I Decided to Kidnap the Male Lead

“No! It’s not that dead fish, the water has turned red!”

But the woman’s words just scattered in the air.

The stream, which had been dyed red, was dismissed as a person’s misunderstanding and forgotten from people’s minds.

.

Six days to a week, as proclaimed by Raisa Neir.

Ophelia hurried through the shadows of the back alley.

Even though it was daytime, there was no light, so she went round and round the dark alleys and paths before she finally reached her destination.

She didn’t wander in and out of the back alleys during the infinite regressions, but she was used to finding what she needed with her eyes closed.

—Tok, tok, tok, tok.

After knocking at regular intervals, the door opened from the inside.

She stepped inside, ignoring the stares coming from her every side.

“What brings you to…”

“Forged identification. A young woman. The darker the past history, no, the more beggarly, the better.”

With a very clear request, Ophelia pulled out a pouch.

—Kling, klang.

“I’ll give you enough. Bring it right now.”

—Thump.

The heavy bag made a loud noise as it fell to the floor, as if to show off its weight.

Ophelia grinned, showing her teeth, and gestured at the pouch.

“You can open it.”

Before long, a boy popped out of nowhere, grabbed the pouch, and opened it wide.

The gold coins were so densely packed that they sparkled even in this dimly lit place. No gaps could be spotted, let alone a silver coin.

It was clear that if these were all gold coins, it would be an amount that was difficult to say with his mouth.

“Whew.”

The boy who involuntarily whistled hurriedly closed the pouch and held it close to his stomach, but Ophelia carelessly shook her hand.

“If you understand, move now.”

The person facing her bowed his back deeply, very deeply.

“I will prepare right away.”

Shortly thereafter, Ophelia was able to load her body into a shabby wagon.

Ophelia, who was covered in dirt and had mud all over her face and in clothes that were almost dirty, pulled back the loose cloak.

“Almost there.”

In time, Ophelia reached the village located at the entrance to Raisa’s village.

“Wait a minute here.”

By the time Ophelia, who did not respond to the curt coachman’s remarks, grew tired of the townsfolk’s glances at her, an outsider…

The coachman appeared with an old man.

“Say hello, Miss. He is the one who will take you to that village.”

Ophelia only nodded in silence.

Because there was no way a person who had gone through severe hardships could say a bright and refreshing greeting to others.

The coachman left the old man and Ophelia alone, and the old man stared at Ophelia and said,

“Hey, Miss.”

Ophelia didn’t answer again, she tried to ignore it, but she was forced to open her mouth by the old man’s following words.

“If you don’t open your mouth, I won’t take you to that village.”

“What do you mean.”

Despite Ophelia’s harsh counter, the old man’s dried tree-like face did not change much.

“I don’t know where you came from, but you seemed to have grown nicely.”

No matter how much she was dressed as if she had a gutter-like past, it was hard for Ophelia, who was born and raised as a noble lady, to look like someone who had really gone through something like that.

That’s why Ophelia answered more confidently and brazenly.

“I hear that a lot. I’ve seen a lot, this and that.”

She did. During the infinite regressions, she actually went through all kinds of nasty and messy things.

The old man clicked his tongue as she expressed sincerity to the bone with her voice and expression.

And his next words were something that Ophelia never thought of.

“I won’t ask why you want to go to that village, but if you don’t have to, what about this village?”

“What?”

“I can’t help you much, but I will take care of you as best I can until you sort of settle down.”

“No, why so much…”

Ophelia deliberately made a more exaggerated and wary gesture.

She should have reacted like this if she had been subjected to all kinds of storms.

“Tsk, I mean, no one who went into that village came back.”

Ophelia’s face hardened coldly at the old man’s words, but she said nothing more.

“The old man next door, his nephew… He has never seen his face since he entered the village. It’s a very strange village.”

But as Ophelia still kept her mouth shut, the old man let out a long sigh and shook his head.

“Even if it’s not so, these days, they’ve been stocking food and buying blades.”

Ophelia leaned forward at the unexpected information from an unexpected person in an unexpected place.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, it’s not even winter, but they kept urging me to give them, like a bird that stores winter food? I said no because we already don’t have much to eat, even if they can give any amount of money… Then they want to gather a bunch of blades… Ha…”

‘It’s not even winter, but they’re going to stock up on food, which is already lacking?’

A word flashed through Ophelia’s mind.

War.

There was no way a single village would go to war against an empire, so they must be preparing for a war against something else.

“Gramps.”

“Hmm?”

“I must go to that village. An older brother I know is there.”

There was only sincerity in the bright blue eyes that could be seen through the hole in the cloak.

Because what she said wasn’t a lie.

She had to go to that town, and she knew James Gryu, and at the same time he was her brother because he was older than her.

The old man clicked his tongue, but didn’t persuade her.

“Let’s go.”

Ophelia arrived at Raisa’s village as she had originally planned.

From preparation to arrival, it was a breeze, but from now on, there will be problems.

Holding her breath, she listened to the conversation between the old man and the villagers.

“No, not wheat or barley, but dry, ready-to-eat…”

“This is farm equipment, not this.”

The old man shook his head, and the villagers took all the things he had brought, even though they complained.

After talking with the villagers, the old man gestured toward Ophelia.

“This girl is looking for someone.”

The old man left empty-handed after saying that, and Ophelia, who was left behind, was soon surrounded by villagers.

It was already becoming familiar to receive cold, stinging glances, which were unlike the sunlight that was warm enough to be considered a little hot.

Ophelia, who endured all the eyes of people who fluttered with shallow curiosity, very slowly took something out of her arms.

At that, the villagers all at once hardened their expressions. They seemed like they would rush at her at any moment.

“I was asked to give this necklace to someone.”

It was a terribly random remark, but someone managed to recognize the necklace.

“That! You! Where did you get that?”

“The person I worked with asked me to pass it on to his sibling.”

Ophelia waved the necklace and described the appearance of the fanatic, or rather, a man who was a fanatic who was now trapped somewhere in the Imperial Palace as a pharmacist.

“…He gave me this the other day…”

Ophelia deliberately blurred the end.

Then the villagers murmured and imagined the man’s words on their own, and the first person to recognize the necklace held out his hand.

“There’s somewhere you have to go before you see that person.”

Ophelia calmly agreed, and she stood before the prophet, surrounded by the villagers.

“Yes. He said this.”

Ophelia had to work hard not to grab the prophet by the collar.

The ‘prophet’ who gave the ‘mission’ that the man who was a fanatic said.

As in the case of the saint, it didn’t matter what his true identity was.

I just want to grab him and shake him to spit out everything he’s trying to do.

Her heart was like a chimney, but she couldn’t really do it.

Grabbing him by the collar wasn’t what she came here for, even if hiding or running away from the villagers would be easy.

However, what if things got worse when she did that?

Although she knew what she was trying to do right now, what if it went out of hand or became urgent?

It was a week.

Too short to take this or that risk.

The prophet asked Ophelia, who was slowly exhaling.

“How do you know him?”

It was a question she had been waiting for.

Ophelia told the story she had prepared as calmly as possible.

If she talked exaggeratedly and mixed emotions here and there, she would end up with more useless lies besides the story she prepared.

“…So I want to stay in this town.”

Ophelia, who had told the long story in one breath, caught her breath.

If it was not accepted right now, there was only one way left.

Hiding and watching.

No one in this town would be able to spot Ophelia when she erased her presence and moved in the shadows or darkness.

However, if that happened, quick and smooth information collection was out of the question.

When Ophelia swallowed dry saliva for the fourth time.

“You have nowhere else to go, so you want to stay…”

Saying that, the prophet took a step closer to Ophelia.

“Yes. I came all the way here, believing that this village would accept me.”

Ophelia put her hands together with genuine earnestness.

Because she was, in fact, very desperate.

How long has it been?

Ame: 10 more episodes to the end of the main story! Go go go!

Dea: The end is near, i’m so curious about how they’re going to fix everything…