Home/I Became the Emergency Food Supply of the Bear Family/ch105

Chapter 105

Murderous intent as a normal emotion?

She had never met anyone like that in her life.

While Ber was stunned and frantically searching for a way out, the Chancellor leisurely surveyed the bedchamber. He had brought half a dozen Imperial Knights into the room with him in case of any unforeseen circumstances—and yet not a single one of them was restraining Knob.

So he incapacitated them in advance, after all.

All the other knights who had been standing beside Kaien were either collapsed on the floor or unconscious. A powerful beast's gaze carried power—he must have overwhelmed them with a look laced with killing intent and knocked them out.

When did he... What a formidable fellow.

She had heard that the Viscount of the Nualle family was dying of consumption and had adopted a bastard son—but this was not the condition of a man suffering from lung disease.

Ah. So that's it.

The Chancellor quickly grasped the situation.

The beast had healed the Viscount's illness. And to repay that debt, he had even infiltrated the Imperial Knights.

Truly a loyal heart.

He chuckled mockingly at Kaien, sprawled on the floor, then recalled someone else's face.

The fact that this brat had been able to infiltrate the Knights meant someone had betrayed them. Heines Hegwig.

Well, he was a failure of the Hegwig family to begin with. With such shallow backing, there'd be no rush to punish him once this was over. How should he deal with him? Perhaps the reinforcements who had answered the summons had already taken care of him.

Either way—before that.

He had to deal with this mongrel first.

Without the slightest hesitation, the Chancellor drew his wand and aimed it at Kaien. Mana began to gather at its tip.

Even a non-mage could tell—the moment that mana burst forth, Kaien's life would be over.

"No!"

Ber rushed to block the Chancellor's path.

"Stop! What you wanted was my life, wasn't it?"

The Chancellor stared quietly at Ber, who stood with both arms spread wide, signaling she would not move aside. Then he curled his lips into a smirk.

"You've placed yourself in a most convenient position. With this, I can take both your life and his at once."

"......!"

There was still no hesitation in the Chancellor's eyes. The mana gathered at his wand's tip had already taken a spherical form.

Ber bit her lips and bowed her head. What do I do? I have to do something. I can't let Kaien, who came all the way here for me, die...!

Just then—

Boom! KRRRAAASH!

From beyond the right wall of the bedchamber came a sharp sound of impact, followed by people's screams. The Chancellor, who had been about to cast his spell, halted his incantation and turned toward the wall.

Then came another thundering crash—Boom! Boom! Bang! Bang! Bang!—and a vibration that seemed certain to shatter the wall.

—Ber! Berdiana! If you can hear my voice, answer me!

"......The Head of the House?"

Ber's face lit up. Lord Palas had broken through the barrier!

Lord, I'm here! In the next room—His Majesty's bedchamber!

—......! Hold on just a little longer!

Careful not to provoke the Chancellor unnecessarily, Ber sent her voice only to Theodore beyond the wall.

The pounding against the wall grew even fiercer. At that moment, the Chancellor clicked his tongue and swung his wand.

Whoosh—

A great tremor echoed, and Ber felt as if something transparent and heavy had settled within the bedchamber. Immediately after, the sound of Theodore striking the wall faded.

......Did he cast another barrier?

Thinking that, Ber hurriedly approached the bedchamber wall and reached out her hand. If it was a barrier, she could dispel it with the power of Spring. But she felt no such barrier at all.

Not a barrier?

Could it be a sealing spell? If it were a seal, she could break the sealed space—but she didn't have that kind of power. Unless the caster released the spell herself, there was no way out...!

Ber turned back toward the Chancellor. Meanwhile, the Chancellor's expression was one of sheer astonishment.

"What...? How in the world...?"

The room adjacent to the bedchamber was the study. He had already stationed troops there in advance, anticipating that if the main gate were breached and Count Grizuli invaded the palace, the study would be his first target. After all, the Count had visited the study before and had seen the Emperor emerge through the connecting door.

That the Count had managed to breach the palace in such a short time could only mean—

"Then the palace barrier has been broken. How is such nonsense even possible...!"

"I did it."

At Ber's low voice, the Chancellor furrowed his brow. Ber, stepping forward to block his path once more, glared straight at him and declared:

"I deciphered the barrier-breaking formula and sent it to our allies."

"...?"

The Chancellor was stunned. A barrier-breaking formula? Was it truly possible to devise such a thing? Could this small, young brat really have done that? Was it also the power of the beast? More than that—how could she have managed it while trapped in here?

As he racked his brain, the Chancellor recalled a moment—when the sacrificial offering had pulled out the mana stone.

"The mana stone was a trap...?"

"Just give up!"

The girl's cry seemed almost like an attempt to warn him.

"I possess the power to dismantle a barrier that has stood unbroken for hundreds of years. Whatever you try, it won't work against me! So—"

"That may be so."

But the Chancellor's single remark shattered the girl's feigned composure.

"As far as magic goes."

"......!"

The Chancellor reached out with his free hand and seized Ber by the throat. In an instant, her breath was cut off. She struck at his arm and kicked wildly, trying to escape his grip, but it was no use.

Her vision went white. The terror of death looming so close made Ber grit her teeth. And then—

"Could it be... that bastard? Did that wretch find the sealed location...?"

The Chancellor suddenly turned to look out the window and began muttering unintelligible words. In that moment, the strength drained from his hand—

A bloodcurdling cry rang through the bedchamber, followed by the Chancellor's agonizing scream. He released Ber's throat at once.

The pain was excruciating.

Kaien's sword had severed the Chancellor's left hand.

Kaien, who had been lying unconscious on the floor, now stood before the Chancellor with his sword raised, shielding Ber.

"AAAAARGH...! You...! You dare... you dare cut off my hand...!"

Gripping his bleeding wrist, the Chancellor collapsed to the floor and glared up at Kaien.

Kaien raised his sword toward the Chancellor. Ber felt a chill run down her spine at the look in his eyes as he stared down at him.

Those grey eyes held not a trace of hesitation or remorse—only fury that he had been hurt.

Kaien's sword sliced down precisely toward the Chancellor's neck. But—

"GYYYYYAAAAAAAAHHHH—!"

What the blade struck was the arm that had lost its hand and was dripping blood. In that split second when the Chancellor had used his own arm to block Kaien's sword—

"TAKE THIS!"

Foaming at the mouth, the Chancellor unleashed his magic.

"Gh...!"

It happened in the blink of an eye. Kaien was a fraction too late.

He twisted his body swiftly to dodge the magical slash aimed at his head, but a portion of the attack still struck him.

The area the mana grazed was his neck.

Screeeech—

A gash burst open.

He tried to stop it with his hand, but the bleeding continued. Blood soaked his palm and gushed through his fingers, spilling in streams.

"Senior... Senior Kaien!"

Ber screamed and rushed toward him. With trembling hands, she pressed his neck and tried to channel the power of Spring. But somehow—Kaien shook his head.

Barely parting his lips, flecked with blood, Kaien spoke. In a voice barely more than a whisper, he desperately, earnestly pleaded:

Run. Don't die. Please.

Ber's vision blurred immediately.

Each time Kaien coughed up blood, his face grew paler and paler.

"No...! I won't run away and leave you behind."

Shaking her head firmly, Ber placed her hand on Kaien's skin and closed her eyes.

But the Chancellor gave her no time to heal him.

"If I said die, then you die."

Ber's breath was cut off again—the Chancellor had grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air.

Watching her choke, the Chancellor curled his lips into a smile.

"You'll die helplessly like this. You and this brat. While regretting ever being born into this wretched empire!" 

"......"

Amid the pain, Ber opened her eyes.

With a searing glare fixed on the Chancellor, she grabbed his right arm.

Back   Next