Chapter 71. Missed Clue

“Ouch!”

“Camilla!”

Unable to resist the man’s strength, I fell on my bottom, and Aster called out to me. But the man dragged him away faster.

“Come on!”

He urged him to hurry, seeming pressed for time. I averted my gaze from Aster. Somehow, it was hard to look at him.

“Camilla!”

At that moment, my mother hugged me. The men had already disappeared long ago.

“What were you thinking, suddenly running out like that? What if those guys did something to you!”

“I’m sorry….”

Mumbling in a dejected voice, my mother led me back to the carriage. It was important to leave quickly.

The rain was still pouring heavily. My mother fiddled with the communication stone with a serious expression and muttered.

“It’s strange that the knights aren’t coming. Both the communication stone and the caller are out of order.”

My mother, deeply flustered by the situation, stayed highly alert. I, too, was already half-hugged by my mother, fearful. The surroundings felt even more eerie because of the rain.

“Someone must have blocked the mana reception around here. What kind of madman would do such a thing….”

Controlling the flow of mana required imperial approval. It was strictly forbidden by law because it could cause an imbalance in natural mana, potentially causing demonic beasts to appear.

“We need to get out of here quickly.”

My mother told the pale-faced coachman to hurry back. If it got darker, we might lose our way.

“Hurry up!”

“Y-yes, ma’am!”

The coachman, looking like he narrowly escaped death, started driving the carriage. The carriage began to move again, but the cold atmosphere inside remained.

“This is why I hate Blanche.”

“M-mom….”

“You should forget about that boy too.”

“But…!”

I wanted to argue, but seeing my mother’s cold face, I kept my mouth shut. There was nothing wrong with what my mother said.

There was nothing more dangerous than getting involved in another family’s affairs. Moreover, Aster was from Blanche. He was definitely someone I shouldn’t get close to.

I snuggled into my mother’s arms, feeling dejected. The carriage retraced its original path. Unfortunately, the misfortune didn’t end there.

Thud.

Suddenly, the carriage shook violently, and a strange wailing sound came from outside. The coachman screamed and fled, causing the carriage to come to a halt.

Then came the second attack.

Crash—!

With an enormous sound, the carriage tilted heavily. In an instant, the carriage was smashed beyond recognition by a tremendous impact.

* * *

When I regained consciousness, I was already thrown out of the carriage. The cold raindrops stung my body.

I couldn’t understand what had happened. Trembling from the shock, someone touched my head.

“Lala, are you okay?”

It was my mother’s voice. I looked up at her with a face filled with fear. What I saw was horrifying.

“M-mom?”

Her face was pale with no trace of color. Moreover, her body was trapped in the carriage. Seeing the pool of red blood beneath her, I was terrified.

“M-mom!”

“Shh, be a good girl, my dear.”

“Sob, mom, your leg…!”

“Mom’s fine. Don’t cry, my child.”

My mother tried to reassure me with a forced smile. But contrary to her words, I could tell the situation was serious. Her hand was as cold as ice.

“I-I’ll get you out!”

Forgetting my pain, I stood up and tried to lift the carriage. But there was no way a ten-year-old girl could lift the heavy carriage.

“It’s okay, Lala. More importantly, you need to….”

My mother was trying to stop me.

Screech—!

A strange wailing sound made my ears ring, and the ground shook violently. Only then did I notice the presence beyond the carriage and froze.

“!!”

It was my first time encountering a demonic beast. The sight of its red eyes glinting sent shivers down my spine.

I heard that demonic beasts usually had the form of animals with red eyes. But this demonic beast was different. It had the body of a giant with the head of an animal. The stone protruding like a horn seemed to be emitting strange mana.

Wherever the demonic beast passed, the foul mana caused the trees to rot, and the stench was suffocating.

Grrrr.

The demonic beast wandered around but seemed uninterested in my mother and me. It seemed like it couldn’t see us.

Noticing that the demonic beast had an issue with its eyes, my mother hugged me tightly. Then she covered my eyes and whispered.

“Shh.”

She told me not to make a sound, so I covered my mouth with both hands. I hoped the demonic beast would leave quietly. At that moment, flames erupted from somewhere and started attacking the demonic beast.

Screech—!

The demonic beast screamed and rampaged from the sudden attack. The ground shook with every step it took. But the flames clinging to its body didn’t go out. Men in black surrounded the demonic beast and shouted.

“Capture it! It’s a valuable specimen!”

Ignoring my mother and me, they began to attack the demonic beast fiercely, causing it to groan in pain. Seeing it retreat in fear of the flames, it didn’t seem like a wild demonic beast.

“M-mom, there are people over there!”

“Lala….”

My mother’s eyes were half-closed. Unable to speak anymore, she let her head droop.

Seeing my mother’s condition worsen, I shouted to them. I couldn’t pull my mother out from under the carriage on my own.

“P-please help! Someone’s trapped here!”

But that was a mistake. The men in black noticed us belatedly. Seeing their cold eyes, I was stunned.

“What? There were people here?”

“Damn it! What bad luck! Finish them off quickly!”

“But isn’t she too young?”

“Does that matter? Our lives are at stake!”

“…….”

“Don’t worry about it and move quickly! If we get caught, it’s over!”

At the command of the one who seemed to be the leader, the others reluctantly approached.

Realizing they wouldn’t help, my mind went blank. Meanwhile, my mother, likely unconscious from excessive bleeding, didn’t respond even when I shook her.

Terrified, my breath caught in my throat.

Screech—!

The demonic beast pushed them away and started running towards my mother and me. If its massive body passed by here, we might get crushed to death.

“Ahhhh!”

I screamed, seeing the demonic beast charging towards us. This excited the demonic beast, making it run faster.

“Catch that thing first!”

The men chased after the demonic beast, and its giant foot was about to crush the carriage and me. I couldn’t leave my mother behind, so I hugged her head and closed my eyes tightly.

At that moment.

“!!”

Sensing danger, the mana core inside me suddenly opened. As an enormous amount of mana flowed out of my body, the demonic beast froze like a statue.

Even the legs of the men chasing it froze.

“W-what is this!”

“It’s an ability, an ability!”

The men were terrified upon seeing the ability.

“Huh!”

I panted and trembled from the suddenly opened mana core. But the men were relentless. They tried to melt the demonic beast again with fire magic.

It seemed they couldn’t let the demonic beast die. They were desperate. But I was even more desperate. I used my power, regardless of the strain on my body, thinking I had to save my mother quickly.

Just as water and fire were mixing chaotically, I suddenly remembered my dad’s words when I saw the glowing stone on the demonic beast’s forehead.

‘Every demonic beast has a core. That’s their weak point.’
‘What on earth are you teaching the child?’

I had only heard that much due to my mother’s scolding. I didn’t know how to destroy it, but avoiding the crisis was my priority. Thinking it was worth a try, I created an ice arrow and aimed at the demonic beast’s forehead.

Clang—!

With the sound of the stone shattering, the demonic beast’s eyes became dull. It seemed I had succeeded.

Groan.

The demonic beast let out a low groan and knelt before me. And the moment the stone shattered, a red flash from the demonic beast pierced my heart.

“Huh!”

I suddenly felt a pain in my heart and collapsed. It felt like something was lodged in my body, choking me. The pain in my heart made it hard to breathe.

That was the last memory I had of that day. The last thing I saw before fainting was the men with the black tattoos shouting to find something.

* * *