Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Reunion in the Clearing
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Juliet returned to the forest clearing covered head to toe in dirt.
Torches flickered here and there across the small clearing, and members of the Marigold Trading Company, bearing their insignia, scurried about busily.
They were peering down at the spot where the dungeon entrance had been, now buried under the completely collapsed cliff.
Juliet saw the sight from the exact opposite direction—as she emerged from the forest on foot.
“Juliet!”
The first to spot her was Helene.
Helene cried out her name like a scream. People who came running quickly draped a blanket over her filthy, bedraggled form.
“I'm okay.”
Roy set her down amidst the crowd.
Though her legs buckled beneath her, Juliet staggered to her feet under her own power.
She wanted nothing more than to collapse right there, but she had business to attend to before she let go.
As she scanned the gathered people with bleary eyes, the very person she was looking for pushed through the throng and ran toward her.
“Hey! You.”
It was Theo, his face drained of color.
Just as Juliet had been waiting for, she shoved aside the people rushing to support her and strode straight toward him.
Theo, too, instinctively reached out his arms toward the approaching Juliet.
Anyone would have done the same, seeing her walk like a newborn giraffe.
“Juliet! You, can you even walk okay...?”
But Theo's words didn't get to finish.
Thwack.
“Ow!”
“......?”
The onlookers, who had been ready to shed tears of joy at the touching cousin reunion, were somewhat taken aback.
Juliet had suddenly punched Theo in the solar plexus.
“Hey!”
While Theo was doubled over, gasping for breath, Gray and Isaac came running from the opposite side.
“Juliet!”
“What in the world happened?!”
Theo squeezed his eyes shut and stepped forward. It was time to confess his crime.
“It was—”
“We got lost.”
Thud.
Cutting him off was Juliet.
Ow!
His solar plexus was still throbbing when someone stomped hard on his instep in the darkness. Of course, it was Juliet again.
Theo, weighed down by his heavy guilt, clamped his mouth shut without a word.
“I'm sorry, Uncle. It's all my fault. Please don't be mad at the wizard.”
Juliet began to well up with tears.
Why me?
Eselrid, who had been singled out of nowhere while receiving treatment by the campfire, looked utterly bewildered, but he had no chance to protest.
“It's my fault. I thought it would be fine. I was so stubborn....”
Pretending to wipe away her tears, Juliet gave a quick summary of events.
How Magda had spotted the caravan and come asking for help, how she'd forgotten to put on her communication bracelet and followed anyway, how she'd fallen into a crack in the collapsing ground along with the missing children and discovered the dungeon entrance.
“No, even so, how could you be so reckless—!”
Isaac rarely showed anger, but he did now.
He couldn't stay mad long, though, seeing Juliet on the verge of collapse.
Doing his best to keep a stern face toward his wobbling niece, Isaac said gravely,
“We'll talk about this later. For now, let's get you inside and treated.”
No sooner had he spoken than Gray and the traders whisked Juliet toward the wagons.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Isaac turned around.
“I don't even know how to thank you.”
There stood a group of people who had been quietly watching the scene with evident interest.
About ten men and women, every one tall and striking in appearance.
It wasn't just their looks—they had a distinctive aura that made them stand out.
They wore loose priestly robes reminiscent of those ancient priests might have donned, white garments embroidered with gold thread that were clearly not of human make.
At a glance, they looked like priests from somewhere, but Isaac—seasoned mercenary and vice-leader of the Marigold Trading Company—knew better on instinct.
He bowed his head deeply in polite gratitude.
“Thank you for saving my niece.”
They were undoubtedly of the forest folk.
Isaac was more than a little tense. Though he'd experienced all sorts of things over the years as vice-leader and mercenary, conversing with lycanthropes from such close range was a first.
The werewolves known as the forest folk were infamous for their reclusiveness and disdain for humans.
The rulers of the Silver Forest—kings of Cathia—held such extreme contempt for humanity that they even shrank from speaking to them.
Yet the young man who received Isaac's thanks responded with a rather friendly smile.
Though the youngest of the group, it was easy to guess he was their leader.
“No need for thanks.”
The gray-haired youth showed rare goodwill toward Isaac's courtesy.
Isaac felt a glimmer of hope.
Come to think of it, there had been rumors recently that the lord of the forest had changed. The Silver Forest had been eerily quiet ever since, so the talk had mostly died down....
If the lord had indeed changed, and the new one's disposition was favorable toward humans? This youth might be part of the new lord's faction.
With a touch of optimism, Isaac politely introduced himself.
“I'm Isaac Levatan of the Marigold Trading Company.”
The youth glanced at the proffered hand before grasping it lightly in a handshake.
“Romeo Baskal. You can call me Roy.”
“Thank you for saving my niece. I don't know how to repay this debt.”
“No need. I was just returning a favor.”
“What? A favor?”
This time, Isaac was truly baffled.
Roy grinned.
**
“I'm sorry, this is all because of me.”
Juliet peeked her head out from under the covers and apologized to Helene.
It was the first time she'd ever been bedridden outside of home.
Helene had somehow procured an outrageously luxurious four-horse carriage.
The extravagance wasn't the point. What mattered was that the spacious interior was piled high with soft cushions, making it little more than a moving bed.
Juliet had no idea how Helene had gotten it to the middle of the mountains—and in just a few hours—but it was probably thanks to the Marigold Trading Company's influence.
“Don't say such silly things.”
Helene looked at Juliet with utter pity.
“Don't talk like that—just rest up and sleep it off. That's how you'll recover faster. Got it?”
“Yes.”
Feeling like a child, Juliet was a bit embarrassed.
The urgent baggage had arrived ahead in Carkason while the traders searched for Eselrid and her.
So the slow-moving four-horse carriage was traveling with just Juliet, her maternal uncle and aunt's family, and Roy's group.
Juliet tossed and turned, then stared blankly at the glass on the small bedside table.
Inside was iced tea with actual ice, beads of condensation forming on the surface.
'Ice in the mountains.'
Even for the mighty Marigold Trading Company, it couldn't have been easy to obtain here. But guessing who had brought it wasn't hard.
“Huh? What are you doing here?”
“Ah... just. Don't bother me, go away.”
“What? You punk, what's that supposed to mean? What are you doing?”
“Hey, cut it out! Mind your own business and scram...!”
The familiar bickering of brothers drifted in from right outside the carriage.
Theo was desperately lowering his voice, but Gray hounded him relentlessly, his tone full of mischief.
Juliet smiled faintly.
The footsteps pacing outside had been bothering her for a while—it had been Theo.
Narrowing her eyes, Juliet thought,
'Hmph. Guess his guilty conscience was eating at him.'
But since she had no intention of forgiving him yet, she buried her face in the fluffy pillow.
Feverish, sleep overtook her in an instant.