บท 34: Escape
The trial took place. The multiple transgressions that Arthur had committed during all this time were presented, and Arthur, unable to defend himself, used the excuse of being a member of the Reclesia family and fiancé of the princess to try to escape from the disadvantageous situation in which he found himself.
But his attempts were shattered when Beatriz, together with Kein, presented the papers declaring the breaking of the engagement and, most importantly, the expulsion of Arthur from the Reclesia family.
In the face of such a situation, Arthur could do nothing but be stunned, refusing to acknowledge the reality he was in. Finally, his expulsion from the academy was declared and he was given one day to collect all his things and leave.
He was completely helpless and could do nothing but get up and walk silently to his dormitory with his head down. The looks of derision and disdain were noticeable and unfiltered; after all, the powerful and arrogant Arthur Reclesia was now no different from the commoners he had mocked so much—a worthy fate for a person like him.
Feeling these stares but unable to respond at all, Arthur continued walking, shrinking more and more as if wanting to disappear and make his presence invisible to stop receiving those stares.
Finally, with heavy steps he managed to reach his bedroom. Turning the door handle slowly he opened it and when the space was enough to fit his body he moved his feet and entered the room, closing the door behind him.
Truly, a perfect performance
Pop-!
"Congratulations, young master."
With a 'pop' sound, colorful papers flew around the room.
"I'm glad you finally made it."
Livia said with her expressionless face, but Arthur, having spent so much time with this maiden, could easily discern the emotion in her tone.
"Thank you so much, Livia; you did an excellent job too."
He said this as he patted her on the head.
It might seem that Livia hadn't really done much. But thanks to her, these days at the academy were not so tiring.
When I came from a tiring day of goofing off, she was always waiting for me with hot tea and snacks prepared by her. The hellish workouts with Professor Lucius were also made more bearable by having her as a partner. In short, all this crap would have been much more tiring and tedious without her.
But we have to get moving.
After exchanging a few words with Livia, we went out the window wearing the cloaks Miss Lissa's men had given us. They are engraved with incantations that make our presence more difficult to notice.
Moving nimbly through the buildings, we arrived at our first destination.
The female dormitory
Standing outside a window, I tapped it twice, and after a few seconds, it opened, revealing Freydis.
"I feel like we're forbidden lovers who have to see each other in secret in order to get together."
"Seriously, you need to stop reading so many romance novels."
"Oh, come on, let me fantasize. Anyway, here you go."
She said that and handed me a letter with a fancy golden tree stamp.
"When you get to the entrance of the elves' kingdom, show them this letter and give it to my father."
"Thank you very much. I promise I will pay you back.
I said this as I kept the letter in my dimensional ring to keep it safe.
"No need, we're friends; besides, participating in a conspiracy to bring down an evil occult family is very exciting! It's just like in a novel!
She said it with a wide smile and her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"S-sure.
Seriously, she needs to stop reading so many novels.
"I'm sorry, but I can't talk anymore. Take care of yourself."
"That's what I should say. Take care."
After saying goodbye, I left together with Livia, and we moved nimbly through the dark streets of the city academy.
"Forbidden lovers, eh?"
Livia said in a monotone voice as we slipped through the alleys so as not to be seen by people.
Arthur, who heard her, couldn't help but chuckle.
"Don't worry, we're just friends."
"Hmm..."
He said that, but Livia still looked dissatisfied.
"Besides, I like bangs."
This comment took Livia by surprise, who blushed visibly.
"...I see."
She said it shyly as she touched the bangs that covered her left eye.
After that, there was a comforting silence as they continued to move through the dark alleys.
After a while, they reached an open area on the outskirts of the city. Standing there waiting for them were Professor Lucius and Miss Vivian, along with two imposing horses, one completely white and the other completely black.
"Is everything ready?"
Mr. Lucius asked, to which I nodded.
"Yes, it's all settled; all that's left is to take the horses and go."
"Waaa, I'm going to miss my cute student!"
Vivian said it dramatically through tears as she gave me a tight hug.
"Yeah, I'm going to miss you too."
I said breathlessly as I patted her head to calm her down.
"Oh, yes! I have a present for you.
Suddenly, she released me from her embrace and began to search through her robe as if nothing had happened. After rummaging around a bit, she pulled out an untitled book with a leather cover and a strap to close it and handed it to me.
"What is this?"
"It's my research."
I was surprised to hear her words. I already knew what kind of research she was referring to, and when I opened the book to take a look at it, my suspicions were confirmed. In the book were written down all the findings Vivian had managed to find about the flow.
"Are you sure? You've been working on this for years; you're just going to give it to me like this?".
"As I told you before, knowledge is useless if you can't use it or pass it on; I can't do anything with this, but you might find it helpful."
"I see... Thank you very much. I'll be sure to make the most of it."
"I know you will."
She said this as she put her hand on my head.
After that, we got on the horses. I got on the black one while Livia rode the white one. I must say, she looked great riding him.
"Thank you for giving us these horses, Professor Lucius."
"It's nothing, it's the least I could do, just make sure you take good care of them; they can become a bit finicky about their food."
Thanking them once again, we set off with the horses into the forest. The moon was lighting our way, and little by little, the city became less and less visible as we made our way through the forest.
Finally, we left the boundaries of the academy.
However, that also meant that we were in their attack range.
Swoosh~ Swoosh~ Swoosh~ Swoosh~
The leaves on the trees and bushes were moving, but thanks to my enhanced senses, I could tell that it wasn't due to the wind.
'Six pursuers approximately'
It looks like they were impatient, attacking us as soon as we left the boundaries of the academy.
"Get ready."
"Yes."
Shaking the reins of the horses, we increased our speed, and as we did so, our pursuers also began to act up.
Swoosh-!
An arrow flew and stuck in a tree near us. After this, they began to shoot more arrows, which we deftly dodged.
'Professor Lucius was right; these horses are top-notch.'
They were not frightened by the arrows falling near them and moved very well, dodging the trees, even though it was night and dark.
"Good girl."
I stroked the horse. and it snorted as if responding to my compliment.
Our pursuers, perhaps realizing that throwing arrows wasn't going to work, began to take more direct action.
One of them increased speed and began to approach, jumping from tree to tree. When he was close enough, he propelled himself using one of the branches and pulled out a dagger to try to hurt either us or at least try to hurt our horses badly.
But there was something they didn't know.
Swoosh-!
Splut-
We didn't come without escorts.
An arrow flew out and pierced the attacker's head while he was in the air. Killing him on the spot.
Several figures covered in dark cloaks began to move through the trees, but they were not our attackers but our reinforcements. They began to attack those who were chasing us.
As the two forces clashed, Livia and I increased our speed, managing to escape from our pursuers.
However, it wasn't over yet.
Reaching an open area of the forest, we stopped the horses and looked at our last obstacle.
There were three armed men, dressed in black and with their faces covered by masks; the air around them was completely different from the guys who were chasing us before. They were standing surrounding Avalon, who was sitting nonchalantly on a stone.
"I have to say it, little brother, you had me fooled."
He said in his voice that it began to sound extremely annoying to me after spending several days listening to it.
"I guess that's a compliment coming from someone with the nickname Snake."
"Hahaha, it's certainly an accomplishment to manage to fool me; that's why I'm going to give you the choice."
He said that, and his smile widened further before he spoke.
"Surrender, and I'll kill you quickly and painlessly. Of course, I'll also do the same for your maid. I can even let them have a heartwarming talk before I kill them. Aren't I the best big brother?"
I looked at him for a few seconds before pulling my sword out of my dimensional ring.
"I refuse."
"Sigh, is that so? Well, if that's your choice."
He stood up and pulled a spear from his dimensional ring. After whispering something to the masked men, I could hear it thanks to my enhanced hearing.
"You guys, go get the maid; I'll take care of him."
The masked men nodded and began to move.
"Be careful, Livia."
"Yes."
Livia had already gotten off her horse and looked like she already knew what they were planning. She grabbed her maid's outfit and pulled it off, tearing it completely. Underneath, she was dressed in clothing specifically designed by me so she could fight comfortably.
It consisted of a black shirt firmly fixed to her body; on top of it, she had a shirt of the same color that was tied by a belt to keep it out of the way during battle; and finally, loose black pants with a wide cut and elastic at the bottom and shoes that went almost to her knees.
It was a Shaoling uniform, perfect for Livia's fighting style, which relied on flexibility and the use of weapons.
"Oh~? It looks like you weren't just a maid."
"Shut up, narrow eyes; your smile is disgusting."
"...What?"
Avalon looked really angry at Livia's comment, and even though he was smiling, the veins on his forehead were perfectly visible.
"Change your mind; don't kill her; after I take care of my little brother, I want her brought to me."
The masked men nodded and, with a quick movement, disappeared; Livia did too, and I was left alone with Avalon.
"Aren't you going to help your maid?".
"No need; I trust her."
I said and got into position to start the fight; Avalon looked unconcerned.
"You won't stand guard."
"Against you? No need; you're just trash."
He said with an arrogant tone
"Well then..."
Woosh-!
I quickly closed the distance between us. Avalon was surprised and quickly raised his spear to protect himself from my attack.
Clank-!
My sword slammed into his spear, creating a shockwave that made him take a step backwards.
"What's wrong? Wasn't that just trash?"
"You!!!"
Avalon, visibly irritated, pushed me back and lunged at me.
Clank-! Clank-! Clank-!
He's skilled, but he's no match for Professor Lucius and that guy'
Although Avalon could be considered a skilled warrior, Arthur was already used to facing opponents with a much higher level than him, so dealing with Avalon's attacks was not a problem for him, besides possessing a much stronger body than before.
Clank-!
"What-!?"
With a heavy hit, Arthur managed to knock Avalon off balance, leaving her vulnerable.
Bringing his longsword into position, he performed a quick thrust with the aim of ending the fight.
"Damn!"
But Avalon, thanks to his reflexes, managed to move his body to narrowly dodge Arthur's sword, though he received a deep cut on his abdomen.
'Gotcha!'
Taking advantage of Arthur's close proximity, he reversed his grip on his spear and tried to stab him. But before the spear could even graze him, Arthur recoiled, backing away from him.
'He's got pretty good reflexes; I guess he's not an Aura apprentice for nothing.'
Arthur thought to himself as he watched Avalon, who was breathing heavily and holding the wound in his side.
The lunge he made was fast enough that a normal warrior couldn't react. The fact that Avalon managed to dodge it was a testament to his skills.
"If I'm being honest, I thought you'd be dead by this point."
Veins appeared on Avalon's forehead when he heard those words, He couldn't believe that a person like Arthur was giving him a fight and even beating him; this was a big hit to his pride.
'I didn't think it would be necessary to use it against him, but as long as I can kill that bastard, I don't care.'
Suddenly, a red aura began to emanate from Avalon's body. The wound on his side that just now wouldn't stop bleeding magically closed. Avalon's presence also seemed to become more dangerous and heavy.
"Alright, you fucking bastard, you pissed me off."
Getting into position, Avalon looked at Arthur with his blue eyes and a grotesque grin.
"I'm going to dismember your limb from limb."
***
N/A: A little bit short, but the exams started and I have to study; that's why I probably won't upload for some time. I'll try to write when I can and update as much as possible. I also wanted to tell you that I gave a face-lift to the novel. I went through all the chapters and fixed most of the spelling mistakes. Besides changing some small things—nothing too important, just some details—the most important thing would be that I took out the last name West for Kein because he is a commoner and it didn't make much sense that he had a last name. Besides his background story as a member of a fallen noble family, that would be all. Thank you for reading.
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