Chapter 2

A quest for Ashley Ort, a powerless supporting character?

Most of the main characters appearing in ‘The Price of Sacrifice’ each possessed power befitting themselves.

The protagonists Frederick and Cordelia were aura users befitting swordsmen, and the villain Adrian was a mage with magical power. But Ashley…

“What does she even have…?”

In the novel, there wasn’t a single line mentioning Ashley’s magical power.

Since there was a setting that the imperial citizens living in the Froyton Empire, the main stage of ‘The Price of Sacrifice,’ each possessed at least some power, she should have at least a little…

Ashley’s body had somewhat poor physical conditions to lead a side story. As evidence, I was out of breath just from briefly getting angry at this ridiculous system.

“A side story with this kind of body…!”

Eventually exploding, I randomly threw punches into the air.

I knew it would be a funny scene if whatever was behind the system was watching, but I felt like I needed to do at least this to relieve my frustration.

I repeated protests and rebellions against the system several times. It didn’t take long before I fell asleep from exhaustion.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, it was close to 1 o’clock. Less than an hour remained until the quest started.

“Even so… to fall asleep like that… Ashley Ort’s body is truly the worst…”

I clutched my head in frustration, then tried to calm myself and think about the quest.

Even if it was a side story, it would be related to the protagonists, but they wouldn’t need something like Ashley’s power.

That meant there was something only Ashley Ort could do…

I couldn’t grasp even the slightest idea of what Ashley Ort could possibly do.

This incompetent supporting character was someone who would be fortunate if she didn’t cause trouble for others.

Tick-tock-

The sound of the clock in the room felt annoyingly loud.

When I checked the time, there were 5 minutes left until the quest occurred. I clenched my fists in tension when a window appeared.

[Intruder Alert! An intruder who may cause you harm has appeared within the mansion.]

As soon as I read the system message, the lights in the room suddenly went out.

I tried to get up in surprise, but I heard a rustling sound right next to me. When I slowly turned my head, a masked man was already standing beside me.

I tried to scream, but I was so shocked that no sound came out of my mouth.

‘Wait, I have no weapons or power, so what am I supposed to do when an intruder appears right in front of me!’

I was about to open my mouth to scream with all my might when suddenly the masked man covered my mouth firmly with his large hand.

Then he brought his index finger to his own mouth. Instead of resisting, I looked at the system window that appeared again.

[Main quest has arrived.]

‘Now? Are you crazy? Look at the situation!’

The system began creating text line by line from the top as if it didn’t care about my situation at all.

[Main Quest Occurred! <Kidnapped by the Villain>]

‘This crazy system!’

[Main Quest <Kidnapped by the Villain> A fundamental rule of romance fantasy! Someone among the characters must be kidnapped! You are that lucky protagonist! Survive safely after being kidnapped. (View Details) Success Reward: Future Failure Penalty: Death]

The system’s nonsense made my brain feel numb.

‘Kidnapped. I could even die? And by a villain…’

Adrian, who had been the main villain of this novel, was already dead. The rebels who followed him were the same.

The protagonists had wiped them all out, and their heads were hung on the castle walls. Except for their leader, Adrian.

They couldn’t bring Adrian’s head, but both of them said Adrian had definitely burned in the fire.

He committed suicide before Frederick’s eyes, and they even showed parts of the burned corpse after his suicide.

Then the villain in front of me now meant another villain.

There was another villain for the side story…

The content of the side story was completely unknown to me. I didn’t even know if there was a side story. Honestly, I only read until the conclusion out of obligation…

If it was a new villain, my chances of survival converged to zero.

‘Isn’t this just telling me to die…?’

Annoyance surged up. How much more did the author want to torment readers by creating a new villain?

Did it make sense to work readers hard even in the side story? Along with the injustice, I felt defiant.

A fierce determination to survive arose. I couldn’t die meaninglessly in this damn work.

What romance fantasy rule. What do I care about such things?

I looked up at the villain who was covering my mouth. He seemed to be communicating with someone, quietly muttering something and exchanging signals.

I twisted my body with all my might to remove the careless guy’s hand. Then the man pressed me down from above and whispered.

“Please stay still. You’ll get hurt.”

It was a tone filled with concern that didn’t match a villain’s nature.

‘Where are you pretending to care?’

I glared at the man covering my mouth and pinched and hit his arm. But the man didn’t budge.

Rather, I was the one who took damage. What kind of arm was so muscular… My palm hurt more.

The man looked at me with some pity, then focused on his communication with someone again.

I resisted for a while longer when he was distracted, but naturally, I was the first to get tired.

This damn weak constitution.

When I was panting, the man briefly glanced at me. Our eyes met directly. When I saw those eyes, my eyes strangely began to sting.

‘What? Why is this happening?’

I was confused. The current situation was scary, but not to the point of tears.

Soon my vision became blurry and tears began flowing down my cheeks.

I was surprised by my own tears and rolled my eyes, but I wasn’t the only one who was flustered.

“Are you perhaps in pain…?”

At the voice full of worry amid the confusion, tears began pouring out endlessly again.

Whatever. Let me try appealing with tears.

I deliberately cried loudly and nodded my head vigorously.

Soon the man who had been contemplating muttered something, and my mouth shut tight. No matter how much I moved, it was stuck and wouldn’t come apart.

When I opened my eyes wide in confusion at this situation, the man kindly explained.

“It’s a silencing spell. It won’t harm your body.”

“…!”

“I’m sorry. I have no choice but to kidnap you. If you stay still, I promise I won’t touch you anymore.”

At his strangely polite tone and gentle voice, an absurd thought suddenly began to form.

‘Why does this kidnapper… smell like my favorite character?’

When I stayed still, the man seemed to think I agreed with his words and whispered to me.

“I won’t hurt you.”

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness and moonlight entered through the window, I could see the man’s eyes. They were a cool blue color.

‘They’re the same color as Adrian’s eyes…’

As if enchanted, I looked at the man’s eyes and thought of my dead favorite character, when the window in front of me began blinking violently. As if asking me to look at it.

When the man briefly turned his head, I quickly checked the window.

I realized that ‘View Details,’ which had been in black letters before, had turned red.

‘Is it telling me to click it?’

I didn’t have time to debate whether to click it or not. I had to try something. I pretended to collapse forward and pressed the red text in the system.

“What…”

The man was puzzled by my sudden action but quickly caught me as I fell.

I heard him asking if I was okay, but I had no time to pay attention to him as I was checking the window.

Fortunately, I seemed to have pressed it properly as the content was updated with a ding sound.

[The rebel leader ‘Adrian,’ who was the villain in the main story, was alive. Some rebels still remain, and ‘Adrian’ is destined to kidnap you. You are a very good hostage for them. Try to overcome this fate and survive safely.]

After checking all the text content, I looked at the kidnapper—no, the rebel leader—no! My favorite Adrian.

Why did I only realize it now? Those blue eyes with light double eyelids couldn’t be common. Moreover, his somewhat polite tone for a villain.

My favorite character, whom I thought was dead, was right before my eyes.

Seeing Adrian alive and well, the tears that had barely stopped dropped again.

Throughout the main story, watching him suffer, difficult emotions came flooding back.

Knowing Adrian’s circumstances better than anyone, my mind was soon filled with thoughts of wanting to help him, that I must help him.

Beep- Beep-

Then the emergency alarm installed in the mansion began to sound. Someone must have noticed that an intruder had appeared.

Adrian concentrated on something, then made eye contact with me. Then he reached out his hand to me and said.

“I’m sorry, but I must kidnap you from now on.”

“…”

“Please sleep for a moment. It won’t hurt.”

As soon as Adrian finished speaking, my eyelids began to feel rapidly heavy. It was probably his magic.

I had been so scared before, but realizing the kidnapper was Adrian, far from being afraid…

‘Why… do I actually like this…?’

* * *

When I opened my eyes, my body was on a soft bed.

Wondering if the kidnapping was a dream, I bolted upright. Then a simple setting greeted me.

The place I was in was an extremely ordinary room—not underground or on a bare floor. There wasn’t even anything restraining me.

“Ah-.”

I tried opening my mouth just in case, and my voice came out properly.

“…He even undid the silencing spell.”

I carefully got up from the bed and looked around the room. Water was placed on the nightstand next to the bed.

What was in the bowl was a bit… strange, but judging by the amount, it didn’t seem to be washing water.

Given Adrian’s nature, he probably hadn’t done anything to it, but it seemed better not to touch it. After all, I was in the position of being kidnapped.

I walked toward the window and opened the curtains. Through the window where the curtains had disappeared, a dense forest spread out.

While assuming the window would be locked, I still applied force to open it. Despite my effort, the window opened far too easily.

“Hah…”

I let out a hollow laugh at the sloppiness.

Looking down from the window, it appeared to be about three stories high. It was a height where I could definitely escape if I decided to, and now I couldn’t even laugh.

Adrian wasn’t a sloppy person. Rather, he moved according to plans for everything and had a thorough personality.

For him to leave me neglected like this meant…

“He knows Ashley Ort is stupid…”

I’m not even Ashley Ort, so why is the embarrassment mine to bear?

My face felt like it was burning, so I buried it in both hands. After all, isn’t it human psychology to want to dress up a bit in front of your favorite character?

Of course, our first meeting was a kidnapping… but he was my favorite character I’d finally met, yet the impression I’d made was that of an idiot.

Feeling deflated, I was heading toward the bed when I heard a light knocking sound from the door.

Who knocks on the door where a hostage is confined?

I shook my head at the nonsensical kindness, then rushed to the bed and sat down when I heard another knock.

Then I tidied my disheveled hair, prepared the most frightened face possible, and answered.

“Yeeees.”

A trembling goat-like sound came out naturally.

While I coughed in embarrassment, the doorknob turned and the door slowly opened.

It was Adrian wearing a mask covering the lower half of his face.

“Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”

I carefully nodded at his question. Adrian approached me and began explaining gently while looking down at me.

“This room is where you’ll be staying. It may be quite uncomfortable compared to the count’s mansion, but don’t worry—I’ll send you back when this is over.”

As expected, he has no intention of killing me. This soft-hearted, considerate, sloppy villain…

“You may go anywhere you like within the mansion. However, be careful not to get lost…”

I looked up at Adrian as he spoke, as if enchanted.

Yesterday it was dark so I didn’t realize, but even with his lower face covered, his handsomeness was evident.

His eyes were especially brilliant. They were enough to enchant someone.

Adrian, noticing me staring at him intently, stopped speaking and looked at me. After seeming to contemplate for a moment, he spoke carefully.

“I have no intention of harming you. And since I must be frightening to you, I’ll assign someone else to attend you. You don’t need to worry about meals, and ah, what’s on the nightstand is water. There was no cup so… As for clothes…”

He seemed to think I was so scared that I was spacing out. As evidence, his explanation was getting longer.

It was excessive. No matter how I thought about it, the treatment of a hostage was too kind. This was clearly guest treatment by anyone’s standards.

“Excuse me…”

I interrupted Adrian’s words and gently raised my right hand. Like a student wanting to speak up.

Then Adrian looked at me and nodded as if telling me to speak. Having obtained permission to speak, I opened my mouth.

“Wouldn’t it be better to clarify our relationship?”

“…What do you mean…”

At his question, as if this was an unexpected inquiry, I kindly explained in detail.

“You seem to be treating your hostage too well.”

“What?”

“Such a soft bed, freedom to roam the mansion, and even not having to worry about meals…”

It seemed I needed to teach him, who apparently had never captured hostages before, how to treat hostages.

I took a deep breath and began speaking slowly to Adrian.

“First, you should prepare something like a prison cell. Or at least tie me up.”

“…”

“A bed is a luxury for a hostage. And it’s natural for you to frighten me. Assigning someone so I won’t be scared? That’s ridiculous behavior. And you shouldn’t give water or anything like that.”

At my words, Adrian looked at me as if viewing a barbarian and said.

“Why would I do such things…”

“Isn’t that how hostages are normally treated?”

Adrian firmly shook his head.

“You are an innocent person who has done nothing wrong. Doing such things would be too unjust.”

“What?”

A metallic sound escaped in my confusion.

“My lady, such words are enough to provoke a criminal. Please don’t do such things elsewhere.”

At Adrian, who seemed genuinely worried about me, I pressed my forehead.

This is why the rebels couldn’t achieve victory… Unable to properly capture even one hostage, unable to fight because they were too busy caring about people…

I had liked Adrian for this very reason back then, but now it was time for the rebels to get what they wanted. With a determined face, I asked Adrian.

“Did you send the threat letter saying you have me? If you haven’t sent it yet, show it to me.”

“……”

Silence flowed.

Adrian seemed broken, not knowing what reaction to have.

Being kind only to Adrian, I spoke once more so he could understand.

“Please give me the threat letter. Let me review it.”

“The threat letter… you mean?”

At Adrian asking again as if he’d heard wrong, I felt a bit frustrated and spoke again.

“Yes. Isn’t that a reasonable request as a hostage?”

Adrian looked at me with confused eyes. He was probably thinking in his head whether this was right.

Of course, this behavior was wrong. What reasonable request… Where in the world would there be such a hostage?

All of this was possible because I knew well what kind of person Adrian was.

Adrian’s first appearance was as the youngest member of a mercenary group. The mercenary group he belonged to came to participate in a war commanded by the protagonist, Frederick Reynolds.

The same was true for Adrian, who was the youngest. Everyone said with one voice that Reynolds was an excellent knight, so not a single person would die.

But they didn’t know what kind of person Frederick Reynolds was. Frederick was someone who would do anything if he could grasp victory.

In the end, Frederick abandoned the mercenary group for victory. That day, only one person from the mercenary group survived: Adrian.

After the war, Adrian went to the duke’s residence and requested that they make graves for them. But the Reynolds ducal family refused and drove him away without even meeting Adrian.

They even added that dying for the empire was glorious, but they couldn’t allow such luxury to mercenaries of unclear status. The imperial family also turned their backs on them in the same way.

‘Those protagonists really lacked character. That’s why this novel was a failure.’

Adrian thus entered the path of a villain. He gathered those who had been unjustly treated by the empire and formed a group, becoming its leader.

After that, those called rebels made just one demand to the ducal family and imperial family: that those without status who died in war were also heroes, so please honor them and commemorate their names.

Their final cry was naturally rejected, and the rebels continued to fight while endlessly demanding from the imperial family and ducal family.

But they were ultimately defeated. This was perhaps a predetermined ending from the beginning.

The protagonist of this novel wasn’t Adrian.

Adrian’s entire life in the novel was the very reason I came to hate this novel.

I felt so sorry for him, who had to meet his end as a villain.

Hiding my aching heart, I reached out toward Adrian.

“As a hostage, I’ll just look at it. Please show me.”

After contemplating for quite a long time, Adrian eventually nodded as if he couldn’t win.

Light appeared in Adrian’s hand and disappeared, and simultaneously a piece of paper appeared in his hand. I snatched it and read it.

[We have Ashley Ort.

We are keeping her safe, so if you wish to take her back, please grant our request.]

Is this a threat? Is this a threat? Oh my. How frustrating.

I felt like I’d eaten five hundred sweet potatoes. My promise to just look was canceled.

TN: Sweet potatoes (고구마) – Korean expression meaning something frustrating or suffocating

“Prepare a pen and paper.”

“What?”

Despite his questions, Adrian dutifully took out pen and paper, which almost made me laugh.

I held it in and put on a teacher-like expression, calmly reciting.

“Take dictation.”

“…”

“If you want to keep the hostage alive, cooperate. Otherwise, you will only face this woman’s head in the future.”