Chapter 207 Simona and ‘Rose Hip’
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
(Kazumi’s POV)
Hiroya is lying on the bed in front of me. He still hasn’t woken up.
* * *
After that, I took Hiroya to the ‘Rosen Clinic’ with Martina in the carriage. Liz and Simona rode on my Haya and Martina’s Kuro, heading towards the barracks.
Even though it was late at night, Rena had apparently explained the situation to Mr. Rudolf through ‘Telepathy’, so he was able to see Hiroya right away.
”His entire muscle tissue is… pretty severely damaged. When he regains consciousness, he’ll probably feel excruciating pain. ──I think Hiroya unconsciously ‘shut down’ to protect himself.”
Saying that, he cast ‘Extra Heal’, an advanced-level healing magic.
”His body will be fine now. The only thing left is his consciousness…”
It seems that this part depends entirely on Hiroya.
”Anyway, we just have to wait.”
Then, we brought Hiroya back to the clan house… and now, he’s sleeping in his bed like this.
* * *
Liz and Simona guided the soldiers from the barracks to the haunted house and handed over the culprits.
They were detained for a day during my papa’s interrogation, but both Liz and Simona were recognized as victims and released without charges.
Finally, Simona reunited with her ‘Rose Hip’ friends who were waiting at the clan house and returned to the inn where we were staying, bowing deeply to us.
* * *
”Still not awake, huh?”
The door to Hiroya’s bedroom opened, and Liz walked in.
When she saw me shake my head, she sat on the bed and leaned over to look at Hiroya.
”…He was trying to help me when I was being detained and assaulted… I pushed myself too hard. ──I’m sorry, Hiroya.”
Liz gently placed her hand on his cheek, but Hiroya still didn’t wake up.
”Everyone in the clan is worried, Hiroya. Come on, wake up!”
”Liz… What if Hiroya never wakes up… What if…”
”Don’t say such foolish things, Kazumi. He’ll wake up, I know he will… Hiroya has always been the one to rise to our expectations, right?”
Liz scolded me gently, her voice a little stern as she heard my weak words.
”Sorry…”
”You’ve been here by his side all this time, Kazumi. You must be exhausted. Why don’t you go take a bath and relax?”
Looking out the window, I noticed it was already bright outside. It had been a whole day since we returned from the treatment center at dawn.
”Okay… Can I leave it to you?”
”Sure, go and take your time.”
With Liz seeing me off, I stumbled out of Hiroya’s bedroom.
* * *
”Oh, Ms. Kazumi!”
As I reached the first floor, I saw Gièze, Karina (sister-in-law), Noriss, Lotta, Gorge, and Meluda, all geared up for adventure.
”Oh, good morning, everyone. Are you heading to the guild?”
”Well, at a time like this… If I just sit here… I’m so worried about Hiroya… I feel like I’m going crazy…”
Karina (sister-in-law) spoke with her head down.
”So, I thought we could go train our teamwork and take on a goblin extermination quest while we’re at the new dungeon.”
Gièze spoke confidently, but her eyes showed her underlying anxiety.
”I ain’t worried at all. Master is just taking a well-deserved rest after pushing himself too hard. It’s a good opportunity for him to relax.”
At Gorge’s words, the previously worried faces of Noriss, Lotta, and the others brightened a little.
”Yeah… You’re right, Gorge. It’s a good opportunity.”
I must have looked terrible too, because when I managed a weak smile, Gorge smiled back at me.
”Alright! Then we’ll do our best!”
”Be careful!”
””””””Yes!””””””
With energetic replies, Gièze and the others left for the guild.
* * *
When I stepped out of the bath, the dining hall on the first floor was in a bit of an uproar.
”Are you seriously saying that?”
”Yeah… It’s my call that Hiroya got messed up…”
”Ms. Liz, calm down! ──Ms. Simona, to go so far as to leave ‘Rose Hip’… that’s just too much…”
”Big Sister Liz, let’s just let go for now!”
Liz had grabbed Simona by the collar, and Dorothy and Martina were trying to intervene. Ms. Hanna and the Wolf Girls were watching, looking flustered.
”First of all, let’s calm down. ──Simona, please take a seat. Can you tell us what happened?”
As I entered the dining hall and spoke up, Liz finally released her grip on Simona.
”Liz, where’s Hiroya?”
”…Right now, Rena is with him.”
Once I sat down at the table, everyone else took their seats as well.
”So… what happened?”
* * *
Simona began to speak slowly.
The night before Liz and Hiroya were kidnapped, she had been caught by the abductors on her way back to the inn after meeting with Liz, and after being violated, she was put under a ‘Charm’ magic spell.
Then, the next night, she called Liz and Hiroya out and took them to the ‘haunted house.’
”Even though I got charmed, I still worked with those goons. Liz had to go through hell, and Hiroya ended up messed up…”
”That doesn’t mean you just abandon ‘Rose Hip’! You’re the leader, right? The captain, right?”
As Simona spoke calmly, Liz stood up and confronted her. I held Liz back and spoke up.
”…It seems like there’s more to it.”
At my question, Simona nodded deeply.
”I was── gonna peddle those girls. Important… the ones from our ‘Rose Hip’ crew….”
I learned that the request Ansgar and his crew had taken was──
- The capture and handover of Lizelda Weissman.
- Securing women to be turned into sl*ves.
It seems that the head butler of the ‘northern Count’ Count Foreltun family was the one who had Liz and Hiroya restrained, so I can guess who the client is.
At first, they planned to charm Simona and involve the members of ‘Rose Hip’ to attack even in remote villages, but since Simona fell so easily and they managed to charm her ‘deeper’ than expected, they decided to hand over the members as sl*ves.
”An ‘s*x sl*ve’ with adventurer skills and knows how to fight, that’s what the kingdom want. Those types go for a high price, ya see.”
”But… wasn’t sl*ve trading prohibited in the kingdom?”
I was shocked to think that sl*ves were being traded in the Romuna Kingdom, and that was all I could say.
”That’s why the business partners are adventurers. ──Adventurers can hop back and forth between the kingdom and the empire, see? Just show ’em their adventurer card. Sl*very ain’t against the law in the kingdom either.”
Simona spat that out.
”Yeah, I was under some kinda spell or somethin’. But I wasn’t exactly knocked out cold. Had a thing for the guy…thought it was cool to turn my pals into sl*ves…”
Saying that, Simona slammed her fist on the table.
”I ain’t worthy to share my dreams with those girls…”
”But… they won’t be satisfied with that, right? It’s your charisma and leadership that makes ‘Rose Hip’ what it is.”
Liz had sat down for a moment but then leaned forward again slightly.
Simona shook her head at Liz.
”I told ya everything… About how I got violated. How I was caught off guard easy and fell into a pretty deep ‘charm.’ How I helped charm those girls and turn ’em into slaves…”
”All the clan members were ‘charmed’!?”
Dorothy exclaimed in surprise.
”I mean, mind-controlling magic like that usually only affects one person. As an exception, sure, magic like ‘charm’ that raises the target’s favor to an abnormal level and manipulates their actions can affect multiple people, but even so──.”
”That guy breaks people’s spirits and takes advantage of that weakness to easily pull them into a deep ‘fascination.’ Once you’re in deep, it seems like it can be hard to escape… or in some cases, you might never get out.”
Liz answers Dorothy’s question as she sits down in a chair.
”Well, it seems like you can’t really get caught any other way. That’s why neither me nor Hiroya fell for it.”
”…I heard the story, but it’s impressive that you didn’t break under such a hopeless situation, Big Sister Liz.”
Martina says, sounding impressed, but I’m sure of it. Martina, Dorothy, Rena, Aluda… and of course, me too.
”──Even in that situation, I would never break. Because…”
Hiroya is right there. I believe he will do something about it. That’s why…
”As long as Hiroya is there, there’s no way I would ever break.”
At my murmur, Liz grins and nods.
”Exactly. There’s no way we would break in front of Hiroya.”
Martina and Dorothy nod in agreement with Liz’s response.
”You guys really trust dat kid, huh?”
Simona weakly laughs, almost self-deprecatingly, about how easily she broke.
”Yeah, the party tried to stop me, sure. But ya know, some folks felt real betrayed by it all. Lucky for us, ‘Rose Hip’ has two girls who are naturals when it comes to leadin’.”
Leaving the clan that she built up with her own strength will be tougher than she can imagine, yet Simona talks with a smile.
”So… what are you going to do from now on, Simona?”
When I ask, Simona answers with an even brighter smile than before.
”Well… like, dey wanna keep me around as an advisor fo’ ‘Rose Hip,’ ya know? So I said, sure, why not. After that… who knows, maybe I’ll go back to doin’ my own thing, start fresh here. ──I gotta take on dis whole great labyrinth.”
That smile was not just for show… it was filled with Simona’s own hopes… a truly wonderful smile.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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