The Little Mouse Ramon (4)
“Here we are.”
Prime Minister Andarlef and the knights arrived at a place following the flower field that stretched like a path. A sea of white Orsaliss flowers filled the frozen earth. The harsh wind of the blizzard could not withstand the torn flower petals, which fluttered like snow, dancing faintly.
“Ha, truly beautiful.”
A breathtaking sight.
Everyone was momentarily lost in that dreamlike scene.
“But Orsaliss flowers in the middle of winter… Could there be a wizard nearby?”
“That’s impossible. Entry to this place is strictly controlled, excluding the knights.”
Moreover, such bizarre magic had never been heard of or experienced.
“So, where exactly is this?”
“This is the entrance to ‘Ina Abisa’.”
The place they arrived at was, conveniently, the entrance to the prison they had been discussing just moments ago. The Orsaliss flowers had taken root on the stone stairs leading underground and continued below. An obvious anomaly. Knight Commander Duncan drew his greatsword from behind him.
“Your Highness, it may be dangerous, so we will enter from here.”
“…Be careful.”
The ominous legacy left by the fallen knight Degal Imaian.
They needed to enter with sufficient caution.
“Knights, follow us with torches and swords!”
“““Yes, Commander!”””
𐂂
“……”
Her eyes opened.
“…Warm…”
The warmth wrapping around her body.
The spicy flower scent tickling her nose.
How long had it been since she felt such warmth?
“…Huh? More than that, why me.”
Am I alive?
I definitely gave my last remaining life force to Mr. Ramon…
“Ah!”
Suddenly realizing, her vision sharpened.
The nameless flowers filling the prison.
“…Ramon?”
Mr. Ramon was lying there.
With a peaceful expression on the white flower field.
“Thank goodness, Mr. Ramon—”
The cool sensation touching her fingers.
That sensation sent her plummeting below the cliff.
“Ramon…?”
Head towards the ceiling. Rigid posture without movement.
The hardness like touching a charred wooden stick.
The eerie aura of death emanating from beside him.
“Ah, no…!”
Her hand fell.
“No, no, no, no!”
The same day.
“Noru, never come out from here. Do you understand?!”
“Our Noru, you can wait well? Mom will be back soon.”
When she opened her eyes, it was the same day everything ended.
“Kraha, it’s a royal command! Kill all the traitors!”
“It’s… hot…! It’s hot, it’s hot, it’s hot! Let me out!”
“Ugh, please save me, please save me! Please liv— aah!”
A hellish scene unfolded in the middle of the night. The ground was dyed red with blood, and the forest burned. Unprovoked slaughter by humans wielding sharp iron and torches. The screams of frightened friends. Suffocation. The inside of the chest burned painfully, sweat poured like rain.
Noru, Noru Deanea.
The child who stole the love of the World Tree mother.
Voice.
The power given to protect the forest.
You will become the guardian of the Linnel forest.
It’s okay, it’s okay.
The seizure hasn’t come yet.
The sound of dripping water hasn’t reached yet.
Dripping water sound? What sound, the ceiling is frozen.
Why didn’t you save us?
Why were you hiding there alone?
Why didn’t you use the spirit’s power?
panic.
“No. I didn’t know, I didn’t know how to use the spirit’s power. It’s not my fault. My fault—”
Lies, lies.
Traitor, coward, weakling.
Everything we died from was your fault.
Yet you survived alone as if to spite us.
“No. No. Please stop, ugh. Please stop.”
She covered her ears.
Tears kept coming out relentlessly.
The heartbeats pounding rapidly against her ears.
“Commander Imaian! We found a girl hiding!”
“……”
She couldn’t accept the facts before her eyes.
Everything was hazy, her mind was in chaos.
“This girl is the last one. Shall we kill her? Hahaha, or like the other girls here—”
“Lock her in my underground prison. I will offer it to His Majesty.”
Yes, this must be a nightmare. It can’t be real.
When I open my eyes, everything will return to normal.
Mom, Dad, friends, all laughing.
It was just a bad dream.
She would comfort me.
That’s what she thought.
“Sigh, offering it to His Majesty, I can’t eat it… Damn it. All the others ate it, but why only me…”
The man with a furious expression grabbed her hair and twisted her roughly somewhere.
“You disgusting half-breed, see? This is your mother and father who came out from the house where you were hiding. Hahaha.”
What was there was.
Completely burned black, turned into charcoal.
𐂂
The sound of crying.
It was a young child’s.
“Open it, now!”
“But Commander! We don’t know what’s beyond this door!”
“Moreover, the magic circle engraved on the door… It looks like the official sealing magic of the magic tower.”
“Something dangerous might be lurking, so first, we should seek cooperation from the magic tower…”
A thick steel door. And the magic circle engraved on the door, the sealing magic of the magic tower. The knights’ words that caution was needed were justified. But the sound of crying that reminded him of his own daughter had long since drained his patience.
“Are you all discussing fear right in front of me now!”
A lightning-like decree.
A powerful shout filled with aura.
The knights’ shoulders shrank at the voice shaking the space.
“Whatever is beyond that door! If it is the Emperor’s enemy, cut it down, if it is the weak, protect it. Even if the one locked inside is truly an innocent child, would you delay the time like that?!”
A just argument.
As one who holds a sword, as one who has sworn an oath.
The voice seeking salvation must respond first.
“Step back, Commander. I will open it.”
Vice Knight Commander Rebecca drew her rapier. Duncan’s weapon was a greatsword that split enemies with shields. It was because of concern for the destructive swordsmanship that someone beyond the door might be injured.
“—Haaap!”
With a shout, a delicate and graceful slash unfolded.
The seal was torn, and the door was shattered like a puzzle.
“───!”
And they saw it.
“Ugh… please save me, I was wrong, please save me.”
The naked girl wrapped in the arms of the Orsaliss flower.
“What is this…?”
The deepest part of the underground prison. In a place where rotten bones and wandering ghosts swarmed, a ragged girl of a different race was imprisoned. Blurry horns on her head. Could it be a demon? But what was important now was not that. Before her thoughts could finish, her body moved, and she hurried towards the girl.
“No! Get away, get away! Please, please save me…!”
The girl, frightened, backed away.
A strange metallic clinking sound echoed.
“Don’t kill me…! I was wrong. Don’t come, I don’t want it.”
A muttering that repeated like a broken record.
Duncan stopped his steps without realizing.
“Com, Commander?”
The man who didn’t hesitate even facing an enemy army,
Was in the first moment of hesitation.
“…It’s dark. First, illuminate the surroundings.”
Raised torch.
The light illuminated the girl’s appearance.
The child covered in filth, a mess.
One side of her naked body was filled with horrific burn scars.
“……”
A tragic sight.
The knights lost their words.
“Please save me, I, I did everything wrong, so please save me. Please save me.”
“Will you all just stand there staring blankly!”
Rebecca pushed aside the knights frozen in place and approached the girl, biting her lip. A huge iron chain of a size not used even on major criminals recently. The wrists and ankles were so swollen that it was hard to recognize the shape from how long they had been crushed in the restraints.
“I don’t want it, I don’t want it…! I don’t want it! I was wrong, I was wrong.”
“It’s okay, miss. We won’t hurt you.”
“Ugh, hu! No, don’t come…! Don’t come!”
“Commander, I need to cut the chains.”
“…Sorry, I’ll trust you.”
The pupils repeated contraction and expansion at a speed that made the observer uneasy. The girl’s eyes filled with fear were fixed on her rapier.
“…She was scared because of this.”
“All of you, disarm!”
Under Rebecca’s command, the knights disarmed in unison without hesitation.
No one questioned the sudden disarmament.
“Ah, no. It hurts…! It hurts! I don’t want to die…!”
“I’m sorry. Please forgive me just this once, miss.”
The second slash. The chains were neatly cut in the blink of an eye, but the restraints on wrists and ankles couldn’t be removed considering safety. Quickly she sheathed her own sword, firmly hugged the struggling girl in her arms.
“Uuuu, it’s hot, it’s hot! It’s hot…!”
“Since the child is afraid, the knights holding torches should stay away from me.”
The trembling felt from her arms was painful. She couldn’t even guess how many wounds there were. What surged was deep sadness and anxiety. The emotions she thought she would never feel again since entering the era of peace.
“It’s okay, now it’s okay.”
With a sigh.
Rebecca patted the girl’s back.