Wasn’t This Supposed To Be a Strategy Game? Chapter 73

Eden’s pupils froze in place.

“What…?”

Beneath the still-unfinished main quest window, a time limit had suddenly appeared—something that definitely hadn’t been there before.

“Th-this wasn’t part of the deal! What the hell! What happens when those 3 hours run out?!”

As the meaning of the countdown finally sank in, Eden’s face went ghostly pale.

Three hours from now.

If she didn’t rescue Ella within that time—

“Gasp…”

—Ella would become food for a monster.

Eden shot to her feet, flung the door open, and bolted through the halls like mad. But Asmun wasn’t in the study. Nor his room. Nor even his office.

Worse yet, the palace was strangely quiet, more so than usual.

“Your Highness! I must speak to His Highness! Where is he? Hurry!”

While dashing around the palace in a frantic search, Eden finally ran into one of his knights. It was Baint—the face she recognized nearly as well as Ronpel’s.

Grabbing him by the arm, Eden asked urgently. Baint’s expression turned troubled.

“Ah… Priestess, His Highness isn’t at the palace at the moment.”

Eden’s breath caught.

“Where—”

“He just departed for the coast. He asked me to tell you to remain here until the matter is resolved…”

No…!

Eden screamed internally at how things were falling apart. Her twisted expression made Baint flinch and back up—until she suddenly grabbed him by the collar.

“Listen carefully.”

“Y-yes?”

“This.”

Eden shoved something into Baint’s hand—a map, the special reward she had received. Baint blinked in confusion, clearly having no idea what it was.

“You need to get this to Badelnut and give it to His Highness. As fast as you possibly can.”

“W-what is this, Priestess?”

“It marks the exact location where the Eloch is anchored.”

Baint’s eyes widened, but Eden pressed on without giving him time to react.

“And I’m going aboard that ship now to find the kidnapped children.”

“Excuse me…?”

“So tell him to get there quickly—before it’s too late.”

“Priestess!”

Baint’s face turned pale. Asmun had personally assigned him to guard Eden during the Eloch raid. That meant he was supposed to keep her safe above all else.

Desperate to believe this was some kind of sick joke, Baint forced a laugh.

“Haha, you’re joking, right? Priestess, how could you possibly board that ship alone—”

But then Eden pulled something from her robes. And the moment he saw it, Baint’s laughter died in his throat.

He recognized it immediately—though he’d never used one himself.

A teleportation scroll. Rare and incredibly precious.

“P-priestess…!”

“If I leave now, the timing should be just right. My life is in your hands, Sir Baint.”

Eden’s voice was firm. She clutched the last remaining teleportation scroll in her hand and shouted:

“To where Ella is.”

And in an instant, Baint’s collar slipped from her grasp—because Eden had vanished.

Frozen, Baint stared at the space where she had just been. Then, grabbing his head in disbelief, he screamed.

“Aaaaaargh!!”

***

Eden whipped her head around and scanned her surroundings.

The scroll had worked perfectly, just like last time. No doubt—she was aboard a ship.

She could feel the subtle rocking beneath her feet, the way the solid floors, ceiling, and walls swayed with the waves.

This is inside the Eloch…!

Judging from the looks of it, she was in a large storage room. There were no windows. The air was damp and oppressive. No sounds reached this far below deck. It must have been underground.

In a place like this, whatever happened—no one would come to help.

“…Ha.”

Eden took a slow, shallow breath. Only now did the fear set in.

Only now did she realize just how reckless this had been.

But the situation was already set in motion. Even if she could turn back time, there was no alternative path. She had to rescue Ella within the time that remained.

The only one she could rely on now was Asmun, and Asmun was—

The image of Asmun’s chillingly rational gaze flashed through her mind, but Eden bit down hard on her lip.

“…He’ll come. He definitely will.”

Eden took a small, steadying breath and moved forward with her senses sharp and focused.

Last time, she’d easily found Asmun despite the vague coordinates. This time, surely, finding Ella wouldn’t be so hard either.

‘She has to be in here somewhere.’

And just as expected—when she turned the corner, a large storage space opened up before her.

Eden froze when she saw the rows of iron cages. Small children were huddled together inside them.

‘These monsters…!’

Clenching her fists, Eden approached the cages. There appeared to be five or six in total, each holding three to four children.

“Hey, kids…”

She spoke softly, barely above a whisper. The children, who had been curled up in fear, startled and lifted their heads. Eden quickly raised a finger to her lips—shhh—and looked them over.

“Are you all okay?”

The children looked healthy—chubby even—and knowing now what their captors intended, Eden understood all too well why they hadn’t been starved. Her stomach turned with disgust.

“W-who are you…?”

The child who looked the oldest asked in a trembling voice. Eden gave him a reassuring smile.

“I’m here to rescue you.”

The children’s faces lit up—part hope, part hesitation. Clearly, they had some sense of the danger they were in.

“Really…? You’re going to save us?”

“Yes. But—do you happen to know if there’s a girl named Ella here?”

The children glanced at each other.

‘Please…’

Eden prayed silently—when a small voice came from one of the rear cages.

“I’m Ella…”

Gasping, Eden spun around. There stood a young girl with round red cheeks and golden hair. The moment their eyes met, a quest clear window popped up in the darkness of the warehouse.

『【★】Main Quest Complete!

: You have finally found “Ella”!

Please choose your reward:

<Prophecy / Item / Stat Increase>』

Ha… A beaming smile spread across Eden’s face. She was so overwhelmed with relief that her eyes welled up with tears.

She had found Ella. She had done it.

But there was no time to celebrate. First, she had to get the children out of these cages—then escape from this storage room.

“And who… who are you…?”

Ella asked hesitantly, still curled up tight. Eden quickly gave her a reassuring smile.

“Your father sent me. Mr. Teteth.”

At the name Teteth, Ella—who had been staring at her in fearful suspicion—bolted up and ran to the front of the cage.

“Papa? Papa…!”

The mention of her father made Ella tear up, and the other children soon followed suit. Eden rushed to quiet them down.

“Shh! Don’t cry…”

If the guards heard, it would all be over. She needed to buy as much time as she could before Asmun arrived.

“We’re going to get out of here. No need to cry, okay?”

Calming the children with practiced ease, Eden turned her attention to the massive padlocks sealing the cages.

‘To unlock these, I’ll need…’

Her mind whirred to life. Without hesitation, Eden made her selection from the reward window.

She chose Item.

Instantly, she felt the weight shift in her pocket.

Reaching in, she pulled out a jingling set of keys.

“That’s it.”

She was starting to get a feel for the logic of this game.

Skipping any self-congratulation, Eden immediately got to work unlocking the padlocks.

And one by one, the keys opened every single cage.

The children’s faces brightened with relief and hope.

Eden looked over them once they were free and asked:

“Do any of you know where we are?”

The children shook their heads.

“We couldn’t see. They covered our heads when they brought us in.”

“Then do you know… why you were brought here?”

Eden asked as gently as she could, worried they might already be aware of the horrific truth. But again, the children shook their heads.

“No… but they said if we behaved, they’d send us home…”

“So we stayed quiet. But it’s been ten nights and they haven’t sent us back…!”

“I miss my mom… sniffle…”

Relieved that the children didn’t know the full horror of their situation, Eden also felt her fury boil over again.

‘You sick bastards…!’

Among all crimes, the most vile were those committed against the helpless. Game or not, Eden would never forgive this.

“Don’t worry. You’re all going home soon.”

She smiled warmly to reassure them—but inside, her vision was already clouding with uncertainty.

She had used up all her useful items. She had no idea how to navigate the interior of this massive ship.

The only card left to play was Asmun.

She had to hold out until Baint delivered her message, and Asmun mobilized the troops to storm this place.

‘The quest timer was set to three hours…’

Eden looked down at Ella, now clinging to her side and sniffing quietly.

That meant when those three hours were up, Ella would be in danger. And if Ella was in danger, so were the other children.

And there was only one thing that “danger” could mean.

‘They’re going to come for the kids soon—take them out of this room.’

Eden’s eyes narrowed with tension. She crept toward what looked like the door and pushed at the heavy metal frame—but it didn’t budge.

‘Damn it…’

She bit down on her lip and turned back.

The children—who now believed Eden was their savior—were watching her with wide, fearful eyes.

And finally, Eden exhaled a long breath… and made up her mind.