115. Guidance (4)
115. Guidance (4)
- 1 -
She made up her mind.
Even if she had to bear it all alone, she would at least keep her precious people safe.
Even if it meant ultimately throwing away her own life.
[Kkuk!]
[What have you done, Zain.]
She still could not forget the sight of that blade thrust right before her eyes.
Though Libertas had blocked it, she could not forget the image of that monster who had mercilessly decided to harm her.
[Devour them all.]
Nor could she forget the adventurers and mages who had been sleeping, oblivious to how close she had come to dying.
In the end, she was a being who could commit a massacre at any time, 'if necessary'.
Just like all monsters.
'I have to send them out. All of them, if possible.'
That was what she had resolved at that moment.
She could not leave her precious people among these monsters.
Because the next to face those blades and fangs might be her family, not her.
"You must leave now, Mother. Father."
"Amelia, what is going on?"
And so Amelia ran down the corridor with the former lord and lady.
Their destination was a secret passage known only to those who had lived long in the inner castle.
Amelia intended to escort her parents out of Solemio, send them to another territory, and secure the protection of another noble.
"Hurry. This is the only moment when neither knights nor monsters are around."
After Libertas had emptied the troops from the castle walls to reduce the number of witnesses to the magic circle, Amelia succeeded in deploying the knights who had betrayed them and become demons onto the castle walls.
It was thanks to the argument that they needed people to replace the emptied troops on the walls.
'I never imagined so many knights would betray us...!'
She, too, was aware that the knights of such rural nobles were little more than armed retainers with scant sense of chivalric duty.
She had just never thought such a situation would actually arise.
No matter how incomprehensible a being the enemy was, the fact that only three knights remained human...
Still, she decided to leave it at that.
Because otherwise she would become too miserable.
"Alright, let's go. Where is Yuri?"
"I left her with someone trustworthy."
So, of the knights who had remained human, two were dispatched to search for Yurianne.
Her younger sister was nowhere to be found, even in her room, and no one knew where she had gone in the middle of the night.
'We must find her quickly.'
However, in this escape, finding her younger sister Yurianne was only an 'option'.
It was enough to bring tears to her eyes, but facts were facts.
"This isn't right. Let's find Yuri and then leave together. We can't go alone."
"No, Father. This mission only has meaning if the two of you escape. I will protect Yuri somehow, so you must leave and inform them about that being."
The most important thing was for the noble who held authority to escape and report this situation to the county, and then to the royal capital.
She herself... could offer herself as the final hostage to Libertas, who seemed to have taken a liking to her.
There would likely be pain and suffering, but that was the best course.
"...Alright. I understand. We'll do as you say."
"I... I'm not sure. Is this right?"
Fortunately, her father, Lord Baleon, was acting with relative calm, but her mother, Grelida, was still in a state of confusion.
Because she had already faced Libertas and, through her mana, had deeply felt the presence she exuded.
"That person... no, that being. That magic... it was truly tremendous. And even though we're confined, nothing is happening inside the castle. That means... she's already watching us...!"
"It's alright, Mother. The people I entrusted Yuri to are truly reliable. And you two can still leave."
Under Amelia's desperate soothing touches, her mother gradually regained some composure, but Grelida kept muttering anxiously, 'She's watching... she's watching.'
Although Amelia spoke with unwavering eye contact, it was not that she felt no uncertainty in her heart.
'I have to believe.'
She was simply holding herself together with an even firmer resolve.
Also, the knights she had entrusted with this task were those who had remained human even while almost all their comrades chose the path of the monster, and who had kept their loyalty even while imprisoned with their families.
Without believing in such people, she could not have even imagined proceeding with the plan.
At the same time, one more thing.
[All those who interfered with your operation are dead. Perhaps you should be thanking me.]
Libertas had said so, and indeed there were casualties among the officials and knights.
Upon investigation, those casualties were all people who had committed corruption and misconduct.
Therefore.
[Wouldn't it be only natural (緣) to invest time in refining a worthy rough stone?]
The knights who remained alive must have been humans who had shown at least something to catch Libertas's eye.
[You have courage, a sense of duty, and the resolve to choose. I like you very much.]
And from what she had observed, this eccentric dungeon lord had a fixation on the courage and beautiful hearts displayed by people.
'Probably the reason I'm still alive even after realizing her true nature is also that.'
Amelia could have fled when she realized Libertas's abnormality.
Because she herself knew well that among nobles, there were quite a few who could abandon their family to save themselves, and that this was considered normal.
'But I chose to protect my family. I showed that I would make a contract for their sake. A sacrificial appearance, offering my soul as a hostage to her.'
[How wonderful. To have a good and diligent child like you fall into my hands.]
To that 'unusually human appearance,' the being—whether demon or monster—gave praise.
Praise that Amelia had rarely heard in her life.
But Amelia did not fully understand the value that Libertas perceived in her.
[Miss! Take this!]
[Thank you!]
Her value also lay in the way she, noble though she was, would casually greet and chat with commoners on the street.
Having grown up that way, she had never fully recognized her own value.
'Therefore, now—while she still values me and the contract hasn't been fully made—is my only opportunity.'
Even so, her judgment was not wrong.
"Come quickly, Amelia."
"Sis!"
Libertas had known that she would make such a correct judgment.
- 2 -
"The things happening now... it's because of Teacher, right?"
Yurianne came to me on her own.
Right after the succession of lordship between parent and child took place.
"Why do you think so?"
To the child who had saved me the trouble of seeking her out, I asked kindly.
Though confused, the child expressed her thoughts while listening to that voice.
"Sis didn't like being lord. She just said there was no one else to do it. So I said I'd help her when I grew up."
"How kind, Yurianne."
"Heh heh... and the only new person to enter the castle is you, Teacher."
It was excellent judgment one wouldn't expect from a mere five-year-old.
"Don't hurt my sister. I'll become your hostage."
At the same time, it was remarkable courage.
"Even if you don't do that, this land will become mine."
"But Teacher, you already know what Sis would do."
"You're quick-witted."
It was exactly as she said.
Although Amelia had spoken of making a contract with me, I had not yet made a proper one with her.
I had implied I might harm her family if she didn't obey, but I hadn't particularly restricted her actions.
Because I could impose restrictions in another way.
"Well then. Let's make a contract, you and I."
"A contract?"
In this way.
- 3 -
"Come quickly, Amelia."
"Sis!"
When faced with the danger of losing something, or after having lost it.
People inevitably become desperate.
When desperate, it is easy to pick the most urgent option.
[This... this can't be.]
[Your Father... your daddy ended up like that because he lacked faith. Isn't that right...?]
[Oppa, help me... please?]
I knew that well.
"You... why are you with Yuri...!"
"Because this child is a smart and good child, Amelia."
I placed my hand on the child's head, which was at the perfect height for petting, and met Amelia's eyes.
"I... I knew it would come to this."
"We must act, Amelia. It's already irreversible!"
Behind her, Grelida had already collapsed, and while Baleon drew his blade and urged calm...
She took a step forward toward me.
Though her eyes were unstable and darting around, she was confirming something.
"What do you intend to do to that child?"
"I will raise her well. She is a promising child."
With that, I lowered my hand and revealed the ears I had been covering.
Not the sides of Yurianne's head, but two round ears rising above her hair.
I saw Amelia cover her mouth with both hands.
"What have you done...!"
"The qualities a warrior needs quickly develop when one becomes a werebeast. And aren't they cute to look at, too?"
Grelida and her children could be used as hostages against the Guileus Countdom that ruled the vicinity, but they did not all need to be hostages.
What mattered to nobles was power and territory.
The most important person here was Grelida herself, and as long as they had one of her children, the Guileus Countdom could later reassert rights over this territory.
"How can you say that...! You promised not to touch my family!"
"If you hadn't done something like this."
I pointed to her parents with a glance.
"Ah... Y-Yuri..."
"How could this...!"
Grelida, who after seeing her younger daughter became so stunned and dazed (緣) she could not move, and Baleon, who dropped his sword to the floor.
The very hostages she had been trying to send outside.
Though it had been only a verbal contract, it was she who had broken it first.
Ppudeudeuk
"...!"
Amelia let her hands drop to her sides, showing her despair.
To help her judgment, I decided to show her one more thing.
"Yuri. Go fetch your sister."
"Yes! Let's go, Sis!"
I gave the child a light tap on her back, and Yurianne bounced over to her sister, leading her to me.
"Wait. Yuri... Yuri? Let go...!"
"It's okay, Sis. Teacher said she'd treat me well."
"Yuri...!"
It was not a child's strength, but for a werebear child, it was normal; Amelia could not resist it.
Had I not warned the child in advance about how strong her grip had become, she might have crushed her sister's hand.
I wished she would appreciate my effort.
Though she likely didn't have the luxury of that now.
"Send Baleon and Grelida back to their room. I shall now manage their meals, attire, and going out."
"Yes, Master."
"Yuri. Escort your parents."
The little bear beastman, upon hearing my order, did not move immediately but stared into my eyes for a moment.
Wisdom not befitting a child shone in her eyes.
"Teacher. If you bully my sister, I won't let it go."
"I already made a promise with you, didn't I?"
"There are many liars. You might be one too."
"I have never been the first to break a promise."
"Hmph."
Yurianne pouted her lips and disappeared after her parents.
Only then did I meet Amelia's eyes.
"..."
Eyes that had now lost courage and independence, filled only with helplessness—a vessel emptied of everything, waiting for someone to fill it.