Capítulo 39: A True Masterpiece
"My Savior..."
As the girl in my hands said that, I suddenly heard several shouts and screams coming from above us and reflexively shut the path I opened above us. I had to use one of my hands to use the earth magic to do that, so I had let go of her legs while still carrying most of her weight in my right arm.
With her legs free on the ground, she stood back up on her own strength and took a couple steps back to get a better look at me.
"Y-you are but a child?", she said, seemingly confused.
"Uh, yes? I am Rudeus Greyrat. May I ask your name?" I performed a noble's greeting as I introduced myself.
She paused, taking a moment to regain her bearings, before returning my noble greeting in kind while introducing herself. "I am Princess Aurora Shirone, sixth princess of the Shirone kingdom."
"Paul Greyrat." Father said his name while he had one hand on his hip and an annoyed expression on his face. Clearly he wasn't amused by our current situation.
"Well... I think we ought to get you back up there. The people up above seem to be getting a tad upset", I said.
"It's like you hit a damn hornet's nest!", Paul griped. "I thought you said we would be coming out into a gardener's shed?"
"About that... I think I may have gotten my north and south mixed up."
"You got them mixed up? You said you've been through here before with such confidence!"
"Hey! It's been a long time, alright! Not only that, but without the staircase up I had made in the past, this whole damn place looks symmetrical. It's completely understandable to lose your bearings in a-..."
In the middle of our argument, I happened to notice Princess Aurora's face. She had tears flowing down her cheeks and looked completely devastated. She must be completely shocked by what just happened, being dropped down into an underground crypt only to have her captors ignore her and argue with one another. I rushed back over to her side to calm her down.
"I'm so sorry Princess, my father over there doesn't have any proper manners at all", I saw Paul rolling his eyes at me from behind her. "This is all just a huge misunderstanding; I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us. Don't worry, I'll get you back up right away so you can get back to what you were doing."
"Y-you want to abandon me!?" The princess managed to squeeze this one sentence out before she started bawling even louder.
"Abandon you? Of course not! I just don't want to hold you against your will. Don't you want to go back up to the Royal Palace with your family?"
"I can't! I can't ever go back! You and I are destined to be together, Saint Milis has ordained our marriage!"
"Ehh!?", Paul and I exclaimed in unison.
"What in the world are you talking about!? I can assure you this is the first time we've ever met. How can you say we are destined for one another?"
"Because you were given to me by Saint Milis, and I was given to you all the same."
'What in the world is this woman talking about? Has she gone mad...? On second thought, I guess I shouldn't find it all that surprising that Pax and Zanoba's sister has a screw loose.'
"But Princess, I am not even twelve years old. I am too young to marry you. I think we had better get you back to your family; at least for now."
"No! You don't understand! My father had arranged to marry me off to some stranger whom I do not love. I was just moments away from being married against my will when you saved me. I absolutely refuse to go back! Please, take me with you!" She continued crying as she pleaded with me, desperation was clearly written on her face.
At this point we could hear clanging up above us where I had closed off the pathway. It sounded like they were hitting the stone platform I had made with shovels or maybe swords. I reached up to reinforce the platform and make it as strong as possible.
"Are we safe down here?", Paul asked.
"For now. Even a Saint-Tier swordsman won't be able to cut through that stone platform. That being said, It would take forever to secure the entire ceiling of this crypt with stone that hard and it's only a matter of time until they will find a way down here either through brute force or by recruiting earth mages to help them excavate."
"So we're trapped?", Aurora said with a worried look.
"Well, not exactly. Now that I know I had my directions flipped, I'm fairly confident I can make an exit for us into the gardener's shed. The problem is the swarm of people who are sure to be right outside. The shed might very well be open as well assuming they went inside to grab shovels."
"So we need a distraction", Paul suggested.
"Yes, pretty much."
For a while the room became silent as we thought about what to do.
'Hmm... Zanoba is up above, right? He's always been especially good at making distractions. Perhaps I could toss some sort of doll up there to have him fawn over? No, that's no good. Even with him causing havoc, the king surely wouldn't abandon his search for the Princess.'
'Wait... a doll. That's it!'
"I think I have an idea."
Paul and Aurora both looked over my way. Well, Aurora had already been staring at me the whole time.
"Princess, if you truly want to flee from your responsibilities in Shirone, I think I know of a way to help you escape."
"Truly!? I knew all along you would! Praise be to Saint Milis!"
I gathered Paul and Aurora over to the other side of the crypt to explain my plan. The clanging above us was getting louder and was honestly becoming rather annoying at this point.
"If I can create a stone statue of you, Princess, I think we can convince them you were turned to stone, assuming it is of close enough likeness to you."
"A stone statue of me? How in the world would you do that?"
"I don't mean to brag, but when it comes to making figurines, nobody in the world is my equal!"
"Eh? Figurines? You mean like the dolls Zanoba is always going on about?"
"Exactly. Only this time, I will make one life sized. The same size and likeness of yourself."
"I'm not so sure this will work... My father would never mistake me for a doll."
"You underestimate my abilities Aurora. Trust me, when I'm finished, they won't be able to tell the two of you apart!"
Determination filled Aurora's face as she clenched her hand into a fist.
'How could I have doubted him? He is my destined one, after all! All of this has been part of Milis' plan all along', she thought.
"All right. I believe in you! I give you permission. Make your doll in my likeness."
I had Aurora pose for me as I got to work. Paul sat down and leaned against one of the crypt's walls while he waited.
First thing I did was form a stone cannon matching Aurora's general shape and got started on the head, making sure it matched her height exactly. After forming the body of the statue into the correct general shape, I began working out the details, starting with her head.
"Could you please relax your face a little?", I asked Aurora. It wouldn't make sense for the statue to display such a look of determination like she had on her face right now. "Please just try to look as you normally would. If anything, maybe look a bit surprised or shocked. Imagine you had just fallen down through the earth unexpectedly. That's the kind of expression I want to capture!"
I was really getting into this. At first this was just a makeshift plan to get us out of this mess, but now I was honestly getting really excited. This would be my finest work yet. A true masterpiece! Not to mention the fact that I was on the clock, I only had so much time before the soldiers above made their way into the crypt.
After about three hour's work, I was finally finished with her face and hair. I captured every detail from the creases on her eyelids to her misplaced strands of hair. It looked exquisite if I do say so myself. Princess Aurora was also shocked.
"I can't believe it", she said. "It's as if I'm looking into a mirror. You truly are the best in the world! Even the dwarven artisans of the Great Forest don't come close!"
I continued downwards perfecting the neck and clavicle. Aurora blushed once I began modeling her body. It's not like I had her strip from her wedding gown, I merely made my best guess of what she looked like underneath. I've always considered myself a master of guessing women's measurements, after all. The look on Aurora's face told me I was at least pretty close.
After about three more hours I was finally finished. I had every detail perfectly copied, from the folds of her hands to the wrinkles on the bottom of her feet. I also made the statue as hard as I possibly could to prevent the fools above from accidently breaking it.
While Aurora was blushing and seemed a bit embarrassed at times, she began to look like she was enjoying herself as well. It was nice to see that she appreciated my art.
"Finished!", I shouted, wiping the sweat from my forehead.
"Hmm, there's just one thing", Aurora mentioned. "Your missing my birthmark. I have one here, right above the bellybutton."
With a deep red blush on her face, Aurora lifted up her wedding dress to show me, pulling it up all the way from where it had been touching the ground.
'Hmm... They're white. Makes sense on her wedding day.' Despite my best efforts, I couldn't help but notice her undergarments as she lifted her dress.
'I'm not cheating on you, Sylphy! This is all just for the sake of art!', I assured myself.
"Hurry up!", Aurora complained. "This is really embarrassing."
"Oh, of course! My apologies."
I closely inspected her birthmark. It was about the size of a 100 yen coin and was almost in the shape of a heart; how cute. I turned back to the statue and copied it exactly. Aurora dropped her dress back down and nodded in approval.
"Now there's only one last thing this statue needs", I said with confidence.
"What's that?", Aurora asked. "It looks perfect to me."
"Clothes, of course. You didn't drop down here naked, did you? I also doubt you want me lifting the statue up to your family in this condition."
Aurora's face turned deep red at the thought. "No! Of course not!"
"We'll have to dress it in your clothes."
"W-what!? You want me to undress!?"
"Rudy, what are you trying to do to the young lady! That's going too far!", Paul chimed in.
"Hold on, hold on. We'll head over into one of the other rooms, out of sight. You can dress the statue yourself."
"But then what am I meant to wear!"
"Here." I took off my robe and handed it to her. "Wear this for now. As soon as we get out of the Palace grounds I'll buy you some new clothes to wear."
Still blushing, Aurora reached out and grabbed my robe. "Very well. I accept your terms."
"What? Just like that?" Paul yelled out wide eyed. He couldn't believe a Princess of Shirone would trust me so easily.
I pulled his arm to the side, hinting for him to follow me to the other room.
"We have to hurry. I don't know how much more time we have until they manage to break into this place."
I guided Paul back into the room in the center of the crypt where the magic circle laid. I cast an earth fortress spell and covered the magic circle in a mound of stone and then reached above our heads and pulled down some stone from the ceiling onto the mound, making it look like a small cave-in.
We waited there in that room for Aurora to finish. After about five minutes though, we heard a loud crash and then shouting from the other side of the crypt.
"Over here! We made it through!"
'Oh no. We're out of time!'
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