บท 33: The Angel That Fell Into a Trap

The silence of the night is suddenly broken. Across a snow field, near the shores of a beach, four people could be seen running. Three were in the front while another one was following them. The dark of the night was able to obscure most things, but if you were a good scout, you'd probably be able to figure out what was happening.

The three humans were being chased by a wolfgirl, desperately trying to run for their lives. In this terrain and with their level disadvantage, it was only a matter of time before the girl managed to catch up to them. The best they could do was fire out spells at their assailant, hoping that it would buy them a bit of time.

To say it seemed like a hopeless situation would be an understatement. When this girl caught up with the humans, they were going to be killed for sure, with no chance of fighting back. Yet, it was also very intriguing.

This island is at war at the moment, the beastmen populations are protecting the shores, making it so that no man or woman is able to disembark. So, how do you explain the current situation? Why are there 3 people who are clearly not from this island running for their lives right now? How did they even manage to get here in the first place?

Well, there's an explanation for it, of course. But the events that led to this night are clouded in much more fog than one could possibly hope to see through. Any assumption made here would surely lead to one's downfall, as the truth couldn't be hidden under a more unique set of circumstances.

If you were intrigued by this situation, the first logical step would be to gather information. First of all, checking the skills of everyone involved is of utmost importance. Usually, someone's skills are a good indication of what their Gift is capable of, people tend to use skills to enhance their own Gift capabilities after all, either strengthening what it's already good at or opening up new possibilities.

Looking at what's happening, it's not hard to see something strange. The girls are capable of ice magic and fire magic respectively, both seem to focus on that while trying to distance themselves from the wolfgirl chasing them. The boy though is capable of both, and not only that, for their age and level, they show an admirable number of skills, so most likely they've been living a life of hardships where they'd need to fight each and every day just to go by, this also shows in the girls' fighting ability, which you wouldn't expect of someone at that level.

The boy is a bit less prominent, but maybe he's preparing something. He seems more anxious than the rest after all.

The most important factor right now is that no one has any ability related to illusion, and in the humans' case, it doesn't look like they would even be able to maintain one for too long. So whatever is observed must be a reality in its purest form.

In this case, wouldn't this be an opportunity for the enemy of the beastmen living on this island? There are people who somehow had the capability of entering this island, something his kingdom has been trying to do for quite some time now.

If these people being chased right now could provide information about somewhere where the defenses aren't as tight, or maybe a place where a small group could sneak by, then whoever gets their hands on them would get amazing rewards for their deed.

But what if it was a trap? If these people were somehow in cahoots with the beastmen? Even though it would be hard to believe, it could happen. But no other kingdom made any attempt to invade the island, so, it still brings up the question of how humans managed to disembark here in the first place.

In the end, if you were strong enough to overpower both the beastgirl giving chase and the humans being chased, then, no matter what the situation was, you could still at the very least kidnap the humans and make them talk about how they got to the island in the first place.

In the end, if greed and pride managed to overcome caution, then, by all means, whoever had anything to gain with this situation would take a shot at it.

How could I be so sure about that? Well, for starters, a kingdom that started a war with a tribe of strong beastmen, in a terrain that gives the defenders an insane advantage, only for like, two useful mines... I think greed already clouds their minds.

And what's more, a harpy that attacks soldiers in the night, a single general with no fear of death that keeps causing casualties on the enemy. How could he not be proud of himself, after seeing the impact of his actions, after killing many soldiers?

With all of this given to you, how would you not expect them to take action, to take the chance to be rewarded, and to underestimate the enemy he's been winning against for all this time?

Well, for a time, I also had my doubts, but seeing the image in front of me right now, I know that, even if it was a bet, I managed to win big time.

In front of me stood a harpy, wings colored in black. A man in his late twenties, confident in himself. After all, his level manages to stand above the collective of everyone right now, even if he had to fight us, he would surely win. And even if somehow the situation got dicey, he could always fly away.

Miwen: "...! Look out!"

The wolfgirl seems relentless, even in front of such menace, she still attacks him with everything she has. Consecutive punches are thrown out, at a speed that I couldn't hope to match even if I had four arms. There's a hint of desperation in her attempt. As if she had to do it no matter what.

This man, however, manages to dodge most of them, although he still has some trouble, needing to block some as well.

Alas, if there was any doubt about who the superior force here is, the next strike managed to clear away any suspicion. The man punches the wolfgirl hard in her chest, sending her flying meters away.

I can't show concern for Mia's life, but I doubt she'd go down with a single punch. It's better to focus on the feeling that if she survived that, then she will kill me for it later. This fear of being killed by the wolfgirl who has 10x times more levels than Claire helps me a lot in my acting.

Miwen: "... Quickly! Before she comes back!"

I call Claire and Licia, and we continue running at our top speed, in the same direction we were going before. Although the man had his back turned towards us, it takes him just a second to catch up to us.

???: "Going somewhere?"

Miwen: "We were so close... Claire, Licia. Go ahead, I'll be there in a moment!"

Claire: "If you think I'll leave you alone brother, you better-"

Miwen: "Just go!"

???: "Oh, a brother taking care of his sister, how nice."

If it worked once, who's to say it won't work twice? In a way, this guy's recklessness reminds me of Roy, so, now that Claire has experience in lying about her family, I was expecting she'd become even better at it.

The most important thing right now is that this guy has already fallen into my trap, he just doesn't know it. The real question is how far can I take it? If I manage to sell him my bullshit...

???: "Don't worry too much, I didn't come here to kill you alright?"

Miwen: "Don't lie to me, you're going to throw us back into that jail. I've already told you how we got here, just let us leave already."

If acting is the ability to lie and deceive, then I'm not confident in my acting skills. But if that's the case, then, I just need to take a page from Melissa's book and start hiding the truth behind another truth, after all, I really was in jail just a few hours ago. It's also true that I already told Melissa how I got here, and being honest, I really wanted to leave the island, there are things I want to try with a certain Grand Duchy after all...

???: "...I see. Listen, boy, how about a deal ? If you tell me how you got to this island and everything you know about it, I'll let you bring you and the other two girls out of here. How about it?"

Miwen: "And how do I know you're not lying?"

???: " You don't, the best you can do right now is bet on me. Or you could also wait for that wolf girl to wake up and then ask her gently to take you out but..."

Miwen: "... Fine. There's a cave close to where we are right now, their tribe doesn't approach it. We were hiding there but... Either way, if you bring us there at least I'll tell you anything you want to know."

???: "Why wouldn't they approach it ?."

Miwen: "There are two small statues in the front, it may be a religious thing or whatever, I don't really know about it. But we need to go quickly before more of them come."

???: "Is that so? Lead the way then."

I can see a smug smile on his face. This guy just got exactly what he wanted. A place that the Snow White Wolves don't approach? This could be huge news for their army, and what's more, the promise of a human who somehow ended up here telling him all about how he did it... I know for sure this guy thinks he just scored the biggest win possible in this whole affair.