That was Dece's fervent hope.
After splitting off from Dece and the others, Juno went back on patrol.
The forest was as quiet as ever, but when she came out onto one of the narrow
mountain paths, Juno's sensitive ears picked up something.
Juno descended from the trees, getting down on all-fours and putting an ear to
the ground. This noise... Is it the sound of hooves?
The noise was coming from not far away. There was more than one of them, and
the noise was loud.
For now, all she heard was the sound of hooves. Taking into account that she
didn't hear wheels, as well, she judged that the sound was likely coming from
horsemen... a group of heavy cavalry, at that.
There's heavy cavalry galloping along this mountain road?
Suspicious, Juno decided to scout in the direction of the noise. But, before
heading off to scout...
"Awoooo!" she howled, imitating the cry of a grey wolf.
This was a message to Dece and the others. "Abnormal situation detected. Be on
your guard," was what it meant.
Having done this, Dece and the others would stay alert. If something happened to
delay her return, they would probably come to rescue her.
Juno remained even more silent than before, jumping from tree to tree as she
searched for the individuals making the noise.
After some time, she heard the rustling of armor in the distance. Juno hid in the
shadows, surveying the area around her.
When she did, as expected, she spotted a group of heavy cavalry galloping along
the mountain path. There were five of them in total. Each of them wore black fullplate armor.
What're they doing here?
While Juno was suspiciously observing them, the emblem on the shields they
carried caught her eye.
That crest... It belongs to the Principality of Amidonia. Then... are they horsemen
from the principality?
This was Elfrieden Kingdom territory. It was strange for horsemen from the
Principality of Amidonia to be here at all. Adventurers wandered the continent in
search of dungeons and quests, so their loyalty to any given state was weak.
However, because they wandered the continent, they were very knowledgeable
about the relations between different countries.
The principality is supposed to be hostile to the kingdom, she thought. If
principality horsemen are out here... has the Elfrieden Kingdom been attacked by the
Principality of Amidonia?
She recalled there having been talk of the Principality of Amidonia massing its
forces on the border.
The adventurers' guild had a system that allowed a country that was under
attack to pay a certain amount of money to conscript all adventurers inside their
territory. Because of that, adventurers working in the kingdom had been keeping a
close eye on the movements of the principality, but the guild received no request for
support from the kingdom. Because of that, she had thought nothing would come of
it.
Incidentally, Souma had canceled that contract with the guild, declaring it a waste
of money for the same reasons as hiring mercenaries, but the adventurers
themselves hadn't been informed of this.
Judging from their numbers, they're a scouting party. In that case, is the main force
nearby?
If the soldiers came across the villagers the party were escorting, it was going to
be very, very bad. The party might be fine against five horsemen, but if they came at
them in large numbers, the party didn't stand a chance. The villagers might be
dragged off as prisoners of war, but they, the ones escorting them, might just be
killed. Even so, if they abandoned their quest and fled, they would find themselves
on the guild's wanted list.
Juno let out a little sigh, trying to set her feelings aside. For now, I need to stall
them.
Juno hid in the foliage, hiding herself as she gradually approached the five
horsemen. Then she took a stone into her hand and threw it at the head of the horse
running at the head of the group.
Whack.
"Neighhhh!"
"Whoa?!"
Having been hit in the side of the neck with a stone, the lead horse reared back.
The surprised principality soldier was nearly thrown from his horse.
His comrades clustered around him. "What happened?"
"I just suddenly lost control of the horse..."
"Did it get stung by a bee, or something?"
"Dunno. I think something came flying this way, though..."
While the principality horsemen were talking about it, Juno circled around
behind them. Then, once again, she threw a stone at the horse that was at the rear of
the group.
Whack.
"Neighhhh!"
The moment she hit it, the horse that had been at the rear jumped and ran wild.
"Whoa! Hey, calm down!"
"What?! Is there something here?!"
The horsemen looked around restlessly. With two of their horses having been
startled by something in short succession, they seemed to have become very
cautious.
When she saw that, Juno was relieved.
Good. That ought to bring their pace down.
The more cautious they were of their surroundings, the slower they would
advance. Now she just had to join up with Dece and the others, then get the villagers
to hurry up. With that in mind, Juno was turning around to leave when it happened.
Because she had turned suddenly, the branches rustled slightly. That vibration,
unfortunately, startled a bird perched on the branch above Juno and it took off. With
the loud beating of wings, the principality soldiers looked in Juno's direction.
"Is there something over there?!"
"Oh, crap...!" Juno fled at once.
Making a snap decision, she took off in the opposite direction of the way she'd
come. She couldn't lead these guys back to where the villagers were.
The horsemen chased after Juno. "Don't let her get away! Make sure you capture
her!"
Juno could hear the voices shouting from behind her. Juno fled through the areas
where trees were densely packed, making use of tight turns to try to shake her
pursuers, but horses were faster on land. The horsemen deftly controlled their
horses, diverting around the dense trees to pursue Juno.
Dammit... These guys just don't give up!
Juno wasn't convinced she'd get out of this alive. As an adventurer, Juno had no
particular loyalty to the kingdom. However, they weren't likely to care about that. If
she was caught, there was no telling what they might do to her. The thought sent a
chill down her spine.
Huff... huff... Someone, save me...
It happened just as she was praying for salvation.
She saw flickering flames ahead of her. Six of them, in total. If she could see them
so clearly from this far off, they had to be pretty big fires. Juno nearly came to a stop,
despite herself. Then, "Whoa!"
An arm suddenly reached out and pulled Juno into the bushes.
"O-Ow...!"
Pompf.
Juno started to scream, but something soft covered her mouth. Now that she got a
better look, there was a round-ish, puffy thing in front of her. When she saw it, Juno
let out a little cry.
"Y-You?!"
Juno knew this thing. That roly-poly body. That face wrapped in white silk with
acorn eyes peering out. The wicker basket on his back, the large prayer necklace he
wore, the naginata in his hands.
This was the one known in rumors as the Kigurumi Adventurer, Little Musashibo.
"You're Mr. Kigurumi! What are you doing here?!" she exclaimed.
In response to Juno's question, Little Musashibo brought a round hand up to
cover his mouth.
"..." (Little Musashibo was saying, "Be quiet, please. They'll find us.")
Find us? My pursuers are right there... she thought.
"..." ("It's okay. Just look," he said, gesturing for Juno to look.)
Hmm?
After going through one of their usual conversations, where they managed to
communicate somehow, Juno poked her head out of the bushes in time to see the
flames from before passing by. They had patchwork bodies, tattered clothing,
zombie-like movements, and flames blazing from their heads.
The flame pierrots...
Juno instantly recognized them as the new monsters that had been reported to
the guild. However, when she looked at them closely, something seemed wrong.
Their movements were strangely jerky, almost like they were marionettes.
While she was thinking that...
"Ahhhh!"
"Wh-What are these things?!"
...the principality horsemen who had been pursuing her started shouting.
Once they saw the flaming aberrations moving towards them with a click-clack
noise, the horsemen had bigger things to worry about than their scouting mission.
They had nothing to gain by staying here and fighting these unknown monstrosities.
Notifying the main force about the existence of these things came first.
"Tch! We don't have time to deal with these guys. We're heading back!" the leader
shouted.
The horsemen retreated. Juno breathed a sigh of relief, but she wasn't out of
danger yet.
Now, she had a swarm of flame pierrots near her. Juno drew her short sword, so
she would be ready to fight at any time.
Pompf.
Little Musashibo placed his hand on Juno's head.
It was so sudden, Juno's eyes went wide. "H-Hey, Mister?! What do you think
you're doing at a time like this...?"
"..." ("It's okay now. The danger has passed," he said, patting her head.)
"The danger has passed...? But, those things are still here!"
"..." ("Never mind them. Let's hurry back to Dece and the others," he was saying.)
Then, Little Musashibo lifted Juno up, throwing her into the wicker basket on his
back.
"Whoa! This again?!"
Ignoring Juno's protestations, Little Musashibo plodded off. Juno was bewildered
for a while, but once she came to her senses, she rested her chin on Little
Musashibo's head.
"...This is the second time you've saved me now, Mister."
"..." (Little Musashibo gave a thumbs-up.)
"What are you doing here?"
"..." — Little Musashibo didn't say anything to answer Juno's question. No—he
never had said anything, but even Juno couldn't sense his feelings this time.
However, as she looked at his back, she felt that she could sense something like
sadness.
Juno scratched her head, then started bopping Little Musashibo's back
repeatedly.
"..." (S-Stop, please," he said, flailing his arms around.)
"Hmph!" she said. "If you want me to stop, then cheer up. Things don't always
work out in life, but still, just surviving is a victory. It means you still get to eat
tomorrow."
"..."
Little Musashibo said nothing in response. However, his footsteps seemed a little
lighter now than they were before.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Just surviving is a victory... huh."
Juno had gotten a little rough, but she had probably been trying to encourage
him. Juno's words had certainly reached Souma, who had been controlling Little
Musashibo and the flame pierrots from far away in the capital.
This was the plan Hakuya had come up with to save the people of the southeast
from the principality.
By using Souma's power, Living Poltergeists, they would have a bunch of bizarre
dolls go around as a new breed of monster, the flame pierrots. They would use them
to attack towns and villages along the route of the principality's army and force
them to evacuate. Then they would issue a quest to the adventurers' guild. This
would lend the story credence, and they could leave escorting the refugees to the
adventurers.
In fact, he had even used the flame pierrots to burn some of the now-unoccupied
towns to the ground. From the perspective of the people whose villages were being
torched, it was a terrible inconvenience. He did intend to compensate them later, but
he was still burning down their homes, no doubt filled with precious memories, for
his own benefit.
Little wonder Hakuya had warned him in advance that it was a rough plan.
Despite that, Souma had still chosen it. He had thought it was better than leaving
the unsuspecting people to be tyrannized by the armies of the principality. He had
weighed his options, then made his choice to save what he could and cast away the
rest. His actions were certainly not praiseworthy.
It had weighed on his heart, but Juno's words had lifted his spirits a little.
"She's right. If they don't survive, I wouldn't even be able to apologize later."
Whispering those words to himself, Souma walked out of the Governmental Affairs
Office.
◇ ◇ ◇
Meanwhile, around that same time, Julius, who was with the main force of the
Amidonian army, was looking at the report he had received, puzzled. The
appearance of a flame monster... It was hard to take at face value.
There are reports that towns and villages along the army's path have burned
down...
When he'd received the report, he had thought that some soldiers must have run
wild, running ahead of the army to engage in pillaging. They were aiming to annex
this region after the war, so it wouldn't serve their interests to alienate the local
population too much.
Just as Julius had been thinking he should warn the entire army against this, he
had received a report saying that those towns and villages had burned down a
number of days before the principality forces had arrived. While he was glad it
hadn't been caused by rampaging soldiers, why had the towns and villages burned
down?
The next thing that came to Julius's mind was scorched earth tactics. In other
words, he suspected that the people had burned down the towns and villages along
the Amidonian army's route to keep them from replenishing their provisions locally.
In that case, it would mean the kingdom had predicted exactly what they were up to.
If so, it was dangerous to advance now, and Julius should advise his father Gaius to
retreat.
Still... It's too poorly done to be a scorched earth strategy.
With it being the end of the ninth month of the year, they were in the middle of
the harvest season now. If they were using scorched earth tactics, they should have
razed the fields and destroyed or poisoned the wells, too.
Yet all that had been burned down were the towns and villages themselves. The
fields were left untouched, and the wells were still usable. The principality forces
could still resupply in the field. Furthermore, they had found valuables in the
burned-out towns. This had to be proof that the residents had evacuated in a hurry.
In the end, he came to the conclusion that the towns and villages in this area
must have been attacked by monsters or brigands. Because of that, Julius did not
advise Gaius to do anything.
The report of fire monster sightings is not inconsistent with the conditions at the
site... But, still.
Was it not all a bit too convenient? That was how it felt to Julius.
I can't help but feel there's something off about the kingdom right now.
—It's pandemonium.
While he looked off into the northwest, that was what Julius thought.