Volume 4 Chapter 15 Embrace
Ruella regained consciousness in a small house near the edge of the village that had been prepared for her. Kane had returned to his work as the Internal Affairs Minister, so the only other person in the house was Al.
"Thank goodness!"
Called by the healer, Al hurried to her side as she lay in bed.
"Huh? Alfred? Why are you here...? And, where is this?"
She seemed a bit dazed and didn't really understand where she was. Her awareness was still fuzzy.
"This is the pioneer village of Roland. Are you okay? Does anything hurt?"
"!"
She woke up suddenly, surprised. The sheets fell off her as she sat up. She was in a plain, light beige linen outfit. The healer must have helped her change, but she looked confused at the unfamiliar clothes. She quickly checked her body, feeling anxious.
"You're fine. There's nothing to worry about. This is a medicinal drink. Please take a little."
Noticing her anxiety, the healer spoke gently. Ruella stared at her.
"Who are you? Why is Alfred here? Where is Roland village?"
Al and the healer worked hard to calm Ruella, who was starting to panic. Gradually, she began to regain her composure. Al explained how he found her and how he rescued her.
"I see... Alfred, thank you. And you too... thank you."
After thinking for a while, Ruella received a wooden bowl from the woman healer. She slowly drank the herbal medicine. With a smile, she stood up.
"I'll go call Sir Jonas and Sir Kane."
The woman healer said this and left the room. Al confirmed she was gone and sat down on the chair next to Ruella's bed.
"I tried my best to keep this story from getting out, so you can relax."
Ruella looked confused at first, but then she stared at Al's face as if she realized something.
"Huh? That's a lie! You said there was nothing to worry about!"
Saying this, Ruella hugged herself. Al quickly shook his head.
"Oh, sorry, that's not what I meant. I just thought it would be a problem if strange rumors started, even if nothing happened. It might be okay, but just to be safe... you know?"
Hearing this, Ruella let out a big sigh of relief. She closed her eyes and nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I always have those worries. Thank you so much."
Al smiled brightly. Then he mentioned that Kane was contacting the Levy Merchant Guild, so there would probably be some news before the caravan left the village the day after tomorrow. This made Ruella look very relieved.
"You really thought about a lot of things."
Ruella handed the empty wooden bowl to Al and leaned back on the bed, looking tired.
"If you don't mind, could you tell me why you were packed in that wooden chest, as much as you can remember?"
"Well..."
She began speaking slowly. It seemed she was attacked the day before Al and the others left. She had gone shopping with a servant when an old woman asked her for directions. While helping, she ended up in a quiet alley. Suddenly, she couldn't move, and before she knew it, something like a cloth was thrown over her from behind, pushing her into a tight space. She didn't see who did it.
For some time, they moved her while she was stuck in that small space. The cloth was removed when they were no longer on the street. Two men threatened her and forced her to drink something thick and strangely sweet that made her tongue feel numb. After that, everything became blurry; she wasn't sure what happened next.
"I was attacked in a residential street where many knights and well-known shop owners live. Since it was daytime, I let my guard down."
Ruella muttered regretfully. When she was asked about the two men who gave her the drug, it seemed they were Van and Varden. Just to be safe, they also checked the old woman's description.
"I'm glad you're safe. If you had resisted too much, you might have been hurt."
At Al's words, Ruella weakly shook her head.
"Don't scare me."
"Ah, sorry. You should rest a bit. Captain Jonas of the guard team traveling with us wanted to hear your story, so is it okay if I tell him what you just said?"
"Yeah, please. I'll sleep a little."
Ruella fell asleep, looking a bit better. After some time, the female healer came back and said Captain Jonas was busy and couldn't come yet. She asked to watch over Ruella before leaving again.
* * *
Early the next morning, Al woke up on the sofa in the small house where they were keeping Ruella safe. He heard footsteps outside and became alert. But when he looked through a gap in the window shutters and saw a familiar face, he relaxed.
"Good morning, Ms. Barbara."
She was a female adventurer hired by the Levy merchant guild, who had previously chased the Blood-Soaked Bandits together. There were 3 others with her, and he recognized one of them. They seemed trustworthy.
"Hey, Al, I got a message from Sir Kane and rushed over on horseback."
She seemed to have traveled all night as a vanguard. Al was impressed that she had arrived safely.
"That's not a big deal. So, about Lady Ruella..."
Al invited Barbara and her group inside. She glanced into the back room and felt relieved to see Ruella sleeping. They shared updates: Barbara explained there was a fuss at the Levy merchant guild because Ruella went missing after shopping. But since there were rumors of Ruella's engagement to Naresh, Viscount Lester's second son, they kept her disappearance quiet.
"Thank you so much. Of course, it's great that Lady Ruella's life was saved, but you know, Lady Ruella is at a certain age. There are a lot of things going on. Hearing this news should really relieve the guildmaster."
Barbara nodded vigorously. Al also felt relieved that their careful considerations had been useful.
"Since Kane and I were in the same class as Ms. Ruella, it's a relief. What are we going to do now?"
"Ah, about Lady Ruella, I've brought someone who can treat her, and we'll take turns guarding her, so you can relax. I'm planning to talk to Captain Jonas. There are probably more accomplices besides the 3 that Al and the others caught. We'll likely offer to handle that ourselves."
As expected of the Levy merchant guild. She referred to herself as an advance team. There would probably be a significant number of people coming later. They might not have needed to rescue Ruella, but considering the possibility that they let the magician escape, it was definitely helpful.
"Those 2 have tried to kidnap the owner of the 'Red-Faced Sheep' inn for ransom, so please make sure to investigate that thoroughly. Also, I forgot to mention this to Captain Jonas, but the 3 might be heading to Oakley Village. I heard them say that was their last stop."
I decided to share the information I knew with Barbara. It might be useful.
"Thanks for the info. I'll make sure to check it out. I heard Al is participating in the caravan this time as a guard at Mr. Eric's place. Is that right?"
Al nodded. The commotion started from the two guys' conversation, but now that they've caught them, he'll probably go back to his original job. Al hopes there won't be any more attacks from magic beasts like the Sheep-Eating Eagle...
"For now, I'll raise the evaluation from the Levy Merchant Guild saying you helped a lot. You should get a little extra for the escort job too. And when you get to Lester, you should come visit me. I'll negotiate with Guildmaster Levy so you can get a nice reward this time."
That's a nice thing to say. Originally, Al heard that as an apprentice, the reward would be 30 silver coins, but maybe he'll get a bit more. Al thought it would be great if it turned out to be about 1 gold coin.
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