"You made that mistake?"
"The errand boys came tailing me."
The man looked like he didn't understand the woman's answer. Whether they're the tails or the stupid errand boys who came with tails, why don't we just kill them all?
His gaze, which contained that meaning, was directed at the woman. The woman continued speaking calmly.
"Those who followed along were the ones the Grand Duchess used as his hands and feet. I put them on hold just in case."
"Ah..."
The man placed his arms on the table and clasped his hands together.
"I see."
The man resting his chin on it sat silently for a moment, lost in thought.
"I will be joining the Grand Duke in the Cursed Forest by now. If you tell me that there is no need to keep me alive, I will deal with it cleanly and without any consequences."
The woman's loyal eyes glowed coldly.
"Hmm. Since there was something I wanted to try out... I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to wait and see how things turn out."
The man raised one corner of his mouth and tapped the magic sphere with his fingertip. Then, the image on the magic sphere changed and Karina, David, Selena, and Hasten all appeared together.
"It is said that those who have been blessed by the dragon show their greatest power when they are in danger of death."
As soon as the man finished speaking, the magic sphere began to buzz and shimmer with a pitch-black light.
"Then wouldn't it be better to create such a situation?"
The man's cold smile deepened.
"Just give the order, Master."
The woman bowed her head deeply.
***
"Are you sure this is it?"
Jeremiah asked again with a stern expression.
"Yes... This is the right place."
Levy frantically checked the coordinates again. Jeremiah and the search party quickly moved toward the coordinates the Crown Prince had sent again. However, even though they arrived at the exact coordinates, they could not find a single hair on the Crown Prince or Karina's head.
"..."
Jeremiah, with his eyes fixed on the ground in silence, looked like a bomb about to explode.
"This is really the right place."
Levy couldn't express his feelings of injustice and just looked at the coordinate information over and over again.
"Everyone, search this area thoroughly."
Later.
"I found it here!"
Jeremiah commanded. And a moment
They discovered traces of a bonfire on the hill.
"It looks like it hasn't been long since they left, considering the warmth still remains."
Ron said, examining the traces of the campfire.
"If they had waited here, they would have joined us soon. I don't know why His Highness the Crown Prince left this place."
Ron added his opinion in a tone of disapproval. No one failed to understand the meaning of his words. It meant that the search was being continued in vain.
"His Highness the Crown Prince must have had a good reason for doing that. A demon may have appeared."
Levy quickly came to the defense of his lord, David.
"There are no signs of any combat or confrontation with monsters nearby?"
"Still...!"
Levy added, quickly looking around.
"Aren't there any more footprints here that appear to belong to someone other than His Highness. the Crown Prince and the Grand Duchess?"
There were still a few footprints left on the wet ground.
"It's a human footprint, so it can't be a monster's. It's not like they even confronted each other, but rather they seem to have headed somewhere together."
There was a brief war of nerves between Ron and Levy.
"There is no time to waste, so we will find the traces of their movements and follow them."
Of course, it was immediately resolved with Jeremiah's one word.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"All right."
And someone was watching them with a discontented expression as they searched for traces. It was Mikhail, hiding in a nearby tree.
"Are you sure you came to the right place?"
He clicked his tongue as if he was frustrated. Mikhail had already found Jeremiah long before the Knights arrived at Jeremiah's location and had followed him. Of course, being a guy with good intuition, he sensed something strange and swung his sword at his location several times. Mikhail cleverly dodged all of those attacks and hid himself.
'Just until I find Karina.'
He also wanted to attack Jeremiah with magic, but finding Karina was more Important. There was no time to waste in confronting Jeremiah. Mikhail, who had floated into the air with levitation magic, looked down at the ground and began to search for traces of David and Karina. He opened his eyes wide and cast detection magic with the determination not to miss Karina. At some point, Mikhail's head suddenly turned and a strange color flashed in his red eyes.
'Found it!'
Not far away, the magical power of the firestone that had been given to Karina could be faintly felt. At that moment, Mikhail was about to quickly pursue the magical power of the firestone.
"Gyaaaahhhhh!"
"...!"
A flock of new monsters appeared from the sky with a loud cry. Mikhail raised his head and looked at the black monsters flying over his head. The monsters, who were spewing out an ominous aura that was so unpleasant, were circling around the same spot, searching for those on the ground.
'Why are they here now...!'
He didn't know why they showed up now, but Mikhail quickly decided to turn his attention away and focus on chasing Karina. Since he was hiding himself with magic anyway, dealing with the horde of monsters would be the job of the search party and Jeremiah.
'You stay here and deal with the monsters. I'll go save Karina.'
As he was turning around, a new monster quickly attacked him, heading straight for where Mikhail was.
"Uh...?!"
Although he easily dodged the monster's attack, Mikhail was flustered by the unexpected situation.
'It looks like this newt just targeted me and attacked me... Am I mistaken?'
It wasn't a mistake. The new monster that had attacked Mikhail flapped its wings, turned around, and then flew straight to where he was.
"...!"
Mikhail's eyes widened as he dodged the attack in shock. It was clear that the monster was targeting him.
'A monster can see through my stealth magic and attack me?'
Mikhail looked at the monster in surprise.
The eyes of the monster he was facing were filled with pitch-black magic. And his own image was clearly reflected in them.
"Ha... Really...?"
Before he could even gather his thoughts properly, the remaining flock of birds flying overhead also quickly descended and began to attack Mikhail one after another. Without hesitation, Mikhail tried to use his teleportation magic to escape this place. However, his magic failed with an unpleasant tingling sensation. It was as if he was being interrupted by something.
"What...?I"
Mikhail cast the teleportation spell again, but the result was the same.
"What the hell...!"
The magic blocked, and a curse burst out from Mikhail's teeth. Meanwhile, the sudden appearance of a horde of monsters did not attack only Mikhail alone. The knights of the search party near Mikhail and Jeremiah were also attacked by the new monsters.
"Watch out!"
"Here it comes again! Watch out!"
The search party drew their swords to deal with the new monsters that were quickly rushing toward them. Jeremiah, who had already cut down several monsters with one blow, was making his way through the area, following Karina's trail. Levy and Ron, who were nearby, quickly followed Jeremiah. Jeremiah gave an order with an indifferent expression.
"We leave this to the rest and go straight to following the trail."
"Huh? Just leave those monsters alone?"
A surprised Levy spoke urgently.
"The monsters will keep appearing, wouldn't it be better to just deal with them all here and leave?"
Jeremiah shook his head and dismissed it curtly.
"Here."
He glanced at the place where the new monsters were rushing into the air and spoke indifferently.
"It was already an eyesore, so this is a good thing."
"... Yes?"
"I'll take care of it."
It was a word he couldn't understand.
"Who...?"
Levy asked, but Jeremiah turned around without answering. Then he quickly started to follow Karina's trail. Ron and Levy had no choice but to quickly follow him.
***
"Be careful. There seems to be some contaminated magic mixed in the air."
Hasten sensed his body condition was rapidly worsening and warned Selena. Selena also felt it and nodded with a stern expression. Then, he looked at Karina's condition with a worried expression. It was natural to be worried since she had already exhausted her stamina, collapsed, and was exposed to the contaminated magic. And it was not surprising.
"Karina's condition is worse than before."
David's expression darkened at Selena's words. In fact, David was wearing an artifact that protected his body, so he was not greatly affected by the contaminated magic. Karina, whom he was carrying, was also affected by the artifact, so she was also protected to some extent. However, Karina, who was weakened, was greatly affected by the contamination even with a small exposure.
"I think it would be a good idea to take a short rest in the herb garden before leaving the cursed forest."
"When you say herb garden, are you talking about the place where they grow that plant called Croana?"
"Yes, I'm just passing through anyway, and I know how to mix herbs."
Selena often helped her husband make medicine while he was alive, and she learned a lot by watching over his shoulder.
"I can make a potion that will help you regain your stamina. Lady Karina will need that."
"By now, the wizard will have gone somewhere and left, so there will be no one in the herb garden."
Hasten intervened as if this was a good opportunity.
"I see. Then let's go there quickly."
The moment David made that decision.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaah!"
The howling of a flock of monsters was heard from not far above.
"...!"
Startled, they quickly hid under the thick trees. Hasten stuck his head out and cautiously looked up at the sky.
"A new group of monsters appeared near where we were just now."
"...!"
"It was a good thing we got out of there. If we had stayed, we would have run into each other."
Selena said with relief in her voice.
"It seems like they're looking for something?"
Hasten said, surveying the horde of beasts.
"Probably looking for food."
Selena asked back at David's words.
"Food?"
"I caught two prey in my nest, but they disappeared without a trace. I wonder if they are searching with their eyes wide open."
David replied jokingly. The two prey he was talking about were himself and Karina. Selena and Hasten made subtle expressions as they understood the meaning behind his words.
"First of all... it would be best to quickly go to the herb field to avoid the eyes of the monsters."
Selena opened her mouth.
"We won't be caught easily since we're in a thick forest. Hurry up."
They made a quick decision and cautiously and secretly hurried their steps toward the herb garden. That's how they arrived at the herb garden. Selena and Hasten hid David, who was carrying Karina, in the bushes and looked around the herb garden. They also carefully checked if there were people in the shabby hut near where the wizard was.
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment