Escape (2)
Seya, Mir, and the Young Duke ran, leaving behind the room where thick plumes of smoke were billowing out. Ominous, agonizing sounds of retching echoed behind them, but they didn't look back. They had far too many other things to worry about.
"Young Master?! How did you—no, why are you even here? Ugh!" Seya, who had inhaled a bit of the emetic gas, forced down the rising bile and pressed the Young Duke running beside them for an answer.
"I wandered around nearby wearing your clothes, and they caught me immediately. They whacked me on the back of the head without mercy. I wonder if I have a bump." The Young Duke raised his arms to show off his outfit, his nonchalant reply leaving Seya's jaw hanging open.
"No, I mean, why did you go out of your way to get captured? In a dangerous place like this!"
"Because it was the only way," the Young Duke replied, his expression momentarily hardening. But Flynn quickly relaxed his face and offered a faint smile. "Besides, didn't I promise? That I would save you no matter what."
His casual expression—as if stating a simple fact of nature, like the sun rising in the morning and setting at night—was more than enough to leave Seya utterly dumbfounded.
"Well... you did say that." True, he had. But you didn't actually have to keep it. Seya stole a glance at the profile of the silently running Young Duke. Whether he had intentionally dressed up as a beggar, rolled around on the ground while being captured, or both, his face was a complete mess. Yet, the boy's upright eyes still shone with sharp intelligence.
Nobles did not make promises to commoners. They had no obligation to keep them, either. The occasional kindness they bestowed upon beggars was no different from tossing scraps to a pitiful stray dog. Just as no one would resent a noble who waved goodbye, promising to share bread again tomorrow, only to never show his face again.
"Even if you pretended not to know us, no one would have blamed you."
"But I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself." It was a short, firm answer. Yet, it was powerful enough to lodge itself deeply in Seya's simple mind. Watching this from the side, Mir's expression was tinged with anxiety.
"Ugh... cough..." Having recovered somewhat from his retching, the burly man covered his mouth and nose, stumbling to his feet. "Those little bastards... I'll kill them. I'll tear them apart." With a murderous glint in his eyes, he scanned his surroundings and staggered toward the door. "I'll call the guards right—argh!" But a sudden force slammed into him from behind, sending him face-planting onto the floor as he collapsed helplessly once more.
As he thrashed on the ground in confusion, a thick, beastly paw pressed down firmly on his neck. "Wh-what is this? Ack...!" Choking, he flailed his arms, trying to see what was pinning him down. Soon, his eyes met the glowing yellow gaze of a beast staring down at him.
It was a massive wolf. Terrified by the surreal appearance of such a giant beast, the man tried to scream, but the crushing pressure on his throat choked the sound right out of him. "Ah, ugh... h-help me!" The wolf's razor-sharp fangs drew closer and closer to his neck. Gasping for breath, the man finally fainted right before the wolf's teeth could sink into his flesh.
The moment the man's body went limp, the beast stopped its movements as if on cue. Scanning the room, the massive creature wasted no more time and stepped outside. Though by the time it crossed the threshold, it was no longer a four-legged beast. Shaking out his black hair, a man stepped through the doorway. "A breach of contract, then," he murmured, his voice calm and even.
Though the path was like a maze, Mir navigated it without a single moment of hesitation. Seya and the Young Duke, who had been brought in unconscious, had no choice but to follow him quietly. "Do you know the way?" "Just the way back to the room we were locked in. Mir rarely forgets anything he's seen once." Looking at Seya, who somehow seemed prouder of this fact than Mir himself, the Young Duke nodded.
"Um, my greetings are a bit late, but thank you for earlier." Realizing that he had only bombarded him with questions in his panic without properly thanking him, Seya bowed his head. "No need. And if you want to thank someone, there's someone else who deserves it besides me." The way he spoke made it sound as if there was someone else with them, causing Seya to tilt his head in confusion. Leaving the boy puzzled, the Young Duke opened his outer coat as if he had only just remembered. Peeking its head out from inside the boy's coat was...
"A squirrel?" At Seya's dumbfounded murmur, the Young Duke smiled and nodded. "We were only able to get here thanks to this little guy. It guided me." With a face that looked as if he were introducing a newly made friend, Seya opened his mouth to say thank you. 'Thanks for earlier.' "It looks delicious." Or at least, that is what he would have said if his appetite at the sight of tasty meat hadn't betrayed his intentions.
Following Seya's slip of the tongue, the Young Duke kept busy hiding his squirrel friend back inside his coat even as they hurried down the corridor. "Young Master, that was a slip of the tongue! I didn't mean it looked delicious, I meant it looked distinguished! Distinguished, not delicious!" Seya desperately made excuses to the Young Duke, who had been subtly blocking the squirrel from his line of sight, but his loud and frequent gulps of saliva made his excuses highly unconvincing.
"Please let me say hello too. I just want to thank it for saving my life... slurp." The drool that finally escaped the corner of his mouth was more than enough to evaporate whatever shred of credibility he had left. This time, even the Squirrel furrowed its furry brow. Wiping his mouth sheepishly, Seya's eyes widened at the sight.
"Did that thing just scowl at me? I think it understands everything we're saying!" Keeping the Squirrel as far away from the startled Seya as possible, the Young Duke tilted his head. Don't animals usually do this much if they're somewhat smart? The boy recalled his black-feathered friend, who was far smarter than this squirrel. 'I felt like we could have had a conversation with just a little more training.' Of course, he only thought this because he had absolutely no idea that the crow he believed to be his friend could not only speak but also write.
"It's ready." At Mir's voice from where he had been tinkering in the corner, the two looked up. In Mir's hands were black objects that looked similar to the round balls they had detonated in the room they escaped from. The only difference was that white strings of varying lengths were wrapped around them, trailing off.
"What are those strings?" At the Young Duke's question, Mir laid out about six of the objects at intervals along both sides of the corridor as he answered. "They're woven from wicks I pulled out of candles. They're tools to buy us time while we make our escape." The cryptic answer brought a look of confusion to the Young Duke's face. Was it another emetic like before? If so, couldn't they just hold their breath and run?
"If your house caught fire, what do you think you would do, Young Master?" Flynn thought the smile didn't look entirely innocent. "Well, I'd grab the most valuable things and run. Money, clothes, things like that." Mir nodded at Nihil's answer, who had been listening nearby. "...And you'd escape through the safest and fastest route." "Exactly. We'll hide in the room and follow behind them to find our way out."
"But wouldn't they come looking in the rooms? Then we'll all be caught." At the Young Duke's concern, Mir shook his head. "When they're busy running from a fire, they won't bother checking on or saving orphans they kidnapped from the streets. They'll probably think it's better to just let us burn to death and won't even spare us a glance."
Flynn bit his lip at Mir's blunt explanation, quickly changing the subject. "So, are those things meant to start a fire?" "No. If a real fire breaks out, we'll all die. Playing with fire has to be kept to a manageable scale. It's just an imitation. Just enough to make them think there's a fire."
He wondered how on earth one could imitate a fire, but by this point, the Young Duke was starting to think Mir could probably light a fire underwater if he wanted to. "So if we light these white strings, we just head back to the room while they burn down?" "Yes. Fortunately, there isn't much wind here. A wick of this length will take about ten minutes to burn down completely, and out of the six we light, at least some are bound to succeed."
In the direction Mir pointed, the chopped-up remains of candles lay scattered. The Young Duke had wondered what Mir was doing in the corner while leaving him and Seya to themselves. The boy was impressed by the novel idea, but at the same time, a chill of fear ran down his spine. If we have to stay far away, isn't it a bit dangerous? "You really are amazing, Mir. No matter where you're dropped, you'll definitely survive." Still, he couldn't help but agree with Seya's praise.
"It really is remarkable. The emetic from earlier, too." "Mir made all of it," Seya boasted proudly, looking as triumphant as if he had been the one praised. "I was actually trying to make something else, but it failed. I was a bit short on materials." Watching Mir murmur quietly, seemingly embarrassed by Seya's bragging, the Young Duke asked in surprise once more, "You made all of this yourself?"
"I didn't steal them." At the defensive excuse that slipped out instead of a simple confirmation, the Young Duke's eyes widened slightly. A flash of dismay crossed Mir's face at his own slip. It seemed like a reflexive self-defense mechanism. The Young Duke realized that life on the streets must be a daily cycle of constant tension and instinctive excuses. *He must be accused of stealing a lot.* Before the boy could misunderstand, the Young Duke spoke up quickly. "I never thought that. I was just amazed because your skills are so incredible."
Despite the firm reassurance, Mir bit his lip and snapped his head away. I guess it's still hard for him to trust my words. The innocent Young Duke nodded quietly, gently stroking the Squirrel's head in his arms. 'Well, strictly speaking, it's not like we didn't steal anything...' Watching this unfold, Seya silently swallowed the unspoken truth.
Not steal, my foot. More than half of those materials were things Seya had helped him steal. Powder scraped off the walls of wealthy estates, scrap metal swiped from blacksmiths, and countless other things. The newly made items even included accessories taken from the very clothes they had stolen from this young master last time. It wasn't even the first time he'd been tricked, and he'd already had a coat swiped by them, so why was this young master so blindly trusting? It went beyond touching; Seya was starting to get genuinely worried about him.
It was obvious that Mir, who had previously disliked the young master, was also quite flustered by this groundless trust. If anyone could notice, it was Seya. It was clear from the way Mir—who was usually called an obnoxious brat by almost everyone he met—remained silent. When Seya's eyes met Mir's, who was lighting the candle wicks with an incredibly uncomfortable expression, Seya smirked. Mir glared at Seya, then deliberately turned away to address the Young Duke. "Follow me this way." To spare his embarrassed friend's feelings, Seya followed a step behind Mir. "Guilty conscience, huh?" Seya didn't miss the chance to tease him in a whisper.