Musou Knight: Crow of Cinders-Chapter 31: Not You Again

Chapter 31 - Not You Again

"Raven, you’re alive!"

Lenitia ran toward me. Her disheveled hair, dirty face, and the dark bags under her eyes told many stories. As for Lia, her cheeks were sunken, and her lips looked dry. When was the last time she had drunk a drop of water?

Cow-Cow panicked and hid himself in the luggage. Oh, you coward.

As Lenitia moved, the corners of my eyes caught something jiggling. My gaze dropped automatically.

Her breastplate was missing. She was wearing only a thin tunic, a set of greaves, leather pants, and metal boots. Lia had barely enough clothing to cover her necessary parts.

I didn’t know what they had done to their equipment, but it was unsightly.

I raised my hand, stopping Lenitia from getting too close.

"What happened to you?"

"Oh, uh."

Lenitia looked down and covered her abnormally large pair of meat. Don’t worry, lady. I wasn’t interested in silicone.

Lia glared into my eyes and pulled Lenitia back. She shielded her and questioned me with a stern voice.

"Get back, Your Highness. This man led us straight to the ambush and survived. He might be the Avaritia spy!"

I facepalmed and sighed. This overprotective elder sister and misunderstanding combination trope disgusted me. I stated the fact, although it had been unintentional.

"Look here, woman. If I were a spy, none of you would be alive. I wouldn’t have drawn Zoli Diripio to the caerulex mine and given you time to escape."

Lia paused, her lips parting. But she shook her head and brandished a longsword, pointing the tip at my face.

"If you’re not with them, how are you still alive?!"

"I ran?"

"Impossible! There were thousands of them, not including musou knights! You weakling couldn’t possibly defeat them!"

"I got wrecked, half-dead, and made it through?"

Lia pressed her sword against my neck. "What a load of bull. Look at you. You’re not even injured! I also saw you using a light-foot technique! No self-taught musou knight can do that unless you were taught by the military! You must be a double-agent spy sent by Avaritia!"

I let out a long sigh. I had been planning to seek shelter in Lenitia’s country. But since this overprotective canine woman had tunnel vision, I had no reason to play along and join her faction. I wasn’t patient enough to tolerate random misunderstanding insults.

"You do you. I’ll go the other way if you don’t like me. Goodbye."

I ignored the sword and turned around, fetching the speed and strength boost talismans.

"Wait!"

Lenitia pushed Lia aside and grabbed my arm. Please don’t touch me, canine woman. I knew she hadn’t washed her hands since the last toilet incident.

"I’m so sorry. Lia hasn’t slept or eaten anything. She’s exhausted. Please forgive her for being paranoid. She did her best to protect me."

I was surprised that Lenitia was the voice of reason here. Usually, it was the other way around.

Still, I had no intention of getting involved with them anymore.

"And?" I tried to be as cold as possible.

"P-Please help us. I-I’ll do anything!"

"PRINCESS!" Lia shouted from behind.

For the love of god, stop talking in caps, people!

"What kind of help do you want? If you want an escort, I’m out."

Lenitia clenched her fists, but her voice softened.

"F-F-Food."

"...What?"

Her voice steadied. She held my arms tighter. "N-No. Water will do! Can you share some water? Lia is dying! Please!"

Okay, she made me feel bad. I supposed a little kindness was fine.

I fetched a jar of wine and two dumplings from the minecart and gave them to Lenitia. Her eyes brightened as soon as she saw the food and the sealed jar.

"T-Thank you!"

After passing the food, I coughed. "Since your bodyguard doesn’t like me, I’ll be leaving."

Lia’s expression went blank for a moment. She lowered her head in the end, but said nothing.

I guessed that was it. I turned around and prepared the talismans. But then, something hit me. I turned to Lenitia and Lia, who were busy stuffing the dumplings in their mouths. I asked them.

"Wait, you said something about a week. Since the ambush, how many days have gone by?"

Lenitia grabbed the wine jar and drank a mouthful before answering.

"A week ago. Why?"

A week ago? I thought it had been yesterday.

Oh, right. I had been out cold. Had I slept that long?

I lightly smacked my forehead to punish my smooth brain. I turned back once more and prepared to leave for real.

Wait.

Something didn’t feel right.

That’s right, you idiot. Wasn’t my food a game item? Wouldn’t they notice something strange with the food and wine?!

I glanced at Lenitia and Lia again. Although they were still taking turns drinking the wine, I could see the scratches and wounds on their bodies healing.

God dammit. I might get questioned again. Since it had come to this, I should run.

I grabbed the talismans and ripped them. Lifting the minecart, I traveled east, heading straight to the stream in the Invidia zone.

Thirty seconds later, the minecart grew heavy again. I dropped it and took a break. Even though the buff had helped me, I was already gassed.

While catching my breath, I looked back.

I thought I had covered about a kilometer. It seemed lackluster, but I was traveling with heavy luggage. It couldn’t be helped.

As usual, I paved my way through boulders, dead trees, and random obstacles. Anyone could tell that something had gone through this route.

Should I try leaping and jumping instead of running next time? But the risk was too great. What would happen if the talisman’s effects expired while I was midair? I would have been crushed to death by the minecart or died from the fall.

I shook my head and checked my talismans. I could use the combination three more times. It should have been enough to cover the distance to the stream.

And so, I repeated the process three more times.

When my last strength and speed talismans expired, I arrived at the stream within Invidia territory. Finally, I could rest properly.

I took off my clothes and jumped into the stream, washing myself. Cow-Cow peeked outside and joined me. After the bath, I set up a campfire and a makeshift shelter.

When the sky turned dark, I fetched the turkey and shared it with Cow-Cow. While doing so, I drank the last wine and intentionally smashed the jar to the ground. The jar, however, didn’t break—it faded and disappeared.

I guessed I couldn’t use it as a container anymore. I had been planning to use it to boil freshwater. In the end, I had to make myself a pot. I wished Studium were still alive.

I packed the leftover turkey in my designated piece of cloth. As I was about to head to sleep, I saw two shadowy silhouettes approaching.

"Oh, no."

Two uninvited guests followed the lights of my bonfire. The campfire illuminated their faces, which I didn’t want to see.

The two canine women were back.

God dammit. Leave me alone!