“Uwaaaah-!!”

Chohong cried out. She managed to shove away Kazuki grabbing her arm to restrain her and dashed out, only to slam into someone else and ungainly tumbled backwards. Cinzia, with a cigarette hanging on her lips, was looking down at her with somewhat surprised eyes. They had returned, in other words.

“What is….”

Cinzia quickly closed her mouth. A total of seven people had returned. Six people went there initially, so at the least, it meant the team succeeded in rescuing one person.

“Lawrence! It's Erica Lawrence!”

“Richard Hugo is there, too!”

The waiting contingent of people discovered the rescued captives and cried out in elation. However, their cheers didn't continue on for long.

From the get-go, the success rate of this mission was deemed low. However, the atmosphere of the team that had rescued two captives was especially downbeat, more so than expected. It was as if looking at a bunch of dazed, soulless people.

Cinzia's eyes, meanwhile, drifted off towards Ian's sweat-soaked face, now distorted into a sorrowful expression of defeat as he breathlessly panted out. Only then did she realize that the rescue team was lacking someone.

“Ian! Iaaaaan!”

Chohong had been sitting on her butt, looking dazed, before recovering her wits to rush towards the Magician.

“Hurry! Hurry and reactivate the magic circle! Nooow!”

The moment she grabbed him by his collars, Ian crumbled like a straw. It was because he had exhausted all of his mental power maintaining the magic circle.

“Get up! You gotta get upppp!”

Chohong cried out in desperation. The surrounding people began to murmur unsteadily. Cinzia hurriedly entered the boundaries of the magic circle and forcibly suppressed Chohong. She threw out a question while pushing down the crazily-resisting woman.

“Ayase Kazuki, what happened?”

The Japanese man couldn't open his mouth for a while. He was famed for his cold, collected demeanor, but right now, he looked just as confused as everyone else here.

“….First of all.”

Kazuki finally broke his long silence and spoke in a low, quiet voice.

“We were able to get this...