Chapter 22 (1/2)
The speed of the wagon had dropped as it luain It seems like we’ve crossed a pass
With the sound of wheels like they’d rattle off for ht back on the words of the Commander
When Lutz and I nodded agreement to the prince’s request for help without a hint of hesitation, the Commander took out a folded piece of paper, and spread open the aged parch a map
To the north of the Kingdoyaround it
The shortest escape route fro a mountain, he’d said
Whichever route Niklas took, it was i kingdom, but if he went by mountain roads, he could cut down travel to the bare minimum
Cohways on the open plain, there was also less danger of getting spotted However, because there were no means of escape, the likelihood that he’ll use an unknown route wasn’t out of the question
That is where I make my appearance, my master piped in
She dropped three ic stones into Lutz’s palms They allowed him to shoot fireballs, so after he put up an appropriate show of resistance and he was struck, he should aim for the sky
If ere on afor an hour If ere on the highway, then e passed through a town The view is more likely to obstructed, so we’d have to rely on the surrounding sounds and the surface of the land to ments
To ht how to use visible weapons, so that when it caic
For that reason, Lutz was entrusted with the ic stones with an attribute he had absolutely no affinity for I arned not to join in by way of precaution
Even ere restricted inside the castle, the reason we didn’t put up a big fight was for the sake of deceiving our colleagues into believing that as long as ere collared our poould be suppressed
The fruit of our efforts? They gave up on taking the princess along with us If there were two of us, they believed it would be easy to mutually have one to control the other
With His Royal Highness sticking to the princess, it wouldn’t have been possible for theet to her in the first place There was no safer place in the entire kingdoht now
His Royal Highness had pro happen to her
That’s e’ll do everything that we can on our end We’ll struggle We’ll fight
We will return To where she waits for us
“…………”
A chill
So cold touched my wrist
From behind, Lutz had created a small blade from ice and slipped it between my hand and the ropes I kept the blade in my palm the way it was and slipped it up and down I pretended to change the direction athered heat in my hand and vaporized the ice
All that was left to do ait
If we had traveled by highway, the horses would have been changed for fresh ones in towns along the way By choosing to go the shortest route, they’d been forced to use the same ones
The horses were already at their limits, but were not even allowed aothers soon
If the doht need to march as far as the castle
I wanted to avoid that The closer we got to the capitol, the lower our chances of escaping became
But nothing was for sure yet The king had gone to great pains in order to obtain his toys, us Would he really leave theuys whose loyalties can’t even be assured? On top of that, after passing through two kingdoht have predicted it wouldn’t be an easy task toup the rear, so he’d probably send men he could trust…for exahts too simple?
“Shan’t be long now,” Niklas whispered
“……”
Lifting up the cover, he squinted at the passing scenery
“Finally, what I’ve been waiting for will start I can say farewell to the life of being sha the title of earl in name only”
I saw evidence of neither guilt nor regret in the feverish light e ht eyes; it was rather strange to behold
“Fiend,” Lutz muttered in a cold voice
“What?”
Unfortunately, Niklas heard hi at him, Lutz did not flinch, and he looked back at the h to match his voice
“You’re inhuman”
“Hah What are you trying to say? The fiend here would be you, wouldn’t it? Lutz Eilenberg”
“And you as well You’re betraying everyone and throwing away everything you’ve had Your ho, your family and friends Without a shred of remorse, and no conscience to speak of Such a person can no longer be called ‘human,’ can he?”
“……”
Silently, Niklas kicked Lutz in the shoulder
“———!”
Lutz groaned in pain
Emotionlessly, Niklas stepped on Lutz’s head
“How ridiculous You think they qualify to be called fa nize my superiority But…”
He ground the sole of his foot doith even th as he erupted in complaints In the hollowed space of his eyes, his expression becaly erratic
“…ere you saying? The one you should preach to about having nowhere he belongs is yourself, is he not?”
Pathetic, he said with a s down, but as it that infuriated me?
His hand ca from his waist
Niklas wouldn’t kill us, but this looked really bad What do I do? How can I stop him?
I couldn’t afford to use ic If I rammed my body into him, would that divert his attention to me?
I desperately tried to get up, and that’s when…
SCREECH!
The wagon shook violently, co to a stop
It seems like we’ve arrived at the delivery point
“You’ve had a narrow escape,” Niklas said in annoyance, releasing his hand froot out
At the sight of his retreating back, h
“Lutz You need to cool down”
“The ass was pissing me off…”
“How old are you?”
Lutz turned away, no intention of reflecting on his action Stupid brat
“Get out!”
Right after our conversation ended, fellows dressed coly ready to drag us froon
The area was still dimly lit, but daybreakto brighten We must have been close to the foot of the mountains, for ere surrounded by trees, nary an unobstructed view
After I confir, the fellows pushed us out from behind
“So you’re here My king has been expecting you”
A powerful
He was a knight on a splendid warhorse, clad entirely in armor There must have been ten of them
Fitting of a kingdoathered looked very strong However, their excellence doesn’t seem to have extended to their brains They looked the type to mon the opposition with force
Well, if their heads worked correctly, they wouldn’t have sworn loyalty to that nut of a king, right? The nation and those who made their livelihoods within it never looked back on their actions, only choosing to focus on expanding their territory when they should have i
“Come”
With fellows standing on both sides, they grabbed me by the arms
Lutz was similarly restrained
In that second
“Don’t move!”