Kidnapping Lillisa
Over the next few days, Green heard nothing from Elizabeth. Lola, on the other hand, came by several times, treating Green like an appraiser and bringing things for him to check whether they were magic items. The way Vincent looked at Green and Lola soon burned with the fire of gossip.
That day, Green visited Old One-Eye's shop again to see if he could get his hands on a set of military Knight equipment.
Green had long wanted to re-equip his Skeleton Soldiers, replacing their rusty round shields and Short Swords with Enchanted Rifles so the cheap troops could attack from a distance. But military equipment was tightly controlled and hard to obtain without special connections.
The military Enchanted Rifles made specifically for Knights could channel Fighting Aura into their bullets, giving them formidable killing power even against Transcendents. They were the government's greatest trump card for keeping Transcendents in check. Even an Advanced Formal Mage would have to steer clear of an army thousands strong, armed with Enchanted Rifles.
Green had another concern, though: could those rifles deliver their full power in the hands of Skeleton Soldiers? His soldiers had no Fighting Aura, only Psychic Energy of the Undead attribute. He needed to try one first, which was why he had come to Old One-Eye, a man with connections all across Landon City.
Old One-Eye made no bones about it. He thumped his chest and guaranteed he could get one, then demanded thirty Gold Pounds—nearly five times the rifle's factory price.
Green didn't even haggle. He turned and walked straight for the door. Realizing he had scared off his customer by gouging him too hard, Old One-Eye hurried after him and knocked thirty percent off. Green still wasn't satisfied. After a fierce exchange of offers and counteroffers, they settled on fifteen Gold Pounds per rifle, with the price open to further discussion if Green ordered more.
With the Enchanted Rifle arranged, Green was in a good mood. He sat in the carriage, opened the window, and looked outside.
Darkness had fallen. The carriage rolled over the smooth road and entered the Upper District along a street lit by gas lamps.
As they passed a park not far from Wilson Castle, he spotted a small figure emerging from it with a white kitten in her arms.
Green smiled. It was Lillisa. Cute as she looked, the little girl was a rascal, still running about after dark. If Viscount Paul or Steward Laurence found out, the maid assigned to look after her would be in for a scolding.
Green watched Lillisa hurry toward the castle. He did not call out to her, but had the carriage slow down so the little girl would not realize she had been spotted.
Just then, a black carriage burst out of the junction ahead. Its driver barreled along recklessly at breakneck speed.
The people living nearby were all nobles. No one dared drive a carriage like that. Brush against the wrong old lady, and she might turn out to be a Baron's mother or wife. An accident like that could not be settled with a little money.
Green frowned. Something was wrong with that carriage, and he watched it warily.
The carriage swung around the corner. Lillisa spotted it while she was running and wisely moved to the side of the road to avoid being hit.
But as it passed her, the carriage stopped abruptly. Its door opened, and two men climbed out, wrapped up tight in black hats and scarves. Broad-backed and thick-waisted, they looked like villains the moment they appeared.
"Something's wrong!" Green seized the Magic Staff beside him. There was no time to urge the Coachman on; he shoved open the door, jumped from the carriage, and raced toward Lillisa. As he ran, he silently chanted two Soul Summoning spells in succession, summoning two Skeleton Soldiers, then prepared Bone Spike so he could cast it at any moment.
The two burly men in black had already cut off Lillisa from both sides as she realized something was wrong and tried to flee.
Clutching the kitten, the little girl looked more helpless than ever.
This was plainly a planned kidnapping, and the target was the Wilson family's little princess. One man held a black-and-white photograph and checked it one last time to make sure they had the right person. Then they stuffed Lillisa into the carriage like a captured chick.
Green's eyes tightened with worry. He was at least twenty or thirty meters from the carriage, too far to catch it at his running speed. Fortunately, the Skeleton Soldiers were lighter and faster. In a few nimble bounds, they caught up. One leaped onto the roof, while the other grabbed the door and tried to wrench it open.
Then, without warning, a gunshot rang out. Bang!
Damn! They have a gun. Green froze for a moment. Having crossed over from Earth, he had an instinctive fear of firearms. Worse, he had no way to defend himself against bullets. Only after becoming an advanced Necromancer apprentice and mastering defensive spells such as Bone Shield or Bone Armor could he stop fearing ordinary guns—and even then, an Enchanted Rifle would still punch through. Only an Archmage truly had nothing to fear from an Enchanted Rifle, and that was only while their numbers were limited. Against a large Knights Order, even an Archmage would be brought to his knees by a volley from a thousand Knight rifles charged with Fighting Aura.
The shot knocked the Skeleton Soldier clinging to the carriage door to the ground. The bullet pierced its leather armor and broke a rib. But that injury meant little to a Skeleton Soldier. As long as its Soulfire burned, it would not die. It hit the ground, scrambled back up, and resumed the chase.
Looks like I have to summon the Hard-Skin Ghoul! Green gritted his teeth. The Hard-Skin Ghoul he had acquired by chance was his trump card, and he did not want to use it lightly. But he could not stand by and watch Lillisa be taken away.
Before Green could stop and cast the spell, an aged, hoarse voice—not unpleasant to hear—rang out. "Where do you two mongrels think you're taking our little Lillisa? If I were you, I'd surrender quietly. Otherwise, my Arcane Missile will blow your heads apart before you can fire." Before the voice had faded, a flash of white light streaked in. An Arcane Missile, as fast as a bullet and more powerful than a grenade, struck the ground in front of the carriage with a boom, blasting a crater half a meter wide.
The driver and the two men who had seized Lillisa all jumped. None of them had expected that kidnapping one little girl would bring two mages down on them at once!
Anyone with even a little knowledge of Evocation School mages could tell from that Arcane Missile's power that its caster was at least an Advanced Apprentice Mage. Staring at the crater in the paved road, all three kidnappers were dumbfounded. This was not how it was supposed to go. They had been promised a ten-year-old girl. Someone had lured her out of the castle beforehand; all they had to do was pick up a ten-year-old girl on her own.
Meanwhile, the two Skeleton Soldiers that had been driven back closed in again.
Green recognized that familiar, raspy voice: Doctor Wilkins had arrived. He did not summon the Ghoul. Instead, he ordered his Skeleton Soldiers forward to cut off the kidnappers' escape completely.
Doctor Wilkins emerged from the shadows of the trees. His spotless blue mage's robe stirred with each step, while blue light swirled around the Magic Staff in his hand. An Arcane Missile was forming, ready to fire at any moment.