Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 54: The Mage Kidnapping Plan
“Lloyd-sama! Over here!”
Heading away from the direction of the cave, I found Lilina waiting for us. When I deactivated my ‘Stealth’ skill, she noticed us and waved enthusiastically.
Letting go of Alicia’s hand, I walked over to Lilina, arriving at our prearranged rendezvous point. I gave her a smile.
“Lilina, well done. Your efficiency was impressive.”
“Heheh, really?”
Lilina beamed with a pleased grin. Thanks to her efforts, we managed to execute the plan without alerting Kane and his party. When I patted her head, her silver ears twitched happily.
“Mmph… mmmph!”
A muffled sound came from below. Looking down, I saw Lena tied to a tree, her mouth bound with rope, glaring up at us while struggling. She thrashed about, but the ropes Lilina had tied held firm. Eventually, she gave up, out of breath.
“…Seems like you have something to say.”
I loosened the rope around her mouth, and Lena shot me a fierce glare.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
“What do you mean?”
“This situation! Why am I tied up and kidnapped?!”
Lena huffed angrily. After a moment’s thought, I nodded slightly. I supposed there was no harm in explaining since she wouldn’t be rejoining the fight.
“Your party’s main attack method relies entirely on your magic, doesn’t it? Without you, they can hardly deal with monsters in the air. Losing you leaves them almost defenseless.”
At this, Lena gasped softly. I continued.
“And it’s strange to rely on just one frontliner—Zard—to guard three people in the back. Since Kane is your party’s core member, you position yourself at the rear to protect him. But putting a key person in the most vulnerable spot isn’t the best idea.”
I recalled the steps of our plan:
First, I used the ‘Black Mist (Magic)’ skill to obscure Kane’s party’s vision. Then, Alicia shot arrows to keep Zard focused on the front. Before Lena could dispel the mist with her magic, Lilina, trained in stealth, snatched her away.
Lilina’s ability to move through the ‘Black Mist’ was proven during a previous fight with monsters, so once she moved Lena beyond Kane’s support range, capturing her wasn’t difficult.
…It might seem underhanded, but we needed to win.
“Shut up, shut up! The problem is there aren’t adventurers strong enough to keep up with us!”
Lena, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly burst out angrily.
Ignoring her glare, I decided to ask something I’d been wondering about.
“By the way, where’s that guy who was supposed to carry your gear?”
“That guy quit right away! Couldn’t do anything, no grit, just a worthless jerk.”
“I see… So, you were hated too much to even recruit anyone to bolster your frontline.”
If even the pack mule left, it was no wonder a skilled frontline fighter wouldn’t join. Remi had mentioned how disliked Kane and his team were; that’s likely why people avoided them.
As I thought this over, Lena gritted her teeth, looking down, then smirked mockingly as she lifted her gaze.
“It’s all because you suddenly decided to quit, isn’t it?”
She scoffed, continuing with a sneer.
“You’re famous, you know. There’s a rumor that you’re going around helping people now. Quitting our party and suddenly playing the hero—acting like a saint now won’t change anything.”
“Sure, I may have gone too far in the past, but holding back from doing harm now isn’t a bad thing, right?”
When I said this, Lena let out a sharp, mocking laugh.
“Hah? Look at you, pretending to be a hero when you just ran off after realizing what we were up to.”
“What… you were up to?”
I tilted my head, not understanding her words.
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, don’t act so clueless… it’s really infuriating.”
Lena sighed loudly and then glared at me fiercely.
“We flattered you and made you the fall guy, pinning the majority of our crimes on you. You figured it out and left the party because of that, right?”
“…What?”
The words left me speechless.
Wait, what? I didn’t know about this plot twist. It was never shown in the anime, and I couldn’t hide my confusion.