Chapter 43

The victory that had passed to Jo Malone earlier passed over to our side again.

The Knights, which were managed by the Emperor after the war five years ago and brought up by Cain himself, boasted an overwhelming ability as much as their reputation. Seeing the knights knocking down the enemy with a single sword, the soldiers threw down their weapons while losing their spirit.

“Get up! Can’t you all just get up and fight?!”

Even though Jo Malone’s cornered voice echoed through the large basement, they all raised their hands and surrendered.

Huff, huff—

As he was breathing heavily, one or two shadows gathered in anger next to Jo Malone. Noticing the shadows surrounding him belatedly, he shuddered and retreated.

“Don’t, don’t come…! Don’t come, you lowly bunch!”

“In the meantime, we’re going to have some fun as well, Baron.”

“You, you ungrateful things—!”

“That’s what we’re supposed to say! You don’t even know the grace you’ve been given by Lord Winder!”

It seemed that Jo Malone’s brazen attitude seemed to provoke the shapeshifters on the contrary. They rushed to him, it did not matter who came first.

“Euuak…! Let go of me!”

Jo Malone’s goatee beard was scattered in the air. Meanwhile, the knights glanced at Cain as if embarrassed by the appearance of the angry shapeshifters.

“I don’t see anything. Are you telling me that you all see something?”

“We don’t see anything as well.”

“Then, there is no problem.”

At Cain’s connivance and the knights moving outside, Jo Malone’s screams continued endlessly.

ﾟ· : * ✧ * :· ﾟ

“I wish you’d told me in advance.”

Cain’s gaze, who had been gazing out the carriage window, returned to me. I spoke quickly to him as he had a face as though asking what I was talking about.

“You said that even if the sky splits into two pieces*,  the Imperial Knights wouldn’t be called.”

[ T/N: It’s an idiom which means, ‘No matter what happens.’]

“Young Lady’s story of thinking about it first made it quite plausible.”

“Yes?”

“That’s why I called them.”

As I crumpled my face at his unpredictable reply, I suddenly remembered a brown-colored bird flying behind him, standing by the window of the reception room. Then, I remembered that the bird was Lyle, who was always by Cain’s side and assisting him.

With the belated realization, embarrassment quickly rose. Before I even spoke of the Imperial Knights, he had already noticed everything and proceeded with the plan. Nonetheless, that did not mean that all the resentment had disappeared.

“Any, anyway…! I was perturbed because I thought I was going to die like that.”

“But, didn’t you have too much fun pulling out the Baron’s hair even though you said something like that?”

“….”

“Even though I told you not to leave my side.”

…He, he saw it—

—That I was trying to tear out Jo Malone’s hair…

I coughed as much as I could to avoid the situation that I was caught in unexpectedly before avoiding my eyes. Cain’s gaze, which seemed to be terrified, suddenly turned to my side.

“But, why did you bring him here?”

At the voice of him expressing displeasure, I glanced at Noya, who was clinging to me. His neck was once again filled with a necklace to silence the divine power. As I glanced at him sleeping in the form of a cute puppy, I smiled and replied to Cain.

“He said he’d go with me, though I can’t force myself to leave him like that.”

“Just for that reason?”

“Well, his parents are both dead, and Noya wants to follow us.”

Even at my answer that I poured out from another question he asked, Cain still looked displeased.

Well, actually, there was a real reason…

The most important thing in this one-page prelude was the joining of Noya, so I just thought it was right to take him for a smooth start to the original. Of course, even if that were the case, it was a fact that I could not tell him.

Cain, who saw me with my mouth shut, knocked on the carriage window as if he could not help it.

“Let’s take a break.”

ﾟ· : * ✧ * :· ﾟ

At his suggestion, the carriage heading to Aren stopped for a moment at a small stream. I then got off the carriage, leaving Noya asleep in the carriage.

It was perfect.

Jo Malone and his people were first transported by the Imperial Knights and headed to Aren first, and the Winder village was also restored to peace. Even the shapeshifters, who were in despair and helplessness, gained confidence that they could achieve things if they joined forces. In addition, the misunderstanding that the Emperor had abandoned them was resolved as well. So, obviously, except for one fact, everything was perfect…

…Except for the fact that I was still a puppy!

“No, when am I going to get back?!”

Does this kind of ridiculous situation not usually come back to normal after one episode is over?

I laughed out loud at the absurd appearance of myself remaining as an exception to a situation that existed like a rule of thumb. Even after I tried to shake everything off my backpack, I could not find an antidote to fix this situation. Since I could not find a way to return to my original body, I was still the way I was.

Well, let’s think about it first.

Think about it slowly… How did you deal with a situation like this in the novel? The situation in which the heroine turned into a puppy—

There can be no such thing!