The Kind Older Sister Is No More

♔♔♔

Irene panted.

Where am I?

As she blindly followed the way to Noel’s position on the ring, she found herself in a foggy forest. The problem was that the fog was so thick that it was hard to tell her whereabouts.

“We have temporarily lost them, but they will come after us again soon.”

“Let’s go a little further.”

“Yes.”

At Irene’s words, Louiselle rode slowly. She did not know what was ahead, so she had to move as carefully as possible. If they happened to meet a monster that had not yet been subjugated, the situation would turn from bad to worse.

It’s gloomy.

Passing through the endless fog, Irene frowned. The moist air brushed past her skin and the sound of roaring from an unknown source. On the other hand, their surroundings were so quiet that she even felt as if she was lost in a zone where time stopped.

I’m sure it’s somewhere around here.

Irene checked the ring once more, but it was difficult to pinpoint the location more accurately due to the limitation of the jewel’s size.

She only knew that he was around here. Is this the Snow Forest?

Surely, the temperature was mild even though it was snowing out of season. However, it was quite different from the place she had heard from Noel. No matter how much she looked around, it was nothing warm and cosy as in his story.

What happened here?

“At the front, there is something big.”

Irene was lost in thought for a moment, only until she heard Louiselle’s voice, did she come to her senses and lifted her head. Indeed, as she said, there was something huge standing right in front of her.

“I will get down and check it out.”

“I’ll get off with you.”

“Okay.”

Louiselle, who got off the horse first, reached out her hands to lift Irene down from the horse. However, as soon as Irene’s weight shifted onto her and all force was pressed down to Louiselle’s feet – the foundation, Louiselle frowned a little. She had accidentally injured her ankle during the escape. But she promptly fixed her expression before Irene could notice. It was because she knew that Irene would be heartbroken to know that she was hurt and that nothing good would come out of it.

“Is this…a tree?”

Irene got off the horse, unaware of her struggle, and approached what was hidden behind the mist. Up close, it was a surprisingly enormous tree. Its texture, on the whole, was rough, the leaves and branches have all withered.

Is it a diseased tree?

However, something was odd, this tree is unusually big among the trees in the forest and...

I feel uneasy.

As she got closer, an indescribable aura came rushing in. What on earth was it? As if she was drawn into it, and the moment Irene was about to touch the tree...

“Found you, Duchess.”

A creepy voice came from behind her. Irene stiffened, barely turning her head. Louiselle quickly blocked Irene’s front.

“Madame, please stay behind me.”

At her words, Irene quickly hid behind Louiselle. It was not that she wanted to use her as a shield. It was because not only could she not be much help to her, but if she were to stand apart from her, she would only be a hindrance to her.

“You are so annoyingly persistent.”

“Just quietly give your life up already!”

As the assassin took a step forward, Louiselle also did the same and flinched. Her injured ankle was throbbing even more than before.

“Louiselle, your legs…” Irene, who was a few centimetres away from Louiselle, was only then able to notice her injury. Yet, Louiselle responded as if it was not anything serious.

“This is fine.”

“It doesn’t look okay at all! Your ankle is completely swollen.”

As she said, Louiselle’s left ankle was so swollen to the point that it was bigger than her fist. As she jumped from a quite high place and took on the weight of both her armour and Irene, it was only natural for her to be injured. At first glance, she was severely wounded, but Louiselle still indifferently overlooked it.

“My mission is to protect the young Madame. I can endure this much.”

Upon saying so, Louiselle sprinted ahead of her. She first tried to stab the assassin’s heart right in front of her view, but her attack failed as the assassin quickly blocked it with his sword.

“Ack!”

However, contrary to her expectations, the assassin, who was pushed back, hit Louiselle’s already swollen ankle hard. He knocked her with the handle of the dagger in his other hand.

“...!”

The sensation of bones cracking in her ankle caused Louiselle to take a step back momentarily. Without missing the opportunity, the assassin rushed forward. Meanwhile, Louiselle adjusted her sword. She horizontally directed at the assassin, and with a swiftly straight strike, her sword pierced through the enemy’s neck. Blood began spattering out and the dead body of the masked guy fell. Louiselle, who pulled out the sword, slightly winced as she was wary of the rotten smell of the blood flow coming from the motionless assassin. A moment of hesitation passed, and her lips parted.

“I became a slave on the battlefield and fought for days and nights. There were times I was sold at a low price and was taken as a prisoner. I survived by eating garbage in the gutter with broken limbs. Not long after I became a guard for a nobleman who ran a loan business, dealing with those who came by with a grudge every day.”

“Louiselle…”

Constantly dodging blades strikes and gilding into momentarily open gaps between them. Not a second was wasted. She then immediately turned around, subdued those who came rushing at her and again slashed them without an ounce of hesitation.

“So I will not die. I will not die and will continue to protect the Madame. Because that is my mission, it will be the last thing I do.”

Louiselle’s movements were so flexible that it was hard to believe that she was a person with an ankle injury. Her armour was layered under her maid’s outfit. Her build was large. Short cut hair hardly fluttered when she moved, but she was as beautiful as if performing a sword dance. Nonetheless…

“Ack!”

No matter how talented Louiselle was, her wound was so severe that it would be excruciating for her to deal with all the assassins. An assassin rushed to Louiselle from behind, while her sword was stuck in the heart of another. Louiselle already sensed it, but her movements were already so dull that it was impossible to avoid.

Not yet...!

There were still many assassins left. If she stayed like this, they would mercilessly kill Irene if she fell. It led her to an outrageous decision – she raised her arm to block the attack, ready to have her arm cut off and at that very moment...

“Argh! What the…?!”

For some reason, the assassin could no longer touch a strand of Louiselle’s hair and bounced off as if he had hit something. What in the world was happening? While Louiselle was perplexed and clueless about the current odd situation, Irene came up to her and grabbed onto the hem of her clothes.

“...don’t leave my side, Louiselle, I have made a shield with magic.”

“Magic…?”

As she said, the assassins continued to fall as if they had bumped into something intangible every time they tried approaching them. It happened as they attempted to approach a certain distance. It was like an unbreakable boundary, keeping the evil from intruding on their comfort zone. Though Irene’s whole body was quivering, she did not forget what needed to be prioritised. She pulled Louiselle to sit down in front of a tree and made her lean on her back.

“Your ankle, show me.”

“…It’s nothing.”

“Hurry.”

Louiselle tried to conceal it, but she was forced to take off her shoe and expose her injured ankle due to Irene’s coercive voice.

It has gotten worse.

Her swelling was the size of a fist. There must have been a broken bone. The ankle itself was twisted as if the bones had been fractured, and was gravely bruised in dark colour. Irene bit her lower lip, as she was infuriated.

I should have used magic a little earlier...

She could not use magic sooner because she was still inexperienced in controlling her power. She was afraid that she might accidentally cast an attack spell on Louiselle. She had not yet mastered how to cast attack and defence spells separately. That was why she tried not to involve magic as much as possible. But at that critical moment, she really thought that Louiselle would die if she did not take action. Thus, Irene sought another way. She immediately used all of her inherent mana to push the defences to the limit. With that, she was able to hold on as long as she could without hitting Louiselle. Fortunately, to Irene’s relief, the shield did not deflect Louiselle.

PreviousTable of Contents