"Is someone following us?"

Upon hearing the alert, Luna immediately turned her head to look.

Because Ronald had already pointed out the locations of several trackers, Luna easily spotted the appearances of these guys.

With visible speed, the expression on the girl's face shifted from initial confusion to tension.

"Them... they're not part of my guards!"

"Definitely not good people!"

After expressing her judgment about these trackers, Luna continued speaking to Ronald:

"Ronald, let's split up."

"You turn left at the next street, I'll keep going straight. Things might get dangerous later, you'd better leave here as soon as possible."

"We'll... meet again if we have the chance!"

Upon hearing Luna's thoughts, Ronald couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, then activated his emotion-detecting spell.

Analyzing carefully—these guys following behind didn't really seem like guards looking for a runaway lady, but rather exuded the menacing aura of kidnappers executing a plan.

"Luna... huh?"

Ronald was about to say something to Luna.

But as soon as he called out her name, it turned into an exclamation.

In the face of such obvious danger.

Luna's response was incredibly quick!

Just like at the dock, where she could unexpectedly knock Ronald on the head.

At this moment, after clarifying her stance with Ronald, the girl immediately jogged forward, heading straight towards the back of the street.

In just the few seconds Ronald took to consider a strategy, the distance between the two had widened considerably.

"..."

Then, an even more exasperating situation for Ronald occurred.

The trackers behind naturally also noticed Luna suddenly running forward, so most continued to pursue. Meanwhile, a few others broke away from the group and surrounded Ronald.

Faced with this situation, Ronald wore an expression of mixed amusement and resignation.

"Oh great, now I can't just ignore this, can I?"

Ronald appeared unshakeable, but these followers clearly didn't take him too seriously.

Mindful of the impact of their actions, they cornered Ronald without immediately attacking, subtly forcing him into a street corner using the crowd celebrating nearby.

As soon as they confirmed their actions wouldn't be noticed, one approached with a sinister expression:

"Kid, I suggest you not resist."

"Huh?"

As soon as those words fell, Ronald sensed movement behind him.

The opponent was slow, he even had the leisure to perform several actions.

However, Ronald didn't make a move.

After spending the night with Luna, Ronald had grown curious.

He wanted to see what these people were up to, so he didn't resist and even secretly withdrew the protective spell of the [Guardian Angel].

Pa—

And so, a hand chop struck Ronald's neck.

But with his robust physique, the hand chop, which could easily knock out an ordinary person, had no effect on him.

Ronald rolled his eyes helplessly.

Yet without protest, he cooperatively fell forward with the attack.

Then, the anticipated standard villain scenario unfolded.

The way they treated him was surprisingly indifferent; when he was about to fall, no one came to lend a hand, and after he fell completely, they somehow pulled a sack from somewhere and stuffed him into it.

In that moment, Ronald felt a myriad of emotions.

Notably, a feeling of excitement.

He wondered if he'd be put in a sack and sunk to the bottom of the canal?

His mind wandered with such thoughts.

Ronald didn't forget to check on Luna's situation.

Using his spell, he quickly pinpointed the girl's location, discovering she was making a strategically planned escape through the city.

Sadly, due to her lack of strength, Luna was no match for these trackers.

About five minutes after Ronald was captured, Luna too failed in her resistance, intercepted by the group on the street and promptly knocked unconscious.

Looking at his own situation—

After being stuffed into a sack, he wasn't tossed into the riverbed as expected but quickly loaded onto a carriage heading north out of the city.

Ronald hadn't been in this city long.

But after chatting with Luna while wandering the streets at night, he had a rough understanding of the city's layout.

Nickland's northern area was residential for officials and nobles.

The security was so strict that ordinary citizens rarely approached, only glimpsing from a distance at best.

More interestingly,

Ronald noticed that after Luna's abduction, she too was being transported in almost the same direction!

This was becoming genuinely entertaining.

Initially, he just wanted to spend a week enjoying some quiet reading in this city.

But now he found himself embroiled in a noble conflict.

In a sack, Ronald was amused but restrained his laughter, ensuring the watchman in the carriage didn't notice he was awake.

...

The carriage steadily moved forward for about half an hour.

Finally, Ronald was taken to the entrance of an impressive estate.

Although blind to the outside scenery from the sack, he confirmed, through the landscape-recording effect of the [Star Chart] spell, the estate's expansive grounds and luxurious inner gardens.

Continuing inward, carried in by two men, Ronald was finally delivered to a place in the basement of the estate.

Crack—

With the sound of fabric against sackcloth,

Ronald was yanked from the sack, finding himself in a cell in the estate's basement. Once his captors left, he fully opened his eyes to survey the surroundings.

Surprisingly, the environment was quite decent.

Though a dungeon, it was cleaned thoroughly, with no foul odor except for a bit of mustiness; even the ground was padded with a layer of straw.

Clearly, the person who prepared this cell knew the prisoners were of distinguished status. Thus, despite the dishonorable act, they intended to provide an environment befitting the captive's identity.

Especially around this cell, Ronald even noticed an array to weaken Magic Power reactions. A regular Caster imprisoned here would be severely restricted, unable to use any spells, facing a bleak destiny.

"Heh..."

"Is that all there is?"

Smiling faintly after a moment's observation,

Such measures might work against an ordinary Caster, but against him...

Honestly, Ronald didn't believe the dungeon bricks were sturdier than his fingers; a little exertion and he could physically dismantle the whole place.

"..."

However, before attempting any destruction,

he glanced upward at the dungeon ceiling.

Using his reconnaissance magic, Ronald clearly discovered something—Luna had also been brought here!