Chapter 97
Berken broke out in a cold sweat.
The object Joshua handed him to eat was a peanut.
“I’m sorry, but I can't eat this.”
When he was five years old.
He had a mory of collapsing in a seizure after eating nuts.
According to the doctor, it was a food that did not suit his constitution.
“I know. When you eat them, your head spins and you feel nauseous inside, right?”
“How do you know that?”
“I’ll take care of the aftermath. Don't worry and eat plenty.”
“W-Wait a minute. What do you an by taking care of it?”
“It literally ans to leave it to .”
Joshua did not withdraw the hand he held out in invitation.
The boy was serious.
“Isn't that a mory from when you were young? There's a possibility your constitution changed as you grew up.”
Berken tilted his head.
Just as tastes change with age, there was plenty of possibility that his physical constitution had changed as well.
With trembling hands, he received the peanuts Joshua held out.
He sniffed them.
There was nothing unusual about the scent.
When he brought it to the tip of his tongue as a test, no problems occurred from that either.
A sense of relief gradually began to wash over him.
“I think it’s okay?”
“I see.”
Joshua replied bluntly.
“If no problems occur, won't that be troubleso for you?”
“You don't need to worry. I have a plan.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Don't worry too much about the aftermath and just try eating them. Even if it ends with only mild symptoms, it will be fine.”
He won't die.
Consoling himself in that way, he looked at the few peanuts sitting on his palm.
As he glanced around, everyone seed to be waiting.
Joshua did not rush him, but he looked as though he hoped for haste.
“God, please look after poor .”
He threw the peanuts into his mouth.
The small grains were crushed into fine pieces inside his mouth.
Gulp!
He swallowed the peanuts.
He rolled his eyes and observed various parts of his body.
Unlike when he was young, he did not imdiately collapse.
“I’m sorry. It seems like nothing special is happening.”
As he awkwardly scratched his neck, the boy gave a thin smile.
It was then.
He felt a heat from his dantian spreading to every corner of his body.
His breathing beca labored.
As he tried to open his mouth to explain the situation, the boy approached.
“It seems your constitution has improved a bit. When you were young, you fainted as soon as you ate them, but this ti you lasted thirty seconds.”
“……W-What.”
“When you wake up, you will be outside the prison. Close your eyes and be at peace.”
A chill ran down his spine in that instant.
This boy had known this would happen from the beginning.
Dammit!
He wanted to argue with him, but even the strength to do so was draining away.
Finally, his eyes closed.
The last sensation he felt before losing consciousness was falling to the floor.
* * *
Joshua laid down the fallen Vale.
He was in a state of shock.
It was a situation where his life could be in danger if left unattended for even a few minutes.
“Berken, go call Cyris and the others right now.”
“What? What do you…?”
Berken turned his head with a face full of fatigue.
He had not seen the situation inside the prison.
Standing guard at dawn is a grueling and difficult schedule.
But the mont he looked into the prison.
He felt the fatigue accumulated in his body vanish in an instant.
“W-What happened here?”
Vale had collapsed.
He breathed unnaturally with a pale complexion.
Even to Berken, who knew nothing of dicine, Vale's condition looked serious.
“There is no ti to explain. Hurry and call people.”
“Understood!”
Berken ran like a madman.
Vale was the highest quality rchandise within the mountain fortress and a figure close to a direct transaction.
If they let him die like this, there was no telling how far Cyris's anger would reach.
“What did you say!”
Cyris, who was inside the tent, heard the news.
She quickly took her close associates and headed for the prison.
When they arrived at the prison, the boy and girls were looking after the fallen Vale.
“Open it!”
“Huh?”
“Get all these kids out right now.”
The guard opened the door.
The raiders went inside and pulled out the prisoners.
Cyris approached Vale closely.
He was suffering.
“How did this happen?”
“I-I don't really know.”
“A guard bastard doesn't even know how it turned out like this?”
“I-I’m sorry!”
She was seized by an impulse to kill the guard imdiately.
She cautioned herself inwardly.
The urgent fire had to be put out first.
“Yannick, you examine him.”
An old man nad Yannick stepped forward and examined Vale.
Anguish could be felt from his expression.
“I am not sure about this.”
Yannick was not a doctor.
He had only been placed in a position of healing because he had many years of experience.
When he gave up, Cyris kicked the ground irritably.
“Are you just going to stand by and watch? Do you not know how important this person is?”
The subordinates cowered at Cyris's growl.
When everyone was afraid and reluctant to step forward.
Joshua, who had co out with Vale, raised his hand and drew their attention.
“I will do it.”
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Does the Academy teach dicine as well?”
“Not necessarily. But if you leave it to , I will show you that I can treat him.”
The boy’s voice was full of confidence.
Cyris doubted him.
She wondered if she had so other sche rather than actual skill.
“We have no other way regardless. Let him try.”
“Let's do that, boss.”
Yannick spoke up, and the other subordinates agreed.
She grit her teeth.
The intention of the subordinates was obvious.
They were afraid of making a mistake and intended to pass the responsibility to Joshua.
“Is there anything you need?”
“I will use magic. Please prepare as quiet a place as possible.”
“Will the tent where I called you yesterday be enough?”
“That place will do.”
Cyris instructed her subordinates to move the patient, Vale.
The boy and girls followed.
As they entered the tent, Cyris was blocked as she tried to follow them in.
“What does this an?”
“You will all get in the way.”
“I won't make a sound. I will only watch.”
“I am saying that even that is distracting.”
Irritation flared up.
True to her personality, she wanted to threaten the boy and force him to follow her will.
But she endured it.
Joshua was the only person she could lean on right now.
“How long will it take?”
“Thirty minutes will be enough.”
“Understood.”
“Try not to loiter around the vicinity if possible. I will call you when it’s over.”
Cyris withdrew from the tent as the boy requested.
And she prevented the subordinates from going near it as well.
“Listen carefully to what I say from now on.”
She spoke to the subordinates who had gathered.
“Draw a large circle and surround the tent.”
“Huh, what do you an by that?”
“I don't want to think about it, but there is a possibility they might escape. I intend to prevent that.”
The expressions of the subordinates stiffened.
It seed no one here had thought that far.
They guarded the area around the tent as ordered.
Cyris watched them and struggled to shake off her anxiety.
No matter how much she prepared and doubted.
She could not escape the feeling that she was being played in the palm of the boy’s hand.
* * *
Joshua used a [Detoxify] spell on the fallen Vale.
It was a magic he had learned before departing from the hut in preparation for this mont.
Currently, Vale was under a debuff called poisoning.
He knew that cases of allergies were also classified as poisoning.
It was possible to treat poisoning with [Detoxify] magic.
Mana flowed from his hand.
As the flowing green light touched Vale, his pale complexion returned to normal.
“Cough!”
Vale woke up and coughed loudly.
He got up abruptly and grabbed Joshua by the collar.
“I almost died, you brat!”
“If I had told you the truth, you wouldn't have eaten them.”
Joshua gently brushed off his wrist.
“……But you, how did you know that this would happen if I ate nuts? This was information known only to , my nanny, and my late father and mother among the people of the family.”
“You were likely careful because it could be used for poisoning if it beca known.”
The boy spoke as if it were a trivial matter.
“Don't try to gloss over it. This is an important issue. If information leaked out, people who want to use this will appear.”
“Rest assured. It wasn't from the people of your family that I obtained this information.”
“How can I believe that?”
“Shouldn't you believe ?”
Joshua shrugged his shoulders.
They had co out of the prison, but it was far from being called an escape.
They were still trapped in the mountain fortress of the raiders.
“You’re doing well together with a guy like this huh.”
Vale turned his head and grumbled to the female students.
They had faces with no sense of repulsion, as if they were used to it.
“Our leader does perform many eccentric acts. But it has never led to a bad ending.”
A sense of unknown peace could be felt in Tania's voice.
Despite it being a fearful situation for a young girl, she was holding on through her faith in the boy alone.
Vale felt he could understand her heart a little.
“What is the next plan?”
Joshua turned his head and looked at Serena.
She activated a detection magic.
Having finished confirming how many people were around, she picked up a twig.
Then she wrote a number on the ground.
It was 10.
“The interval?”
[It’s wide enough. I don't think it would be impossible to break through.]
Joshua looked Vale up and down.
Perhaps because his prison life had been long, his body had weakened quite a bit.
Breaking through by force was dangerous.
There was a need to create confusion.
He carefully lifted the curtain at the end of the tent and checked who was at each position.
He saw Berken at the 12 o'clock position.
“Tania, set fire to this tent.”
“Won't they rush in imdiately?”
“That is what I'm aiming for.”
Tania tilted her head as if she didn't quite understand.
“I have a plan. You only need to focus on what I asked of you.”
“I understand. Should I prepare right away?”
“Yeah.”
She gathered mana and prepared to create fire.
In the anti, he approached Vale and explained the situation.
“Once a fire starts in the tent, we will escape in the 12 o'clock direction. If we pass through the forest to so extent, my comrades will be waiting. If we reach that point, we can consider the escape a success.”
“It doesn't sound as simple as it sounds.”
“It depends on Sir Vale's effort.”
“What should I do?”
“You just need to run as if your life depends on it.”
Vale nodded.
Nothing changed by arguing.
If he escaped from here, he could take revenge on those who took the family away from him.
He entrusted his body to that intense emotion and breathed vitality into his legs.
“I’m ready.”
A fireball was created above Tania's head.
“Start.”
When Joshua gave the signal, she threw the fireball at the pillar supporting the tent.
The wooden pillar began to burn.
The outside beca noisy.
He could feel the unsettled people rushing in.
“You go first. I will follow a little later.”
Serena led the two on his behalf and squeezed out through the tent.
He waited with bated breath behind the platform where Cyris had sat.
Before long, they ca inside the tent.
“Where are they?”
It was Cyris's voice.
He could feel that her voice was agitated.
“It seems they have slipped out.”
“Find them! By any ans necessary.”
At that mont when they gathered in one place and were about to scatter again.
A wall of light was erected, and a cube shaped space trapped them.
[Sanctuary]
Originally, it was a magic ant to defend the user from enemies.
However, depending on the thod, it also beca a prison to trap enemies.
He thought it was a fitting treatnt for those who trapped people in prison.
“This is? What on earth…….”
“I-It seems to be a trap.”
If the tent collapsed like this, the debris would cover them.
They would be tied down for a while.
He intended to run away in that gap.
Bang!
A strong impact was transmitted to the [Sanctuary].
He hesitated for a mont and turned his head to check the situation.
It was Cyris.
Her fist was creating cracks in the [Sanctuary].
“Listen carefully to what I say from now on. I don't care if you lose Vale.”
“Huh? If it’s not Vale, are you saying we should prioritize the Rainwood lady?”
“It’s not that girl either!”
Cyris shouted out loud.
“It’s Joshua. Bring that cutie before and make him kneel.”
“B-Boss?”
“I will make him submit no matter what, no matter what!”
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