"Marie!! Betty!!"

Sophie ran towards them, but she gasped and stopped when she saw their condition. Their bodies were covered in wounds. There wasn't a single spot that looked safe to touch.

A bottle of the lowest-rank potion was lying on the floor. It seemed that the treatment was minimal, just enough to keep them alive.

Ryu had felt from the beginning that humans in this world were much more cruel compared to those on Earth. There were people who did terrible things on Earth as well, but they seemed more common in this world, with many people readily hurting others. This was probably due to the existence of miraculous healing potions like recovery magic and potions.

But this level of cruelty was beyond repair even with the highest-rank potion, the Elixir.

But that wasn't a problem for Ryu. He destroyed the shackles with dimensional disruption and reversed time in their bodies to heal them. The large scars and burns on their faces crossed their eyes, and they would probably be blind. If you looked closely, their ears were torn, and some fingers were missing. But Ryu’s time reversal restored them all. This time, he even reversed the clothes, so their appearance was completely reset to the state before they were captured.

Marie: "Princess Sophie, are you safe...?"

Betty: "Ryu... you came... thank you..."

Just then, the guards outside the prison started making a commotion.

"Who’s there?!"

Ryu immediately cut off the blood flow in their carotid arteries, rendering them unconscious.

He didn’t need to kill the guards because they were just following orders. He decided to restore their blood flow before they died or were permanently injured, and then teleport them out. If there was a problem with the guards' response, the princess would deal with them later.

But Ryu noticed that Marie and Betty flinched when they saw the guards.

Ryu: "...Who did this to you?"

Betty pointed at the unconscious guard without saying anything.

Ryu interrogated the guard, who had regained consciousness with the restoration of his blood flow.

Ryu: "Did you hurt Marie and Betty?"

Guard: "... W... who are you guys?"

Ryu, annoyed, activated his Divine Eye to read the man's mind.

The man was a torturer who also worked as an interrogator. He was an abnormal person who enjoyed hurting and dismembering people. He took up the job of interrogator, combining his hobby with his work, but there wasn’t any information he could get out of Marie and Betty. Gill had told him to do whatever he wanted to them as long as he didn’t kill them, so he had just tortured them for his own amusement.

Ryu swiftly cut off both his arms and legs.

He told Betty to burn the wounds, then teleported the man into the dungeon.

He really wanted to let Marie and Betty take revenge on him slowly, but he didn't have time right now.

He sent him to the lair of the Dungeon Taratect, a giant spider deep within the dungeon. The spider would probably keep him for food and kill him slowly. He could enjoy being terrified until his death.

Sophie: "Ryu, we're going to see my father! Teleport us!"

Ryu: "Are you sure about inside the castle?"

Sophie: "Yes! My father should be in the throne room at this time."

Marie: "Us too...!"

Of course, he wasn’t going to leave them behind. Before Marie could finish speaking, they were all inside the Royal Palace.

The king, seated on his throne, was listening to a report from the chancellor.

Suddenly, Ryu and the others appeared. The guards were momentarily startled and gripped the hilts of their swords, but they released them when they saw Sophie among them.

Sophie: "Father! I’m finally free to speak!"

Sophie ran towards the throne.

King: "Oh, Sophie. It seems you’ve recovered. I was worried about you lately, you’ve been acting so strange."

Sophie: "I was forced to wear a collar of servitude! Ryu removed it for me."

King: "What?! No wonder... Who would do such a thing to you?"

Chancellor: "With all due respect, Your Highness, I was in the middle of an important report. Could you wait a moment?"

Sophie: "There's someone who dared to humiliate me by putting a collar of servitude on me. Is that report more important than that?"

Chancellor: "Indeed, Your Highness."

Sophie fell silent, refusing to back down.

King: "Well, you see, the Chagamga Republic, our neighboring country, has invaded. The enemy army has occupied the border town and is continuing their invasion."

Sophie: "They invaded?!"

King: “I sent the Fourth Prince, Marimu, and the Fifth Prince, Trimu, with troops to respond. I have sent word to the First Prince, Rejirudu, who was defending the southern border, to come to their aid.”

Chancellor: "Your Majesty, wait. That person… Princess Sophie, who is that person?"

Sophie: “He’s Ryuujin, my fellow adventurer. He saved me.”

Chancellor: “It looks like he suddenly appeared in the room...”

Sophie: "Yes, Ryu can use teleportation magic. Ryu is an ally, and he destroyed the collar of servitude, so you can be at ease."

Chancellor: "Is that so?"

The king nodded, and the chancellor didn't say anything else.

King: “How much damage was done to the border town of Biero? I had entrusted the defense of Biero to the Third Prince, Harisu. What happened to Harisu? Did he die in battle?"

Chancellor: "Well, strangely enough, there is no sign of a battle in Biero. There is no damage reported. It seems that Prince Harisu led the enemy to the town and surrendered it, according to the reports we received…”

King: “What? Harisu?!”

Sophie: “Father! The one who put the collar of servitude on me was my brother Harisu!"

King: “What?! Did he put a collar of servitude on his own sister?”

Sophie: “My brother put the collar on me and made me do embarrassing things."

King: “What?! What was Harisu thinking, doing that to his own sister?!"

Next Episode

The king confronts Harisu.

Stay tuned!