Chapter 74: Actions Have Consequences [II]

’It better work that effectively for being worth a full 10 Gold...’ Klaus thought as he uncorked the vial. A sweet, medicinal smell immediately entered the air.

’I’m not doing this because I like her or feel sympathy for her,’ Klaus told himself firmly as he prepared the healing potion. ’She doesn’t deserve my kindness after what she did.’

If anything, he genuinely despised Seo for betraying him so callously to these cultists. She’d sold him out without a second thought, traded his life for the promise of a dragon like he was nothing more than a commodity to be bartered.

And he was absolutely certain that the vengeful maid who’d been torturing her had felt that same burning hatred... probably even more justified hatred since Seo’s lies had resulted in her sister’s brutal murder.

That poor woman had every right to want revenge.

But at the end of the day, regardless of Klaus’s personal feelings about Seo’s character and actions, if she was killed here in this dungeon then he would inevitably be blamed for her death by her powerful noble family.

The Aestrea Family would hunt down everyone involved in her demise and make them pay in blood.

Sure, Klaus was supposedly engaged to Princess Zephyr now after that awkward arranged marriage situation but until that engagement was formally and publicly confirmed by the Emperor himself in an official imperial ceremony with witnesses and documentation, Klaus would just be viewed by most nobles as a lying Commoner making up wild stories to elevate his station.

It wasn’t like anyone outside their group even knew that Zephyra was truly a Princess in disguise.

Also, even if his engagement to the Princess was eventually confirmed and recognized, there were still serious legal punishments firmly in place for crimes like allowing a noble under your protection to die.

Those laws applied even to royalty and their consorts so he wouldn’t be able to escape prosecution just because he married well.

So fundamentally, Klaus was helping Seo survive purely because he didn’t want to face potential murder charges or execution later when her family came looking for answers. He was covering his own ass legally, nothing more noble than that.

That was the only reason.

Klaus gently opened Seo’s bloodied mouth as she’d lost several teeth from the beating and carefully poured a small amount of the glowing red potion between her torn lips.

"Swallow..." he instructed.

She swallowed despite the burning pain in her damaged throat. Once she did, a glowing mist began filling her body from the inside, visible through her torn skin as the magical healing potion immediately went to work.

All of the terrible injuries from the brutal whipping began slowly dissolving and repairing themselves.

Skin regenerated, muscle knitted back together and bones straightened... even her destroyed eye that had been popped like a grape grew back perfectly in its socket.

Within moments, she looked physically whole again, though the psychological trauma clearly remained.

She looked up at Klaus with terrified gratitude and bowed her head while saying over and over.

"Thank you... Thank you... Thank you so much... Please don’t kill me. I’ll do anything. Please..."

Klaus rolled his eyes at the desperate display and reached back into his storage ring. He brought out a spare black cloak he’d taken from another cultist’s body and placed it around Seo’s shoulders, immediately drawing it closed and fastening it.

Her expensive noble clothes were completely ripped to shreds and exposing her body, and Klaus definitely didn’t want to be charged later with the crime of looking at a Noble woman’s naked body without permission.

That was another potential legal nightmare he wanted to avoid.

"I’m not going to kill you," Klaus said simply. "But we better hurry and—"

GROWL!

A loud growling sound interrupted him. It came from Seo’s stomach, making it abundantly clear that the noble woman was starving.

Seo immediately tried to say that it didn’t matter but before she could start—

THUNK!

A familiar wooden lunchbox suddenly dropped onto Seo’s lap from Klaus’s storage ring, along with a simple metal spoon.

Seo stared down at it in confusion. This was the same type of lunchbox that commoners used for packing their daily meals. It was nothing fancy or decorated like the silver containers nobles used.

"Eat quickly," Klaus said in a voice that left no room for argument. "We need to move soon before more cultists find us."

Seo nodded wordlessly, her hands still trembling as she reached for the lunchbox. She opened the simple wooden lid with shaking fingers.

The smell of home-cooked food immediately wafted out into the cold dungeon air, cutting through the lingering scent of blood and death.

It smelled warm and inviting in a way that noble cuisine somehow never managed despite all its expensive ingredients and fancy presentation.

The food inside wasn’t elegant or refined at all compared to what she was used to eating at noble banquets and family dinners.

There was no artistic arrangement, no exotic garnishes, no rare imported spices from distant kingdoms. Just simple rice, some kind of meat in brown sauce, and vegetables that looked freshly cooked but Seo was so desperately hungry after hours of torture and starvation that she immediately began eating anyway, shoveling the food into her mouth with the spoon like she was starving.

Which, technically, she was.

Her eyes suddenly widened in genuine surprise as she chewed and swallowed the first bite.

The taste...

Even though this simple commoner food didn’t look nearly as elegant or expensive as the elaborate noble cuisine she’d eaten her entire privileged life, even though it was served in a plain wooden box instead of fine porcelain or silver... why did it taste so much sweeter and more satisfying than anything she’d ever eaten before?

Was it just because she was starving? Or was there something more to it?

She slowly continued eating, her throat bobbing with each swallow as the warm food settled into her empty stomach. Between careful bites, she kept casting cautious glances up at Klaus’s face, studying him.

’What possible reason does this commoner have to help me like this?’ Seo thought with growing confusion and shame burning in her chest. ’I offended him terribly by betraying him to these death cultists. I sold him to people who wanted to sacrifice him to their evil god. I deserve to be punished severely for that betrayal, maybe even killed. Not saved and healed and fed.’

’So why is he showing me mercy?’

She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood as a profound realization slowly crashed over her like a wave of ice water.

’This helpless feeling... this is exactly how Commoners feel all the time...’ Seo finally understood with painful clarity. ’They’re defenseless exactly like I was just moments ago. All of that overwhelming fear, that crushing helplessness, that burning pain, that desperate begging for mercy... Commoners live with that horrible reality every single day of their lives under noble rule.’

’What can they possibly do when nobles abuse them for entertainment or petty reasons? What could I do just now when that maid was whipping me except scream and beg and pray for it to stop?’

The answer hit her like a physical blow...

Nothing.

She could do absolutely nothing but suffer and hope desperately for mercy from someone stronger... Just like commoners did every single day when nobles decided to hurt them... Just like that maid had done when Seo’s brother had murdered her innocent little sister as punishment for a crime she hadn’t even committed.

Seo’s hand trembled as she lifted another spoonful of the simple rice to her mouth. The food that Klaus had given her... this commoner’s packed lunch that had probably been made by someone who cared about him, someone who’d carefully prepared it knowing he might need it tasted better than any noble feast because it came with something noble food never had.

It came with genuine kindness.

It was just simple human kindness from someone who had every reason to hate her.

’I’ve been so wrong about everything...’ Seo realized as tears mixed with the food in her mouth. ’I’ve been so cruel and blind and arrogant. I never saw commoners as real people with real feelings and real families who loved them. I saw them as... as props. As things. As less than human.’

’And now I’ve felt exactly what they feel when we hurt them.’

The taste of the simple food turned bitter with shame in her mouth, but she kept eating anyway because Klaus had told her to and because her body desperately needed the nourishment to recover.

She didn’t deserve this mercy but she was grateful for it anyway.

Meanwhile, Klaus was standing guard and thinking hard about their increasingly dire situation. His mind thought through potential strategies and escape routes, trying to find some way out of this nightmare that didn’t end with all of them dead.

’Now how the hell are we going to find a way out of this cavern system alive?’ Klaus thought grimly as he listened for approaching footsteps. ’We’re trapped deep underground in enemy territory with dozens or maybe hundreds of death cultists between us and freedom.’

He considered various options rapidly.

’If Neo the protagonist is still knocked unconscious somewhere in these caverns, we could theoretically use him as bait to draw some cultists away from the exit routes. Protagonist types always have some kind of plot armor that keeps them alive even in impossible situations but even if that distraction worked and we somehow got outside this underground complex, there’s still a very strong chance these fanatic cultists will give chase across the countryside.’

’And they’ve almost certainly destroyed our carriage and killed the horses by now to prevent any escape. So we’d be on foot, being hunted through unfamiliar territory by enemies who know the area far better than we do.’

Klaus mentally cataloged their available resources.

He had his metal manipulation magic and the techniques he’d learned... Seo was a noble with magic normally, but she was currently traumatized and barely functional after that torture session. Neo was somewhere in the caverns.

They had limited healing potions left... No transportation... No backup and no reinforcements coming.

’What the hell am I supposed to do here?’ Klaus wondered with growing frustration. ’I can’t fight my way through an entire death cult by myself. I’m not that strong yet and I can’t protect Seo while fighting and I also definitely can’t trust Neo to make smart tactical decisions based on what I know about him. We need to be smart about this, not heroic. We need to—’

His tactical planning was suddenly interrupted by a sharp burst of wind magic from directly behind him.

Klaus immediately felt the cold edge of a blade pressed against the back of his neck in a threatening position.

The metal sword was trembling slightly, suggesting the wielder was either nervous or exhausted.

"If you dare touch Lady Seo inappropriately, then I’ll murder you where you stand," Neo’s voice said coldly from behind the blade. "Step away from her immediately."

Klaus resisted the urge to sigh dramatically.

"You’re really late to the rescue party, buddy..." Klaus replied calmly without bothering to turn around or show any fear. "Lady Seo’s been getting tortured for the past however long while you were off doing... what exactly?"

Then Klaus flicked his finger as his Magnetic Field spell activated instantly with a pulse of mana.

The metal in Neo’s sword responded immediately to Klaus’s magnetic manipulation, as did the metal buckles in the protagonist’s boots.

Neo suddenly went shooting backward through the air like he’d been yanked by invisible ropes and slammed hard into the stone cavern wall behind him with a pained grunt.

The impact knocked the wind out of him and he slumped down, completely dazed.

"Now then," Klaus said pleasantly as Neo struggled to recover. "Please, Neo, enlighten me on exactly what you’ve been doing all this time while Lady Seo was being brutally tortured by that vengeful maid. I’m genuinely curious about your priorities."

Neo slowly pushed himself up from the ground where he’d been slammed, rubbing his head where it had impacted the stone. He glanced over at Seo with concern clearly visible in his distinctive gold eyes.

The noble woman was still trembling but she kept eating the food from the lunchbox, unable to meet anyone’s gaze directly. The black cloak Klaus had wrapped around her covered most of her body, but Neo could see the bloodstains and the way she flinched at every sudden sound.

"I killed every single cultist I encountered on my way through these caverns searching for Lady Seo’s location," Neo said defensively as he stood back up and retrieved his fallen sword. "I cut down at least fifteen of them. Maybe twenty. They kept trying to stop me but I fought through all of them to reach her."

His voice suggested he expected praise for this heroic slaughter.

"Okay, great job with the killing," Klaus said flatly. "But did you at least bother to hide the bodies afterward? Or cover your tracks in any way?"

Neo stared at him with genuine confusion written across his face.

"Hide the bodies?" he repeated as if Klaus had just suggested something absurd. "But these are evil cultists who are actively trying to capture and sacrifice us to their dark god. Why would we bother wasting time and energy hiding their bodies? They deserve to be left out in the open as warnings to others."

Klaus closed his eyes and face-palmed so hard that the sound echoed off the cavern walls.

"You absolute fucking idiot."

"What?" Neo asked, clearly not understanding the problem. "I don’t see why you’re—"

"BECAUSE NOW THEY KNOW EXACTLY WHERE WE ARE!" Klaus interrupted with barely controlled fury. "You left a trail of bodies leading directly to this location like breadcrumbs for them to follow! We’ve lost any chance we had of sneaking out quietly!"

"But we’re heroes fighting against evil," Neo protested. "We shouldn’t have to hide from—"

Right on cue, as if the universe itself wanted to prove Klaus’s point, someone shouted at the absolute top of their lungs from somewhere deeper in the massive cavern complex.

"WOOOO WOOOO WOOOO! ALARM! THE PRISONERS HAVE ESCAPED FROM THEIR CELLS!"

The voice echoed and multiplied through the stone tunnels, carrying the alert throughout the entire underground base.

"SISTER IRIS IS DEAD! SISTER HELENA IS DEAD! MANY SISTERS HAVE FALLEN!" another distant voice shouted in response.

"FIND THE ESCAPED PRISONERS IMMEDIATELY AND SKIN THEM ALIVE!" a third voice commanded with authority. "ALERT THE HEIR OF DEATH! SUMMON ALL AVAILABLE CULTISTS TO THE HUNT!"

"THEY CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO ESCAPE AND REPORT OUR LOCATION TO THE KINGDOM!"

Klaus sighed so deeply it felt like his soul was trying to leave his body through his mouth.

"Well," he said with defeated sarcasm, "we’re officially being hunted by an entire death cult now. Great job, Neo. Really fantastic tactical thinking on your part."

Neo had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"I... I didn’t think about—"

"No, you didn’t think," Klaus agreed coldly. "You never think beyond the immediate moment."

Seo finished the last of the food in the lunchbox and closed the lid with shaking hands.

She looked up at both of them with her newly regenerated eyes.

"What do we do now?" she asked quietly.

Her voice was hoarse from all the screaming she’d done. "My family doesn’t know where I am... Nobody is coming to rescue us and we’re trapped underground with cultists hunting us."

"We can’t fight our way through hundreds of cultists," he said, thinking out loud. "And we can’t hide here because they’ll search every chamber now that they know we’ve escaped. So we need to move fast and find an exit before they can organize a proper manhunt."

"Do you even know where the exits are?" Neo asked skeptically. "This place is a maze."

Klaus thought about the layout of the caverns he’d observed while sneaking around in the stolen cultist uniform earlier.

"I saw at least three different tunnel passages that seemed to slope upward toward the surface when I was exploring. If we can reach one of those and follow it up, we should eventually find our way out. The cultists need ventilation shafts and supply routes for bringing in food and sacrifices."

"And once we’re outside?" Seo asked.

"We run," Klaus said bluntly. "We run as fast and as far as we can from this place and we don’t stop until we reach the nearest town or city that has a garrison of soldiers who can protect us."

"They’ll chase us..." Neo pointed out unnecessarily.

"Yes, obviously they’ll chase us," Klaus snapped. "But we don’t have a lot of other options right now unless you have some brilliant plan I haven’t thought of?"

Neo opened his mouth, then closed it again without saying anything.

"That’s what I thought," Klaus muttered.

In the distance, they could hear the sound of running footsteps and shouting voices getting closer as the cultists were organizing their search parties and spreading out through the cavern network.

The hunt had officially begun and their prey had very little time left to escape.