Tethel and the other children promptly covered their mouths and stifled their screams.
“Wh-What’s wrong!” Lord Irving waved his hands around in a panic. The back of his sofa blocked the view from where he lay, and he couldn’t see in the direction of the window.
Tethel flew out from the middle of the paralyzed children and rushed over to Rick, fallen on the ground.
A single arrow was lodged in his chest.
Rick was no longer breathing.
Tethel forced open his hand and plucked the crystal free.
It was my turn, after all.
It was warm—it felt almost numbing.
His body was engulfed by vibrations that felt as though they could erase all his pain and suffering.
Tethel closed his eyes in rapture. I want to go to sleep holding this forever. As long as I have this, everything is fine.
He sunk to his knees on the spot, curling up his body and sinking further down to the floor—
“Alley-oop.”
Unexpectedly, a shadow fell across the hole in the window.
A young man with a thin beard stuck his head in through the hole. He carried a large bow in his hand and had a quiver on his back. Without a doubt, this man was the archer.
“What’s this? Just a bunch of kids? Isn’t this the lord of the castle’s room?” The man looked around, bewildered, at the children standing stock still in the room.
“What’s this…What’s happened…Rick! Answer me!” Lord Irving, who still didn’t know what was happening, waved his hands.
“Ah, so you’re over there.”
The man kicked off the window frame and jumped into the center of the room.
Letting out feeble bleats of terror, the children clung to the wall. Still clutching the crystal, Tethel slipped in among them and leaned against the wall near the exit.
The other children were in a froth of panic, but Tethel remained calm.
I’ll see how this goes, and if there is an opening, I’ll make a run for it.
The man with the bow and arrow paid the children no attention. Instead, he walked around to the front of the sofa and looked down at Lord Irving.
“So, you must be Lord Irving.”
“And who are you?! How rude!”
The lord foamed at the mouth. However, ultimately he was only able to move his two arms.
“Do you realize that I’m a member of House Irving,” he shouted, “with an ancient and honorable lineage connected to the king?”
“Of course, I am fully aware of that.” The door creaked open and a hulking masked man entered the room. “We are the Dawn Roar, an order of knights directly serving the King of Liones. We are here upon King Bartra’s orders.”
“What…what did you say…” Irving turned deathly pale. Trying to escape, he flapped his short legs and struggled with his arms to get up. But he was unable to stand and instead tumbled clumsily from his sofa.
“Anyone! Is anyone there…Rick! Chad! Davis!”
“Unfortunately, there is no one left to hear you.” The door opened once more, and this time, a beautiful lady with honey-blond hair entered. She held a sword with a wavy blade dripping with blood.
“We dealt with them all,” she said. “You should have at least hired some men with some skill.”
“We are the king’s shadows. It is one of our duties to handle the underworld in the underworld, burying issues that should not be made public. Lord Irving, prepare yourself.”
The lord shrieked and frantically struggled on the floor. But his fat, ugly body only rolled over heavily.
“Somehow, this feels like we’re torturing him to death.” The masked man sighed.
“Want me to do it?” the archer asked, removing an arrow from his quiver.
But the masked man shook his head.
“From what I’ve seen, his body must place a considerable burden on his heart. If that’s the case, there’s no need for blades—this will do.”
There was a bam and the air became heavy.
Tethel felt as though he were being pinned down by an invisible hand, and his vision grew dark. Clunk, clunk—around him, he saw the other children fall down.
For a moment he thought he, too, would lose consciousness and bit his lip desperately to avoid it. I’m not going to die here—I’m going to live, no matter what.
“Oh…”
The masked man surveyed his surroundings.
“I thought I had shown some restraint, but I wonder if I caught them too. If so, I did an awful thing.”
At his feet, Lord Irving was no longer moving. His eyes were wide and blank, and his dark red tongue lolled loosely out of his mouth.
The lady and the man with the bow and arrows checked on each of the children.
“They’ve just lost consciousness.”
“They’re all so scrawny…This is so sad. They probably weren’t getting fed.”
Tethel waited, holding his breath. The two approached. The crystal in his hand was going to be discovered.
“Hey, all done here yet?”
The door opened for a third time, and a boy with silver hair came in from outside.
Instantly Tethel jumped to his feet and ran. He thrust aside the boy and scrambled out the door.
“Ah, wait!”
“Simon, catch him! That boy has something!” the lady’s voice traveled through the air.
Tethel ran desperately on trembling legs. I don’t care what happens now. This crystal is mine. I’m never going to give it to anyone. He trampled over the bodies of the children killed earlier and sprinted down the stairs.
“I told you to wait.” The silver-haired boy jumped over Tethel’s head and stood in front, blocking his way. “Do you want to be cut down?”
A sword longer than he was tall gleamed in the boy’s hand.