Cat's Eye and the Jovial Man (4)
"Wahahaha!"
"Say, about those shackles. I got off with plain rope—how come you get iron ones, Thor?"
Thor's wrists were so thick that even the iron shackles barely had room to spare.
"Did you truly think something as lowly as rope could bind me? Hahaha! These iron shackles are a device for sealing away my monstrous strength. Mere rope, I'd slip out of in a trice."
"Oho, so you're tremendously strong, then."
"You bet! I could even topple an ogre!"
"...You're serious?"
"Do grant me that there's a pinch of jest mixed in! Wahahaha!"
Thor, who had been laughing heartily, soon wore a look of worry instead.
"What use is strength, however great, if I cannot undo a single magic shackle like this? We are nothing but beasts penned behind iron bars."
Cloud flashed a sly grin at Thor's lament.
"Then if I free you from those shackles, will you protect me from those three vixens?"
"Is that even a question, brother? Once my body is free, whether three women come charging at me side by side with blades drawn, or line up before me on their knees with their rumps bared, cutting through them alone would be a piece of cake!"
Thor laughed with boundless confidence.
"That's what I thought... But I'd appreciate it if you'd drop the 'brother' at the end of your sentences. I have no intention of being anyone's Hole Brother."
"Give it time and it will grow on you! Wahahaha!"
"Anyway, fine. Then I'll set you free."
"Set me free? How so? Do you know magic, then?"
"No."
"Then how do you mean to free me?"
"Before I tell you, say 'Cat's Eye bastards' first."
"Hm? Why that?"
Thor blinked, utterly baffled.
"No particular reason. Just say it."
"Hmm. Cat's Eye bastards."
"Good. The simple ally-identification procedure is complete. From this moment I acknowledge you as one of us, so guard me with your life until we're out of here."
"I swear it upon the honor of House Joffrey! I could never let my savior come to harm!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Thor tilted his head.
"But how do you mean to escape? You'd need to be free yourself before you could protect your brother, no?"
"Don't worry about that."
Cloud said, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
"The tricks I picked up as a boy happen to be specialized for exactly this sort of situation."
With his arms still bound behind his back, Cloud slipped his hands into his trousers. As he busily rummaged around the cleft of his backside, the jingle of keys soon reached Thor's ears.
"You don't mean...?"
Thor's eyes went round as saucers.
"That's right—the keys. Besides the set hanging at the cave entrance, the fat one carried a spare, so I lifted it without her ever noticing. All that weight she's packed on must be the cause—her trousers were about to burst at the seams. The key ring tucked in her back pocket kept dangling this way and that, one step from dropping to the floor."
"Wahahaha! You are truly the finest! The finest! Magnificent!"
After that, the two of them turned their backs to one another and, lying on their sides, grunted and groaned with effort as Cloud worked Thor's shackles open first. Then Thor, his hands and feet finally free, snapped every last rope binding Cloud with nothing but the strength of his grip.
"You are a clever one indeed! So sharp-witted, and nimble-fingered besides—however did you get caught?"
"When I first spotted that pretty thing in the mountains, I suspected she was bait. No—I was certain of it."
"And knowing that, you bought this suffering all the same?"
"It was fifty-fifty. Was she a woman threatened by bandits into playing naked bait, or one of the gang from the very start? I was curious which of the two it might be."
"Either way, your peril was unchanged. Why did you not run?"
"Ask a man's instincts about that one. Show me a cock that wouldn't stir at a woman with a pretty face and a figure like that."
"Wahahaha! Well said! Well said indeed!"
"Truth be told, I also nursed some hope that if I rescued a woman taken by bandits, she might repay me down the road—live with me, or something along those lines. I hate drifting. I want to meet a good woman and settle down in one place."
At the wistful look on Cloud's face, Thor guffawed.
"That sounds like something straight out of a storybook. But I dearly love such dreamy tales! I like you, brother—you still carry a pure heart!"
And then he declared:
"As of today I have made my resolve! You saved my life, brother, so though I know not when, next time it shall be I who stakes his neck to protect you!"
"As if that day will ever come. The moment we're out of this cave, we part ways. I want no part of being Hole Brothers."
"Wahahaha! No need to be so bashful about it! Isn't it a splendid thing!"
In any case, the two of them, now free of their cell, made side by side for the cave entrance. Then, without warning, Cloud raised a hand and brought Thor's footsteps to a halt.
"I'm the smaller one, so I'll go check what's happening outside. Wait here a moment."
"Very well. Look sharp, and mind yourself."
Walking ahead, Cloud crept toward the cave entrance with his footsteps muffled, poked his head out, and cautiously surveyed the scene beyond.
"Gasp!"
Sylvia had suddenly come into view. Mounted on her horse, she was making her way toward them with the three women trailing behind.
At that sight, Cloud's heart dropped like a stone.
"She didn't die to the Cyclops?! She's alive?!"
Muttering in disbelief, he spun on his heel at once, marched straight back into the cell inside the cave, and locked the door behind him.
Thor asked, utterly dumbfounded.
"What in the world—you finally escape, and now you walk right back into the cell?"
"I'm about to die...!"
Shaking like a leaf, Cloud shuffled to a corner of the cell, turned to face the wall, and hunched into a ball.
"Die? To whom, pray tell?"
"To a certain female knight. Any moment now."
"A female knight?"
"That girl is heading this way right now. We're done for, done for...!"
"Hm? Now which girl would this be?"
Thor tilted his head, uncomprehending. At that very moment, the mouth of the cave suddenly erupted into an uproar.
"Now!"
"Kill them!"
"Die!"
The instant the three women's shrill, murderous cries rang out, the clash of steel followed, again and again—and then a woman's voice, regal and commanding, rolled thunderously deep into the cave.
"So you were scheming something here after all! I shall not let this pass, you vile wretches!"
At the sound of Sylvia's voice, Cloud screwed his eyes shut and clamped his hands over his ears.
"I'm fucked. I'm fucked. I'm fucked...!"
"What are you so terrified of? At least tell me the reason!"
Thor, standing blankly before the iron bars, pulled a frustrated face.
Meanwhile, the screams of the three women meeting the blade rang out.
Before long, the cave's mouth fell silent once more.
Then footsteps reached Thor's ears.
Clack. Clack.
He turned toward the entrance to see a heavily armed female knight striding into the torch-lit cave.
"...?"
She spotted Thor standing dumbly before the bars, and though he had the face of a tiger and a bulk to match, she showed not a flicker of alarm as she asked, level and calm:
"Are you in league with the women slain outside? Or were you held captive?"
"A captive, and wrongfully so. Pardon my impertinence, fair maiden, but might I ask who you are?"
"I owe you no answers. I seek only a man called Cloud. Is he within?"
"If you mean Cloud—"
"Well, well! Look who it is! If it isn't Sylvia!"
Before Thor could get a word out, Cloud sprang up from inside the cell and greeted her with all the delight of a long-lost friend.
"Cloud!"
Having finally found Cloud, Sylvia's heart began to surge.
"You scoundrel! So this is where you were!"
"I missed you, Sylvia! Hurry and get me out of here! I'm dying in this box!"
She fixed him with a look of pure contempt.
"Do not feign familiarity with me! The mere sight of you sets my blood boiling!"
"Did you miss me too, then?"
"Silence! Seal that cursed mouth of yours this instant, or I shall strike you down where you stand!"
"So if I just stay quiet, you won't kill me?"
"Silence!"
Fury surged through Sylvia to the very roots of her hair. Yet she did not let it burst free. She bowed her head for a moment to steady herself, then spoke with composure.
"I have questions for you."
"Like what?"
Perhaps mindful of Thor watching from the side, she changed her tack.
"If I release you from this cell, you will follow me in silence. Refuse, and I shall cut you down on the spot."
"You'll kill me even if I do follow."
"And you'll die if you don't!"
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
"You are my prisoner from this moment on—whether you live or die rests with me! Know that your life now hangs in my grasp, and that freedom shall never be yours again!"
"Prisoner, you say? Hmm, that has a rather pleasant ring to it. A prisoner of love, perhaps?"
"You insolent wretch!"
With that, Sylvia seized her hilt and made to draw her sword then and there.
Alarmed, Cloud hurried to talk her down.
"Calm down! Calm down! I'll be quiet! Quiet!"
"Utter such filth one more time, and I shall take your head without a shred of mercy. Burn that into your memory!"
"O-Okay, calm down, calm down."
Only when Cloud had responded with due tact did she finally settle her agitation and pick up the key ring lying on the ground.
Shortly after, the iron bars swung open.
Clank.
"Come out."