Chapter 48
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: A Timely Rescue
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“What…?”
I took my hands off the trebuchet and accepted the binoculars from Ethan, scanning the town.
Just as Ethan had said, I could see the shadow of a person moving behind the large tree in the square.
The problem was that the area around the square was swarming with monsters. The man was trapped, unable to get out.
“Why is he in a place like that…?”
“It looks like he was trying to escape the town.”
Ethan clicked his tongue in annoyance. He stared at the town, his expression showing he didn't know what to do.
There was no other choice. I repositioned myself in front of the trebuchet, steeling my resolve.
“I'll provide cover.”
“Pardon? Cover for what?”
“For Mr. Ludpersher. To help him get out of there, we need to clear a path first. We'll divert the monsters' attention. With this.”
The original plan was to destroy the statue of the girl in the center of the square where Knox was standing. But since we had to rescue Knox, I decided to modify the plan a little.
It looked like Knox was trying to escape to the left of the square, so I planned to destroy a building on the right. If the monsters were drawn to the sound of a collapsing building, a path would open up on the left.
“We don't seem to have that many rocks. That means you can't afford to miss. Can you do it?”
Ethan asked, a hint of worry in his voice. I nodded confidently.
“Besides, we were planning to draw the monsters' attention anyway.”
Even if we were destroying buildings, the goal was to avoid demolishing any useful ones. It would be a huge loss if a grocery store or a general store, full of necessities, was destroyed.
“For the first shot, I'll aim for that stall.”
To the right of the square was a large stall. It wasn't a shop inside a building but rather a temporary structure, like a street vendor's container, that only opened on market days. It wouldn't be a problem if it was destroyed.
“It's a wonder that thing hasn't been destroyed yet.”
Ethan muttered, looking through the binoculars, then signaled to me.
“I'll count to three, then you fire.”
Ethan would be the lookout, and I'd be the muscle…
I don't know why I'm always the one doing the heavy lifting when that strapping man is right there, but I guess I'm better at the physical stuff…
Whatever the reason, it's a sad story.
“One. Two…”
Ethan gave the signal, and I pulled down the trebuchet's arm with all my might.
“Three.”
The moment he gave the signal, I let go of the arm—
*Fwoosh!*
The rock soared high into the clear sky, tracing a wide arc before striking the stall dead-on.
*CRASH—!*
The loud noise drew the attention of every monster toward the stall.
“I hit it!”
The thrill of a direct hit was incredible. Unable to contain my excitement from the first success, I celebrated wildly for a moment.
Ethan glanced at me with a faint smile before replying sternly.
“It's too early to celebrate.”
He had already looked away from me and was scanning the town with the binoculars. I calmed myself and followed his gaze toward the town.
Looking closer, it seemed like more monsters were flocking to the square. Hitting the stall had diverted the attention of the nearby monsters, which was good, but the crash had also drawn monsters from farther away.
I could see a dark figure behind the tree in the square, hesitating, moving as if unsure whether to step out.
Knox, who had been waiting for the right moment to escape, seemed to give up due to the sheer number of monsters and sat back down behind the tree.
“Do you see that building to the right of the stall? It would be best to hit that one next.”
Ethan said, surveying the area with his binoculars. I loaded another rock and prepared to fire.
I aimed in the direction Ethan had indicated. The trebuchet was practically fixed in place, so turning it as much as I wanted was impossible.
*'I'll just have to use brute force.'*
If I turn it and then hold it in place with my strength, it should work out somehow.
*'Who cares, I'm strong! You're all going down!'*
I pulled down the trebuchet's arm with all my might.
“One. Two…”
Ethan quietly counted down,
“Three!”
The moment he gave the signal, I released the arm.
*Fwoosh—!*
Once again, the rock soared through the sky in a high arc.
*CRASH—!*
Moments later, it completely demolished a section of the target building's wall.
“Did you see that? A perfect bullseye!”
Unable to contain my excitement, I let out a shout without thinking. Ethan quickly raised a hand and covered my mouth.
“Shhh.”
His large, firm palm pressed against my lips.
I furrowed my brow and gave Ethan an annoyed look, but then I remembered that the monsters were sensitive to noise and sighed.
*'Right. My bad.'*
My sigh sent a puff of hot air against his palm, and Ethan reflexively pulled his hand away.
In any case, the monsters that had been lurking in front of the stall began to move to the right, toward the sound.
Finally, an opening appeared on the left side of the square. An escape route.
Seizing the opportunity, Knox darted out from behind the tree and quickly scanned his surroundings.
“What's he doing? Why isn't he running?”
Ethan muttered in frustration.
Just then, Knox looked in our direction. I waved instinctively. Beside me, Ethan shot me a "what are you doing?" look.
“It looked like he was trying to see who threw the rock.”
I couldn't see Knox's expression. He just stood there for a moment, looking our way. He had to move soon, though, as monsters were beginning to approach from a distance.
I watched as Knox safely made his way to the empty left side of the square and disappeared into an alley. Once he was in the alley, his whereabouts were hidden by the buildings.
I rolled my arms and massaged my shoulders to loosen up.
“Alright. Shall we start the main event?”
Ethan gave me a look as if I were a clueless child, but as long as I do my part perfectly, that's all that matters. Right?
With a vigorous motion, I loaded a rock onto the end of the trebuchet's arm. It was finally time to hit the girl's statue.
***
An hour before Cherry used the trebuchet,
Knox, who had been wandering the streets to avoid the monsters, found himself trapped in the square.
The number of monsters surrounding the square was too great for him to find an opportunity to escape.
For two days, he had been hiding and running, barely getting any sleep. But there seemed to be no way out of the small town of Brunel.
The streets were filled with those unidentifiable monsters.
Knox recalled the moment he first faced this insane situation. It was right after his nonsensical conversation with Cherry in the town square.
The incident had broken out as soon as she left Brunel, saying she had to go to Kintne. An unknown monster had emerged from the carriage rental office and started devouring people.
It was as if the entire world had been stained with blood.
People bitten by the monsters turned into monsters themselves and devoured others, while he barely managed to escape and hide.
It was a hellish time.
Yes. Knox had seen hell. And he was still trapped at the bottom of it.
*'What the hell is this situation, damn it!'*
He had managed to hide behind a massive tree for a moment, but he couldn't stay there forever. It was a position far too exposed to the monsters.
But just then.
Suddenly, large rocks came flying from somewhere. One obliterated the stall on the right side of the square, and the next went a little further, demolishing the wall of a bookstore.
“See…?! Bull…!”
He heard the faint sound of a woman shouting. It was unclear if that was actually what she had yelled, given the considerable distance.
Hiding behind the statue, Knox quickly turned around.
The mansion on the hill came into view. In truth, with all the overgrown trees and bushes, all he could really see was its roof.
But there were people on it. Two of them.
The smaller of the two was jumping in place with both arms raised. To be honest, they looked a bit like a lunatic.
*'That's Cherry Sinclair's Happy House…'*
It was then that Knox considered the possibility that the person jumping up and down was Cherry Sinclair.
Looking ahead again, he saw that a path had briefly opened up on the left side of the monster-infested square. The flying rocks had drawn the monsters' attention to the opposite side.
He hadn't seen it the first time, but he saw it clearly the second. The small figure who had been jumping up and down was launching another rock with something that looked like a trebuchet.
As Knox escaped the square and ducked into an alley, a thought crossed his mind.
If that person really was Cherry Sinclair…
*'Then who in the world is that woman?'*