Chapter 33
A woman with a dusky complexion and a wrinkled face collapsed at the end of an alley so narrow that both her shoulders touched the walls.
Her name was Celine, a tenant farmer who lived on the outskirts of Bingsho, near the Kingdom of Madak.
Until just a few days ago, she had been an ordinary housewife. Now she wandered Bingsho looking like a complete beggar, all because of the ruffians who had stormed into her home about a week earlier.
Her husband had charged at the ruffians dragging her away, wielding an iron rake, but it had been utterly futile.
After witnessing her husband’s death, Celine fainted from the tremendous shock. When she regained consciousness, she was in the cargo compartment of a wagon.
Fortunately, perhaps because she had been unconscious the entire time, the ruffians’ guards had not been particularly vigilant.
When the wagon crossed a bridge over a river, Celine boldly rolled herself out and plunged into the water. After drifting downstream for quite some time, she mingled with merchants traveling between Madak and Bingsho and barely managed to reach Bingsho.
She had thought she had escaped the ruffians, but the moment she arrived in Bingsho, they appeared again.
Celine hurriedly sought out the guards, but it was pointless. The guards gave her a place to stay for the time being, but they could not protect her around the clock.
‘What should I do now.’
No matter how much she racked her brain, she could not think of any suitable plan.
If she stayed in Bingsho, the ruffians would certainly harm her, but if she left the city, she had no idea where she could go.
Tap, tap. After trembling in fear and anxiety for a long time, Celine heard someone enter the alley.
Celine sat still and tightly clutched the only thing she had found while rummaging through a trash can: a black cloak torn to shreds.
It was a dead end, and she had neither anywhere to run nor the strength left to do so.
Unable even to wipe away her flowing tears, she stared at the entrance to the alley.
The larger the approaching shadow grew, the more violently her body trembled.
Tap, tap. As the footsteps grew louder, Celine squeezed her eyes shut.
Any moment now, she would be thrown into the brutal hands that had killed her husband.
“!!!”
Instead of the heavy impact she expected, warm hands wrapped around her shoulders, making Celine start in surprise.
“Ma’am, are you all right?”
Hearing the bright, strawberry-sweet voice, Celine cautiously raised her head and found a green-haired woman looking at her with concern.
“…Hurry, hurry and run away.”
The woman before her was about the same age as the daughter who had married several years ago.
Celine wanted to ask for help, but she could not drag a girl like her daughter into this affair.
“You’ll be in danger if you stay with me, too. So please go, quickly.”
It was enough that she alone was in danger. Afraid the woman might get caught up in her troubles, Celine turned away and curled herself up as tightly as she could.
*
“It’s all right. Get up.”
Since it was difficult to support someone in a place where even moving one arm was hard, Vieta persuaded the woman and led her outside.
Vieta sat the woman on the railing around a flower bed beside a nearby building and checked her condition.
A foul stench emanated from her entire body. Her face was stained, her arms and legs were gaunt, and blood continued to flow from the soles of her feet, as though they had been injured.
It was obvious that she urgently needed treatment, but all Vieta could do right away was share a little of her own energy to restore vitality to the exhausted woman’s body.
“What happened?”
As Vieta’s energy flowed into her, Celine’s trembling gradually subsided.
“Miss, hurry and run away while you still can.”
“Ma’am, I’m really strong. So could you tell me what happened, at least for now?”
Celine looked as though she wanted to say something, but she kept glancing around anxiously. Vieta firmly took both her hands and met her eyes.
Despite Vieta’s efforts, the woman found it difficult to open her mouth.
“It seems difficult to talk here. How about going somewhere else?”
At the male voice from beside her, Vieta’s eyes grew round.
“Ful…care and Blanc?”
Seeing Fulcare and Blanc looking at her, Vieta’s face instantly flushed bright red.
She was wearing the daring outfit Laura had chosen for her that morning.
“Seeing that she’s injured, we should call Theo, too.”
After approaching Celine without hesitation and examining her condition, Fulcare quietly looked at Vieta as if asking for permission.
Realizing what Fulcare meant, Vieta nodded.
*
The goddess’s subspace, which made one forget everything, was just as it had been.
Celine was unconscious in Fulcare’s arms. Moving through space while physically exhausted had taken its toll on her.
“Did you call Theo?”
“Yeah, he’s probably waiting.”
Perhaps he was worried that Celine might wake up, because Fulcare’s footsteps were unusually careful.
“But the captain’s clothes….”
“…Don’t ask.”
When even Fulcare trailed off, Vieta grew self-conscious. Blushing, she deliberately stressed each word as she answered.
“No, I wasn’t trying to tease you. I mean, it looks good on you, Captain.”
“…I said stop it.”
Vieta glared at Fulcare with a deliberately angry expression, but he merely continued wearing that knowing smile.
Vieta hurriedly changed the subject. If she kept discussing her clothes with Fulcare, she would obviously be the one to suffer for it.
“Blanc, you don’t look well. Are you feeling ill?”
“Ah, no, I’m fine! Ah, no—I mean, I’m fine.”
When even Blanc turned his flushed face away and answered in an exaggerated voice, Vieta puffed out her cheeks as much as she could in embarrassment.
“No, I said you look pretty. Why are you getting angry?”
“Oh, honestly!”
At Fulcare’s playful remark, Vieta let out a squeak. However, there was still one more mountain for her to climb. Theodore.
“Ahem! Hello. I’m Theodore.”
Theodore, who had been waiting for them, spoke while deliberately looking away. Unlike Fulcare, who teased her openly, or Blanc, who avoided looking at her, Theodore kept clearing his throat, making it clear that he was quite flustered as well.
“C-Captain, your clothes are… quite daring. Still, they suit you. Yes, they suit you well.”
“Don’t say anything. Don’t! I said don’t!”
These damn guys never let anything slide. Overcome with embarrassment, Vieta clenched her teeth once again.
“Ahem. Anyway, shall we look at the injured woman first?”
At Theodore’s gesture, the subspace rippled, and a large platform rose from the floor.
Fulcare carefully lowered the woman onto the platform, and Theodore approached her and infused her with holy power. Blinding white light burst continuously from his hand as he cast the healing spell.
While Theodore treated the woman, the others sat in chairs and waited for him to finish.
Vieta snatched the jackets off Fulcare and Blanc and carefully wrapped the woman’s body in them.
“She’ll be up in just a little while.”
While Vieta savored the peace of mind she had regained, Theodore finished the treatment and sat in a chair as well. Just as he had said, the woman soon sat up.
The woman gaped as she looked around, then even clenched her fists and rotated her ankles.
“Ma’am, would you tell us what happened now?”
After waiting for her to take in the situation, Vieta spoke.
“My name is Celine. I farm near the border and occasionally work as a midwife….”
Now that she had regained her composure, Celine spoke with a much more relaxed expression. She paused from time to time as she searched her memory, but she calmly explained what had happened to her.
“But why are those men chasing you, ma’am?”
When Celine finished her story, Vieta tilted her head.
“Since they had a chance to kill you but left you alive, it’s fair to assume they kidnapped you.”
As Fulcare spoke, magic circles repeatedly formed and vanished in both his hands.
After examining Celine’s hood for a while, Fulcare approached Giselle and Noe, who were lying facedown on the floor, and released their restraints.
Perhaps startled by the sight, Celine’s eyes trembled for a moment.
“Celine, did those men say anything else?”
At Theodore’s words, Celine let out a short gasp.
“Come to think of it, they did mention Avril. Was that a name? A word?”
Meanwhile, Fulcare bound Giselle and Noe again, then dusted off his hands as he continued speaking.
“These are the Kardu lot?”
“Kardu?”
When Theodore asked again, Vieta answered him.
“Oh, there were some guys who caused us a bit of trouble before.”
While everyone else was at ease, Blanc’s eyes seemed to waver, and he muttered in a voice laden with despair.
“…It was the Empress.”
As if he had heard Blanc’s mutter, Fulcare hurriedly enclosed Celine in a golden sphere.
“Blanc, what do you mean? Why the Empress?”
“What do you mean, why? It’s simple, Vieta. The Empress has been the one attacking me all this time.”
Blanc’s voice was filled with pain. After speaking, he lifted one hand, ran it over his face, and let out a hollow laugh.
“Blanc, calm down and tell us. What on earth is the connection between Avril and the Empress?”
At Vieta’s urging, Blanc opened his mouth.
“…Avril is the Noble Consort’s illegitimate child—and my sister.”
Blanc’s bombshell left everyone around them silent for a moment.