Chapter 196 : Hey! Get On!

—Good smell!

—Found it!

—Catch it!

"What is this...?"

Animals that speak human language.

But I couldn't just be surprised.

Because the guys were running at me like crazy.

Dudududu—

Their momentum was much fiercer than the dozens of soldiers chasing from behind.

I immediately instructed Linda, who was on my back.

"Linda! Spray poison in front too!"

"Huh? Devil, there's nothing in front?"

"Stop talking nonsense and spray it now! You don't want the wreath?"

"Ah, alright!"

Linda stretched her hand forward.

"Hyaap!"

Immediately, a huge yellow snake brushed past us and then attacked the herd of animals that was rushing at us.

"...Is it done?"

Puhwak!

The crazy herd of animals broke through the poison mist with force.

—Good smell!

—Human, want to make a contract with me?

—Hello! Nice to meet you!

The speed didn't decrease at all.

No, it seemed to have gotten even faster.

It was a clear situation where they were not affected by the poison at all.

"You crazy bastards!"

They were not ordinary animals.

Are they Miho's friends?

I realized it instinctively.

That those guys were more dangerous than the dozens, maybe hundreds of soldiers chasing from behind.

But I couldn't turn back and run away.

Because more soldiers had appeared and were chasing me desperately.

The wave of swords sparkling in the sunlight is dazzling.

"He's after the young lady! Catch him!"

Soldiers with drawn swords from behind.

—Good smell!

A crazy herd of animals that speak human language in front.

Fear originally arises from the unknown.

Beasts that speak human language. My spine chilled.

"Aaaah!"

I desperately ran away, avoiding the two forces.

"Ashuban! Where are you going!"

"Uh, uh? Devil, where are you going!"

The Heavenly Demon said in a reluctant tone.

[You're not afraid of that fox.]

"That one is a magical beast."

[Is there a difference?]

"Of course there is. Its identity is clear."

[....]

As I was running around in fear like that...

I heard the Heavenly Demon's voice.

[Isn't that her?]

"What?"

[Left. Indigo roof. 3rd floor window.]

When I looked at where the Heavenly Demon had said, I saw purple hair fluttering beyond the wide-open window.

A purple with a slight reddish tint, as if the sunset had settled.

It's a color I can't mistake.

I stopped in my tracks and called her loudly.

"Hud!"

***

Hudmilla stared blankly out the window.

A man who looked very much like someone she knew was waving at her.

With a familiar smile.

The maid was pulling her arm from the side and saying something urgently, but she couldn't hear it.

Thump—

All her senses were focused on the red-eyed man who was waving at her.

The rest faded away.

The world stopped, and only the two of them remained.

In the space-time where only the two of them remained, the ominous red eyes and the mysterious purple eyes met.

Gazes filled with various emotions crossed.

Hudmilla, as if possessed, slowly raised her hand.

The red-eyed man, in response to her, waved his hand more vigorously, and then he seemed to curse at the side and disappeared somewhere.

"...!"

Hudmilla quickly pushed the maid's hand away and leaned out the window.

When she came out of the world of just the two of them, she saw that the man had companions.

A girl with green hair braided in two was on his back, and next to him, a woman with jet-black hair was running away with him somewhere.

Her footsteps were very nimble, and she was no ordinary person.

—Good smell!

Dudududu!

And behind them, the spirits that had rushed out of the window were chasing them.

Hudmilla blinked her eyes with a dumbfounded face.

"No, why are those guys..."

She had never seen the spirits like this before.

To think that they were chasing someone as a group.

"Catch him!"

And behind them, the family's soldiers were chasing them.

So the man was being chased by the spirits and the soldiers, in a double chase.

Dudududu—

The commotion passed quickly.

Hudmilla looked at their backs, which had already disappeared from her sight... and then she remembered the face of the man who had been running away at the front and muttered softly.

"...Ashuban?"

No, that can't be.

She had clearly seen the traces of him falling beyond the Mist Cliff.

If by any chance he hadn't fallen, she would have found him when she had searched the area thoroughly, clutching at straws.

Ashuban had definitely fallen from the Mist Cliff.

Then who is that person?

Hudmilla's pupils trembled.

Who is it that is calling her name with a voice so similar to his, and smiling with his face?

His smile was also a spitting image. The unique smile of a fierce beast raising the corners of its mouth.

The image of Ashuban she knew and the face of the man she had just seen overlapped.

They were definitely similar... but different.

First of all, his eyes were as red as blood.

Ashuban's eyes were not red.

Although they were slightly red because he didn't sleep well, his pupils were not red.

Not only that, but the atmosphere he was wrapped in was also distinctly different.

The Ashuban she knew had a feeling of a wounded wolf, but the man she had just seen had a sense of composure that transcended that.

It was the difference between a wounded wolf and a tiger that reigned as the king of the mountains.

He is a different person.

To think that that person is Ashuban himself is just the vain hope of an idealist.

Logically, it can't be Ashuban.

Because he fell from the Mist Cliff.

Then, who is that person who is imitating Ashuban?

"...What are you?"

Hudmilla muttered softly.

"Miss, it seems that the intruder is that person! He saw this place! You have to run away quickly..."

Rip!

The maid's urgent words were cut off by the sound of clothes tearing.

Hud was now in a state of having one foot on the windowsill and having torn her long dress.

The maid's eyes widened like lanterns.

Because the clothes she was wearing were a splendid dress she was wearing for the succession ceremony.

Because she was already wearing the dress, she had been able to continue working and procrastinate.

And the maid couldn't make a big deal out of it.

A scream came from the mouth of the maid who knew how much that one dress cost.

"Miss!"

Hud turned to the maid.

"Emma, I'm sorry, but something has come up that I have to check."

"But!"

"Tell my father I won't be late."

Hud left those words and jumped out of the window.

The maid, who knew that this was an office located on the third floor, was startled and peeked out the window.

"It's dangerous!"

There are no wings on something that is falling.

Hud's purple hair flew wildly.

But she was extremely calm even while falling from a high place.

She muttered softly.

"Silape."

Hwoooo!

The atmosphere vibrated, and the wind gathered. It quickly gathered and formed a shape.

It was a huge tiger. With a long horn on its forehead.

Hud landed softly on its back and said.

"Let's go."

Grrr!

The storm spirit Silape carried Hud and kicked the air.

A storm erupted with a single step.

"No..."

The maid, whose hair had instantly become disheveled, opened her mouth wide.

In the eyes of the maid who had peeked out the window, she could see Hud's back, flying alone in the sky.

It was a moment when the common sense that people cannot fly in the sky like birds was broken.

The wildly flying purple hair was quickly moving away.

***

"Was that woman just now Hudmilla?"

I nodded at Shushruta's question.

"That's right. For some reason, her face looks more tired than when I saw her before."

Soldiers with drawn swords and a crazy herd of beasts that speak human language.

If you ask which is more scary, of course the latter is more scary.

I was being chased by a scary herd of beasts and was running away looking for an escape route, and I happened to find Hudmilla.

Actually, I didn't find her, the Heavenly Demon did.

When he said, 'Isn't that her?', I looked at where the Heavenly Demon had said.

And wasn't Hud's purple hair fluttering beyond the window that was visible in the distance?

I was so happy to see her that I called her and waved my hand, and I confirmed that she also recognized me and raised her hand slightly with a dumbfounded face.

'...She recognized me, right? Her expression was so blank.'

But how did the Heavenly Demon find her?

He wouldn't know her appearance.

I asked him right away.

"Master, how did you find her?"

A listless answer came back.

[It's nothing. Aren't the beasts chasing you are spirits?]

Of course. I wasn't seeing things.

Just as I was having doubts because Linda and Shushruta kept looking at me like I was a crazy person when I claimed that a herd of talking animals was chasing me, the Heavenly Demon could also see those guys—

"No, wait. Spirits?"

"Spirits?"

At my words, I could see Shushruta's head, who was running next to me, turn sharply.

The Heavenly Demon answered simply.

[It must be. For beasts, their energy is too clear. It's as if only the purest energy of nature has been gathered.]

Indeed, when I spread my ki sense and scanned them, that was right.

It was an energy as clear as the internal energy that was sloshing in my dantian.

[I felt a similar energy. Naturally, I knew it was the one you were looking for. It's only natural that the energy of the master and the servant are similar.]

"Wow..."

Hearing it, it was a simple deduction that I could understand right away, but it's not easy to realize it in an instant.

How did the Heavenly Demon figure it out at once?

The insight to see through all things in the world.

"As expected of my master."

The Heavenly Demon snorted.

[You're the foolish one.]

"...."

Anyway, I understand that the identity of these guys is spirits.

So that's why Shushruta and Linda said they couldn't see anything.

But why are these guys chasing me?

"Hmm."

Come to think of it, I had reached where Hud was while running away from them.

It didn't seem like it was just a coincidence.

Did the guys naturally lead me there?

With that thought, I glanced back...

—Good smell!

—It's the first time I've smelled such a fragrant smell after Hudmilla!

—Smell! Let's smell it!

...It seems that's not the case.

"Did you say spirits?"

I nodded at Shushruta's question.

"It seems that only I can see them."

"Ah... I thought you were seeing things."

"Me too!"

"You guys. What do you take me for?"

"What do we take you for? A mentally ill person."

"What, you brat?"

"Hehe, crazy! Crazy!"

Even if it's not Shushruta, to hear that I'm crazy from a crazy person like Linda.

I was so moved and happy.

"There she is!"

Even while running away from the spirits, the count's soldiers were popping out from all over and chasing me.

If the spirits were just chasing me, these guys were chasing me quite strategically.

Blocking the escape route, scattering and trying to form an encirclement several times, shooting arrows, and so on.

"Shoot!"

Of course, the arrows didn't pierce me.

I either created a stronger wind to avoid them, deflected them with the wind, or struck them with my sword.

As I was running away from the guys who were clinging to me again, I suddenly heard the sound of a whirlwind.

Hud appeared, her purple hair flying.

"Hey!"

When I looked up at the voice calling me, Hud was riding a huge dark blue tiger that was running in the sky.

And wasn't there a horn on its head?

It was such a confusing scene that I was at a loss for words.

Linda shouted.

"It's flying in the sky!"

Shushruta also looked up at Hud with her mouth wide open.

It seemed that those guys couldn't see that tiger.

Well, a tiger with a horn on its head that runs in the sky. If it's not a spirit, what is it?

Hud shouted.

"Get on!"

Although it was just one word, I could immediately understand the meaning it contained.

I immediately grabbed Shushruta by the scruff of her neck and shot up into the air.

"Ugh! What are you doing!"

"Wow!"

Flop.

"...Ah?"

"Huh?"

The guys who had been making a fuss also let out a dumbfounded exclamation when I landed lightly on the tiger spirit.

Shushruta muttered, fumbling with the tiger's back.

"...Is it fluffy?"

Hud glanced back and said.

"Hold on tight!"

I immediately grabbed Hud's waist.

Hud flinched and glared at me.

"What. Why? You told me to hold on tight."

"...."

The moment I felt Linda and Shushruta clinging to my back,

Hwoooong!

The surrounding scenery blurred as if water had been sprinkled on a canvas.

Laughter flowed out from the unbearable exhilaration.

"Hahahaha..."

—Ah! It's Hud!

—Where are you going!

—Twice the good smell!

I could vaguely hear the protests of the chasing spirits, but they quickly moved away.

"Hahahaha..."

"Shut up."

But I'm not one to shut up just because I'm told to.

I laughed for a long time and flew in the sky on the back of a spirit.

(End of Chapter)

Tip: Tap/click the left or right side of the screen to go to previous/next chapter.