37
麓のオリヴィエの陣が見えてきた。今私の体には九尾の聖の魔力が満ち溢れている。魔力を譲り受けるにはその幻獣と心を通わせる必要があり、正直可能か不可能か五分だと思っていたが、案外すんなり成功した。準備は万全だ。
私の意気込みを感じたのか九尾が一際高く跳躍し、一気に山を抜けてオリヴィエの陣に躍り出た。敵兵を引き連れている時点で目立たないようにするのは無駄な努力だから、堂々と姿をあらわす。
全体を見回して眉を寄せた。先程来た兵は一部だったらしい。二百は優に超えるだろうという数が一様にこちらを見ている。
異様な光景に寒気がする。やはり彼らは操られていると考えるべきだろう。
しかしもっと異様なのは地面だった。至る所に大穴が空いている。すぐにわかった。オズワルドだ。彼の幻獣は
「レベッカ・スルタルクだ!全員、捕らえろ!」
聞き覚えのある声がどこかからしてはっとした。兵たちが一斉に、波のように押し寄せる。
今の声はこの場の統率者なのか、それとも操っている張本人か。考えている暇はなく、誰の声だったかと思い出す時間も与えられない。
一刻も早くこの騒動を終わらせてしまおう。素早く魔法を展開する。対象はこの場の全員。解除魔法を行使した。
「...解除」
確かな手応え。一瞬にも満たない間に魔力がごっそり持っていかれてほぼ空になった。
そうして目の前の光景に視線を戻した、この時の私の気持ちがわかるだろうか。
眼に映るものが、解除魔法を使う前と何1つ変わっていなかったときの、私の気持ちが。
「............え?」
迫り来る兵たち。各々武器を手に、幻獣を従えて。そこにあるのは敵意のみ。誰一人動きを止めない。
そんな、どうして。だれも操られてなどいなかったというのか?自らの意思で私を敵と認定し捕まえようとしていると?
読み外した。私は馬鹿か、失敗したときの策が何もないなんて!
私を乗せている九尾の体が揺れた。逃げようとしているのがわかった。しかし九尾は朝から動き続けて消耗している。逃げ切れるだろうか。
敵が雪崩のように迫る。
背後から私を呼ぶ声が聞こえたのはそのときだ。
「耳を塞いで!」
弾かれるように振り返る。赤い女性を視界の端に捉えた。
私が反射的に耳を押さえるが早いか、音がなくなった世界で、一匹の子熊が空に向かって吠えたのを見た。
「その熊の声は生き物の体を痺れされることができる」。そう教えてくれたのは母の攻略本だ。その遠吠えは大気を震わし、兵たちの耳に入り込んで全身に回り、息をのむ間に体の自由を奪った。
唖然として、お礼より先にそう聞いた。
赤い髪をなびかせ佇む彼女の名前はキャラン・ゴウデス。その場を動かず、私を一喝した。
「早くこちらにいらっしゃって!痺れは十数秒しかもちません!」
急いで走り寄る。彼女が今まで隠れていたのであろう茂みの影に引っ張り込まれた。体勢を低くし身を寄せ合うようにして隠れる。九尾は体を縮ませて私の腕の中に収まった。
その直後、間一髪で痺れの効力が切れた。金縛りが解けたかのように一気に空気がほぐれていく。兵たちはみな辺りを見回していた。私たちがどこにいるかわからないようだ。
キャランが小さく言った。その横には子熊が足を投げ出して座っている。一度使うとかなり消耗する能力なのかもしれない。
『秋』で見た獰猛な姿とは似ても似つかない今の様子に、思わず「ありがとう」と笑いかけると、「キュイ」と親指を立ててくれた。
「わたくしはルウェイン殿下の軍です。レベッカ様、貴方の陣に偵察隊として派遣されたのですが、偵察隊の残りのお三方があちら側でした。その場では話を合わせて、先程隙を見て身を隠し殿下に連絡をとり、指示を受けてこうして待っていたのです」
私はまた殿下に助けられたのか。
だけど。
「見つかるのは時間の問題ですね」
隠れたとはいえすぐ近くだ。感知の魔法や鼻がきく幻獣でもう間も無く見つかるだろう。
案の定私が囁いてすぐに、敵がわらわらとこちらに向かってきた。今度こそ捕まる。
九尾が私から離れてもとの大きさに戻り、私は短剣を取り出した。キャランは攻撃魔法に長けている。二百人を相手に私一人ではあっという間に押さえ込まれてしまうだろうが、彼女がいるなら戦う意味もあるかもしれない。
しかしそんな私とは裏腹に、キャランの動作は至って落ち着いて緩慢だった。ゆっくり立ち上がり、スカートを軽くはたく。
「私の先程の行動がほんの数十秒の時間稼ぎにしかならないことはわかっています」
私は構えていたナイフを下ろした。不思議な思いでキャランを見つめる。どうしてそんなに落ち着いているのか。戦うそぶりもなく、はるか遠くを見たまま動かない。
まるで、何かを待っているみたいだ。
「けれど殿下はそれで十分だと仰いました。そのほんの数十秒が、あの男が来るために必要なのだ、と」
............『あの男』?
敵はもはや目と鼻の先だった。
しかしキャランの言葉通り、男は来た。私と敵の間に割り込むようにして突然姿を現した。殿下も使えないはずの転送の魔法だった。
背中がとても広い。背も高く、1つに束ねた髪は茶色だ。燃え盛るたてがみをもった馬に跨り、何より私にとってはどうしようもなく、懐かしい、人だった。
声にならない声で呼んだ。
Ch 37
The base of Olivier's camp came into view. Now my body is filled with the holy magic of Kyuubi. To receive the magic, it is necessary to communicate with that Phantom Beast, and I honestly thought it was possible or impossible for five minutes, but it succeeded surprisingly smoothly. The preparations are perfect.
Feeling my enthusiasm, The Kyuubi jumped high and ran through the mountain to Olivier's camp. There is no point in trying to be inconspicuous when pulling enemy soldiers, so I will show my appearance confidently.
I looked around and frowned. It seems that the soldiers who came earlier were just a part of them. There are more than two hundred uniformly looking at us.
I felt a chill in the strange scenery. They should probably be considered manipulated.
But even more strange is the ground. There are big holes everywhere. I quickly realized. Oswald. His Phantom Beast is a mole. Where is Christina, who fought to the point where the ground is like this, and his Phantom Beast now?
"Rebecca Slutarch! Everyone, capture them!"
I was startled by the familiar voice from somewhere. The soldiers rushed in unison like a wave.
Is the voice of the person in charge of this place now, or the person who is manipulating it? I don't have time to think about it, and I am not given time to remember who the voice belonged to.
Let's end this commotion as soon as possible. Quickly deploy the magic. The target is everyone in this place. I used the dispelling magic.
"...dispelling."
A definite sense of accomplishment. In no time at all, the magic power was completely taken away and it became almost empty.
Then I turned my gaze back to the scene in front of me, and I wonder if you can understand how I felt at that moment.
When what I see with my eyes has not changed at all from before using the dispelling magic, my feelings are...
"...Eh?"
The soldiers approaching. Each one with a weapon in hand, accompanied by Phantom Beasts. There is nothing but hostility there. Not a single person stopped moving.
Why, how? Is it that no one is being controlled? And they are trying to capture me as an enemy of their own will?
I miscalculated. Am I an idiot? I don't have any strategy for when I fail!
The body of the Kyuubi that is carrying me shook. I could tell it was trying to run away. But the Kyuubi has been moving since morning and is exhausted. Will it be able to escape?
The enemy is approaching like an avalanche.
It was then that a voice calling out to me from behind could be heard.
"Plug your ears!"
I turned around as if I had been shot. I caught sight of a red woman on the edge of my vision.
I reflexively plug my ears but it's too late, in a world where the sound is gone, I saw a cub howling to the sky.
"The voice of that cub can numb the body of living things," my mother's strategy book told me. Its distant roar shook the atmosphere and infiltrated the soldiers' ears, taking their bodily freedom away in the blink of an eye.
"Why...?" I asked, before thanking her.
She was there, with her red hair fluttering. Her name was Kyaran Goudes. Without moving from her spot, she scolded me.
"Hurry up and come here! The numbness lasts only a few seconds!"
I quickly ran over, pulled into the shadow of the bushes where she must have been hiding. We lowered our bodies and huddled together, and the Kyubi shrunk into my arm.
Just then, the numbness barely wore off. The air was released in one breath, as if the shackles had been undone. The soldiers were all looking around, not knowing where we were.
"You lose consciousness while you're numb," Kyaran said softly. Next to her, a cub was sitting with its legs stretched out. It might be a power that's quite draining to use once.
I couldn't help but smile and say "thank you" to her, who looked nothing like the ferocious figure I saw in [fall], and she raised her thumb saying "Cuey."
"I am a part of His Highness Llewayne's army. Rebecca-sama, I was sent as a reconnaissance team to your army, but the rest of the reconnaissance team was on the other side. At that place, we talked and then I took the opportunity to hide and contact His Highness Llewayne and receive instructions, and that's why I am waiting here."
I was saved by His Highness again.
But.
"It's just a matter of time before we're found."
Even though we're hiding, we're close by. It won't be long before we're found by sensing magic or Phantom Beast with a keen sense of smell.
Just as I whispered, the enemy came over here. I'll be caught this time.
Even though the Kyuubi returned to its original size, I took out my short sword. Kyaran is skilled in attack magic. If I were to face 200 people alone, I would be quickly overpowered, but if she is there, it might be worthwhile to fight.
However, in contrast to me, Kyaran's actions were very calm and slow. She slowly stood up and lightly flicked her skirt.
"I understand that my previous actions were only a matter of a few tens of seconds."
I lowered the short sword that I had been holding ready. I looked at Kyaran with a strange feeling. Why is she so calm? She doesn't show any signs of fighting and just stands still, looking far away.
It's as if she is waiting for something.
"But His Highness said that it was enough. That those few tens of seconds were necessary for that man to come."
"...[that man]?"
The enemy was now right in front of us.
But as Kyaran said, the man came. He appeared suddenly, cutting in between me and the enemy. It was the transfer magic that His Highness should not have been able to use.
He had a very wide back. He was also tall, and his hair tied back was brown. Riding on a horse with a burning mane, he was nothing but, for me, an unbearable, nostalgic person. (he was a man whom I had missed for a long time.)
I called out his name in a voice that could not make a sound.
The Villainess Carries a Strategy Guide
その悪役令嬢は攻略本を携えている
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-villainess-carries-a-strategy-guide/
Fantasy Josei Romance Shoujo
Academy Adapted to Manga Aristocracy Doting Older Siblings European Ambience Female Protagonist Love Interest Falls in Love First Magic Nobles Otome Game Reincarnated in a Game World Villainess Noble Girls
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n6554fr/
岩田加奈