Chapter 539:
Most People Would Know Better
I WAS WORRIED AT FIRST when I couldn’t detect Fische’s aura, and indeed he wasn’t there. I searched a bit further, but he didn’t seem to be in range.
“If you’re looking for Fische, he went to call for backup,” Zinal said, giving my shoulder a pat. He had probably noticed my worry.
“Who’s coming? Somebody we can trust?” my father asked.
Zinal nodded. “Don’t worry. We’re pretty sure we know who the traitor is.” Zinal’s gaze was a bit downcast. I guess finding out somebody you trusted was a traitor would hurt real bad.
“He’ll pay dearly…that numbskull.”
Or maybe it wouldn’t hurt real bad.
The aura wafting from Zinal was so fierce I shrank away a little, and the gatekeepers also cowered in fear.
“Stop it. Your bloodlust is getting all over the place,” my father snapped.
Zinal smiled sweetly in reply, but the gatekeepers almost burst into tears at the sight of his teeth. (And this was still one of his less terrifying smiles!)
“Okay, what kind of contract did you boys make?” Zinal asked.
The gatekeepers collectively flinched, and Zinal shook his head at the sight.
“Can’t talk about it?”
The gatekeepers nodded ever so slightly.
“I get it. Go back to the gate, boys.”
One of the gatekeepers opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. His gaze wandered until it landed on me, and I tilted my head in confusion.
“Were you commanded to take Ivy hostage?” my father asked.
The gatekeepers nodded.
So they were under somebody’s command. And since they were bound by a contract, they had no choice but to obey.
“What should we do about them?” Zinal’s brows furrowed. My father looked just as grim.
Crack, crack, crack!
“What’s that?”
My father jumped to his feet and unsheathed his sword. The sound of trees crashing to the ground echoed all around us, and with it, the magic energy of a serpent filled the air.
Crack, crack, crack!
“Eep!” the gatekeepers yelped meekly. One of them was so scared his back had given out. I couldn’t help but stare in awe. The serpent’s magic energy wasn’t that powerful and there was no malicious intent in it, so I couldn’t imagine why anyone’s back would give out. Were these boys even gatekeepers?
“S-serpent?!”
“Why? Wh-what’s it doing here…”
“Eep!”
The gatekeepers were thoroughly bewildered, and they looked like they might drop everything and flee. We couldn’t allow that. In their frazzled state, they might run straight into the thick of the forest—and then they might really be killed by monsters.
“Don’t move!” Zinal’s angry voice rang out.
The flustered gatekeepers froze like stone.
Wow, behold the power of Zinal’s bloodthirsty yell! Even I shivered a little.
Feeling a looming shadow, I looked up to see Snakey looking down at us. When our eyes met, it slithered into the forest as if nothing had happened. The loud rumbling of the earth echoed through the forest for miles.
✦ ✦ ✦
✦ ✦ ✦
“Guess it didn’t notice us,” Zinal said.
Huh?
“Looks like it,” my father agreed.
Uh, no, our eyes met briefly. Didn’t you see that? Our eyes met clearly.
“Well, that worked out.” Zinal turned to the gatekeepers. “Tell your master a serpent showed up and you lost Ivy. Since there’s serpent tracks here, they’ll believe you.”
I looked at the area where the serpent had slithered. The trees were toppled and there were deep trenches in the earth, which seemed odd to me. Usually serpents didn’t leave tracks like that… Oh! Was Snakey helping us out? Making it so the gatekeepers could go back without raising suspicion? But how did Snakey even know about the predicament we were in?
“Thank you so much.” One of the gatekeepers bowed to us, and the other five nervously followed suit. They looked so inexperienced and lost that I couldn’t help but voice my curiosity.
“Excuse me, how many years have you been in the village watch?” I asked.
I couldn’t shake the impression that these gatekeepers were quite young. And since gatekeepers needed a base level of experience, my impression couldn’t have been right.
“I’ve been in the watch eight months. Everyone else, six months.”
“What?!”
Eight and six months? They were promoted to gatekeeper that fast? I guess my impression wasn’t off after all.
“I see. Thank you for answering my question,” I told them.
My father and Zinal looked incredibly sour. As we watched the gatekeepers go on their way, my father gave a loud sigh.
“That serpent did us a huge favor,” Zinal said.
“Sure did,” my father agreed.
I caught myself agreeing, too. That serpent really did have perfect timing.
“Oh, look, Ciel is coming back!” I said.
I could sense Ciel’s aura approaching us from the thick of the forest. After a while, the adandara was back.
Mrrrow.
“Hi, Ciel.”
Mee-yowww!
What’s that? I feel like Ciel sounds smug…huh?
“Wait, did you ask the serpent to help us, Ciel?” my father asked.
Mew!
Based on the way Ciel’s tail playfully swished around, my father was probably right.
“Thanks, Ciel. We’ll have to thank Snakey later, too.”
Mrrrow.
It really was exquisite. Ciel had come up with that plan after only hearing part of our conversation.
Oh, Fische was supposed to bring us backup, too. Will it be okay for my father and I to just stay here?
“Mr. Zinal, is Mr. Fische still bringing someone to help?” I asked.
I assumed this person was safe if they were Zinal’s friend, but I was still curious.
“It’s the innkeeper’s daughter. She’s definitely on our side, no doubt about it.”
So it’s his daughter. I don’t think I saw her at the inn.
I started to sense Fische’s aura approaching from the direction of the village, together with an unfamiliar aura. Was that the innkeeper’s daughter Zinal mentioned?
“Anyway, that was a really rotten thing they did,” my father said.
Zinal answered him with a sour look. What was my father talking about? The gatekeepers almost taking me hostage?
Come to think of it, my father is with me right now. And Zinal and Fische are with me today, too. So why did they even try to kidnap me?
I looked at my father. He was holding a sword, and it was clear with one look at his thick build that he was a strong fighter. On top of that, Zinal and Fische were both high-level adventurers. Why would anybody target me on a day when three powerful men were with me? I would definitely pick a different day.
“Do you think they really were trying to kidnap me?” I asked.
No matter how you sliced it, today was not the day to get me. If anybody tried, they would be the ones in trouble.
“Whoever it was probably wanted us to kill those six boys,” my father said.
This shocked me. They wanted us to kill them?
“Yeah, those boys were living sacrifices to put us at a disadvantageous position,” Zinal said.
My father nodded.
A disadvantageous position… So they were trying to make murderers out of my father, Zinal, and Fische? Both guilds had already teamed up with the village watch to conspire together. If the three organizations claimed their motive to kill the watchmen was something different, they could frame my father, Zinal, and Fische for murder. Either that, or they could use it as a threat to bargain for something else… How horrible.
“Can’t the gatekeepers be rescued?” I asked my father.
He patted my head. “Zinal, they’ll be okay, right?”
Zinal nodded without hesitation. “They really are fools. Now that they’ve shown us their cards, we know exactly just how far the rot has spread. All we need is evidence at this point, and now we have a good idea of where to find it.”
Zinal is just trying to right wrongs… It only looks like he’s up to no good because of his smile, right?
Unlike the last time, Zinal’s smile was free of restraint, and he looked like he might snap into a mad rage any second. And my father wasn’t showing any signs of stopping him.
“Huh? Ah, he’s here. Ivy and Druid, you could hide if you want. What’s the plan?”
I’m not sure. She’s someone Zinal and Fische trust, but I am a little concerned.
“We’ll hide. We don’t want to get any more involved than we already are,” my father said.
Zinal nodded. “Okay. We’ll rendezvous later. Where should we meet?”
“The dump.”
“Got it. See ya later.”
As Zinal ran off toward the village, we set out for the dump.
“Hey, Dad?”
“Hm?”
“Those six boys…you could’ve defeated them without killing them, right?”
My father chuckled sheepishly. “Yeah, no sweat.”
So Zinal and Fische definitely could’ve done it, too. The gap in ability between fledgling watchmen and top-level adventurers was just way too wide. They could have easily put the boys out of action without killing them. All it took was a little thinking and anyone could have realized that…
Was whoever came up with this plan an idiot or what?