TSKSML 50

Chapter 50

“…Sc-scatter! Do your best to survive and regroup at the base!!”

The soldiers began fleeing according to Louihardt’s command.

Louihardt spurred his horse and cut across toward Femos.

To offer himself as bait—was it madness or selfless bravery?

Jayna had always thought so: Louihardt clearly overestimated his horseback riding skills.

As his bodyguard, Jayna immediately chased after him.

“Hyah!!”

She urged her horse faster and faster to catch up with him.

Femos began lumbering after them, his enormous frame making slow but terrifying strides.

“W-what are you doing? Why are you following me?!”

Louihardt yelled at Jayna, clearly enraged to see her right behind him.

“…Pardon? I-I’m your bodyguard, Your Highness. Of course I’m supposed to go with you…”

“Are you crazy? I told you to survive!”

Louihardt grew angry—not at Jayna, but at himself for failing to give clearer orders. He hadn’t expected her to follow him.

He didn’t doubt her horseback skills, but this was Femos they were dealing with—a giant monster. If they weren’t careful, both of them would end up sliding down the beast’s throat into its stomach.

Jayna, meanwhile, felt wronged.

It was Louihardt who had appointed her as his bodyguard. Dying for him was her duty.

And honestly, what kind of crown prince risks his life for his subordinates?

He acted on his own and then got angry at her for following him—Jayna couldn’t understand it.

But that was a matter for later.

Right now, Femos was hot on their heels.

Jayna and Louihardt could do nothing but run forward as fast as they could.

While running, both were thinking the same thing.

They had no idea what lay ahead—but please, anything but a dead end or a cliff.

Louihardt realized they couldn’t keep this up.

“…If we keep running like this, we’ll die!”

Jayna felt the same way.

They couldn’t keep fleeing forever.

But stopping would mean being trampled like insects by Femos.

Jayna desperately searched for a way to escape.

“Wh-what if we hide? If we hide well enough, maybe it won’t find us!”

That was assuming they could hide well. If they slowed down clumsily, they’d get caught instantly.

“…Then let’s jump off!”

“What?!”

“We can’t hide with the horses—they stand out too much! Alexander will survive on his own!”

Alexander was Louihardt’s horse.

“At least that way, they might survive…”

Jayna, too, hoped her horse, Bailey, would make it.

“Yes, understood!”

Louihardt and Jayna veered toward a dense field of reeds.

“Bailey… let’s meet in the village,” Jayna whispered, gently stroking her horse’s mane.

With a shared signal, the two jumped off their horses.

As if understanding its master’s command, Alexander galloped far into the distance, with Bailey following close behind.

“Ugh…”

Jayna groaned, hiding in the reeds.

She’d dismounted using a proper landing technique to minimize injury, but her shoulder and back throbbed with pain.

Just as she stood, clutching her side, Louihardt placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her down.

“Shh.”

With that, he and Jayna crawled to a large tree and hid beneath its shade.

Femos was searching for them.

But with no signs of life anywhere, the monster let out a frustrated scream.

KRAAAAAGHAAAAARGHHHH!!!

Then it began mindlessly tearing through the forest.

Smashing whatever it touched, Femos eventually began uprooting entire trees and hurling them in all directions.

Fortunately, it began moving away from the spot where Louihardt and Jayna were hiding.

But they didn’t dare breathe freely, unsure when the monster might turn around again.

Apparently hungry, Femos began devouring wild animals in the brush, letting out bizarre giggling sounds.

KYAHAHAHAHA!!

“P-please don’t kill me!!”

The thing now in Femos’s grasp was Merland—and his horse—who had been wandering nearby.

Delighted with such a prize, Femos didn’t eat them right away. Instead, he examined them with his eyes, savoring the moment.

Merland’s face was deathly pale as he awaited his doom.

“Ah…”

Jayna almost gasped, but Louihardt quickly covered her mouth.

He shook his head slowly, as if to say, there’s nothing we can do.

Jayna squeezed her eyes shut.

She didn’t want to see Merland being eaten.

But closing her eyes only made the horrifying crunching sounds echo louder in her ears.

When the gruesome feast ended, Femos kept chewing the bones with noisy chomps.

It was the most revolting sound in the world.

Seemingly content, Femos lay down on the ground and, closing his eyes, soon fell asleep.

“…Now we run.”

Louihardt whispered to Jayna.

They had to escape while Femos was asleep.

“Keep low. Make as little noise as possible.”

The two lowered their postures and began creeping forward cautiously.

It wasn’t until ten minutes later that they finally straightened up and walked normally.

They had gotten lucky this time—but would they be so lucky next time?

Both Jayna and Louihardt had the same thought, but neither spoke it aloud.

“…The sun’s setting.”

Louihardt gazed at the forest glowing orange in the dusk.

Once it was dark, finding their way would be far harder.

They’d be easy prey for beasts or monsters—and worst of all, for Femos.

Having galloped madly on horseback for so long, they estimated it would take a whole day on foot to return to base. Continuing further today didn’t seem wise.

“…Looks like we’ll have to spend the night out here.”

Jayna agreed with his judgment.

She climbed up into the hills and stood beside a large boulder.

Its hollow provided a natural roof, and the base was deeply indented, offering some shelter.

Louihardt guessed she intended for them to sleep here, but asked just in case.

“…Um, what is this?”

“Well… since we’re spending the night out, I thought this would be the safest place to sleep… it’s not much, but…”

Just as he thought.

Louihardt didn’t want to act like a pampered crown prince, but he had certainly never imagined sleeping under a rock in his life.

Jayna now began gathering branches to make what looked like a makeshift shelter—likely for herself.

She seemed incredibly experienced.

Though she had never camped out herself, her time as a hunter had taught her how others survived outdoors, and she knew what to do.