TL note: “ ” = normal speech — [ ] = Inner monologues / Kou’s thoughts/speech — { } = Text written on paper
-Tensaiz
Chapter 13: A new tomorrow
The simultaneous apprehension of the criminals in this case was a lot smoother than expected, and even though there was a big replacement of those in the executive committee, the rumors that had spread among the n.o.bles and plebeians about this case had already subsided.
Alice, who was chatting with her friends at the n.o.bles’ school’s salon, heard the bell that indicated that school was over. She prepared herself to go home.
“Oh my, Alice, are you returning home so soon again today?”
“Lately you haven’t even invited us over for a tea party… could something have happened at home?”
“No, the house is very peaceful. I have several things to do, I apologize.”
Quickly giving her goodbyes, Alice left the school grounds. Her friends think that even though she has gotten happier lately, her relationship with her friends has been getting worse. They cared about Alice, deeply.
“Just what could it be, does this mean that she won’t even spend her time with mid-grade n.o.bles like us?”
“Eh? That couldn’t be, she isn’t the kind of person to differentiate between ranks.”
“That’s right, Alice normally even talks with me, who rose from a commoner’s standing, you know?”
“However… lately she hasn’t even called us over to her house, has she?”
Even though she used to invite them over to a tea party at her mansion’s house every week, lately, she had only invited them after she had returned from the town of Baras. After that, not even once did she invite them again.
Now that I think about it —— one of them said when she remembered what she had overheard while her parents were talking:
“I heard this from my father a little while ago; Count Bamist has brought his daughter to the Executive committee.”
“Alice in the executive committee?”
“Wasn’t it around that time? That she immediately went home after the bell rang.”
”Yeah, something could have happened like we thought.”
Those who were confused over the matter were Alice’s good friends.
Meanwhile Alice, who had arrived at the mansion, first went to the rearing room and picked up Fausta. Like that she brings him to her own room. Landon was still working in the mansion; until his family has revived the farming business, like how it was before, he is allowed to work there as the money earner.
Of course he had properly apologized about the way he had treated Fausta and he even swore that he wouldn’t go back on his previous ways. As a care taker, they have perfect faith in him, as he perfectly takes care of Fausta. Lately Fausta had stopped trying to threaten him.
Having returned to her room, Alice swiftly changed her clothes and while the maids were leaving the room, she hugged Fausta who was sitting on the bed.
“Kou, has anything unusual happened today?”
“Woooooooooofofofofofofofoofofoffoof” [Same as always.]
“Yeah~, I won’t get it with just ‘woof woof’. Well then, let us converse through writing words again today. ”
“Woof.”
Lately, Alice has been spending her day like this, talking with Kou through Fausta. Talking through writing, reading in her room, and taking daily walks in the garden, is now their daily routine in their everyday lives.
“Let us go, Kou.”
Wherever they might go—-
“What do you think Kou?”
Whatever they might do—-
“Hey, Kou what—-”
Alice always takes Kou along. Alice kind of relied on Kou, through Kou she was able to touch upon a lot of topics, but like everything, there is always a bad side. Because of this, her contact with her good friends has lessened and she doesn’t really talk with other people anymore.
Being able to know what other people are thinking, or what they hide within their hearts, something like that isn’t always a good thing. Once you know what’s inside of someone’s heart, you’ll always end up concerned with the kind of emotions the other party looks at you. Once the seed of anxiety has been planted, making contact with others becomes scary.
[Yeah, as expected, this is no good.]
Though I don’t mind being together forever from now on and become her pillar of support, Kou thinks that it might be bad for Alice if this goes on. He thought that he should distance himself from her little by little, so her dependence on him will lessen.
“Well then Kou, let us relax again today.”
Time to go to bed—- Like always, Alice doesn’t bring Fausta to the rearing room and lets him sleep on the same bed. With a ‘pomf~’ Kou jumped onto the bed and looked at Alice in her negligee. Fausta was looking at her, so Alice asked; ‘what’s wrong?’ while tilting her head.
Out of nowhere, the memo-pad appears. It was a firm memo-pad which Kou began to write on.
{Let’s part ways.}
“… Eh?”
Alice’s eyes became dots. To that reaction, Kou quickly began to write more on the memo-pad.
{I think it’s time for me to leave this mansion.}
“Wha? W-Why?”
{If it goes on like this, then you’ll become a no good woman}
In order to prompt Alice to cherish her contact with her good friends, even though she has anxiety in her heart about it, I need to make her understand that conversing with someone while you can’t read each other’s mind and emotions is also important.
To be precise, Kou doesn’t have a physical body to represent himself; therefore, he shall not be able to personally have any standing in this world. Having spent the time after he awakened at the altar until today, he can say that because he has always had to borrow another’s body to exist. To be able to exist in a world full of people and live as a person with other people, that is a very blissful thing.
Inside the mansion she has rea.s.suring people like the butler Sebas and the gardener Halbad. If she were to have any problems, then they would certainly be there to a.s.sist her.
{It’s because of me Alice, because I am the one hindering your growth.}
“Kou….”
One way or another, Alice was conscious of the kind of situation she was currently in, so that is why she couldn’t strongly refute him.
“When you leave the mansion……… Will we never meet again?”
{There’s no way it’d be like that, I think that we’ll meet again one day.}
I might need to borrow Fausta’s body again for that, or we might meet while I have another body. ‘Though I don’t know when that will be’, Kou promised her that if he were to ever be around the town of Kurakaru again, that he’d drop by. Kou talked about this overnight, and eventually Alice reluctantly accepted it.
Early morning the next day. Kou possessed the messenger bird that was used in the previous investigation case. He flew into the horizon from Alice’s window a little before dawn. Alice quietly saw him off with the sleepy Fausta in her arms.
Inside the Diretoss house, where the residents were still sleeping, at the only window that allows the light of dawn to reach it, Kou looked at Alice who was waving her hand while seeing him off. When he was done flying around the mansion saying his farewells, he left the town of Kurakaru and flew toward the eastern sky.
“Landon, are you awake yet?”
“Young lady…? You have woken up rather early today, have you not?”
Young lady Alice, who usually entrusts Fausta to him around breakfast, came at dawn today, so Landon was looking at her with a surprised expression. Furthermore, she was carrying Fausta while he was still sleeping, which was rare.
“From today onward I think that taking care of Fausta is going to be harder, so thank you in advance.”
“Ah, yes, I understand.”
After Alice left Fausta on the pet-bed she left the rearing room. From behind, her appearance seemed a little fragile. Thinking something may have happened, Landon, who was worried about it, went to the head-butler’s room for now.
Alice visited the gardens while still wearing her pajamas and Halbad, who was working from before dawn on the flower bed, talked to her.
“Oh, you’re alone today? There really are some strange sights to see.”
“Kou has… gone away.”
‘He said farewell’ is what she sadly muttered, while she faced the sky that was being lit by the light of dawn.
“Hmm, maybe he got annoyed with the way you were sticking next to him the whole time —– Wah! Dangerous, Imma sayin’ that’s dangerous! Stop! Please stop swinging the hoe.”
“Young lady, leave the right hand and try to take the left hand since it’s easier.”
“Sebas! You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
Sebas, who had suddenly appeared in the gardens, didn’t mind the hoe young lady Alice was swinging, but instead began to give her advice. Landon could be seen at the gardens entrance.
While watching the young lady swinging a hoe at the fleeing gardener Halbad, the butler Sebas thought that the young lady’s current state had something to do with Kou.
[Again and again, I truly have to thank him for it all…..]
Halbad picked up an earthworm and bluntly showed it to Alice, who then threw away the hoe and fled. Sebas gave some information at that moment.
“Young lady, in the town of Baras there is an instructor of the training school who is known to be acquainted with Kou. How about writing a letter to that person?”
“The town of Baras? … Let’s see, there is something I still wanted to talk about with Kou.”
If I’m not mistaken that instructor took care of him when he had a cat’s body. Furthermore, it was a coincidence that he took over Fausta’s body in that town. If Kou returned to the town of Baras, then it might be a good idea to exchange letters with him.
In the town of Kurakaru there is also an adventurers’ guild that they can use to send letters.
“The name of that instructor?”
“If I’m not mistaken, it’s Elmel, or something like that.”
The ex-soldier swordswoman who teaches at the training school. Alice decided to write a letter to that person.
From the town of Kurakaru to the east, the carrier bird that Kou possessed was perched on a carriage for about half a day. Since this area is a mountain area, the only scenery is just the green lush of the mountains and the gray rocks. Between those are thread-like roads that they are currently traveling on.
Kou thought of returning to the town of Baras after flying away. From the sky in the far horizon he could see something that looked like a town.
The distance that took a carriage two days would be far more for a bird. While he was looking around, thinking where the camping ground for the trainees was, he saw a carriage that was traversing through the mountain road.
[Oh? That is…]
Around the two leisurely traversing carriages was a group of armed men, they were busy exterminating a group of beasts that were attacking them. The carriage at the front was a well known carriage that n.o.bles use, but the carriage behind it was large enough to cover the road. The carriage’s roof had weapons attached, looking rugged.
It seems like that carriage is for the guards’ use. Among the beasts that were attacking them, there were two bigger than the rest. There was a demon beast with a wolf-like head, a black horn, and a bear’s physique with white fur covering its body. Kou told the carrier bird to make a dive, targeting one of those two demon beats.
“Raise the speed some more! Diss, get up the roof and a.s.sist Karen!”
“Yes.”
“Captain, they’re comin’ from the right side, we gonna attack ‘em?”
“Wait until one of the horn bears has been slowed down.”
The captain of the group, who is tasked to protect the carriage, quickly gave out orders. Their job this time was to escort a merchant n.o.ble to a little far off area, but because they took a wrong turn, they missed the safe road and went through the mountains. Then, they were attacked by a group of wolves who had mutated wolves as their leaders.
Because the servants’ carriage got broken, they had to put the luggage in the n.o.bles’ carriage, even though they might have run away. In the guards’ carriage there were injured people, so it was already full. Since they couldn’t raise their speed, they had to move while fighting.
If it was just a mutated wolf, then they who were specialized in subjugation wouldn’t have a problem, but because of bad luck, they met with two demon beasts of great power and low intelligence; the “Horn bear.” Furthermore, at their first encounter, one of their carriages got destroyed, thus they gotten into their current situation.
The Horn bear always went after them from a distance. From time to time, as if he timed it, they made the mutated wolves attack them. At that time, one of the guards who was on the look out at the roof of the guards’ carriage warned them.
“There’s a suspension bridge up front! It’s bad captain; we can only pa.s.s that one by one!”
“We can only make a defense line around the bridge… but it’d be bad if they’ try to force their way through.”
“Let’s drive our carriage on the side of the cliff and get off. Even if those dogs try to attack, the real problem are the horn bears, aren’t they?”
Compared to a normal carriage, it’s made st.u.r.dier, but as it is, it may not be st.u.r.dy enough to withstand the attacks of a three meter long monster. Leaving aside damage, in an isolated mountain road like this one, it would be made into a wreck.
“First let the injured and non-combatants pa.s.s, after that the n.o.bles’ carriage. Karen and Diss stay on the roof, Lev, join them.”
Using their own carriage as a wall, in order to not get attacked by the horn bears, he let his subordinates make ranged attacks from the roof. Since the mutated wolves couldn’t possibly attack from below, they made a line of defense around the carriage. About two thirds of the mountain road is blocked, so they can only die or die trying.
“Captain! A wolf! On the other side of the suspension bridge!”
“d.a.m.n it Rippa, Daido, go!”
“Yeah.”
A pale swordsman and a taciturn seeming warrior ran towards the suspension bridge. While they were trying to repair their formation, the captain of the defense line, Gaviik, began to talk with the vice-captain Mandel, while fighting mutated wolves.
“Reinforcements……. It seems like this area belongs to their flock.”
“Yeah, seriously, using these petty tactics with their base knowledge.”
‘Anyway, we can only try to hold out,’ captain Gaviik said while preparing his stance. Then, from the roof of the carriage, Karen’s seemingly leisure filled voice could be heard.
“Captain~, Something is kinda’ strange y’know?”
“What is it Karen… No, what happened, Dis?”
“U-Um, well, that’s… suddenly one of the horn bears—-”
“Well, y’know, it started to brawl?”
Kou had made a dive with the carrier bird and was near the horn bear’s head. He wanted to immediately possess it.
The Horn Bear has some intelligence, unlike most of those wolves. It was harder than any other beast or mutated beast, because its own will was trying to interfere. But the moment Kou came into contact with its core, its conscience was forced inside. Kou, who got total control over the Horn Bear’s actions, began to attack the mutated wolves that were trying to attack the carriage.
“What….?”
“Could it be a Fall Out?”
Suddenly, the Horn Bear that was kicking around the pack of wolves, started to attack the other Horn Bear, thus beginning a harsh fight. The mutated wolves saw that their bosses didn’t plan to attack the prey anymore, so they began to back off a little. Some of the groups even began to retreat.
“Shall we slaughter the wolves while we still have a chance? If we can take down the Horn Bear too, then it might be a good extra.”
“… The priority lies with our client’s safety.”
The client’s carriage had finished crossing the suspension bridge. Captain Gaviik muttered, ‘I’m gonna retire after this’ and then turned around heading for the suspension bridge. Vice-captain Mandel followed him while he led the horses pulling the carriage to the suspension bridge.
Kou had made sure that the armored carriage had crossed the suspension bridge, while continuing to fight monsters with the monster he possessed. He wanted to test some methods he had been waiting to try out.
He could just make one of them powerless and then posses the other like he did in the dungeon, but he thought that it’s important to also know how to fight. Choosing the right timing, he pulled a random weapon from the dimensional s.p.a.ce he has.
He rushed to the sword which he then bit on. He made a wide swing with his claws, releasing a powerful attack as if it were a battle-axe.
Maybe it was a little too flashy of an attack. Seeing the butchered enemy, the Horn Bear thought, I’m not going to fight this, and fled with all his might. The mutated wolves that were part of his pack followed after him. The mutated wolves that were part of the Horn Bear that Kou was possessing hesitated a little before running away.
But after a while, Kou felt the presence of a human, so he went the same way as the other Horn Bear and disappeared. The other side seemed to have come to a decision with their leader.
[So they’re gone. I guess it’s bad if I don’t kill them off properly.]
‘Although I’m still concerned that someone who pa.s.ses through this road will get attacked, since I accomplished my goal, it’s alright’, Kou thought. When he looked towards the other side of the suspension bridge, he couldn’t see anyone there anymore. It seems like they haven’t dropped the bridge either.
[Now that I think about it, about the people that were protecting that carriage just now.]
He remembered seeing them before. They did have a lot of injured people which bothered me. Those servant-like people that were running aside the carriage also bothered me. They looked tired and in trouble further down the mountain road.
[Well, I do have a lot of tonics and recovery medicine… I guess it’ll come in handy.]
It seems like Kou’s true nature came out since he was too caring. Kou, who had become worried, decided to go after them. After entrusting a letter to Alice to the carrier bird perched on his head, Kou swaggered towards the suspension bridge.