Episode 70 - Escape Drama
As soon as Lynn left
Lorea's office, his face turned pale and he rushed out.
(Oh no. What should I
do?)
He ran down the corridor with a gentlemanly gait,
regardless of the fact that his clothes were in disarray.
(I've done something
terrible.)
I didn't expect this to happen. As for Lynn, he
never meant any harm.
But there is no excuse for that in this situation.
(I need to see Theo. He
must explain to me why he did what he did and fix this situation.)
As Lynn reached the exit of the building, he heard
the roar of a beast that sounded like it was coming from the depths of hell.
It was no doubt the roar of the Cerberus that Lorea
had shown him earlier.
Lynn hurriedly opened the gate and ran out into the
city.
He ran in a panic, not caring if he bumped into
people passing by.
“Theo! Hey Theo!”
Lynn saw Theo riding in a carriage and called out to
him as he ran.
The carriage was moving leisurely along the street
towards the shopping district where the big merchants lined the streets.
He seemed to be going to some kind of business
meeting.
“Hmm? Oh it’s Lynn. Gosha-san. Slow down a bit. Hey, Lynn.
What's the matter? Why are you acting so crazy?”
Theo instructed the driver to match Lynn's running
speed and run alongside him.
“Theo, you're terrible.
You've been cold and dry in the past, but this time, this time, I have totally
misjudged you. You're the worst. You're a jerk!”
“What's going on? Why
are you so angry all of a sudden?”
“There's nothing to be
done about it. You, you set me up to be a spy all along, knowing full well what
would happen to me.”
“Huh? I thought you knew what you were doing?”
“What the hell?!”
“You said it yourself
that you were working on a settlement. Hearing this, I immediately understood
your true intentions. I thought you were trying to buy time by creating a false
pretense of reconciliation. I was impressed by your resourcefulness and
sacrifice, and the fact that you volunteered to be a spy to defuse the
situation.......”
(How did you come to
that conclusion?)
“You're lying. That's
such an outlandish conclusion, that even Yuwen wouldn't make it. You definitely
knew everything and did it with full conviction.”
“Hahahaha. Sorry, I
apologize. But you know what they say. To deceive the enemy, you must start
with your allies.”
Theo didn't look
offended, in fact he was smiling like he was proud of it.
(Gosh, this guy's a
demon.)
“Besides it is time to
brace ourselves for an attack from Lorea. In spite of her flamboyant lifestyle,
her finances are in shambles. Next week, the big merchants will stop doing
business with her and she'll be out of control. We need to get out of Alfredo
before the old lady gets angry and attacks us. I already have a hiding
place.......”
“It's already too late.
I thought I had just been invited to tea by Lorea-san, but then I was
confronted with a letter suspending all business dealings and expelling her
from the academy, and then I realized I was in trouble and ran out, but now I'm
being chased by a magical beast she unleashed.”
“What?!”
Theo's face turned pale, as expected.
“Get in. Lynn.”
Theo reached out from the carriage, grabbed Lynn's
hand, and pulled him up onto the carriage.
“Nonsense. According to
our agreement with Illywia-san, we are supposed to set up Lorea next week. I'm
sure she is yet to receive the letter from the big business association. And
how come the head of the academy is ......?”
“I'm not sure if it's because
I've never really met him before, but I've always thought that he's a good guy.
He may have moved up his schedule a bit this time.”
“Damn it. She's a
princess. I didn't calculate that. This is not how I planned to ......”
“G-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o.”
As soon as Theo let out
a swear word, Cerberus' roar, which sounded like it was coming from the depths
of hell, came from behind them.
Theo hurriedly turned to the coachman.
“Gosha-san. Change of
destination. To the elevator terminal. Hurry. As fast as you can! We'll be
eaten by a magical beast if we slow down!”
A carriage rumbles past
a corner of Alfredo at an unusual speed.
“Get out of the way!
Stop walking around like that. Clear the way. Do you want to die?”
The boy on the carriage, who looked like a
delinquent, raised his voice and shouted abuse at the people on the street,
forcing them to open the road.
“Whoa, that's
dangerous!”
“Hey! What are you
doing?”
People who were almost hit by the carriage or were
exposed to the rising dust were shouting and swearing.
The people passing by
frowned when they saw the boys riding in the carriage.
What the hell was that? They were driving through
the city at that speed. They were insane, they seemed to think.
Then they looked behind them, and this time their
faces turned pale.
A huge, three-headed dog with a blazing mane of fire
was rushing towards them, making the ground shake!
Cerberus blows up the stalls and kicks the people in
the street as it runs down the streets.
The flames of the mane
burned everything it touched, spreading the damage wherever it went.
After Cerberus had passed by, the burnt out flowers,
fruits and vegetables, store signs, and debris turned into a cruel burnt field,
and the collateral damage left people rolling and cowering.
“Oh my God!”
“Kyaaaa!”
As soon as people saw Cerberus, they rushed to get
out of the way or went inside the building and shut the door tightly.
Theo turned pale at the
sight of it.
"It's a large
magical beast ...... and it's on fire. I can't believe she let that thing loose
in the city. What the hell was that crazy woman thinking?
“Theo. We can't go on
like this. It'll catch up with us.”
In spite of his huge size, Cerberus was agile and
faster than a horse running with a carriage on its back.
He was gradually closing the distance, and even
though they were both sitting within the carriage, they could already feel the
heat coming from his mane of flame.
“Hey. Can't you make it
go any faster?”
“That's all I can do!”
As soon as Theo heard this, he threw their luggage
on the street and started destroying the extra parts of the carriage with his
wand.
“W-wait, sir?”
“I'll pay for it later.
Right now, our lives depend on it. Lynn, take this.”
Theo threw a ring at Lynn.
Lynn climbed onto the
back of the carriage and focused his mind on the ring.
(Remember. Remember
what it felt like to defeat the Chimera. Please.)
A sword of light shot
out from Lynn's ring and struck one of Cerberus' heads.
However, Cerberus did
not fall or even cower under the sword of light, but rather the flames in his
mane gained momentum and speed.
“ah, no way!”
“The Sword of Light is
not working. Could it be that the magical beast can absorb magic power from the
sword of light?”
Theo even cut the reins
of the horse. The horse was released from the carriage and ran off in the
opposite direction.
“Hey, sir!”
“I'll pay for it later.
Lynn. Hold on tight. The wheel! Use
the force of the wand to spin it. Spin it. Faster!”
Theo tapped the wheels
of the carriage with his wand while putting a spell on it, and it began to spin
faster than ever.
Lynn rushed inside the carriage and clung to the
sides.
The wheels of the carriage made a rumbling sound as
they spun, sending sparks flying through the city.
The chase between the carriage and Cerberus reached
the bridge over the river that flowed through Alfredo.
Theo had reduced the load to the last possible
moment, destroyed the parts of the carriage and boned it, but he still couldn't
shake Cerberus.
Cerberus, on the other hand, was burning and
absorbing everything around it, making its flames even more powerful and agile.
“Theo. There's nothing
left to throw away. If we keep going like this, it'll catch up with us.”
“I'm sorry, but you
need to get off too.”
On the way across the bridge, Theo pushed the coach
driver and dropped him into the river.
A dull thud sounded and he sank into the river.
Theo then made the ring on his finger glow and drew
a magic circle above the river.
“Fairy! Carry the water
from the river, make it rise, turn it into droplets, and diffuse it!”
(My current fairy magic
can't control large amounts of water. I can' t control a lot of water with my
current fairy magic, but I can at least make it mist and increase the moisture.)
In response to Theo's
spell, the fairies move the water from the river and produce a mist on the
bridge.
However, it too is instantly vaporized and blown
away by the flames raised by Cerberus.
“Ah, shit.”
The carriage raced over the cobblestone bridge, damaging
everything in its path. Cerberus was right behind it, in hot pursuit.
The whole time they were crossing the bridge, Lynn
could hear the floor of the carriage cracking and creaking and the wheels
screeching.
While huddled in the carriage, he heard the shouting
of the driver from behind.
"You stupid mages!
You'll have to pay for my clothes too, you morons!"
