Chapter 198: Escape Route
Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7583de/
Author: Hirukuma
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou
Honestly, the two of them looked really intimate together. Anyone who stumbled onto this scene would think that they were a real family who treated each other with great love.
While I felt relieved to think that there was no way this person could ever really mistreat Leader Keryoil’s son, another worry had risen… let’s set that aside for now. Let’s trust in Sulrim’s pride and her disdain for humans. However, I can’t help but feel anxious.
Just by coming here, I managed to gather quite a lot of information. For now, I should try and understand the child’s current situation and be understanding of his position.
While ignoring the two, I had been studying the view beyond the window for a while now and came to the realisation that we’re most likely on the Rocky Dog Mountain floor.
Fragmented bits of plan came to mind, changing and transforming along with each bit of information I gained. While I do have an escape plan in mind, there was a snag. I had to escape with Pitee.
If I were to leave her behind, she could be held responsible and be punished for my disappearance. Maybe even executed. Even if Leader Keryoil tries to cover for her, they could only delay the inevitable.
So, no matter what, we had to escape together.
[1] “Now dear… I am going to take a nap for a bit, hm? Teleportation had taken quite a bit out of me… I haven’t fully recovered yet,” said Sulrim with a rather stiff smile on her face. At least, it felt stiff to me.
[2] It was a great contrast against the boy’s little upturn face as he timidly said, “Um, okay… and, could I buy a few more things from Hakkon?”
Yup, the cuteness attack there was shocking to say the least. Sulrim appeared to have suffered a critical attack from those pleading eyes. For a moment, I was worried that she would simply fly off the handle and… do something.
“I-indeed, go ahead. You may buy as many things as you like. Just remember, brush your teeth after eating something sweet, alright?”
“Okay~” the boy chirped.
Then, with a final beaming smile at the boy, she disappeared beyond the door.
The boy walked up to me and stopped. This close, I can see that he has a face that was composed of the best qualities of Leader Keryoil and Vice-Leader Felmina.
He looked similar to the Red and White Twins, but was more androgynous with better features all around.
The boy blinked large, innocent eyes at me.
“Mister Hakkon, there’s something I must inform you.”
[2] Suddenly, the innocent child had disappeared, replaced by a mature and slightly cold. What’s this? Just by changing the tone of his voice, he had switched from a child to a… not quite an adult, but someone vastly more mature than the chirpy kid from before.
Was this another act?
“With Miss Sulrim’s eyes on me, I have no choice but to act more childish than usual. Apologies for the deception.”
As he bowed his head deeply and formally, it was difficult for me to associate him with the kid from before. It was even more difficult for me to believe that he was only around 10 years old.
“I am fully aware that I am the source of my family’s suffering. All would be solved if I were to die here, but that would be the most heinous and cowardly of acts. Akin to throwing sand in the faces of my parents and brothers’ hardships.”
If the kid committed suicide, his family might just kill themselves on the spot, after trying to kill Sulrim. Regardless, both would be bad ending. Since he is such an intelligent child, he may have already understood how his death would influence his family.
“Right now, I am gathering information while following Miss Sulrim around. Though I felt bad about deceiving my family, my younger brothers are too loose-lipped to be trusted. As for your true abilities, my parents have already informed me about them. As I understood it, so long as you are here, you are expected to either be of use or be destroyed if you refuse to help.”
“Ye-es”
“Do you have a way to escape? If there is anything I can help you with, please do not hesitate to ask. I shall assist you to the best of my abilities.”
Well, if I could borrow this child’s power, there is a method I could use. No matter what, it would be best if Pitee and I could escape without implicating the child. Ideally, I would like to escape with Leader Keryoil’s party and the boy, but since he depended on Sulrim to stave off his curse, I have no choice but to give up on that plan.
For now, let’s accept his assistance and request some help.
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From then on, it became a daily routine for me to be summoned to Sulrim’s rooms to provide goods.
My schedule looks like this.
[2] Every morning, I would wake up and provide breakfast for Pitee. Later, I would wait to be ‘invited’ into Sulrim’s rooms to make private sales.
Just before noon, I would be taken to an area on the second floor where they would settle me in a place that looked like a dining room to sell my goods to the humans and beastfolk there.
After three days of this, I started to get a sense of the number of people on this base and their general relationship.
The humans and beastfolk on the base, with the exception of Leader Keryoil’s party, all wore robes. It looked like a uniform of sorts for the Netherworld Army. By the way, the skeletons wore nothing.
The humans and beastfolk here all looked rather thin and unhealthy. According to the twins, these people were magic users with Gifts relating to long-range attacks. The army lacked close combat personnel, which was why Leader Keryoil’s party was valuable to the group.
Since the Ruler of the Netherworld was a mage, it made sense for the majority of his closest subordinates to be of the same type. These skeletons were probably there to handle all the close combat fighting while they cast spells from the back.
I sold my wares without discrimination and was doing quite well, too. At first, the people were wary of me, but after Leader Keryoil’s party bought stuff from me, others started to come in ones and twos to try and purchase something. Now, they all lined up and bought their stuff without hesitation.
Everyone here appeared to be the gloomy introverted sort, which means there were hardly any conversations for me to listen in on. Still, they seemed to appreciate my presence since they could shop in peace without having to speak to anyone. That’s right, vending machines are especially popular with people who are not good at communicating with others.
Sadly, I could not glean any useful information from whatever conversation was happening in the dining hall since the people here tended to speak in whispers or hushed voices.
Come to think of it, [2] the twins said something about the Middle Finger General being on base, but thus far, I haven’t seen him yet.
I would like to get rid of all unknown variables, but I could not track down information on what he looked like. It would be great if I could get the twins drunk again, but Vice-Leader Felmina had already wised up to that trick and absolutely banned them from drinking. It was too bad those twins had fallen asleep before I could ask for details about that Middle Finger guy.
There’s also a possibility that the Middle Finger General was holed up in his room, refusing to come out for whatever reason. Well, if you’re going to stay in your room, just stay there until I’m gone, is what I would like to say.
However, who knows what will happen?
Once the lunch hour was over, skeletons would start gathering around me.
It took 10 skeletons to move me, and they did it by tilting my body sideways and carrying me out like a portable shrine… [2]
By the way, these skeletal-like beings, no, these bony beings? Anyway, since they were all bones, it felt a bit unnerving to be carted around by them, since it felt like their bodies could snap at any moment…
Still, my worries were for nought since I was always safely carried to my room and placed in my usual corner. After confirming that there was no one in the room but Pitee-in-the-shell, the skeletons left.
Whenever I’m not in the room, Pitee will be hiding herself in her shields. Once the door closed behind the skeletons, the shields parted slightly, giving her just enough space to look around to make sure no one else was around.
“Welcome back… Hakkon is… a little bit early today…”
“Ho-me” I said.
“Then, some food… please…?”
I gave her quite a lot of food this morning to cover for her lunch, but it looked like she likes to keep some food in a corner just in case and was often quite hungry by the time I returned.
After I prepared her food, she came over to lean against my side to eat.
“You won’t go… anywhere… after this?”
“Ye-es”
Unless someone physically carried me out for whatever urgent reason, my work for the day is done. [2] By the way, I am not called to cater for dinner…
“I’m glad… Fufufu…”
I had noticed something since yesterday. I think… Pitee has grown rather fond of me. While it was nice to be a little closer to my one companion, she had also been touching me a lot lately. Talking a lot more too.
Come to think of it, I haven’t heard her mention ‘that person’ at all. Before this, every little thing reminded her of him.
Also, she seems kind of brighter, more cheerful. Is this the result of the so-called [3] suspension bridge effect?
No, no, no, even if she intellectually understood that the other guy was a conman, it’s still impossible for such a devoted person to shift their feelings onto someone else.
At that moment, a memory from the past flashed before my mind.
Back when a friend of mine got his first girlfriend. They were so affectionate and hot and heavy that it was embarrassing to watch them. The two of them had only been dating for a month but had already pledged to spend the rest of their future together.
Only, my friend was unceremoniously dumped one day.
It took a while, but I managed to get the story out of him. It turned out that once, the couple was strolling the city streets with his colleague one night, when they were accosted by a thug. The colleague shielded the girlfriend from harm and that act was enough for her to have a change of heart.
I thought of asking why they were walking around the street with a colleague, but held my tongue in the end.
Furthermore, a certain scene from a certain movie came to mind. It depicted a couple who constantly fought with each other, but suddenly fell passionately in love with each other again when they found themselves in a life-threatening situation. Then, in the sequel, the female lead dumped the man from the first film to get on with a new man.
Apparently, when people are in danger, there is a sudden drive to extend their lives through reproduction. Moreover, the pounding heart and dizzying feeling one gets from standing at a great height was similar to being in love, which could be mistaken for real feelings.
Basically, what I am trying to say with this information dump is that… the situation does not look good.
[Gumihou: Ah, Pitee, you creeper…]
[1] Pervert-coded language that is not awkward
[2] Adjusted details
[3] Suspension bridge effect – Misattribution of Arousal – a psychological phenomenon in which someone attributes their arousal to one stimulus, even though different stimuli may have caused it. For example, at a theme park, a rollercoaster ride could stimulated a young man’s heart, causing it to race, but he mistakenly attributed this excitement to his date.
Kind of like having a date at a haunted house, lol
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