Why did I grab Lisa?
I wanted her gone monts ago. She was getting on my nerves, demanding paynt from .
But when I saw they used a powerful spell against her, I knew they were going to attempt to kill her and not listen to a word of what she said. She is another person who got caught in the crossfire of whatever is attacking .
The sa as the Adventurer. He decided to get in the middle. I don’t trust him, but he has already tried to help us, and I have a couple of questions I have to ask him now.
If it were only , I would ask Aurelia to pick up and carry . She can fly and is strong, I am sure she can just grab and take us out of the situation with complete ease. But now we have two more people in the group.
"L-let go!" Lisa screams at . "They’re going to let go once they know I am not one of you!"
"They shot to kill, Lisa, they are not giving you the chance to explain yourself!" I scream, not looking back.
"Amber is right! They are not asking questions anymore!" The Adventurer says.
"B-but...!" Lisa complains again but stops herself. Maybe she understands now that she is in a more complicated ss than she thinks.
A spell darts beside us and explodes on the ground, throwing dirt and debris around as we pass through.
I make my list of spells appear in the system while I am running. I need to think of sothing to defend ourselves.
Dark, purple clouds start to appear in front of us.
"That is not natural!" Aurelia screams.
"Don’t breathe it!" I warn once I recognize the spell they used.
It is a dark cloud that can cause poison and other ill effects. What worries more is what will happen when we enter it and they use a fire spell.
I cast a [Tornado] spell in front of us. A tornado appears and quickly moves forward and starts to mix with the cloud, takes a random direction, and gets out of our way.
They start to cast a barrage of spells in our direction. Fire, Ice, Sound. They are missing us because of the distance, but each impact causes my whole body to vibrate, and the loud sound they cause when they hit the earth is almost deafening.
If I had my old power, I could just face them. I have to content myself with coming out alive from this one.
They cannot keep up running after us and casting spells. I look back and they have to stop to prepare any of their incantations or lose speed.
We cross the first line of trees and keep running. We need to get lost in the hibernating forest, break the line of sight, and even making an ambush is a solid choice against powerful enemies.
But after a few monts of running, we stop hearing spells or that they are following us. We still go deep north until we get tired.
"Wait!" Lisa screams. "I cannot... Please!"
I stop with her when she begs to stop. This is the most exercise I have ever done, and I am sure I was mostly keeping up thanks to adrenaline.
She sits in the snow while I lean against a tree, trying to recover my breath. I pant heavily while I hold my torso on my knees.
"That could be worse..." I comnt. "Are you okay?"
"No, I am not!" She screams at , in a similar physical state that I am. "You have to fix this! I am in this ss because of you!"
I don’t know how to answer the accusation. I bite my tongue to say anything, to lash out at her, or admit I dragged her into this. She is right, I am the cause she was attacked by the Royal Mages and guards.
"I..."
"Hah! Her fault? Don’t make laugh, priest!"
Aurelia’s voice rang through the forest. She appears between a group of bushes, causing the snow to fall from them as she pushes her way through. The Adventurer is with her.
"How else can you explain that the guards attacked ?! The only reason is that they believe I am part of this group. If I return and explain, everything will be fixed."
"Oh? Will it?" Aurelia taunts.
Before Lisa manages to answer, the Adventurer steps forward and speaks.
"Sister, excuse . But I agree with the dragonkin. That was more than the confusion, you explained already, and they still kept attacking you."
"They shot sothing to kill. If I didn’t push you to the side, you would have died." I answer, pushing myself from the tree. "I have no idea what is happening in the Kingdom, but I am accused of attempting to kill the princess when I was the one attacked by her."
Lisa looks at in doubt and surprise. She is not going to believe it that easily, I know, but I have to throw the truth at her so she knows the gravity of the situation.
"Have you been a nuisance to them lately, Priest?" Aurelia says. The title priest cos out more like an insult rather than being respectful, with a clear hint of sarcasm. "Like ssing with the guards or nobles?"
"N-no! I would never...!" She puts her hands on her chest like it was so form of shield. "I-I have only been calling attention to the taxes on food and houses, how people are starting to barely scrape by... And people seem to be in favor of what I have said!"
She is a troublemaker for them. And that ans sothing is happening with the Kingdom.
"Maybe they want to silence you and found the perfect excuse." The Adventurer points out. "Is not different. I have seen similar cases start everywhere in the kingdom. People getting arrested without a clear reason, executions without trial... If you are stirring up people, then maybe they believe you are problematic for them."
"Huh?!" She says in surprise. Then she gasps, her face turns white. Seems reality dawned on her. "Father August! I need to go and see if he is okay!"
Aurelia grabs her arm before she darts back into town.
"You are not listening, priest. The mont you set foot in there, you will be killed." Her grip is strong, Lisa tries to fight, and she cannot shove her.
"Lisa, listen, I am sorry you got in the middle of this," I say. "But I doubt they will kill the Father without reason. That would leave a bad taste in the people from Lakemar." I try to reassure her. Figures like him are usually mostly left intact because they have the favor of the people. At least, that is what I am hoping for. "You will return, I promise."
She looks at for a few monts and nods.
Now we have to make our way north. We barely have any resources and no food in the middle of winter, surrounded by snow.
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