Adlet and the others were chasing Hans. They got an earful of Chamo’s yelling and crying ahead of them, as well as the shrieks of the slave-fiends.
“What are you doing, Adlet? This isn’t the time to be chasing Chamo. The plan was to capture one to drive them away, but I don’t think there’s a need for that now.” Fremy had to mean that they should start the plan.
“Hold on a minute. I’m gonna take a look around right now,” Adlet said, climbing a tree. As he pretended to focus his eyes in the darkness, he considered his course of action.
He would interrupt them, no matter what. But the problem was what came after that. Fremy was Hans and Chamo’s collateral, so he had to free her. But had Hans actually taken her hostage in the first place? Chamo was good, but was she capable of implanting a parasite into Fremy without her noticing?
The truth could be that Chamo had done nothing. But even if Adlet suspected that might be the case, he had no proof. Without proof, he couldn’t reach a decision.
He pulled out the knife stuck in his belt—the one Hans had thrown at him. He noticed the faint message on it, written in blood, on the side of the blade.
PRETENDED TO BE THE SEVENTH TO MAKE CONTACT WITH FIENDS. FOUND A CLUE TO SAVE FREMY FROM TGURNEU . SHE CAN BE SAVED.
Adlet wiped the message off the knife and stuffed it into one of his pouches. He figured this was good news. If he could free Fremy from Tgurneu, he wouldn’t have to betray the Braves anymore. If he could kill Tgurneu, then the Black Barrenbloom would be undone, too, and Hans and Chamo would no longer have a reason to kill Fremy.
But could he believe the message on the blade?
Fremy was affected by the chain-death ability, that red-mark disease. It couldn’t be easily undone, surely. Not even Hans should have been capable of finding a clue as to how to accomplish that.
But Adlet thought that maybe, just maybe, Hans—with his ingenuity and acting skills—could have pulled it off, if Tgurneu had failed to control the information somewhere along the line within its army. There was a possibility that Hans really did have some notion as to how Fremy might be saved.
Adlet climbed down from the tree. He’d made up his mind what to do. First, he would chase down Hans and Chamo and ask them how to rescue Fremy from Tgurneu. If they didn’t know how to cancel out the chain-death ability, he would kill the two somehow and free Fremy from them. After that, he would betray the Braves and kill them all except Fremy, for sure.
“We’re not gonna withdraw, but don’t go through with the plan yet. We’ve nearly caught Hans,” Adlet said to the others.
Aside from Rolonia, they were all surprised to hear that. “Pardon me,” interjected Dozzu, “But I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. We’re going to let this chance go?”
“We should just let Chamo handle Hans. Even if he does escape her, it sounds like Tgurneu will kill him for us,” Fremy added.
“No, it won’t,” Adlet replied. “This is not our best chance. Do you think Tgurneu will actually kill Hans? Do you think there’s actually confusion in the ranks? That’s just a bluff—they’re trying to mess with us.”
“Then that’s convenient for us. While Tgurneu is busy setting up this bluff, we’ll go take its life.” Then, Fremy looked Adlet in the face as if she’d realized something. “It couldn’t be… Do you think Hans could tell you a way to save me?”
In a way, she was right on the mark. He froze, and Fremy pressed him further. “I thought I told you before—you can execute the plan without me now. You need to focus on killing Tgurneu, not worrying about my life.”
“But then, Fremy, you’ll—,” Rolonia argued.
Fremy cut her off. “I thought you understood, too, Rolonia. We’re going to kill Tgurneu, even if it costs us our lives.”
Dozzu and Nashetania appeared to agree.
“No,” said Adlet. “I could tell. Hans…figured out something.”
“…?” The whole group seemed confused.
“When Hans was talking, he was watching us. And for a moment, he looked at me. Right then, my gut told me he’d figured out something. I don’t know what. But he’s definitely gotten hold of some important information. Do we go through with the plan or withdraw? I have to find out what he knows, or I can’t reach a decision.”
Even Adlet could see their astonishment and hear their unspoken question: Are you going to let the perfect opportunity slip away because you have a gut feeling?
“I underestimated Hans,” Adlet continued. “The most formidable thing about him isn’t his combat abilities—it’s his powers of observation and deduction. If we let him roam free, he’ll read every card in our hand. Whether we keep fighting or run and rework the plan, we have to capture Hans.”
“You’re thinking too much. Hans’s ploys have been a string of failures,” Fremy shot back. Dozzu and Nashetania weren’t convinced, either. And Adlet doubted he could convince them with a “hunch” alone.
“Dozzu…you didn’t deliberately let Hans escape, did you?” Adlet asked, and Dozzu’s eyes went wide. Adlet knew Dozzu and Hans weren’t secretly communicating, but he deliberately cast suspicion on the fiend.
“Hardly. What are you talking about?”
“It looked to me like you coulda hit him with that last strike. Right before he got away. What are you plotting, letting him go?”
“You’re suspecting me at this point? I was aiming for Hans. This is a false accusation.”
“Oh, is it?”
Dozzu and Adlet glared at each other.
“…Understood. We’ll pursue Hans and capture him. If we cooperate with you in this, you will trust that we haven’t been duplicitous?” asked Dozzu. It and Nashetania were in a shaky position. If Adlet threw Dozzu’s loyalties in doubt and threatened to treat it as an enemy if it didn’t obey, Dozzu had no choice but to do as it was told. “But you’re completely mistaken. We absolutely must go through with the plan. First, we’ll capture Hans and disable him, and then we will have Chamo restrain him. After that, let’s carry out the plan. If even this won’t convince you, then we have our own ideas.”
“All right. I’m uneasy about this, but let’s go with that.” Adlet nodded. That was enough.
“Wait. Hans is trying to trap you. Chasing him down is just what he wants.” Fremy still doggedly opposed him.
Then Rolonia said, “I think it’s better to trust Addy’s hunch, Fremy. His hunches have gotten him out of trouble over and over again. Let’s do what he says one more time.”
Gritting her teeth, Fremy nodded.
Adlet gave his allies instructions. “Dozzu, Rolonia. You go back the way you came and keep making sure nothing is going on with the wolf-fiend and its unit. And like Dozzu said, we’re going to be carrying out the plan eventually, so communicate the situation to Mora and Goldof, too.”
“Right,” said Rolonia.
“We’ll chase down Hans,” said Adlet. “Fortunately, Chamo is loud. We’ll be able to tell where they are right away.” Fremy still seemed uneasy, but Adlet grabbed her and ran off with Nashetania.