Nine days have passed, and today is the day when the Beastmen set out.
“Master, I’m off!”
“Alright. When you come back, don’t wait for me, just go to sleep.”
“If I’m sleepy, I’ll sleep!”
As the crimson sun began to rise, pushing away the remnants of dawn, Eleonora stepped out of the tent, leaving behind Aria, who had recently become overly protective.
Eleonora’s mornings were relatively quick. She would wake up just before sunrise, have a simple breakfast, and head straight to where the Beastmen were.
Her job involved transporting supplies and equipment. While that sounds quite impressive, in reality, it was just manual labor.
This was a place where thousands of Beastmen waged war against humans daily. The amount of resources consumed, including food, was staggering, and organizing incoming supplies and distributing them required far more than 24 hours in a day.
To make matters worse, they had battles every week or ten days, meaning there were always injuries, and non-combat jobs suffered from chronic labor shortages.
Every day, Eleonora moved and organized several tons of goods.
Despite being a Dragonkin, it was still a bit unusual for a 14-year-old girl to be running around lifting heavy loads over her head or pushing heavy carts, but unfortunately, in this world, labor laws didn’t exist.
Of course, she wasn’t doing all this alone. She was just one of many workers on site.
However, there’s no denying that Eleonora, who surpassed even the Beastmen soldiers in pure strength, took on a considerable amount of the work.
Still, perhaps due to Aria’s previous complaints, the Beastmen didn’t push her too hard. Regardless, the fact remained that she was always busy.
Today was especially busy.
With a set date and time, preparations were being made in Pahera, so the fights with humans occurred roughly every week or ten days.
The battle was scheduled to happen an hour after sunset today, meaning Eleonora had to transport military supplies in addition to her usual tasks.
Since she had to work until just before the Beastmen deployed, her schedule completely clashed with Aria, who was heading out to Pahera.
Eleonora often found herself waiting awake for Aria to return, while conversely, Aria, encouraged to simulate Dragon training, always urged Eleonora to sleep on time instead, making it a routine on the mornings before deployment.
“When can I keep from being such a burden?”
From the outside, it looked like a scene of labor exploitation, but Eleonora was quite satisfied with her life these days.
Aria, who always appeared dark and lonely, began to open up little by little over the last three months, and Eleonora felt a sense of pride in being able to help her, even a little.
“Helping is still just to earn my keep…”
The meals provided to Eleonora by the Beastmen had reached a level that was satisfactory in terms of nutrition, taste, and quantity.
Considering the trouble Kanak had caused to Aria and Eleonora, Aria often leveraged that incident to issue a diverse range of threats.
As a result, while Eleonora helped the Beastmen during the day, she was eager to contribute as much as possible, as she found physical work beneficial for building her strength and stamina, not to mention that she could observe how the Beastmen soldiers trained.
Of course, just because she observed didn’t mean she understood everything, but it was better than not watching at all.
“When will I be strong enough not to be a burden?”
Aria going hunting alone implied that Eleonora was still too weak to support her. That was something that always weighed on Eleonora’s mind.
As she busily moved around, the sun soon reached its peak before crossing to the west.
With the sun off work, it was no place for humble creatures of this earth to be working.
Just when Eleonora was waiting for the supply officer’s signal to finish her work and head home, a Beastman rushed toward the officer, breathing heavily and urgently delivering some news.
The gaze of the two Beastmen talking shifted toward Eleonora.
She had a knack for sensing when her hours were about to be extended, something that seemed to be a basic skill across eras and dimensions. At that moment, Eleonora caught a whiff of overtime.
Sure enough, the supply officer approached her.
“I’m sorry, but could you help just one more time today? Would that be alright?”
“What’s going on?”
In truth, this kind of work fell under her contract, so regardless of her will, she’d end up having to do it. Nevertheless, Eleonora requested a valid reason.
“They ordered one of your supply carts to be sent our way right after the soldiers deployed, but one of its wheels got stuck on a rock and fell into a slope. The non-combatants there can’t figure it out and came to ask for help.”
That sounded like something that happened occasionally.
When the troops outside returned, things got even busier, so the supply unit’s policy was to handle tasks whenever possible so they’d avoid getting too overloaded at any particular time.
It was also quite common for leftover supplies from soldiers heading out to return on the first trip.
So Eleonora didn’t find this request unusual, even though she had never gone out to help before; it was a situation that happened from time to time.
“We’ll handle the finish. There’s no one better suited for this than you. Will you follow us to help?”
“Sure, I understand.”
Certainly, she was the best fit if they wanted to use minimal manpower for maximum strength.
After nodding to the team leader, Eleonora followed after the hurried Beastman who had come to deliver the message.
As they moved beyond the residential area and along a relatively familiar path, reaching the border of the Mist Labyrinth, Eleonora finally halted.
“Are we far?”
“Just a little further. Sorry. We should be nearly there after we cross the fog.”
Eleonora hesitated for a moment.
Up until now, she had never crossed the fog without Aria.
Aria’s resolute attitude worried about what might happen in a forest full of Vampires if she wasn’t around, and even after spending three months working with the Beastmen, she still hadn’t left the woods with them.
“I was told ‘absolutely no participation…'”
Eleonora pondered the conditions Aria mentioned at the time of the contract.
This wasn’t about heading to the battlefield, after all. If she was just going out for a brief moment to pull a cart out of a slope, that wouldn’t count as participating.
Stepping through the fog now felt too unsettling to just refuse. After a brief contemplation, Eleonora decided to finish her task quickly and head back.
After crossing the fog, they walked for about another five minutes.
However, considering they were supposed to be nearly there, there was still no sign of anything nearby.
Although Eleonora didn’t possess the same keen senses as Aria to detect presences from a distance, if the Beastmen were gathered trying to recover the cart, at least some noise should’ve reached her.
Instead, what echoed from beyond was nothing but the stillness of the forest.
“Something’s off.”
While some might use “almost there” and “just left” interchangeably, Eleonora instinctively felt there was a difference.
“Are we far?”
Stopping her walk, Eleonora asked.
The Beastman who had brought her paused to look around. Even without checking, he should know exactly where the destination was.
“Um, we’ve arrived. We’re here now.”
A significant response.
Judgment, or perhaps instinct.
From her long experience hiding in human society, Eleonora’s feet hesitated. She prepared to bolt towards the barrier.
But she recognized it too late.
No, it might have been too late the moment she stepped beyond the fog barrier.
“Staying cooped up really makes it hard to get you out, huh. Taking you out even once isn’t easy.”
A Vampire appeared from between the trees, blocking Eleonora’s way back toward the Mist Labyrinth.
As she attempted to circle around, the moment she glanced sideways, she found herself stopping in her tracks.
“When did they get so close?”
She hadn’t sensed this many Vampires nearby without realizing it. They were certainly not the weak Vampires often found on the outskirts.
The situation was already completely surrounded. The timing and numbers clearly indicated this wasn’t just an accident, but a well-planned event.
Desperately looking for an escape, Eleonora spotted a familiar face among the Vampires.
“Ludrik.”
Marquis Ludrik Marcus. The head of the Security Maintenance Force.
He was the one who effectively ruled the Vampires in this forest, apart from the unpredictable Aria and her follower, Lowell.
“No way.”
Under the ominous feeling, Eleonora’s mind rapidly connected the dots.
The Security Maintenance Force rarely left the Mist Labyrinth.
And now, Ludrik Marcus had appeared with a large group of Vampires, presumably from the Security Maintenance Force.
Moreover, paired with Ludrik’s recent words and the Beastman who led her outside’s ominous demeanor.
“I’m in big trouble.”
No wonder it had been so quiet recently.
With a pounding heart, Eleonora turned to look back, witnessing the moment her foreboding sensation transformed into certainty.
“Good work. Here’s the promised payment.”
“Oh dear! What’s all this?!”
As a Vampire standing behind Ludrik pulled something from their belongings, a nearby Beastman sprang forward like an arrow to snatch it.
It was money. Eleonora understood exactly what that meant.
There was never a cart returning. That Beastman had lured her with the Security Maintenance Force’s backing, and that was the only cold, hard truth.
“Blame yourself for having the wrong master, kid. Now, I’m off. You take care of your work!”
The Beastman who had received the money vanished into the woods in an instant.
Seeing Eleonora’s stunned expression seemed amusing to Ludrik, who twisted his mouth into a smirk.
“While he may be a lightweight who moves for a small amount of cash, he does speak the truth. Blame your luck for having met the wrong master.”
He was malicious. As a familiar and dark emotion filled Eleonora, she took a step back.
Ludrik laughed at her predicament, as if mocking her for the fact that she had nowhere to run within the already encircled area.
“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you right away. You are bait to lure that arrogant girl out.”
Could she rush towards the barrier and escape right now?
…No, it was impossible. The number of Vampires woven like a web was significant, and even against Ludrik alone, she felt a monumental gap in their skills.
Eleonora recalled Aria’s words when she had mentioned Ludrik: “In a one-on-one, he would win.”
But there were clearly more than forty visible to the naked eye right now. It appeared he was determined to execute his plan.
“Master is in danger.”
He was clearly planning revenge.
If Eleonora were caught, they would use her life as leverage to threaten Aria.
It would be better if Aria abandoned her. But Eleonora was absolutely certain that Aria would never abandon her.
She could not be a burden. She did not want to be a burden.
She couldn’t be of no help and instead, hinder Aria. Eleonora quickly turned her gaze for a gap in the encirclement.
“First, I have to try and escape—”
At that moment, Eleonora’s body lifted off the ground and fell.
“…Ugh.”
“Wow, look at this one. She can’t even scream properly like her master.”
There was no time to react. By the time Eleonora came to her senses, she was already slammed to the ground and stepped on by Ludrik.
“Don’t even think about escaping. I could catch you in the forest quite easily, even without leaving this area.”
Desperately struggling, Ludrik remained unmoved.
“If I had known, I wouldn’t have stepped out of the fog in the first place.”
Regret flooded Eleonora for her rashness, but it didn’t change her situation.
It was the result of a very minor, arbitrary decision that had arisen from many evils and circumstances.
“Tonight, I will kill that Scarlet girl.”
But the cost of such a minor decision was anything but light.
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