[Subaru: Alright, then I’ll count on you to delay him like we planned]
After safely finding Lewes and rejoining Otto, Subaru gave the signal to put the plans they’ve been preparing for over the past few days into motion.
[Otto: I’ve no problem with that, but, do you have any idea where Emilia-sama is? If you can’t find her before time runs out, everything we’ve done will be for nothing……]
[Subaru: Can’t say it’ll go without a hitch… I mean, it’s because of all the hitches that we’re in this situation. But, well, you don’t need to worry about it]
Scratching his head, Subaru’s face stiffened into a rather miserable expression.
Whenever Subaru’s eyes sharpened into a serious expression, it gave off the impression that he was mad about something.
While Otto hadn’t known him for long, he knew him well enough not to misunderstand that expression, but that didn’t stop him from feeling some pity for the owner of those unfortunate features. And actually, Subaru felt the same about Otto. The fact that Otto didn’t realize this was just one of the subtle things they have in common.
[Subaru: I think I have an idea where Emilia might be. Honestly, I panicked pretty hard when I found out she was gone, but…… now that I’ve calmed down, I’m pretty confident I can find her]
[Otto: Is, that right. So where do y…… or, maybe it’s better if I don’t know]
[Subaru: You sure? You know I wouldn’t mind bragging some more and having you fawn over my deductive abilities?]
[Otto: No, I’m good. I don’t feel like fawning today, and if Garfiel manages to catch me, it wouldn’t be good if I start spilling everything, now would it?]
Otto pointed out with a shrug, while Subaru nodded with [Right].
Indeed, it would be rather worrying. Otto doesn’t have a great deal of tolerance towards pain, and he hadn’t experienced a whole lot of extreme pain in his past.
If Garfiel corners him and starts hurting him, chances are, Otto will spill everything he knows. And Otto didn’t want to sabotage Subaru like that.
[Subaru: Well, if you’re sure you’re gonna spill it, I guess it can’t be helped]
[Otto: ――――]
Without much ceremony, Subaru simply said [No worries, I have complete faith in you].
Just what is a person supposed to think when they hear something like that?
Receiving this kind of blind trust, who could bring themselves to betray it?
And, saying such things without regard to how the listener might feel, Subaru truly is an outrageous friend.
[Otto: Either way… I’ll definitely do my best. I’m banking my entire future on you pulling this off, you know]
[Subaru: Yeah. If I royally screw this up, your future’s going straight to rock bottom. ……But if it gets too dangerous, just run away. That guy’s not gonna play around today]
[Otto: ……Mm, I’ll keep that in mind]
Otto answered those considerate words with a faint grin.
Everything was ready according to plan. The Arlam refugees have been instructed to board their respective dragon carriages and to leave shortly after the bait, Otto, departs.
Otto had loaded two carriages with the villagers’ spare clothing in order to convince Garfiel’s nose that the villagers are with him, and he would be travelling on the most conspicuous path to draw his attention.
The refugee escape routes that he had spent those sleepless nights scouting had also been firmly drilled into the ground dragons.
Nothing should be amiss now.
All that was left was to be the bait until the refugees escape the Sanctuary.
That would put them a safe distance away from the Great Rabbit’s attack two days from now. Meanwhile, Subaru and Emilia would have a chance to talk, and then Garfiel would return to the village, find Subaru, and probably turn the whole place into a battleground――
[Otto: ――――]
Except, Otto was determined not to let that happen.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Physical prowess was never Otto Suwen’s strong suit.
He had learned some self-defence techniques to keep himself safe on his travels, but, compared to someone who lives and breathes combat, Otto wasn’t just one or two steps behind.
He never neglected to hire bodyguards when transporting valuable cargo, and when he was attacked by mountain bandits in the shortcut through the hills, he tearfully abandoned his luggage and fled.
It was the general consensus that Otto lacked the aptitude to solve anything through brute force.
[Otto: So what on earth am I doing picking a fight with a guy like this……]
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Otto wrenched his rigid cheeks into a smile. As a rule, merchants always smile in the face of adversity.
Born into a merchant family, Otto was raised on that precept, though he only had the latter half of his life to live by it.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t a custom to be broken lightly.
If he could smile and convince himself that this was no different from any of the challenges he’d faced before, then his body would come to accept this stress as something good.
His arms were moving, so were his legs. He could still run some more.
It was a mystery how he could sprint across such terrible ground without running out of breath, but, from the lightness of his uplifted heart, the hidden strength within Otto’s body bloomed.
[Otto: Still, mustn’t get complacent. Conceit is useless, and carelessness is the enemy]
Speeding through the gaps between the trees, Otto reminded himself to stay ever vigilant.
He had left Garfiel a long way behind him. But Otto can’t keep running away like this. His job was to draw Garfiel’s attention and prevent him from returning to the Sanctuary.
Garfiel mustn’t be allowed to realize the pointlessness of chasing him.
By hiding in the forest and hitting Garfiel with one trap after another, Otto must work to keep himself at the forefront of Garfiel’s mind.
Indeed, Garfiel had no need to chase after Otto.
The real keys to achieving his objective of preventing the Sanctuary’s liberation were Subaru and Emilia. Otto was only a distraction.
The fact that Garfiel hadn’t paid Otto any attention thus far was precisely because he understood this better than anyone.
Swept-up leaves and a fire stone. And the swarm of winged insects bursting from the carriage.
With these flashy yet harmless traps, Otto had perfectly succeeded in enraging Garfiel.
The present Garfiel had lost his composure and was focusing his sights on Otto alone, completely forgetting he had no need to do so.
[Otto: That said, it won’t take him long to notice it if given the chance]
And so, without risking getting too close to Garfiel, Otto must keep provoking him from a distance.
With Garfiel’s nose disabled, Otto should be able to avoid any life-threatening situations as long as he keeps out of sight. But, if he’s spotted, Garfiel would be able to close the distance in an instant with the overwhelming skill-gap between them.
Indeed, it would require the caution of walking a tightrope.
[Otto: ――――]
Hidden in the foliage, Otto peered out at the scene before him.
Some twenty meters away was Garfiel, leering over his surroundings. It seems his sense of smell was completely gone thanks to the pungent Kisnis oil spilled near the carriage wheels. He was searching for Otto relying on vision alone, frustrated, and carrying the air of a wounded beast.
It’d be playing with fire to draw his attention now, just asking to be burned.
{Otto: Now, I’m counting on you!}
{???: rightright~~}
Otto lightly whispered, and heard the reply upon his eardrums instantly transformed into meaning.
Heeding Otto’s signal, the trees began to stir.
[Garfiel: Hha……?]
Hearing the rustling of leaves and sensing that something was afoot, Garfiel looked up――
――And saw a massive barrage of globs of mud and poop flying straight at his face from the surrounding trees.
It was a show of force by the little critters living high in those trees―― the wood mice.
Of course, the projectiles themselves dealt no damage whatsoever, but, seeing poop flying at him from all directions, even Garfiel panickedly tried to leap out of the way. He couldn’t avoid them all, however, with several splashing on his legs prompting clicks of his tongue.
[Garfiel: Th’fuck is this! Shit! Why’re th…… that lil’fucker’s behind this, isn’t he……]
Scraping off the filth on his feet on a nearby tree, Garfiel immediately wondered if this was Otto’s doing. But then, Garfiel scrunched his nose mid-sentence as if having noticed something.
――The wood mice’s poop balls were pretty much harmless. They were just staining his clothes and making them stink.
But the scent of their droppings has a tendency to attract the insects of this forest.
[Garfiel: ――――Gh!]
Something wriggled up to Garfiel from beneath the ground before leaping out of the earth and tangling itself around his foot. His breathing stopped―― when he saw that it was a long, black, centipede-like insect crawling up his leg.
The length of a person’s arm, the centipede wound its way up Garfiel’s left knee as its grotesque mandibles slurped greedily over the traces of wood mice droppings.
[Garfiel: Ggha! Gross!]
Brandishing his claws, Garfiel swiped the centipede off him. But more and more crawled out of the ground, not only leaping onto Garfiel’s legs, but fighting over the puddle of droppings that had missed him, covering the entire area in a hellish brawl.
Centipedes love the fruit seeds inside wood mice droppings.
That was one of the “useful facts” Otto had learned over his conversations with the woodland creatures during his treks through the forest.
Contrary to their repulsive appearance, the centipedes aren’t carnivores and aren’t venomous in the least, but being swarmed by them was still more than enough to constitute a threat.
And, by now――
[Garfiel: ――Kh! Agh! Get th’fuck off!!]
――Garfiel was screaming hysterically at the horde of centipedes, sending spit flying.
Then, he raised his right leg and drove it into the ground with all his strength.
The next instant, a square plot of earth with Garfiel at its center sprang into the air.
[Otto: ――――]
Witnessing this preposterous sight, Otto unwittingly gulped.
Furiously swiping his claws and legs upon the airborne soil, Garfiel made short work of the stunned centipedes left and right. And, when the floating platform crashed back to the ground, all the centipedes around him had been neutralized while the rest scurried into the earth in fear.
The trees that were the wood mice’s homes toppled towards the uprooted earth as the inhabitants who had aided Otto scrambled to flee.
It seems they wound up paying quite a high price for the sugar water they got.
[Otto: Well that’s how business is sometimes…… it’s not always easy to judge whether a deal will be profitable or not, so please don’t hate me for it]
Bearing witness to this glimpse of Garfiel’s strength, Otto quietly apologized in an effort to calm himself. Then, silencing himself once more, Otto retreated to keep his distance from the approaching Garfiel and prepared to lure him to the next trap.
He hadn’t gone two and a half days without sleeping scouting around this forest for nothing.
――And once all this is over, he plans to sleep so furiously that not a dream could disturb him.
[Subaru: Alright, then I’ll count on you to delay him like we planned]
After safely finding Lewes and rejoining Otto, Subaru gave the signal to put the plans they’ve been preparing for over the past few days into motion.
[Otto: I’ve no problem with that, but, do you have any idea where Emilia-sama is? If you can’t find her before time runs out, everything we’ve done will be for nothing……]
[Subaru: Can’t say it’ll go without a hitch… I mean, it’s because of all the hitches that we’re in this situation. But, well, you don’t need to worry about it]
Scratching his head, Subaru’s face stiffened into a rather miserable expression.
Whenever Subaru’s eyes sharpened into a serious expression, it gave off the impression that he was mad about something.
While Otto hadn’t known him for long, he knew him well enough not to misunderstand that expression, but that didn’t stop him from feeling some pity for the owner of those unfortunate features. And actually, Subaru felt the same about Otto. The fact that Otto didn’t realize this was just one of the subtle things they have in common.
[Subaru: I think I have an idea where Emilia might be. Honestly, I panicked pretty hard when I found out she was gone, but…… now that I’ve calmed down, I’m pretty confident I can find her]
[Otto: Is, that right. So where do y…… or, maybe it’s better if I don’t know]
[Subaru: You sure? You know I wouldn’t mind bragging some more and having you fawn over my deductive abilities?]
[Otto: No, I’m good. I don’t feel like fawning today, and if Garfiel manages to catch me, it wouldn’t be good if I start spilling everything, now would it?]
Otto pointed out with a shrug, while Subaru nodded with [Right].
Indeed, it would be rather worrying. Otto doesn’t have a great deal of tolerance towards pain, and he hadn’t experienced a whole lot of extreme pain in his past.
If Garfiel corners him and starts hurting him, chances are, Otto will spill everything he knows. And Otto didn’t want to sabotage Subaru like that.
[Subaru: Well, if you’re sure you’re gonna spill it, I guess it can’t be helped]
[Otto: ――――]
Without much ceremony, Subaru simply said [No worries, I have complete faith in you].
Just what is a person supposed to think when they hear something like that?
Receiving this kind of blind trust, who could bring themselves to betray it?
And, saying such things without regard to how the listener might feel, Subaru truly is an outrageous friend.
[Otto: Either way… I’ll definitely do my best. I’m banking my entire future on you pulling this off, you know]
[Subaru: Yeah. If I royally screw this up, your future’s going straight to rock bottom. ……But if it gets too dangerous, just run away. That guy’s not gonna play around today]
[Otto: ……Mm, I’ll keep that in mind]
Otto answered those considerate words with a faint grin.
Everything was ready according to plan. The Arlam refugees have been instructed to board their respective dragon carriages and to leave shortly after the bait, Otto, departs.
Otto had loaded two carriages with the villagers’ spare clothing in order to convince Garfiel’s nose that the villagers are with him, and he would be travelling on the most conspicuous path to draw his attention.
The refugee escape routes that he had spent those sleepless nights scouting had also been firmly drilled into the ground dragons.
Nothing should be amiss now.
All that was left was to be the bait until the refugees escape the Sanctuary.
That would put them a safe distance away from the Great Rabbit’s attack two days from now. Meanwhile, Subaru and Emilia would have a chance to talk, and then Garfiel would return to the village, find Subaru, and probably turn the whole place into a battleground――
[Otto: ――――]
Except, Otto was determined not to let that happen.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Physical prowess was never Otto Suwen’s strong suit.
He had learned some self-defence techniques to keep himself safe on his travels, but, compared to someone who lives and breathes combat, Otto wasn’t just one or two steps behind.
He never neglected to hire bodyguards when transporting valuable cargo, and when he was attacked by mountain bandits in the shortcut through the hills, he tearfully abandoned his luggage and fled.
It was the general consensus that Otto lacked the aptitude to solve anything through brute force.
[Otto: So what on earth am I doing picking a fight with a guy like this……]
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Otto wrenched his rigid cheeks into a smile. As a rule, merchants always smile in the face of adversity.
Born into a merchant family, Otto was raised on that precept, though he only had the latter half of his life to live by it.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t a custom to be broken lightly.
If he could smile and convince himself that this was no different from any of the challenges he’d faced before, then his body would come to accept this stress as something good.
His arms were moving, so were his legs. He could still run some more.
It was a mystery how he could sprint across such terrible ground without running out of breath, but, from the lightness of his uplifted heart, the hidden strength within Otto’s body bloomed.
[Otto: Still, mustn’t get complacent. Conceit is useless, and carelessness is the enemy]
Speeding through the gaps between the trees, Otto reminded himself to stay ever vigilant.
He had left Garfiel a long way behind him. But Otto can’t keep running away like this. His job was to draw Garfiel’s attention and prevent him from returning to the Sanctuary.
Garfiel mustn’t be allowed to realize the pointlessness of chasing him.
By hiding in the forest and hitting Garfiel with one trap after another, Otto must work to keep himself at the forefront of Garfiel’s mind.
Indeed, Garfiel had no need to chase after Otto.
The real keys to achieving his objective of preventing the Sanctuary’s liberation were Subaru and Emilia. Otto was only a distraction.
The fact that Garfiel hadn’t paid Otto any attention thus far was precisely because he understood this better than anyone.
Swept-up leaves and a fire stone. And the swarm of winged insects bursting from the carriage.
With these flashy yet harmless traps, Otto had perfectly succeeded in enraging Garfiel.
The present Garfiel had lost his composure and was focusing his sights on Otto alone, completely forgetting he had no need to do so.
[Otto: That said, it won’t take him long to notice it if given the chance]
And so, without risking getting too close to Garfiel, Otto must keep provoking him from a distance.
With Garfiel’s nose disabled, Otto should be able to avoid any life-threatening situations as long as he keeps out of sight. But, if he’s spotted, Garfiel would be able to close the distance in an instant with the overwhelming skill-gap between them.
Indeed, it would require the caution of walking a tightrope.
[Otto: ――――]
Hidden in the foliage, Otto peered out at the scene before him.
Some twenty meters away was Garfiel, leering over his surroundings. It seems his sense of smell was completely gone thanks to the pungent Kisnis oil spilled near the carriage wheels. He was searching for Otto relying on vision alone, frustrated, and carrying the air of a wounded beast.
It’d be playing with fire to draw his attention now, just asking to be burned.
{Otto: Now, I’m counting on you!}
{???: rightright~~}
Otto lightly whispered, and heard the reply upon his eardrums instantly transformed into meaning.
Heeding Otto’s signal, the trees began to stir.
[Garfiel: Hha……?]
Hearing the rustling of leaves and sensing that something was afoot, Garfiel looked up――
――And saw a massive barrage of globs of mud and poop flying straight at his face from the surrounding trees.
It was a show of force by the little critters living high in those trees―― the wood mice.
Of course, the projectiles themselves dealt no damage whatsoever, but, seeing poop flying at him from all directions, even Garfiel panickedly tried to leap out of the way. He couldn’t avoid them all, however, with several splashing on his legs prompting clicks of his tongue.
[Garfiel: Th’fuck is this! Shit! Why’re th…… that lil’fucker’s behind this, isn’t he……]
Scraping off the filth on his feet on a nearby tree, Garfiel immediately wondered if this was Otto’s doing. But then, Garfiel scrunched his nose mid-sentence as if having noticed something.
――The wood mice’s poop balls were pretty much harmless. They were just staining his clothes and making them stink.
But the scent of their droppings has a tendency to attract the insects of this forest.
[Garfiel: ――――Gh!]
Something wriggled up to Garfiel from beneath the ground before leaping out of the earth and tangling itself around his foot. His breathing stopped―― when he saw that it was a long, black, centipede-like insect crawling up his leg.
The length of a person’s arm, the centipede wound its way up Garfiel’s left knee as its grotesque mandibles slurped greedily over the traces of wood mice droppings.
[Garfiel: Ggha! Gross!]
Brandishing his claws, Garfiel swiped the centipede off him. But more and more crawled out of the ground, not only leaping onto Garfiel’s legs, but fighting over the puddle of droppings that had missed him, covering the entire area in a hellish brawl.
Centipedes love the fruit seeds inside wood mice droppings.
That was one of the “useful facts” Otto had learned over his conversations with the woodland creatures during his treks through the forest.
Contrary to their repulsive appearance, the centipedes aren’t carnivores and aren’t venomous in the least, but being swarmed by them was still more than enough to constitute a threat.
And, by now――
[Garfiel: ――Kh! Agh! Get th’fuck off!!]
――Garfiel was screaming hysterically at the horde of centipedes, sending spit flying.
Then, he raised his right leg and drove it into the ground with all his strength.
The next instant, a square plot of earth with Garfiel at its center sprang into the air.
[Otto: ――――]
Witnessing this preposterous sight, Otto unwittingly gulped.
Furiously swiping his claws and legs upon the airborne soil, Garfiel made short work of the stunned centipedes left and right. And, when the floating platform crashed back to the ground, all the centipedes around him had been neutralized while the rest scurried into the earth in fear.
The trees that were the wood mice’s homes toppled towards the uprooted earth as the inhabitants who had aided Otto scrambled to flee.
It seems they wound up paying quite a high price for the sugar water they got.
[Otto: Well that’s how business is sometimes…… it’s not always easy to judge whether a deal will be profitable or not, so please don’t hate me for it]
Bearing witness to this glimpse of Garfiel’s strength, Otto quietly apologized in an effort to calm himself. Then, silencing himself once more, Otto retreated to keep his distance from the approaching Garfiel and prepared to lure him to the next trap.
He hadn’t gone two and a half days without sleeping scouting around this forest for nothing.
――And once all this is over, he plans to sleep so furiously that not a dream could disturb him.
