Ep.7 - Advice
Ep.7 - Advice
Helen was beautiful.
Yet at the edges of that beauty, like thorns wrapped around a rose, there was something unsettling.
Even Helen herself, the thick cigar she smoked as if chaining herself to it, the sharp smell of alcohol that swept away its scent—all of it prickled faintly in my nose.
Helen smiled at us.
But that smile seemed meant only for me.
"..."
Riko's eyebrows shot up. Her hand had finally slipped out from inside my clothes, but it went straight to her dagger.
"You, what the hell are you doing, you bastard."
She asked, speaking for all of us.
Agreeing with the idea that we should actively use Save and Load—that alone was nowhere near enough to dispel their suspicious gazes. No, if anything, it only made me more suspicious.
"I am merely a woman who stays by your side when you need me."
But the mysterious woman simply put the cigar, still quietly burning between her fingers, back to her lips and draped an arm gently over my shoulder. She spared her words.
Only then did I feel the intense smoke anew. The smoke that had idly wandered around Helen's mouth spread through the carriage, carrying her scent with it. Belatedly, I noticed it was still sweet and stirred a sharp longing.
"Eh, Eva! Where is Eva!"
That quiet smoke was scattered in an instant by Neva, who shot to her feet and shouted. We had left her younger sister beside Helen—on the left side of the driver's seat—so if Helen was now inside the carriage, there was no one left to watch over her.
"Young lady Eva is..."
Helen did not reveal Eva's whereabouts right away; instead, she drew in another mouthful of cigar smoke and paused deliberately.
And then,
"Whoa, fuck."
That brief, tiny pause was enough to make Neva bolt out of the carriage. Of course, it was also enough to make Riko catch the movement, swear, and hurl herself after her.
Kudangtang-
The two tangled together and made the carriage heave. Their violent struggling cracked the seats, and the wheels creaked ominously.
"You fucking bitch...! Knock it off! Unless you want to walk all the way back here again!"
Thankfully, the magic Chichi had cast kept their voices from leaking out.
But since only their cursing was silenced, the shaking and creaking of the carriage were probably still audible outside.
If the knights came charging in, I would have to Load,
but Loading in this situation would be difficult.
Because,
the last save point was...
"You made sure to save before crossing the swamplands... so wouldn't it be better to save right now and continue the discussion at length? I suspect everyone is too afraid of the save point to even mention it, since you placed it in such a terribly dangerous spot."
...What?
She spoke as calmly as if she already knew my thoughts, my very words.
"You do know that mana becomes impossible to use when crossing the swamplands where the Twin Priestess resides in human form, yes? Even so, detouring around the swamplands would add three days to arrive here, so I thought it right to save now. If you Load, the pursuit will only grow fiercer."
Everyone listened to Helen's words.
We could not ignore her eerily unsettling words.
As if our necks had been forcibly seized and fixed in place, we all stared at her.
"Hmm- and... shall I speak a little more honestly? Everyone is free to interpret and accept the ability God has granted as you wish, but you haven't set a single save point in a safe location in the past... and you aren't exactly using it at every critical moment either... what on earth are you all doing?"
Helen spoke as if scolding us, fiddling with her cigar.
The piercings lined up neatly along her ear clinked together with a tidik- sound.
Listening to that sound, we could only keep pressing Neva down firmly.
We couldn't approach Helen, and we couldn't take any other action either.
We were all just huddled together, holding Neva down, keeping our ears open, nothing more...
"Delin-gun?"
"Y-yes...?"
"Why are you so quiet? Could it be that my advice is not to your liking?"
Her gaze, flickering through the smoke, turned toward me.
As if urging me on.
"...For now, don't listen to what that person says, and listen to what noona tells you. Alright?"
Noticing my unease, Chichi quietly drew near and cupped my cheek.
A warmth gentler than usual melted my fear-stiffened, creaking mind.
"I thought a little more about what Philmark-ssi said, and noona also thinks it'd be good for us to use Save and Load proactively from now on. I was against it at first, but... the more we use Load, the more trouble it puts the other side in, isn't that right?"
"No! They follow us through the Load too, I'm telling you! Didn't you hear what those merchants said? They were ordered to capture Chichi-noona and Kaede-noona too, unlike before!"
"Yeah, that's true. Even so, the other side can't act immediately."
Chichi whispered carefully,
and Riko finished the thought against my other ear.
"Because that queen bitch doesn't move personally—she's in the position of having to order her flunkies around."
"Yeah. That's how it is. Going back as far into the past as possible could be one method, but noona thinks it'd be better to use that ability of yours to throw the queen into confusion."
"Th-this humble one cannot understand what on earth you are all talking about at all..."
I gulped and studied everyone's expressions.
Is this right?
Is this what I should be doing?
Questions were creeping up on me, but first...
"B-before that! What about Eva-ssi?"
I checked on Eva-ssi's well-being.
Because if something bad had happened to her, the moment I placed the save, it would become irreversible.
"You are kind. As always."
Helen smiled again.
As if satisfied with my answer.
"...She was trying to rest her eyes for a bit, so I let her lean on my shoulder. Perhaps because she was quite startled, she fell asleep right away. The sight of her sleeping, breathing softly, was just like looking at a little rabbit."
Chichi, who did not trust the suspicious woman, immediately drew a circle in front of us.
The mana that gathered around her fingertips soon revealed the front of the carriage.
"Hahm... huum..."
Just as Helen had said, the small, delicate girl was curled up, seeking sleep.
"Hoo... okay. I get it. Save."
[Save point set!]
I called out a save for the first time in a long while.
I couldn't remember how long it had been.
But there was still no leisure to worry about such things.
"They're heading toward us. Looks like we've drawn their attention."
In the scene Chichi was showing us, the figures of knights approaching the carriage were reflected.
"Oh, what shall we do! First, everyone disguise yourselves! I shall disguise myself as a carrot, so everyone grab anything and quickly conceal your bodies!"
"Calm down...! I told you, I'll handle it with magic!"
We hurried deeper inside the carriage.
Chichi had told us before: we just needed to press our bodies tightly together, lean flat against the wall, and then slightly distort the view of the carriage's interior.
"Scoot closer this way...! Kyaak! Too close, that's too close!"
"Wh-who is grabbing my tail! If it is not Seobang-nim, do not touch it!"
"You're the one pushing into this side! It stinks, so get away!"
"Everyone be quiet...! Quiet! They're coming. Any moment!"
Heuk...
I-I can't breathe...
Pressed and squashed against the wall, crushed between the noonas, I could barely watch Helen step out of the carriage.
She was still wearing a smile.
"It looks much better. All of you..."
The voices of the knights could be heard from outside.
They banged on the carriage and shouted.
"Hey! Brat!"
They were probably trying to wake up the girl who had fallen asleep at the front of the carriage.
Well, of course.
Even in the original world, if a boy who looked like a middle schooler at best was driving a cart, anyone would be startled.
And if that cart was quivering, they'd be even more surprised.
"What's this? Where are the adults."
"Eh, eung...? Eh? Eeeh?"
"I asked where the adult who drove the cart is. Answer me."
The sluggish voice of someone who had just woken up trembled, sounding extremely flustered.
Since she was dragged along without knowing anything, she probably had no idea what to say as an excuse...!
"Don't worry. I will resolve this... Ah! And please, do stop this magic now. It would be troublesome if we're caught."
Helen walked out of the carriage, enjoying her cigar again as if it were nothing.
Watching her retreating figure, we held our breath even more.
Well.
I didn't exactly need to hold it.
Since my face was already buried in Kaede's tail and Riko's breasts, simply breathing was a struggle.
"Eup, heup..."
The scents wafting from both sides made sounds slip out of my mouth involuntarily,
but thankfully, Riko swiftly covered my mouth, so I didn't need to worry.
The only thing I had to worry about was whether I'd suffocate and die before the knights passed by.
"Is there some business you have? Or, perhaps, could you help my carriage pass through?"
Helen's voice came from outside.
She was perfectly nonchalant, as natural as if she knew nothing at all.
"Are you from the Holy Kingdom? Currently in Albator, by order of Her Majesty the Queen, we are inspecting everyone entering and exiting the city, so we will take a brief look at your carriage."
"Ah, I see there has been such a matter. However, I am currently hurrying because Her Majesty the Queen has summoned me... so please, I beg your consideration."
I wasn't quite sure what she was talking about,
but soon, she made a rustling sound as if pulling something out from her chest.
"Th-this is...!"
The startled voice of a knight carried over the carriage wall to all of us.
"Just check it quickly and send her on her way. Quickly! Her Majesty the Queen personally wrote it in her own hand."
Their inspection ended much more easily than we had expected—
so easily, in fact, that the word 'anticlimactic' seemed fitting.
The knights deferred to the archbishop with utmost politeness as if she were a guest of honor, carefully watching her mood,
and in the end, a few knights simply glanced inside the carriage from outside and then passed by.
Everyone was too busy flattering Helen to pay proper attention.
We finally entered Khalid.
Khalid was bustling, rowdy,
and because of that, it overflowed with liveliness.
"..."
The only ones without any liveliness were probably us inside the carriage.
Ruminating over what Helen had shown us,
we sat quietly, feeling the presence of Helen's cigar smoke.
No one asked first.
Because everyone already knew that Helen—
that she would tell us.
"Everyone is so quiet."
Her voice drifted in from the front, now and then.
That voice was like an endlessly gentle mother, yet as heavy as the burning cigar.
"Tonight will be long, I expect. For we have many stories to share with one another. If only the moon would rest for a day as well, for us small little ones."