3 bar menu

Chapter 71 Part 3 – Mother and Countess Rosenthal. The destinies of two people who had misgivings with each other are intersecting again after time had passed.

Noticing my troubled expression, Arnold directed a smile at me.

「Don’t hate me so much, young lady. I’ve heard a lot about the『Ruby of the True Emperor』. You have a lot of enemies, don’t you? Don’t you think it would be better to have one more pillar that you can rely on? I can immediately spot an intruder and see through their disguise from the sky through my partner’s eyes. You claim that you’re a boy to the outside world, but the truth is that you’re actually a girl right. While the lady in maid’s outfit over there is actually a guy.」

He tried to keep his voice down so that Alisa, who was rustling around inside my skirt, wouldn’t notice.

Ah, that’s right.
Arnold is able to see what the white owl with mysterious powers sees.

T-This proposal might indeed be tempting.

Noticing that I was showing a response to his proposal, Arnold launched another attack.

「I think it’s a pretty good idea. Besides, even though I’m still inferior to master in archery skills ……」

Right after saying so, Arnold jumped diagonally with a bow in his hand.
While in mid-air, he fired three arrows in rapid succession. Then after landing on the ground with a forward roll, he fired two more arrows. He then turned around and fired one more arrow while delivering a back kick. A total of six arrows were fired and all of it hit nearly the same spot on the trunk of the standing tree.

It was like an acrobatic show of rapid-fire shooting.

It was an astonishing demonstration even though it was not carried out by an iron bow, but with another wooden bow that he was carrying.

「I can also use this kind of disruption and close combat. When the enemy is confused, the master can take aim and attack him from a long distance. What do you think? Don’t you think this would make your side even stronger?」

Bradd whistled in admiration.

「That’s amazing. To think that you can combine combat arts with archery. That would mean that even in a melee, you’d be able to freely handle the bow.」

I grimaced.

Yes, that’s right.
In the previous 「108 times」, despite being an archer, Arnold often created confusion in the midst of my Queen’s army. His arrows had a longer range than long spears and extremely short intervals in-between his shots. Moreover, his movements were quick and agile. Meanwhile, our side could not use flying weapons for fear of a friendly fire. The formation was broken from the inside and both communication and coordination were disrupted. It was truly a troublesome skill.

After finishing off with a backflip and a shout, Arnold grinned back at Bradd.

「…… When you say something like that, it only sounds sarcastic to me though. If I had fought against that white-clad monster at close range, even I would have been crushed by him. But you easily dealt with him as if he’s just a baby. I saw it through my partner’s eyes. It was a strength unimaginable for a human being. Just what kind of training did you have in order to be that strong?」

「Easily? Like a baby? Me? Against that white-clad Addis the Faceless?」

Hearing Arnold complimenting him highly, Bradd tilted his head in confusion.

Ahh, I see. Bradd has no memory of the invincible 「him」 borrowing his body.

And Bradd is not the only one.
My mother, Seraphy, the 「Lawless Crew」, the imperial guards, and everyone else other than me had fainted at that time.
So no one here has seen 「him」.

Arnold saw the situation from a distance through the eyes of the white owl in the sky. That’s why he was aware of 「his」 exceptional and peerless strength.

Uuuhh, I’m stumped.
This makes it hard to explain to everyone the existence of 「him」 who possesses a transcendental strength.
Haa, I resent that strength.
If I tell them the truth, I would most likely be treated like the child who cried wolf
And if I also try to explain that 「he」 showed up by borrowing Bradd’s body ……

Yeah, I’m sure they’ll look at me with dumbfounded and suspicious eyes.

I agonized over how to convince them to believe me without lowering the value of my stock, but then I realized something.

「He」 said that might not be able to come out again for quite a while.
It would be detrimental to speak out carelessly and give unnecessary reassurance.
And so, this information needs to be shared in another place with only a limited number of people, not at this moment.

Yeah, there’s no need to explain it now.
…… I’m definitely not trying to escape.
Silence is gold.

Besides, just like 「him」, there is also that Ageros of the Seven Phantoms that everyone didn’t meet.
It’s just a hunch of mine, but I think that he might be related to the 「Lawless Crew」.
For some reason, he kind of reminded me of the solitary Bradd in the previous 「108 times」.

Besides, Addis also used the technique of the 「Lawless Crew」. So I think it’s necessary to have a private and discreet talk with Bradd’s mom and dad.

「Well then, now that it’s decided, there’s no need to stay any longer in a place like this. Let’s quickly go back to our home. Hey, Alisa. Just how long are you going to stick your head inside my skirt? Stop it and come out already.」

It’s no longer important to attend the ball.
We must hurry back to the duke’s mansion and take measures for the future.

The carriage was loaded with spare parts.
We should be able to do a stopgap measure enough to help the carriage get back on the road and hold on through the journey back home.

「No, I’m sorry to say this, but you can’t get back to Wilhelm’s territory from here by horse-drawn carriage.」

Arnold said apologetically to me as I struggled to pull off Alisa, who was stuck to me like an octopus. He pointed his chin in the direction of the white owl.

「I had my partner take a look at it from above. The huge trees that the skeleton guy cut down fell all over the place. It completely blocked off the forest road. It would take two whole days just to clear it out so that carriages could pass. The only thing intact is the road going forward.」

Come to think of it, Skeletos, a member of the Seven Phantoms who came to rescue Addis, had slashed large trees one after another with his bare hands. Was that meant not only to intimidate us, but also to block our options?

What a nuisance to other people.
The residents in the neighborhood would be really troubled later.
But there is no one better suited for logging work than this guy.
His expression was scary but he didn’t seem to have a bad personality. Let’s add Skeletos to my scouting list ……

…… Wait, now’s not the time to think about stuff like that.

The only way we can go is forward, which means that it’s a straight road to Countess Rosenthal’s castle.

What the heck is going on with this set-up that is forcing us to go to the ball?
Could it be that Countess Rosenthal is in league with them?
There is a high possibility that this is a trap ……

「T-Then, let’s get off the carriage and go on foot or on horseback ……」

「I wouldn’t recommend doing that. You saw that ridiculously huge white dog earlier, right? There are a few of them about the same size wandering around. They’re probably positioned there to clean up those who retreat. They don’t seem to have any intention of coming at us aggressively, though. But if we approach them in order to go back, they would probably attack us.」

Unhh, there’s a tiger at the front gate and a wolf at the back gate …… in the form of a demon dog.

「I also think that we shouldn’t do that. If those dogs are at the same level as Managallam, we can’t defeat them with our current strength. Managallam is extremely powerful. On par with the demon dog Gallam. If we have to go against several of those dogs, I’m not sure what the outcome will be.」

Bradd also disagreed with the idea of retreating.
His words carried weight since he was just engaged in a battle with Managallam.

「…… Scarlet, can I say something?」

Said mother as we were troubled about what to do.

Her words were surprising.

「I think we should move forward. I don’t think Countess Rosenthal is such a bad person.」

Eh? But she’s the leader of that abominable bullying, isn’t she?

Mother blushed as all of our gazes were directed to her.

「…… I remembered it. The night that caused me to become a shut-in. I remembered it all clearly. …… All the『red nobles』mocked me. They ridiculed me. But only …… that person was angry. I was so afraid of her. But, I was wrong. That wasn’t anger. I think she was …… crying.」

Mother chose her words carefully as she faced her painful past.

「…… It’s strange. I felt nothing but fear at the time, but now I can’t help but think that the expression she had as she stared back at me was like that of a little girl desperately trying to hold back her tears. …… There must have been a reason for it. That’s why I …… want to face that person one more time. If I don’t do that, I feel like I …… don’t have the right to call myself Wendell’s wife.」

Then mother shrugged her shoulders lightly, stuck out her tongue a little, and said jokingly.

「…… Besides, even as a joke, it wouldn’t be cool for a master to run away in front of her apprentice.」

The unexpected burst of cuteness caused a big stir in the imperial guards’ archery group. While Arnold said, 「As expected from my master. That’s how it should be」, as he clenched both fists tightly.

As one would expect from the former idol of the archery world.
Even if she doesn’t realize it, her destructive power on men’s hearts is unbelievable.
She’s a natural seducer.
I can somewhat understand why father is so overprotective of mother.

But you see.
We’ve just gone through a battle and our dresses are covered in mud.
I wonder if we can fake this as an intentionally-made dress.