Chapter 54:

Wanted

Saga of the Three Warriors


It wasn’t a perfect reproduction or anything, but the faces on the posters belonged to me and Mana without a doubt. There were more details provided beneath our pictures—other descriptors, such as noting the fact I had a sword with me.

It also stated there would be a great monetary reward for whoever managed to find, capture and deliver us to the authorities.

But how…?

My doubts weren’t about the drawings themselves. If I had to guess, maybe Three could conjure our image using some illusion magic or some bullshit.

Still, only two days passed since our flight, so how had these posters reached all the way here so quickly? This was way too fast. Frighteningly so.

I was almost expecting to see Three turn up behind us. Fortunately, as I glanced back, he wasn’t there. Unfortunately, what I did see might have been almost equally bad.

“Say… doesn’t that girl resemble the one in the poster?”

“Now that you mention it…”

Two women were whispering among themselves—and loud enough for others to hear as well.

Dammit, I cussed in my heart.

Mana was still glued to the spot in shock, so I grabbed her arm and pulled her away into a dash.

My original plan in Shellkeep was to head to the city guards and ask the captain we’d met before for help. As things stood, however, this was clearly impossible. I didn’t have a lot of hope about it in the first place, but now it was far likelier she’d try to apprehend us instead.

I hurried out of town with Mana in tow. Luckily, it didn’t seem like the news of our being there spread too far yet, and no pursuers came after us.

“H-hold up!” called Mana, panting. I let go of her hand and she stopped in place, hands on her knees.

“We need to go,” I said coldly.

This really was the worst.

If Three actually started spreading news about us so quickly, it might mean that the entirety of Avallux were now our enemies.

Great. And there’d surely be reports of us having been seen in Shellkeep, too, giving them a clue about our direction and pace. I clicked my tongue loudly.

“Saga… isn’t this really, really bad?”

She might allegedly be more than a hundred years old, but at that moment Mana definitely had the face of a frightened little girl. Her thin body was shaking all over.

It really pained my heart to see her like this.

And yet—I was convinced that none of it showed up on my face.

“Hah,” I breathed. “We’ll manage.”

Damn me if I knew how, though. But I spent most of my life living with the flow and surviving.

I wasn’t going to let an evil nerd bring me down so easily.

“…Alright,” said Mana weakly.

This pained me again. This girl had no other way forward but to trust me. And this despite the fact that I didn’t really deserve her trust.

Although we just got to town, we now circumvented it and got back into the stretches of wilderness that separated these areas of civilization, avoiding the travelled roads.

Luckily, I already knew the direction to our next destination.

Not so luckily, the whole plan might be in jeopardy due to us becoming wanted fugitives like that… but I wanted to make the next stop regardless. Especially because we were in danger.

Mana was less talkative than usual as we went through and stopped for the night.

I did hunt a bit, but this area was mostly bereft of animals, probably accounting for other hunters or just the fact that it was a much more inhabited area.

I gave most of my food to Mana.

“Eh?” the girl asked. “Why aren’t you eating?”

“Hah, I’m not hungry.” I needed Mana to be in her top shape once we reached our goals. We still had quite the way ahead of us.

“Really…” Mana mumbled, hugging her knees.

She looked so forlorn like this that I unconsciously bit my lower lips. But what was I supposed to even say?

I couldn’t promise her anything. We were on the run from the entire forces of this kingdom and had no real safe spot. And all this for a goal that was dubious in the first place.

She should probably hate me.

True, I technically did save her, and there was no telling what Three would have done with her… but I still couldn’t help but feel so.

Neither of us spoke again that night.



Despite me playing it cool, the long journey and lack of food was taking its toll on me, slowly but surely. Mana did offer me some healing, but that wasn’t really enough.

It was therefore in a somber mood that we hit the road again the next morning.

Probably the only thing that could have made it worse was if it started raining. Fortunately, the weather was comfortable, at times hot. From what I gathered from our journey so far, it was probably late spring or early summer in Avallux.

Mana seemed to remain uncharacteristically silent today.

Usually she’d find some topic of conversation, even if it was just to point out some bird or flower on the road; she persisted in this even when I proved to be not much of a conversation partner, so the current silence was somewhat awkward.

…Just a week ago, it would be C and Kai who’d provide the background noises of them bickering about something stupid.

I found myself missing those times despite everything.

Feeling something tug at my sleeve, I actually almost jumped right there and then; had I really been so deep into my thoughts I couldn’t even notice Mana approaching me? I couldn’t allow myself to lower my guard for even a moment.

“Um, Saga…” the girl opened. “I just wanted to… I want to say that I…”

I stopped, looking at her with my usual calm gaze and waiting for the continuation of her words—which didn’t come. Instead, there was a rather loud noise that did make me jump.

Rather than an actual explosion, it was more of an explosive whoosh that passed somewhere above us, like some rocket… and was then further accompanied by a shout.

“FOUND YOU!”

Noticing smoke in the sky, I immediately raised Tarisha and prepared for combat as a shape came swooping from below. Jets of flame lowered its descent as it landed right in front of us.

Clad in dark, frilly clothes, it was a woman—and a very familiar one at that. Coming at us with a jetpack was none other than Two.

WALKER
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