IBTBD 63

Chapter 63

“Chuut…!”

The last thing I remembered, and the moment I came to my senses, I was in an unfamiliar bedroom.

The bedding, the bed itself, even the walls of the room—it all sparkled so brightly that it nearly blinded me, yet somehow it felt oddly crude.

‘Where is this place?’

I stared blankly at the ceiling, too stunned to do anything else.

Just a short while ago, I had been under attack by assassins in the forest.

How had I ended up here? I had no idea.

‘Where’s Kenih, and why is the bed so big?’

I was alone on a bed large enough to fit five adults comfortably.

I tried to sit up to examine my surroundings, but—

“Chuu, chuut…?”

For some reason, my body wouldn’t move.

When I slightly lifted my head, I realized my entire body was wrapped in white bandages.

‘Am I hurt? But it doesn’t really hurt…?’

Just as I wriggled to check under the bandages, the door suddenly swung open.

“Cherry Cherry!”

“Lady Cherry, you’ve finally regained consciousness!”

It was Yeloise and Gerard.

“You’ve been asleep for two full days. I, Gerard, was so worried during that time…”

“Chuut…?”

Two full days of sleep?

I tilted my head in confusion, and Gerard, seemingly wiping invisible tears, continued.

“Thanks to you, Lady Cherry, protecting our lord with your entire body, we were able to stop the rampage. However… you were severely injured, so we brought you to Baron Volken’s private residence immediately.”

Ah.

So this was a guest room in Baron Volken’s residence.

It was quite fancy. Does Baron Volken have a lot of money?

“This is Baron Volken’s bedroom.”

“Chut… Chuut?”

I see. Wait… did he say Baron Volken’s bedroom…?!

“Since the cheap guest bed, which creaks every time our lord moves, would have worsened your condition, he insisted we give you the best room instead.”

Gerard scratched his forehead awkwardly, as if recalling the events from two days ago.

“Chuu, chuut?”

Was I really that badly hurt?

I tapped the bandages, which made a hollow, firm sound, and looked at Gerard.

I remembered the arrow flying straight at me.

‘Even if I’m as fast as a flying squirrel, I couldn’t have avoided it at that distance.’

It seemed I had been struck by the arrow, but aside from feeling slightly stiff and dizzy, my body seemed fine.

“Oh, you mean the bandages? They were just for show. Our lord had yelled at the incompetent doctor who only takes money and does nothing else.”

“Just for show, huh? Was it uncomfortable?”

“Chut.”

I nodded, and Yeloise carefully unwrapped the bandages.

Beneath the layers, there were only tiny wounds that would have been invisible unless examined closely.

“Just a scratch from the arrowhead, as expected.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Yeloise and Gerard checked me from all angles and nodded seriously.

It was good that the wounds were minor, but something felt off to all of us.

Because—

“Though it’s hard to even think about it, the arrows were flying at an incredibly fast speed.”

Gerard spoke cautiously, frowning.

I agreed with him.

It would have been extremely plausible for the arrows to pierce me.

But then—

“It seemed the arrows bounced off just before hitting you, Lady Cherry.”

“Chuut?”

Bounced off?

“Yes, as if a shield was surrounding you.”

A shield?

I tilted my head, confused. Gerard continued.

“Skilled beastmen can use mana as a kind of shield… but…”

Gerard stopped and looked at me.

His narrow eyes seemed to silently say, “But you’re not one of them.”

‘True, I guess.’

I slowly nodded, crossing my arms.

Then, something flashed through my mind.

A mana neuro-stimulator.

It’s usually poisonous to Kenih, but generally amplifies mana.

Before the thieves’ ambush, Yeloise had said she could sense mana from me.

Then—

It was highly probable that the mana neuro-stimulator affected me too.

‘I did think it would be bad to get hurt just before the arrow hit…’

Had my desperate wish protected me?

It wasn’t entirely impossible.

Yet, the surprises weren’t over.

“The moment the arrow struck you, Lady Cherry, Kenih’s mana disappeared as if it were a lie.”

Yeloise rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

It was as if something had absorbed Kenih’s mana.

“Even a beastman capable of absorbing the mana that troubled grandfather couldn’t exist.”

At the word “beastman,” Yeloise’s eyes briefly flicked to me.

I flinched unconsciously, but fortunately, she didn’t ask further.

She seemed to be considerate of me waking up after two days.

“Chuut… chuut?”

Absorb mana?

Had I unconsciously used Kenih’s mana?

Was it due to the mana neuro-stimulator, Kenih’s mana, or both?

“Chuut.”

Ugh, this is confusing.

I still didn’t know exactly how I had survived.

What was certain was that I could somehow aid against Kenih’s madness.

‘By the way, the benefactor who saved my life is awake… so where’s Kenih?’

I flicked my tail in irritation.

“Ah, Kenih is in the underground detention room. One of the assassins survived, unfortunately.”

“Chut.”

Truly an unlucky fellow.

But—

‘Hmm? Today I seem to be getting along unusually well with Gerard.’

Or maybe it’s just my imagination.

Meanwhile, in the underground detention room of Baron Volken’s residence…

“T-Thank you, Your Grace, for trusting and waiting.”

Baron Volken nervously rubbed his palms together, unsure of what to do.

The audacious group of thieves had targeted Duke Kreutz’s men, and they just happened to be operating in his territory.

If things went wrong, they could have been implicated alongside the thieves.

“Hurry up and tell the truth!”

The Baron demanded fiercely.

The thieves trembled for two days as if expecting the worst.

At dawn today, they finally began to speak.

“I-I… w-we… a-are just… surviving day by day… hic.”

Again, they shut their mouths in front of Duke Kreutz.

‘Damn it, what happened over those hills?’

According to the knights who dealt with the aftermath, the entire mountain was saturated with the stench of blood.

The stupid thieves barely survived, but the archers among the assassins were unrecognizable.

Duke Kreutz’s interest was surely in those archers.

“Respectfully, those archers don’t appear to be from our territory.”

Baron Volken cautiously shared his findings, highlighting the most important point.

“They said a man came to them a few days ago and hired them.”

“Y-Yes…”

A thief, bowing low with his head to the ground, nodded rapidly.

“A man? Someone you knew?”

“N-Never seen him before.”

“Someone unknown handed them money to attack people they didn’t even know.”

Kenih’s lips curled chillingly.

The scratching of his sword against the floor of the underground room made the thieves tremble like leaves.

It felt as if the nightmare from two days ago was returning.

After the squirrel fell to the arrow, the man before them had literally gone mad.

He hunted down over twenty archers one by one, punishing them—a sight reminiscent of a serial killer.

It was only then that the thieves realized the man had spared them.

‘Damn, I shouldn’t have accepted that offer.’

No, they shouldn’t have entered that tavern in the first place.

Late in regret, a trembling thief finally spoke.

“I-I really didn’t know him…”

For those who survive day by day, the client’s identity wasn’t important—only how much they’d pay mattered.

Though it was an unvarnished truth, the thieves instinctively knew: if they didn’t answer, something terrible would happen again.

‘Say something.’

‘Do you think we’re not speaking because we don’t want to?’

As they exchanged glances, the man at the back, his large body curled up and trembling, suddenly shouted:

“B-Blue eyes…!”

He remembered something.

“The same scent came from the archers… it was… wild dogs. Beastmen wild dogs!”