Chapter 58 – Orphaned Baby Bird (3)
“You guys… Now…”
She raised her trembling hand in a sign of feeble resistance. But she was alone now and we even had weapons.
Even if that man in the driver’s seat intervened, Rebecca-san would be able to stop it. She must have ignored it, saying she was only a student. Thanks to that complacent carelessness, the situation was put under our control.
“I’ll change the bandages, so come here. I won’t do anything weird.”
“…”
“Looking at it now, you don’t seem to be hurt that much. Aren’t you cumbersome?”
“Senior. Just take it off. It’s kind of annoying.”
“I want to avoid being as rough as possible until I’m certain.”
“How is it? I’m sure this happened…”
“…It’s okay. I’ll just take it off.”
Eventually she opened her mouth first on her side. Then, as if in desperation, she began untying herself from the long bandages that had been wrapped around her head. As the cloth that covered her hypocrisy sat down on the floor, her true identity gradually raised its head.
Her face revealed like that was not much different from what we expected.
“…”
“…”
Looking at the face staring at her without words, it would be easier to find a part that doesn’t resemble Roselia. Cold eyes that look down on everyone. The bridge of the nose that rises high like pride. Even his unique cheap makeup method. If she wasn’t a sister, she couldn’t look like this, so there was no doubt about it.
The only difference was the distorted scar on her left cheek. It was the only true part and the occult drawn in the beautiful appearance. Surprisingly, there were indeed burn marks on her face. It seems that the overreaction he showed towards the dragon was not a lie.
After confirming that she was the daughter of the Anbert family, I held Saya’s hand tightly. As expected, a slight tremor passed through her fingertips. To that extent, her face was brutally similar to Roselia’s.
“As expected. He was from the Anbert family.”
“…”
“Are you Rogeria’s sister?”
“Why are you asking if you know?”
He didn’t even try to hide his voice. She gently raised her hand to cover the burn marks and glared at me fiercely.
“Then tell me your true identity. Are you that Lope?”
“I don’t see any obligation to inform you.”
“Don’t keep trying to hide the obvious. Lope. A sophomore. A swordsman major. Of all the boys who got off that ship, you were the only one holding a sword.”
“…”
“And continuing to hide your identity means there’s something to it. The student council president must have stuck by your side for that reason, didn’t it?”
“You have a strong delusion like Roselia’s older sister.”
Even in this situation, is that arrogant personality that tries to interrogate this side is the result of home education or a proof of heredity? Feeling disgusted for some reason, I involuntarily shook my head.
“So what’s the reason you’re looking for Lope? You don’t know anything other than that simple personal information.”
“I know all you need to know. My brother is one of two people who somehow tried to get aboard the ship. Picking them out of so many academy students must mean something is up.”
“Is that all? Is that the only reason you’ve dragged students you don’t even know so far?”
“People in my family never do anything without reason. Even if Roselia is a bit stupid, she’s also Anbert. There’s no way I picked you two for no reason.”
She expressed sisterly faith in a distorted way. She shook her head and interjected, probably tired of listening to her next day.
“You’re a very genius. How did such a smart person come all the way here without a proper escort and with only four people?”
“It’s your side that’s stupid, New Year’s eye disease. If you lead a large army from the beginning, wouldn’t Roselia be suspicious? Of course, if she knew that the kid was half an asshole, she wouldn’t have made such a complicated move. That much Can’t you think?”
“Sir. Sisters are blind as a pair. Pissed off.”
“Anyway, you’d better stop playing this bizarre prank. By now, people on our side have noticed that it’s strange and are chasing this carriage. It’s too late to ejaculate after being caught. If you want mercy, stop the carriage right now.”
She opened her eyes as much as possible and created a lively atmosphere. Unfortunately, I’ve seen Roselia bravado too many times. And she was too much like Roselia.
“Well. I really don’t think they’re after us.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Duke Anbert left for the land of the elves with his first son. And knowing that it would be a dangerous road, he must have put on the utmost escort. Didn’t he?”
“That…”
“Even most of the remaining personnel were sent to Roseria. Because Roselia might really bring that pattern. And in case of emergency, they are the ones who have to euthanize their beloved daughter. It was invested in Rogeria, how many subordinates could you mobilize with nothing?”
“…”
“Besides, at this moment when destruction is approaching, there must be more people who are concerned about their own safety rather than being loyal to their family. In fact, aren’t those four people at most?”
She didn’t answer No, she didn’t answer. It seemed certain that she had hit the spot either way. The laid-back expression she had made up was now slowly fading.
“Damn it! Stop it! Stop it!”
Meanwhile, there was still a loud voice coming from the front. However, when Rebecca grabbed her by the collar, she was silent with a strangling sound. Seeing her fainting with her eyes closed, she even felt a bit pitiful.
“By the way, it ended a little trivially. In the end, it’s not like everyone was in the middle of the day.”
“Well, I guess.”
“Still, the soup was really good. The good news is that I got rid of that throbbing student council president. I’m starting to get sick of it.”
“Well. I guess we haven’t said goodbye yet.”
I looked out the window with those words. As expected, the sight of the wagon Erica rode earlier running towards it like mad caught my eye. A sharp cry was heard through the violently scattered dust.
“Stop!!!”
“You’re quick to notice. It’s really annoying.”
“Rather, it’s too late. I…”
“You! What’s wrong? Honey!!!”
“…I thought it would come sooner.”
I blurted out the tail of my words involuntarily at the desperate scream that broke through the voices. For a moment, I even doubted that they might be a real couple. But another scream that burst out the next moment completely put those thoughts to rest.
“My lady! Are you all right!”
“As expected, those people seem to be everything. Isn’t it Miss Anbert?”
“…”
“And just in case, are there any other siblings tracking Roselia?”
“…”
“…I hope not. Your family is already starting to get sick of it.”
I let out a futile wish and leaned out the window. Then, in an instant, a gust of wind hit the back of her head and her shaggy hair fluttered like a flag.
“Stop the wagon right now! Last warning!”
“If you stop there first, think about it!”
“What? Such a cheeky…!”
“If you want Miss Anbert back, stop the carriage and surrender! Then let’s think about the conditions.”
“This bastard…”
I thought it was a reasonable request, but the coachman gnashed his teeth and spat out swear words. Are all the people of the Anbert family basically dirty? In the midst of trivial questions, someone poked his head out the window from the other side.
It was Carmella’s mother, who had kept her mouth shut all night. She kept her sullen expression even as she caught the wind blowing at her right in front of her. She then lifted her crossbow without warning.
“…!!!”
“Lope!”
At that moment, a sharp wind roared and sharp arrows rushed toward my forehead. But before that, Saya’s voice and her hand rushed in front of her eyes. I instinctively closed her eyes and Saya pulled me by the nape of my neck and held me in her arms.
“Ugh…!”
“Lope. Are you okay?”
Only then did I open my eyes and let out the breath I had been holding back. Then, as the scent of forget-me-nots was pushed in, Saya’s hand, which had caught the flying arrow, came into sight.
“…”
“…Ah”
She, too, seemed surprised by her own actions, and let her arrow drop helplessly from her hand. Then he hugged my face tightly and whispered in my ear.
“Don’t do anything dangerous.”
“…Yes. I won’t.”
“The answer is not good. Are you going to do something dangerous again?”
“No.”
I shook my head and got out of Saya’s arms. Then, holding Miss Anbert by the scruff of her neck, she answered.
“You won’t do anything dangerous to me.”
“What are you doing…”
“Strengthen your legs.”
“What?”
At the unknown request, Miss Anbert expressed her doubts. But instead of answering, I kicked the carriage door violently and threw her body outside.
“Quaaaaah!”
“…!”
“Kyaaaaa!”
Then, before her body fell, he barely grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up. So she let out her screams like mad, dangling from the running carriage.
“Kyaahah ah! This … What are you doing!”
“Miss!”
“Upload now! Upload now!”
“Then I order them to stop and surrender. Come on.”
“What… What?”
Even as her hair fluttered wildly, she frowned at her. Then he nervously spat out the hair that came into her mouth and shot it sharply.
“Do you think I’ll do what you ask? You don’t even have the courage to let go anyway!”
“That’s right. I don’t have the courage to do that.”
“Then just…”
“But he’s a little different.”
“Huh?”
I calmly looked down at her questioning expression. That expression didn’t change until I pulled it towards me while holding it by the collar.
But as soon as I handed it over to Haru, a scream erupted in an instant.
“This… Such a crazy bastard!!!”
“Senior, what is this now? What a wriggling thing…Ugh!”
“Ah..Aaaaa! You almost fell, you blind man!”
“Mistress, I’m surprised. Do you think I’m going to fall too?”
“It’s okay. I’ll catch you.”
“Ooh. That’s fine. Now, let’s start with the title arrangement again. What am I?”
“Such a prank…Aagh!”
At that time, the carriage rocked violently once, and Miss Anbert’s head barely brushed the dirt floor. As she screamed for her throat to break once again, Mr. Rebecca’s voice came from her driver’s side.
“Sorry! The horses are in a bit of a state right now…”
“Whatever the problem…Ugh…!”
“Oh! Watch out, Rebecca! I almost fell!”
“Wait a minute! Don’t stick your head out too much!”
“Your sister? That… Whoaagh!”
As soon as Saya hurriedly pulled Haru’s hair, another arrow passed by with the sound of the wind. It was a pretty sharp attack, but the only damage was the daughter of a noble family, who was barely clinging to the carriage.
“What are you doing you idiots! I almost got hit!!!”
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry!”
“Oh, that’s annoying! Should I just let it go!”
“That…Stop it! Stop it!”
“Damn it, watch out everyone!”
Then the carriage rocked again, and the frenzied hooves of the horses resounded dizzyingly. Deafening wind noise. Arrows flying indiscriminately. There, Haru’s hand is gradually loosening. Unable to overcome all the pressure, Miss Anbert eventually closed her eyes tightly and shouted.
“Damn it… I get it! I get it! You guys stop the wagon! Right now!”
“But, lady!”
“This is an order! Stop the carriage immediately and lay down your weapon! Come on!”
“Ah… I see!”
At her sharp cry, her man finally gave in and nodded to her. Then she pulled the reins to stop her carriage.
But instead of stopping, her words went mad even louder and twisted around. Then the carriage also started shaking like crazy, and her man screamed in panic.
“What…What are you doing! Stop these guys!”
“…! …!”
“Why are you doing this all of a sudden…Stop it!”
“This isn’t good. Rebecca! Maybe now…”
“I know!
“Yes? But…”
“I can’t help it!”
With her cry, the carriage rocked as never before. Only then did the shouts of the horses pierce both ears, and an unknown animalistic instinct reared its head. Clearly something was going wrong.
The non-ideal behavior of animals always leads to disaster. Come to think of it, there were signs from the island. That many flying beasts have all disappeared. There are still acorns left that the squirrel should have picked up. And that led to the strange behavior of the horses this morning.
An ominous feeling spread all over his body. In the meantime, I heard Rebecca’s rough voice.
“Stop! Grab something!”
“Oh… Haru! Saya!”
“Kyaaaaah
When I managed to pull Haru and Miss Anbert up, inertia grabbed my hair and threw it to the side. If Saya hadn’t grabbed me, she might have jumped out.
But the problem started after that. We somehow stopped, but the carriage that was coming from behind was still speeding furiously. The man who was barely clinging to her driver’s seat squeezed the reins as if he had decided something on her and pulled her to the side with all his might.
“…!!!”
The rough movement forced the horses to turn and fell over, and the carriage also swayed wildly and came crashing into this direction at full speed. Thinking that we might bump into each other if we continued like this, I jumped outside while hugging Haru and Saya.
“Ugh!”
An intense pain hit his knee. In the meantime, the wagon was crazily approaching us. But before that, Rebecca stood in our way and shouted loudly.
“Keep your head down!”
Before he could reply, dust and steam exploded at the same time. Consciousness and vision were blurred at the same time in the gray smoke that scattered in all directions.
“Cough…! Cough…!”
“Eww…”
“Is everyone okay?”
Before I could answer her words, I quickly checked the safety of her companions. Fortunately, both Haru and Saya were safely turning over by my side. In the meantime, Mr. Rebecca removed her hand from her wagon, and Erica crawled out through the open door.
“Ah… Ah…”
“Looks like you’re fine.”
“Uhhh…”
It was almost like she was about to burst into tears. I, too, was still not sane, but I somehow managed to get up from my seat with my teeth clenched. Then, holding onto the sword, she approached the fallen Miss Anbert.
But even before that, the horses raised their heads and started running frantically toward the rear. The guys who had fallen on the floor struggled with all their might to get out of here somehow. Every time his hoof touched the ground, soft dirt splattered everywhere.
Only then did I touch the ground with my hand. As Rebecca said in the morning, it was too warm and soft for winter. Originally, by this time of year, just touching it should make her feel chilly. But now, instead of being cold, hot geothermal heat came up.
Even when I dug up the soil a little, I found a fresh green sprout sticking out from between the hard seeds. The birth of that fresh life brought me not hope, but ominous.
…
“Rope…”
At that moment, Saya grabbed my hand and pointed to a point across the field of vision. Although it was far away, when I poked my head out a little, another non-ideal landscape came into view. It was a large hole in the middle of the ground.
And around it, fragments of something pure white were scattered in disorder.
At first I didn’t know what that meant. But realization came very slowly, with a roar that shook the ground. Now, without resorting to animal intuition, I could feel the threat approaching. Something unknown had heard the commotion we had caused and was slowly approaching.
Haru, whose hearing was sensitive, was already drawing his sword. I belatedly put my hand on my waist and looked straight ahead. At the end of the road where we barely stopped, a black shadow slowly crawled out from beyond the corner covered by trees.
“…”
It was only then that I was able to vaguely realize the truth of the disaster that burned the continent two weeks ago. As Saya said, the dragon’s movements were not disordered at all. And it could only be understood from a thoroughly biological point of view.
He did not burn the city to bring death to the land.
…
Rather, it was the opposite.
