Chapter 33 – Found Sophia

If I had known that simply asking the Goddess would reveal Sophia’s location, I wouldn’t have used myself as bait and wound up in this predicament. Instead, I could have tried to approach from the outside – a method that seems much safer.

Should I start over from the very beginning? Go back to the first day and prioritize rescuing Rachel’s sister first?

That was an option, but I felt reluctant about that idea. If I reset to day one only to discover that an outside approach is impossible, then the dozens of times I’ve endured this pain would have been for nothing.

No, I would try every possible way to break us both out from the inside first.

If that fails, then I’ll reconsider the plan later.

The biggest issue at that momment was that once I was escorted to the mana extraction room, death was almost a certainty. The Church saw my ability to siphon mana back as “heresy.” Since I was not only useless to them but also a threat to their mana supply, their safest choice was naturally to eliminate me.

Furthermore, there were no openings to escape during the trek from the cells to the extraction room. I also lacked any effective combat abilities to break through their perimeter.

Still, there were a few more things I could try.

In my next attempt, the moment I woke up in the cell, I began screaming to draw attention.

“Do you have any idea who you’ve imprisoned?! I am an emissary of the Goddess Halunar! I demand to see the Pope!”

My ruckus successfully drew them in. I held up my left hand, displaying my holy mark.

“Are you blind? Can’t you see? I bear the Hero’s Mark, chosen by the Goddess herself! She has commanded me to assist the other Heroes!”

The men exchanged glances, then promptly unlocked the cell and gagged me. I was dragged to the mana extraction room much earlier than scheduled, while the previous batch of slaves had yet to leave. They tossed an exhausted slave aside and shoved me into his place.

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After that, everything played out exactly like the first time. I drained every drop of mana from the blood basin, and they declared the mark on my hand a forgery. Because I was gagged and couldn’t recite the reset keyword, I was stabbed to death once again.

It appeared that masquerading as an emissary of the Goddess was a fruitless endeavor.

The fundamental issues were the restricted space and the ticking clock. If only I could just avoid being executed immediately after the first mana extraction, I would have the breathing room to strategize.