We met the boy’s father, but he was an unexpected person.
As we left the town, we saw Lauren and the others in the distance. It seemed they had escaped ahead of us. But our escorts were chasing us on horseback from behind, determined not to let us escape.
We had to at least reunite the boy and his father. I thought we should get ahead and join them, but at that moment, the boy, who was running at the front, suddenly U-turned. He cut between me and Nina, and charged into the escorts behind us at full speed. As they passed, he grabbed one by the neck, forcibly pulled him off his horse, and slammed him to the ground.
“Hey! You can’t just go off on your own!”
Despite Nina’s shouts, he once again charged alone towards the cavalry. At the same time, Piyo appeared from the sky, a moment later. He circled in the air and then attacked one of the escorts, hitting him with an explosion. The opponent was flustered by the attack from his blind spot.
“Heh, that kid has gotten pretty good, hasn’t he?”
Nina next to me grinned with satisfaction. But a few of them were alreadyching their bows from behind. This was bad; Piyo was not a good match for these enemies. The arrows were aimed at the rampaging father.
“Hey! U- uh, behind you, it’s dangerous!”
I shouted loudly, but they weren’t listening. Then, suddenly, sand kicked up, and several pillars of fire rose. This wasn’t Piyo’s ability; it was Elana. Wrapped in brown cloth, she was aiding us from the side, using the uneven desert sand to conceal herself.
This was our chance while the enemy was in chaos.
“Sorry, Philiana, but could you bring him back? I’d get caught up in it.”
Philiana nodded and headed towards the father, who was still busy fighting. I really should have gone myself, but I was too short to reach him. I would surely have been hit by that axe before he noticed me. Philiana spoke a word or two to him, and in the end, she grabbed his arm and pulled him.
“Let’s go, Elana, Piyo-chan, we’re retreating!”
Nina next to me muttered, “Finally.” From then on, we ran at full speed without looking back. It seemed Veronica was occasionally keeping the pursuers at bay.
We managed to reunite with everyone else. As we approached, the boy ran towards us, looking joyful.
“Father! Father!”
While his son ran around him happily, the father glared at us.
“…What are you people? A bunch of monsters?”
“Father, these people saved us.”
I still don’t understand what this man is about. Well, at least the boy was reunited with his family, so that’s good. Though we didn’t get to see a touching reunion between father and son.
“Hey, isn’t it rude to call people monsters?”
Nina glared back at him. Pauline looked confused, unable to grasp the situation. That’s understandable; she had probably expected something more emotional.
“Hmph, I never said I wanted to be saved.”
With that, he started to run off, even leaving his own child behind.
