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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: The Worn-Out Male Lead Picked the Wrong Opponent
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Three people were riding in the wagon.
I untied his bound hands, then pulled out a hairpin and unlocked the locked cargo door.
The wagon had just left the village and entered a narrow path.
Before long, Karos pulled me into an embrace and threw our bodies out the side.
"Gasp!"
I nearly screamed. My vision spun wildly.
After rolling several times in the snow, Karos quickly helped me to my feet and hid us behind a large tree.
'At least luck was on our side. If I'd been kidnapped with that idiot Edford...'
I shook my head as I recalled the foolish Edford.
At that moment, the wagon—which had been moving away—suddenly stopped, as if they'd noticed something odd.
Chiiik.
Karos, with his back to the tree, lit a match and touched it to the fuse of the firework he'd brought.
It was a small firework, but Masera, with his keen eyesight, might spot it.
'If he's not asleep, that is.'
I crouched down and covered my ears.
Bang-! Pop!
Several fireworks shot up, painting the pitch-black dawn sky with bursts of light.
Karos grabbed my arm and pulled.
"Get up, Cynthia."
But even though I'd braced myself...
My legs gave out, and I couldn't move.
Soon, footsteps approached from that direction.
"Ha, they couldn't even leave you behind."
Karos, wearing a regretful expression, hurriedly hoisted me onto his back and started running.
Snowflakes brushed my cheeks, my vision shook chaotically, everything was a blur of white.
Lost in a daze, I was suddenly struck by an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.
"Don't cry, little sis. Big bro will always protect you."
Ah, it was a memory from my past life. I remembered my brother's sturdy back as he carried me away in our school uniforms, fleeing.
"What if you go to heaven like Mom and Dad? What happens to me?"
"Don't worry. I'll watch over you from heaven too. Mom and Dad are watching us."
I buried my face in Karos's shoulder.
The man driving the wagon spotted Karos fleeing into the forest with Cynthia on his back from a distance.
A red-haired woman hurriedly gave chase, shouting,
"Damn it, open fire! No choice!"
They were still out of effective range.
The three pursued Karos and Cynthia into the dense fir forest, raising their pistols.
Bang-!
Gunshots rang out, shattering the dawn silence in rapid succession.
But seeing not a single shot hit, the woman exploded in anger.
"Are you really Free Assembly elites? Your aim sucks!"
"Argh, damn it! What can we do if it won't hit? You do it then!"
The three sprinted fiercely to close the distance, while Karos's pace began to slow.
"Leave me and go ahead. Get help. They won't kill me..."
Cynthia, snapping out of her panic, finally said.
But Karos readjusted her on his back and shook his head.
"I'm not that much of a bastard."
He added bitterly,
"Wouldn't it be better if you left me and ran?"
Now I noticed Karos was limping.
'He twisted his leg when we fell from the wagon.'
Cynthia slid off his back and stood on her own feet. She forced strength into her trembling legs amid the ongoing gunfire.
"You were curious how lucky I am, right?"
Forcing a joking tone, Cynthia pulled out all the fireworks hidden in Karos's coat. And she grinned.
"Me too."
She lit the fuse on the fireworks.
Her spine prickled with goosebumps, but recalling her family from her past life steadied her resolve.
I can't live my whole life shackled by trauma. I have to overcome it.
"Die, you filthy remnant of the Variesa royal dynasty!"
The three charging in aimed their guns at Cynthia in unison.
Cynthia, eyes squeezed shut, recited inwardly and opened them.
"...The war is over."
Piiiing-!
The fireworks in Cynthia's hand launched simultaneously.
They struck a branch directly above the three and exploded.
Snow piled on the branch cascaded down, blinding them, while stray bullets thudded into trees.
The woman brushed snow from her eyes, irritated.
"What a ridiculous..."
With shaking hands, Cynthia lit another firework. Despite the cold, cold sweat dripped, dizziness hit, but she mustered every ounce of willpower.
Finally, the last firework launched—but flew past the three and off elsewhere.
Karos grabbed Cynthia's hand and yanked her away.
"Forget the luck test. Let's run."
While she bought time, he'd torn his shirt sleeve to tightly bind his sprained ankle.
But turning to run now would surely get them shot.
"Is that the end of your resistance? I was going to get a ransom before killing you, but oh well."
The man, regaining composure, chuckled and aimed his pistol.
"Then say go—"
"Groooar!"
In that hair-trigger moment, something massive and black emerged from between the trees, the size of a house.
"B-bear!"
The woman who spotted it recoiled in shock, falling on her butt.
Smoke rose from the head of a cub trailing clumsily behind the enraged mother bear.
It had been eating winter berries with its mother when Cynthia's firework hit it by chance.
'I set a baby bear's fur on fire?'
I'm really sorry!!
Cynthia clamped her mouth in guilt and absurdity.
"Groar! Grro!"
Meanwhile, the furious mother bear roared and charged after the three fleeing in the opposite direction.
"Do something! Shoot the bear!"
"A pistol can't handle that size! And we're low on ammo!"
Watching them bicker and flee, Karos let out a sigh of relief.
"Guess it knows guns. Thinks they shot at its cub."
Gunshots echoed from afar.
Cynthia squeezed her eyes shut and crouched. Karos covered her ears and asked,
"Still scared of gunshots? You weren't as a kid."
Cynthia, with few memories of her childhood, said nothing.
Then, a fragment of the original Cynthia's memory flashed before her eyes.
"Cindy, eat this in secret."
It was young Karos offering her a piece of cake.
The boy's gentle, innocent smile seemed utterly pure.
'What changed Karos?'
I doubted the original Cynthia loved him just to cover up killing her own father.
"We survived thanks to your luck."
Karos smiled at Cynthia.
Unlike his previous fake smiles, this one resembled the innocent boy from her memory.
Probably the smile the original her had loved.
Did that man know he'd lost someone who truly loved him?
Cynthia quietly gazed up at the sky brightening to blue.
Searching Kent Village, Masera spotted fireworks bursting in the sky near the forest outskirts.
His gut screamed it was Cynthia's signal.
He mounted his horse and rode straight to the launch site.
"Groooar!"
Beast roars and human screams echoed from somewhere.
Soon, two men and one woman appeared, chased by a massive bear.
"Eek!"
Seeing Masera, the three didn't beg for help—they recoiled as if facing the Grim Reaper.
Masera scanned the surroundings. It was near the fireworks site.
He glanced back at the angry bear and thought,
'Cub must be nearby.'
He unslung the shotgun from his back and shouldered it.
Boooom-!
Unlike ordinary gunshots, a heavy, explosive roar split the air.
"Grooo!"
The intent to scare worked; the bear turned and fled into the forest.
The three watched, then bowed awkwardly and tried to slip away.
But another gunshot rang out.
"Argh!"
A man collapsed, clutching his leg and writhing.
"Where is my wife?"
Masera dismounted and approached, asking.
'That guy's eyes are insane!'
The two still unharmed backed away in terror.
"Why? A shotgun? You really mean to kill us?"
Shotguns shredded flesh with scattering pellets—brutal, non-penetrating weapons.
"You know your stuff. Not civilians, then."
The barrel slowly turned toward the retreating man.
"Aaagh! Agh!"
Another shot, and the man writhed, arm hit.
The woman paled and collapsed to her knees.
Masera's chilling command followed.
"Answer the question."
Clack, he racked the shotgun. The terrified woman begged,
"In the forest! I'll tell you everything I know, just spare me!"
Masera ordered his following adjutant to arrest her, then slung his shotgun over his shoulder.
He grabbed the fallen man's hair and lifted his head.
"Lead the way."
"Ugh, urk..."
As Masera dragged the man by his hair into the forest, blood trails marked his steps.
His adjutant shivered at the eerie glint in Masera's eyes.
"He's really pissed."
After Masera entered the forest dragging the man, another gunshot echoed.
