Idle Talk 12 - Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi (post Ch 176)

Idle Talk 12 -- 3 Heroes, Fleeing The Kingdom ②


Aaron had offered Kanon a Bracelet of Slavery to wear, as I had predicted. She had refused to wear it since we knew what it would do to her, but she wouldn't be able to refuse it the next time he offered it to her without raising suspicions. Kanon and I would have escape this country soon and we had made some preparations to that end. Our chance to run away came sooner than we expected though, and in a different manner than we had planned.

We were levelling up by hunting monsters as usual and the next day we received an urgent request from the Adventurers Guild to subjugate an Ogre that had been seen lurking on the road leading to the Royal capital. We left the city following the road, we three Heroes and the three knights who were our supposed mentors.

Eventually the Ogre appeared before us. It was alone and its subjugation was no problem for our party, given our levels and skills. We were returning to the city when suddenly a large wolf-like monster appeared in front of us.

"Grrrrr." The wolf bared its fangs at us.

"Aaaah, that's an A-ranked Great Wolf..." Leonard said.

"What's a monster like that doing here..." Louise muttered.

"We'll have to defeat it, there's no way to escape." Louise said.

Leonard and Aaron and Louise grasped their weapons and prepared to fight. It had to be a fairly strong monster given the reaction of the three experienced knights and Leonard had said it was an A-ranked monster but surely the six of us together could defeat it?

"Kaito, Kanon, Rio, attack it with your magic!" Leonard commanded.

"Blazing orb of fire, burn our enemies-!" we started chanting as Great Wolf sprinted towards us and then it leapt impossibly fast.

"AHHHhhhh-!" I heard Rio scream, disrupting our magic casting in mid-chant.  I looked around quickly and saw that Rio's left arm had been severed at the elbow by, what?!

"The Great Wolf used Wind Magic!" someone, probably Aaron, yelled. "Quick, hit it with your Fire magic before it recovers!"

The Great Wolf, hearing that shout turned to engage the three knights. I saw Rio's left arm lying beside her as she knelt, clutching her bleeding elbow in agony. But she had lost her Bracelet of Slavery... I decided to seize this opportunity, we could take Rio with us now!

"Kanon, give Rio a potion!" I snapped before restarting my magical chant. "Blazing orb of fire, burn our enemies to ash! Fireball!" and I followed that immediately with my most powerful attack magic, "Fierce-flaming arrow, pierce my enemy. Fire Arrow!" I aimed the two Fire magic spells at the Great Wolf... and the three knights fighting it. The area around the combatants exploded in flame and heat.

"Kanon, Rio, let's go! Now!" I shouted. Kanon dragged a stumbling Rio with her as we plunged into the forest beside the road and hurried away from the carnage. I called out to Rio as we kept going, I wanted to be well away from here before our escape attempt was discovered.

"Rio, how are you doing?" I was taking the lead in case we ran into another monster but the Great Wolf we had fought would have scared off any other lesser monsters in the vicinity, I was sure.

"........." Rio just moaned, unable to reply. I glanced around to check on her condition. The blood gushing from her severed arm had stopped and the stump was covered with new skin.

"I used a potion we were given and that stopped the bleeding. I tried applying Recovery magic and that helped too, a bit. I don't think she'll die." Kanon said.

"Kanon, we're heading west, towards the Kingdom of Marbert." I said, turning back to lead the way.

"OK." Kanon acknowledged. The Royal capital of the Kingdom of Leysehel is located in the centre of the kingdom, just about and the road we were on was the main highway to the south. From there if we just headed west we would reach the Kingdom of Marbert eventually. I got a magic compass out of my Item Box, something I had stolen in preparation for our escape and checked our direction often to make sure we kept heading west.

We hurried on but finally Rio collapsed, having lost a lot of blood before being healed. I picked her up and carried her on my back.

"Kanon, take the lead. Let's keep going west as far as possible before we have to stop." I said.

"Yes. Let's hurry." We proceeded through the woods without speaking, saving our energy for travelling while I thought back to what had happened and tried to make plans for the future. I had shot Fireball and Fire Arrow at the Great Wolf and the three knights and hit them all, the place where the spells had landed exploded and was covered in flames. Maybe I had killed not only the Great Wolf but also the three knights. I thought about that, they would be the first people I had ever killed... I tried to excuse what I had done, I was desperate, they were intending to enslave all three of us, they had already persuaded Rio to wear a Bracelet of Slavery but still...

What I had done was done, I finally decided. If we remained in this country Kanon, Rio and I would become slaves of the Kingdom. We would be at the forefront of any war, leading the fighting and unable to refuse. We had been trained to fight, nothing else. I definitely didn't want to spend the rest of my life as a slave like that. Given the chance to rewind time, I'd do the same again, I told myself. I looked at Kanon who was now leading the way since I had Rio on my back. She knew what I did, that I had aimed my magic at the knights but she didn't say anything, she just healed Rio and then followed me immediately. She too understood the situation we were in, that we were desperate, that we would be made into slaves by the Kingdom of Leysehel if we stayed. Kanon and Rio and I kept heading west through the forest, pushing on relentlessly.

◇◇◇◇◇

When darkness fell we climbed up into the branches of a large tree to spend the night. Our dinner was black bread and water, food we had pilfered and stored in our Item Box in preparation for our escape. Kanon and I decided to take turns keeping a lookout.

"I'll take the first watch." I said to Kanon. "You get some sleep and rest."

"OK. Wake me up when it's time to change over." she replied. I stared into the dark night, hearing the occasional cry of some beast or monster.

"We must never get caught..." I whispered to myself. "And I must protect these two." My determination was absolute. I believed at first that we'd have to abandon Rio and that idea had pained me, I knew I'd never forgive myself for doing it even though it was necessary. Once she was free of the Bracelet of Slavery though we had our chance to escape together and we had taken it without blinking.

Our escape had cost Rio her left arm, but in this world of magic even an injury like that might be reversible, I told myself. There might be potions or healing magic that could restore her missing arm. If we survived and escaped, all three of us, then maybe we could find something like that to heal her. Until then I'd definitely protect both of them with all my might.

After keeping watch for a bit longer I woke Kanon and slept as she kept watch in my place. When I woke up the next morning, Rio was already awake.

"Rio, are you okay?" I asked.

"Yes, sort of..." she said quietly.

"Do you remember what happened to you?"

She hesitated then went on to recount what had happened to her after she received the bracelet from Leonard. Apparently about three days after he put it on her wrist she suddenly felt like she wasn't herself any more. It was difficult for her to explain how she felt, she said "It seems like I was watching myself in a movie from then on."

"Rio, that bracelet Leonard put on you was called a 'Bracelet of Slavery', only he could take it off and you would only listen to him and do whatever he said. You couldn't take it off, neither could we." I explained.

"Yes, that's right." she nodded. "I'd do whatever Leonard said to do, I'd only listen to him..."

"We were all going to be enslaved with similar bracelets, it wasn't just you." I tried to console her.

Kanon stepped in. "Yes, Kaito and you and me, we've all escaped together and we're heading for the Kingdom of Marbert. We'll manage somehow."

"Ah, isn't the Kingdom of Marbert on the verge of a war with this country?" Rio asked.

"Yes. That's why I think that even if they discover we are Heroes who were Summoned by the Kingdom of Leysehel I can't imagine they would send us back to this country." I explained.

Rio looked down, rubbing the stump of her left arm. "...But I've lost my magical skills. I- I'd just be in your way..."

"What are you talking about?" I said exasperatedly. "Your magical skills are fine, Rio. You don't need both hands to use your magic! Heck, you could lose both arms-" I saw her wince but I continued. "And you'd still be perfectly capable of fighting alongside Kanon and me." I patted her head. "Besides I think your Recovery magic is the best of the three of us. We need you, Rio."

"Yes, I wish my Recovery magic was anywhere as good as yours, Rio." Kanon chimed in. "But it isn't so you'll just have to come with us to the Kingdom of Marbert. We'd never make it without you."

"Kaito-kun, Kanon-chan ... Guaaaah..." Rio finally cried, the first time since she had lost her arm and I knew she would be fine now. We both hugged her for a moment then she smiled through her tears.

"We'll definitely make it to the Kingdom of Marbert." she said bravely.

"Yes", we agreed. I vowed to myself that we would successfully escape together to the neighbouring Kingdom of Marbert.