Chapter 28
If I made a misstep, I could fall and die, but fear and terror washed over me, making it impossible to slow down.
As the sun began to set, the surroundings darkened rapidly and uncontrollably.
Awooooo!
The sound of a wolf howling somewhere made me break out in a cold sweat.
"I'm screwed, I'm screwed!"
I could hear something chasing me quickly from behind. I could hear the bushes tilting as if making way, and the sound of branches breaking.
The sound was getting closer and closer, and I just wanted to cry.
I had been running down for a while, but I was still in the middle of the mountain. It felt like another blister had burst on my poor foot, but I didn't have time to worry about that.
Awoo! Awoo! Awooooo!
And the Monsters chasing behind me suddenly started signaling.
Were they gathering more Monsters? I wondered how many Monsters were chasing me, but I didn't have time to look back.
I'm almost there, just a little more!
At the corner, I skidded, braked with my feet, turned sideways, went around a huge rock, and went down.
Even without looking back, the presence of the beasts following me was immense.
I was running down like that for a while when I spotted someone walking leisurely in the midst of all this.
Wait, a person?
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Get out of the way!!"
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
The man turned to look at me very slowly, and as I brushed past him, I snatched his wrist and ran with him.
"Wh-What is this?!"
The man shouted at me as he was dragged down the mountain, his face pale as if he had seen the Monsters chasing behind us.
"Why are so many Monsters gathered like that? Could it be because of that strange magic that exploded in the sky earlier?"
I didn't know what to say to the man's words, so I chose my words carefully.
"First of all, you know that magic doesn't work on this island, right?"
The man nodded at my question.
"So, what you saw earlier couldn't have been magic!"
I felt like crying along with the screams of the beasts behind me.
It seemed that the Monsters had gathered like this because the Flares had gone off.
But normal Flares wouldn't explode so spectacularly like fireworks.
'How can you modify Flares to make them like this?'
As I reached the end of the descent course, the slope gradually became gentler, but it was still not easy to run on the slope.
The man and I ran as if performing acrobatics, and it was a miracle that we didn't fall. I was completely out of breath.
At this rate, we'll be caught soon...!
As I was running roughly, the Flares I had put in my dress pocket bumped against my thigh.
While swatting away the branches blocking my way and paying attention to the sensation on my thigh, I suddenly had an idea to overcome this situation.
"I have a good idea! When I signal, lie down!"
I took out the Flares I had just picked up from my pocket. Then I estimated where to stop.
Fortunately, there was a huge rock about 50m ahead. I could lean against that.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
The man looked back at me with a puzzled expression, but I didn't have time to answer his question.
I immediately loaded the Flares and pulled down the hammer. Then, leaning against the approaching rock, I turned around and said to the man.
"Lie down!"
As the man hurriedly lay down, I shot the Flares at the approaching horde of Monsters.
Red smoke penetrated the midst of at least ten Wolf-type Monsters, and then, in an instant, a huge flame erupted.
Then, as if a bomb had exploded, the Monsters in the vicinity were thrown away.
I lay down next to the man and waited for the flames to subside.
Before long, the flames died down and I couldn't hear the Monsters anymore, so I cautiously raised my head with the man.
The Monsters were annihilated. Was it a one-shot, one-kill?
I looked again at what I had just shot. It looked like a pistol, but it was Flares. And fancy firework Flares!
"Ha, I'm alive."
I sighed and sat down wearily.
"What are you?"
The man glared at me with a frustrated expression. His voice was very prickly and sharp.
The man had light sky-blue hair like water. Moreover, it was long hair that came down to his chest, and it was so beautiful and delicate that it seemed several times prettier than my dirty appearance.
As soon as I saw his long hair, I recognized who he was.
He was Archbishop Luzef, one of the twelve priests of the Vatican who had recently been nominated for Pope.
Luzef asked me again, his face full of anger.
"Are you a witch?"
"Do I look like a witch?"
Of course, he had never seen Flares or fireworks, so he might well think that I had used some strange magic.
But you, in the novel, didn't call the female lead a witch no matter how strange things she used...!
"Then what are you, what's your identity?"
"Shall we introduce ourselves first? I saved you, and you're talking so nicely? Do you want to be Monster food again?"
When I pretended to shoot the Flares I was holding into the sky, Luzef's face turned pale.
He seemed to realize belatedly that I had saved him, and he looked at me with a calmer face than before. Then he answered in his unique prickly voice.
"Thank you for saving me, for now."
What does 'for now' mean?
I was dumbfounded, but I turned the shoulder strap to check that the bullet pouch was safely inside the bamboo tube and felt relieved.
Then Luzef suddenly grabbed my shoulder.
"Wait..."
Then he scanned my face carefully and suddenly pointed his finger at me.
"Lady Flone, perhaps?"
Then, without waiting for me to confirm, he frowned in displeasure.
"Don't tell me you followed me all the way here? To ask me to make a Love potion?"
Love potion? What nonsense...
Then Margaret's past memories flashed through my mind.
Margaret had chased Luzef relentlessly, asking him to make a Love potion with holy water so that Enoch would fall in love with her.
However, when Luzef didn't listen to her at all, she harassed him in every way possible. Eventually, she encouraged another priest to promote and sponsor the 'Love potion' experiment.
No wonder he hated Margaret.
Margaret, why did you live like that! You have too many enemies!
I pretended not to know and feigned ignorance.
"That's not it. And I'm not Lady Flone."
I lied so shamelessly, but Luzef glared at me as if telling me not to lie.
"Lady Flone. Did you kidnap me to this island?"
Now he's even accusing me of something. If I get caught up in his words, I might be falsely accused when I meet other people later. That would be too unfair.
I jumped up from my seat and pointed my finger at him.
"I'm not Lady Flone! Why are you so rude? And I almost died too?"
He was flustered by my scream-like shout and stood up awkwardly.
"No, Lady. Why are you suddenly shouting and making a fuss...!"
"Who's Lady! I said I'm not! Hey, you! I saved your life! Yes or no?"
"W-Well, that's true...!"
In times like this, I heard that the louder you are, the more you win.
"Then you should be bowing and saying thank you, I'll repay your kindness a hundredfold, but no! Huh!"
I didn't cower and raised my voice to the end.
"I'll be bowing and saying thank you~ until I leave! Got it?"
And when there seems to be no solution, I learned that you have to run away.
I blurted out such ridiculous things and ran away.
It's okay, it's okay. I won't see him again.
Please say that's the case!
