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I―― It has been 2 days since I left Midoria with Airi and Lisa-san, the 4 of us.
It’s roughly a month’s journey to the Stania Empire. We still have a long way to go.
If we don’t hurry, Lara’s spirit won’t last long in the hands of the bandits――
As I was thinking about this, Cross-san called out to me,「Let’s take a short break」.
When I try to get out of the carriage, Asha lends me a hand, which I take advantage of.
I turned my gaze forward and saw Lisa and Cross. It seems that you two were down there first.
I get out of the carriage and stretch to loosen myself up.
I couldn’t help but let out a「Nnnnn」.
Was my body getting a little lighter? I was about to take a breather when I noticed something cold against my neck.
At the same time, Cross-san said something that lured Lisa into despair.
「Alright, Lisa. Here, put this on.」
Then he took out two slave collars.
「Eh? What? Cross, I can’t entertain that kind of joke right now. I’m still reeling from the shock of all this…….」
「Haha, this is not a joke――」
Cross-san is in a completely different mood than before. He has the most vile smile I’ve ever seen on his face.
I ―― I can’t keep up with the changes.
「Yes, Lisa, look behind you. If you resist, I’m going to …… stab this knife into Airi’s neck. By the way, this knife is poisoned, and there is no antidote.」
A chill went down my spine as I was told that the cold thing I felt on my neck was a knife with deadly poison.
I couldn’t move a muscle.
「Asha, what are you doing? What are you doing to Airi? Stop it!!」
Lisa looked indignant and snapped at Asha.
「Hey, if you move, you’ll get hurt, okay?」
I don’t know if I feel it, but I think the knife is digging into my skin more than before…….
「It’s a total lie that we had any old party members–that they’re being held by bandits. We were acting out a commission from someone to enslave Lisa.」
「Yes, Airi is an added bonus.」
At that moment, Lisa and I looked at each other.
Probably the same thought popped into her head.
Louis-sama……
Ah …… Why couldn’t we believe Louis-sama’s words?
Why didn’t I grab the hand that he offered me?
Louis-sama was right…….
I told him I was disappointed in him and hurt him deeply. I’ve been thinking about his heart every single day…….
We really did something we can’t take back, didn’t we?
Gradually, I came to understand that we had fallen into a desperate situation.
I was about to fall down from the shock, but then I remembered that I had a poisonous knife on my neck, so I managed to hold my ground.
I realized that Lisa and I ―― we were already in an untenable situation.
I can’t even say a word.
However, there is no way that Cross-san and Asha-san would consider our circumstances…….
「Even if you abandoned Airi and came at me, there’s no way Lisa could beat the two of us by herself. Don’t put up a futile resistance. We’re doing this to save time and avoid a messy battle, right? One on one, maybe you can win. But then, …… Airi would surely die. You want to give it a shot? ――I don’t know. It’s not gonna be one-on-one from here, is it? Did you expect that? Well, you can’t leave Airi behind, so I wouldn’t get my hopes up.」
Cross-san said to Lisa in a mocking tone.
Even as an A-rank adventurer, she probably doesn’t have a way out of the current situation where I’m being held hostage. Even after all that was said, I didn’t even take up a fighting stance, I just stayed put.
I dragged my feet as I felt very sorry for myself.
「Ahahahahahahawa. By the way, I had a scare when I ran into that Louis guy at the guild. It’s like he clearly saw through our wickedness towards you guys. Well, even so, I guess he didn’t know all the details. That’s why I hatched a plan on the spur of the moment to leave early to avoid a calamitous discussion. I’m awesome, right?」
We didn’t really have to leave right then, did we?
――or rather, the request itself was a lie, there was no Lara, there was no …… bandit, and there was no……
How could I be so stupid?
「I was in such a hurry at that time. We’ll be in trouble if we have to deal with that guy. My plan to enslave Lisa was about to be ruined.」
Asha also has a look on her face that I’ve never seen before.
She was always smiling and kind, but her true nature is this ―― isn’t it?
「That’s right. The look on his face when they told him they were disappointed in this Louis guy was priceless. The look of sadness and tears when someone he trusted tells him they’re disappointed in him, and he knows you don’t trust him, and you guys trust us so much.」
Her words, coming from her distorted mouth, gouged into my heart painfully. I’ve done this to myself…….
「Well, why don’t we just forget about this Louis guy? As long as we don’t mess with the beastman girl he knows. And he said at the end that he didn’t care about these two anymoreー.」
「But I’d like to get back at him in some way, he hurt my pride. Even if I can’t do it head-on, I think I can still hurt him if I use trickery.」
「If you’re going to make me a slave, make sure it’s just me!! Leave Airi out of it!! And leave Louis alone!」
Lisa is appealing to Cross-san with a sad face…….
I――I don’t have spirit anymore…….
「I’m laughing at how naive you are, telling me to leave the guy who cut you off. Well, assuming that I fufill that request, will you quietly put on the slavery collar?」
Lisa nodded in response to the question.
And as such, she puts on the slavery collar.
「Okay, I’m done. And then there is …… Okay, I see Airi has gotten her slavery collar.」
These words were uttered by Cross-san, who was right in front of me.
The distance between us had been so great a moment ago, but now he approached me at a speed I couldn’t see.
「No! Cross! This is not what we agreed to!」
「If we were the kind of people who keep our promises, we wouldn’t have taken this job! From our point of view, promises are there to be broken! So, yes, the slavery collar set is complete. I like the look of despair on both of your faces. I like to see that kind of despair on your face, it’s so appealing. Someday I want that Louis guy to have this look of despair on his face.」
「Alright. I registered myself as a provisional master. Now you can’t turn on me. And don’t hurt Asha, either.」
In this way, and so easily, the slavery collar was placed around my neck as well.
Lisa protested vehemently to them, but now that she was wearing the slavery collar, there was nothing she could do about it.
For hurting Louis-sama.
Cross-san and the others had planned this from the beginning.
That I was betrayed by these two.
My thoughts are already messed up with various thoughts.
「Lisa will be given to the perverted nobleman who commissioned us, but …… Airi wasn’t planned, so we’ll sell her off to some slaver. If you’re lucky, maybe a decent customer will buy her. It’s quite unlikely, though, haha. Airi is probably a virgin. I’m looking forward to it because then I can sell her at a higher price. Well, let’s get to the Empire first and then we can talk to Toran-sama.」
Thus, Lisa and I fell into despair――.
Why did I want to be an adventurer?
Yes, that is ……
When I meet Louis-sama again, I’ll be proud to say that I’m independent…….
I was trying to get the strength to live with Louis-sama, who would be getting stronger……
Trust that, once lost, can never be regained…….
We need to establish new credibility……
For that, we need time……
We’re already slaves, we don’t have time for ourselves anymore……
At times like this, if it were a fairy tale, a handsome young man would come to the rescue.
But ―― for us, we know it’s impossible.
Because, of all people, the one person who could come to our rescue――
We hurt him, and then we rejected his hand and let it go…….
None other than ourselves……
If we had taken his hand at that time, would we have been able to walk next to Louis-sama now?
I have a vision of such an impossible past and future.
The past is the past because you can’t change it.
And, as Louis-sama advised me at that time, the future life of Lisa and I will be covered in darkness called despair.
At least we know one thing.
Yes, we made the wrong choice.
「I’m sorry, Louis-sama. …… I found out that I love you, Louis-sama――.」
I whispered in a tearful voice words of apology and thoughts that would never reach him.
It melted into the void without ever reaching that person――.
I just wanted to see him smile one last time…….