Volume 4 - CH 8

Arc 4 Episode 8: No Postponement even on a rainy day

Beginning from the increasingly ominous looks of the skies, taking no notice of the people going back and forth, finishing all the urgent business, as if there was a fire, people were moving without a sense of direction on the main street, and it became a situation where the carriage could not even move a single step.

“Oi, when are you going to keep dilly-dallying!” As the impatient attendant looked out of the window to bark at the driver with an angry voice, the coachman nodded with a cowardly attitude.

”My apologies, there are too many people walking on the street, no matter how we can’t advance. -uh, if we were to use the back alleys we’ll be quicker but…”

The tongue-clicking attendant asked Revan, “What should we do?”

“It can’t be helped. If we were to delay any longer, we’d be late. Let’s take the alleyway.”

The coachman said this in return, “It’s just that the road conditions will be bad, and there will be some shaking. Please hold on tight.”

— perhaps he had already aimed for it. In the moment of gap where there were no people, the coachman went for it and turned the carriage by 90 degrees, entering a thin side alley.

“Yikes…”

At the time, a basket near Hiyuki’s feet – which she had been hugging before she got on the carriage had slipped to the floor of the carriage.

In a hurry, Hiyuki forgot about the size of her body and tried to press against it, instead she had spun along with it because of the heavy weight. “-Otto*.”

At that instant, Revan caught the basket in between his hands and hugged it. Since she’s a doll,instead of the sweet smell of body, it was the fragrance of perfume that he smelled.

“Wow, thanks. You’ve been a great help.” Hiyuki smiled broadly.

In addition of the smile from Hiyuki, somehow his chest drummed with a loud beat.

As it happened, even though he felt a weird sense of guilt, he intentionally acted as if nothing was off.

“No, that’s nothing significant. What could that luggage be?”

The alleyway was smaller than the main road, and it was also unpaved, which is why as the driver mentioned earlier the carriage shook frequently.

As a result, Revan who ended up hugging the Hiyuki doll felt the lukewarm gaze of the people around him and with embarrassed thoughts he tilted his head.

“This? It’s a pet I’ve been raising recently, Shin-chan.” She said that, and then lifted one side of the lid. From there a brown animal’s face came out.

“Does it hate me?”

That creature– A male lion which is still thought to be a small child, looked at the young lion tribe chief Revan and half closed his eyes.

“Nah, it probably doesn’t mean anything by it but, it’s quite a clever child. Hey, paw.”

Looking with suspicion at the pink hand which Hiyuki put forth, with a big bite, it closed its mouth around it and started chewing, and as if it knew it’s inedible, spit it out again.

“Wow, even though it looks like it’s dumb.”

“Oh no, this is Shin-chan’s amazing point, if it sits in Seiza he returns to being an idiot, which is his way of adapting to the situation! This is certainly a forgivable level of smartness according to the others intelligence.

Is that so? Isn’t it just an idiot then? Everyone in the car though, but there was nobody who declared their wisdom.

And then at the moment, the carriage suddenly stopped. With a yell, the attendants flew out of their seats, and knocked into each other at the small space inside the carriage, crying out in pain when hitting the seats in front.

Revan was also pushed upwards by inertia but by sticking out both of his legs he managed to hold his body and the one body and one creature in his arms to the end.

“What are you doing-” the attendant who had barked at the driver earlier, with a frown from pain, once again stuck his head through the window and yelled.

“My apologies! Suddenly a merchant had stood in the middle of the street. – Oi, move it!” the driver answered as he heard the angry yell.

“…a merchant you said?” Hiyuki who was still in Revan’s arms reacted at the word, said this with an urgency that left an impression. “Do you mean a black-haired thin man?”

“Huh? Ah, yes, that’s how he looks but…”

At the reply of the attendant who had stuck his head through the window, Hiyuki’s eyes widened.

“Run! Quickly abandon the carriage and run away, or we’ll die!”

At the instant, her frantic warning echoed within the carriage, everyone looked at each others dumbly.

“Um, what exactly is going-” As there were no representative picked to speak up about it, they repeatedly asked Revan the question impatiently- while Hiyuki’s despair-filled face staring back at them.

“No…it’s already too late.”

Right when they were going to ask Hiyuki while biting their lips, an arrow knocked the outside of the window and opened it easily.

“Good evening*~ Today’s weather was really bad isn’t it. It finally started raining.” While saying this, the youth dressed in merchant clothing swept raindrops off, relaxed and entering the house of someone they knew, they peeked through the doors of the carriage.

He’s likely to be human. The youth which did not leave any impression, yet did not have an uncanny presence, gave a look at the sight of those surprised at the intruder and slightly raised his hat.

“I am grateful for the privilege to disturb you as I please. I came here today for the purpose of completing my work.”

“What, you are…?”

“Kagerou-san”

The youth – as Kagerou sees the Chibi Chibi Hiyuki-chan which Revan was hugging, his thin eyes widened slightly.

“Could it be Ojou-san? ”

“Is it someone you know?”

“It’s the assassin I mentioned before.”

“Wha-?!”

In front of the bunch of infuriated people, Kagerou nodded with a smile.

“Greetings. Even though my real profession is a merchant who is bad at singing and dancing, but I also do a side job as an assassin. Today, as my part time job, even if I’ll only be hanging out with you all for a short time, please treat me kindly.”

Dread- feeling an instinctual fear, in an instant, Revan carried Hiyuki (and the Lion cub), making a shape ias if he’s hurling himself, and broke the windows from the opposite side and escaped from the carriage.

“Be careful of the string and needles!”

Without time to regret, leaping at Hiyuki’s warning, then devoting himself to observe, there were numerous strands distorting the air, flying towards them which he narrowly sensed with his sight.

Somehow after dodging that, the wall behind him was cut apart like paper and crumbled.

“Ojousan~ don’t let slip all my skills. – And, it’s as I thought the rain isn’t good~ the movements of the strings can be seen.” As he was spreading out metallic wires thinner than the strands of hair, Kagerou complained.

Drawing a circle around Kagerou, the raindrops were sliced in the air for an instant and stood out against the background in a U shape, it was not more than a moment. For this reason, to Revan, it was an attack which he could only barely react.

“Well, on the other hand, the needles disturbs the raindrops and become noticable.”

“-Ggh.” as if responding to those words, numerous needles were pulled out from Revan’s left shoulder.

His body started burning, and he could felt a numbness. Without a doubt, those needles were poisoned.

“!! Wait- We’re fine here, so quickly escape!”

“No~ I think that’s impossible~”

Suddenly realizing, Kagerou was already in front of him. In his right hand, he held a dagger, the angle of the blade already pointed to Revan’s heart.

“Well then, goodbye.” On the verge of quickly swinging the dagger, …

“Shinya!” responding to Hiyuki’s cry, the lion cub gave a big roar from her arms – and at the same time released a rainbow coloured light.

Quickly stepping back to gain some distance, in front of Kagerou who covered his own eyes, the vivid light disappeared – and so did Revan, the Hiyuki doll, they all disappeared like smoke.

“Teleportation stone? No, that can only be used by a player. …I have no idea what she did, but it must be the work of Ojousan.”

Peering at the end of the bloodied dagger, he sighed.

“While I could felt the wound was serious enough, and there’s poison circulating, the lack of a dead body means I can’t confirm whether they lived or died. I’m probably going to be scolded huh…”

◆◇◆◇

It seemed like a small forest or large forest.

As if buried by the bush, Revan who fell prostrate, feeling a rough tongue licking his cheek, and in a lukewarm liquid unlike rain, he opened his eyes hazily.

In front of his eyes, is where the lion cub which Hiyuki-chan called ‘Shin-chan’ is sitting. It seems like the cub is licking his cheek.

“Was I… saved…?”

Trying to get up, but maybe due to the poison, he was unable to put strength into his body.

“…No, even if you saved me you can’t say it. ”

And from there, he accidentally realized that [Chibi Chibi Hiyuki] was in his arms.

“Your majesty, what happened from then, is your grace cognizant of it?”

But, “Chibichibi Hiyuki-chan” was literally like a doll, unmoving.

Even if he were to wait for a bit, or to confirm that there are no response by shaking the doll, Revan sighed.

“It’s no good, huh…to be isolated and helpless.”

Maybe because the threads were sliced in a panic, suddenly his eyelids felt heavy.

Even with the fervent cries of the lion cub, as if to make sure he stayed awake, it pushed them down no matter how much he tried hard to keep them open, in the instant he crumpled, it was as if he saw something shining towards him.