernible.

But I couldn’t fully immerse myself as someone approached us.

“Where are you coming from?”

Intense tension gripped my body. But Stella smoothly handled the situation, showing that she had indeed prepared for this moment for a long time.

“I’ve brought materials for use in Sector C. We urgently need them for solution mixing, so please let us pass quickly.”

“Sector C? Alright, proceed.”

Pushing the squeaky cart, pretending to be researchers, we hurried past. Only after turning the corner out of sight could I finally exhale in relief.

━Gurreung!

━Kyuiiing….

Just then, something clattered and shouted in our direction. Turning my head, I saw various animals crouched in rows of iron cages.

Mirna exclaimed.

“Heavens, there are lion spiders and wildlings… Aren’t these all endangered species that are being strictly protected?”

But Mirna’s comment stopped there.

It must have been because she found something even more bizarre than the endangered animals. Reflected in her red eyes through the protective suit was a large glass wall, almost like an aquarium.

A cold glass wall. Immersed in a solution that seemed even colder, connected to numerous hoses, laid people – who were spread out lifelessly.

People who appeared unconscious, lined up one after another, including elves, nymphs, humans, and dwarves of all ages and genders.

“… They look like logs. How could they do something so horrible!?”

To Mirna’s biting words, Stella responded.

“Yes, that’s right. They bring them in from all over, regardless of race, age, or gender. They have an agreement with the Black Robes to supply people from various places.”

The Black Robes?

I knew a bit about them too. They were a gang of bandits causing trouble all over Angmar, a bizarre group that seemed impossible to eradicate.

Even Aira often complained about how slow the subjugation of the Black Robes was going.

To think that the Bellhawk family had allied with them. It made sense why the bandits could cause so much trouble. At the same time, it heightened the danger posed by the Bellhawk family.

This was already a rebellion.

Seureuk-.

Stella, raising her head, looked bitterly at the limp nymph specimen in the transparent glass.

“This is the current Bellhawk family. Anyway, we can’t stay here for long. The place where they store the filters and oxygen tanks is over in Sector A. Quickly, follow me.”

Edited by: faker