Adlet was speechless. He’d known Hans was a formidable man but hadn’t realized how formidable.
Since Fremy and Dozzu believed Hans was the seventh, they’d think he was taking her hostage as an accomplice to Tgurneu. But since Adlet knew he himself was the seventh, he saw something else.
Only Adlet understood what Hans was really after.
It was true that Hans had attacked Chamo. But Hans was a real Brave, and he would never try to actually kill an ally. That had just been an act, planned with Chamo in advance. So why the act? To surprise Fremy and Adlet—and create an opportunity for Hans. It had worked and confused Adlet, and Fremy had been distracted by the need to protect Chamo. And they’d all been blinded by the light gem, to boot.
What had Hans and Chamo done in that moment? Hans had told them the answer himself.
He had taken Fremy hostage.
Though Fremy had said Chamo hadn’t done anything to her, they weren’t exactly aware of every ability Chamo’s slave-fiends possessed. It would be no shock for one to be able to poison you unawares or implant a parasite in your body. In fact, it would be stranger if they didn’t. And such an ability had allowed Hans and Chamo to take Fremy hostage.
Considering all Hans had said and done so far, Adlet had no choice but to acknowledge he was telling the truth. He and Chamo had taken Fremy hostage to threaten Adlet. But Adlet couldn’t get where this was going at all.
“…He’s…a helluva bastard.”
Hans had figured out everything—that Adlet would be willing to give his life to defend Fremy, that Tgurneu had taken Fremy hostage to demand Adlet’s betrayal…and that Adlet had caved to that demand. There was no other way he would have been able to conceive of this plan.
“My demand is…well, I’m sure I don’t have to tell mew, Adlet.”
The situation was beyond disastrous. Fremy’s life was in the balance on both sides now: by the Braves and Tgurneu. Tgurneu was telling Adlet to protect Tgurneu and betray the Braves of the Six Flowers. Meanwhile, Hans was telling him to stab Tgurneu in the back, literally and figuratively.
And both sides were threatening to kill Fremy if he didn’t obey their orders.
What should he do? For a long time, Adlet stared at Hans’s face.
“…Hn.”
Then, Chamo’s shoulders started shaking.
“Wah…hic…WAHHHHH!” She flung her head back and started bawling loudly, but after about ten seconds of nonstop wailing, she suddenly stopped. “…I’ll…kill…you…”
The moment Hans heard that, he turned around and took off like a shot. Chamo’s slave-fiends completely ignored Fremy and Adlet and chased after him. But Adlet knew her crying was an act. Hans hadn’t actually tried to kill her, and she should’ve know that, too.
Dozzu and Fremy struck at Hans, but neither of their attacks hit.
“We’ve come to help!” Just as Chamo disappeared from sight, Rolonia and Nashetania burst in.
Took you long enough , Adlet thought.
“…Did you fight them off?”
The two seemed confused that Hans and Chamo weren’t around.
“For now, we run, and I’ll explain as we go. It’s a bad idea to stay in one place for long.” Fremy dashed off after Chamo, and the others followed.
Fremy gave them an outline of everything that had happened: the fiends calling for her surrender, the pain and red mark on her chest, Hans’s sudden attack on Chamo—and his claim to have taken Fremy hostage before he ran off.
After hearing this report, Nashetania tilted her head. “This doesn’t feel right. Hans’s and Tgurneu’s actions don’t seem consistent. First, they’re calling for your surrender, and next, they come to tell you they’ve taken you hostage?”
“I agree,” said Fremy. “It may be that they’re not coordinated or that Hans is acting on his own.”
The group was apprehensive. Adlet was the only one there who knew what was actually going on.
As they ran, he said to Rolonia, “Why are you wasting time? Treat Fremy’s chest.”
Flustered, she put her hand where the mark had been and rubbed the area a few times, and her expression clouded. “It’s no use. There’s nothing I can do.”
“Do you think Mora can help her?”
“I doubt even Mora could. I’m not positive, but this is less like a wound and more like a disease. It’s as if she’s suddenly contracted a fatal sickness.”
Adlet scowled. Fremy told him, “I already figured there would be no getting rid of it.”
But he pressed Rolonia further. “Give her a thorough examination. Is there anything planted inside her?”
Rolonia did as he said, touching Fremy’s chest once more. “…U-um, I can’t find anything…but my powers aren’t much compared to Torleau’s or Lady Mora’s…”
“That’s enough, Rolonia,” Fremy said, pushing her away. Quietly, she asked Nashetania, “You’ve finished preparing for the fire?” Nashetania gave a tiny nod. “…Then we’re doing it. We have no time to lose. Tgurneu is going down.”
Dozzu and Nashetania nodded.
This is bad , thought Adlet. He couldn’t let them go through with the plan. If Tgurneu died, so would Fremy, and he had yet to tell Tgurneu about their plan. If they did it now, the Braves would succeed.
That was when, from the sky above, an aerial fiend yelled, “A message from Cómmander Tgurneu! ‘Häns, I am éxasperated with you! I have no möre use for you! Kill yourself ímmediately! If you cóntinue to disobey my örders, your beloved will be wïped from éxistence!’”
“…This is convenient. They’re confused, after all. If we’re going to do this, it’s now or never. You’re fine with this, right, Adlet?” Fremy asked.
Adlet faltered. The first thing he had to do was interrupt the plan, but he couldn’t think of anything to say that would convince the others.
✦ ✦ ✦
The wolf-fiend gave Tgurneu the update through number twenty-four: Hans had suddenly attacked Chamo, then claimed he had taken Fremy hostage and run off.
“<Did you…sit there…and watch? As my plan…was ruined?>” Tgurneu’s calm usually never faltered, but it was now nearing its limits. Its subordinates’ hopeless incompetence was indefensible. “<Give the whole army the order to kill Hans.>”
“<But the Braves bélieve he’s the seventh. It could get out that he’s a real Bräve—>”
“<Tell him in the Braves’ earshot: You’re incompetent. I’ve got no more use for you, so go and die.>” Tgurneu worked its mind, considering for a bit before it asked the wolf-fiend, “<…Which way did Hans and Chamo go?>”