Chapter 397: The Whistle
Below the royal ballroom there was once a path Armand knew well, but here, below this building, it was nothing but overgrown woods. If Evelia hadn’t been wearing her cloak, the wild grass sticking out on both sides would have cut her arms.
It wasn’t until she had run far from the blaze that she noticed, it was snowing.
White snowflakes drifted against the black sky. In places untouched by moonlight, the snow still tried its best to keep its pure white glow.
“—Haa… haa…”
To clear her head, Evelia took a deep breath, letting the cold air rush through her mouth, down her throat, and into her lungs. Maybe it had been too long since she’d faced cold wind head-on, because she shivered without thinking.
Her pace wasn’t slow, and she could see broken branches showing clear signs of being pushed aside. Unless this was a deliberately staged trap, White Dove had probably escaped down this wild path.
Evelia didn’t care whether it was a trap. This was her only lead, so she bet everything on it and ran.
She slipped on protective gloves as she pushed branches aside. Technically it was spring now, but the scene around her didn’t feel like it, snow still clung to some dead branches, making her fingers sting with cold.
The path seemed endless, yet she felt like she might reach the end at any moment. Evelia kept running, staying under the cover of the trees, until she saw moonlight spilling faintly through the gaps above.
Snow fell gracefully, dancing in the moonbeams, carried by the wind to places unknown.
The snowflakes seemed to sparkle in Evelia’s eyes. Their free and drifting beauty left her slightly dazed.
If only she could be like the snow—
“—?!”
The next moment, as she pushed aside the last dead branch, the light in front of her was suddenly blocked.
She had thought the wolves would have been roasted in the fire by now, but instead of finding none, here one had been waiting to ambush her.
The instant she showed herself, the wolf lunged, jaws wide, snapping for her head.
Its ability to hide its presence caught Evelia completely off guard. She tried to dodge, but the sudden attack slammed into her hard.
Sissk!
Her deep red hood was torn clean off and clamped between the black wolf’s teeth, looking like a lump of rotten, blackened flesh.
“Haa… tss…!”
The cloak had saved her head from being bitten clean through, but the wolf’s fangs still raked a long, deep gash down the side of her neck. Blood streamed freely.
Even so, she didn’t stop. She twisted aside to dodge the next pounce, then drove her first dagger straight through the wolf’s skull. The second stabbed deep into its chest, and, as if terrified it might leap again, she slashed the third straight across its belly, spilling its guts onto the ground.
“Haaah…!”
Who would have thought that White Dove, a so-called “apothecary” who seemed so harmless, had so many beasts under his care? Evelia realized she had been completely played.
She pulled alcohol from her magic seal, pouring it over her wound. The sting burned sharply, but she forced herself to tie a bandage tightly around her neck.
A wound from a beast's bite can lead to a very dangerous infection if it's not treated in time. This is especially critical when the injury is on a vital area like the neck, where you obviously can't surgically remove the infected part as a last resort.
After a few deep breaths, she was just starting to think clearly again when she realized, there was no snow here at all.
She looked up. The moonlight was scattered, but there were no snowflakes like the ones she had just been staring at in a trance.
…Had the hallucinogen’s effects still not worn off? Or had White Dove planted more of it somewhere along that path?
Fweee—
Just as Evelia was tending her wound and catching her breath, “White Dove” refused to give her a moment’s rest, pushing the chase so hard it was as if he meant to drive her into the ground and kill her right here.
A sharp, clear blast of an animal-training whistle rang out.
In an instant, the area came alive. Not only did the wolves answer the call, but flocks of crows, dark as storm clouds, suddenly appeared. They stirred restlessly in the treetops, forming a deadly hunting ring above and around Evelia, blocking out what little moonlight remained.
Evelia snorted, glancing at the wolves and crows ready to strike, but her gaze shifted toward the direction the whistle had come from.
“…Petty tricks.”
She had already been bitten by a wolf once. There was no way she’d fall to the same creature twice.
Raising her hand, she hurled a dagger at a crow in the sky. With a wet thunk, the blade skewered two crows in a single throw. Then, sprinting forward, she timed her movement so the bodies, still impaled on the dagger, fell at just the right angle. As she dashed ahead, they crashed down onto the back of a gray wolf facing her, making it stumble forward with a growl.
Using the moment, Evelia leapt over it like jumping over a vaulting goat, never looking back as she ran toward the source of the sound.
Catch the leader first. If she killed White Dove, the beasts without a commander would scatter, making the rest easier to handle. Getting tangled up with these mindless creatures could drag the fight out endlessly.
…………………………………………
Meanwhile, at the burning White Dove’s workshop, two visitors arrived.
One was tall, wearing a black cloak that hid his face. The other was a much smaller figure in the same style of outfit, clearly a child.
“This is the place… but why is it on fire? Looks like it hasn’t been burning long. Why don’t we check if there’s anything useful left inside?”
The smaller one stepped forward, but the tall man stopped them, his black armored gauntlet tapping the child’s chest with a faint click-clack.
“Too dangerous.”
“Heh,” the child chuckled at his tone. “Ever since that time, I feel like you’ve been afraid of fire.”
“…Have I?”
“Relax, I get it, you’re still shaken. But we’re both wearing the super fireproof version. We worked so hard to track down White Dove’s location. Sure, maybe he’s already gone, but aren’t you curious what he was working on?”
“I’m guessing you’re the one who’s curious.”
Crack… thud—
As they spoke, the building in front of them continued to collapse under the flames. This wasn’t a sturdy royal palace, one good fire could bring it down fast. Charging in now might not burn them alive, but falling beams and rafters could crush them completely.
“Don’t worry, I’m a genius alchemist. I’ve already thought this through. And you’re wearing such heavy armor, there’s no way a brittle, half-burned beam could hurt you.”
“And you?”
“Aren’t you here to protect me, Dad~?”
“……”
Her playful, deliberately sing-song “Dad” was met with nothing but silence from the man. The lack of reaction made her feel a bit awkward, like she wanted to dig a hole with her toes and hide in it.
“Jeez… come on, at least give me something. Even after I just admitted who I really am—”
“Did you hear something?”
But his attention wasn’t on the child at all. His gaze was locked on a distant point far away.
“What? A sound?” She perked up her ears, straining to listen, but heard nothing beyond the crackle of flames and the snap of burning wood.
“……”
Remembering that White Dove was an expert at mixing hallucinogens, the man couldn’t help feeling wary.
“…Maybe it’s just my imagination.”