A Cruel Beast’s Leash

 “Yes.
The people who Otto mentioned as escorts are just armed robbers.
They were hired to threaten and kill me.” 

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 Emma, who noticed a change in the atmosphere quickly sorted out her thoughts and added rather broken sentences.

“…I didn’t know, but now that I think about it, they must have thoroughly conspired and prepared in advance.
There was a crossroad along the Gwando Island to Polaville, but they decided to choose the smaller unknown path that led to a quiet valley adjacent to the mountain range…” 

“There’s definitely a crossroad.”

 Emma nodded at the man’s words.

“The Ferragen Mountains are notorious for their rough mountains.
I heard that if the weather is gloomy like today, usually people would stay at the nearby station.
Usually, they wouldn’t hasten the process, but I simply thought our schedule was urgent, so I went along with it.”  

Emma turned her tear-filled eyes towards the man and the man’s blue-gray eyes became thinner.

“I am coming to realize that everything that seemed so urgent was just a big plan after all.
Please save me.”  

“…….”

The man remained silent for a while and slowly turned around with an expression that he had heard enough.

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Emma constantly looked at the man’s wide back, swallowing back hot tears and trapping the despair rising in her throat.

The man stretched out his bandaged fingers and opened the tightly closed door viewer.

“I’m sure you heard about the werewolves that appear a lot in this territory, especially in this forest.
How many guards did you bring?” the man unexpectedly began.

“What? Um…” Expecting something else to come out of the man’s mouth, Otto reacted somewhat slowly.
“Fi..fiv… No, we have three.”

Otto quickly fixed his words.
It was a clear and obvious lie.
Emma chewed her lips in bitterness.
The number of guards she saw while running away was definitely well over three.
The brightly lit torches alone were more than five.
To be honest, there could have been way more. 

“Three is not enough.
You have underestimated Ferragen Mountains.”

“Oh, no, what do you mean it’s not enough? Although few, they are well-trained soldiers to cope with any crises.”

“From what troops are these soldiers in?”

“That, that…”

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Otto hesitated, caught off guard by a detailed question. Then Dora, filled with impatience, finally intervened. 

“They are soldiers from Somerset.
They are famous for their clean work and good skills, so we often hire them as escorts.
They’re very famous people in our region.”

It was definitely a lie.
Emma, who grew up in Summerville, never heard of such soldiers. It was clear that Dora made it up thinking that people living in Ferragen Mountains were too deep in the mountain to notice the outside world. 

“But I guess they weren’t very useful.
Seeing that they neglected their beloved lady,” the man openly voiced his cynicism.

Otto closed his mouth knowing that there was nothing to say back.
The same went for Dora.

“It’s night and strong winds abound.
Even if you go back to the carriage, you won’t be able to move.
I’m sure you will need a place to avoid the rain.
Why don’t we talk about this when tomorrow comes.” 

When the man tried to end the conversation with a lazy look, Otto seemed to be caught off guard.

“What? B, but….”

“There’s an empty warehouse over there.
You can use it.”

“How can we trust you and leave our lady here?!”

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Otto was mad at the man’s one-sided conclusion.
Dora also blurted out in rage, “Yes! You look young, we don’t know what you can do to our lady!”

“I never said your lady was here with me.
What’s the reason for assuming such a thing? I find that quite offensive.”

“That’s… that’s….”

“Get lost.” 

Criticized, the man tried to close the door viewer unpleasantly, rattling Otto.
“Young man!” Otto demanded, “What are you going to do about our lady!?”

The man sighed tiredly, “I guess my quiet night is going to slip away.
I hate being loud.
First, go to the warehouse.
I’ll be out in a little while, so I’ll talk to you separately.”

After his last words, the man closed the door viewer without hesitation and turned coldly. Behind his back, a banging sound rang out as if protesting, but the man was expressionless.
He looked like he didn’t care at all.

He strode to the sofa and sat down, while Emma blurted out everything she had in mind. 

“It’s all a lie.
There is no such thing as the ‘Somerset soldiers.
They are just a gang of armed robbers.
What I mean is, that it’s dangerous.
You should never go outside and talk to them like that.”

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Compared to Emma, high on anger, the man raised his head expressionless and pointed at the kitchen of the hallway with his fingertips.
“Drink.” 

“What?” Emma stood dumbly. 

“Water.
You said you were thirsty.”

It was weird to see such a calm demeanor in an emergency, but Emma was assured that the front door was shut tightly.
No matter what happened outside, there seemed to be no way of breaking in. 

The same was true for the iron bars as well, which seemed to be designed to prepare the cabin for monsters.
It too looked solid and difficult to remove even if armed people banged against it. 

The window was also completely blocked, only able to be opened if experienced craftsmen came along and used professional tools on it.

‘That’s probably why he is so relaxed.’  Emma, who swallowed her nervousness with a short sigh, stood with her arms folded, as a dull echo continued from the front door.
‘One, two, no… three or four?’

Considering that the knocking now was different, Emma deduced there were about six or seven people outside.
Everyone seems to be rushing and knocking on the door, but the voice outside could not penetrate the front door and could not invade the silence of the room. 

Emma, who got to her senses, raised her head and glanced towards the ceiling.
There was a gap where light leaked out.
Perhaps it was open for ventilation.
But because the indoor sound insulation was so thorough, Emma assumed something must have been installed to block the noise.

“They are persistent.”