Birthday Great Escape

Emma had no memory of how lunch ended; her mind was filled with the way Kerry had looked at her, such a sinister and malicious gaze.

No, I have to be strong. After today, I'll be 14. I'm an adult. Teacher Gandalf is powerful, he must have been held up by something. I can't be caught before he comes to save me. That's right, I need to escape from here first.

Confirmed our gazes, I've met a bad person.

Emma felt she understood Kerry's look and that now was the final chance to escape. Perhaps by the afternoon, the sky over the small island would be filled with Faglan's Griffon knights.

Emma hurried out of the dining hall, while Kerry was a bit bewildered. Did my expression seem off somewhere? Why did she look so scared? Could she already know we're giving her a birthday surprise?

Kerry, of course, didn't know that Emma was now on edge all the time, and everyone's gaze automatically registered as malicious.

In the afternoon, Emma paced restlessly in her room, thinking of many ways to escape the island. Unfortunately, she had never planned for an escape before.

During her previous escapes, Gandalf had always made the decisions, and she had merely followed passively. Now, having to escape alone, she couldn't think of a good plan for a while.

No matter what, there's a chance outside the castle. At least I have to leave the castle first.

Emma still couldn't come up with a feasible plan, but having decided to escape early, she resolved to complete the first step: escaping the castle.

As the castle staff spent the afternoon preparing for the evening party, a maid delivering afternoon tea suddenly found Kerry. After a jumble of incoherent words, Kerry was greatly surprised.

"Miss Emma is gone. A rope made of bedsheets was found in her room, extending from the room out the window all the way to the lawn in the backyard."

Is this eloping or a pre-birthday amusement? Do you Faglan people have such customs for birthdays?

Kerry couldn't understand why Emma would run away at this time. Big sister, you're the main character at the party tonight, okay? What is this all about?

"Arrange for everyone to search for Miss Emma. We can't lose the protagonist at the party tonight," Kerry commanded, then left first. Perhaps he could find some clues in Emma's room.

Half an hour earlier, Emma had finally tied the bedsheets into a usable length and successfully escaped from her second-floor room. At this moment, Emma deeply regretted not practicing magic diligently before. Many of her classmates were already Level 3 mages, yet she hadn't reached Level 3 after escaping for over half a year. If she were a Level 3 mage, she could learn a wind-elemental spell. Although it wouldn't be fast, it would indeed be a flying spell, and she wouldn't need to tie a rope to escape now.

The window faced the backyard, which was usually not frequented by many people. Furthermore, since Kerry had arranged a new home for the Queen in the backyard, even fewer people came here. This was convenient for Emma's escape.

Emma struggled to escape her room. When she looked up to observe the backyard environment, she didn't know what to do next.

Climb over the castle wall? The wall is a bit high.

The castle doesn't seem to have a back door, but the front gate has City Guards on duty, right? What should I do?

Since I'm already here, why not just make a break for it through the front gate?

No. Emma suddenly and sadly realized that even though she was close to becoming a Level 3 mage, she couldn't use any magic well except for Minor Fireball.

Either it has no attack power, or the incantation is too slow for actual combat. Minor Fireball isn't great either. A Level 2 mage's Minor Fireball can seriously injure someone, but they can only cast it once.

The problem was that there were two City Guards on duty. Emma wasn't confident she could safely cast a second spell after successfully ambushing one of them.

"Miss Emma, you look a bit unwell, and your breathing is irregular. Would you like me to perform a thorough examination for you?"

The sudden voice startled Emma, almost making her cry out.

She had been a bit distracted, and she didn't know when Medical Unit 1 had appeared beside her.

"I'm fine, no examination needed. Goodbye." Emma knew this was Kerry's puppet. She had never seen it before; it only appeared for the first time this morning. Could it be a puppet specifically stationed downstairs to prevent me from escaping?

Emma's expression was stiff, but she pretended to be calm and lifted her leg to walk. Her left hand and left foot moved out in slow motion simultaneously, followed by her right hand and right foot in slow-motion replay. One, two, one...

Phew, thankfully this is a low-level puppet. It's incredibly stupid. I've finally gotten out of Medical Unit 1's line of sight. Emma let out a huge sigh of relief.

Hahaha, damn Kerry, you didn't expect this, did you? Your puppet can only stand guard but doesn't know to directly apprehend someone. What a critical oversight. No matter how you arrange your guards, they'll still have to wash my feet.

After leaving the backyard, the next area was the stables. Passing through the stables would lead to the front yard, where the main gate was.

But Emma, who had just left the backyard, had her expression turn stiff again before she could even feel proud for three seconds. Frank, who was clearly drunk, was putting a bridle on his beloved horse, Maria. It looked like he was about to hitch a carriage.

Frank didn't seem to notice Emma; perhaps he was too drunk. Emma felt incredibly lucky this time and quickly hid behind some miscellaneous items. A bold idea suddenly popped into her head.

Heaven truly helps those who help themselves. With this habitual drunk driver, he might not even notice if someone was in his carriage. I can quietly climb into his carriage later and leave the castle without anyone knowing.

As Frank drove the carriage out of the castle, Emma felt like a genius escape artist. Everything was going exactly as scripted.

Emma successfully hitched a ride on Frank's carriage and smoothly left the castle. This was Emma's first solo escape, and it seemed to be a perfect escape.

This continued until Frank reached his destination: the pier north of South Australia Island.

"Miss Emma, we've arrived at the destination. If you have other matters to attend to, please alight from the carriage," Frank said, very drunk. However, he felt he had only completed the first half of his drinking. After all, there would be unlimited fine wine at the birthday party tonight; this was merely a warm-up.

Although he could no longer walk in a straight line, Frank kept telling himself, "I'm not drunk yet!"

So, when Emma quietly climbed into his carriage, Frank simply assumed she was a noble mage who didn't want to speak due to his drunken smell. Thus, Frank didn't try to force a conversation, only speaking when they reached their destination at the pier.

"What... what do you want? How did you know I was in the carriage? What's your purpose in bringing me to the pier?" Did I just walk into a trap? Is Frank going to send me onto a ship and deliver me to Faglan?

Emma felt like crying. She hadn't expected Frank to be a hidden expert. When did he discover her? She had no idea.

And she had smugly and quietly gotten into his carriage. Frank was quite cunning too, not saying anything and only revealing his true intentions upon reaching their destination.

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