The second meeting of the failure and the NPC (part 3)

"It... it's okay... you said your family and friends couldn't move independently, right? That means they are in the late stages of Foul Reaper. Don't worry! I... I lied about not having any medicine left...! I saved them up for you...!"

The girl clenched her fists, clearly hurt seeing so many people in need leaving without receiving help, but she ended up smiling and showed off a sizable leather pouch with at least eight or so tonics.

"Hmph~"

"Ough...!"

The boy lowered his head and snickered to himself before snatching the bag right out of the shocked girl's hand.

"...ah... you must be in a hurry. It... it's okay. I'm alright..."

She smiled through the tears while clenching the fingers that the boy smacked away quite hard and assured him.

"..."

The boy who was already about to leave stopped and looked over his shoulder and the pitiful girl.

"You learned nothing."

"...eh...? Wah...! Uuugh..."

He scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief, surprising the girl so much that she ended up leaning too far out of the shrine's window and fell out.

"Oww...! Ah...! Ehehe... I'm sorry. I'm okay. You have to take care of the people you care about...!"

She bruised her elbows and scratched her knees and still ended up cheering on the hooded boy despite being hurt.

|So stupid...|

The boy thought to himself and started to walk away, when suddenly...

*TURUUUUUUUUU*

A sound of a military horn being blown filled the air, giving chills to the hodded boy.

"The kingdom's soldiers!"

"Fuck! When did they get here?!"

"Don't let them get their hands on the tonic! I-YAH!"

The voices of the running people off in panic were followed by the neighing of the horses and the clanking of dozens of bottles on an old carriage suddenly beginning to move.

"Kingdom's soldiers? Why is everyone scared?"

"...!"

The girl got up and dusted her clothes with a confused expression which made the hooded boy stare at her in disbelief.

"..."

For a second, the boy considered the situation, biting his lips.

There was no doubt the kingdom's soldiers would chase and try to catch everyone running away from the temple since they must have been tipped off about the suspicious situation.

There was a good chance that in order to produce some results, they would even catch a few additional peasants to make it look like they were doing a good job.

And if that was the case...

"Don't be afraid, I don't know what the soldiers are here for, but it will be okay. We aren't doing anything bad here!"

The boy furrowed his brows and made a decision, facing the blond-haired girl who was doing her best to hide her nervousness.

|The stupid daughter of the Rotteloss family... in the worst-case scenario, she can be a nice decoy!|

"Eh?!"

The boy decided in a second and charged at the shocked girl causing her to let out a surprised yelp.

"We're running through the back!"

"EH?!"

The boy called out and shoved her forward toward the broken part of the temple's wall that was sloppily fixed with a few boards and old leather straps.

"Uwa...! Oww... W-wait, why are we?"

The girl tripped and fell under the wall sucking in some air because of the pain.

"Shut up, or you will get us in trouble!"

"Ah...! I-I'm sorry...!"

The boy scoffed, and the girl immediately cowered and bowed her head apologetically, showcasing a complete lack of spine.

The hooded boy held back a comment and put on the sachel with the tonics before grabbing the planks of the makeshift wall fix...

*thrught*

"This temple is under the investigation of producing a dangerous concoction and selling it off to the good citizens of Wondelandor as the medicine to Foul Reaper! His majesty, the king, in his boundless compassion for his loyal subjects, cannot let such a heinous crime continue! Herby, everyone here is arrested and will be questioned about the fake tonic under the investigation of the Royal Army!"

"..."

"?!!?"

As the worn-out leather straps gave in with minimal resistance and the boy was putting the planks away, a loud voice of a rather unfriendly-sounding man resounded over the area, causing the boy to start moving faster while the girl flinched and went wide-eyed.

"What does he mean by that...?! My tonic isn't fa-MPFGH?!"

The naive girl gasped and turned towards the hooded boy, but he was already in front of her with a rolled-up handkerchief that he used to gag her without any sense of delicacy.

"Move, stupid young miss...!"

"!!!"

Then, the boy forced her outside the wall, where after a few feet drop, a local farmer was storing compost, and...

"HMNFGH...!"

...shoved her right there before climbing over the wall himself.

"YOU THERE! STOP!"

He wasn't fast enough to follow the naive girl, and kingdom soldiers who were in the middle of surrounding the temple spotted him.

"..."

Acting as if it was an accident, the boy pulled down his hood, revealing an unruly mane of dark-blond hair with bangs covering his eyes, and faced the person shouting at him.

"AS IF I WAS THAT STUPID! IDIOT!"

The boy called out, making his voice sound low, raspy, and honestly, kind of dumb, before knocking on his head with his knuckles in a mocking motion and jumping down into the compost, disappearing from the soldiers' eyes.

"Uuuu... ugheee... thish ish sho dishgushtinf...!"

"You moron, why are you still here?!"

In there, he met a rather unpleasant surprise in the form of the sobbing blond-haired girl who seemingly didn't move an inch since landing and didn't even get rid of the handkerchief in her mouth.

"B-buh... mhy anhle...!"

The girl flinched and whimpered pitifully, lifting her left leg and showing off her foot – but even if there was something wrong, the symptoms would not show so fast.

"YOU BRAT!"

"!!!"

The boy wanted to say something, but this time rather than showcasing his self-control, he was stopped by the voice of an angry soldier rushing in to follow the trail.

"Go! Go! Go! Go! Stupid!"

"Hiiii...!"

The boy glanced over his shoulder for a second and then rushed forwards, rocking the girl to stand up and pushing her in front of himself while she was crying, confused and scared.