"She really seems intent on following us. Still, she's not attacking since there are so many people around."
"She's probably worried about drawing attention."
Cider didn't bother looking back. Instead, he increased the speed a bit more.
"Do you have enough magical power?"
"I have enough."
They wove freely through carriages traveling at regulation speed and crossed three blocks in an instant.
Finally, the mont they arrived at the intersection leading to Upper Lane.
"Red light!"
We're going to crash! Esperanza let out a low scream. Cider gritted his teeth and pushed the lever. The speedoter needle, pushed to its limit, trembled violently, and the carriage shot forward like a bullet.
At the sa ti, Esperanza, who had extended her long gun barrel out the window, pushed away a carriage charging from the opposite direction. The coachman's voice, spitting and cursing as they barely grazed past, faded away.
"We almost died in the wrong place."
"Hardly."
Cider said nonchalantly.
Once they crossed into Upper Lane, the number of steam carriages on the street decreased dramatically. That ant Daria could approach easily again. Esperanza pulled up her hood and jumped onto the carriage roof. She could feel the distance between her and Daria running along the fence had shortened considerably from before.
Gunfire aid at shooting each other down filled the peaceful Upper Lane. Neighbors, afraid that the razor-sharp magical bullets might fall on their mansions, quickly locked their windows.
"Ugh, she's fast!"
Her body swayed as it leaned to one side while turning the corner. When the magical power missed, Daria instantly approached right in front of them.
"We're almost there."
Esperanza, who was facing backward, couldn't see the mansion, but she could tell they had entered familiar roads. Now she had to hold Daria back for a mont.
"Slow down just a little."
When Cider smoothly reduced speed, Esperanza rolled and jumped down. Before her feet touched the ground, she fired at the lower body of Daria, who was standing on another mansion's fence wall. Deafening gunshots burst out without rest.
"How is this kind of accuracy possible while running?"
Daria, gritting her teeth, barely deflected the magical bullet aid at her knee. She couldn't find any timing to attack at all. She was pushed back more and more. Finally, Daria threw her body inside the fence wall and caught her rough breath.
Esperanza didn't follow into the fence. She wasn't trying to kill Daria outright or chase her away. She had to play with her appropriately. For that, she needed leisure, but...
'Honestly, I don't have that much leisure.'
She had faced an entire dungeon alone with her body, then from the dungeon to the mansion, from the mansion to the palace, and even faced Cyrus at the palace. Her body was at the point of giving out.
She could move this much only because she had drunk potions. As much as Daria was tired, actually more than that, Esperanza was also exhausted.
'When it's over, I'm going to take a bath. I'll sprawl out for an hour or two. And eat a lot, drink so brandy. I'll get drunk like trash and sleep.'
If she won this battle, it would really be the end. Thinking of her tired body, she wanted to rush to that end imdiately, but thinking of the farewell that would be beyond the end, she also wanted to fight until her body wore out.
At that mont, her spine felt eerie. When she instinctively tilted her head to the side, a blade grazed past her ear. It was from a different direction than Daria. Esperanza slowly backed away while keeping her gaze fixed on Daria.
'Why is he here first?'
What is our Cyrus doing! When the young-faced Cyrus appeared in the corner of her vision, Esperanza scread internally.
Still, it wasn't a completely disadvantageous situation. Even if that side could move, his leg condition would be bad, so he wasn't a major threat. Fighting a healthy Cyrus with a tired body would be impossible, but this much was manageable.
Two swords charged from both sides. Esperanza dodged one and deflected the other. The defensive movent smoothly continued into an attack. She didn't have the leisure to stand still and calculate sword paths. She had to jump and clash without rest. Rather than thinking, she had to imrse herself.
―Everyone's out. Co in now.
Cider's communication, whispering in her ear, broke her imrsion. Esperanza gasped for breath. She couldn't be happier that her concentration was broken.
This wasn't being pushed back. She was pretending to be pushed back. While alternately exchanging blows with the two, Esperanza slowly backed away.
―Ah. You go to the study.
What? Her concentration broke for a mont.
"Ugh!"
It was magical power incomparably stronger than any monster. The fairly deeply torn skin stung.
Esperanza ignored the wound and deflected the rushing attack. This kind of thing heals quickly if you take a potion. More concerning was that no more replies ca from Cider.
'Right. I can't keep wasting energy in a place like this forever.'
Daria's face was flushed with heat. Just the fact that she had chased them this far clearly showed her judgnt was impaired. She wasn't sure about Cyrus, but since he had been dragged into battle without properly treating his injury, he also didn't seem to be in perfect condition.
Then should she try a slightly easier path?
With that thought, Esperanza turned and ran toward the mansion. If it worked, good; if not, it couldn't be helped.
"She's openly luring us. What will you do?"
Cyrus, who had lowered his sword, asked. Daria breathed heavily.
"Of course we have to chase her. We can't fight here for long anyway."
Obstacles everywhere. A trendy district where one wrong word could make headlines. Esperanza's proposal to change the battlefield wasn't bad except that it was very advantageous to her side. No, even if it was bad, it didn't matter.
"The spaceti machine is there anyway. We have to go."
Cyrus had an unconvinced expression. But Daria had sothing to settle today. Right in this battle.
There was no further explanation. Daria rushed into the mansion Esperanza had entered.
'In case of ergency, there's 'Golden Claw'...'
Cyrus also followed, forcibly suppressing his anxious feelings. His thigh felt like it was on fire, but he gritted his teeth and endured it. This wasn't real pain. This was an illusion. Just like this world.
The door was open.
??????°??☆????°??????
Could this mansion have been this quiet? The dusty abandoned house she had entered a year ago, pushing through knee-high grass, overlapped over the magnificent hall.
The entrance where footn would have been waiting just monts ago, the reception room where maids would have been busily coming and going, the stairs, the kitchen. It was as if only the people had evaporated. Her footsteps crossing the silent hall slowed slightly.
'Count Avondale's mansion' appeared in one corner of her vision, and like when she had climbed up stepping on ti-faded carpet, Esperanza went up the stairs. Unlike then when she had been cautious with heightened vigilance, now this mansion was as familiar as ho. She headed to the study with quick steps.
'Even this is exactly the sa as that day.'
The mory of the world changing when she opened this door that day remained vivid. Esperanza twisted the doorknob and opened it. This ti the world didn't turn upside down. Instead, the familiar scent of the study—wood, paper, and ink—enveloped her body.
"You've co."
The owner of this mansion turned around. The sunlight touching his white cheek was dazzling. Light pooled roundly on his long blonde hair. Eyes filled only with affection without wariness sparkled a bit mischievously.
Her heart, which had been calm in reminiscence, beat urgently.
"Why did you suddenly call ? To let them wander around this house?"
"There's soone else blocking that side."
Ah. Cyrus has arrived. Esperanza let out a sigh of relief. It would have been nice if he had told her earlier.
Then the reason Cider had called Esperanza here was...
"To drive Daria here?"
There are many other places, but specifically to the study?
"We have to accept so sacrifices."
Cider squinted his eyes. His gaze looking at the books packed full from the first to second floor rippled with regret.
"For now, let's do it like this."
When he pulled the lever on the desk, wooden covers ca down from the upper compartnts of the bookshelves, covering them. If hit by magical bullets, even solid wood would be pierced quickly, but it was better than nothing.
Before she knew it, Esperanza's gaze had reached the door leading to the research lab. Inside the research lab was the spaceti machine. Why here?
The nearly completed spaceti machine. The purpose of luring Daria.
"Don't tell , you're going to use it?"
Even without a subject, Cider understood what she ant.
"We've never actually operated it, have we? Theoretically there are no flaws, but we need to confirm how it works in practice."
He had intended to kill her anyway. Rather than killing, this might be better. If she could be sent back to her original world, that would be best.
"Alright, then I'll go greet our guests."
"I've activated automatons to make it easy to lure them this way. As long as they don't suddenly change course, it should succeed."
Esperanza glanced at the control panel Cider had placed on the desk.
Co to think of it, he had told her about that once before. When did he say he had placed defensive automatons in the mansion? Sixteen years old?
"You're honestly a bit excited, aren't you?"
"A little?"
Cider shrugged his shoulders. Esperanza laughed. She was glad there was at least so part he could enjoy. As this might be the last ti, it would be a harsh and desperate battle. Defeat ant death, victory ant farewell.
Esperanza took a deep breath. She grabbed Cider's cheek and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. His closed eyelids trembled. She didn't drag it out long.
"I'll try to catch both of them, but it might already be too late. So,"
Esperanza, who had turned around, said as if suddenly rembering.
"If that Cyrus cos here first."
"If he cos?"
Cider asked back with a voice tinged with laughter.
"Kill him."
"Oh my. I'll do my best within my power."
The door closed. The laughter disappeared from Cider's lips. He placed his thumb briefly on his lips that still held warmth, then turned around.
Though it had passed like a joke, he could feel a definite change.
He understood Esperanza's reluctance about killing. He didn't want that to hold her back. If Esperanza stayed, it should be a decision made purely by her own will.
...Was that really so?
'Actually, regardless of the reason, it would be better if she stayed.'
Cider smiled bitterly and covered his face with his palm. He didn't want to show this kind of face until the very end.
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