35. On the Deer
This group of extras was still feeling smug about the idea of ”no one around, so we can boldly kidnap the saintess and eliminate this cannon fodder,” but in reality, the area had long been “cleared” in advance by Professor Moriarty and her team under my orders. Otherwise, how could it be so quiet?
To put it simply: although taking Ikusis and fleeing was a last resort, the subsequent events meant that regardless of whether Ikusis and I were discovered while hiding, this group of extras could not escape the fate of being “secretly taken away.” The situation had evolved into one where they were caught red-handed, making it hard for them to argue their case. They would only face more severe consequences; they were just unlucky, after all. Extras are just extras.
As soon as I finished speaking, Professor Moriarty had already rushed forward with Kefer and a team of people, not even giving these extras a chance to resist or argue. One by one, they were tightly bound, their mouths gagged, and their heads covered with black cloth. I was not surprised by any of this; all that was left was that foolish saintess Ikusis.
After attempting to escape amidst the chaos, only to be caught by Kefer, Ikusis had no choice but to put on a guilty expression and play the victim, then hesitantly recounted the events under Kefer’s seemingly fair but actually sour questioning. Meanwhile, Professor Moriarty directed the team to take these extras away, and as she passed by me, she cast a glance filled with a hint of “sympathy.”
“This is the last batch of fleeing minions. The city will be much safer from now on, thank you for providing us with the clues. By the way… you really are in a tough spot.”
【Moriarty sympathizes with Euclid being caught in a hellish situation.】
You understand, right? Hurry up and take back Kefer, who is relentlessly entangling Ikusis, and turn the questioning from taking notes to asking Ikusis if she had “any close contact with me”!
Afterwards, Professor Moriarty pulled the still somewhat reluctant Kefer along, leading the row of “criminals” away with the team, finishing before any passersby could gather. The scene was left with just me and Ikusis, who seemed not to have “calmed down” from the earlier incident.
“Your Highness, the Saintess, I won’t say anything like ‘don’t run around next time.’ You should understand now, right? As long as you stay honestly in the Great Yingtian Empire, you won’t encounter any danger .”
I moved closer to Ikusis, grabbing her arm to prevent this fool from getting any ideas about escaping again.
The scripts where the “extras stab me” have vanished; it seems Professor Moriarty was right. The remnants of that blonde archbishop’s extras had all been “taken in” along with the last batch that was caught. With that, the factors that could directly threaten this fool, who had enmity with Ikusis, no longer existed. This saintess should be able to stay put without wanting to run away, right?
Not to mention, today was my “heroic rescue,” although I lost a bit of the spotlight in the end, but it wouldn’t do for Ikusis not to say something nice about me.
So, Your Highness, has your evaluation of Euclid improved a bit?
I was just about to ask this when I noticed: what was wrong with Ikusis? Although the foolishness about her had disappeared, making her seem somewhat unfamiliar, her silence indeed carried a bit of a “dazed” meaning.
Looking at the script, the content was even stranger!
【Ikusis is hesitating.】
“Your Highness?”
“Ah…”
When I called out, Ikusis made a strange noise and shook her body, and her foolishness returned.
“Those small fry have been taken away, but it wouldn’t be good for us to stay here either; we might get recognized on the way back. While there aren’t too many people around, let me take you back first.”
After a pause, I shot a glance at Ikusis, who still looked a bit “reluctant.” “Anyway, you only came out today to sneak away, right? Since you can’t run away now, just come back with me. Although I’m supposed to have you evaluate, I’m also responsible for supervising you.”
“Hahaha~ No way~ Shh…”
Ikusis’s face fell, “How did you know…?”
I pointed to my head, “You can predict, but I have my own script too, darling!”
I took Ikusis’s hand, ready to leave, but then…
The script changed once again!
【Ikusis has her own secrets!】
With the emergence of the script, Ikusis put on a seemingly ingratiating smile in front of me, twisting her body and wearing a silly face as she “pleaded” with me.
“I… I’ll just leave a letter for you to withdraw the warrant. Can you let me go now, please~?”
Before, she wanted me to feel good, and now she’s pulling this trick…
“No way! A letter can’t serve as evidence, and… if you leave now, where will you go, what will you do? The church still has remnants of the archbishop; the best option is to wait until the summit of the nations is over and return with the people sent by our Great Yng Empire. That’s the safest.”
“Ugh… then, can you just let me be alone for a day? I’ll go home at night, okay!?”
“Ikusis, do you think I’m an idiot, or are you just a fool yourself!?”
What’s the difference between that and saying, “I’ll just poke around without going in!”?
“It’s true! I’m really sorry! But today I absolutely need to do something alone! And you can’t follow me secretly!”
However, this time, Ikusis’s reaction was surprisingly serious; she even put her hands together in front of me, making a pleading gesture! With her eyes tightly shut, one might think she was praying.
“I can help get your warrant withdrawn in exchange! Just let me be alone for a while!”
“…”
That was a condition I found hard to refuse, but I wouldn’t agree to just that, after all, I had promised the queen to keep an eye on Ikusis.
Yet, as I wanted to refuse, the content of the script surprised me.
【Ikusis wasn’t lying.】
This fool, was she actually not scheming to escape this time? Then what did she need to do alone? The script didn’t indicate any aversion from Ikusis about being with me; after all, she was alone in the Great Yng Empire with nowhere to go. Besides wandering aimlessly on the streets and risking being recognized and causing a commotion, she shouldn’t have anything else to do…
Helplessly, the script didn’t reveal what would happen next! I hesitated for a moment.
“What do you want to do?”
“Secret! And you absolutely don’t need to know!”
【Ikusis killed Ougilid!】
Tsk, at a time like this, don’t throw me a script that makes my heart race, making it seem like Ikusis is planning to buy some kind of ax.
“I swear by the lady… uh, anyway, I swear! I absolutely won’t run away; I’ll definitely go home properly this time!”
“…Before the moon is full tonight.”
I sighed, ultimately agreeing to Ikusis’s dangerous request.
As long as the script didn’t show any thoughts of Ikusis running away, I might as well earn some goodwill; after all, this fool was tied to Ougilid’s reputation, wasn’t she?
—