【”Are you freaking done yet? I recall saying that I have questions to ask.”】
【”M-my apologies. Sorry if the house doesn’t look too good, but please do come inside.”】
【”Colette, Harold-sama is here. Come greet him.”】
【”I-it’s been a long time, Harold-sama….”】
【”Colette, huh? You come here, too.”】
He made Colette sit down without giving her any chance to protest. The Ameller parent and child were now sitting at a small table, facing Harold. While trying the tea that Clara had given him with a “I don’t know if it will suit your taste, but….”, Harold once again started exposing the circumstances of the current matter.
【”I heard that some thieves broke into the neighboring house last night, correct?”】
【”Yes.”】
【”How many were they?”】
【”I heard they were two.”】
【”Did anyone see them?”】
【” The Griffiths couple, who live in the house where the burglary happened, and their son, Liner-kun. As far as I know, only the three of them saw the burglars, and the rumors say that they were concealing themselves with black robes.”】
【”But your neighbors aren’t here.”】
【”The parents were attacked by the criminals and are in the hospital. As for Liner-kun, he went to chase after the burglars this afternoon and left the village…..”】
【”That Liner guy who chased after them, is he the one with the red hair?”】
【”Y-yes.”】
【”If my expectations are right, then that guy is going to die.”】
【”Based on the eye-witnesses’ reports, it is very likely that the criminals responsible for the robbery are the members of a thief group which has been making a fuss around the royal capital lately, 『Trinity』. The problematic part is that those guys tend to have high fighting abilities, and even if they’re caught on the crime scene, they’ll just force their way through and escape. “】
【”That’s….”】
【”So, where did those guys escape to?”】
【”They went to the next town, towards the west….”】
【”Humph, then I guess I should go back to the royal capital for now and set things up.”】
【”A-aren’t you going after them?”】
【”Not right now. Some preparations are needed to capture trinity.”】
【”But, then, what about Liner?!”】
【”You want me to put myself in danger to rescue that guy? Is that what you want to fricking say?”】
Harold’s harsh words daringly crushed Colette’s alternative of letting others deal with the problem.
【”That’s not what I….”】
【”Oh, I see, then what did you actually mean?”】
【”……”】
【”Those guys kill people just to steal from them, it’s also guaranteed that their fighting power is the real deal, and you’re telling me to go chase after them for your own damn convenience?”】
【”But…. still, you’re strong so…..”】
【”Yeah, certainly, I could win against them.”】
【”Then-!”】
【”I told you, didn’t I? They’re a group. It’s meaningless to capture one of them if the others manage to escape. In short, I’ll need some more people backing me up if I’m to capture Trinity myself. And how could I guarantee those people’s lives? If you can bear all the responsibilities for this, I’ll go chase after the criminals right away.”】
【”Stop acting like a spoiled child, Colette. Depending on someone and relying on them is not the same thing.”】
【”Huh….?”】
【”『I thought you had experienced for yourself how helpless it feels to be weak. But if you’re still going to choose a weakling’s way of life despite that, then suit yourself. 』”】
【”I don’t know if you remember those words, but is this the result you came to from being saved and surviving? Pathetic.”】
【”-!”】
(…… Maybe I said too much. )
【”Clara.”】
【”…..Yes?”】
【”If Colette tells you she’s going to run after Liner, don’t stop her.”】
【”… Why? If the situation is as you described it, then as Colette’s mother, it’s impossible for me not to stop her, Harold-sama. “】
【”Humph, like mother like daughter, huh? You both haven’t changed at all.”】
【”What are you talking ab-…..”】
【”I’m talking about how you always stupidly get caught in absolutely pointless worries.”】
【”Don’t tell me you… does that mean you intended to help that child from the beginning, Harold-sama….?”】
【”Our talk ends here. You already know this, but, you better not tell anyone that I came here.”】
◇
Powerless and aimless, Colette was just wandering about, walking totteringly. The memories of the times she spent with Liner were flooding her from everywhere. So far, they had been common and ordinary to her, but it was not until this situation came to be that Colette understood how important those memories really were.
【”Oh? Is that Colette?”】
【”Lots of things happened. What about you, Elu? What are you taking a horse for? Is something the matter”】
【”No, it’s jut that some scary man came and woke me up earlier. He told me to sell him a new horse ’cause he had ridden his own horse to its death.”】
【”A scary man?”】
【”Yeah. He was a man with red eyes, about as old as you are. He had a sharp glint in his eyes, and I just immediately sold him the horse without thinking.”】
【”Huh?”】
At that point, Colette noticed something odd. Why did Elu, who had sold the horse to Harold, not come from the east gate, which led to the royal capital, but came from the west gate, which led to the neighboring town?
Colette couldn’t help but ask a question to Elu, who seemed puzzled.
【”Say, Elu. Which way did the person you sold that horse to head to?”】
【”He went towards the west. Seemed like he was going to the neighboring town in a hurry. Maybe he had an emergency?”】
(Don’t tell me, to help Liner he…?)
【”…I am really an idiot.”】
『I thought you had experienced for yourself how helpless it feels to be weak. But if you’re still going to choose a weakling’s way of life despite that, then suit yourself. 』
(“I don’t care, really”? That’s a lie. Harold-sama has been caring for us for a long time….)
【”―― I’m going after him.”】
【”You want to chase after that scary man?”】
【”Yes.”】
【”Isn’t it kind of impossible to catch up to someone ridding a horse by running on foot?”】
【”Even so, I’m going.”】
【”Is that so? By the way, I’m just speaking to myself here, but that scary person was in too much of a hurry and gave me some extra money by mistake. Specifically, he gave me two horses’ worth. So I pointlessly prepared one horse too many for him.”】
【”Huh?”】
【”However, if I just go back as is with that amount of money on me, uncle might suspect that I’ve deceived a customer, so I’m keeping the remaining horse here. Somebody might end up taking it, but it can’t be helped. Anyway, I made a good amount of money selling two of them so…”】
【”Thank you, Elu.”】
【”I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re thanking me for, but I will still gratefully accept your words, I guess.”】
And while I’m at it, I’d like to thank all the new Patrons, Evan. N, Abyss. K, Dan. S, Moh. I, Mihaw. K, and Dago. A, Thanks a lot for your support everyone! Naturally, as always, I’d also like to thank all the other older Patrons!
Have a wonderful day everyone ?
