Please give me some feedback!
Also, this marks the start of the ANNOYING CHAPTERS WHERE I ENDED UP GIVING TOO MANY NAMES (but I
didn't give the other characters any details, so it's all good, yeah? Yeah?!)
I honestly don’t know what you guys think.
Gimme da feedback, b0ss~
Honestly, the readers are so silent. ;-;
Do you like it? Do you not?
Seriously~
Part 1
The city seemed so far away.
Anna and Reina were in my arms, but I didn't feel the pull of their weight.
It was as if I was watching a dream through someone else's eyes.
It was a scary dream.
A dream that I did not like.
People jumped at me, weapons in hand.
The more I fought back, the more knights attacked me.
Why did they attack me?
Did I kill their friends?
Perhaps their lover?
Or maybe their father?
I don't know.
I don't know.
As I swung the blade on my hand and my chest grew tighter.
I could hear them.
Murderer.
Terrorist.
Monster.
Did I kill your friends?
I'm sorry.
Did I kill your lover?
I'm sorry.
Did I kill your father?
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry!!
"I'm sorry!" I screamed as my eyes opened and my body shot up.
"You alright there, missy?" The leader of the men who helped me escape last night woke me up from my nightmare.
"W...What?" I looked around me.
We seemed to be in the middle of a plain surrounded by hills...
“I’m…”
“You seem to have been having a nightmare, yeah?”
He grinned as he looked at me.
I nodded slowly before looking at the sky.
It was still dawn and the sun wasn't up yet.
I tried standing, but--
"...Uuu..." The quiet breathing noises of the girls stopped me.
Ah… my children.
You are safe…
Let's see...
Brown, yellow, black, lime...
Blue-green and white?
"Where's blue-green and white?!"
I had accidentally yelled out my thoughts to Gerald.
"I-I mean... Aya and Bunny...?"
I looked around worriedly, turning my head left and right repeatedly.
Gerald's face darkened as he avoided making eye contact with me.
...No... Don’t tell me...
"Where are the children?! A-Aya and Bunny, they...!"
I was beginning to sound hysterical as I screamed in panic, causing Patrice and
Reina to wake up.
They rubbed their eyes sleepily as they cuddled next to me before going back to sleep, embracing my limbs.
In the end, Reina's wings were not able to be reattached, so of
course I had to ask Gerald to close the wounds.
But Aya and Bunny... they were the ones that didn't wake up at all during our escape.
They were next to me when I... how... where?
Gerald turned his back to me as he looked up to the sky.
"...I'm sorry."
"Where did they..." tears began to form around my eyes and I felt a pang of pain in my chest.
Lyra came over and promptly smacked Gerald in the head.
W-What? What's going on?
Lyra then crossed her arms in front of her chest and raised an eyebrow at
Gerald.
"Oww! Gehahaha! Ah’m just yankin' yer chain, girl. They’ fine.
They just woke up earlier than all of you and decided they wanted to take a
bath."
As Gerald spoke, I saw the figures of Bunny and Aya walking together along with
Kidnapper.
I sighed with relief as I seriously thought about smacking Gerald for a second.
Wait a minute, that kidnapper…
...He didn't bathe with them, did he?
I'll allow him to, but only after he cuts off a certain part first...
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I ran towards white and blue-green.
"Mama!"(Aya)
"Mommy!"(Bunny)
The two of them ran towards me as well and crashed-- I mean hugged me where I
stood.
I'm not ignoring Kidnapper.
I'm not.
Anyway... last night was dangerous.
"How are you two feeling...? Don't worry... the bad men won't reach you
here...
I was worried when I woke up, you weren't there at all! Geez... you should've
woken me up... I was afraid there for a second..."
I must've sounded a bit pouty as I embraced the two of them tightly.
The two of them apologized at the same time and I couldn’t help but tell them,
"It's alright... everything is fine now. They won't be able to hurt you
anymore..."
One of the knights whose name I forgot passed by us and I couldn't help but notice his back--
"Y-You...! You're injured, w-wha, why?"
What the heck, it's huge!
The upper part of his back... u-unbelievable... the entire thing's red!
I let go of Aya and Bunny as I walked up to him and held his
shoulders from behind.
"W-When did this happen?! H-How did..."
Genuinely worried, I asked him with troubled eyes.
...T-This is because of me, I...
My hands began to glow, and—
"Hooooold on there, girly! I don't want none of yer healin' magic!"
He spoke with a weird accent as he stopped me.
"W-Why not...?"
I-I can do it if I try!
"Enough already, I get it! I'll ask that Gerald to heal it.
...Forget that. Anyway...
Ye’re basically our new cap'n, eh?
So what do we do about our... war prisoner?"
He immediately changed the topic, as if the gigantic wound on his back was
nothing.
I turn my head to look at our topic of discussion.
A girl, about twenty-four years old was tied up. She had long, brown hair tied up in a ponytail. When she was awake earlier, she was
struggling like a worm.
She was loud, so I stuffed her mouth with my handkerchief.
With furrowed brows, I turned to look at Gerald.
"...Is this girl as important as you say she is?"
"Mm." Gerald nodded before continuing.
"This girl is the daughter of the city's mayor.
Not only that, she's the captain of the Hawks." He showed a savage grin as
he stared at her.
...Oi.
We need her, so don't kill her.
…Or touch her, for that matter.
"I'm assuming she's the leader of the archer division, then?"
Hawk, right?
"Crossbow division, queen of pyres." The knight whose name I forgot interrupted me.
...Queen of pyres? Is he talking about me?
The knights slept in shifts, taking turns to guard us.
At the moment it's Gerald, Nide and... Mister Knight.
"...I see." I nodded solemnly.
Crossbow, huh.
I sat down on the grass and laid Bunny and Aya's heads on my lap.
I soothed them to sleep with a lullaby and they fell asleep pretty quickly.
Lyra had already fallen asleep by the other children.
...It's good that she already recovered from that weird drug.
Before long, Mister Knight had grown tired and said that he would be retiring for the night.
"Nide and Gerald are enough, eh princess? Well. Ah’m goin’ to sleep."
I stopped him, however and prompted Gerald to heal his back.
Gerald was surprised when he saw the wound.
...How could I have been the first to see it?
It's huge.
After the wound at least looked fine, mister Knight went to sleep, leaning on a
nearby tree.
The people of this world seem to have no idea what “dressing the wound" means.
They only know magic, I guess. They've been relying on that for millennia, so I
understand completely.
They don't know how to disinfect and why they should.
They also don't understand how to start a simple fire.
Everything needs magic.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
It is their necessity.
As I listened to the crackling of the bonfire, I closed my eyes and leaked out a sigh.
I had been keeping this to myself for a while, but--
"...Gerald. You're a noble, aren't you? Why... why did you help me?"
A lingering feeling of regret washed over me.
Nide remained quiet as he stood by the trees while Gerald sat opposite of me with a satisfied expression.
"...You can say I-- we-- have been sick of the way the people of this country run the joint. Ya got something wrong as well, y’know?
Fer a sheltered young lady, ye’re awfully good at killing people.”
He saw me look away awkwardly, so he went back to topic.
“This… ‘noble’ family only recently took me back. I... I was raised by someone
who was not a Rovietal, see, so... that's just how it is."
Rovietals are discriminatory.
He added.
Indeed... they are.
Reina, she--
The poor child...
"Will Reina recover?" I asked as I looked at the fire.
He scratched his head, troubled as he looked for an answer.
For a few seconds, I waited for his response.
Until finally,
"...Sorry. Tha’ child's wings can not grow back from what ah’ know.
Tha’ child had black wings, eh? That's particularly weak for the succubus race.
If she were red winged, perhaps... Ah’m sorry, Alice..."
For the first time, Gerald actually looked troubled.
I heaved a tired-- contented sigh as I caressed Bunny‘s ears.
Twitch, twitch. Ufufufu~
"Ufufufu~ Is that so. Then she will just have to learn to live without them, then.
Such a shame... they were so beautiful."
Gerald seemed genuinely surprised at my words as he looked at me.
"Ye're a strange ‘un, girl."
He smiled wryly as he closed his eyes and scratched his temple.
He then rested on the grass, his hands on the back of his head as he looked at the sky once again.
I didn't hear the words that leaked out of his mouth.
For his whispers are but now secrets of the wind.
He closed his eyes.
What did he say, I wonder?
I guess I'll never know.
"You are both the least-- and the most human I've met in this world."
Part 2
When morning came, I woke up all of the little ones.
We're in no rush right now, but the knights will be after us for sure.
Kidnapper was pretty reliable. Gerald on the other hand...
Snooooore
Snoooooooore
What a lousy night watcher...
"...Wake up. Hey. Wake up." I nudged Gerald twice.
He's not moving.
Maybe he's dead.
I started kicking him.
Helloooo?
Hmm... no reaction.
Oh! I know...
As an idea popped into my head, my lips curled into an evil smile.
"Wake up now~ Hey, hey yo--W-Wahh...! Ahhh!"
I was about to block his nose, but as soon as my finger neared his
face-- his eyes shot open and he grabbed my arm before pushing my body
down to the ground.
We had traded positions.
His usual unsophisticated smile was nowhere to be found as he pulled out a
knife and reflexively pushed it against my throat.
"...Eep!" The sudden act caused me to release little scream as Kidnapper spoke in a fluster.
"O-Oi! What happened? R-Release her!"
For a split second, I felt Gerald's cold gaze until he realized it was me he was pushing down.
"...Whoops. My bad. Old habits, I guess..."
He showed a wry smile as he sheathed his knife as if nothing happened.
...Okay.
No more pranks on Gerald.
Noted.
Gerald then scratched his head with a wondering expression as he narrowed his eyes,
"I could've sworn I felt some bloodlust there for a second... hmm..."
Definitely no more pranks on Gerald.
Poor guy, the kids are looking at him like he's the enemy of their parents.
Wait... I'm their parent.
Before long, all eight knights had woken up.
Abusing my power as their temporary leader, I instructed that each of them
carry one of my daughters.
This was also a good way to distract my girls as they were too busy enjoying the feeling of being high up, they also wouldn't complain
about being tired.
Gerald and Kidnapper were left with nothing to carry except for provisions, but--
"...Lady Alice, what are you doing?" Kidnapper looked troubled as he
asked me, who was still sitting on the grass.
I half-jokingly extended both arms towards him as if asking for a hug.
"Carry~" I said with a small smile.
"W-Wha-?! Lady Alice, please be reasonable!"
"But I'm a fragile lady!"
"..."
I actually just wanted to tease Kidnapper to see his flustered reaction, but
why did it come to a situation where I'm losing...?
In the end, he conceded and I ended up... in... his arms...
W-What the heck did I just do to myself?!
Lyra noticed our little back and forth and she blushed while watching, causing Gerald to come over to her.
Gerald's not bad, too.
He's pretty good looking. He has stylish blond hair and sparkly blue eyes.
He had a build similar to a certain wrestler back in my world...
"The Stone".
Ufufu~ I made myself laugh.
His face really isn't bad, though...
I can't see it right now, however.
Of course, all of them are wearing their helmets to hide their faces.
Gerald seems interested in Lyra as he asked her while carrying our "war-prisoner" on his shoulder,
"Do you want me to carry you too, girl?" He winked as he showed her a
charming smile.
...W-Wow.
At his offer, Lyra quickly shook her head from left to right while blushing all
the way to the ears.
"Mmmph! Mmmmmmph!" Meanwhile, our war-prisoner struggled, seemingly disgusted with the situation.
Gerald glanced at her once and planned on silencing her with force, but he only
ended up smacking her bottom.
...He didn't do that on purpose, right?
Our war-prisoner cringed as she trembled with tears in her eyes.
I drew a cross in front of my chest as I prayed for her soul.
...I was never really religious, though.
And this religion probably doesn't exist in this world, eh?
Then my prayer was meaningless.
This girl is doomed.
Lyra and I, along with the rest of the children were wearing hooded cloaks to
hide our wonderful variety of hair colors and races.
Of course, I had escaped from Kidnapper's grubby mitts as I walked alongside
Lyra.
The knights treated me as some sort of VIP, so our formation is an encirclement with Lyra and I in the center.
As we were about to enter the forest that I was first teleported to, I asked Gerald.
"...Hey, shouldn't we release her here?"
I pointed at the brown-haired girl who was sobbing on Gerald's shoulder with
pitying eyes.
Our "war-prisoner".
As I spoke out, the girl looked at me a little bit thankfully before Mmmmfing tragically.
"Oh, you're right. I almost forgot."
Gerald struck his palm on his hand as if he just had a revelation.
"Okay, okay, that's it. Drop her now. We're leaving her here. Wouldn't want our bounties to increase anymore..."
Lucky for this girl, we have just entered the forest.
Kidnapper cut the ropes binding her and I took back my handkerchief which was drenched in her saliva.
...Ew.
I couldn't help but hear Kidnapper apologizing to the girl as we let her go.
...Pfft. Flirting, eh?
Hmph.
Stupid Nide.
Gerald shook his head with his hand on his forehead.
He sighed grandly.
"Cheating, eh?"
W-W-What are you talking about?!
S-Stupid Gerald!
I pouted and ended up not talking to them during the first two hours of the trip inside the forest.
"Injustice? There is no such thing.
Only a justice that stands on the opposite shore."