I Will Break Off the Engagement Because I'm Jealous - The Untalented Villainess Who Rejected the Prince Searches for a Safe Haven with the Cheat Heroine - Chapter 5.4

A figure who appeared to be a boy and Iris, holding hands amiably while chatting and laughing… disappeared into the depths of the road.

“——Hssss.”

Emilia.

From beneath the once frozen “miasma.”

She felt a smoldering, charcoal-like murky black flame blazing up.

“I’m jealous…!”

No sooner had she muttered this than she shook off her tears and broke into a run.

“Leaving me behind, with Iris! My Iris! You bastard!”

In an instant, she reached the depths and tried to turn the corner.

“A dead end!?”

It was a cul-de-sac. Emilia looked up, left, and right, but there was only a high wall—nothing else in sight. The two figures were gone, too.

(——Wrong.)

Emilia crouched down in front of the wall at the end.

“I won’t be fooled, I didn’t mistake it! Iris was here. She was definitely (·) here (·). And then she moved… no, disappeared. A skill, or perhaps—”

She swiftly brushed her hand over the cobblestones. There was a sandy texture, and she could make out a faint pattern.

(Here. Only here, the sand is shifted. There are footprints, too. If this wall opens inward, then this kind of scraping would remain on the cobblestones.)

She raised her head and stood up. There was no knob or handle on the wall. Touching it, she only felt a rough texture; even when she pushed, it didn’t budge an inch.

(If it’s a door, then it’s a sliding door. One that opens from the inside… in that case—)

Emilia was about to knock on the wall with the back of her hand.

(…No good. If they ask for a password or something, there’s just too little to go on. I could cut through with the Holy Sword and force my way in but I don’t know what state Iris is in inside. I can’t just barge in carelessly. Besides—)

She withdrew her hand and looked around.

(Here. The surroundings are high-class inns, but beyond this wall, there are no buildings. Even if I came out on the other side, it would just be the gap between two inns. Why would there be a secret entrance in a place like that? For what purpose? Where does it lead? If there are no buildings beyond this, then that means—— Hah.)

Emilia pulled back two steps.

(——Surrounded.)

She gasped. A single drop of sweat trickled down her neck. It was just a hunch but that hunch told her, “You’re definitely surrounded.” She could indeed feel multiple gazes, and there were creeping footsteps, too. Without hesitation, Emilia turned around and broke into a run.

(…I have to shake these guys off and infiltrate where Iris was taken. Probably, there’s another entrance somewhere else.)

As she neared the original three-way intersection— two men, with the appearance of either thugs or adventurers, leaped out.

(The location is probably—— Got it.)

She slipped lightly between the two. All the hands trying to grab Emilia passed through empty air. She dashed a few steps back the way she came, then turned only her head to look back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a metallic glint catching the sunlight.

“Using blades, how rude. But you’re slow.”

She spoke provocatively, curling the corner of her mouth.

“Wait!”

(As if I’d wait.)

Men jumped down from the surrounding walls, and more came from the alleys ahead. Paying them no mind, Emilia ran straight down the path she had first come from.

(They’re trained but rough. Adventurers? It’s not like there are mountain bandits in the middle of the city, right?)

Ahead, a giant of a man blocked the way. The path was narrow, and the sides were blocked off. His legs were short, but he was tall.

In that case.

(The thieves who attacked in the royal palace were tough, weren’t they? Compared to that——!)

Emilia expelled the “miasma” from deep within her chest.

From her right hand.

“”Sword——!””

A short declaration. A flash of her arm. A gleaming sword of light. Whatever she wished to cut, she could. The wall just before the giant was gouged out and crumbled. A slight cloud of dust rose, and the man shielded his face with his arm. Emilia charged forward.

“Excuse me!”

One step. Using the crumbled bricks as a foothold, she leaped gracefully.

Two steps. Her jump reached the man’s head, and her extended foot used his shoulder as a stepping stone.

Three steps. She kicked off the wall. Kicked twice and landed about five steps behind the giant.

Two more boys, holding longswords, stood in her way.

Emilia paid them no mind, closing the distance as she ran.

“Hey, stop!”

“Iris——!”

Two silver flashes swept toward her.

(This guy, calling Iris by her first name——!)

Emilia’s eyes turned bloodshot as she ducked under the horizontal slash. She slipped into the boy’s guard and pushed him backward. The vertical slash that followed was deflected sideways by the boy’s body, striking the cobblestones. A grating sound echoed.

Before the vertically swung blade could return, Emilia kicked the boy in the stomach and moved forward. Pressing down her hat with one hand, she dashed past the blond boys.

“She’s fast!” “Damn it!”

Leaving their curses behind, she turned right at the next corner. No one was ahead, and only voices calling for her to stop came from behind.

(Good, I broke through the encirclement. Fewer than I thought. More importantly——)

Deep in Emilia’s chest.

A black flame writhed.

(As I thought, those guys know Iris——! I have to get to Iris, quickly, quickly! First, ahead, along the river.)

She emerged onto a main street. In the morning light, people and carts came and went. There didn’t seem to be any spirit vehicles, but a carriage was visible in the distance. Emilia lowered her posture and crossed the street first. She turned 90 degrees to the right and headed down the road. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her pursuers looking confused, and soon after, she heard shouts.

“Crap!” “Spread out! Split up and chase her!”

(At least put your weapons away… but—)

The two blond boys were giving orders. Their builds, and even their faces, were very similar. The others split left and right and began to run.

After letting out a slight sigh of exasperation.

(——Opportunity!)

She turned another 90 degrees to the right and ran toward the two blond boys. Keeping her body low, about waist-height, she hid among the shadows of people. Soon, she drew close.

“You, what are you to Iris?”

She directed her words and bloodshot eyes filled with something like hatred toward the boy who had spoken Iris’s name earlier. Without waiting for an answer, she flashed her right hand. The straight swords the two boys held shattered.

“Wha—!?” “You’re the one—!”

“Annoying. Aiter!”

Emilia thrust out her left hand. A spirit vehicle slid out from it.

“Whoa!?” “Gah—!”

It rammed into the two boys. The moment she felt the impact, Emilia withdrew the spirit vehicle back into her hand. Propelled by the mass, the boys were slammed back-first into a building’s wall and crumpled to their knees.

(Those two. They went and revealed themselves as the command center makes things easy.)

Turning back, Emilia began to run through the streets again. Weaving through startled people, slipping past the pursuers who were thrown into confusion with their commanders down.

(…They’re still chasing. But only three. Doesn’t look like they’re trying to flank me.)

As she turned the corner, she checked the pursuit situation. She ran along the river.

(I see it! Iris, I’m coming now!)

What Emilia was aiming for was a bridge—— no, a sluice gate.

Without hesitation.

She vaulted over the railing.

And leaped into the river.

‘What!?’ ‘After her!’ ‘I can’t swim!?’

Such wavering voices grew distant. Emilia moved forward, squinting through the murky water. Soon, she reached a grate and cut through it with the sword of light in her right hand.

(Beyond this… while my breath holds out.)

As a former modern person, swimming was second nature to Emilia. Beyond the grate, the water flowed deep downward, and she let herself be carried as she advanced underwater.

(I can’t open my eyes. Iris, Iris…)

Through the fast current, the darkness, the riverbed where she could hardly see anything around her.

Forcing her eyes open a slit, holding the sword of light aloft, she advanced.

In that darkness, she hallucinated the one she was chasing.

(It should be up here! I’m running out of breath——!)

She desperately fought back the urge to open her mouth.

Gambling everything, she kicked off the riverbed and surfaced.

Paddling with her left hand.

Flailing her legs.

Believing she was heading upward.

“Pwah! Hah, hah…………”

Suddenly, the water pressure vanished.

“Iris, Iris…”

Muttering like in a delirium.

Emilia stretched out her hand as if struggling.

Realizing she could breathe and had reached the river’s surface, Emilia panted, shoulders heaving. She was deeply grateful for the oxygen.

(An underground waterway as I thought.)

The air was stagnant, and it was pitch dark but when she raised the sword in her right hand, she could see a little of her surroundings. It seemed quite spacious. The ceiling was high, the width broad. Fighting the current, she swam toward the edge. There was a chilly stone bank.

“It’s a water channel, drawing from the river outside the city.”

Listening to the echoing voices and a “squeak” that sounded like a mouse, Emilia climbed onto the bank. Her waterlogged clothes were heavy, but she managed to pull herself up. First, she shook her body, flinging off a little of the moisture. Leaving the sword of light as it was, she took out a lantern from her “Storage” skill. Next, a small match. Before the tip got wet, she struck it hard against the nearby wall.

(It’s pretty dangerous that just this can start a fire, isn’t it?)

Emilia transferred the match’s flame to the lantern and extinguished the match. Closing the lantern’s cover, she put away the sword of light. Only the small, round light of the flame remained.

“Where Iris was taken is probably underground. This way…”

Emilia raised the lantern, directing its light. A little ahead, she saw a side passage.

“There it is, just ahead. It’s not just connected directly to the surface—there must be a room or a hideout or something. And there——”

She whispered softly, steadying her breath.

“Iris…”

She must surely be there ahead. Iris, who had been walking happily with that boy. The boy with the same hair and eye color as her. Or perhaps the boy’s companions were there, too. If she went on like this, there was a high chance it would turn into a direct confrontation.

(I… because of my own mistakes, was separated from someone important.)

She gripped the brooch at her chest tightly. Set with a pink-tinged precious stone, “Dragonbird’s Tear”… to Emilia, it was proof of the beginning of love and betrayal.

(And yet, I overcame that and took Iris’s hand.)

And it was an important symbol of their bond. The girl with the same brooch, with her golden hair and blue eyes. That figure.

Was burned into her retinas, wouldn’t leave.

——And the boy who took her away, too.

The two holding hands. Iris’s smiling face. It didn’t look like kidnapping or anything like that at all. But.

“Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii——!”

Emilia gritted her teeth, writhed in agony, twisted her body, and clawed at her head. That smile. Iris’s smile. Her lovely face directed at someone other than herself. And those happy, blue eyes.

Drove her insane.

“Why does some newcomer get to?! My Iris! Unforgivable, unforgivable, unforgivable, I’m jealous!”

Her rage echoed, reverberating through the underground. The thought that the enemy might find her flickered in the back of her mind. But the murky black flame blazing within the “miasma” wouldn’t allow her emotions to stop. Gushing out. Overflowing. Intense feelings scorched the core of her brain.

“Iris is——!”

Dripping with water, Emilia’s.

Only her words and body temperature.

“I’ll take her back no matter what.”

Were as cold as a blade.