Chapter 200

Hey . Is leaving that girl alone really fine? 」

Rona asked Ardis while taking notice of the presence behind them as they returned to their home in the forest .

Finishing the escort request with Minerva, there was a person tailing them as they were returning to their house first time in the past month .

Although the person tailing them might be thinking that she wasn’t exposed yet, for Ardis and Rona who can detect presences with mana, it is as clear as day .

「I mean, she would probably turn back soon . 」

Ardis replied as a matter of fact without a shred of worry . From how Ardis replied, it didn’t seem like he was particularly seeing the tailer as a big problem .

Only those that have considerable skill can walk in the Corsas Forest that has predacious beasts like Ractor all around .

On top of that, Ardis had an idea on who was it that was tailing them . She had also been following him around for the entire month when Ardis went out on an escort request accompanying Minerva on her Cleansing Rite .

「How long is she going to continue this……」

Ardis muttered to himself .

The person that had been tailing Ardis recently is the girl that he’d met on the night of the Lotus Cup semifinals .

As they defeated the assassins sent by Marquis Holguin, catching her thinking that she was together with the assassins, they’ve let her go judging that she’s not with them .

As Ardis said that 『Do whatever you want if you’re just going to follow』 then, chasing her away now would mean going back on his words .

Since Ardis didn’t think that she would be so devoted to continue surveilling him, Ardis regretted what he had said that time .

「Well, she doesn’t seem to be of any harm currently, and we will lose her on the way anyways . 」

After the Lotus Cup, the girl had tailed Ardis on his escort request out of the capital . However, it didn’t seem like she was combative enough to follow Ardis through the forest .

After all, it’s normal to see that she would turn back every time as she stepped into the forest .

「Nn? It looks like she gave up . 」

Just as Ardis expected, a little after the girl entered the forest, her mana signature dropped in speed, then slowly distanced .

She’s probably returning to the capital like previous attempts . However, just as she was about to leave Ardis’s detection range, the girl suddenly stopped moving .

「Ah, it seems like she encountered some beasts . 」

Ardis similarly stopped in his tracks like Rona and sensed on his own . There were mana signatures like beasts drawing closer to the girl’s signature .

「This size, it must be a Ractor? And there’s two . ………Aaah, that girl’s done . 」

Not my matter . Rona’s tone indicated .

The girl is likely not a normal town girl . After all, having tasked to monitor Ardis, she must have some skills of her own .

However, Ardis thought that her skills must’ve been for against humans . Whether it would be use against wild carnivorous beasts that even experienced mercenaries has difficulties defeating is unknown .

On top of that, there were two of them . Even if she ran, it would only mean extending her life by a few seconds .

Ardis paid attention to the movements of the signatures . The girl who had encountered the Ractor immediately started running outwards of the forest .

However, where she was heading towards was another Ractor . The girl stopped moving, the other Ractor slowly closed in from behind .

Her life is like a candlelight swaying in the wind . Suddenly, her appearance stabbed at Ardis’s heart . It only happened for a moment .

「……Al? 」

Realizing something was up with his partner, Rona asked, while Ardis lowered the baggage on himself and said .

「You can return first . 」

「Hey, Al? You’re not going there right? 」

「……She’s still a kid in my eyes . 」

Ardis left those words that weren’t even an answer to Rona’s question and threaded back the path they came from .

The girl’s mana signature moved slightly even as she was sandwiched between two Ractors . She must be trying to escape somehow .

However, her movements suddenly dulled in the next moment .

「Can I make it in time? 」

Ardis asked himself as he ran between the trees . Their distance was about four hundred meters apart .

No matter how the trees are being an obstacle, it’s a distance that takes only a few moments for Ardis . However, a time that short is also enough for the two Ractors to easily kill the girl .

Eventually, the girl’s mana stopped moving at one place . Since her mana signature is still there, she must’ve not died yet but, that might change too if another ten seconds passed .

Ardis clicked his tongue unintentionally, as two swords manifested from the cracks of space he made . It is the 『Gate』 that connected between the two worlds that he had finally managed to make after experiencing travelling between the two worlds .

Although it is only about a sword’s width that Ardis’s can create, storing his flying swords would still prove to be an invaluable technique .

Summoning the two swords and suspending them in the air, Ardis released the two flying swords like arrows . Thanks to the positional data that Ardis gotten with his mana detection, the two flying swords pierced the two Ractors at the same time .

However, since it’s too vague to rely on mana detection, whether it will be fatal or not depends on luck .

But at the very least, it will keep the two Ractors busy for a few moments . That’s more than enough for Ardis .

「Kssshhaaa――! 」

The Ractors’ cry of pain was heard .

And a breath after that, Ardis managed to see them . He caught sight of the two Ractors first, and then the girl collapsed in the middle with blood .

One Ractor had the sword pierced in its neck, and the other had it in the torso . The Ractor that was pierced in its neck could only sporadically move at that point .

It was a critical hit . It will probably die on its own even if Ardis didn’t do anything further to it .

As for the other, although its movements was dulled by a little, its gaze finding the owner of the sword found Ardis .

The Ractor hissed threateningly at the new target . However, for Ardis, a Ractor is only a slightly larger beast . It’s not even an opponent worth considering .

Creating blades of wind, its neck fell off in the next moment . Without even time for it to cry in pain, the Ractor stopped being alive, as Ardis approached the collapsed girl .

「Oi . Still alive? 」

As he called out, he verified the severity of the wounds . It seems like the girl had already passed out, as there was no response to Ardis’s question .

Her abdomen were dyed in red with blood, and the pool of blood continued increasing . She will definitely die within five minutes if left alone .

「My goodness . What happened, Al . 」

A stunned voice came from behind . There’s no need to see who it is at this point .

As Ardis turned around, he said to himself after seeing the baggage that Rona carried .

「Nice timing . 」

From the baggage that Ardis carried just now, Ardis took out a vial of medicine and opened its seal .

「Eh, you’re using that? 」

It’s the highest ranked restorative medicine that could be bought in the capital . With its potential of healing wounds of someone on the verge of death, it is considered a super expensive item pricing at five gold coins a vial .

It’s something mercenaries and explorers carried for an unfortunate occasion .

「It’s such a waste……」

Ardis immediately poured it on the girl’s wounds without any hesitation, as Rona watched aloofly . Tossing away the empty medicine bottle, Ardis stood up while carrying the girl .

「What, you’re following? 」

「Fillia and Riana will probably be unhappy seeing me return alone anyways……」

Rona followed with a face of having no other choice . Ardis moved to about the entrance of the forest and laid the girl there in view of the highway, and put up a magical barrier in the surroundings .

Although it can only last for half a day, Ardis expected the girl to wake up before then .

The barrier can defend against beasts of Ractor’s level but, in the first place, there’s not many beasts loitering near the entrance of the forest anyways .

Although not a guarantee, her life shouldn’t be a danger here .

「Did your mind sway? 」

Rona asked from the side as they went back towards the forest after verifying the girl’s safety .

「……」

Ardis couldn’t answer his question . It’s because he couldn’t deny it fully .

No matter her intentions, Ardis certainly wasn’t keen of getting tailed constantly . If it was an adult, Ardis probably wouldn’t have spared any thoughts .

However, seeing that her age is close to the twins and Minerva, it made Ardis troubled .

「……I didn’t know . 」

「Eh? Didn’t know what? 」

「No, it’s nothing . 」

No matter if it’s Fillia or Riana, Kyrill, or even Minerva . It felt like he was soft on children, as Ardis realized for the first time .

Himself, who was robbed of his innocent childhood mercilessly . Then getting rescued by one man, protected, and given many things .

Although he didn’t know it before, it seems like that had given a large influence to his actions . Perhaps he wanted to become like his respected benefactor by doing the same things .

It’s probably also because that he had arrived in this world where he has leeway to care for others, having came from a world where it took his all just to survive .

After all, with death being so close by there, he didn’t have any time to think about that before . The unidentified girl that he had saved just now, and the young boys and girls he’d met in this world .

Questions that could not be answered manifested inside Ardis . Even though they were all born as human, why is there such a difference just because he happened to be born there?

With a mind full of questions that cannot be solved, Ardis hastened his pace towards the house where the people he should protect resided .