Everything was perfect.
There were no instructors blocking our way.
The thick clouds covered the moonlight, making movement easier.
And Rezé’s idiot hair radar(?) was working just fine.
Even the number of guards on duty was small, meaning we didn’t have to crouch and sneak around like before.
Everything was perfect.
And yet—
“Stop right there!”
Rodelin’s voice rang out like thunder.
The sight of her chasing after us, eyes blazing, was pure terror.How the hell did things end up like this?
Did the Pufferfish Rabbit’s idiot hair radar malfunction?
“H-How was I supposed to know someone inside the house would suddenly come out?!”
“Keke, wasn’t it your job to handle such unexpected situations?”
“Y-You demon! This is why I didn’t want to comeeeeeee!”
Thus began an impromptu moonlit chase.
We ran like mad, but Rodelin’s voice roared behind us.
“Stop for a moment! Why would honest, law-abiding citizens run away?”
“Then why are you chasing after law-abiding citizens?”
“To give you an award for being model citizens, of course!”
“We law-abiding citizens do not require such things!”
“Oh, I think it’ll be very necessary for you soon-to-be not law-abiding citizens!”
I had expected there to be unforeseen obstacles.
Of course, I did.
This was a damn nightmare of a game.
But never in my wildest dreams did I expect that obstacle to be Rodelin.
Maybe meeting her was part of some hidden event tied to the story, but…
Glance.
“Raaaaaagh! Evil forces threatening the Empire! I will never let you escape!”
One thing was certain: We needed to run.
Because a dinosaur obsessed with protecting the Empire was hot on our heels!
Was Rodelin some kind of secret weapon created by the Empire?
A super soldier spliced with dinosaur DNA or something?
Damn it, I must be low on oxygen. These ridiculous thoughts keep popping into my head!
“Haa… Haa… What do we do? Should we just take her down?”
“Hu, huhuhu! Causing a commotion in the village is out of the question.”
The instructors were one thing, but the knights and students were another problem.
If they joined in and turned this into a full-blown mess, Bickerd would sense that something was wrong.
And Dolores’ rescue would go up in smoke.
Now that we had committed to the mission, the most important things were speed—and not looking back.
“Huff… Huff! Instructor! Guards! If we keep running far enough! They won’t be able to chase us!”
“…So, we just keep running, right?”
I nodded firmly.
We had already escaped the instructors’ patrol zone. If we just made it outside the village, Rodelin would have no reason to keep chasing us.
‘Rodelin is a rational person.’
There were three of us, all highly suspicious.
If she chased us alone, there was a high chance she’d be overpowered.
She would likely report our presence to the instructors and organize a pursuit instead.
‘And during that window, we’ll rescue Dolores.’
Of course, there was always the chance we’d get caught later… or even be mistaken for enemies and killed.
But—
‘We’ll deal with that when the time comes!’
In the worst-case scenario, I could remove my mask and reveal my identity.
Caron could then vouch for my innocence.
No matter what happened afterward, saving Dolores’ life was the priority.
We kept sprinting toward the village entrance.
“What’s with those weird matching outfits?! At least tell me that much!”
“Weird outfits? We bought these from the market! If anything, your clothes are more unusual!”
That’s right.
Rodelin was currently in her pajamas.
A limited-edition set, distributed by the Empire to celebrate its founding anniversary.
And it wasn’t even the same one I had seen her in before.
The last one was from the 50th anniversary. This one was from the 100th anniversary.
Looking at her now, I realized—she wasn’t just loyal to the Empire.
She was straight-up obsessed.
“Weird? Do you have any idea how rare this limited edition is?!”
“Snap out of it! You’ve been brainwashed by the Empire! They turned you into a crazy dinosaur soldier!”
“Do not insult the Empireeeee!”
I must be seriously oxygen-deprived.
This conversation was becoming pure nonsense.
“M-Major problem! The gate is locked!”
Rezé, having reached the village entrance first, was hopping up and down in distress.
When the hell did that rabbit get over there?
Looks like her [Survival Instinct] trait, which doubles all her stats in crisis situations, had kicked in.
Meaning I wasn’t the only one feeling the pure terror of Rodelin chasing us.
“The watchtower! Climb up to the watchtower!”
Whether it was due to the knights’ influence or something else, the guards were nowhere to be seen tonight.
We dashed up the wooden stairs, reaching the top in no time.
A flag with the Empire’s emblem flapped wildly in the wind.
Being this high up, the wind was fierce.
It was about the height of a four-story building.
“W-What now?!”
“We jump.”
“W-What?! I can’t do that!”
“Yes, you can. Rabbits can fly.”
“T-That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!”
I wasn’t even lying.
All living creatures can fly when they jump from high enough.
…Even if it’s just for a very brief moment.
What? You’re saying that’s not flying, that’s falling?
Who cares? In this situation, anyone would make the same choice as me.
Because—
“Graaaaahhh!”
There was a rampaging dinosaur chasing us from behind!
I glanced down. It was a long way down.
‘I’ve far surpassed the limits of an average person. This height won’t injure me too badly.’
After exchanging a glance with Luna, I steadied myself and jumped.
Eleven meters—the height at which humans supposedly feel the most fear.
I’ll be the one to put that to the test…
Thud!
“Ugh!”
A sharp pain shot through my feet, making my eyes water. It hurt like hell.
But beyond that, there was no significant damage.
This was the power of a trained body… No, the power of accumulated stats.
I need to keep leveling up. I hate pain.
Thud!
Luna landed right after me, holding Rezé in her arms.
A princess carry, no less.
Ah, I should’ve asked her to do that for me, too.
“What are you doing? Run!”
We started sprinting again.
But soon, without anyone saying anything, we slowed to a stop.
There were no sounds of pursuit behind us.
“…She’s not following?”
“She must have decided it’s impossible to continue the chase.”
She was alone, after all, and completely unarmed.
Her only possession was… her pajamas.
There was no way a commemorative Empire-issued pajama set could block a blade.
Reporting to the instructors was the only logical choice for her.
“Let’s go. From here on out, speed is everything.”
Once the search perimeter was fully established, there would be no escape.
We had to secure Dolores before that happened.
Just as we turned away from the village entrance and started moving forward—
Boom!
A loud impact echoed behind us.
Slowly—very slowly—we turned our heads.
A small dust cloud had risen.
Through it, we could see Rodelin, one knee to the ground in a perfect landing pose.
‘A superhero landing…?’
What the hell.
Was she really a super dinosaur engineered by the Empire?!
Flap—
A flag fluttered in the wind.
Not from the watchtower, but from below.
Yes.
The flag that had been on top of the tower was now in Rodelin’s hands.
Since she had no weapon, she must have decided to use the flagpole instead.
She wrapped the flag around it, then—
“The Empire protects me! Servants of evil, you will not escape!”
She thrust the pole forward like a spear—
And then charged straight at us, looking ready to skewer all three of us at once.
“R-Run!”
“Stop right there!”
And thus, the moonlit chase resumed once more.
Rustle, rustle—
“…She’s gone?”
“Keke, it seems so.”
Shaking off Rodelin was easier than expected.
After all, we had Rezé’s camouflage box.
A dark forest, thick with trees. These two conditions made the already-effective box even more powerful.
“M-My box…!”
Rezé clutched her torn box, wailing.
Of course, we did suffer a casualty… No, a casualty box.
The situation had been so urgent that all three of us had crammed into a single box—
And it had torn apart from the weight.
“Rezé, calm down. I’ll help you make a new one. I’ll even get you good materials.”
“Sniff… T-Thank you…”
“Keke, see? I told you to make it bigger. Why not take this chance to craft a three-person version?”
“Y-You’re the enemy of all boxes!”
The rabbit’s fury, struggle, and rebellion—
All of it came to an end in just one second.
Seriously, this rabbit was way too weak.
I grabbed her idiot hair, which drooped down like rabbit ears, and pulled.
“Keke, do you want to end up like that box, torn apart on both sides?”
“S-Squeeeaaakkkk!”
“Both of you, stop. This isn’t the time for this.”
Luna was right.
If Rodelin realized she had lost us and returned to the village, the instructors would immediately begin their pursuit.
‘This is turning into a time attack mission.’
Thinking about it that way, I understood why Rodelin had chased us so desperately.
It was how the developers had designed the game.
‘If Rodelin had just reported us to the instructors right away, we would’ve been caught no matter how fast we were.’
The instructors were incredibly skilled.
Even if we rescued Dolores, we would have been captured immediately afterward.
But by chasing us outside the village, Rodelin had unknowingly given us time.
Time to deal with Bickerd and escape.
‘This might determine whether the Dark Beast Squad can continue operating.’
Time attack missions usually had varying rewards based on how much time remained.
Zero minutes left meant total failure.
One minute meant survival.
Three minutes meant a big reward.
Sometimes, even the survival of an entire organization was given as a reward.
Since this was my first time attempting this mission, I wasn’t sure—
But if I wanted the Dark Beast Squad to continue, I probably needed to clear it with at least three minutes to spare.
‘If I fail, the instructors will find out who we are, and Caron will lecture me instead.’
And I definitely wanted to avoid that.
Not only would he scold me endlessly, but he’d probably direct all of it at me alone.
It wasn’t fair! The three of us caused this mess together—why should I be the only one who gets in trouble?!
‘Let’s finish this as fast as possible.’
No matter what, speed was key.
We sprinted as fast as we could while conserving our stamina.
Our destination—
The underground chamber where Dolores was being held.
Since we had been here once before, finding the location wasn’t difficult.
The puzzle was exactly the same as before, just like a copied Sudoku grid—same layout, same numbers.
“What are you doing? Solve it already.”
“Q-Quickly! Hurry up! T-The dinosaur might eat us!”
…Do you two even have brains?
Anyway, we successfully entered the underground cavern where Dolores was being held.
Whirr, whirr, whirr—!
Rezé’s idiot hair—no, her radar—was spinning faster than ever.
Thanks to its efforts, we easily reached the underground chamber and hid behind a rock that obscured our presence.
The first thing we saw was Bickerd, seated in front of a campfire. And—
“Mister, I need to go to the bathroom.”
“Just go.”
“That’s disgusting.”
“You’ve been doing it just fine up until now. Why are you suddenly acting all proper?”
“Do you think dry and wet are the same? Why don’t you try pissing yourself right now, huh? I bet you’d take me to the bathroom real quick.”
Dolores snapped back at him.
Her appearance was a little rough, but judging by her eyes, her life wasn’t in any immediate danger.
Luna clenched her fist silently, a small gesture of celebration.
She had confirmed with her own eyes that Dolores was safe.
“It’s not like I want to deal with this either. Think about all the trouble you’ve caused me.”
“What trouble?”
“Biting—9 times. Spitting—35 times. Screaming—197 times. Pointless seduction attempts—8 times. Escape attempts—13 times.”
“Who is this monstrous criminal?”
“…It’s you!”
Their bickering echoed through the chamber.
Taking advantage of the moment, Luna whispered.
“Let’s get her out now.”
“Wait a bit. A better opportunity will come soon.”
“She’s been held captive for days. We should save her as soon as possible. She may look fine, but she’s probably struggling inside.”
I disagreed with Luna.
Not only was Bickerd too close to Dolores, but—
‘Why isn’t the timer showing up?’
Time attack missions usually displayed a countdown in the top-right corner of my vision the moment they started.
But right now, there was nothing. No timer, not even a quest window.
“Tch! Fine, I’ll go alone. I can’t just stand by while someone suffers.”
Luna pouted and prepared to move, but before she could, Dolores spoke again.
“Mister, did you know?”
“What?”
“I actually liked you.”
“…That’s another failed seduction attempt. Brings the total to 9. You’re officially the most notorious criminal in Trash Village history.”
“Ugh! Couldn’t you at least pretend to fall for it? Do you know how much it hurts a delicate girl’s heart?!”
Dolores forcibly pushed herself up and started spitting at Bickerd again.
Yeah… she was definitely still full of energy.
“She doesn’t look exhausted at all.”
“…Shut up.”
Luna fell silent, though her pout deepened twice as much.
Taptaptap!
Suddenly, Rezé started smacking my arm.
The moment the cat quieted down, the rabbit started going wild.
I was seriously going to lose my mind.
“Keke, what’s wrong now?”
Rezé pointed furiously toward the entrance of the cavern, her idiot hair spinning like crazy.
That meant someone was approaching.
Damn it.
Was it Schrödinger’s Redington?
A time attack mission against two knights?
This difficulty was absolutely insane.
‘I’ll have to go all out.’
Just as I was preparing my skills and items—
Someone appeared at the entrance.
The strange thing was that they were crawling along the ground.
‘…A low crawl?’
Moments later, we finally saw who it was.
It was Rodelin.
Wearing her pajamas, slowly creeping forward.
…Why the hell was she here?
–TL Notes–
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