Chapter 41

Edward was right. Money-wise, he was better off betraying Noah and working with him. If he were the same man he used to be, he never would have stayed with the inferior force he was in. Yet, without even realizing it, his head was swaying from side to side. Yuichiro knit his lips together and shook his head once more.

“I don’t want to.”

The words of rejection slipped out of his mouth despite how ridiculously simple they were, even for him. Edward’s eyes grew wide with astonishment.

“Why?”

“Because I absolutely, positively hate it,” he replied, sounding like a spoiled brat to the point where he felt embarrassed.

Yuichiro, however, was unable to explain why. The truth was, he was at a loss for words. He was simply unable to stomach the thought of it. He did not want to betray either of them, even if it meant his defeat or his head on the guillotine.

Hearing this, Edward spoke in a tone of exasperation. “With a face like that, you sure do sound like a child.”

“Shut up!” Yuichiro scowled ferociously.

Edward’s face broke out in a broad grin as he caught Yuichiro’s reproving gaze.

Witnessing Edward’s expression, Yuichiro gasped. The moment the man in front of him conveyed emotion on his face, it was as if a beautiful flower had just bloomed.

In the next moment, Edward’s voice rang bouncily. “You’re even more contradictory man than I am. I don’t understand you at all.”

Although the man said he didn’t understand, Yuichiro thought that Edward’s voice sounded awfully pleased. Then he saw Edward playfully snap his wrist while spinning a hatchet in one hand. With each quick turn, sounds of wind cut through the air continuously.

With his eyes fixed on Yuichiro, Edward’s lips moved slowly. “How can you be mine?”

Edward’s statement was more of a monologue than a question. Although there was nothing sinister about his tone, he, however, gave off an air of innocence, as if he were wondering what he could do to claim the toy as his own.

To this, Yuichiro replied, “Even if I die, I won’t be yours.” Enduring the almost strained tone of his voice, he replied in a deliberately sarcastic tone.

“No, that’s not right,” Edward replied in a flat tone, “when you die, your body will belong to me.”

The man in front of Yuichiro was acting crazier and crazier as time went on. The man who, at first glance, seemed to be rational to Yuichiro turned out to be the one with the most muddled thinking.

Brushing off the goosebumps raised on his skin, Yuichiro forced his dry lips open. “’You’re going to play dolls with my corpse, aren’t you?” His sardonic mouth made a wry expression.

Edward sighed and put down the hatchet he had been slowly spinning. “Well, when you’re dead I’ll give it some thought.” Soon after uttering these words, he broke into a full sprint, pounding the ground with each foot.

Yuichiro watched as the man approached them from a short distance away. Edward ran across the unlevel ground with his hatchet raised. But just as he was about to get within touching distance of Yuichiro, a sudden darkness descended upon the area. He halted his tracks and stare up at the sky.

The man’s action also prompted Yuichiro to do the same. When he gazed upward, he could see the red-stained sky becoming darker. The sun which had just set was blocking any illumination filtering through the trees causing the whole forest to plunge silently into the darkness.

“Ah… Time’s up,” Edward muttered to himself. He lowered his hand that was holding the hatchet and spun around on his heel. “Noroshi, let’s go back.”

The ash-headed man called “Noroshi” opened his mouth, his gaze fixed on Yuichiro. “Are you sure you want to leave the goddess unattended?”

To Yuichiro’s surprise, Noroshi called him a goddess. The man’s voice, like his exterior, was as unyielding as a rock. The narrowed pupils in Noroshi’s eyes never left him as he assessed him.

In response, Edward shook his head casually from side to side and raised his voice. “I’m not good at night battles. Besides, their reinforcements should have arrived by now.”

[Were the opposing forces already aware that our regular army was on its way?] In his mind, Yuichiro had a sneaking suspicion.

Yuichiro, who was about to let out an unintentional cluck of his tongue, glared at Edward, who was sporting an intentionally smug expression. “Don’t try to sneak out on your own. Do you really think I’ll just let you go?” He said as he leveled his bayonet at Edward.

The odds of Noah’s eventual victory would increase exponentially if he were to kill the man in front of him. There was no way he could let such a never-again opportunity pass him by.

It was at that precise moment, however, that Edward turned back to Yuichiro and said, “It seems like you guys should be the ones to get out of here quickly.”

“What did you say?”

Edward pointed to the sky.

Instantly, a strange sound could be heard approaching from far away. It was an unpleasant noise, like a fly buzzing around in one’s ear. When Yuichiro was puzzled as to what the noise was, he realized that Edward and Noroshi started running away at once. Before he could shout, ‘Wait,’ a continuous whirring sounds like heavy rain falling overhead.

As his eyes followed the direction of the noise, he was met with the deafening boom that had preceded it. When the earth trembled, a bright red pillar of fire shot up from the forest’s interior.

“Kiki, get up!” Yuichiro shouted while rushing toward her who was still lying on the ground.

He shook her shoulders hard and Kiki finally opened her eyes.

“Goddess…”

“Can you stand up?”

Kiki’s eyes blinked sluggishly, and her gaze drifted as if her consciousness was still clouded. However, her expression changed as soon as she spotted the distant column of fire. “Why…!” Kiki’s voice cracked with grief as she spoke.

The forest, which should not be burning was currently ablaze in fiery flames. Kiki seemed unable to process the reality of the situation as she watched the destruction unfold before her very eyes. However, there was no time to wallow in sorrow. Once again, Yuichiro heard the sound of wings like flies. As his eyes darted above him, he saw it in its true form through a break in the trees.

It was a huge airship.

The airship dropped something from its hull in large quantities, as if it were spawning. For a moment, they looked like insect eggs. The eggs cracked open in mid-air and split into several cylindrical-shaped objects. The missiles’ descent emitted a deafening roar, like thunder following a heavy downpour.

The moment he sighted this, Yuichiro dragged Kiki in between the roots of a large tree. Immediately after covering Kiki’s body, who was uttering a short scream, an explosive sound was heard. The noise resembled the crackling of fireworks going off. When he whirled around, he saw an orange glow emanating from the forest floor. Mixed with the smell of burning trees, there was a smell similar to that of oil wafting through the area.

“Napalm bombs.”

Kiki looked terrified by Yuichiro’s words. The word “napalm” was probably foreign to her. His memory of Kiki’s words that the trees in this forest were too wet to burn without the application of gunpowder or oil lingered in his mind. Napalm bombs were probably used instead of conventional weapons because of this. Bombs, however, were the least of Yuichiro’s worries. The biggest concern he had was that the enemy forces owned airships. He clenched his back teeth so hard he thought they’d break and fought through feelings that didn’t quite fit the bill of impatience or anger.

Kiki shook her head and muttered something as she stared at the ablaze trees. “The forest is burning.”

Yuichiro groaned back at the sound of Kiki’s stunned voice. “Kiki, retreat. Tell everyone to get out of the forest.”

There was no longer any hope of putting out the forest fire. If they stayed here any longer, he knew for a fact that they would all perish in the flames. Kiki shook her head from side to side in a helpless response to his words.

“I don’t want to. This is our home. We, the people of Yellow Tribe, are not going anywhere.”

He was immediately irritated by Kiki’s defiant response. Kiki was pulled to her feet by Yuichiro’s strong grip on her chest. As the hot wind burned his back, he yelled in Kiki’s face.

“Then we might as well all perish in this fire! Getting killed in combat isn’t even worth mentioning; it’s just a dog's death!.”

Unfazed by Yuichiro’s threatening tone, Kiki yelled back in a broken voice, “You don’t understand!”

“Tell me what I don’t understand!”

“Everything! You don’t know anything about us!”

“Then explain it to me! If I don’t understand, tell me from the beginning! Aren’t you the ones who have been silent from the start, afraid that no one will understand what you’re trying to say?”

The argument as a whole stooped to a level unbecoming of adults. They were standing relatively close to one another, yelling and glaring at one another. The orange light cast an ominous shadow on Kiki’s pale face, and she shivered slightly. Her shivers intensified over time, and then her face creased into a scowl.

“We have never known the world outside the forest…” With a muttered whimper, Kiki shook off Yuichiro’s hand that was clutching her chest. Crouching down at the trunk of a tree, Kiki continued, “Lily-sama said that the outside world is ugly and foul, inhabited by fools who think only of themselves. That’s why we have decided to all live in the forest together, untainted while loving each other.”

In light of these words, Yuichiro realized why Am Ys had chosen to live in seclusion for so long. Still convinced that the world beyond the forest’s boundaries is tainted and ugly, the Yellow tribe members refused to abandon their Goddess’s teachings.

“I don’t want to go outside the forest. We will share our fate with this forest.”

The moment Yuichiro heard her exclamation, he felt the blood within his body rushing to the surface and expanding with a buzzing sound. Although his whole body was hot, his brain was getting terribly cold.

Translator’s Notes

And… yup. Edward’s team seems like they have some pretty nasty weapons on them. Hopefully, Yuichiro and the gang find a way out of this mess.

p/s: If you wanted to read ahead, go and support me on Ko-fi! New advanced chapters have already been updated for this month!