Chapter 24
The Male Lead Went Crazy for the Troublesome Villainess — Episode 24
People began moving according to the cook's hand signals.
"Don't pour the oil out all at once. We'll need to carry what's left up with us, so spread it thin across the ground."
"Up? Up where?"
"Onto the carts."
The cook pointed with his chin toward the baggage carts.
Everyone nodded and climbed onto the carts. The coachman tossed up ropes, and the porters hauled up the oil barrels. The maids each took a torch lit from the campfire.
Before long, about ten people had positioned themselves on top of the carts.
Now all that remained was to lure the thing between the carts.
But there was one big problem.
"But...... how do we draw that thing in between them?"
At Vanessa's question, the carts fell silent. Everyone glanced at one another.
The cook swallowed and adjusted his grip on his cleaver.
"I'll do it. This old body isn't worth much anyway."
"No! At your pace, you wouldn't even make it halfway down the passage before......."
Vanessa, who had started to protest, couldn't finish her sentence and closed her mouth. No one could muster the courage.
Then a small voice spoke up.
"We'll do it."
Vanessa started and spun around to look at the children. Behind them, the other children's eyes glittered in the darkness.
"We're good at running away."
"And we're the fastest."
The children spoke clearly.
Vanessa was at a loss for words.
But she couldn't object when she had no other idea. None of the adults there could outrun the creature, and they couldn't keep hiding forever. It was clearly rummaging through the camp in search of something.
The longer they stalled, the more danger the children would be in.
Vanessa bit her lip. She didn't want to admit it, but the children were right. The small, quick children had the best chance of slipping through the gap between the carts.
'You'll be able to do far more than you think.'
Rosana's words from some time ago came back to her. It wasn't only Vanessa. The children had become capable of doing a great deal, too. And everyone was fighting to survive by working together.
Vanessa felt her nose prickle and nodded grimly.
From far off came the sound of another tent collapsing.
The thing was coming.
Vanessa drew a breath and spread her palm wide.
The children froze in place as if rooted to the spot. They didn't even let out a breath.
The creature's massive body appeared beyond the carts. Eight red eyes glinted in the darkness. Now was the moment.
Vanessa pounded her fist against the cart's wooden boards.
Bang, bang!
At that sound, the children all began banging whatever they held—pots, ladles, anything in their hands.
"Over here!"
"Here, here!"
The clanging of metal rang through the camp. The eight eyes turned toward the sound all at once. The creature straightened its legs, then charged straight at the children.
The ground shook.
Vanessa watched the creature's movements, tense enough that her breath caught. And she waited for the right moment.
One finger.
The children scattered to the right in unison. The creature's foreleg slammed down where the children had just been standing. Dirt burst into the air.
Two fingers.
This time, left. The creature tried to turn sharply and its legs tangled. With that bulk, it apparently couldn't change direction as quickly as the children could.
The children scattered and regrouped according to the hand signals, then scattered again. Each time, the creature lashed out at empty air and was drawn little by little toward the passage. One child tripped over a stone.
"Ah!"
"No!"
Vanessa reflexively clenched her fist. The child immediately flattened themself against the ground. The creature's leg swept past just above them. A few strands of the child's hair were sliced off, but the child was unharmed. The instant the creature passed, another child who had been pressed against the wall grabbed the fallen child's arm and rolled with them under a cart.
Vanessa let out the breath she had been holding.
The creature chased the children all the way to the mouth of the passage. Then she sent the final signal.
Circle.
The children rushed all at once to the far end of the passage. To the creature's eyes, its prey was bunched together in one place. The creature shoved its body into the narrow gap without hesitation.
At that instant, the children all rolled under the carts in unison.
The empty passage held only the creature. Its enormous body was wedged tight between the carts, its eight legs crumpled and flailing. The carts creaked, but loaded as they were with heavy cargo, they neither collapsed nor tipped over easily.
"Now!"
At the cook's shout, the people on the carts tipped the oil barrels.
Black oil poured down like a waterfall, drenching the creature's back. The creature belatedly looked up. Its eight eyes fixed on the people atop the carts.
"Run out from between the carts!"
At Vanessa's cry, she saw the children slip out the opposite side and flee toward the barracks. The children were safe. The cook shouted.
"Burn it!"
Torches rained down.
Whoosh!
The flames swallowed the creature's massive body in an instant. Its dark-red fur burned away, and acrid smoke billowed up.
"SKREEEE!"
It was a scream unlike any they had heard before. One of its legs lashed out at a cart, shattering the wooden boards. A porter on top screamed and was thrown off.
"Are you all right?"
"Hah, thanks for catching me!"
People clung to one another's arms and held on. With their added weight, the carts stayed put and held firm.
The creature, tangled among the carts and unable to escape, was burning. Not a single person jumped down from the carts to flee.
"Pour more oil! Don't hold back!"
When all the remaining oil had been poured, the flames surged even higher. One of the maids tipped an entire pot of boiling oil over the creature's head.
Only when the flames began spreading to the carts did the people jump down and retreat to a safe distance. Vanessa gasped for breath.
She had no idea how much time had passed.
The creature's thrashing gradually slowed. Its body convulsed once, hard, then went still.
No one spoke until the flames died down.
"......Is it—is it dead?"
Someone asked cautiously. The coachman prodded its legs with a long club, then slumped to the ground.
"It's dead. It's dead!"
Only then did cheers erupt. Amid people embracing one another and clapping each other on the back, Vanessa's legs gave out and she sank to the ground.
"Vanessa!"
The children came running and threw themselves into Vanessa's arms. Covered in dirt, every one of them was smiling.
"We did it! We caught it!"
"We didn't get a single signal wrong, right?"
The children clung to Vanessa. Vanessa pulled all their small bodies into her arms at once. Only then did the tears she had been holding back burst out.
"Waaah. You did so well. You did so well!"
* * *
The first thing that caught my eye when I entered the edge of the camp was black smoke.
My heart dropped. No way. So that was where the missing one had gone!
"Vanessa! Lillia!"
The moment I jumped down from my horse, I ran into the camp. I forgot that my legs were trembling.
Between the torn tents, wedged in the gap between two baggage carts, lay a massive corpse charred black. That was probably the fifteenth one.
"......Who did this?"
Kael, who had followed behind me, couldn't finish his sentence either.
"Rosana!"
At that moment, a voice called from the direction of the barracks. I turned to see Vanessa, covered in soot, running over with a whole crowd of children in tow. They were all filthy, their hair sticking up like bird's nests, yet every one of their faces was flushed with excitement.
"Rosana! We—we—!"
"Rosana! We caught it!"
"We caught the monster!"
The children scrambled over one another to cling to my legs.
Dazed, I looked them over one by one. They had scratches here and there, but everyone was fine. Only then did the tightness in my chest ease. I almost collapsed on the spot as the strength drained from my legs.
"You're all...... safe."
The children nodded proudly. Vanessa finally seemed to relax too, smiling as if she might burst into tears.