Chapter 224

The party had quite an awkward atmosphere as they walked to somewhere with lesser foot traffic from the slave market .

「I’m going away for a while . Rona, stay with Fillia for the time being please . 」

Saying that, Ardis left while Fillia looked at his back anxiously .

「Nee, Rona . Ardis…… he’s angry? 」

「Why think so? 」

「I mean……」

Fillia muttered in a soft voice as if she did something bad .

「Al is certainly strong, but he’s not omnipotent as well . If being strong means everything, then we wouldn’t need to move out of Corsas Forest . Well, though the reason was not that simple . 」

The golden beast that strangely had rich expression seemed to smile bitterly .

「I think Al just doesn’t want Fillia to be involved . If it’s just me and Al, I think we would’ve pushed through in any case . 」

「……Is it my fault? 」

「That’s not it . It’s for your sake . 」

Rona answered Fillia’s question, not knowing entirely what is different between those two terms, despite so, feeling something heavy was lifted off herself, Fillia unintentionally hugged Rona .

Rona’s tail, that was like a brush tip brushed over Fillia’s head .

「Here, since Ardis will probably take some time before he’s back anyways, shall we go over to the stalls and buy something? 」

「Unn . 」

Fillia who regained her bright expression answered energetically as she stood back up .

That time, suddenly, Fillia heard some noise .

「Nee, Rona . 」

「Unn, I heard it too . 」

It seems like Rona understood just by calling him, his ears shook, collecting the sounds nearby .

「It’s the alley that way . A brawl…… no, it’s one-sided . Three people are surrounding one…… . The one getting surrounded is a kid, I suppose? 」

Following Rona’s gaze, Fillia as well searched with mana . Although her radius is not as wide as Ardis’s or as accurate as Nere’s, at the very least, Fillia had become capable to detect the presence of a creature based on their mana .

Ahead in the dimly lit alley, about twenty meters away, there’re four signatures .

It seems like the sound came from there . It’s the sound of someone getting hit and kicked . It would’ve been fine to leave them alone if it’s only a brawl .

However, if what Rona said is true, it is three people surrounding a child . It’s easy to imagine that the three of them are hitting the child one-sidedly .

「Rona……」

「There’s no need to stick your head in danger especially . Al said so just now right . 『It’s impossible to save everything』 . 」

It’s as Rona said . Even that powerful Ardis isn’t capable of saving everyone . Saving someone while being powerless, it’s arrogance beyond words .

As Fillia muttered 「But……」, she seemed to hear a soft fleeting voice .

「……Someone, ……save me」

It might’ve been an auditory hallucination . However, it was a cry for help that Fillia could never ignore .

Memories of calling out like that for hundreds of times, and thousands of times so in her heart .

If it wasn’t for the encounter with Ardis――, the nightmares that she had experienced resurfaced . Suddenly, Fillia started running .

「Sorry, Rona! 」

Leaving that behind, she ran into the back alley, and immediately found the source of the sound .

Three males of mediocre physique that has nothing much to compliment on were surrounding another boy and kicking him .

The child was groveling on the ground, showing no signs of resisting . Remembering her own past, Fillia rushed forward while holding back her resurrected fear .

The sufficient density of mana in the surroundings could be felt instinctively . The men didn’t notice the approaching Fillia, but were kicking at the child with despicable smiles .

Three enemies . The first move is to destroy their teamwork . Fillia immediately recognized the situation and made a decision, creating wind blades from the mana within the air .

Three invisible blades were created, manifesting above her head and both her sides .

「Wha, what’s with you! 」

At that timing, the men realized Fillia . The men that were confused were immediately hit by the wind blades from Fillia in the foot .

「It hurts! 」

The blades that grazed two out of three men started bleeding at their feet .

Beside the two that crouched in pain, the last man, revealing his hostility, kicked at Fillia .

「This brat! 」

It’s unknown whether Fillia’s aim missed, or the opponents managed to dodge the invisible magical blades .

However, Fillia immediately moved onto her next attack . Immediately creating water near the man’s anchoring feet, and freezing it .

「Uwahk! 」

Without able to kick properly, the man slipped on the ice .

「Now, quick! 」

Fillia reached her hands out to the little boy . The little boy looked at Fillia’s face without comprehending what happened but, it seems like he understood after getting shouted at, 「Run now! 」

Standing up with his face distorting in pain, Fillia held onto his hand tightly . To not get separated, Fillia ran while pulling along his hand .

However, the little boy who was in tatters getting violently kicked by the three adults was not in a state capable of running .

Although he’s desperately moving his legs, his speed is not much better than an adult walking quickly .

「As if I’ll let you! 」

The time when the man who fell down stood back up and almost grabbed her, mana condensed quickly at his feet .

「M-My legs! 」

Suddenly, Fillia saw the man’s legs encased in ice .

「Hurry! 」

Forcefully pulling the boy up seeing the man’s legs frozen in place, Fillia ran further in the alley to get away .

After getting through several streets, they finally stopped after judging that it’s safe .

「Haa, haaa, haa……」

Only Fillia and the boy’s ragged breathing is in the quiet alley .

「Are you alright? 」

Fillia asked the boy after regaining her breath . He’s still a young boy . Most likely between six and eight years old .

With several bruise on himself from the kicking, even his nose was bleeding .

His clothes were in tatters, and he was covered in the color of dirt, seemingly unknown when it was last washed .

The intense odor that goes beyond sweaty odor assaulted Fillia’s nose .

「Seriously, why did you go like that suddenly . 」

With an amazed voice, Rona appeared .

「Sorry . Also, thanks for just now . 」

Fillia thanked the beast acting as her guardian that froze the man’s legs when they were trying to escape .

「I didn’t want to make a move truthfully . But you would’ve been captured at that rate, and Ardis would’ve been a trouble to handle if something happened to Fillia . 」

「I couldn’t do it as skillfully as Ardis……」

Rona sighed, and pointed out mistakes at the depressed Fillia .

「Your aim was too naive . Maybe you could’ve hit them if you stood still, but if your arts miss while you’re running, they’re practically unusable . 」

「Unn……」

「But well, it was a good decision to aim for their legs and destroy their teamwork . Hitting them with a surprise attack, causing them confusion with one hit and escape . Well, facing them frontally is a bad idea, so your idea was right . 」

「Really? 」

「But it’s bad to be rash . It was fine since the opponents this time were only small fries, but a child’s play like that wouldn’t work against an experienced swordsman or magician . 」

「Unn, I know . 」

Moving his gaze from Fillia who listened to the advice, Rona changed the topic with, 「So」 .

「What about that child? 」

Rona was looking at the little boy still holding Fillia’s hands . The little boy that was stared by a speaking beast shook and hid behind Fillia .

「It’s alright . Although Rona might be a little noisy, he’s kind and strong . 」

Although it was words to ease the little boy, Rona showed discontent at Fillia’s words .

「Whose fault is it that I’m noisy? 」

「Isn’t it Ardis? 」

「……I won’t deny that but, recently, it’s not just Ardis, you see . 」

「Really? 」

「Really―― . Do you understand? A certain someone somewhere . 」

Fillia tilted at Rona’s deliberate tone, and replied with a slightly off-topic answer .

「Alright . Let me tell Riana when we get back . 」

「It’s not like that though――」

Seeing Fillia conversing and Rona’s expressive appearance, it seems like the boy let his guard down as his grip loosened .

「Leaving that aside, what to do with this child? 」

「Uhmm……」

Rona asked once again, and Fillia showed a troubled face .

「Should we bring him to his family? 」

「Well, that’s true . 」

Gaining Rona’s affirmative, Fillia crouched down a little, and smiled at the little boy .

「Say, what’s your name? 」

「……Haru . 」

「Where’s Haru-kun’s house? We will bring you there . 」

At Fillia’s words, the little boy, Haru seemed starting to cry .

「It’s alright . We won’t meet scary people like just now . 」

Fillia thought he recalled the fear from just now but, what Haru said the next moment was unexpected .

「……Please, help . 」

「Eh? What? 」

「Onee-chan, please help…… . Please, please help my Onee-chan! 」