Chapter 27. The Sound of the Flute

The faint white light faded, and the moisture that had formed the barrier settled. A moment later, Adellian staggered out, her face gaunt.

“My lady!”

Klaus rushed to Adellian’s side.

Supported by Klaus, Adellian looked at me.

“Why are you here?”

Her appearance was that of someone on the verge of death, but her voice was quite lively.

Her gaze was also filled with the spirit of someone ready for a fight.

“I heard a familiar voice sounding fierce, so I wondered what was going on.”

“Pardon?”

Adellian, leaning on Klaus, frowned and gave off a strong nuance of asking what on earth I was talking about.

“Am I speaking in a foreign language right now?”

“……Please stop with the sarcasm.”

“That wasn't my intention, but if you felt that way, how about trying to be a bit kinder in your heart? One tends to hear things according to the state of one’s heart.”

Hearing my words, Adellian let out a long sigh and shook her head.

“This is sincere advice. For the young lady’s sake. By the way, My reason for following you two was truly, really truly, because it seemed like some trouble had arisen between you. I mean, on the street, one person was shouting ‘no, it’s dangerous,’ and the other was insisting ‘I’ll do it, it’s fine’.”

As I continued to speak softly, Adellian and Klaus’s brows narrowed considerably.

“Even if it were strangers, it would be a scene that makes one curious enough to watch, but when it’s someone I know? That’s something that really piques a person’s curiosity, you know? And we’re not strangers who will see each other for just a day or two, are we? So how could I just stand by? The human heart is all about helping each other.”

“Helping each other? Even though you turned a blind eye to the carriage repair.”

“That’s a different case. There’s an order to things. My side came first, and the young lady’s side came later.”

“Ha! You really speak without any hesitation, don’t you? I see I truly didn’t know Your Highness.”

Of course, you don’t know. How long have you even seen me?

“I will have to decline such interest from Your Highness.”

“Hmm… I can see how you might feel uncomfortable, but I don’t think there’s a need to put up such a wall. If we get along well, in many ways…”

“Isn’t getting along well not the same as tailing someone?”

Well, that was true, but… if I had followed her openly, she would have been so welcoming, I'm sure.

“I think the young lady’s perspective is a bit skewed.”

“Ha! It’s not that I’m skewed, it’s that Your Highness’s words and actions are suspicious!”

Adellian said with all her might, the veins in her neck bulging. But her voice was not very loud, as if she had reached the limit of her stamina. The end of her voice even cracked.

I decided to end the draining wordplay here. Looking at her condition, it wouldn’t be strange if she collapsed soon. I had to solve my curiosity before she collapsed.

“Alright, let’s say I’m suspicious. Why did you go to the shack?”

“Didn’t you follow me after hearing?”

What a prickly person.

“I wanted to confirm if what I heard was correct.”

“Because the child’s mother was sick.”

“What illness?”

“Are you interrogating me now?”

“Not an interrogation, a question.”

“……I’m not a physician, so I don’t know what kind of illness it is.”

“The possibility of contagion?”

Adellian, receiving a series of questions, crumpled her face. It was easy to see that she was holding back her annoyance.

“Your Highness, the young lady is not feeling well, so shall we stop there?”

Klaus, who doted on Adellian, stepped forward.

“If there’s a possibility of contagion, the young lady you cherish would also be in danger.”

“It likely isn’t. Because the child was not sick.”

“That little kid from earlier?”

“Yes.”

Then that was a relief.

“So you were trying to confirm whether it was a contagious disease.”

Adellian said, struggling to keep her heavy eyes open.

“That, and other things. I’m more curious about why you went to the shack and treated her even though you were overexerting yourself, but I’ll listen to that on another occasion.”

“No, thank you.”

Adellian answered firmly as if she really hated exchanging words with me. And she immediately lost consciousness. It seemed she had squeezed out all her strength to give that deadpan look. She was a person who was tenacious in a strange way.

“Farewell.”

Klaus, carrying Adellian on his back, openly expressed his displeasure and headed toward their lodging.

I just stood there and watched the two of them grow distant.

“Stiff, but someone who knows how to bow to the weak…”

She seemed quite smart, too.

Adellian, my interest was piqued.

***

At a time when the evening glow faded and the moon rose high, two carriages were running along a mountain path. The destination of the carriages was the Saint-Denis Military Academy.

“The Demonic Moon is not far off, we should have just stayed the night and left.”

A man who looked like an attendant said, looking at a young noble.

“No. I have to go quickly and break through to the 2nd Circle. That’s the only way I’ll get a good score on the opening exam. The 1st Circle is not enough.”

“I am worried that you might fall ill if you rush too much.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve even found a mage who said he’d help me get to the 2nd Circle.”

At the young noble’s words, the attendant smiled gently.

“You do not need to be so impatient.”

“I’m already late. The kids who are getting ahead are already at the 2nd Circle. With the 1st Circle, I might not even get a spot in the martial arts tournament.”

“Even if you don’t rush like that, the young master will do well. Because you have outstanding talent.”

The attendant took the young noble’s hand. A faint blue light flowed from the young noble’s hand to his heart.

“See, you have already perfected the 1st Circle. So please do not be impatient. Impatience can become a hindrance.”

At the attendant’s words, the young noble swallowed and nodded. The attendant who was looking after him was a knight who had filled the 2nd Circle and was looking toward the 3rd.

That was why he had no choice but to accept his words.

“If you follow the path calmly, you will obtain the result you desire.”

“Alright. I won’t be impatient.”

The young noble closed his lips and placed his hand on the unsheathed sword. Although he had answered that he wouldn't be impatient, his desire to be better than others had not changed.

Rattle.

The carriage suddenly came to a stop. The young noble’s expression darkened rapidly.

“What is it? Why did we suddenly stop?”

The attendant asked the coachman in a loud voice, grabbing his own sword.

“A Red Wolf has appeared.”

“This isn’t the territory of the Red Wolf, so why?”

The attendant looked out the window, frowning as if he couldn't understand. A distorted moon, faintly mixed with a red aura, was high in the sky.

“It’s not the Demonic Moon yet, so why is a Red Wolf here?”

“U-uaack!”

The coachman screamed and jumped from the carriage. At this, the attendant drew his sword with a serious expression.

“Please stay inside. I can handle a Red Wolf.”

“Are you sure? If you think it’s difficult alone, call me right away. I can fight too.”

“It is fine. The young master must not get hurt before entering the school. You must do well on the opening exam.”

The young noble nodded at the attendant’s words.

“Draw your swords!”

The attendant, who had gone outside the carriage, shouted with all his might.

“Protect the young viscount!”

Along with the clashing sound of metal, a cheer rose up.

Awooo!

The Red Wolf’s howl echoed, filled with hostility.

Awooo!

Awooooo!

Awoooooo!

It echoed one after another, like a round song.

“Ah, crap. What do I do?”

The young noble hugged his sword tightly and tapped his feet. Outside, the screams and shouts of people and the fierce sounds of beasts were chaotically mixed, tumbling in all directions. The impact of steel and flesh clashing was transmitted into the carriage.

Kwoong!

Something hit the carriage. It was impossible to know if it was an escort soldier fighting the Red Wolf, or a Red Wolf that had been struck by an escort soldier.

The young noble forcefully composed his rough breathing and contemplated what to do. He gripped his sword with a trembling hand and looked at the carriage handle. In that moment, as if by a lie, all sound disappeared.

“Wh-what?”

The eerie silence brought not calmness but intense tension. The young noble’s heart beat even faster than before. His breathing also became rough. He gulped down dry saliva and brought his face close to the carriage window to grasp the situation. It was completely dark all around, so he couldn’t see a thing.

“G-Gayareu.”

The young noble called for his attendant. Powerlessly, in a faint voice.

As if the sound couldn't get out of the carriage, there was no response. The hand that gripped the sword trembled violently. His lips and legs also trembled uncontrollably. The incomprehensible atmosphere became a heavy fear that crushed him.

Peeee.

A thin flute sound rang out.

The young noble gripped his sword with all his might to endure the weight of fear. He didn't have the courage to go outside the carriage, but he resolved to swing his sword if the carriage door opened.

Peeeee.

The flute sound rang out even thinner and sharper.

The young noble clenched his teeth tightly. Tears also streamed down his face.

Peeeeeeeek!

The flute sound fluctuated as if to pierce everything. And then it disappeared as if cut by a knife.

A sob was about to leak from between the young noble’s teeth. Tears and snot flowed like crazy.

The sound that had disappeared once again condensed the tension to its peak.

“H-hic.”

The young noble, unable to overcome his fear, began to cry.

“Gayareu, are you o-outside? If you are, please answer.”

The young noble once again called for the only person he could rely on. But there was still no answer.

“Gayareu. D-damn it. I’m so scared.”

He hugged his sword to his chest and earnestly prayed for the current situation to end.

Click!

“Aack!”

The carriage door suddenly opened. The young noble fell backward and screamed.

“Ugh! What? Aack! Wh-what? Huh? Gayareu?”

The one who had opened the door was the attendant he had been calling for so desperately.

The face of the young noble, which had been completely stiff, relaxed. He wiped away his tears and approached the pale-faced attendant.

“Gayareu, what on earth happened? What…”

The young noble, whose eyes met the attendant’s, couldn’t help but swallow his words.

There was no life in the attendant’s eyes. His skin color was so excessively pale that it did not belong to the living.

“Gayareu?”

He tried to touch the attendant’s face with a trembling hand. In that moment, the roof of the carriage was torn off with a crash. The young noble couldn't even scream. He was so shocked that he couldn't even breathe properly, just choked and stared at what was unfolding before his eyes. A giant Owlbear with horns on its head was munching on the attendant’s lower body.

Peeeee.

The thin flute sound rang out again. The Owlbear’s eyes sparkled red. The creature spat out the attendant’s lower body it had been chewing on and looked at the young noble.

“G-go away. Go away!”

The young noble screamed. He brandished his sword randomly, trying to threaten the Owlbear.

Peep-peep!

The flute sound fluctuated quickly and with a grotesque energy. The Owlbear opened its maw. Blood and saliva that had been on its mouth dripped down. The young noble stabbed with his sword with all the strength he could muster.

Kaang!

Along with a sharp metallic sound, the sword broke. The young noble despaired.

“Save me! Save…”

The Owlbear’s front paw crushed the young noble’s head. With a dull thud of bone being crushed, blood and brain matter splattered in all directions. The Owlbear licked the remnants of the young noble on its paw with its tongue. And it began to tear at and eat the quivering body of the noble.

Peee…….

The flute sound died down. The Owlbear, which had been munching on the young noble’s body, looked up at the moon. The creature spread its wings wide. And with a grotesque cry, it flew toward the moon.

***

Bethel was squatting on top of the castle wall. He was now sweating profusely as he hammered nails into the ground.

“No, Your Highness. What is the reason for going this far?”

Bethel stopped what he was doing and asked me with a frown.

“It’s to not die.”

“Pardon? What does hammering nails on a castle wall have to do with dying?”

Bethel, with his innocent brain, seemed to have eaten the words I had told him at the lodging with his rice.

“If you want to be eaten by the Owlbear, you can stop.”

“No, sir. I will work hard. But I wonder if this is meaningful… even if the Owlbear gets caught in the net, won’t it break through right away?”

“It probably will.”

“Pardon?”

Bethel had a dumbfounded expression. I told such a Bethel to focus on hammering the nails.

Using Bethel’s ability, the nails could be firmly fixed. But it was not enough to stop an Owlbear. Still, it had to be done.

‘Five seconds.’

That was probably the amount of time the net could withstand the Owlbear’s strength. Within that time, we had to accurately aim for the Owlbear’s weak point, its navel. As long as it didn't fly into the sky, the Owlbear’s navel would not be exposed.

There was only one chance.

“Your Highness!”

Elliot, who had gone to buy arrows with Michelle, was running over urgently. Her atmosphere was unusual. But Michelle was…?

“Why are you alone?”