~Chapter 08~
Latryn watched in shock as the inn burned.
People around were trying to put out the fire, but because the building was weakened and could collapse at any moment, they couldn’t extinguish the flames as aggressively as they wanted.
Latryn was worried because Ered was likely to be in the inn around this time.
Of course, it was Ered after all, and even if he was inside the building, he would probably find a way to escape. Still, Latryn couldn’t help but worry.
Not only that, but there seemed to be many people trapped inside the building, and there was no way to get them out, which was another problem.
While trying to think of a way to help in the situation, Latryn saw some knights arriving, probably to deal with the fire.
Just as Latryn was about to approach them to let them know that Ered might still be inside, Latryn overheard the knights’ conversation and suddenly froze.
“There’s a serious problem! We’ve received word that Commander Alpress and His Highness the Prince are inside the building!”
“What did you say?”
The moment Latryn heard this, he felt like collapsing on the spot.
If the commander was inside, then there was a strong possibility that Sertien was also inside.
Having just lost his wife not long ago, Latryn couldn’t bear the thought of now losing his son due to his own carelessness.
Rather than sitting back and losing Sertien without doing anything, Latryn suddenly had the thought that it would be better to try something—anything.
Without thinking, Latryn took off his coat and rushed into the burning building as if possessed by some force.
Zetton, who was standing right next to him, didn’t even have time to stop him.
The people around screamed in shock as Latryn ran into the building, and the knights who had tried to follow Latryn had to step back when the entrance collapsed right after he entered.
“Damn it!” Zetton shouted with a serious expression.
The flames were growing fiercer by the minute.
Following Ered’s instructions, I carefully covered my mouth and began to descend the stairs.
The stairs were also burning, so I had to be cautious, or they could collapse.
When I finally reached the first floor, the scene was too chaotic for words.
Almost everything was on fire, and people injured by the recent explosion were lying on the ground, groaning in pain.
The more I saw those who were severely injured, the more I worried about Sertien.
Could something have happened to him?
For some reason, I found myself worrying about Sertien as if he were my own son, even though we hadn’t known each other for long.
“Calm down. If you panic like this, you might not even notice the child standing right next to you,” Ered said beside me as I frantically searched for Sertien.
After thoroughly searching the first floor while avoiding the flames, I finally spotted Ered’s bodyguard lying in a corner.
“Are you okay? Can you get up?” I asked as I rushed over to the bodyguard.
But all he could do was groan in response, unable to properly wake up.
It looked like he was seriously injured.
Ered, dodging the flames, also came over and began checking the bodyguard’s condition.
“Hey, stay with us! …This is bad…” Ered muttered as he examined him.
While Ered focused on the bodyguard, I continued to look around, desperate to find Sertien.
“Mom…”
“Seri?”
Hearing a faint voice calling out to me, I finally found Sertien.
He was tucked inside the bodyguard’s arms.
Sertien struggled and managed to poke his head out, and Ered lifted the bodyguard slightly to help Sertien get out more easily.
It seemed the bodyguard had shielded Sertien when the explosion happened.
While the bodyguard was seriously hurt, Sertien didn’t seem to have any major injuries.
“Mom!!” Sertien cried.
As soon as he was free from the bodyguard’s arms, Sertien ran over to me and hugged me tightly.
Still holding onto me, Sertien spoke again.
“When the fire started, the knight came and hugged me! I was so scared…”
“Really? It’s okay now. Let’s get out of here.”
I said this to comfort Sertien, but in reality, I had no idea how we were going to escape.
If it were just me, I might have been able to get out, even if I got hurt in the process.
But with Sertien, a young child, and an unconscious bodyguard, getting out of here seemed nearly impossible no matter how I thought about it.
While I was trying to think of a way out, Ered seemed to have been looking for an exit.
He suddenly tapped me and pointed with his chin, saying, “There’s an exit over there. Let’s go. We need to get out before the building collapses.”
I saw a small door, probably the back door.
Luckily, the path to the door was clear, with no major obstacles in the way.
I nodded and grabbed Sertien’s hand, running toward the exit.
Ered, carrying the bodyguard on his back, ran as well.
Just when we thought we were almost at the exit, the pillar in front of us couldn’t hold any longer and collapsed.
“Ahh!”
Sertien screamed, and I quickly pulled him back to prevent him from getting hurt.
Sertien was unharmed, but the exit was blocked, so we couldn’t go that way anymore.
“What do we do? We can’t go this way anymore,” I said.
“The front entrance is probably blocked too…” Ered replied.
We were trapped from all sides.
If only I could fly, I would have flown out of there.
Then, something suddenly came to mind.
I took a step forward.
Ered and Sertien followed me, looking confused.
“What are you trying to do?” Ered asked.
“There’s less fire on the second floor. We can go up and jump out from there!” I said.
Ered looked at me as if he couldn’t believe what I was saying.
It really was a ridiculous escape plan, even to me.
“Does that even make sense? It might work if it were just the two of us, but do you think you can escape while carrying both of them?” Ered asked, referring to Sertien and the unconscious bodyguard.
I widened my eyes and responded, “You’re not confident you can do it?”
“…”
Ered was silent for a while, then let out a laugh, finding the situation both ridiculous and amusing.
“Alright, I guess this is what it means to be the commander of the Royal Knights. Fine, I’ll do my best. Though, unlike you, I’ll have to carry a grown man.”
I smiled in response, determined to give it a try.
As we climbed the stairs, a part of the staircase collapsed, and I almost fell, but Ered caught me just in time.
When we finally reached the second floor, I was relieved to see that the fire hadn’t spread much up there yet.
“Thank goodness. Now, we just need to find a way out,” I said.
“Oh, yeah. Really great,” Ered replied sarcastically.
The real problem was about to start, which was why Ered was being sarcastic.
Ignoring his words, I looked toward a nearby window, but just then, the building began to shake.
I turned around, wondering what was going to happen next.
Sertien was looking at me with a worried face, and Ered was watching the stairs with a serious expression.
I had a bad feeling something was about to happen.
My instincts were right. Another explosion happened right after.
I immediately ran toward Ered and Sertien.
Thanks to my quick reflexes, I was able to get to them fast.
I pushed Ered and Sertien hard in the opposite direction of the explosion.
As the huge explosion hit, I felt a sharp pain through my body and was thrown back. I could faintly hear Ered shouting my name.
“Litya!!”
I felt myself crash into something hard, and I think I hit my head as well.
Then, I lost consciousness in the middle of the flames.
Latryn, who had rushed into the flames, was quickly searching through the people there, looking for Sertien.
The fire was so intense that many of the people were beyond saving.
Latryn frowned as he looked at them.
He felt sorrow for them.
It seemed like Sertien wasn’t on the first floor.
He checked even the people who had collapsed, but thankfully, Sertien wasn’t there.
If he wasn’t on the first floor, he was probably on the second.
Latryn hurried to the second floor.
He quickly climbed, not caring about the rising flames.
“Sertien!”
He called out, hoping for a response, but there was none.
It seemed like there hadn’t been many people on the second floor. It was hard to find even a shadow of someone, let alone Sertien.
‘Maybe Sertien wasn’t in here after all.’
It wasn’t impossible.
It would be a relief if that were the case, but Latryn still wanted to check thoroughly.
Besides, even if Sertien wasn’t here, it was certain that Ered was.
Latryn looked around more carefully.
Suddenly, he felt the building shake.
Not long after, there was a massive explosion, followed by a loud sound, and the building shook violently.
The building, already weakened by the fire, started collapsing faster.
The floor where Latryn was standing also began to give way.
Realizing the floor was about to collapse, Latryn quickly moved away, and soon after, the spot where he had been standing fell apart.
Latryn started running down the second-floor hallway even faster.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the shape of a person and stopped.
It didn’t seem like Sertien’s small figure, but at the same time, the figure didn’t look like Ered’s strong frame either. It looked too soft.
However, the person was still alive, so Latryn approached them.
‘Did they get caught in the explosion?’
If that were the case, it was a miracle they were still alive.
The explosion had been so big that anyone caught in it would’ve died.
As Latryn got closer to the person and saw their face, his heart sank, and he frozen on the spot.
‘Am I dreaming right now…?’
