Adaptation (5)
Saving my parents too would have been blatant greed. Wasn’t it? There was no need to stir up extra trouble by stepping outside the prologue. For one thing, I had no idea where my parents even were, and the story seemed deliberately structured so there wouldn’t be time to save them anyway.
“Saren.”
“Y-yes?”
Still in shock, Saren looked completely out of it.
“We’re leaving today. While I go to my room and pack, you gather only what you absolutely need. Keep it to a minimum.”
“What!? Just the two of us!?”
“Well… for now?”
In truth, we couldn’t leave with just the two of us. The person absolutely required for the prologue was the maid Vivian. I had to bring her no matter what. But in this sprawling mansion, I had no clue where she might be. And there was no time to search for her room by room. That left only one option: hope we ran into her by sheer luck.
“Understand? Only the bare essentials.”
“Brother…”
Fear flooded Saren’s eyes as she stared at me. Suddenly hearing talk of treason and flight, her reaction was probably natural.
“Hoo…”
I rose, moved to her side, and gently cradled her head in my arms.
“B-Brother…!!”
“Saren, you said you trusted me, didn’t you?” I whispered against the crown of her head.
Saren hesitated in silence for a moment, then gave a small nod.
“…Yes. I trust you.”
Her satisfying answer made the corner of my mouth lift slightly.
“Then finish preparing and wait inside the room. I’ll pack quickly and return.”
“Okay!”
I left the room. What luggage could I possibly need from here? It wasn’t as if radios existed in this era, and there was no chance of finding so much as a lighter. Maybe a compass? Above all, this wasn’t actually my room. Still, there might be money or jewels, so I had no choice but to check.
Creak—
The second time entering this room. It looked just as modest as before. The first thing I opened was the wardrobe. A large, angular bag sitting on the floor caught my eye. Leather, with metal reinforcements on the corners—an old-fashioned trunk.
I opened it and packed two or three of the lightest-looking outfits. Thank goodness the weather was warm. Then I moved on, rifling through every drawer. That was when I spotted something odd.
“What is this?”
It looked like a compass, but there was no needle. Instead, a strange blue light protruded sharply in the shape of one. Yet it wasn’t pointing north. It continued steadily in a specific direction, as if indicating somewhere in particular.
So it wasn’t a compass after all.
“Ugh!”
I shook my head hard. There was no time to dwell on useless things right now. I grabbed the object along with a map, a bottle I could use as a canteen, and a dagger for emergencies. All of it gathered in under five minutes.
Deciding this was enough, I slung the bag over my shoulder and hurried to Saren’s room.
Knock knock—
“Saren, it’s me.”
“……”
Silence. A flicker of unease passed through me.
“…Saren?”
I called again, but there was still no answer. My spine went ice-cold. I flung the door open and shouted.
“Saren!!”
There she was, standing by the window on the far side of the room, her face deathly pale with terror.
“Brother…”
“You were here the whole time—why didn’t you answer? I thought something had happened!”
“S-sorry. But look outside…”
With a trembling hand, Saren pointed out the window. An inexplicable anxiety gripped me. Frowning, I stepped beside her and looked out.
And my anxiety became reality.
“What the…”
In the distance, at least a hundred armed soldiers were swarming toward the mansion.
“The soldiers really came, just like you said, Brother…”
“……”
If they caught us, it would be immediate execution. Stoning. Beheading. Summary decapitation. Even if I came back to life again, I never wanted to experience that horror twice.
“Saren, we don’t have time. Did you finish packing?”
She nodded slowly.
“Good. Let’s head for the back door.”
We clasped hands tightly and rushed into the hallway. The maids we passed bowed with innocent, unknowing faces. The sight made my chest ache. These people were all going to die now. Simply because they served the Elcia family, they would be stoned, jeered at, and finally have their necks pathetically severed. Just as I once had.
Even so, I had to turn away. I was holding Saren’s hand, and I lacked the power to save them all. Yes, this was an unavoidable choice. Unavoidable.
After we descended the stairs and were just about to open the door to the backyard—
“Young Master! Young Lady!!”
A blonde woman came running from afar, clutching a large white bundle.
“Vivian!?”
My heart raced at the sight of her, and a smile rose unbidden to my lips. At last, the three of us were together, exactly as the prologue demanded!
“Huff… huff… Young Master, Young Lady! Imperial soldiers are outside right now…!!”
“Perfect timing, Vivian. You’re coming with us.”
“Huh? Where…?”
“Anywhere.”
Oddly enough, it felt less like Vivian was saving us and more like I was leading everyone. But it didn’t matter. Any road would do as long as we reached our destination. My chest swelled with emotion at the simple fact that the three of us had gathered in one place.
That joy lasted only a moment.
BOOOOM—!!
“Capture every last one of them without exception!!!!”
“Yes!!”
The thunderous shout from afar made my breath catch.
“Hoo…”
Still, the three of us were together now. It would be fine. It had to be. I steadied my breathing and opened the mansion’s back door.
The backyard was lush with greenery. At its far end stood a high stone wall with a wooden gate.
“Let’s go, Saren. Vivian.”
We ran without hesitation. The life ahead would undoubtedly be harsh, but first we had to survive.
“Brother!!”
Saren stopped and called out to me. When I turned, she was pointing behind us, her face flushed with excitement.
“There’s a stable just around the corner! Let’s take a carriage out from there!”
“A carriage?”
“Yes!!”
A carriage. It was a dangerously sweet temptation.
“No!!”
Vivian urgently gripped my shoulder.
“…What?”
At the same time, Saren’s expression twisted.
“The stable is farther after turning the corner! It’s far too dangerous to go now!”
Her cry sounded desperate. The problem was that I didn’t know the stable’s exact location. If I did, the decision would have been easier.
“Brother!” Saren clutched my forearm. Her eyes begged me to listen.
“You know it’s true! If we hurry now, we can still make it!! If we flee on foot, they’ll catch us sooner or later!”
“Young Lady!!”
“Shut up, Vivian!!”
What was this? Why were they suddenly fighting? We didn’t have time for this. The path to the stable might be dangerous. Following the original plan and escaping through the back gate might be safer. But we all carried luggage. We couldn’t simply abandon it. And we had no idea what the outside world held. That fact alone made further debate pointless.
“Saren’s right, Vivian.”
“Y-Young Master!?”
“We’re heading for the stable.”
“Ha…”
“Yes, Brother!”
Vivian sighed while Saren let out a cheer. Until we reached the corner, Vivian remained silent. She simply followed, clutching her white bundle tightly. It looked quite large and heavy. What on earth had she packed while fleeing in such a rush?
“Brother!”
“Yeah.”
At the corner, Saren and I cautiously peeked out and scanned the area.
“It looks like the soldiers haven’t reached there yet!”
“Seems that way.”
Following her gaze, I saw a large wooden building standing alone. The stable wasn’t far, just as she said, but the path to it was the problem. It was completely open ground with nowhere to hide—a spot fully visible from the mansion. Only then did I understand Vivian’s warning about the danger.
Even so, nothing changed. We still needed that carriage, or at the very least a horse.
“We’ll take the carriage and exit through the stable’s back gate, right?”
“Yes, exactly!”
“Young Master, are you really sure…?”
“Vivian! Stop jinxing us. If you don’t want to come, go out the back gate alone!!”
Saren cut her off with a sharp cry. For some reason her tone had been strangely edged since earlier. Maybe it was just my imagination.
“No time to argue. Let’s move.”
It was a distance we could cover in thirty seconds at a full sprint. Gritting my teeth, I ran, praying we wouldn’t be spotted.
“There!! The Daness brats are over there!!!”
But desperation was only desperation. A roar from the mansion windows echoed across the open space.
Damn it. Of course it was impossible to evade the eyes of so many soldiers in this exposed field. Still, getting caught the instant we started running felt unfair.
“Catch them now!! The maid too—every last one!!”
“Tsk.”
The soldiers began closing in rapidly. Yet the two women who should have been running beside me were nowhere in sight. When I glanced back, they had already fallen far behind.
“What are you two doing!? Run faster!!”
“Huff… huff…”
The faster the soldiers narrowed the gap, the more frantic I became. But there was no way their pace would suddenly increase.
“We’re almost there!! Just a little faster!!”
Bang—!!
The moment they slipped inside, I slammed the door and locked it tight. Then I turned and surveyed the stable.
There wasn’t much to see.
“This… this is…”
The place was far too empty.