Inside the thickness of the forest at the northwestern part of the town of Agrona. A certain group was traveling at great speed while jumping between trees. With such swiftness that eyes could not comprehend to follow.
“Yes, Boss. I’m already on my way.” Japheth replied to the person he was talking to from afar. In every jump, he disappeared and appeared at great speed. Completely outspeeding the 5 members of the marionette corps following him. Leaving only traces of black mist on his way.
He clicked his tongue as he finally saw the entrance towards the flower field. His eyes were shivering while expressing great concern. His teleportation speed accelerated, reaching the exit in a matter of seconds.
He landed on the grassy ground and wandered his shivering eyes to the area, his eyes instantly darted on the 3 people standing in the middle of the field. Without a delay, he instantly disappeared multiple times until he reached the 3.
“What happened here?” Japheth asked the other member of the marionette corps accompanying the 2.
The girl who was wearing a maid outfit did not answer and just pointed her gaze to the 2 children near her.
His eyes shifted to Misha and Shelly. Shelly was crying while hiding her face on Misha’s shoulder. On the other hand, Misha was rubbing her back.
“There, there… It’s fine now.” Misha shifted her gaze to him. “Japheth.”
Japheth walked toward them with his eyes filled with concern. “Shelly.”
Upon hearing Japheth’s voice, Shelly instantly raised her head and stared at Japheth with her face full of tears. “Big Brother Japheth!” She ran towards Japheth and hugged him.
Japheth hugged her back. “Haven’t I told you not to go around this area? You really are stubborn, aren’t you? Not just that… you also dragged the Young Lady with you.”
“But… I just want to get some flowers to thank you for taking care of us.”
Japheth smiled. “Silly, is giving me a headache your way of thanking me?” He stood up and wandered his eyes to the area. “It’s good that nothing bad happened… We should get out of here now before we encounter a pack of Black giant dire…” His eyes widened upon seeing something from a distance. “Wolves.”
What greeted him from the distance instantly made his eyes widen. The field that he thought was still a flower field was no longer a flower field. The entire area had changed… from a beautiful grassland filled with flowers… into an area filled with the blood of the almost unrecognizable victims of a brutal massacre.
Countless ripped to shred meats of Black giant dire wolves were scattered throughout the area that if weren’t for their recognizable black furs, those corpses could no longer be distinguished. The corpses of 10 Black Giant dire wolves were piled in the area as if the culprit was conveying a terrifying message to the ones who dared to go in next.
Japheth’s mouth slowly dropped, he turned his gaze towards the member of the marionette corps that accompanied the 2. At the same time, the other members arrived. Just like him, all of them stared at the massacre with great horrors in their eyes.
One of the marionettes passed through them while staring directly at the corpses. “To think that just to safely take one Black giant dire wolf down, at least 3 new members need to work together. How many Black giant dire wolves are these?”
“Are you the one who did this?” Japheth asked the marionette accompanying the 2.
The marionette slowly shook her head. “No. It happened so fast, I didn’t even get the chance to do anything.” Her eyes shifted to the person currently staring at Japheth. To Misha.
Japheth paused for a few seconds before releasing a sigh. He slowly nodded and turned his back to the scene. “I see. We need to get the Young Lady out of here. Or Boss will get furious-” But before he could even end his sentence, he instantly stopped walking upon seeing a familiar face standing a few meters away from them. “Boss.”
The person he called didn’t answer and just silently wandered his eyes throughout the area. He was expressing a stoic expression while his jaw was visibly clenching. His eyebrows furrowed upon completely assessing the scenery in front of him.
“Big bro Casimir!” Misha ran towards him upon seeing him… however, immediately stopped upon seeing his strict glare. “Big bro Casimir?”
Almost immediately, the marionettes bowed their heads in synchronization.
Casimir didn’t answer and stared at the other people in the area. “Is everyone alright?”
Japheth raised his head. “Fortunately, no one got hurt, Boss. We’re about to leave the area and take the Young Lady home.”
Casimir put his hands in his pants pockets. “Good. Thank you all for assisting me.”
“It is our job, Boss.”
“Big bro Casimir?” Misha called for Casimir with her eyes filled with distress.
With a strict expression on his face, his red eyes darted to Misha who was standing a few meters away from him. “Let’s go home, Misha. We’re going to have a lot of talks once we’ve got home.” Casimir turned his back and walked in the direction of the town.
“Bye, bye, Misha!” Shelly waved her hand to her.
Misha waved her hand back and immediately ran to follow Casimir.
On the other hand, the ones left just watched them disappear into the thickness of the forest. Upon confirming that the 2 were no longer there.
One of the marionettes unleashed a sounding sigh. “Goodness! I was so nervous! We’re lucky nothing bad happened to the Young Lady! I don’t want Lord Casimir to look at me with anger.” She chuckled. “On second thought, I don’t think it’s a bad experience. Even though he’s so dashing and intimidating that I would certainly pass out by just having even a few seconds of eye contact with him.”
The other marionettes laughed at her comment.
Japheth just shook his head at what he just heard.
“Big brother Japheth, I hope Lord Casimir won’t scold Misha so much. It was my fault why this happened.”
“That’s why you should never do things that you know you will get scolded for.” His eyes shifted towards the direction of the town. “However, this is the very first time I saw Boss that furious. He must have been very worried about the Young Lady. To think that he rushed here the moment he knew about her coming here.” His gaze shifted back to the pile of corpses near them. His eyes narrowed. “But I don’t think she needs any protection. After all, she’s Boss’s daughter figure… and these prove that it’s not only in name.”
