52. Toward the Academy (3)
52. Toward the Academy (3)
"Karina has to hold on until we arrive... but riding seems to be making her condition deteriorate rapidly."
Reni's voice, thick with worry, cut through the wind.
"If we'd gone with the main force, it would have taken too long and she would've ended up just as bad anyway. The bastards even went so far as to collapse a major bridge to stop us from reaching the academy."
When they completely destroyed the bridge to Monte, our planned stopover, and cut off the road, even I swore without thinking. It had been a stone bridge wide enough for about ten people to cross side by side, and they had smashed it down to the foundations.
If I hadn't hauled over nearby stone and repaired the bridge, we would have had no choice but to take a long detour.
If I hadn't been able to repair it, reaching the academy might have taken another week, so Carbonara—no, Carbonaro—had no choice but to accept the proposal he'd been reluctant to approve.
"...That's true."
Reni nodded, apparently convinced by my explanation.
The proposal I'd made to Carbonaro had been simple.
Splitting the expeditionary force and the wagons and sending them toward the academy by different routes.
Our goal wasn't to get the entire expeditionary force there, but to get Karina into the academy. The plan was to split the force to draw attention while we rode sturdy military horses and rushed Karina to the academy.
It was obvious that staying safely surrounded by the expeditionary force would only delay us. On top of that, Karina's condition was steadily worsening under the curse.
Until a few days ago, she'd still managed a few words and swallowed a little thin gruel when someone fed her. Now she couldn't even open her eyes and did nothing but gasp for breath.
If we couldn't lift the curse as soon as possible, she might die.
That was the worst outcome, one no one in the expeditionary force wanted.
Which was why Carbonaro ultimately had no choice but to accept my proposal.
We parted ways with the expeditionary force in front of the bridge, put a wig we'd gotten from the village on the other side onto Karina's head, strapped her to Reni's back, and started moving on sturdy military horses.
It had already been two weeks since then. Whether because we had acted quickly or simply gotten lucky, we hadn't been caught up in a single incident during that time.
"Yohan, I can ride a horse by myself now, so let's buy one at the next village!"
That startled me.
Millia, who had been sitting in front of me, suddenly yelled out.
With her face flushed and her legs flailing, she looked exactly like a little kid. She was really acting up today. Did she hate sitting in front of me that much? I'd put her there because she looked liable to fool around and fall off if she sat behind me. And after two whole weeks, wasn't it about time she stopped complaining every time?
If she kept thrashing around, it might be easier to give her a knock on the head.
"...Have you forgotten you nearly fell off the horse a few days ago?"
"But this is kind of embarrassing! I'm not a kid!"
She needed to stop thrashing around. She was spooking the horse.
"You want me to treat you like a lady or something?"
"Isn't that obvious? I am a lady!"
"You can't call someone who swaggers around with jerky hanging from her mouth a lady."
"Or someone who catches beetles and brings them back to show off."
Reni and I both stifled our laughter. Millia puffed out her cheeks and pinched my thigh, but that little incident was nothing. I roughly tousled her hair and adjusted the reins.
In her own way, Millia was helping lighten the gloomy mood. Whether she meant to or not, I couldn't tell.
"You two sure get along."
"You're close with her too, aren't you?"
"Not as close as you are... I think?"
What? Why? What?
I met Reni's lukewarm gaze. She immediately turned away and wrapped Karina's arm, which had come loose behind her again, around her waist. We'd secured Karina with straps, but Reni must have been terribly anxious, because she kept turning to check on her. Maybe I should have carried Karina myself and let Reni carry Millia.
...Though there was no way Reni would ever allow that.
"Reni, how much farther to the next village?"
"We're almost there. The next city is a major one, so we can buy more portable rations. And if we ride like hell, we should arrive within a few days."
We were definitely several times faster than a wagon.
The roughly 1,300 kilometers remaining when we put the plan into action had already fallen to a little over 500. We'd moderated the pace somewhat to account for the horses' fatigue, but we'd still covered far more ground than during an entire month by wagon.
"I can finally see the end of this exhausting journey."
"I hope so. Why the hell are we going through all this because of those fucking Halphas bastards? What did Karina ever do wrong..."
Getting put through a regret-obsession-angst plot in real time was fucking awful.
The next time we ran into the Cult of Halphas, I intended to pour every ounce of rage this journey had built up into punishing them. Fucking bastards.
We crossed the plains, stewing over our anger at the Cult of Halphas.
--------------
"General Carbonaro, there are traps along this route as well."
"Hah..."
Carbonaro pressed his fingers firmly between his brows as he stared at the road.
The expeditionary force had been split into four units and was moving separately, following Yohan's proposal. Every time a report of an attack came in from a messenger stationed with each unit, Carbonaro's head throbbed.
'If we hadn't secretly sent Karina ahead, we would have been held up for a long time.'
In a fortnight, they had barely managed to move 150km. They had already been attacked five times, and the village that had been a planned waypoint had also been hit, reduced to ruins and making resupply difficult. Because of this, the soldiers and priests, their faces utterly exhausted, were just barely managing to push forward.
"Take the soldiers and have them disarm the traps. And send scouts around to check if anyone is nearby."
"Yes! Understood!"
Carbonaro watched the soldier salute and run off into the distance. Then he sighed and looked up at the sky.
"I truly don't know what in the world is going on."
The Cult of Halphas had suddenly begun running rampant. There was a strange undercurrent surrounding them, and their objective was impossible to grasp. Why? Why were they targeting Karina?
Carbonaro's thoughts grew tangled.
"General Carbonaro! Enemy attack!"
"...So it has finally come. Soldiers! Form defensive ranks!"
He drew the beloved sword that had accompanied him for half his life.
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"What's with the atmosphere in this city?"
Reni tossed out the remark the moment we entered the city. I looked around.
Countless people passed along the streets. Every single face was dark. Had something serious happened in the city?
I needed information.
"Let's find an inn first."
"Right. Let's get an inn first. Supplies can wait..."
Dragging our weary bodies, we entered an inn with a fancy exterior. We left the horses at the stable, rented an inn room for a high price, and laid Karina down inside the room.
"Go eat first. I'll eat when you two come back."
"Got it! Reni! Stay strong!"
"Yeah, yeah."
A small smile tugged at the corner of Reni's lips.
Leaving Reni and Karina behind, we took a seat in the corner of the restaurant attached to the inn.
"Will Karina be okay?"
"We have to hope so."
Karina dying would be a tragedy, both personally and publicly. I tapped my fingers lightly on the table and looked around. The restaurant was fairly crowded. If I listened closely, I might pick up something useful.
"Millia, I'm going to listen in on the people around us for a bit, so stay quiet."
Millia nodded with a serious face, then propped her chin in her hands and looked out the window beside the table.
I hoped we would overhear something useful.
"When are they going to lift the travel ban on the trade route?"
"Yeah, tell me about it."
The trade route was blocked? Their conversation ended there. I turned my head slightly and listened in another direction.
"Fuck. It's already been a whole week. Those damn bastards blocked the trade route, so goods aren't arriving on time. At this rate, my belly's gonna stick to my back."
"I've got a whole load of goods to sell at the academy, but why have so many monsters been showing up lately? The academy should send a subjugation squad. Why are they so quiet?"
"Don't get me started. There are even rumors that the academy itself was attacked."
"Even so, that's a stretch."
"No, I'm telling you, it's true. I heard it myself from that guy Hans who came from the academy."
"The world's coming to an end. And they haven't even been married that long..."
I frowned at the information trickling through all the sighs. Something I absolutely couldn't ignore had reached my ears.
There were rumors... that the academy had been attacked?
Kalon Academy, which was practically a sanctuary?
Was that even possi—
Ah.
Fuck.
A fragment of memory surfaced belatedly, as if mocking me.
A memory I had completely forgotten.
A fixed early-game event in Survival Academy.
The Hellhound appearance incident.