“…That was close, meow ,” Hans muttered, standing beside the big hole.
“What’re you talking about? That was easy.” Chamo rode the back of a slave-fiend up to the surface.
She didn’t get it. They really had only just scraped together that victory. If the enemy had realized the underground reservoir was there, the pair would never have been able to set up that trap. Hans could tell the mantis leader had been pretty sharp. If they’d been any slower with their snare, the mantis probably would have caught on.
Hans had only been able to kill that moth-fiend due to a combination of the enemy’s carelessness and luck. They couldn’t afford to let a messenger reach Tgurneu. If it became known that the fiends had failed to stop their approach, further reinforcements would be deployed.
Well, done battles don’t matter , Hans thought, instantly forgetting the round they’d just won. “Meow , the fight comin’ up is gonna be a lot tougher.”
He dashed off westward, and Chamo followed after him astride a slug slave-fiend. The slug cleaned the dirt off Chamo with jets of water from its tentacles.
But right after they started off, Chamo seemed to notice something and dismounted to scoop up a twelve-inch-long earthworm. She leaned in close to discuss something with it.
“The idiots are doing some stuff west of here in a place that looks like an old town. It says they’re all there. But there’s a whole bunch of fiends, too, so it couldn’t get close.”
Hans recalled seeing this slave-fiend before, when he’d fought with Chamo in the Phantasmal Barrier. The little earthworm had also acted as a scout when their party was running through the Cut-Finger Forest.
“…Hmm? What?” said Chamo. The earthworm moved its mouth close to Chamo’s face and said something. “It says there’s a group of about a hundred, and the one in the middle is acting like a real big shot. It says that’s probably Tgurneu.”
“That guy’s smart.”
“Of course. It’s Chamo’s pet.”
Hans’s mind was spinning. He’d already come up with a rough outline of a plan, but he still hadn’t decided on the details. He had to figure out to some degree what Tgurneu, the other Braves, Dozzu, Nashetania, and Adlet were all doing, or there was no way he could make a real strategy.
“What’re those idiots up to?” wondered Chamo.
“Who kneows. If that earthworm don’t, ’course we can’t.” That was a lie. The other Braves would be coming up with a plan to kill Tgurneu, then move to carry it out.
Adlet had tricked the Braves into believing the Black Barrenbloom wouldn’t stop, even if they killed Fremy. They believed they had no choice but to kill Tgurneu. And Adlet would be facilitating Tgurneu’s defeat, too—on the surface.
“I ain’t too sure what the others are doin’, but I do kneow what Tgurneu’s up to. It’s gonna be hidin’ somewhere, waitin’ ’til the Barrenbloom kills us all.”
“Yeah, Chamo thinks so, too. The big shot is prolly just some lackey. It’d be nice if we could lure Tgurneu out from hiding somehow, though.”
“If it was that dumb, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
Chamo was calling on every brain cell to come up with a solution. Hans wasn’t expecting anything from her mental faculties, but there was no reason to stop her, so he let her be. “We’ve just gotta prove that you’re not the seventh, after all,” she said. “Fremy and Rolonia are hopeless, but that dummy Goldof was the one guy who suspected Adlet. Let’s get him on our side.”
“Not gonna happen. The princess likely has him wrapped around her little finger. He can’t go against what she says.”
“So we kill that dummy princess. We should’ve killed her right after they told us about the temple in the first place.”
“And make an enemy outta Goldof?” Hans discarded that idea with a single remark.
“So then…we kill Fremy, after all?”
“Meow , I dunno…” For once, Hans wasn’t sure what to say.
He had figured that was the most certain course of action, too. Killing the Black Barrenbloom would mean the biggest crisis was dealt with. Fremy was pretty strong, and Adlet would do everything he could to defend her, as would the other Braves he’d deceived. But still, he and Chamo would have a chance at victory.
Hans wavered—should he target Fremy or come up with a different tactic instead?
But he quickly reached a firm decision. Even he and Chamo wouldn’t be able to kill her instantly. It would clearly take a few minutes of fighting, and there was no way Tgurneu would just sit there and watch in the meantime.
“What’ll we do, catboy? If you can’t think of anything, then Chamo’ll do it. Chamo’ll kill Fremy good, even if Chamo’s life is on the line.”
“Meow , fine. We kill Fremy. Once ya see ’em, go straight fer her and don’t think ’bout neowthin’ else. I’ve got a plan—a way to get rid of her fer sure.”
“Just gotta rush straight in, huh?”
Hans was going to pull something crazy. He’d chosen to do something neither Adlet nor Tgurneu would ever think up. It would be a disadvantageous gamble. If he blew this, it would be over for him—and the world, too.
Hans also wasn’t going to tell Chamo about this gamble. If you want to deceive your enemy, you’ve got to start with your friends.
“I’m goin’ ahead a bit to set up my plan. I’ll meet up with ya in a flash, so keep on runnin’.”
“Huh?” Chamo was confused by the sudden order.
“Ya don’t have to kneow about my plan. If we’re gonna kill Fremy, we need to surprise her. Yer looks and yer actions might give away what I’m thinkin’.”
“…I don’t really get it, but okay.”
Hans ran through the forest, away from Chamo. Just as he vanished from sight into the treetops, he called back: “And that earthworm. Release it again. Make it keep an eye on the big shot.”
“Got it.”
Hans waited a little, watching Chamo’s earthworm wriggle past his feet. Silently, he approached it and plucked it up gently. The surprised earthworm began flailing around. “Settle down a li’l.”
From their conversation, Hans had figured out what sort of abilities this earthworm slave-fiend possessed. It was intelligent and had good observational skills. If needed, it would even watch for, remember, and report things other than what Chamo had specifically requested.
And Chamo couldn’t tell what the earthworm was doing or where it was.
“This’ll meowbe hurt, but suck it up. This plan is countin’ on ya,” Hans said, bending the earthworm and tying it like a ribbon. Then, he tucked it into his pocket. This earthworm was the cornerstone of this scheme.
After that, Hans took care of a few things, and then, once his arrangements were made, he recoinnoitered with a puzzled-looking Chamo. Then, they headed toward Adlet and the others.