“Of course, I think Adlet did it. We should kill him now,” said Hans.
“I’m against it! Kill Adlet? That’s absolutely out of the question!” Nashetania cried.
“Hmm, Chamo still isn’t sure about Fremy,” said Chamo. “That whole explanation just didn’t click. Well, for now, why don’t we just try torturing Adlet?” She giggled. Was she serious, or was that supposed to be a joke?
“I believe Hans’s logic is correct. But we should wait and see just a bit longer before we kill him,” said Mora.
Then five sets of eyes turned toward Goldof and Fremy, whom the former held in chains. Fremy spoke first. “I have no opinion. You all just do what you want.”
“Fremy.” Adlet ground his teeth. Couldn’t she have helped him out just a little bit—just a tiny, little bit?
“I see. Then, Goldof?” asked Mora.
Goldof closed his eyes and pondered for a while. His grip on Fremy’s bonds slackened.
“Goldof,” said Nashetania. “You understand, don’t you? There’s no way Adlet is our enemy.”
Goldof opened his eyes and said quietly, “This is what I think.” As he spoke, he pulled out the spear slung over his back and instantly closed the distance between himself and Adlet.
“Goldof!” Nashetania yelled.
Adlet jumped to one side in an attempt to escape. He was just a moment too late and barely dodged the spear while Goldof’s large frame still knocked him backward. He slammed into the wall of the temple. While this was going on, Hans was drawing his sword, preparing to leap at Adlet.
In that moment, Adlet’s mind was blank. So what was it that made him act? Was it his warrior instincts? A subconscious reflex? Or was it fate? Adlet’s hand simply moved. The item he pulled from his pouch was one of the finest among his many secret tools. It looked like nothing but a bit of metal wrapped in paper. But when he squeezed it, a special chemical came in contact with the fragment of rare metal within the paper, causing a chemical reaction.
“Wha—!”
An intense light burst forth, many times brighter than staring straight at the sun. Hans and Goldof were powerful opponents—a smoke bomb probably wouldn’t have worked on them. But they wouldn’t be able to respond right away to a new kind of attack. Everyone covered their eyes, cringing.
In that moment, Adlet’s brain whirled furiously, searching for a way to escape this crowd of six. Was the plan he hit upon the correct choice or not? He didn’t have the option of stopping to consider it. Adlet ran to Fremy, whose wrists were still bound by chains, even now that Goldof had moved away from her.
Adlet would do whatever it took to win, use everything available to him. He could never be choosy about his methods. Adlet had declared himself to be the strongest man in the world, and that was what he believed. Whether those convictions were correct or not was another matter—they only underpinned his actions.
By the time the others’ vision had cleared, Adlet had Fremy slung over his shoulder. There was a needle dipped in sleeping serum poking out of her shoulder. Adlet’s sword was pressed against Fremy’s neck. “Nobody move. If you move, I’ll cut her,” he said. The tip of his sword cut a few millimeters deep into the skin of her neck. The five surrounding Adlet all froze.
This was the only way.
Adlet had only two sleeping needles, and none of his other tools could have created such a certain opening for him.
“It can’t be… This is just…” Nashetania’s sword slipped from her hand, and she slumped to the floor.
“The secret is out now, I see,” said Mora.
“M-meow. I didn’t really expect this,” gasped Hans.
Adlet glared at the five Braves around him. The immediate problem was Hans, who blocked the temple entrance. “Get out of the way.”
“Tellin’ me to move is not gonna make me move. I might if you tell me not to, though.”
“Then don’t. Stay right there,” said Adlet.
“What should I do, I wonder?” Hans was quietly looking for an opportunity to separate Adlet’s head from his shoulders. But the world’s strongest man would not give him the opening.
“Let Chamo do it,” said Chamo, twitching her foxtail.
But Mora stopped her. “Wait. Your power would swallow up Fremy as well. We cannot have that.”
“Then what do we do?” Chamo asked.
Growing impatient, Adlet yelled, “Who said you could chat?! Make a decision, Hans! Are you gonna move or not?!”
“M-meow! I get it. I’ll move, so don’t yell at me!” Hans snapped, taking one step away from the door.
Adlet immediately set off his second flash grenade. Everyone else was blinded again. But of course, it wouldn’t be as effective the second time around. Still carrying Fremy, Adlet ran out the door. That was when he felt something slam into him from behind. Hans had thrown his sword, burying it in Adlet’s back. “Ngh!” This time he threw a smoke bomb to slow down Hans and the others as they chased him. Making use of every single secret tool in his arsenal, Adlet fled. He passed through the pillars of salt and into the forest. He ran and ran from the sound of his pursuers’ footsteps, close on his trail. The pain in his back was intense, but he couldn’t pull out the sword. If he did, blood would spurt from the wound, and he would very quickly be unable to move. Adlet had no choice but to get away with the sword still in his back.
“Damn it…” He’d thought it would be enough to just get out of there. But of course, it wasn’t. After that, none of them would believe he was innocent. But there had been no other way to survive.
How long have I been running? The fog was dyed a thin red that was eventually supplanted by dusk. The sun was setting. Suddenly, Adlet realized he couldn’t hear the footsteps behind him anymore. He
