Chapter 34
Louis met Laurel's gaze.
Then...
He closed his eyes with a resigned expression.
"I'll stay."
"Good."
Laurel nodded immediately.
"Excellent decision."
"If you stop them and return alive..."
"I'll make you a knight!"
How exactly would a fugitive noble boy...
Who was escaping into another country after becoming a rebel...
Make someone a knight?
How could Louis survive while fighting alone?
Even if he did survive...
How would he then escape the Great Forest by himself?
None of it made sense.
Everyone present knew that.
Still...
No one said anything.
The knights and noblewomen looked away.
The mercenaries looked at Louis with pity.
Among them...
Amber looked extremely uncomfortable.
She hated sacrificing people.
But she had no right to interfere in another noble family's affairs.
"No."
Louis lowered his head toward the women.
"With this..."
"I consider my debt to Count Toledo repaid."
"Thank you for everything."
The noble mother and daughter looked at him with sorrow.
But neither could bring themselves to answer.
Louis's words meant he was severing his connection with the Toledo family.
And abandoning the relationship between knight and squire.
Laurel's face turned red with anger.
Still...
He could not scold someone who had volunteered to die in his place.
Instead...
He turned and began walking toward the canyon.
Everyone else hurried after him.
It would be ridiculous if they were caught before even reaching the position they planned to defend.
While the others moved...
Jake approached Amber.
"How long would you need to cast a spell strong enough to collapse the canyon?"
Amber looked confused at first.
Then her expression became serious.
"At least twenty minutes."
"There's no way he can hold them alone for that long."
Travel through the forest was slow.
But their group also contained ordinary people.
Louis would have to stop the pursuers entirely by himself during that time.
No matter how skilled he was with a shield...
Amber believed it was impossible.
"But what else can we do?"
She bit her lip.
"I can't stay."
"I can't ask someone else to stay either."
Amber wanted to remain if possible.
But she needed to collapse the canyon with magic.
More importantly...
Her primary objective was escorting the women to safety.
She could not casually remain behind.
"I should tell everyone this won't work."
Amber said.
"It'll only cause someone to die for nothing."
Jake looked toward Jessica.
"I think we should stay."
Jessica blinked.
"What?"
"Jessica is a Mana User."
Jake explained.
"And unlike the others..."
"She can climb the rock walls."
"We can hold them here."
"Then she can carry me up the cliff and escape."
Amber already knew Jessica's boots were magic items.
Even a Mana User could not suddenly accelerate during combat...
Or sprint up trees as though they were flat ground...
Without something like magic boots.
Amber simply assumed a Great Forest adventurer might have hidden one magic item.
That was the perspective of a mage and noble.
"Whoa, no."
Jessica immediately objected.
"You're too heavy."
"I can't carry you!"
Jake nearly choked.
He sent her a frantic Message.
-Please cooperate!
-I never said you'd actually have to carry me!
Jessica pouted.
Then she changed her answer.
"Oh."
"Actually..."
"It should be possible."
Amber looked even more confused by the sudden reversal.
Jake immediately finished the argument.
"She says it's possible."
"Let us stay instead of you."
"But..."
Amber still hesitated.
It felt as though Jake was somehow controlling the entire conversation.
Yet the two were volunteering to risk themselves to save everyone else.
She did not have the luxury of doubting their motives.
"Don't worry."
Jake reassured her.
"We can escape without trouble."
"And if we're lucky..."
"We might even save that boy too."
Amber wanted to object.
But eventually...
She could only nod.
Jake had already laid all the groundwork he needed.
He and Jessica stopped inside the canyon.
Then Jake waved toward Amber.
"You have to survive!"
Amber shouted.
"Don't worry!"
Jake answered.
"We'll be back in the territory before you."
Jessica waved too.
Louis stood at the canyon entrance and stared toward the forest.
He could still hear the voices of the others moving farther away.
But those sounds passed through him without meaning.
He had planted his shield in the ground.
And now...
He was looking back over his short life.
His childhood as the son of a tenant farmer.
The day Count Toledo noticed him while he was playing at war with other children using wooden swords.
Entering the castle.
The exhausting but rewarding training.
The joy of sensing mana for the first time.
Laurel's jealousy.
The despair when he discovered he could not project mana outside his body.
Then...
The new emperor's declaration that the Count was a rebel.
Count Toledo's death.
Their escape.
Becoming isolated.
Being bullied by Laurel.
It had been a short life...
But an eventful one.
And now that it seemed to be ending...
Even someone as sturdy as Louis could not avoid feeling depressed.
"Like Grandfather always said..."
Louis murmured.
"In the end, everyone dies alone."
It was a deeply sorrowful line.
Unfortunately...
Its mood was instantly destroyed by a voice behind him.
"What are you talking about?"
"We went through all the trouble of staying with you..."
