Evading the Hero’s Party with Full Effort

Chapter 21

Ch.21 This isn’t Something Family Does.

The long, long carriage journey.

We had now arrived at the mountain range where the native village was located.

Seeing the eerie fog hanging thick from the very entrance of the mountains, Leah frowned.

“We should probably slow down from here?”

Pulling the reins carefully to drive the carriage cautiously due to the obscured vision, she said.

“We’ll probably arrive soon.”

As I felt the emotion of seeing with my own eyes the large rock I’d previously only viewed through a monitor, Leah looked at me with curiosity.

“Once the children settle here, where will we go next?”

Lost in thought for a moment at her question, I replied,

“Hmm? Probably north, I guess?”

The best method would be to return the hatchling to its mother before it’s captured.

Taking advantage of the carriage’s slow pace, I stroked the tired horses’ heads and cast holy magic on them.

—Heeeng!

Seemingly energized by the holy magic, the horses let out loud whinnies.

—Pip?

“Master, Pipi seems curious?”

Curious about everything. Is it because she’s still young?

“Master, can’t you cast holy magic on Pipi too?”

I reached out and bathed Pipi in divine light.

—Piiik! Piiik!

Pipi, invigorated, flapped its wings happily, and Leah burst into a bright smile.

“You like that? Oh, you sweet thing.”

Leah gently stroked Pipi’s crest as it excitedly chirped.

At that moment—

—Crack!

Something flew and struck right beside me.

Is this an arrow?

—Heeeng!

Calming the startled horses by stomping their hooves, I urgently shouted,

“Who’s there?!”

An arrow had flown from somewhere, and Leah and I hastily scanned our surroundings, but the thick fog prevented us from seeing anything clearly.

“Tch…!”

Leah clicked her tongue, drew her magic wand from midair, and shouted,

“Wind!”

A tremendous gust blew from the tip of her wand, scattering the fog.

As the obscuring mist cleared, sharp arrows aimed at Leah flew toward her, released from their bowstrings.

In that life-or-death moment—

Just before the swift arrow pierced her body, Leah’s magic was cast a hair faster.

“Barrier.”

As her incantation ended, an opaque shield enveloped us,

—Tick, tick!

The arrows, flying with great momentum, were blocked by the sturdy barrier and fell uselessly to the ground.

Only after the immediate danger passed did we see two shirtless male archers.

Seeing them efficiently nocking their next arrows, I urgently waved my hands.

“Wait! We didn’t come here to fight…!”

—Whoosh! Thwack!

Before I could finish speaking, another arrow was fired, only to be blocked again by the barrier.

Determined to clear up their misunderstanding since they clearly wouldn’t give up, I urgently called out to the children.

“Sunak! Wail!”

At my urgent shout, the children cautiously peeked their faces out from the carriage canopy.

I pointed to them and loudly explained to the archers,

“Look! We didn’t come to fight. We just want to settle these kids in your village…!”

“Shut up, invader!”

Seeing them openly display hostility and draw their bows, I sighed deeply.

“I knew things were going too smoothly. Leah… handle this with minimal injuries.”

She stepped forward, blatantly showing her annoyance as she grumbled,

“Ugh. Seriously, you really know how to make me do all the work.”

A purple orb formed at the tip of Leah’s wand, aimed at the archers.

“Stun!”

***

Giovanni, having evaded Scarlet’s pursuit.

He was staying at an inn, hiding from Scarlet.

He feared Scarlet might be lurking right outside his house.

And his decision was extremely wise.

Scarlet was indeed lying in wait, ambushing him, anticipating his return home.

‘I just want to go back to my hometown.’

Fighting Scarlet would obviously end in a crushing defeat.

Surviving with my life intact would be lucky enough.

Giovanni lamented his fate—forced to live in indefinite seclusion at an inn, abandoning his perfectly fine house.

“What kind of situation is this?”

He had only done what Hans told him to do.

All the fault lay with Hans, so why must I suffer like this?… He was now utterly exhausted by everything.

The thought crossed his mind that meeting Hans had been both an opportunity and a curse in his life.

If he hadn’t instinctively sensed Scarlet’s murderous intent that day and fled, he would likely have been split in half and now be a resentful spirit wandering the afterlife in injustice.

The gap in strength between him and Scarlet was that clear.

“Haaa….”

It wasn’t just Scarlet. The fact that Cecilia and Mia still remained cast a shadow over Giovanni.

“I can’t do this anymore… I need to prepare letters.”

Remembering that Hans had previously corresponded with them via letters,

Giovanni, being illiterate, resolved to pay someone to write them on his behalf.

No matter how important loyalty to Hans was, it wasn’t more important than his own life.

Giovanni’s sighs grew deeper.

“Haa… damn it, Hans.”

***

We tied up the native archers, stunned by Leah’s Stun magic, securely in the carriage.

We’d talk once they woke up.

“Shall we camp here soon?”

Though the vast plains whipped up swirling sands, venturing further might invite unnecessary trouble.

Leah and the native siblings nodded at my words and began unloading luggage from the carriage.

“I’ll help too.”

As I unfolded a canopy to serve as a temporary shelter, Sunak approached.

Having set up camp with him daily, we’d grown quite close.

While Sunak and I drove stakes into the ground, Leah and Wail gathered firewood.

Leah lit the dry branches with magic and began grilling meat—the smell roused the unconscious native archers, and movement was heard.

“Wh… where is this?”

Hearing their voices, Leah glanced toward the carriage.

“They’re awake?”

“I’ll go.”

Afraid they’d react hostilely if I went alone, I called Sunak.

“Sunak, come with me.”

Sunak, who had just taken a bite of the nicely grilled meat, smacked his lips and nodded, following me.

Had it been Leah, she might have gotten angry, but seeing the obedient Sunak follow without complaint made me feel slightly guilty.

They say even dogs shouldn’t be disturbed while eating.

I gave him an apologetic look with my eyes, but Sunak only looked puzzled.

Didn’t he understand?

Now I was just awkwardly embarrassed.

“Did you sleep well?”

I greeted the natives, who were struggling against their bindings.

“You bastard! What do you plan to do with me?!”

The native, erupting in violent anger, I raised my hands to calm him.

“Whoa, whoa… hold on, we didn’t come here to fight you.”

But ignoring my words entirely, the native bared his yellowed teeth and glared fiercely, even more aggressively than before.

“Don’t lie! I know well how you invaders treat our kin!”

Not reacting, I instead took a step back and nodded to Sunak.

Sunak, slightly repulsed at seeing his angry kin,

Closed his eyes tightly, hesitated, then spoke.

“These people are different from those others. We were sold into slavery, and they saved us.”

Only then did they seem to notice their fellow tribesman child and regain some rationality.

“You are…?”

“I am Sunak, son of Yan from the White Wolf tribe.”

“I am Hud, son of Hurda from the Brown Bear tribe. Then, why has this man come here? Is he not planning to enslave us using you as bait?”

Anticipating this would be a long conversation, I plopped down right in front of them.

“No, I’ll leave this place anytime as long as you take the children.”

Even the strongest mage couldn’t possibly enslave and move thousands of people with just two people.

But the native shook his head, clearly not believing me.

“I cannot believe you, invader. We know well the countless atrocities you have committed!”

Seeing the fury burning in their eyes, I already felt weary—persuading them wouldn’t be easy.

“No, excluding the children, it’s just me and Leah—two people. How could we possibly enslave your entire village?”

Sunak vigorously nodded in agreement with my words, but Hud remained unconvinced.

I understood his concerns, but we didn’t have ample time to persuade them.

I’d assumed leaving the children here would be enough—what should I do?

I fully understood why the natives distrusted us even more than elves distrusted humans.

From the elves’ or natives’ perspective, since we attacked and enslaved them, it was only natural.

Ultimately, after much deliberation, I decided to use the method I’d prepared in advance.

This is all your own doing.

Reluctantly, I chose the lesser option.

“Hehe… well, there is a way.”

I’d somewhat anticipated they wouldn’t communicate rationally.

Gently stroking the back of Sunak’s head, I activated the spell.

“Sleep.”

With a faint yellow glow, Sunak’s body went limp in my arms.

Carefully laying Sunak down so he wouldn’t be hurt,

“What… what are you doing?! Are you finally showing your true colors?!”

If communication wasn’t working, I’d exploit their nature.

Unlike how they’d recklessly drawn their bows to kill Leah and me, they couldn’t possibly ignore their young kin left alone.

“So, you should sleep too.”

“Grr! No matter how much torture you…!”

—Thud.

I placed my hand on the head of the native shouting furiously at me and activated the spell.

Leaving the two natives collapsed like corpses and Sunak still asleep, I stepped out of the carriage.

Pipi was sitting in the campfire like a hen brooding eggs, playfully chirping at Leah and Wail.

So… cute.

Ah, right, this isn’t the time for that.

“Wail, come here.”

Wail looked at me curiously at my words.

“Huh?”

Unlike Sunak, with whom I’d grown somewhat close, I’d barely exchanged a few words with Wail, so I treaded carefully.

“Your brother is calling for you inside.”

As Wail headed toward the carriage at the mention of her brother, I placed my hand on her head and cast the spell.

“Sleep.”

Carefully holding Wail as she instantly lost all strength and fell asleep.

“Master?! What are you doing?!”

—Piiik! Pipi!

Leah and Pipi, startled by my actions, raised their voices.

“Ah, it’s nothing. We’ll leave the children and natives here and go.”

As I prepared to leave the children behind, Leah’s face darkened with sudden worry.

“What? Really? What if something happens?”

“Don’t worry. With my Sleep spell, they’ll wake up in an hour.”

The artifact I currently possessed wasn’t particularly powerful to begin with.

It wasn’t a conceptual item that instantly turned you into a legendary mage, just a legendary-grade item.

“Uuu….”

Carefully laying Wail down, Leah hesitated—she’d clearly grown quite attached to her.

“Don’t just stand there. Help me get Sunak and the two natives out of the carriage.”

At my firm tone, Leah hesitated, then reluctantly asked,

“Is there no other way?”

Leah looked down at Wail with a lonely, sorrowful gaze.

“Yeah, don’t worry. They may be wary of us, but they’re not cruel enough to abandon their own kin’s children.”

According to lore, when the first settlers from the Old Continent arrived starving, the natives even gave them potatoes and corn.

They’d been kind even to complete strangers…

But after the Old Continent settlers began enslaving them, they started rejecting outsiders who weren’t their kin.

“Ugh… fine.”

Leah, saying that, helped me.

Soon, I hastily wrote a letter, including some gold coins to help with raising the children.

This was truly doing everything possible.

Where else in the world would you find such a kind person?

And now, it was time to leave.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Leah, seated in the carriage, couldn’t take her eyes off the children, sleeping soundly.

She looked unlike her usual self—lacking energy, visibly anxious.

“Leah?”

Her slightly sad face felt unfamiliar.

Come to think of it, she must have grown quite attached to Wail.

They’d bathed and slept together—she might have felt like a little sister to her.

But I couldn’t stay here long.

Even with holy magic cast on the horses, time wasn’t unlimited.

I pulled the reins and urged the horses forward.

***

After riding for a long while… Leah remained silent, gazing fixedly into the distance.

Sigh… she’s unexpectedly sentimental.

Outwardly tough and tomboyish, but inwardly tender-hearted.

Living with her for so long, I’d realized she was surprisingly emotionally sensitive.

“Don’t be too sad. If things work out, we can visit them later.”

She brightened at my words and asked,

“Really?”

“Of course. Obviously? Once everything’s settled, let’s come back and see how Sunak and Wail are doing.”

Right now, we had to leave quickly, but since we were halfway up the mountain range, the natural scenery was beautiful, and the night views were famously stunning—there was no reason not to return.

Of course, only after Dragon War concluded.

Leah nodded faintly at my words.

Soon, she rested her head on my shoulder.

“Next time… let’s definitely come back to see how the kids are doing!”

Watching her rub her cheek against me affectionately like a well-fed cat, I thought inwardly,

Everything’s fine… except for this. Could you not do this?

The words ‘This isn’t something family does’ rose to my throat, but I forced myself not to show it.

If I did, I’d get hit.

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