Chapter 5: Number, 5, Good Guy? Bad Guy? – translated by raylight
Carol had never intentionally gone looking for evil people that Silvie had spoken of, but for some unknown reason, she would always end up running in to these evil-doers. One really could not be sure whether she was fated to lead a life of labor or whether the evil-doers in the Kingdom of Holy Light were simply too unlucky.
Not to mention that this fellow Silvie also seemed to lead a life of b.u.mping in to evil people by accident. Last time, he had been captured by a patrol squad and, in the end, was treated as a slave and taken away. This time, he picked up someone in an alley, and this fellow also happened to have suffered a shocking injustice… Why did she not feel the least bit surprised?
Since there had been an injustice done, then there was definitely an evil person involved.
Cale started to explain. “I am an illegitimate child. My father died not too long ago, and the person who is after my life is his wife.”
“Why is she after your life? Are you inheriting the family fortune?” Silvie asked in confusion.
“How is that possible?!” Cale gave a sarcastic laugh. “It’s because I know too much. My father didn’t die from illness but was poisoned by his wife who collaborated with her adulterer. My little brother, who was thought to have the same father but a different mother than me, is actually not my father’s child, but that adulterer’s child. And that adulterer is…”
“Your father’s younger brother,” Carol continued on coldly.
Cale received a large shock and exclaimed, “How did you know that?”
How? That’s because this plot was simply so cla.s.sic that it left her at a loss for words. Almost every city would have something like this!
“That’s really too much!” Silvie was so angry that he jumped to his feet, shouting, “How could they do something like that? Not only did they kill your father, they even want to kill you!”
“These are all just empty words.” Carol indifferently said, “Previously, you were sold to be a slave, right? Since they first sold you off as a slave and had not killed you instantly, it should be because you don’t have any evidence to prove that they poisoned your father to death. Since that is the case, they shouldn’t have any need to go after your life. What did you do?”
Cale stiffened and stared at Carol with disbelief. He opened his mouth, but he was unable to say a single word to defend himself. In the end, he was dejected as he honestly admitted, “I went back to try and kill them personally, but I failed.”
Silvie’s eyes turned wide, and he exclaimed, “Y-You want to kill your kin?”
“They are no kin of mine!” Cale roared in rage. “They killed my father!”
Silvie opened his mouth, but he felt that what Cale had said was in the right too. If those people were really kinsmen, then how could they be so cruel as to poison their own husband and brother? However, he was also worried that Cale would really go kill them to take his revenge.
Carol stood up and coldly said, “You don’t have any evidence. This world would not sentence someone just based on your words.”
Cale was shocked for a moment, before overflowing rage appeared on his face. He even forgot about the fear he felt toward Carol and stood up, wanting to charge head-on. Silvie hurriedly hugged him tight, not letting go of him, and urgently said, “Cale! Don’t be like this.”
Carol only shot an indifferent glance at Cale, not showing even the slightest bit of fear toward Cale’s terrifying expression with his eyes bulging in anger. She off-handedly threw OhmyG.o.d back onto Silvie’s head and instructed, “I’m going to sleep. Before you go to sleep, remember to check if the fire that we used to roast the meat has been extinguished.”
At the moment, Silvie was still clutching on to Cale as if for dear life. When he heard the instruction, he nodded his head, agreeing, “Okay, I will go check the fire later.”
Carol lifted the tent flap and walked in.
When he was no longer able to see Carol, Cale finally calmed down. He was even a little thankful to Silvie, for he simply did not think that he could beat Carol in a fight. If he had really charged over just now, he might have gotten beaten up to a pulp… No! He would probably be murdered?
Seeing that Cale was no longer agitated, Silvie finally let go of him and comforted him, “Carol is a good person and will think of a way to help you!”
“A good person?” Cale turned around to growl, “That fellow looks like a cold-blooded person who has killed countless numbers of people, and you actually claim that that fellow is a good person?”
“Carol is really a good person!” Silvie was unable to deny that she had killed countless numbers of people. After all, she was the Warrior Queen who had led the army throughout the campaign against the demons, so how could it be possible that she hadn’t killed anyone? Even if those she killed later on were of the demon race, before fighting the demon race, she was also involved in a campaign across the continent, for the sake of unifying the entire continent for the Holy King.
“Carol is a good person!” Silvie repeated resolutely once more.
Silvie desperately tugged the corner of Cale’s sleeve, not letting go, as though he was afraid that the other person would vanish into the woods in the blink of an eye.
Seeing the coy manner in which Silvie was tugging his sleeve, Cale was simply speechless. If it was not for the fact that Silvie was very tall and was obviously a man, he would really suspect that he was actually a woman… No, a girl.
On the contrary, Carol who had a fierce look on his face and did not allow anyone to get close had a short and slight figure. If it weren’t for his expression, he would even think that he was a woman. Both Carol’s and Silvie’s personalities and looks were simply extremely mismatched; it would have been much better if the two of them exchanged them.
Cale felt a little like sighing in sorrow, but thinking about it again, there probably wasn’t anything more suitable for Carol than black hair and black eyes, and Silvie was indeed a golden haired and blue-eyed radiant fellow…
“Cale, you absolutely must not leave us!” Silvie said seriously. “You’re being chased for your life! However, as long as you follow us, nothing will happen to you for sure! Carol is immensely strong, after all!”
Cale had never doubted that. He was only extremely dubious as to how it was possible for Carol to let a stranger who was being pursued follow him. However, the other person had not stopped him from following him and, instead, had even left Silvie to stay by his side, while Carol was in front leading the way.
“Cale, let me tell you! Carol is really very powerful! Except for having a bit of a temper…”
“OhmyG.o.d has been my playmate since I was young. He has helped me a lot and has saved me multiple times since my youth…”
“My teacher was a very great bard. My resolve is to become a bard that is like my teacher, but I still have a long, long way to go…”
… Perhaps Carol only wanted to find someone to listen to Silvie talk? Cale had a feeling that he would rather walk beside Carol and be frightened half to death than to walk beside Silvie and be talked to death!
Cale took a peek at OhmyG.o.d who was on Silvie’s head. Its two little eyes had already completely shut, and it looked like it was sleeping soundly. He started to feel a bit of admiration toward this little thing. With the constant noise of Silvie talking non-stop paired with footsteps that were a little flighty due to high spirits, it was truly no easy feat for it to still sleep so soundly despite being on his head!
At the very least, he wanted to s.n.a.t.c.h back his sleeve, so that his right hand wouldn’t be jerked around. How irritating!
Suddenly, the hand on his sleeve tightened, and without being able to grasp the situation, Cale was dragged downwards… Then he realized that his view had suddenly become a wide panorama. This was not a good thing, since it was because he was sliding down a cliff.
Silvie had only slid for a short while before he was caught by OhmyG.o.d who was on his head.
OhmyG.o.d had been pulled in to a long length, tail wrapped tightly around Silvie’s chest with the rest of its body coiled around a tree branch.
Though OhmyG.o.d had caught Silvie, it had not attended to Cale. Seeing how he was about to say goodbye to this world, Cale frantically tried to grab onto something. However, the cliff-face was simply too smooth, and he was completely unable to grab onto anything… All of a sudden, he abruptly stopped falling and was suspended in mid-air just like that.
At this point, Cale felt as though his heart was about to jump out of his chest. When he blankly looked up, what he saw was a blur of red and black… Carol was grabbing onto his right hand.
He was a little stunned, until Carol hauled his entire body up. He then regained his senses, and with complicated feelings, he said, “T-Thank you…”
Carol only gave him an indifferent “Hm” and then turned around with a furious face. She loudly reprimanded Silvie, “Don’t tell me that not only are you going to endanger yourself, but you are also going to drag down people beside you?”
She seized Silvie’s collar and roared at him, “When someone is walking beside you, you better spend more time looking at the road! Don’t just talk and talk without stopping! It’s one thing that you normally endanger yourself, but do you even want to endanger other people too?”
Silvie shook his head violently and then apologized frantically to Cale, “I’m sorry, Cale, I’m really sorry!”
Cale didn’t know how to answer him. That he had fallen off a cliff just by walking really made him want to give Silvie a big scolding, but Carol’s rage just now was so scary that he felt that Silvie was a little pitiful.
“Let’s go!” Carol gave a growl.
“Y-Yes!” Silvie hurriedly tugged at Cale’s sleeve and then chased after Carol.
For the rest of the journey after that, Carol did not lead the way like before but rather walked together with the two of them.
Even though he had almost fallen to his death a moment ago, Silvie was still talking non-stop and was obviously not paying attention to the road.
“You should pay some attention to the road, right?” Cale reminded him with a whisper.
Silvie was surprised for a moment and then replied as though it was an incontrovertible truth, “Carol is walking beside me! I don’t have to pay attention now!”
… Perhaps, Carol really is a good person, Cale thought in his heart.