61 Ch-62: Behemoth (4)

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"Sister!"

"W-What?!"

As Cloud hugged her tightly, Adreana was left looking a little embarrassed.

'..I wasn't expecting this kind of reaction.'

She had guesses. Either he won't believe in whatever she said and rebuke her words as nonsensical lies.

Or, he will show his anger to why had they forsaken him and his mother until now.

Or, in a moment of surprise, might squeal from having his status elevated from a mere commoner to a nobleman.

It was going to be one of the three, at least she had thought so.

This was because all those who have appeared identifying themselves as the illegitimate children of Salierre family until now have been like that.

But Cloud jubilantly shouted "sister" and hugged her dearly.

It was as if he had met a family member from whom he had been seperated for ages.

Adreana felt a little absurd.

She hadn't even talked with him in her entire life, leave alone having close contact, why did he react so thrilled?

'No, more than that…'

He was too close!

He's a man who until recently she thought to be a stranger, let alone sharing same blood. He shouldn't be so happy to brotherly hug her all of a sudden.

Adreana pushed Cloud away.

"Ah… I'm sorry, sister. I was so elated by knowing that I have a family out there, that I reacted so ungainly."

Cloud apologized to Adreana with a sorry expression.

Adreana helplessly chuckled in her heart.

"You acted like you were going to murder me and all because I interrupted your sweet dreams, why being so gentle now?"

"But of course, you are my sister."

"To be exact, half-sister."

"Does it matter? The important fact is that I have a family again."

Cloud smiled brightly and then got into recounting his past.

From an early age, he was persecuted by the villagers for being fatherless. As if that was not enough, his mother suddenly fell grievously ill, and shortly before her death, he left with the pommel she dearly cherished.

Having faced her numerous half-brothers, it was a damn repertoire for Adreana.

However, the past Cloud spoke about and to which she was currently listening did not feel boring.

Although it was anything but interesting, she attentively listened to him and, to a lesser extent, empathized with him.

She also frowned when he told how he was mistreated by the villagers in numerous ways.

She had a reason why she took Cloud's life story seriously, unlike when Adreana nonchalantly dismissed her other half-brothers.

It's because she saw the pure, childish joy Cloud showed on his face—facing the revelation that she was his elder sister.

All of her half-brothers she had ever got to meet had seen her and the Salierre family as a tool to change their own life.

It also meant that they did not have pure emotions like Cloud. Therefore, she was moved by the pure heart of her half-brother whom she was officially getting to know for the first time.

By the time his recount got finished, Adreana's wall of psychological distance from Cloud had diminished considerably.

"It must have had been very difficult," she pitied. "Sorry for leaving you alone for so long. In the future, this sister of yours will take care of you."

"Thanks, sis. Then, can I ask you a favour?"

"…a favour?"

Adreana's brow twitched.

No, maybe he's the same as her other half-brothers in the end?

Fortunately, her worries were for naught.

"As you already know, I don't get along very well with Gis, right? So, can you let me know in advance if Gis ever has the intention to harm me or my party members in future?"

Cloud's request seemed very natural.

Adreana happily nodded her head in assurance.

Of course she would, but there was calculation behind it.

'It would be better to build a bridge of trust by informing him once or twice.'

Just because her sense of psychological distance has diminished a bit didn't mean she had forgotten her original purpose. She was not an idiot.

Moreover, if she informs him once or twice and wins his complete trust, it would be easier to use him.

After having a little more conversation, Adreana prepared to take her leave.

"Go back carefully, sister."

"I will. Sorry for disturbing you in the middle of your sleep. And about what happened today…"

"It's our secret, right? Don't worry, I will keep it to myself."

"Good. And, thank you."

Adreana left the tent only after urging him several times to keep it a secret that he was her half-brother.

Cloud stared at Adreana's back until she completely left his sight.

'It will be useful for once or twice.'

Hopefully, she would be able to inform him in advance if Gis ever sent an assassin of the Zarakh Society on his back.

Cloud yawned and crawled back into the cozy bed.

* * *

It had been about three weeks since I arrived at the camp.

I got Randolph's call and headed to his barrack. As soon as I entered the barrack, I found a familiar face.

"Cloud, long time no see."

It was Frillite.

Dressed in a silver-white armor, she smiled and held out her hand to me.

I took that hand.

"Same. Good to see you after all these few months. How have you been?"

"Days have been not much different from usual."

"What have you been doing?"

To my question, Frillite put her arms around her chest and started looking back into her memory lane as she recalled.

"After I parted with you, I headed straight for the eastern region of the Empire. As reported, the evil god's apostle was bewitching the citizens. I killed the garbage and helped in purifying the citizens polluted by the evil god. Since then, I was busy doing little things here and there, such as capturing the leaders of the Revolutionary Army and executing a cabal of warlocks along with the church for tampering with some forbidden magic."

Frillite spit out what she had been doing, as if it was just normal happenstance in her daily life.

She has been working hard.

"What have you been doing all this time?"

"Me? I was exploring a small dungeon."

"A dungeon exploration, uh? That's interesting. What reward did you get?"

"Uh… nothing really great. As I said earlier, it was a small dungeon."

I can't just say that it's a medicinal herb to make my PP grow in size.

"Heh. That's what can be expected from a poor ass like you."

Gis, who stood opposite to Frillite and me, smirked deviously. He had entered the barrack while I was talking to Frillite.

I smiled amicably and responded with a gesture of thrusting my thumb between my index and middle fingers.

Of course. Gis, well aware of the meaning of my gesture, yanked out his chain scythe—his face livid green.

"You motherf**king bastard!"

Gis, well aware of the meaning of my gesture, yanked out his chain scythe—his face livid green.

"You motherf**king bastard!"

"Hey, you can also bark?"

Distancing myself away from him, I was also about to draw my sword. When a strong, compressed wind pressure materialized and carried Gis away from his feet. Frillite was wielding her greatsword.

"Stop. We are here to solve the abnormal situation that is currently happening in the forest, and not to fight among our fellow heroes."

Seeing Frillite step up made Gis twist his face beyond recognition as he reluctantly but silently inserted back his chain scythe. It seems that the experience of having a hole punctured right through the stomach was quite memorable.

"Cloud. You too, take your hands off the sword."

"Alright, but did you really have to split the poor table? Judging from the look on Sir Randolph's face, it seemed to be an expensive one."

Frillite turned her head to look at Randolph's face. Seeing Randolph staring blankly at the table or what it used-to-be, she coughed lightly in embarrassment and put up an apology.

"…sorry. I will surely reimburse for it later."

"It's okay… may I speak now?"

Randolph individually looked around at the expression of the four heroes one by one.

We all affirmed with a slight nod, Randolph sighed and began to explain the reason for summoning the heroes here.

"First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the heroes who have come a long way to help Duke Oler and the duchy. And coming straight to the main point, our soldiers will be marching into the forest to solve the cause of the anomaly."

"Are we going to finish it quickly? That's damn good."

Gis smiled at Randolph as if he was darn pleased with the dude.

The facial expressions of the other heroes didn't look disagreeable either.

I asked Randolph.

"What is the troop availablity?"

"Over five hundred of our people have been either killed or injured. So we plan to deploy about five thousand soldiers except for the five hundred who will protect the wounded."

Randolph's answer was quite surprising.

"You are going all in with the troops? That means we have to pull apart the defense lines surrounding the forest, but then what about the monsters who would in the meantime escape from the forest?"

"That's the reason why we're leaving five hundred people to protect the wounded."

"That's not what I'm saying. The monsters that manage to escape the forest are going to pass through the evacuated villages and eventually head to the city. If the gates are to be breached, the citizens will be at risk, Sir Randolph. I'm asking if you are sure about taking such a risk."

"If that's the cause of your concern, you don't have to worry. According to the reports of our scouts, the number of remaining beasts and monsters is at most around five hundred. With those numbers they won't be able to break through the gates."

"Is the information reliable?"

"Information gained at the expense of numerous scouts. So, no doubt about it."

Randolph had an expression on his face that expressed he would never have been more determined than he was. With my scepticism answered, I put a lid on my doubts.

Otherwise, it might turn into the starting point of a verbal conflict that none of us wanted.

Having decided to march straight into the woods, all that was left was to draw up the finer details and prepare for the march.

* * *

It's not easy to march through the forest.

The forest path is at most wide enough for five people to walk side-by-side.

Naturally, there was no way the troop could advance in a formation, and we had to walk through the grumpy forest.

On top of that, a troop meant many people, so the pace slowed down even more.

"So, as we are looking for the Behemoth…"

It was better to divide the troop to increase our efficiency towards finding it.

However, if we did, there was a possibility that one side would be pincered by the Behemoth and the monsters he controls, annihilating many in process.

In order to reduce the damage, we better stick together, even if meant moving at a slow pace.

"You sound very confident. Why can't something other than a Behemoth be the cause of this situation?"

Frillite, who was walking next to me, quizzed.

Seeing from Frillite's point of view, her questioning my confidence is just, but since I've played the game, I know that the cause of this is a freaking Behemoth.

So what?

"Would you like to have a bet then?"

I'm going to use it in the right way.

"Bet? It doesn't sound half-bad, but what are we betting with?"

"The loser pays for the drinks. Moreover, there are no restrictions, the winner can order expensive alcohol."

Frillite squinted her eyes rather dangerously.

"Didn't you promise that you would only drink ale?"

"…are you really going to kill the fun?"

I looked at Frillite with the most desperate puppy eyed expression. If one doesn't even melt to this, they simply aren't human. To which, Frillite laughed.

She chuckled, "It does sound okay to drink something intoxicating after a hard job. But, only this once."

"Yahooo!"

F**k off to you, darn ale!

My lovely expensive wine, here I come~!

As I was rejoicing inside, someone grabbed my arm. It was Neria who had pulled over, and her complexion looked pretty bad.

"Are you crazy, Cloud? You can't be drinking with Frillite-sama–"

Before she even finished speaking.

The forest shook with the loud cries of the monsters.

At the same time, there was the sound of many legs rushing through the forest.

Highly likely—beasts and monsters. Many beasts and monsters.

Their hurtle wasn't directed at us.

Rather, it was getting farther away.

They must be heading to the city with the intention of raiding the empty and loosely-defended nest.

'I'm glad Randolph's information turned out to be correct.'

If the number of monsters had reached a thousand, the forest would have heaved just by their chaos.

But the forest did not heave.

Just the moment I felt reassured.

I saw something flying in the sky.

The face and body of a female, but the arms and legs had the characteristics of birds.

A harpy.

The harpies were flying with their big boobies flapping in the air.

How? And why were they coming out here?

They cannot be controlled by a Behemoth.

No, rather, they're flying to the city, right?

This changes the situation by a lot.

'I'll get to Randolph later.'

Respectfully, at that.

I sighed and asked Frillite.

"Do you want to go or should I?"

You can read fully translated chapters, including the last chapter, for $20.

p(a)treon.com/Daoist02