Even as he ran, Somni was in a state of utter turmoil.
Somni was an elite fighter who had placed in the top four of the Sacred Martial Arts Tournament. There was no reason he should lose to a mere thug like that. And yet, he had been completely unable to keep up with the bald man's movements. Not only that, but he had been saved by Laila Helner—a girl he was supposed to protect—and was now fleeing. Leaving her behind as a decoy.
(She wanted this herself!)
He tried telling himself that over and over, but an intense surge of guilt and defeat welled up within him.
"Um, Lord Somni, we've reached our limit!"
Right. In his frantic sprint, he hadn't realized it, but there was no way they could keep up with the full-speed dash of a first-rate swordsman.
"S-Sorry!"
He skidded to a halt.
"No, we're sorry for being such a burden!"
The short-haired, red-headed girl bowed her head apologetically.
"No, I'm the one who should apologize for not noticing."
He offered his own words of apology.
"But please, bear with it just a little longer."
They still weren't very far from that spot. This place couldn't be considered safe either. At the very least, they needed to press on a bit further before taking a rest in the thicket.
The three girls exchanged anxious glances.
"Okay."
"If it's Lord Somni's request."
"Can't be helped, right? Let's do our best!"
They chimed in one after another.
"Thank you! All right, let's go!"
As he moved to start running slowly again with Egg still on his back, the voices of the girls talking amongst themselves drifted over from behind.
"We've already shaken those guys, right?"
"Yeah. We're away from that woman too, so right about here should be fine, shouldn't it?"
"Agreed."
Bothered by their strangely cheerful tones in such a dire situation, Somni started to turn.
"You girls—"
Just as he looked back, a dull ache shot through Somni's spine. The strength drained from his body, and he collapsed face-first onto the ground.
"Too baaad. Lord Somni, you can't move anymore, you know."
Somehow managing to turn his head, he saw the short-haired red-head peering down at him.
"What... is the meaning of this...?"
"You're quite slow on the uptake, aren't you, Lord Somni? We've been commissioned to escort you to the ruins ahead, you see."
"A... commission?"
"Yes, a request from a certain noble personage."
He couldn't make sense of it. Even if that were true, they could have simply told him. It certainly wasn't something that warranted attacking him from behind and incapacitating him in the middle of a hostile zone.
"Don't tell me... you girls... are working with that man from before?!"
He choked out the question in a raspy voice, but the red-headed girl merely shook her head from side to side.
"Nope. But well, our clients are probably the same."
(This is the absolute worst.)
The same client as the people who had tried to kill Egg. That alone made them undeniable enemies.
If so, then it was true that she had stolen the badge from him.
"The one who... stole the badge from me... was...?"
"Yep, me!"
With a beaming smile, she flashed peace signs with both hands.
"I totally panicked when your sticky fingers acted up back there!"
"Seriously. We could have just taken the badge once it came to this anyway. There was no need to take unnecessary risks."
"Oh, shut up. Stealing it the easy way is boring! It's all about the thrill! The thrill! That razor-thin line of whether you'll get caught or not. Doesn't that get you super hyped?!"
"As usual, I just can't understand that quirk of yours."
"I kind of get it, though. Watching an idiot man fluster and panic is pretty fun to see."
You're so wicked!
A man was dying right beside them. Yet there wasn't a shred of distress or gravity coming from them, as if this were nothing more than harmless mischief. It was so completely detached from reality that he couldn't wrap his mind around it.
"Who... are you people—"
He squeezed out the words, but—
"Well then, let's take him along and call this request complete."
"Right. Let's hurry up, grab him, and get out of here!"
"It'll be a pain if the poison wears off. Just in case, should we slice the tendons in his arms and legs so he can't run away?"
"Sounds good."
Even while having such a gruesome conversation, the short-haired red-head drew a dagger from her waist with practiced ease.
Pathetic. He was utterly pathetic. In the end, Laila had been right. No, if he had just calmed down and thought about it, their suspicious behavior had been blindingly obvious. He had been so provoked by Laila's cold attitude that he hadn't even tried to see reality for what it was.
Just as the knife in the red-head's hand descended toward Somni—
"You think you can get away, you thieving cats?!"
Along with a man's rage-filled roar, a spear of flame drove deep into the space between her brows and erupted in fire.
Her eyes rolled back into her head, and the short-haired red-headed girl dropped dead on the spot.
"Kuh!"
As her companion, the long-haired black-haired girl, reflexively tried to leap back, multiple spears of flame skewered her body, eliciting a dying shriek.
"Eeeek!"
The remaining blonde girl screamed and tried to flee, but a spear of flame drove straight through her back, erupting into a geyser of fire.
In the literal blink of an eye, they had all been reduced to charred chunks of meat.
"Aaaaaaaarrrgh!!"
Somni screamed with every ounce of his lungs, but—
"Shut up! I don't need any more troublesome bastards getting in the way! You just go to sleep for a bit!"
A heavy blow struck his abdomen, and Somni's consciousness plunged into darkness.