"... Uh... mm..."
"! Dear, she's awake."
"Aah"
About an hour later.
The little girl opened her eyes and looked up at Clore and Wiel with blank eyes......
"Are you okay? Do you know where this is?"
The little girl nodded slowly at Wiel's question.
Her wounds and stains are cleaned up by Wiel's magic. But her mental fatigue seems to be greater.
Finally, her thoughts caught up with her situation, and she rushed to get up.
"Uh, umm, eto...!"
"Please calm down. It's okay."
Wiel holds the little girl's hand and gently strokes her head.
The girl twitches her ears and nods her head down.
"I am Wiel. He is Clore, my husband."
"I'm Clore."
"I, I'm Mion. As you can see, I am a rabbit tribe."
The little girl ...... Mion straightens her posture and prostrates herself deeply.
"Thank you, Clore-sama, for saving me from danger earlier. You must be a very famous hunter to kill a dragon with a single blow."
"Don't call me sama. I'm just a woodcutter."
"...... Woodcutter? Are you joking?"
"I'm not joking."
"No ordinary woodcutter could slay a dragon with a single blow."
He did actually beat the dragon, but Clore denied her words.
She clears her throat lightly, thinking that any more words might sound rude.
"So, Mion-chan. What do you mean when you ask me to help you?"
"Oh. Yes, that's right! Clore-sama, I beg you! Please help my village... save my fellow tribes!"
Mion bows her head again.
Of course, Clore had received this request once. There was no way he would refuse.
But there is one question.
"I don't know if you're dealing with a monster or Demi-human hunter, but if you ask the Knights in the Capital, I’m sure they'll put together a team to take them down?"
"...... The Knights have turned me down."
Clore and Wiel's eyes widened at Mion's words.
Albert Kingdom's knights are supposed to protect their people and peace, especially in defeating the monsters.
It was hard to believe that such a knight order would refuse a call for help from its citizens, the rabbit tribe.
"Did they mention the reason?"
" .... The Knights are on a mission to destroy the Demon King's army together with the Hero, so...."
An unexpected word came out from Mion.
The Hero. In other words, Arca.
The Knights' most important mission indeed is to destroy the Demon King's army. The Demon King's army is composed of the Demon King, the Four Heavenly Kings, and the demons created by the Demon King.
To destroy the demon king's army.
The Hero is a symbol for that.
However, they never thought that the Knights would refuse the call for help from their people because of this.
This does not mean that Arca is to blame for all this.
But...
"Mion-chan. I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, Mion-san."
The two couldn't help but apologize.
"What, what happened, both of you!?"
They explained everything to her.
That they are the parents of Arca, the Hero.
The Knights and the Hero couldn't go to save Mion's fellow tribe because of their mission to destroy the Demon King's army.
They may not be directly related.
Still, they wanted to apologize to Mion.
"I see. The two of you are the Hero's parents ..."
"Aah. It's not compensation, but we will definitely help Mion-chan's fellow tribes."
"Yes, leave it to us."
Wiel takes Mion's hand, and Clore looks at her with intense eyes.
Mion also knows that it is not their fault.
And he doesn't think the Hero is bad either.
It is all the fault of the humans who broke the peace and the humans who did not help. And all the blame is on the Demon Lord's army, the main cause behind all this.
But somewhere in the back of her mind, she blames the Hero.
She understands the situation, but she can't control her heart and feelings.
Mion bites her lip and turns her head down.
"...... then, once again, please help us."
"I understand. Let's hurry up then. Lead us the way."
"Yes. But first, we need to arrange a carriage...."
"No, I'll run. You can run as fast as you can. I'll follow you."
"Eh? But ......"
The speed of the rabbit tribe's legs is the fastest among Demi-humans.
There is no way an ordinary human could run and keep up with them.
But considering the power that smashed a dragon's head to pieces with a single punch, perhaps he could keep up with her.
After thinking about it, Mion nodded.
"I understand. Then, I'll go as fast as I can. It should take about half a day to get there from here, so let's go."
Mion stands up and jumps lightly.
Even though it was a light jump, he jumped higher than Clore's height.
"This way! Let's go!"
Mion folds her knees and gathers her strength, then releases it all at once and runs through the forest as if she is flying.
Not jump, but fly. She is as free as a bird. She ran forward as fast as she could.
(Maybe I was going too fast. If I run too fast like this, Clore-sama and Wiel-sama won't be able to.....)
Perhaps she should slow down a little.
She thinks so and looks back.
"What!?"
Clore runs at the same speed as Mion the Rabbit Tribe with a cool face.
Wiel is following alongside them, flying through the air.
"Hm? What's wrong? You can go faster if you want."
"Yes. I'm worried about my fellow tribe. Let's hurry."
"..... So please, keep up with me...!"
Mion bet on her Rabbit Tribe pride and increased her speed even more.
As a result...
"Ze, hah, ze ......!"
"Hm. There's a burned village around here?"
"Indeed, there is a burnt smell."
Mion is the one who is sweating heavily and out of breath.
Clore and Wiel look fine. They don't seem to be tired.
Mion's pride as a rabbit tribe is hurt a little bit.
Welp, pride against these two is nothing.
ReplyDeleteWhy do I feel like this whole problem with who the "hero" is was just caused by the oracle to have these two go after their son because they probably would have made excuses if not?