Why.
Why the fuck is Cheff here, right now of all times?
With Selena dead and blood smeared on me, Amy screaming at me from a distance, Princess Violet behind me, Cheff made his appearance at the worst timing possible.
Even though none of the blood on me is Selena's, Cheff has no way of knowing.
Even though Amy saw everything with her eyes, with her condition right now, Cheff has no way of knowing.
Even though Princess Violet is innocent and merely a witness of the actual incident, with the language barrier, Cheff has no way of knowing.
His grim expression tells me that more so than shock, he already guessed or expected that I would have a role of a killer.
"Damn you Ray… I always thought good of you… After what happened yesterday, you come and hand me the death of my employee… Will you hand my corpse to my wife next!?" (Cheff)
Currently, there is nobody but Princess Violet who is calm like I am, but that is in no way useful in helping me to get out of this predicament in a peaceful manner.
"Cheff, Ray didn't…" (Amy)
"Get away from him Amy, I don't want anything to happen to you!"
"No, Ray got a dagger in his stomach! There is no way…" (Amy)
"Go to the adventurer's guild and call for help!" (Cheff)
"He didn't…" (Amy)
"Go! Your boss is telling you, now go!" (Cheff)
…Thank you Amy. Even though you screamed at me, got mad at me, you still tried to protect me and declare the truth.
I sighed. With her mind still confused, Amy still believed that I am innocent because of what she saw with her own eyes, and heard with her own ears. The only thing is, Cheff is being ridiculous right now, likely blinded by rage and suspicion, but Amy doesn't know that Cheff is affected by my apparent known connection with vampires.
I looked at Amy and nodded slightly. Unable to hold it in any longer, I saw fresh tears on her face before she turned around and ran back to the Ocean Swarm. She is probably bombarded by confusion and sadness and thinks that she will lose another friend right here, right now and wants to defend me to prevent that from happening at all costs.
However, I don't want her to lose her livelihood just because she stood up for me; I already know I have absolutely no hope in living in Terdia any longer.
The truth is hatefully bare in front of my eyes.
"You told me you'd be back from your run just like every day, and you are late. When Selena offered to take us here, I find no trace of you. And then I hear Amy scream, only to find Selena gone. You even turn up with her, when you declared yourself innocent. Do you think I will believe you anymore?" (Cheff)
He pointed at Princess Violet, who scrunched up her eyebrows in a frown. At this point in time, I doubt I can hide the fact that Cheff knows her identity any longer.
[Isn't he your superior from Ocean Swarm? Why does he suspect you?] (Violet)
[Princess Bereqor can tell that my superior is blaming me for my colleague's death? Or rather, didn't Princess Bereqor witness me killing her with my own hands?] (Me)
[She was being incoherent, was she not? It was too different from her initial behaviour I saw before she stabbed you.] (Violet)
[She could have been acting.] (Me)
[Then rather than fooling me, she fooled you ever since you worked at Ocean Swarm. In that case, I won't blame you either.] (Violet)
…As expected of a princess, her education must have given her excellent deduction and judging skills.
"So you would speak with her but not with me. Like I thought, the person you're working for is not me but her!" (Cheff)
"Can't you see that I'm injured?" (Me)
"You think you'll fool me? I damn well know what you fucking creatures are capable of." (Cheff)
…Damn, he got me.
I never expect that my apparent connection with vampires would fail me this way. Cheff probably thinks I stabbed myself to fool him before he came out, because as a vampire I can afford injury with regenerative abilities. Then I'll probably catch him off guard and drain him of his blood to heal myself.
Well, I know that isn't the truth, but Cheff doesn't think that way. Since I saw for myself Princess Violet herself heal from a huge hole in her chest, I can't blame Cheff in this regard.
"So? Even if that was the case, and everything is as you guessed, what do you plan to do?" (Me)
"I'll have you watch me drag you to the adventurer's guild, dead or alive." (Cheff)
I have no intention of merely watching though.
But Cheff is serious. And I don't plan to underestimate him in any way. The fact that he is capable of materialising flame from his hand using magic without chanting is an impressive and deadly skill. Far from Bethany which I fought earlier, Cheff that is capable of voiceless invocations will be much deadlier.
I will have almost no intervals to rest or think at all.
Unlike my fight against the two vampires, I have an option to run away. In fact, I have pressing reasons to do so.
Firstly, Princess Violet is with me. Normally having companions when running away is thought to be having excess baggage, but in this case I fear that confronting Cheff would be a worse option. I still haven't known her enough to trust that she can keep herself safe.
…Hang on, why do I bother? She followed me on her own volition right? If that is so then she's merely getting what she ask for by following me. If she dies then the it'll probably land Skairolmr into a sea of chaos or tension, but I won't be here anymore so I don't care.
Yup, I shan't care about her.
Well disregarding the princess, there's also a possibility of reinforcements arriving. I have no methods to confirm whether Amy would really contact the guild. She might not do so to help me in her own way. But if she did, she might do it out of goodwill and try to help us, just in a different manner. But that would probably end up in a disastrous result altogether, since Cheff is closely affiliated with adventurers. It goes without saying who the adventurers will side.
However, I have a strong urge not to run away.
[Princess Bereqor, are you capable of non-lethal magic that has obstructive purposes?] (Me)
[Only attack magic.] (Violet)
[…Defence?] (Me)
[Self-usage purposes only.] (Violet)
…Yup, I don't care, I won't care. She followed me on her own. Yup.
[Are we fighting or running?] (Violet)
[I have things I plan to retrieve from my place before our departure. Besides, I have no clear destination, and I have no clue as to where Princess Bereqor plans to head towards either.] (Me)
[Then do you plan to wipe him out and be done with it?] (Violet)
Oi, oi. Those are dangerous words coming from a member of royalty.
[I don't. I do not want to kill my benefactor.] (Me)
[Retrieval, is it? Can't I do it for you?] (Violet)
[Are you confident of outpacing chantless magic?] (Me)
[…No.] (Violet)
I want to scratch my head violently to act out my frustration. At this point in time, the best option is really to throw away whatever is left behind the cabin, but I don't want to.
…That's because, I fear losing them would have me losing whatever humanity I have left within me.
[What about your pet?] (Violet)
Huh?
On top of my head, the little fox yawns without a care.
…Well, I'm sure with its size I can work out a distraction and it can go pass undetected, but the amount of things I want to retrieve is far too large for its size. And in the first place, I cannot confirm as to whether it listens to me or not.
But if it helps, I have something I wish for it to do.
Before Cheff's watchful gaze, reaching my hands to it only increases his wariness, so I spoke to it in a low voice without averting my gaze from Cheff.
"Hey furball." (Me)
I felt a little motion on my head.
"Can you do me a favour? I will get you something delicious when it's all over." (Me)
There's a scratch on my scalp, probably a protest against how I buy its favour with food, but I ignored it and continued.
"Well, if we don't get through this we'd all die, so please help me out." (Me)
Scratch.
"Please go in the cabin without Cheff noticing, and take a pole for me." (Me)
I moved my head slightly back and forth in the direction of the cabin, and then under the pretence of taking a stance, measured the length of the pole with both hands. I hope it sees and understands what I'm talking about…
And I felt the weight off my head.
As though taking my stance as a signal, Cheff grimly raises his hand.
[Please protect yourself, Princess Bereqor.] (Me)
Leaving behind unplanned words of caution, I draw my dagger lodged in my body and quickly rush forward. Where I was just standing before, blew up into merciless flames that showed not a shred of leaving anything behind.