[V10C11] So We Don’t Get Separated
Translated by Jodas 10: A Job for a Con Man“Pevuvuvu…” Tia let out a displeased warble.
After finishing their report at the meeting hall, Tia, Wren, Sevil, and Rukiye were told “We’re going to be discussing what we’ll do from here on out, so please wait in this room over here until we’re done.” and surreptitiously shoved into a room to the side of the meeting hall.
Since then, no one had come to talk to them at all.
Even when they’d asked to see the other Apprentices who’d stayed behind, the adults only told them “Later.”
(My head’s all jumbled up…)
On the bright side, it looked like they had plenty of time to straighten out their thoughts. Tia slumped over the table, crowing “Pevuvuu, pevuvuu…” as she thought.
(That one I hate… Fiene is Mr. Otto’s daughter and the contractor to ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’… And now she’s been captured by the Monsters.)
Tia asked herself the pressing question: What did she want to do to Fiene?
—She had no thoughts of saving her. However, she didn’t feel a desire to kill her either.
But Tia understood that surely the humans would try to save Fiene.
To the humans, Fiene was an innocent little girl who’d been made a sacrifice to an Ancient Magical Artifact, and who now was captured by Monsters.
She wondered if they would be able to keep calling Fiene ‘innocent’ once they exchanged a few words with her.
(Finn and Ms. Röhm’s betrayals happened just like Wren predicted… Wait, what?)
Suddenly, it hit her. During the entrance exam, Tia ate one of the candies and transformed to Harpy form right in front of that Werewolf — in front of Finn.
(…Oh right. Finn knew I was a Harpy. Finn’s accomplice, Ms. Röhm, probably knew too.)
Then why didn’t he try to make contact with her?
Did they not consider that she was a fellow Monster infiltrating the Wedge Tower just like Finn was?
(Hmm, hmm… Maybe… He was confused why there was another Monster there, and he wasn’t sure what to do so he decided to just wait and see? I wonder if he’s talked about it with any of his allies…?)
As she thought, another realization came to her.
Could it be that Finn and Röhm didn’t have a way to get in touch with the other Monsters?
If someone on the Monsters’ side had given them the order “Steal the contractor to ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’ when I give you the signal. Stay hidden until then,” it would make sense.
To the Monsters, Fiene had some value to her that made it worth keeping her alive at least for a little bit.
Although Tia had no idea what that value could be.
(…The King of Monsters is at the center of all the Monsters’ actions. In that case, maybe someone used Fiene as bait to get the King of Monsters to take action…?)
The Harpy who had learned to think was now thinking from the perspectives of both Monsters and humans.
Yet no matter what she did, she felt that she just didn’t have enough information to go on. If possible, she would love to get Wren and Sevil’s input on this, but Rukiye was here, so she was have to find some way to hide the fact that she was a Monster.
As Tia wondered how to broach the subject, someone knocked on the door to the room.
Tired of waiting, Sevil curtly ordered whoever it was to “Come in.”
“Y– You guys…!”
The one who opened the door with a weak voice was no adult.
It was a girl with glasses and a braid — Representative of the Apprentice Mages, Ella Frank.
“Pirorororo! It’s Ellaaa!”
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I’m relieved to see you guys aren’t injured… Um… Where’s Oliver?”
Seeing Ella look around the room, Wren answered her.
“Oliver is staying back at the Lange Hamlet. He’s doing fine.”
Relieved, Ella placed a hand on her chest and exhaled.
Sevil, who’d been ticked off a second ago, softened her expression as she offered Ella a chair.
“Finally, someone I can talk to.”
“Um… How much did they already tell you guys?”
In response to Ella’s question, Rukiye, who’d anticipated that they’d be sharing information, answered plainly.
“That the Wedge Tower was taken over by Monsters. That the Wedge Tower is an Ancient Magical Artifact that drains its user’s lifespan, and that its contractor is Otto’s daughter. That Finn and Ms. Röhm betrayed us. And that’s pretty much it.”
“For whatever reason, it seems like the higher-ups left us out of the loop on a lot of things. They wouldn’t even let me meet with the other Apprentices, so I was getting pretty fed up.”
“Hey, Ella. What happened to the other Apprentices?”
Even though Rukiye, Sevil, and Wren spoke to her all at once, Ella didn’t flinch.
She must have built up quite a lot of nerves before coming here.
“It all started when Julius was arrested for treason…”
She sat down and began her tale with a grim face.
About Julius’ arrest, how they demanded Sophie curse him, and the plan to rescue both of them.
Julius was arrested on charges of treason, and Sophie was ordered to curse Julius.
The Apprentices had tried to open a path for the two of them to escape the Wedge Tower, but they were stopped in their tracks by the Wedge Tower’s higher-ups, and before that could conclude, the Monster attack began. It was total chaos, where they couldn’t be sure who was friend or foe.
And amidst all that, Ella, who’d been attacked and subsequently overlooked by the Primordial Beast, had a thought.
(I managed to survive for now, but… What should I do from here?)
As far as the Wedge Tower’s leaders were concerned, Ella and the other Apprentices were all traitors. The higher-ups would probably try to have them all arrested at some point.
In that case, they did have the option of using the chaos of the Monster attack to slip out of the Wedge Tower and hide somewhere outside.
…But that approach raised all sorts of issues.
First, they wouldn’t have access to information about the Wedge Tower. It would be harder for them to meet up with Tia and the others who’d gone out on the expedition.
Also, there was a chance they might encounter Monsters while they hid out around the Wedge Tower.
That was why Ella gathered her courage and made this suggestion:
“I have a suggestion… for somewhere we can run.”
Roswitha, Gerald, and Julius looked at Ella.
Ella, with a bitter expression, said:
“I didn’t stand out very much tonight, right…?”
“Y– You don’t have to stand out! Ella, you watched my back while I was doing reconnaissance and all sorts of other things!”
“Ah– erm, that’t not what I mean, Roswi. What I meant was…”
Looking apologetically at Roswitha after she jumped to give her words of support, Ella explained.
“I don’t think the adults will be able to tell whether or not I took part in tonight’s plan.”
Since Ella was still recovering from the surgery in her hand, she often skipped lectures. That gave her little time to interact with the other Apprentices.
Most importantly, it was possible to convince the adults that Ella — unable to do much thanks to her recent surgery — was left out of the plan to let Julius and Sophie escape.
“If you guys run in to the Wedge Tower’s people, don’t resist. Just let them catch you. I’ll…”
‘I don’t want to say the next part,’ She thought.
This suggestion would leave Ella as the only one in any safety.
“…I’ll make it look like I evacuated straight from the dorms and didn’t have anything to do with tonight’s plan. Then I’ll avoid getting arrested by the higher-ups… and wait for Tia and the rest to come back.”
“Everything was so complicated, I couldn’t tell what was the right call, but I did have one clear thought.”
Ella balled her hand into a fish in her lap.
“…I didn’t want us to get separated.”
Her voice wavered painfully, in a way that one didn’t need to be a Harpy like Tia to tell how she was feeling.
So long as she stuck with the Wedge Tower mages as they took shelter, she would be able to collect more information. Most importantly, it would make it easier to link up with Tia and co. when they made it back.
With that in mind, Ella waited all by her lonesome, gathering intel all the while. Waiting for Tia and the others to come back.
“Once you guys made it back, I figured I could borrow your knowledge… And in the worst case, I was planning to rely on Sevil’s status. I’m sorry about that.”
Ella bowed her head deeply.
Sevil leaned over and patted Ella on the head.
“You’ve done well to withstand such hardship, Ella. It takes courage to suggest a plan that leaves yourself as the only one in a safe place. You must have been worried sick.”
Since Roswitha and the others were under confinement, she couldn’t know what was happening to them now.
They were probably okay for the time being, since the higher-ups were in complete chaos without the time to worry about some Apprentices. But would they still be okay tomorrow? Or the day after? What if everyone had to undergo something terrible because of the plan she suggested?
Ella had to have been sick to her stomach the whole time.
“I’m sorry… I couldn’t… be any help to anyone… There was nothing I could do…”
Ella buried her face in her hands. Transparent drops trailed from behind her glasses.
“It was all I could do to find a way to make sure we didn’t all get separated…”
Tia grabbed Wren and Rukiye’s hands and ran up to Ella. Then she latched on to Ella’s torso.
Sniffling, Ella looked down at Tia.
“…Tia?”
“Thanks to you working so, so hard, Ella, we’re all here together. We’re not separated!”
With a bitter smile, Wren nodded. “Couldn’t’a said it better myself.”
Even Rukiye, who hated getting all touchy-feely, patted Ella on the shoulder. “…Thanks for waiting for us.” She said gruffly.
Ella tried to speak, but it only came out as sobs. Instead, it was Sevil who spoke next.
“Let me join in!”
With those words, Sevil embraced Ella, along with Tia and the rest who’d gathered in a ball around her.