Yaju and his few remaining subordinates were forced into a desperate fighting retreat.
They had failed to capture the prince, but he had fled toward Tricia.
So he wasn’t too panicked.
She would surely squeeze the prince until he called out Univance’s monster… but she wasn’t that foolish.
She would at least do the bare minimum of her job.
That’s why he planned to quickly kill off the escort knights and regroup, until a single rider galloped past.
A lone reinforcement couldn’t possibly defeat the Empire’s pride and joy, the monster.
Yaju dismissed it with a sneer.
He had no idea hell was about to begin.
At first, he couldn’t even grasp what was happening.
His comrades… the elite of the Empire’s great general’s covert unit… were being killed without a chance to resist.
Who? How?
By the time he understood, half his men were already dead.
He didn’t hesitate. He couldn’t.
「We’re running」 he declared, and fled with the survivors.
But the pursuer followed without a single sound.
One by one, those at the rear were devoured.
It felt exactly like being hunted by a relentless hound.
「Univance’s Hound…」
The words slipped from one of his subordinates’ lips and spread like a disease among the fleeing men.
Yaju had heard the rumor too.
But he had dismissed it as a lie.
Every nation exaggerates its own strength with such tales.
He had always treated it as one more empty boast.
The rumor said:
『Univance has a terrifying hound that devours foreign spies whole.』
『It’s an exceptionally skilled spy, before it, no secret stays hidden.』
Impossible.
Yaju had convinced himself it was nonsense and conducted operations accordingly.
In truth, he had never encountered an agent that skilled during this mission.
That’s why he had completely erased the existence from his list of threats.
(Looks like my luck finally ran out.)
Overconfidence? Or just old age…?
He laughed bitterly and kept running.
His remaining subordinates slowed to buy him time, turning to fight, and were hunted down.
Now only he was left.
No sound.
But he could feel it clearly, the presence of death closing in from behind.
He could never allow himself to be captured.
In the worst case, he would bite down on the poison hidden in his molar and end it.
He didn’t even want his corpse left behind… but he was in no position to make such demands.
Determined, he moved his tongue toward the poisoned molar in his back teeth.
Just then, a tree was yanked out of the ground in front of him and hurled backward over his head.
「You’re still alive?」
「……I almost died a moment ago.」
「What a timid little man. For something like that?」
The one who appeared was the ogre with her extremely skimpy clothing.
Even if she’s a creature from another world, since she has the form of a woman, he wished she’d wear proper clothes.
For now, Yaju honestly felt relieved to have reunited with her.
「So, what were you running from?」
「Univance’s Hound, probably.」
「……Is it strong?」
「Who knows? It’s the type that silently appears behind you and devours you.」
「An assassin, huh. I hate that kind of person.」
「……There are hardly any humans who’d fight you head-on anyway.」
「True. But… Univance’s monster was strong. Just not that one.」
Worried more pursuers might come, the two quickly left the area.
As they ran, Yaju urged her to continue the conversation.
「Not that one?」
「……The type of monster is completely different. That thing probably has multiple ferocious 『monsters』 living inside its body.」
Facing forward, she snapped branches with her body as she ran.
「I don’t know what happened, but that is absolutely a box that must never be opened. Once opened… it might keep killing people until everything is devoured.」
「You’re completely different, then.」
「Hmph. I just have a policy of not hunting what I won’t eat.」
Thanks to that policy, she spent her days slaying dragons instead of going to war.
But if someone came at her head-on, that was a different story.
Then she would fight with everything she had.
Head-on, full power… that too was part of her principles.
Yaju pondered the information she brought back.
But running made it hard to think clearly.
「Tricia.」
「What?」
「I need to think. Could you carry me?」
「……You’re using me as a pack mule?」
「Since the baggage is me, please be generous.」
「……Three whole roasted calves, and I’ll consider it.」
「At least two.」
Her long arm reached out and scooped him up.
Yaju stopped running.
「We’re escaping for now.」
「Yeah. Head toward the Republic first.」
「That direction?」
「It’s Univance. The border with the Empire is probably completely locked down.」
「Got it. I’m going full speed, so don’t bite your tongue.」
Before he could even worry about biting his tongue, her running style, zero consideration for the passenger’s safety, made Yaju’s heart freeze.
-0-
It suddenly stopped and hesitated.
It no longer felt the need to pursue.
The other party seemed to have failed to secure its target.
More than that… the current “self” had no reason to do this kind of work anymore.
The collar binding it was gone.
It was free.
But… it started running again.
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