The sky grew dark and Andre and the others were huddled together while quietly discussing something important.
Because Claire didnât sleep at all and she was just fighting with Lin Xiao during the day, she was already fast asleep and it was Andre driving the carriage the whole so she was still sleeping. Since Andre and the others didnât want to be interrupted by her, they left her on the carriage and quietly discussed among themselves.
âBrother, what do you mean⊠escape?â Andre thought he misheard and asked one more time.
âThatâs right, we need to leave right now!â
âWhy? ⊠I was finally able to convince Claire, and youâve also investigated for so long. Now that success is right in front of us as long as we bring that Caesar back weâll be generously rewarded! We might even get rewards from Lombard Kingdom⊠why do we have to escape?â
âBrother, what⊠youâre not listening to me anymore?â
Andrewâs expression turned grave as he heard his little brother counter, he tightened his muscles, raised his ax, and stabbed it into the ground. The thick ax handle was buried in the ground and the heavy ax stood up tall not moving at all.
Andre and the others silently looked at each other.
There was no doubt that Andrew was stronger than all of them and he was also the leader, so there was no one who dared to disobey him.
ButâŠ
âBrother, if you say weâre leaving, then weâll definitely listen to you, but I just donât understand.â Andre hesitated but still couldnât help asking, âYellowstone is right in front of us, as long as we leave not we can find Caesar by tomorrow noon. If we leave now, then those bastards behind us will just get all the credit!â
âBastards behind us? Who?â
âA guy called Lin Xiao leading a special investigation team made up of a bunch of brats⊠I also heard that one of the women is quite strong.â
Since he saw that his brother didnât know, Andre told him everything he knew about Lin Xiao.
âSpecial investigation team? Hmph, strong? Seems like just posturing to me!â
Andrew snorted and glanced at his giant ax, it was like he was saying all those brats together wouldnât even hold up to his ax.
âUh⊠brother, of course, compared to you theyâre still a bunch of young fledglings, but thereâs someone who doesnât think like that!â Andre lowered his voice and glanced back at the carriage, âYou donât know but that brat already managed to get that tomboy Claire.â
âWhat?â Andrew clenched his fist in anger, âI thought no man could catch our leopard queenâs eyes? Last year I chased after her for so long and in the end, she didnât even know who I was, now she suddenly changed and likes some young kid?â
âUh⊠well, it was a bit complicated, but Claire was bullied by Lin Xiao and even insulted several times.â Andre honestly responded.
âHah? She likes them after getting bullied? So Claire is a masochist, she doesnât like being treated nicely but likes being insulted? My god⊠what kind of woman is that?â Andrew slapped his head and hated himself for being blind.
But that couldnât be blamed on someone else, he wouldnât dare to insult Claire. Although he also wants to get Claire to himself, but she doesnât even remember his appearance, if he tries to copy Lin Xiao, he would probably just get locked up as a pervert.
Everyone was different after all, and Lin Xiao is probably the only man who would dare to treat Claire like thatâŠ
âSo if we leave just like that then that brat would take advantage of it and he would get all the credit!â
âSigh, brother, let me speak honestly⊠I donât want to go either, but even so we need to be alive right?â
âWhat do you mean by that?â
Andre and the others were all scared when they saw his gloomy expression. Their brother was brave and decisive and has never revealed an expression like that, so it must be something huge!
âNot going to lie but I found something unbelievable⊠the living dead, have you heard of it?â
âThe living dead?â
Everyone looked at each other and had no idea what he was talking about.
It was an expected reaction, Andrew had never heard of them either but after investigating and personally witnessing those hopeless scenes, he completely dispelled the idea of going to rescue Caesar.
âActually, the so-called plague zone is justâŠâ Andrew lowered his voice and told them of the conclusion he came to after investigating.
âWhat? So thatâs how it is!?â
After hearing Andrewâs detailed explanation, everyone nervously gulped especially Andre. Now they were all trembling and wanted to escape.
If it were anyone else, Andre wouldnât have believed it, but it was his brother so there was no way he didnât believe him! Now they only had one choice and that was to run!
âWhile we have the time! It will be too late if we delay any longer!â
âOkay brother, weâll listen to you, itâs fine even if we donât do this job! ButâŠâ
Just as they were going to leave Andre suddenly remembered something.
âBrother, Claire is still on the carriage⊠should we bring her along?â
âBring her?â
Andrew thought about it for a bit. They should bring her along, even without factoring in her status, he once chased after her, even though he was rejected and completely ignored. If he brought her along, he can definitely win some points. More importantly, if they didnât bring her along then once the living dead came, then she would surely die!
âWhere is she?â
âShe never slept yesterday so sheâs catching up some sleep in the carriage.â
âPerfect⊠donât startle her, letâs go!â
âWhat? Y-youâre leaving her behind?â
âSigh⊠donât blame me for being cruel⊠you know the leopard queen as well as I do, sheâs more stubborn than a man! If we wake her up, she definitely wouldnât go along with us easily and might even cause a mess!â
âRightâŠâ
Andre clenched his teeth and looked back at the carriage. He steeled himself and could only nod in agreement.
His brother was right, during the last several days of travel he also came to understand Claire well. With her personality, if she was told to escape with them, she wouldnât agree and would probably even force them all to die with her!
âOkay! Weâll do as you say⊠letâs go!â
When they finally came to an agreement, they all nodded and grabbed their weapons. They didnât take their luggage or the carriage, everyone lined up with Andrew in lead and carefully slipped into the forest and attempted to escape in the cover of the night!
But just after taking several steps, Andrew suddenly stopped.
âBrother, why did you stop? If we donât hurry, weâll all die⊠eh? P-princess Claire?â
Andre saw someoneâs figure ahead of them and when he rubbed his eyes and took a good look, he found it was Claire!
âClaire, w-why are you here? Werenât you sleeping on the carriage?â
They were all dumbfounded and didnât expect to be stopped right at the beginning and they started sweating.
âIâve slept enough so I went for a walk, you guys⊠hm?â
Claire yawned and rubbed her eyes and realized that they were all carrying something and looked like they were running away and she instantly became alert.
âYouâre Andrew, right? I think Iâve seen you before. So, where are you guys going?â
âW-we⊠weâre going to take a piss!â Andrew laughed and tried to trick her.
âYou need weapons for taking a piss? And also with so many people at the same time while sneaking around the woods?â
Claire squinted and easily saw through his lies.
âWhatâs going on? âŠCould it be that youâre trying to desert!â
âAh, princess Claire, how could we?â
Andre was startled and quickly came to smooth things over.
The thing they were trying to avoid still happened, now that she was right in front of them, there was no way for them to escape.
Andre and his brother looked helplessly at each other and decided to persuade Claire to go with them!
âPrincess Claire, itâs actually like this⊠my brother already investigated⊠those living dead are too scary⊠actually the plague is⊠so we have to hurry up and run!â
Andre kept it concise and clear, picking the key points, and exaggerated the story so that anyone normal who heard it would immediately choose to run, but he underestimated the leopard queenâs stubbornness.
Claire was shocked, her face turning deathly pale it was evident that she was frightened, but she still clenched her teeth and made a decision!
âRun? No! If we ran, who will save Caesar!?â
Claire extended her arms blocking their way and sternly ordered them.
âNo matter what, we have to save them⊠go back, all of you!â