“Chaco,” Rana mumbled, anxiously gripping the catfolk’s hand. “Is everyone okay?”
“I’m sure they are,” Chaco replied.
Neu, the dark elf and only boy, looked like he was about to cry. Still, his features had a determined set to them as he stared intently outside.
The youngest of them, the dogfolk Naru, had wandered outside and was nowhere to be seen. Everyone wanted to go look for him, but they also knew waiting at the tower was important—for the sake of Ron and Elena, who had first left to search for the boy, and for Alia, who had come by earlier, admonished them that staying put was necessary, then left again.
Alia...
Chaco was a little scared of Alia. Though she knew Alia had cured Neu’s illness and risked life and limb to save her from the Munza, she also thought that the pink-haired girl lived more ruthlessly than any adult. It made Chaco feel small and useless, and she was afraid of being scolded for it.
Though Alia was strict with herself and others, Chaco figured she was also the kindest person she knew—someone who would risk her life for others.
That was why Chaco had been afraid to tell Alia that Lena had gone to look for Naru. Alia was more protective of Lena than anyone else. She cared about the children, yes, but Lena had a place in the deepest part of Alia’s heart.
Neither Alia nor Lena had a responsibility to protect Chaco and the others. Lena had chosen to help Naru out of an obligation to something much greater than Chaco could understand, but the catfolk girl had been terrified of what Alia would think when she found out. What would she feel when she found out that her precious Lena had willingly walked into danger?
Would Alia be angry at Lena?
Would she be disappointed in Chaco’s group, who were ultimately responsible for what had happened?
When Chaco finally explained to Alia why Lena was gone, Alia had listened in silence and nodded. Chaco had wanted to say something to soothe Alia’s feelings, but before she could muster the courage to speak, Alia had gently patted her head.
“Leave it to me.”
She’d uttered only a few words, but there was such power behind them. Though the words themselves had doubtless provided some reassurance on their own, Alia had understood that staying put and trusting one’s friends was frightening in its own right. She had to have wanted to run to Lena immediately, but she’d still taken the time to pet the heads of Chaco and the other anxious children.
Chaco had really wanted to say something, anything, about Lena, if only to repay Alia’s kindness—but the moment Alia had turned to the light outside, Chaco had seen a small smile playing upon her profile. Feeling Alia and Lena’s connection reflected in that smile, Chaco had chosen to say nothing.
“Please save them, Alia,” Chaco murmured.
✦ ✦ ✦
After returning to the watchtower and hearing Chaco’s story, I ran out into the desert again.
Naru was only a child, so it was hard to predict where he’d gone—but since he’d been looking for red grass for alchemy, I could think of several gathering spots a child could get to. Elena and Ron had left the tower about thirty minutes ago, and though there shouldn’t have been any local monsters that the two couldn’t defeat, there was a possibility, given the ongoing stampede, that they’d run into some of the more dangerous ones trickling in from the ruins.
Not only that, those suspicious groups I’d seen in town were doing...something. I wasn’t sure what, but I knew it couldn’t be good.
I chugged down a potion to replenish my reduced aether points and activated Boost as I ran at three times an average human’s speed. If the two were looking for Naru, they couldn’t have gone far. I focused my aether into my eyes and watched the flow of mana around me. There were faint water and shadow particles nearby. Ascertaining that they’d come from monster corpses, I concluded something was happening in this direction.
Assuming the pair had headed for red grass gathering spots, they would’ve had to go around the rocky areas. But I didn’t need safe detours.
“Iron Rose,” I chanted quietly.
My pink hair changed to the color of ash, leaving trails of light in its wake as I breathed deeply and accelerated further, taking the shortest route possible. Though the potion’s effects disrupted the flow of aether through my body, preventing precise control of Iron Rose, I could still manage to adjust my speed.
“Ah re!”
Accelerating further still, I ran up the rocky rise faster than rocks could fall, slashing wormlike monsters that attempted to attack me as I passed.
Then, my enhanced Detection caught Elena’s presence in the distance. Hers and multiple others. Hostile. The moment I sensed Elena’s aether surging, I switched into combat mode.
I couldn’t throw knives with my fine motor skills impaired, so I chose to take my small crossbow from Shadow Storage instead. I loaded in a steel bolt as I leaped onto a rocky outcropping, made a split-second judgment that a hooded man—likely a dark elf—was an enemy, and fired. The bolt pierced cleanly through his right eye, and Elena’s precisely aimed Ice Javelin tore through his chest.
“Sorry for the wait,” I said.
“Impeccable timing, Alia,” Elena replied, exhaling with a relieved smile.
I’d cut it close but made it. Ron’s eyes widened at my sudden arrival, and my gaze swept over him and Naru, looking for signs of injury. Finding none, I turned my attention to the remaining Krus men.
“B-Boss?!” a man shouted.
“What happened?!” another asked.
A third, agitated, readied his bow and arrow and alerted them, saying, “Someone’s on the opposite cliff!”
Based on their equipment, it seemed they were one of the many shady groups I’d seen in town. The man shot an arrow, and the others tried to ready their bows as well, but arrows were useless against melee fighters Rank 4 and above. All one had to do was pay attention; dodging the arrows was trivial.
“She’s flying!”
Without need for a running start and relying solely on Boost, I leaped over the ten-plus meter gap to the opposite cliff. Iron Rose wasn’t necessary anymore, so I deactivated the skills as I discarded my cloak, using that and the remaining trails of light as decoys to dodge the barrage of arrows. Then, I jumped toward the men and struck out with my knife and dagger to slice the throats of two men before they could switch weapons again.
“What the hell?!”
“K-Kill her!”
“It’s just a girl!”
Three Krus men remained—one in his twenties and two in their forties. I spun my skirt to conceal a knife throw, and the blade pierced the forehead of the youngest man, who’d been too slow drawing his weapon.
“Alia!” Elena called out.
“Got it,” I said. I understood—I wanted to ask them questions too.
With my black knife in one hand and dagger in the other, I stepped forward. The first man who’d shouted pulled back as though seeking an escape route, while the other trembled with rage at the sight of his dead comrades as he thrust with his spear.
“He’ll do,” I said.
Those with a strong sense of loyalty made for worse interrogation targets. I pushed the spear aside with my hand and slashed at the spearman’s carotid with my knife as I moved past him.
“Guh!”
Before the blood had the chance to spurt from the dying man’s wound, I was gone, closing in on the other man. He threw his spear at me and turned around, ready to flee.
“Ngah!”
My weighted pendulum struck the back of his head, making him stumble and fall. I pointed the spear I’d caught in midair at his neck.
“Want to live?” I asked. “Then tell me what you know.”