Ch#64
Not bragging, but Tie was the type who picked up reading quickly.
Perhaps because of that, compared to her peers, she was always a beat ahead at reading and understanding things.
‘When fwiends wewe wearning consonants and vowews, Tie was weading pictuwe books.’
And by the time her friends finally started picture books, she had already graduated from them.
So what did she read then?
True to any curious three- or four-year-old, she sought out and read every letter she could find within her daily life.
Slightly harder ones, cooler ones, longer words.
For example, the product descriptions under the tissue box.
Was that all?
‘Tiny wabews!’
Reading the <Laundry Precautions> label on one side of the blanket or the ‘Do Not Eat’ on the preservative made her heart pound so thrillingly.
Among them were these six big letters on the back of the staff room vacuum cleaner.
“Commerciew use! Eight meetews!”
As she read the letters loudly, Berugon narrowed his brow.
His expression clearly showed he had no idea what it meant.
Tie flashed him a meaningful smile, even as cold sweat dripped down her.
Then she hurriedly started pulling out the vacuum cleaner's cord.
The first time she learned what "commercial use eight meters" meant, even Tie had been a little surprised.
‘Commerciew use eight meetews? Ah, that means the cord length. This cord is that long.’
‘The cord is wong?’
‘Yeah. One meetew is this much, and eight of them means that.’
‘Gasp……!’
‘And "commercial use" refers to appliances used in wide places like our kindergarten, not homes.’
‘Then homes use it too?’
‘They don't call it home-use; usually household-use, right?’
Anyway, that was the lesson from that day.
The kindergarten vacuum was commercial use, so its cord was eight meters long.
And right now, expressing that differently,
‘It means I can make Factory Chief's ankles even more immobile with this cord!’
Tie's heart pounded wildly.
For the first time, she felt grateful for the alley trash, as Berugon's feet were literally tangled with all sorts of things.
But what if she wrapped this enormous commercial eight-meter vacuum cord around them too?
Just then, the long cord caught on the outlet with a clunk.
Tie seized the moment and shouted loudly.
“Lucarion! Over hewe!”
Lucarion, battling the mist, turned his head.
His eyes took in Tie and the pile of black cord at her feet.
Without needing explanation, he seemed to grasp her intent.
He cornered the red mist for confirmation, then swiftly twisted his body.
Before Tie could even gape at his agile move,
“Throw it!”
Lucarion shouted.
Tie timed it for when Lucarion was overhead and hurled the cord upward with all her might.
Lucarion snatched the end as if waiting and approached Berugon.
Then he began wrapping it tightly around his ankles.
“Waaah-!”
Tie hopped in joy and hurriedly looked around.
With Berugon's ankles bound, now she needed to fix him in place somewhere immovable.
Her eyes landed on the table drawer and its handle.
The handle hole looked spacious enough to thread the cord's plug through and secure it.
“Lucarion! Hewe!”
Tie waved her hand after leaping over the barricade.
Lucarion grasped the situation immediately and nodded.
Soon, he flew over and dropped the plug end onto Tie's hand.
Tie quickly threaded the plug through the drawer handle.
And once, twice, three times, four times wrapped around.
“Sovereign King! You rascal!”
Berugon yelled and reached for Tie.
But Tie released the cord and darted to the opposite side of the drawer.
“You rascal! If I catch you—!”
Berugon lunged toward her as well.
But,
“Urk-!”
The cord went taut, and he crashed to the floor.
Tie blinked anxiously at Berugon groaning in pain.
‘……He feww, Factowy Chief.’
Even though it was unavoidable, guilt stabbed at her chest.
“What are you doing! No time!”
But there was no time for personal guilt.
At Lucarion's shout, Tie snapped back.
Then she scurried to a corner of the staff room.
Where the supply boxes she had toppled earlier were piled.
Her target among them was one thing.
“Found it!”
Tie's green eyes sparkled at the item in her hand.
It was children's toy police handcuffs.
Leftovers from the Flower Rabbit class older kids using them in the kindergarten play <My Dream> corner.
The teacher always kept just these handcuffs in the staff room among the props.
And Tie knew why.
‘Such an amawing toy.’
Toy handcuffs, toy swords, toy guns always held an invisible demonic power.
A very tempting, fatally alluring force that stole children's minds.
You could tell from the storm that blew through Flower Rabbit class during the few days they were stored in the classroom.
‘And now Tie has those handcuffs.’
Ignoring her pounding heart, Tie shouted bravely.
“No escaping!”
At that moment, faint hope bloomed in her heart.
‘We can get out.’
She could seize the core from Berugon and escape the subspace.
‘We can do it!’
Tie charged forward without hesitation.
And cuffed one of Berugon's wrists as he groaned.
“You rascal!”
Berugon writhed, but Tie swiftly secured the other cuff to the drying rack.
On the drying rack sat the barricade Tie had built.
“You can't break this!”
Berugon flailed his arm.
But the sturdy handcuffs and rack didn't budge.
Tie watched the struggling Berugon without relaxing.
With both feet and one arm bound, he seemed quite flustered.
He glanced at the red mist in the corner, gritted his teeth.
Then stretched his free arm toward his feet with all his might.
Unable to free his bound arm, he aimed to untangle the cords on his legs.
But Tie wouldn't miss the chance.
“Hiyah!”
Rushing to the window, Tie clung to the curtain with all her weight.
The curtain gave way with a snap, and after tumbling, Tie popped right back up.
Grabbing one end of the curtain, she ran toward Berugon.
Berugon's eyes widened, but Tie threw the curtain over him.
“What is this?!”
Berugon thrashed to escape the curtain.
But with only one arm free, he couldn't shake it off easily.
Before he could pull that hand out, Tie clambered on top.
“You rascal!”
As Berugon's face and one shoulder emerged from under the curtain, Tie gasped sharply.
Cold sweat beaded on her back at the bright red blood trickling from his forehead.
No doubt from falling on the cord earlier.
“Bwood, bwood……”
After flustering briefly, Tie squeezed her eyes shut and focused.
‘What Tie has to do is just one thing.’
Snatch Krazar's core from Berugon.
And escape the subspace.
‘Tie has to get out. Must get out.’
There was the reason she had to survive and meet Dad,
‘Tie pwomised to take good cawe of Wawoul oppa and Enzo oppa!’
‘If Tie buys monowogue candy, Iww pwotect Veiw oppa fwom the fwont!’
‘As Sovereign King, I gotta be a stwongew captain!’
But more than that, because she had already promised.
As captain, to protect everyone.
