Chapter 3:
Prison Breaks and First Encounters
Five minutes had passed since I was left in the storeroom. I used my skills to make sure no one was around before I quietly made my move.
Fran, can you hear me?
Yeah. Loud and clear.
Fortunately, Fran still had me equipped since the storeroom wasn’t too far away from the dungeon. Skill Sharing was still in effect, and I could pinpoint her exact location using Telepathy. If I focused, I could Warp myself back to her.
How are you doing? Anything happen while I was gone?
No. We’re doing all right.
Good… I’ll be back when it’s completely dark outside. I think we have an hour until sundown.
Got it.
In the meantime, I’ll have a look over the building.
Be careful.
I will. You too.
Hm.
And so I carefully exited the storeroom through the window. I needed to make sure to be quiet. I didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to myself.
The prison’s straight down this corner, I mused to myself.
I quietly floated over to the cells where Fran and the others were being held. The crew members were kept in six separate cells where a lone guard made the rounds, securing them. I Identified him. Weak, definitely small fry.
The major threat of the hour, Valuza, was nowhere to be seen.
Fran should be in the clear, then. I thought it unlikely that any of the other guards could harm her. Still, these bastards were slimy and could hurt her in a different way. They might force her to into listening to them by taking the other prisoners hostage. I could just imagine one of those scenarios right now:
“No.”
“What was that? Are you refusing to cooperate? If you don’t want your friends killed, come over here!”
“Urgh.”
“Heh heh heh. Well? Why don’t you do a little striptease for us, and we’ll call it even?”
“Fine…”
“Hyahyahya! Oooh, you’ve got a fine body on you, girl.”
“Ugh… Kill me.”
Those dirty bastards! I’ll kill them if they did that to Fran! Actually, killing them would be a mercy. I’d make them wish they had died after I was through with them!
Then again, these guards should prove to be no problem for Fran. She could take them out easy. Although, things might get hairy if their friends found them unconscious. Getting attacked by prisoners would probably be the last thing on their minds.
Silly fantasies aside, let’s see if there’s a way out besides the main entrance.
A backdoor would come in handy in our escape.
Thus began my sneaking mission. Although it turned out I didn’t need to do much sneaking since the guards were either incredibly lazy or shorthanded.
Eventually, I figured out the general layout of the guardhouse. They had a backdoor. There were under ten guards patrolling the place, all of them weak. We should be able to easily make our escape, provided Valuza didn’t come back. Having completed my preliminary inspection, I returned to the storeroom.
I waited for nightfall before contacting Fran again.
Fran, how are you doing over there?
We’ve all calmed down a bit.
I see.
One of the maids screamed when she saw a sea roach, but that’s about it.
I’m sorry you had to see that, Ms. Maid.
Sea roaches were quite gross when I thought about it. Imagining them scuttling about with their little feet gave me the creeps.
What about you, Fran? Were you scared of the sea roach?
No? Why would I be?
Fran was the kind of girl who would be unfazed by such things. She had seen worse creatures; I imagined she wouldn’t mind eating a sea roach.
Glad to hear you’re holding up all right. Anyway, listen to this. I’ve had a look around, and escaping this place should be easier than we thought.
That’s good to know.
Yeah. Anyway, I’m coming back to you.
I prepared myself to return to Fran’s side.
I should make myself smaller.
I used Transmogrify to turn myself into something more discreet and suppressed my presence so others wouldn’t be able to spot me. I didn’t expect anyone could find me since I was already shrouded in darkness. Even if they did, they’d probably think I was some random bug. A sea roach, perhaps.
I quickly found my way to the prison cells.
I just need to find where they’re keeping Fran…
Everyone had seen how Fran controlled her sword during our encounter with the Midgardsormr. She could pass this off as an extension of that mastery. I didn’t want to risk this information leaking to the enemy, of course, so I had to lay low.
I crept on the ceiling and snuck through the metal bars. Once inside, I plunged down and put myself into Fran’s hand. No one seemed to have noticed.
Welcome back.
I’m home. I don’t think I can maintain this small form much longer, though.
What now?
I’ll hide myself in Jet’s shadow. Jet, do you mind?
Woof!
Jet was able to equip things with his mouth and bring it with him into the shadows. He stuck his muzzle out of the shadows, enough to bite me but not enough to be seen by others, and then returned.
D-don’t bite me so hard.
Arf.
Oh God, the saliva!
Deal with it. Just deal with it! I suppressed my disgust at being covered with slobber and sank into the shadows with Jet.
Well, this is interesting.
Being in the shadows was an odd feeling. It looked and felt like the black abyss of the ocean. This was probably a realm Jet had created using his magic. It was big enough to accommodate Jet, plus thirty centimeters give or take. I could still move around in it.
I reverted to my original form and sent Fran a message.
Fran, can you hear me?
There was no reply. It didn’t seem like my Telepathy could get out of this place. Jet was able to move freely between the spaces, though. There must be a way to connect with the outside world.
“Woof!” Jet barked, creating a small black hole in front of us. We could see and hear the outside world through it, although the outside world wouldn’t be able to see us.
No one could find us, let alone detect us, if they didn’t have a skill like Mana Sense. Very useful, also dirty.
Fran?
Teacher?
Now we could talk to each other.
Good job, Jet.
“Woof!”
I’m testing to see if Telepathy could get through from the shadow realm.
I’m hearing you fine.
Good. Let’s see how the situation develops.
Hm.
As we finished our short conversation, I sensed someone come down the stairs. They stopped in front of the prison cell.
It was Dwight, and he had brought a guard along with him, one of his subordinates. I was hoping the negotiations had reached a conclusion, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“Servants of the Knight Salut, come forward.”
“What’s going on?”
“Are the negotiations over?”
Captain Rengill and his crew were hopeful that they would be released soon. I doubted things would go that smoothly, though.
“Go on, bring them out.”
“Yes, sir.”
Dwight ordered his subordinate to let Salut’s men out of the cell. However, they left the rest of us behind. Dwight gave us a sickening grin, clearly plotting something. He looked like a schoolyard bully who had settled on a target and was now toying with them.
“You asked if we have come to a conclusion, yes?”
“Y-yes. Aren’t you going to let us go, now?”
“We have indeed come to a conclusion. We are going to let the Phyllian royal family and their servants go free.”
“A-and us?”
“In exchange for letting them free, you are going to live out the rest of your lives as slaves.”
“Wh-what are you saying?”
“Heheheh. I’m saying your prince and princess don’t care about you one bit. They were begging me to let them go, even if it came to selling the rest of you out.”
The crew had fallen into despair while Dwight’s smile grew crueler with each word.
But it just didn’t check out. The prince wasn’t the kind of person who would say that.
“The Phyllians are going to be set free on the condition that the rest of you are sold into slavery. You’ve been sold out!”
“N-no!”
“Look at the bright side. Tomorrow you can see the light of day again. As slaves, that is! Hahaha!”
As Dwight relished in the sight of the crew’s despair, I used Essence of Falsehood to verify his claims. His statement that the prince had sold us out was a blatant lie.
Calling him out on his bluff now was a bad idea, though. And it was true that we were going to be sold into slavery the next day. I didn’t understand why he had to make up that first part, though. Then again, he was a living scumbag. He probably wanted to see us suffer.
Fran, I don’t know why, but Dwight is lying.
The prince hasn’t sold us out?
No. But the part about being sold into slavery is true.
We needed to think of a plan to get out of here, fast.
Escaping the dungeon was easy enough, getting off the island, on the other hand, was tricky, at best. We had an entire ship’s worth of a crew so they might be able to operate a ship, but I wasn’t sure if we would be able to outrun an entire naval fleet. Not to mention if they started firing their cannons, we would sink to the bottom of the ocean in no time.
“Spend the last of your free hours in despair! Hahahaha!”
Dwight left us then, cackling all the way. The only ones left now were the crew members and the soldiers of Phyllius, both groups bemoaning their fate.
“W-were we really left behind?”
“Uhh.”
In the midst of it all, Fran raised her voice. “I don’t think Fult and Satya would abandon us.”
“B-but…”
“He has to be lying.”
“H-how do you know that?”
“L-Lord Fult and Lady Satya are kind and gracious. You know this.”
“Sure, but I wouldn’t put it past them to sell us out to save their own skins!”
Even as they grumbled, I saw a faint glimmer of hope in their eyes. They didn’t want to believe it, either. They wanted to believe what Fran was saying but were afraid in being disappointed and fall into deeper despair.
“Call it an adventurer’s intuition.”
Fran, I think you could’ve phrased that a little better.
Maybe tell them how Dwight looked like a chronic liar? I didn’t think they would believe her intuition.
“…I see.”
“You’re right.”
Never mind, I guess they bought it. Everyone present here knew Fran as an excellent adventurer; she had managed to single-handedly fend off the Midgardsormr, after all. No one could laugh off her “adventurer’s intuition” after seeing that feat firsthand. Furthermore, experienced adventurers were a cut above the regular crowd. That was a general rule of this world. Men of the sea were also known to be highly reliant on intuition, almost bordering on superstition. They knew the value of experience.
Captain Rengill nodded, easing his men. “I believe you, Fran.”
His endorsement was enough for the rest of the crew to believe her.
“Y-you’re right. There’s no way that our highnesses would abandon us.”
“Yeah!”
“Damn right! That filthy pig’s a filthy liar!”
There you go. Captain Rengill breathed a sigh of relief now that morale had been restored.
Escape would prove difficult if we started making a ruckus; they might tighten up security. There were still guards around so the only thing we could do now was wait.
In the meantime, I was going through a few escape plans in my head. I could go ahead and look for a moderately sized ship I could store in my Pocket Dimension. Once everyone was out, we could ride the ship out of Seedrun. Plenty of things could go wrong with this plan.
First, I didn’t know if such a ship even existed. Even if it did, I didn’t know how many men we would need to operate it, nor the ship’s top speed. If I got a hold of a slow moving ship, the Seedrunian navy would catch up with us in no time. Not to mention the commotion that would break out over a missing ship.
Commandeering a fishing boat instead of a military ship wouldn’t work, either. The bigger the vessel is, the faster we would get spotted.
There was still the matter of the prince and princess, too. They could handle negotiations well enough, so I didn’t think they would be sold into slavery, but if Fran and the others escaped, things might take a turn for the worse for them. I didn’t think anyone here was willing to abandon them, either.
I could start by looking for the prince myself, but if I went too far, I would be unequipped from Fran. This was the one thing I absolutely did not want to happen. I refused to even consider it. If they had taken me any farther earlier, I had every intention of using all my skills to escape.
And say we managed to find the prince. How were we going to get them out? I could create a clone of myself with my skill, but that would look too suspicious. There was also the risk of them finding out I was an Intelligent Weapon.
Let’s say we managed to secure everyone for an escape and had Fran go and look for the prince and princess. There was no guarantee that the royal twins would agree to leave. If they left of their own accord, the already strained relations between Seedrun and Phyllius might worsen.
As you can see, getting everyone out of Seedrun in one piece was going to be a challenge. I could discuss our escape plan using Telepathy, but I didn’t think anyone here would be able to stifle their surprise at a sudden voice in their heads. On the other hand, if we started talking out loud for too long, the guards might get suspicious.
The only thing we could do now was wait for nightfall.
I didn’t see any other option.
Midnight.
Tensions were rising in our little prison cell. They had moved us to a smaller cell without so much of a meal, so our chances of salvation looking slimmer by the second. Everyone was frustrated, and I sympathized with their irritation. Fortunately, no one had begun shouting or arguing with each other yet, but it was a ticking time bomb all the same. Friendly conversation was a thing of the past.
The mood in our little cell was approaching that of a funeral when I heard the sound of footsteps come down the stairs.
“Huh? Is it time to switch patrols already?”
The guard in charge was expecting his substitute. But I felt something odd in the sound of the footsteps. It was too fast, like they were running down the stairs. The footsteps belonged to a figure in a long black cloak. One that covered their tall body. They looked suspicious to say the least.
The cloaked figure then proceeded to knock the guard unconscious.
“Gah…!”
The blow delivered to the guard’s head happened so fast that he barely had time to scream in surprise.
“Huh?”
“What?”
We took it upon ourselves to be shocked in his stead. Even Fran couldn’t stifle her surprise at the random act of violence that just occurred. More so because it was carried out by a woman. Her figure was difficult to see under her cloak, but she definitely had an hourglass figure which was uniquely womanlike. She stood at a tall one hundred and seventy centimeters, if not a hundred eighty. The bits of skin I could see under her cloak were a copper brown tone; she was a native of the island.
Who was she? Was she a friend? I didn’t want to jump to such conclusions, not when we didn’t know what her aim was. She was an enemy of our enemy, at least, and quite a strong one, too, going by how she knocked the guard out with one blow.
Name: Miriam Seedrun
Race: Human
Class: Pikeman
Level: 28/99
HP: 177; Magic: 111; Strength: 123; Agility: 153
Skill: Strength Sense 5; Breathing 3; Command 3; Kick Mastery 3; Swim 7; Water Strider 2; Swashbuckler 4; Fishing 2; Poison Resistance 4; Equilibrium 5; Pike Arts 5; Pike Mastery 8; Spirit Manipulation
Title: Princess
Equipment: Narwhal Pike; Sea Dragon Leather Armor; Blue Whale Leather Sandals; Cloak of Concealment; Ring of Water Resistance; Bracelet of Increased Strength
I ended up Identifying right away out of habit. She was decently strong, about as strong as a D-Rank adventurer.
There was one detail that caught my eye, though: her title of Princess. She had Seedrun in her name so it had to be true. But why would she attack one of her soldiers? It didn’t make sense to me.
A simple order would’ve sufficed if he had stood in her way…
Teacher, friend or foe?
I don’t know. She’s a princess of Seedrun, that’s for sure…
The woman drew close to our cell as I wracked my brain for answers. She started talking to our oldest crew member.
“Are you the ones affiliated with the Phyllian royalty?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“I see. I’m here to save you.”
“What?”
“I’m here to get you out of here. Come on.”
Her offer was so sudden and out of the blue that everyone stood there dumbfounded.
“Wait, hold on. What are you talking about?”
“I’m breaking you out of prison.”
“Wh-why would you…”
They had never seen this person before, so mild confusion was par for the course. Even we were confused despite Identifying her earlier. What did this woman want? I didn’t see any reason why the royal family of Seedrun would want to help us.
“Here.”
The woman rummaged in the guard’s pockets, who was still comfortably unconscious, found a key, and tossed it into our jail cell. The woman said something shocking as the crew members were still trying to process what had just happened. “You’re going to be sold into slavery if you stay here.”
“What?”
“Uhhh.”
At first, no one could understand what she was saying. The reality of her words soon sank in, and they began to ask her for clarification.
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. If you remain imprisoned, they will come and sell all of you off into slavery.”
The woman uttered her statement with such conviction that worried looks began to spread over the crew members. She certainly didn’t look like she was lying.
Captain Rengill took it upon himself to ask questions for the rest of his crew.
“A-are you sure about this?”
“Yes.”
“B-but wouldn’t we put the prince in danger if we escaped?”
“Would you prefer to be sold off into slavery?”
“N-no, but!”
“There’s no time. Be quick now. If you come with me, we might be able to save the prince yet.”
“H-how do you plan on doing that?”
“We can discuss the matter later. I will leave if you do not wish to escape.”
The crew members exchanged uneasy glances with each other. They couldn’t decide if escape was the right decision. Breaking out of prison would make them criminals, and it might do the prince and princess harm. Add that to the fact that they didn’t know the identity of their savior and you had a recipe for uncertainty.
Even we didn’t know what to make of this situation. We would need to draw some information out of this woman.
Fran, you’re gonna have to ask her some questions.
Okay.
Let’s see what she made of this.
“Why do you want to save us?”
“It is the will of my master.”
Master? The master of a princess was usually the king.
“And who would that be?”
“I cannot say.”
“Someone who would have something to gain by letting us escape… The king?”
“Wh-what? What makes you say that?!”
Well, I did Identify you earlier. I didn’t want her to know we had Identify, though. We were going to have to keep pressing our bluff.
“Having us escape would be in his favor.”
“Why?! I don’t see why that would benefit the king at all!”
Teacher?
Uhh, hang on.
The kingdom of Phyllius, which Fult and Satya belonged to, was currently engaged in trade disputes with the kingdom of Seedrun. Perhaps Seedrun was in the process of making a bargaining chip. A scandal involving the prince’s escaped subordinates would make for a strong card. And if we were recaptured, they could use us to put more pressure on Fult.
Huh. I made that story up as I went along, but it sounded pretty convincing.
Our inmates started murmuring after they heard Fran’s speculation; they supposed we might be walking right into a trap. They had better keep it down, though, or someone from the outside might hear us.
Miriam grimaced at Fran’s conjecture. Were we right? Did we hit the bullseye?
That didn’t seem to be the case, however.
“I would never serve the king, that fool brother of mine! My only master is my beloved sister, Sellimea!”
No lies here.
Miriam was following the orders of another member of the royal family, Sellimea. She was opposed to the current king, considering how she talked about him. Now that she mentioned it, I vaguely recall the pirate captain mentioning the name Sellimea when we interrogated him. Wasn’t she the firstborn princess rumored to have been assassinated?
“So why do you want to save us?”
“Our goal is to save the Phyllian royals. To that end, we will need all the help we can get.”
“You want to save Fult and Satya? Why?”
We knew full well the danger we were in by remaining captive; we were going to be sold off as slaves, after all. But weren’t the prince and princess going to be all right? They needed to be kept alive if Seedrun was going to negotiate with Phyllius. As corrupt as the current king was, I doubted he would be violent with the twins.
“The Phyllian royals will not be released at this rate. They have been lied to.”
I guess the king was more of a scumbag than I gave him credit for. Well, we could talk about him later.
For the time being, everything Miriam had said up to this point was true. Even the fact that she wanted to save the prince, and the fact that the prince had been tricked.
“Lied to? Why?”
“That is—hm?!”
Suddenly, Miriam turned to look behind her. The reason was obvious to us. Someone was coming down the stairs. If we dawdled any longer, the enemy might notice the signs of an intruder.
“There’s no time! Decide!”
“I don’t know… Fran, please!”
Rengill and his crew all turned to Fran for guidance. They weren’t able to come to a decision by themselves, so they decided to turn to Fran who was the strongest one here.
Teacher, I think we should go.
Yeah, go for it. Miriam looks trustworthy, and we were going to bust out of this place sooner or later.
“All right. I’ll go with you.”
Fran nodded to Miriam as the rest of the cell waited on her with baited breath.
“Good. What about you lot?”
“…I’m going, too.”
“Me too!”
“Heh, I sure don’t wanna be sold into slavery!”
Everyone present followed Fran’s lead, even the kids. Although, if the children had objected, Fran would’ve dragged them along anyway.
We’ll lay low in the shadows for now.
Woof.
Fran unlocked the cell door and followed Miriam.
“Over here.”
Miriam didn’t go back where she came. Instead, she went further down, deep into the underground.
“I-I thought we were escaping.”
“We are. Just come here.”
Miriam brushed off the worried crew members and carried on.
We eventually stopped in front of an empty cell.
“We’re here. Wait.”
She unlocked the door and went inside. She began feeling up the walls as if looking for something.
Was I going to be treated to a staple of fantasy stories everywhere?
I kept watching, expectant, until suddenly I heard a click and the wall began sliding open of its own accord.
“An escape hatch for the royal family.”
There we go! You can’t have a dungeon without a hidden escape route! Man, that was great. It made me forget the danger we were in for a second.
“Are you sure?”
“About what?”
“It’d be easy to figure out who was the last person to have used this escape hatch.”
I didn’t know how many royals were opposed to the current king, but Miriam would be included in the list of suspects.
“It matters not.” Miriam had already taken that into consideration, and she stepped inside the tight opening without hesitation.
The walls were cramped and the ceiling low. Fran didn’t have to adjust her gait to walk through it but the others had to stoop if they wanted to move forward. It was pitch black, too. Our main goal was to not lose sight of the person in front of us.
“Over here.”
The ground sloped down, now, at quite an angle at that. Going deeper underground from the dungeon cellars made me nervous. There was a fork in the path, but Miriam took it without a moment’s hesitation.
It took us another thirty minutes of walking and groping around in pitch black darkness, but we seemed to have made it to the end of the path. It looked like a dead end at first glance, but closer inspection yielded something that looked like a handle. Miriam twisted the handle, and the wall opened up to a place which looked similar to the dungeon we were in.
“Where are we now?”
“Watch your step.”
“Hm.”
We followed Miriam where she led us. We really were in a basement of some kind. We went up a staircase, opened a hatch, and found that we were in a decrepit monastery within a forest. It was just like the escape routes I used to read in my stories.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” said a small-framed female knight waiting outside.
“Carla. How goes the mission?”
“Ma’am. The other pathways are now operational. We’ve even modified it so that more people can pass through it at once.”
I see. They had anticipated the possibility of them being followed, only instead of covering their tracks, they opened up other routes to throw their pursuers off their scent.
“This way.”
Miriam’s countermeasure wasn’t foolproof, of course, and she maintained her caution as she continued to guide us. The formerly nervous crew members straightened up under Miriam’s lead. There was something about the stern look in the princess’s face which commanded attention; just like Fult and Satya. I guess it came with being royalty.
Miriam led us out of the forest and into an inconspicuous hamlet. There was a carriage waiting for us there, and we crammed inside it. It was a tight fit, but all of us managed to get in.
We were thirty minutes away from our destination, but I was beginning to worry. We were the only carriage on this otherwise deserted road. Wouldn’t the guards be suspicious if they spotted us?
Miriam had it covered, of course. She bribed any guard who approached us and asked them to change course. God, corrupt nations are the best! Although we wouldn’t be in this situation had this country not been so corrupt. No, corrupt governments were absolutely detestable! Vote for transparent, morally upright officials!
The rest of our trip was uneventful as no one questioned who we were. Eventually, we reached our destination, a dingy looking village with wooden houses lining the streets. I’m being polite, of course. Honestly, it looked closer to a slum with how tightly the little shacks were built next to each other. The stench was enough to make even Fran flinch. It made for a decent hiding place, but I recalled that Miriam was following the instructions of her sister, the first princess. It was hard to imagine a royal being here.
Miriam took us deeper into the slums, turning a corner to every back alley she could find. We were drawing the attention of the slum’s denizens, and I wondered if we would be all right. Not to be stereotypical, but people who lived in places like these seemed like they would sell us out for a penny.
Miriam laughed off my concerns. The king’s scouts had been sent here before, and their base of operations had yet to be discovered.
Well, if she felt confident about it, I would defer to her judgment.
We turned another corner and reached a small house tucked away in the backstreets of the slums. The house was tiny. Never mind a royal hiding out here, I was more worried whether we could all fit in this house.
Can we really trust her?
“Come in.”
“Okay.”
The house was as small on the inside as it looked from the outside, 1.7 square meters at best. It was filled twice beyond its intended capacity, and it felt like I was inside a Japanese train during rush hour with how all of us were forced to stand…
I appreciated Miriam’s aid and shelter, but packing all of us into such an enclosed space was a bit much.
Thankfully, the wall on the far side opened up to reveal a hidden room. This secret area was much more spacious and had enough room inside for our crew to lie down.
“We should be safe now that we’re here.”
Miriam relaxed for the first time since we met her and took off the cloak which was covering her whole body. Her face had a masculine quality, her very short hair red with streaks of gray running through it. She was quite a looker.
She was wearing wine-red leather armor. It looked light, but it was actually made of the same material as Valuza’s Sea Dragon armor and therefore stronger than the average plate mail.
Miriam still didn’t look like royalty to me, certainly not princess-like. She looked more like a tough and manly female adventurer who could run her own crew.
“My master would like to see you now.”
“So soon?”
“Yes.”
“You mentioned she was part of the royal family.”
“She is. She won’t be able to see all of you at once, so pick five to represent your crew,” Miriam said, triggering an exchange of glances between our members. It was clear from the looks on their faces that none of them wanted to go. They had gotten used to being around Miriam over the course of our escape, but an audience with another member of the royal family was something they’d rather pass on.
“You, girl, you’re coming with me.” Miriam pointed at Fran.
“Me?”
“You’re strong, and even the adults looked to you for support. You’ve proven yourself to be wise, as well.”
Miriam had a good eye. I commended her for being able to see Fran’s talent so easily.
“All right.”
“I shall come with you.” Captain Rengill was an obvious pick.
“What about the rest?”
“Uh…”
“I mean, I dunno…”
Everyone stood around looking at each other, unable to come to a conclusion and not willing to come forward by their own accord. The squabbling irritated Miriam, and she scolded them to get a move on. She did seem impatient, especially when she was breaking us out of prison.
“Hurry up!”
“Y-yes, ma’am!”
“We’ll do it right now!”
The captain’s first mate was another easy choice, but we didn’t have any of the bigwigs left from the Phyllian side. After more squabbling, it was decided that the oldest soldier and the maid would go. Well, as long as they didn’t resent each other for it. The argument did get quite heated.
Once the five of us were ready, Miriam went to a corner of the room and started feeling up the walls. There was another hidden room located within the hidden room.
“This way.”
We carried on a narrow hallway with branching pathways designed to make intruders lost.
“Wow. There’re so many hidden rooms.”
“Quite a feat, is it not? This was an emergency safe house built by the previous king. Documents detailing the existence of this place have been lost; my sister and I merely found it by accident.”
I see. So even the reigning king doesn’t know about this place.
Miriam carried on, not a hint of hesitation in her steps. A small chamber was located at the end of the path. The previous king took no chances when he designed this safe house.
“Sister, I have returned.”
“Miriam. I’m so glad to see you’re safe.”
A woman in her late twenties was waiting for us in the room. Her hair was long and blonde with streaks of purple running through it. Her bangs were parted perfectly down the middle. A tiara the same color as her hair graced her forehead. Her eyes were purple, exuding softness and warmth, unlike Miriam’s sharp almond eyes which looked almost cat-like. She was about a hundred sixty centimeters tall which made her taller than the average woman. She was still shorter than Miriam, of course.
She might not have resembled Miriam in many ways, but her skin tone was the unmistakable Seedrun copper tan. But unlike the common man and Miriam, whose skin was burnt even further by the sun, hers was lighter in color. She looked like a Japanese woman with a suntan.
Her attire was simple but striking. It was dress armor, dyed blue and white. It vaguely looked like a sailor uniform. Despite its looks, her armor was still created with the same Sea Dragon leather as Miriam, providing ample defense for the princess.
She had Sword Mastery, and it didn’t look like it was for show, either. Her armor provided great mobility, taking into account the princess’s battle competence, which was why it was sleeveless and had something that looked like a miniskirt. It looked much too dull to be something royalty would wear. This lightweight gear suited the local conditions of mild climate and humid sea air, of course. Seedrun was no place to be running around in heavy plate armor.
Unlike Miriam, who looked liked an ordinary warrior, she had an air of nobility and elegance around her.
This was Sellimea Vellmelio Seedrun, Miriam’s sister and master.
“I was worried about you.”
“It was a simple sneaking operation done under the cover of night. Nothing to be afraid of.”
“You’ve always had a knack for stirring up trouble…like that time you picked a fight with the guard dogs at the royal palace—”
“Th-that was in the past!”
“And then you rode that horse to—”
“Sister, please!”
I wasn’t sure if “stirring up trouble” was enough to describe infiltrating a guardhouse, knocking out a watchman, and breaking thirty people out of prison. Sellimea was either magnanimous or didn’t know the risk involved. Maybe she just trusted her sister. Hell, it could be all of the above. She definitely didn’t look like a bad person.
“Ahem. We can talk all you want later. May I first introduce you to our guests?” Miriam cut her sister’s talk by clearing her throat. She was blushing, embarrassed by the old stories of mischief her sister had brought up.
“Oh goodness, where are my manners? I’m so sorry for calling you all here.”
“No problem.”
Fran had the ability to talk to everyone exactly the same way, royalty or no. It was one of her strengths…although sometimes I wished she would learn some manners.
Rengill and the others turned pale when they saw how rude Fran was being to the princess of Seedrun. I trained my eye on Sellimea and saw no trace of anger. In fact, she looked at Fran like the cute beastgirl she was. Thank God she was as magnanimous as she was.
“Why, thank you.”
Unfortunately, Miriam did not approve. “Girl, do you know who you are addressing?!”
Her words sounded vaguely reminiscent of the lieutenant we ran into earlier. However, Sellimea covered for us.
“Look at you, getting all touchy over a child’s words. What am I going to do with you?”
“B-but!”
“Not to mention she’s from abroad. I’m just an ordinary woman to this girl.”
“I have made mention of your station. She knows you are royalty!”
“Sure, I’m royalty, but I’m royalty that has to hide in a hidden chamber of a hidden safe house. Also, discriminating against others based on their bloodline is something our brother would do.”
“Ugh…”
This lady wasn’t very princess-like, but that’s exactly what I liked about her! She reminded me of Fult and Satya. I was sure they would get along if they met each other.
Miriam admired this about her sister, and if Sellimea didn’t have any problems with Fran’s demeanor, that was the end of that discussion. She sighed, having given up on the situation. “Oh… I suppose you’re right.”
“Hehe. Thank you, Miriam.”
Good thing we avoided that unnecessary argument.
“This girl may be young, but I have reason to believe she is stronger than I am.”
“Really? Stronger than you?”
“Yes. She is at a higher level at the very least. She is very skilled judging by how she moves. I’m not sure I could beat her head-on…”
Miriam possessed Strength Sense which she used to calmly analyze Fran’s strength. She maintained her pride as a warrior by saying she wasn’t sure if she could beat her instead of stating the obvious.
“You must be really strong, then.”
Sellimea took Miriam at her word without so much as a question. She really trusted her sister. I didn’t think she would easily believe Fran being much stronger than Miriam. But here she was, looking at Fran with much admiration.
“Hm.”
“Looks like we’re getting additional firepower.”
Firepower, she said. I guess we weren’t getting the prince out through peaceful means. I had wanted to avoid getting involved in political conflicts, but they did get us out of that bind… It would be really ungrateful for us to say thank you and leave now.
Besides, Fran wouldn’t have agreed to it anyway.
“You said Fult and Satya were tricked.”
That was Fran’s opening statement.
“About that…”
“Is it true?”
“Yes. I am certain of it.”
Sellimea’s face grew stern as she nodded. “How much do you know about our nation’s current conditions?”
“An idiot took over the throne and things are bad now.”
“Haha. That’s about the gist of it. Allow me to elaborate.”
“Sure.”
“Which reminds me, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m so sorry about that. My name is Sellimea Vellmelio Seedrun, the first princess of Seedrun. And you are?”
“Fran. Black Cat Adventurer.”
“Nice to meet you, Fran.”
“Hm.”
The captain and his crew introduced themselves after that. They had been silent and pale this whole time, and they could barely tell the princess their name. I didn’t blame them. It had been a long day, and we were now finishing it with an audience with royalty. Their nerves were thoroughly wrecked.
At first they felt belittled by the fact that the princess was only talking to Fran, but they seem to have changed their minds. They were now content to let Fran do all the talking. I didn’t mind this plan of theirs, but I had to wonder if the adults were okay with being sidelined.
“Let me reintroduce myself. I am Miriam Seedrun, the second princess of Seedrun.”
The sisters were nothing alike. How did a princess get so strong, anyway? Fran seemed to be thinking the same thing.
“You’re a princess and a fighter?”
“I was born of a mistress, you see. I was never quite good at blending in with high society. I found military training much more enjoyable.”
“She looked so happy swinging a sword around during teatime.”
“I-I was a child, then. Also, although I am technically a princess, I have no right to the throne.”
“Couldn’t you at least be a bit more graceful?”
“I shall leave the matter of grace to my sister. I have long decided to serve as her sword and advisor. I have no need for courtly manners.”
The sisters got along despite one of them being illegitimate. Still, Miriam didn’t seem to get along with her eldest brother, the current king. Why was that?
Miriam’s expression soured upon Fran asking that question.
“Because he is a fool.”
I understood the sentiment but wished she would elaborate. Fortunately, Sellimea provided an explanation to her sister’s concise statement.
“Our brother always brags about his pure bloodline. He always gave Miriam a hard time about it.”
“That is true, but I did not devote myself to my sister because of a petty grudge. A bigoted, moronic, violent, fool lineage such as he has no business being on the throne.”
It sounded harsh, but I couldn’t deny it after seeing the state the kingdom was in. Judging by Miriam’s tone, the current king had always been like that since he was a little boy. It was hard to believe they let him be king at all.
Miriam’s expression soured again. Even Sellimea was frowning, now. They were reluctant to tell us the reason why their brother was chosen to be king.
“Right. That’s as good a starting point as any, I suppose.”
The process of being king wasn’t as simple as I thought.
“One of the reasons our brother became king is because he is the eldest son and therefore the rightful heir. That much is obvious.”
“Hmph. There are too many fools who became king by the mere accident of being a firstborn.”
I know Miriam was illegitimate, but should a princess really be saying that?
“Our brother may be selfish, violent, and uncaring about the lives of our people but it isn’t as if he didn’t have any redeeming qualities.” Even Sellimea was in on it.
“Suarez, our brother, is one of our nation’s greatest warriors.”
“As much as it pains me to admit, even I can’t beat him in a fight…”
He must be quite the fighter, then.
“That is why many of our citizens supported him before he took the throne.”
“Though his approval rating now is approximately zero.”
“You become king by being strong?”
“In our kingdom, yes,” answered Sellimea.
“The founding of Seedrun is quite unusual, you see…”
Sellimea proceeded to give us a history about the founding fathers of Seedrun. “Our nation of Seedrun was founded by pirates.”
“Pirates? Pirates made this country?”
“Yes. The island of Seedrun used to be the haunt of a great pirate company. The royal family is descended from the captain of that company. Cool, isn’t it?” Sellimea puffed her chest, bragging about being descended from pirates. People usually didn’t talk about their ancestors if they were criminals, but Sellimea and Miriam weren’t ashamed of their forefathers. They were unabashedly proud about it, in fact.
The great pirate company of yore built themselves not so much on ruthless pillaging, but by excavating ocean resources and coercing merchant ships into hiring them as escorts. During that time, they attacked corrupt government navy vessels and crushed other more ruthless pirates, claiming the spoils of their victories as their own.
The old pirates were a rowdy lot who loved freedom, adventuring, and their companions. They were much closer to the stereotypical heroic pirate that I knew in fiction, although I wouldn’t call them heroes since they still looted and plundered.
I wasn’t sure of the accuracy of the historic account since it was told by descendants of said pirates; lionizing was inevitable. The accounts themselves might be rewritten in order to justify acts of territorial invasion. Not that I was going to point that out.
The citizens of this country respected their pirate forefathers.
“Our citizens are all descended from pirates, too.”
“That is why strength is highly respected in our country.”
Traces of the old pirate blood remained in the culture of Seedrun. It was why the current king was so popular. He was stupid and violent, but strong. Even if not much of his popularity remained after running the country into the ground.
“Our country has always had a strong military because of our past.”
“Our brother has a lot of supporters within the military. He gained even more followers after he increased the military budget.”
“The money had to come from somewhere, of course. He increased taxation and all but eliminated welfare payments.”
“It’s a good time to be a member of the military. The higher ups are all living it large from Suarez’s pocket.”
“The whole situation disgusts me! The military is meant to serve and protect our people, not oppress them!”
He was imposing heavy taxation on his citizens which in turn caused trouble throughout the country. Not only that, but he was also increasing his influence by buying out military officials. I don’t know whether he was stupid or a genius. He had a perfect recipe for creating a military dictatorship.
“Suarez has already eliminated all the nobles who dared oppose him. The only ones left now are the ones who are completely obedient to him.”
There you go: dictatorship.
“The military general, our uncle Julius, is also in full support of our brother.”
“Julius is a treacherous man. It is clear that he is the one pulling the strings behind Suarez’s rule.”
“My brother is easily manipulated as long as he gets to fulfill his ambitions. Our current government is only barely holding together thanks to Uncle Julius; he used to be a bureaucrat before he was a general. Although, I don’t think my brother realizes that.”
The general was the previous king’s younger brother, which made him a shoo-in as an advisor for the current king. I’m sure it gave him huge benefits in supporting Suarez, too.
The king of Seedrun, Suarez, and his uncle, Julius. We had seen those names in the ledger we found in the slaver hideout in Dars. They were listed under officials whom the slavers had bribed. I expected them to be Seedrun big shots, but I didn’t think they would be royalty…
These were the same people who were casually going to sell us into slavery, after all. Seedrun’s corruption ran deeper than I thought.
“And recently, my brother has been meeting with messengers from the kingdom of Raydoss. Quite often, may I add,” continued Sellimea.
“The kingdom of Raydoss?” Fran’s ears perked up upon the mention of our old invisible enemy.
The kingdom of Raydoss. We kept running into them, albeit indirectly. In Alessa, they were the shadow forces who sought control over its dungeons. They had even invaded Granzell in the past. Our guild receptionist, Nell, and our A-Rank adventurer, Amanda, both told us to be careful when the name Raydoss came up.
We ran into Raydoss again in the floating dungeon, within the Lich’s diary pages. They created a military facility on a floating island and performed unspeakable human experiments. The Lich made it his unlife’s work to wipe Raydoss off the map.
Suffice to say, we didn’t have a good impression of the kingdom of Raydoss. They were a shady bunch who would invade your country in the name of profit and work in the shadows to bring about your downfall should they fail their first attempt.
I didn’t think we’d run into them again so soon.
“That can’t be good.”
“Oh, you’re familiar with Raydoss, then?”
“Hm. An awful country who causes nothing but trouble.”
Fran shared my opinion. After all the trouble they had caused us, how couldn’t she? I know that you couldn’t run a country without getting your hands dirty, but there was no need to dip your entire body in mud.
“Hahaha! Well said. Yes, they are quite troublesome with the way they invade their neighbors, aren’t they?”
“Our country especially.”
It looked like Seedrun had seen its fair share of Raydossian trouble.
“They’ve never attempted to annex us thanks to our superior military might, but…”
Really? I didn’t think anyone could be so confident in comparing their military strength against Raydoss. Seedrun was descended from pirates, but were they really so strong?
“They’ve been chipping away at Seedrun’s resources through tariffs and port fees.”
Sellimea put a hand against her cheek and sighed. “Those Raydossian hyenas are trying to keep Seedrun and her naval forces under their jurisdiction.”
“We have to stop by a Raydossian port to use the northern route. It can’t be helped.”
Sellimea and Miriam breathed a resigned sigh. As much as they personally hated Raydoss, they were faced with the reality of having to cooperate with their government. I couldn’t imagine the migraines they got from it.
“Our brother is offering the might of Seedrun’s military to Raydoss so that he might become a duke of Raydoss and viceroy of Seedrun. He then expects to use his achievements to slowly take over the entire kingdom of Raydoss itself…”
“A foolish pipe dream. There is no way our fool brother’s imbecilic plot would work against a large country such as Raydoss.”
“Yes, I think so, too.”
“Raydoss would crush us with our own navy and turn us into one of its colonies. That is, if they didn’t decide to absorb us outright. On paper, it would seem as if our fool brother has control over this military alliance, but it is obviously a lie.”
“There’s no way Raydoss would concede so much power to a small country like ours. If Raydoss got hold of our warship, the Water Dragon, they would take over in an instant. It would spell the end of Seedrun.”
“Raydoss is infamous for imposing exorbitant taxes on its territories and treating its people like slaves.”
What an awful country. What was it that Sellimea mentioned about a warship? The Water Dragon? The name roused my old junior high fantasies, and I asked Fran to inquire further.
“So what’s this ‘warship water dragon’ thing?”
“Aah, I suppose outsiders wouldn’t know about it.”
“The Water Dragon is Seedrun’s secret weapon.”
“Ooh, secret weapon. Sounds cool.”
I knew it! The HMS Water Dragon, Seedrun’s Last Resort. It’s so cool!
“Hehe. I know, right? She’s really strong and is quite a beaut.”
“Oooh.”
“The Sea Dragon is a large battleship named after the fact that it is driven by a Sea Dragon. It is three times faster than your average battleship, and it’s powerful enough to sink any vessel into a watery grave.”
Having monsters pull your boat was nothing new; the people of this world had done it for ages. However, the founding king of Seedrun was the first in history to have successfully tamed a Sea Dragon, a B-Rank monster.
“There are only four Sea Dragon class warships in the world, and all of them belong to Seedrun. This is how we’ve maintained our independence for so long. No naval fleet can withstand the might of our Sea Dragons.”
“B-Rank ships?”
“Uh-huh! Cool, isn’t it?”
“Cool” didn’t even begin to cut it. A single B-Rank monster was capable of wiping an entire country off the map. And Seedrun had four of them? No wonder they were considered the strongest armada on the planet.
“The four Sea Dragons are divided amongst my fool brother, my uncle, my cousin, and Sellimea. Our Sea Dragons will only heed the will of the blood of the first king. Also, it can only be controlled by its particular owner. My sister’s Sea Dragon is currently docked at the king’s Sea Dragon port because of this.”
“Oh, Warnate… I hope she’s doing okay.”
Warnate was the name of Sellimea’s Sea Dragon ship. It had been taken away from her at some point. Without Sellimea to control it, it didn’t count towards Seedrun’s naval strength. It would remain unusable as long as Sellimea was alive, so there was no concern of our enemies being able to use it against us.
“My fool brother has been in talks to establish an alliance with Raydoss ever since he became king. He has been using our Sea Dragons as bargaining chips.”
“As foolish as our brother is, I don’t think even he would actually hand one of our Sea Dragons over to Raydoss.”
“That is where the Phyllians come into play.”
We had finally come to the heart of the matter. Although, we were the ones who digressed by asking about the Sea Dragons.
I couldn’t help myself, all right? A battleship with the name of Sea Dragon roused my curiosity.
“Why did they have to trick Satya and Fult?”
“Phyllius is a small kingdom comparable to ours. Only instead of having Sea Dragons, they were able to deter Raydoss’ invasion attempts with their Divine Sword. They have also formed an alliance with Granzell, Raydoss’ sworn enemy.”
“Basically, Phyllius is the only thing preventing Raydoss’ southward expansion. You know what would happen if my brother captured it?”
It would increase Suarez’s standing with Raydoss. Phyllius would make for a great bargaining chip.
“So he’s going to hand Fult and Satya over to Raydoss?” Fran asked.
“At this rate, yes. The Phyllian royalty would make for a fine tribute. You said you were captured by Dwight earlier.”
“Hm. Smug bastard.”
“That smug bastard paid his way to become admiral, but he still remains my brother’s trusted advisor. He’s also cunning, and he knew to take advantage of you as soon as he saw your ship. He is the worst Seedrun has to offer.”
So that’s why he insisted on denying all our credentials. If he had treated Fult like royalty, he would be forced to treat them as guests of honor and give them freedom of movement associated with it. On the other hand, treating them like suspects would allow him to limit their movements and give him the upper hand in negotiations. Tricking them was the only way to achieve this effect.
“We wish to prevent that. If the Phyllian royal twins get sold off to Raydoss, we would make enemies with Phyllius, a kingdom in possession of a Divine Sword. We would have to ally ourselves with Raydoss to have a chance at surviving the ensuing war.”
“I see.”
Phyllius was allied with Granzell, wasn’t it? Seedrun would make enemies out of Granzell if it went to war with Phyllius. The only way for Seedrun to withstand the combined might of the two kingdoms would be to ally itself with Raydoss. The ensuing conflict would bring the two countries closer together.
“Military conflict wouldn’t be the last of our problems, either.”
“As you can see, Seedrun is a small island nation. We don’t have enough land to grow our own crops. We’ve been importing foodstuffs from Granzell, Raydoss, and Phyllius up to now, but…”
Seedrun would need to depend on Raydoss for imports if they came into conflict with Granzell. Raydoss’s impact on military, economy, and even food supply was far too great. If conditions soured with the other countries, Seedrun was on a one-way track to becoming a Raydossian colony.
“My brother is already in possession of the Phyllian royals. The Raydossian messenger has also been staying in the royal palace for a while now.”
“And they’ve asked for many things of our brother as his superior.”
So the messenger might have already secretly asked Suarez to hand over the Phyllians.
“We have to do something before the messenger returns to Raydoss with the Phyllians.”
“That is why we need your help.”
It was a long discussion, but I understood the main thrust of it. We had to retrieve Fult and Satya from Suarez before they were handed over to the kingdom of Raydoss.
“If Fult and Satya get captured again, there’d be no point in saving them.”
“Leave that to us. We have people who can help. We’ll take it as our responsibility to smuggle them away from the island.”
So far, Sellimea and Miriam had yet to utter a single lie. Everything they said was the truth. We had to help them, then. I didn’t think we could save Fult and Satya on our own.
“All right.”
Fran looked determined.
“W-we’ll do everything in our power to help, as well.”
“We will put our lives on the line for Our Highnesses Fult and Satya.”
The two Phyllians agreed, of course. Captain Rengill, who had been silent so far, finally mustered enough willpower to talk.
“We shall help, too, of course.”
“Really? Are you sure? I know you are not Phyllians yourselves.”
“Perhaps not. But I have been commissioned by the prince and princess to take them safely to Bulbola. I cannot abandon their request no matter the situation. That is our policy at the Lucille Trade Association.”
“I see. Glad to have you aboard.”
“Yes. Just remember to take us with you when you make your escape.”
“Haha. You merchants always have an eye for opportunity.”
“I am a merchant and the captain of my own ship. The safety of my crew is part of my duties.”
“I know. We are willing to reward you so long as you lend us a hand in our venture.”
There was no binding contract, but Miriam’s word was enough to make Captain Rengill and his crew breathe a sigh of relief. She seemed to be morally upright, and the short time they spent together was enough for her to gain their trust.
In any case, we were all agreed in helping Sellimea, now.
“Can the kids stay here in the meantime?”
“Of course. We have no intention of putting the children’s lives in danger.”
“I’ll look after them, so don’t worry.”
Fran wasn’t part of the children Miriam mentioned, of course; she knew that Fran was a stronger warrior than she was. As for Sellimea, she seemed to have drawn the conclusion that Fran was no ordinary child from their conversation.
“Our people are contacting our conspirators in the palace now. We will begin our operation tomorrow. I shall prepare some rooms for you. They won’t be private rooms, but you’ll be able to get some rest.”
Oh, right. Fran, I think you should give them the documents we found.
Documents?
I’m talking about the ledger we found in the slaver hideout back in Dars. Sellimea might be able to put it to good use.
I see.
There wasn’t much point in us carrying the ledger around. The names Suarez and Julius were written in the ledger’s bribe list anyway, so we gave it to Sellimea.
The sisters bulged their eyes at the document.
“I didn’t think they had become so corrupt…”
“This is awful. And look at this one here.”
“What?! These are plans to turn the residents of the slums into slaves!”
“This is unacceptable.”
“It seems that the rumors going on about Raydoss wanting a huge number of slaves is true.”
“Not only do they want the naval strength of Seedrun, they want her people as well.”
Sellimea, who up until now was all smiles, now squinted at the documents with a particular anger. The aura she was giving off was as ferocious as when Fran got into battle stance.
“Are you sure we can have this?”
“Yeah.”
“Thank you. I’ll put it to good use, I promise.”
Sellimea nodded, a determined look on her face.
After our discussion, Miriam’s men led us down another hidden path. We went down a set of stairs, then up another, and ended up at a shack different from the ones we’d seen up to now.
“The rest are already on the way here. That’s your room over there.”
“Hm.”
As it turned out, the shack had several rooms.
“If you need anything, call the guard at the door. Whatever you do, do not leave this place on your own.”
That was a fair warning. If we left this place for a walk, we might not be able to find our way back.
What about Jet?
Hmm… Sorry, boy, it looks like you’re gonna have to remain hidden for now.
Ruff…
Come on, don’t give me that sad whine. Look, you know how you’re supposed to keep your secret weapon a secret?
Secret weapon! Like the Sea Dragon.
Exactly, and you’re our secret weapon, Jet.
So cool.
Arf, arf!
That pleased him for now. I didn’t want to manipulate our beloved direwolf that way, but I was serious. Jet really was our secret weapon, and I wanted to keep his existence a secret for as long as possible.
Rengill’s men and the Phyllians might have seen Jet in action, but they didn’t know where he was at the moment. Certainly, none of them could’ve suspected he was lurking within Fran’s shadow. If anyone asked, we would tell him that Jet was a summon and therefore needed to be properly summoned to appear.
I trusted Sellimea and Miriam, but that trust didn’t extend to the company they kept. Suarez’s spies might have infiltrated their crew. If not, some of them might be willing to sacrifice Fran in order to save Sellimea.
I wanted to keep our private information private.
“By the way, we’ve recovered your confiscated gear. It’s right over there, so go and find your equipment.”
Our guide, a Fighter, pointed to the pile of swords and spears on the floor. This was my chance to quietly return to Fran. It was unlikely that anyone would be able to miss my ornate construction, but we were ready to brush it off by saying that I was mixed deep into the pile.
Not that anyone was likely to ask us about details, since everyone was busy rummaging through the pile for their own gear. Still, you can never be too sure.
I snuck out of Jet’s shadow realm and hung myself over Fran’s shoulder once again. The familiar angle of her back instantly made me feel at home. Aahh.
“Hmm.”
Hm? What is it, Fran?
I felt restless without you, Teacher. I’m glad you’re finally back.
Haha! That makes two of us. I don’t think I could do without your back either, Fran.
Two peas in a pod?
I don’t know about that.
There had to be a better expression for what we experienced than “two peas in a pod”.
But you know what? Close enough.
“Yes.”
Well, what now? There wasn’t really anything for us to do. It wasn’t like we could go outside. Jet and I could probably go scout the surrounding area, but I really didn’t want to leave Fran’s side right now. Call me overprotective, I don’t care! I am not about to leave Fran by herself in unknown territory!
I didn’t want to leave her side, not tonight.
Let’s get plenty of rest.
“Hm.” Fran nodded, headed to her assigned room.
“Fran!”
“Where have you been? Are you okay?”
“We thought you got into trouble with the adults since they wanted to talk to you.”
This was the children’s room, it seemed. Inside were three of the kids that we saved along with Fult and Satya, and a single Phyllian maid. She must’ve been taking care of them. She seemed to love children, and I remember her volunteering as their caretaker back on the ship.
Everyone got up from the bed to greet Fran. As uneasy they felt about being in this strange place, they were still more worried about her.
“I’m okay.”
“Nice. Glad to have you back.”
“I told you she’ll be fine. Fran’s really strong.”
“Yeah. By the way, where’s Jet?”
The kids were quite fond of our direwolf.
“He’s not here right now.”
“Oh…”
The girl sounded sad as she faced the floor. Oh no, did we make her cry? I was getting flustered, unsure what to do, when a strange rumbling noise echoed throughout the room. It startled the children, and they all began looking for the source of the noise; the teary eyed girl included. The strange sound had prevented her from crying.
What the hell was that disturbing noise? It sounded like a bear growling.
It was then that Fran rubbed her stomach.
“I’m hungry.”
Why, the adorable sound was the sound of Fran’s empty stomach. Yes, now that I think about it, it sounded like the cute yelps of a little puppy. What’s this I hear about her stomach sounding like a bear? Such slander!
Fran’s adorable stomach rumbling set off a chain reaction, and the other children’s stomachs followed suit. I don’t think we had eaten since yesterday afternoon.
“What’s for dinner?”
“Stale bread and water.”
“That’s it?”
“Preparing food in the slums is quite difficult, so they asked us to make do with it until morning.”
I see.
Warm food required cooking, and cooking was a little difficult this late into the night.
Teacher.
I’m on it. We can’t let the kids go to bed on an empty stomach.
The saddened expression on the hungry children reminded me of Fran when we first met. I couldn’t leave them alone after seeing that. Fran couldn’t let her fellow orphans go hungry, either. These kids were the closest thing she had to relatives.
I looked through Pocket Dimension for food to feed the children. Anything with too strong of an odor could get picked up from the outside, so I decided sandwiches would be appropriate for the occasion. I threw in some juice, on the house.
“Huh? What are these?”
“Shh. Our little secret.”
“A-are you sure?”
“Hm.”
“Yes! Thanks, Fran.”
“You can have some, too, lady.”
“Oh dear, may I really?”
“Hm. Just don’t tell anyone.”
It was kind of cruel to make the maid watch while the children ate, so we gave her a portion, too. Her meal also doubled as hush money. The adults in the other rooms would have to suck it up until morning.
The hungry children wasted no time in gobbling up their sandwiches. The maid also put away her sandwich in record time, albeit being much more tidy about it. Of course, Fran was the fastest in eliminating her sandwich.
“That was good!”
“Shhh! Keep it down! Fran took these out of her personal stash.”
“S-sorry about that.”
“This juice is tasty, too.”
“Indeed. This sandwich might be the best sandwich I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
I imagined a maid employed by the royal family would have a fairly sophisticated palate, but even she was surprised by the sandwiches.
The sandwich had become my staple of sorts, I was quite confident with it. There were monster cutlet and monster ham sandwiches. There were also egg sandwiches I made with cockatrice eggs—with homemade mayonnaise, of course. The juice was a punch I made by mixing the juice of a peach-looking fruit and a pineapple-looking fruit. The resulting beverage was very refreshing.
With their stomachs filled with sandwiches and anxieties reassured, the children’s eyelids were starting to get heavy. Fran was ready to go to sleep as well; it couldn’t be helped, as this was her usual bedtime.
“Come on, now. You must sleep in bed, not on the floor. You too, Fran.”
“’Kaaaay.”
“Hm.”
Our hideout didn’t have enough beds to go around, and our room only had three beds in total. One for the maid, one for the two boys, and one for Fran and the girl. This would be the first time Fran had ever slept in a bed with another human being. Would she be okay?
Can you sleep?
No problem. We slept side by side when I was a slave.
I see.
Yeah. We’d die from the cold if we didn’t.
That was a much more practical reason than the one I was thinking of. I-I see. You’ll be fine then.
Uh-huh. Good night, Teacher.
Good night. I’ll keep watch tonight, so get plenty of rest.
Thank…you…
In an instant, Fran was fast asleep. She never did have sleeping problems. They say kids grow like weeds when they’re asleep. Fran’s ability to fall asleep under any circumstance was a huge advantage, then.
Can you sleep in the shadows, Jet?
Woof!
I took that as a yes. As expected from a Darkness Wolf, he was able to maintain mana output even while asleep.
Zzz.
You fall asleep as fast as your master, Jet.
Ah, well. Guess I’ll be alone on my watch.
There were people around me today, so I couldn’t float around the complex. I killed time by playing word association by myself.
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