I Was Rejected by the Main Character in a Romantic Fantasy

Thud…! Thud thud…!!

Helena and Felix began digging the ground without rest.

Although their physical abilities were outstanding, the addition of just two people didn’t significantly improve the rescue operation.

But they didn’t stop.

They just continued to silently remove the soil and debris.

Large drops of sweat fell one after another.

Their arms trembled, and their backs ached severely.

But the two just kept focusing on removing the debris.

Helena exhaled deeply.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she took a moment to catch her breath.

After a moment, Helena suddenly looked at Felix, who was removing debris beside her.

He was sweating more than Helena.

He was doing more work than her.

No, he was doing the most work at this rescue site.

Without resting even a little, he kept removing debris without pause.

His well-dressed shirt was soaked with sweat, and his red hair was also wet with sweat.

Sweat drops kept flowing down his face, but Felix didn’t stop.

He just silently kept moving his body.

“…”

Helena, who had been watching him for a moment, shook her head vigorously and continued working.

Still holding back tears that seemed about to burst.

‘…I can’t see the end of this.’

Felix glanced at Helena, biting her lower lip hard as if holding back tears while moving her body. Then, taking a deep breath that no one noticed, he looked ahead.

There was no sign of the debris lessening.

He thought he should contribute even a small effort, but without meaningful results, he only felt more anxious.

But he couldn’t show it.

The person who should be most distressed was trying not to show it and working hard.

Judging this, Felix just silently moved his body again.

“…How much longer do you think they can hold out?”

“Not much longer, sir. We need to hurry.”

“…Damn, at this rate, there’s no hope…”

Deliberately ignoring the voices of the workers and managers, he silently moved his body.

There’s a golden time for rescue too.

Of course, in this case, a slightly different golden time should be applied compared to Felix’s original world.

When the mana of the mage holding out inside runs out, if they’re immediately buried by the debris, it’s instant death.

If they’re lucky enough to avoid being directly buried by moving to another place… there’s a small grace period.

Felix hurriedly cleared away the debris, praying earnestly in his heart.

‘Please, don’t give up.’

***

Inside the debris.

Only silence flowed from Flott Fell Degreff, the family head, and his retainers gathered around the mage casting magic while sweating profusely.

“…How long can we hold out?”

To the desperate voice of one of the retainers, the mage painfully blocking the debris about to crush them answered in a low voice.

“An hour at most.”

As if his words were not a lie, the barrier blocking the debris was flickering precariously.

“Is it possible to get support within that time?”

“…We must believe it’s possible.”

The situation was hopeless.

At least no one inside was unaware of this fact.

While everyone looked at the flickering barrier with desperate faces, only Flott was quietly observing the surroundings with calm eyes.

“If we use magic other than the barrier, how many spells can we cast?”

“…I can’t guarantee, but for lower circle magic, about four should be possible.”

“I see.”

At Flott’s low response, the retainers who had held a small hope lowered their heads heavily.

But only Flott hadn’t given up yet.

He was just assessing the internal situation with brightly shining eyes.

“In my opinion,”

“…?”

“At this rate, we’ll all be crushed to death in less than an hour.”

At Flott’s words announcing the harsh reality in a calm tone, the retainers couldn’t respond.

If it were someone else, they might have shouted not to say such negative things, but even in this situation, Flott was still the family head and their lord.

Of course, he didn’t say this simply because he viewed the situation pessimistically.

“Wouldn’t it be better to block one side and create a space for us to gather?”

“It, it could be dangerous. We don’t know exactly how heavy the debris is.”

“I know at least that we’ll die if we’re buried.”

Flott casually replied, stroking his chin, and tilted his head to ask the retainers beside him.

“What do you think?”

“…Certainly, if this situation continues, we’ll clearly be crushed to death anyway.”

“I think it’s a bit of a stretch to hope for support to arrive in time.”

“Although it’s certainly a gamble, as you say… if we succeed, we can buy more time.”

As the reliable leader began to lead the conversation, the despairing retainers also began to offer their opinions one by one.

“I think it would be better to block this side rather than that side. If we use this rock…”

“It will be uncomfortable, but it’s most efficient to huddle as close as possible to minimize space. If we do this side like this…”

“Well, when our lives are at stake, we must endure a little discomfort.”

Several intelligent retainers put their heads together, coordinating opinions and developing better methods.

Now Flott stood one step back, reviewing and supporting their opinions.

“If we succeed, how much longer can we hold out?”

“…Since we have no food or water, I can’t guarantee we can hold out for long.”

“We can replenish some water with magic, but we have nowhere suitable to store it.”

“Oxygen is also a problem. As expected, the amount of oxygen consumed might be more than the amount supplied.”

“In summary?”

“At most, three days.”

There’s a survival rule of threes. Three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food.

“…Can’t we keep replenishing water when mana recovers?”

“If we supply water once to this many people, the rate of use will be faster than the rate of recovery.”

“It would be difficult to supply mana in a space like this.”

At Flott’s calm words, the retainers looked at him with subtle expressions.

“Let’s start the plan for now. If we stay like this, we’ll end up neither here nor there.”

However, Flott lightly brushed off even those glances and calmly spoke, pushing the retainers into one corner.

Only then did the retainers, seeing the sweating mage, move in unison to huddle in one place.

“Then, I’ll begin.”

“I’m counting on you.”

Flott quietly took his place beside the retainers and closed his eyes.

Everything now depended on the heavens.

***

Rumble…!!

After digging through the debris for a long time, I perked up my ears at a sound coming from somewhere.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who heard the sound, as many workers’ gazes turned toward where the sound came from.

Helena also looked there with anxious eyes.

It was the sound of the inside of the debris collapsing.

“No, could it be…!!”

“The mage…”

It was common to think that something supporting the inside had collapsed.

Everyone stared blankly at the spot with voices full of shock.

Helena also stopped moving, dazed by the sound coming from nearby.

But I thought differently.

“…Let’s focus the rescue operation on that area.”

Flott Fell Degreff.

Helena’s father is not the type to sit idly by and accept fate.

He’s the kind of person who would find a way even when everyone else is in despair.

At my words, everyone turned their gaze to me.

I met their gazes and slowly started moving towards that spot.

Helena also came to her senses at my words and hurriedly followed behind me.

It’s too early to give up.

Those trapped inside haven’t given up, so we can’t give up on the outside.

“What are you doing…!! Move!!”

At the commander’s shout, the workers staring at the accident site with dazed expressions for a while also rushed to the spot I mentioned.

Thud…!!

I exhaled deeply while roughly digging the ground.

There’s no guarantee that my words are true.

But we must not let go of the thread of hope.

It seemed that feeling was transmitted to everyone.

They all seemed to have gathered their resolve, taking deep breaths.

And then, at that moment.

“Everyone, please step back.”

With an average mage, the rescue operation would take a long time.

This is because the total amount of mana is fixed, and the power of magic isn’t that exceptional.

But.

“From now on, we will take over.”

If it’s an imperial mage.

That’s a different story.

Flutter.

The imperial ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) family’s crest shining clearly on the chest of the robe.

“We have come by the order of Her Highness, Imperial Princess Ashillya.”

A reliable ally had appeared at just the right time.