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Chapter 218: [Side Story] Barren Lands of Winter Surgence (7)

"Ah, Sanke!" Lier cried out. "Help me out here, will you?! Nicole suddenly became like this and..."

"Please... Don't call... me a monster..." Nicole whimpered. "Papa... Mama..."

"Urk... This is...?" Sanke questioned as he scrutinized Nicole's shaky body. Soon after, he turned towards Lier. "What caused this?"

"I don't know..." Lier muttered out. "She started acting like this when... When I saw what's hidden below her bandages..."

"Her wounds? Did it get worse?" at the realization of Lier's words, Sanke hurriedly turned around and locked eyes onto the luggage area. In the next moment, he began to scurry over towards the area.

"Sanke, wait!" However, just before he did so, Lier tightly held onto Sanke's hand, preventing him from moving away. "It's not that her wounds worsened... It's that it disappeared entirely."

"...what?" Sanke stopped at his footsteps as he averted his gaze over to Lier with a confused expression. "...wounds like that... Disappeared entirely?"

"No... Please don't talk about it...!" Nicole cried out. "It's nothing like that... I-I'm not a monster... Really... Really!!" As she continued to shout out in a loud voice, the sounds of the wind began to cry out in the air. Following that, cracks began to appear from the barrier Renryth had put up.

"...?!" Noticing the sudden cracks at the barrier, Sanke's and Lier's eyes opened widely, "...hey, Renryth!" In the next moment, Sanke turned in the direction of Renryth. "What's going on? Is your magic suddenly weakening?!"

"Ugh... The wind's suddenly got stronger..." Renryth clicked his tongue in reply. "If it increases any more... The barrier will break and... Argh...!"

"Damn it... At such a time like this?" Sanke frowned. "Lier, you keep Nicole at bay. I'll help Renryth out."

"Right," Lier nodded her head as she now turned towards the crying child. "Nicole, please calm down..."

"You'll call me a monster..." Nicole frantically shook her head. "Please... Please..." As she continued to repeat to herself, the winds began to grow uncontrollably. Not only that, the atmosphere from within the barrier began growing icy cold.

"...Nicole..." Biting her lips, Lier took a deep breath as she leapt towards Nicole. In the next momentshe hugged the child tightly. "It's okay... Calm down. We won't call you a monster. So... Please, calm down."

"...mmm..." Feeling the sudden warmth from Lier, the strange cold atmosphere began to drop in temperature whilst the winds began to quiet down. "I... I... I'm sorry..." However, despite the two disasters gone, Nicole was still in tears.

"It's okay, Nicole..." Gently patting her back to give Nicole a sense of belonging, Lier reassured the child. "You're not a monster, Nicole. You're you."

"Mama..." Feeling the continuous warmth of the woman, Nicole's eyelids slowly closed without being able to fight back. Slowly, she drifted off into slumber. "I'm... Sorry..."

"..." Keeping quiet whilst continuing to pat on her back, silent footsteps began to closely walk from behind her.

"Lier, is everything alright over here?" The sounds of the footstep came from Sanke, who seemed to be in a distraught demeanour.

"Yeah... She just fell asleep," Lier nodded her head. "What happened to the barrier, is it fine?"

"Just as suddenly the heavy winds came, the winds returned to normal," Sanke shook his head helplessly. "We've managed to survive for this one, but... I'll have to keep watch for tonight in case it comes back again."

"Huh... So you two won't be getting any sleep?" Lier asked.

"Unfortunately," he sighed.

"if that's so... Then, let's put up a rotation," Lier suggested. "That way we all can rest for a little while."

"...are you sure?" Renryth raised his brow. "I'm fine with just staying up all night, but you..."

"It's fine!" Lier nodded her head.

"..." Sanke's eyes turned towards Nicole as he sighed. "I guess so... Then, we'll do it."

"Great!" Lier smiled. "For now... Let's have you rest and I'll"

"Say, Lier," Sanke stated, quickly interrupting the woman. "About Nicole... She's asleep, right? Then let me check for myself her wounds."

...

Bareth's Plain, Pinewood ForestCampsite [ Morning / Next Day ].

"...mmm..." Within a small tent on the campsite area, a child slept within it. "..." With a small petite body, she moved around in the sleeping bag, as if uncomfortable. "Mama... Mama..." Muttering out sudden words of unease, her eyes opened wide in shock. "Mama!"

Moving her body up in a frantic manner, Nicole soon glanced around the small tent. "Mama...? D-Did you abandon me...?" at the realization of the fact that Lier was not sleeping within the tent, small tears began to fall from her eyes. "No... No...!"

Abruptly getting out of her sleeping bag, Nicole hurriedly walked out of the tent. Greeted by the morning sun, her eyes glanced around as she noticed that all the luggage was packed up and ready to go.

"No... Please don't... Abandon..." Her eyes continued to scrutinize the area in a frenzied state as she noticed that Lier was quietly sleeping by the trees near the campsite. "Mama... Mama!" With a sigh of relief, Nicole immediately called out to the woman as she ran over to her. Immediately after, she hugged her.

"...!" With a sudden thud on her body, Lier's eyes abruptly opened wide. "N-Nicole...? What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Don't abandon me... Please..." Nicole muttered out.

"Nicole..." With a sigh, Lier began to gently pat her back to put her at ease. "There, there... You had a nightmare, huh? Come and have some berries I've made."

"Mm..." Nodding her obediently, her eyes turned towards the direction of where Lier had pointed at. However, upon locking eyes over towards the campfire, her eyes suddenly shook. "A-Ah... N-No... N-No... No...!"

"Nicole...?!"

"W-We... We have to leave...! Now!" Shouting out in a frightened manner, Nicole pointed her finger over towards the forest area that was behind the campfire. There, a figure of a child could be seen. His expression? It was seemingly a snarky smirk. "I-If we don't... The big bad wolf will come...!"

"...Nicole?" Turning her head over towards the area where Nicole had pointed towards, Lier tilted her head in confusion. "...I don't see anything?"

"We... Have to leave, now!"

...

After a while of convincing, Lier quickly took the child over towards their luggage and spoke towards Renryth and Sanke who had just gotten back from scouting the area. With words of fear from Nicole, the group hurriedly made their way out of the campsite with everything packed up.

"...a big bad wolf?" Sanke questioned. "What do you mean, Lier?"

"That's what she said. If we don't leave now, we're going to be in danger," Lier stated whilst in deep thought. "Any ideas?"

"...no," he shook his head. "But..." Upon pondering on the term 'big bad wolf', he remembered the mention of it from Nicole when he first met her. "...whatever it is, stay on high alert."

"Of course," Lier nodded her head. Though, her movements were slightly restricted due to the unwilling grip of Nicole on her legs. "...but, if we do get into battle, I won't be able to do much since I'm going to be focused on defence."

"Your offensive style swordsmanship would go to waste if you do that, though..." Sanke muttered out. "So, leave the defence to me if anything. You and Renryth handle the fight if it occurs."

"Really? Are you sure?" Lier tilted her head in question as she was soon stopped at her footsteps by Renryth.

"...hey, there's someone upfront," Renryth stated. "...a child?"

"...!!" Nicole's grip on Lier grew tighter, almost hurting her legs due to her long nails. "N-No..."

"Ack...! Nicole, what's wrong?" With a slight pain on her leg, she slightly coughed as she turned to the direction of where Renryth had pointed towards. There, she saw the sight of a black-haired boy with red and blue eyes respectively on each side. "...huh?"

"...another child?" Sanke raised his brow as he stepped forward to take a closer look.

"N-No! Papa!" she shouted out. "No... He... He..."

"...mama, papa?" The black-haired child stepped forward with a seemingly innocent smile. "...Nicole! Mummy is looking for you! Why are you with strangers? A-Are you getting kidnapped?"

"...this kid knows Nicole?" Renryth titled his head. "...hey, kid. Who are you?"

"H-Huh?" The child took a step back in shock. "Mummy said not to talk to strangers..."

"No... Don't talk to him..." Nicole's grip grew stronger as the conversation continued. "Run... Please run..."

"...ack, Nicole...? What's going on?" Lier questioned. However, with the expression on her face, it seemed that she could tell the situation. "..." With one hand keeping Nicole close and the other hand unsheathing her sword, she pointed it towards the child. "Kid... Who are you? Don't play dumb."

"...Lier?!" Renryth shouted out. "You're pointing your sword at a kid?"

"A-Ah... Bad stranger... Bad... Scary..." The child's body shook. "W-Why are you...?"

"...a child who hates everything," Sanke muttered out. "...I see," nodding his head, he began to silently chant out a spell as he glared at the boy in front of him. "...sorry, but you're not going to get her."

"..." The child kept quiet as his innocent frown turned into that of an amused look. "Hah... This act was useless, huh? Thought that since you somehow opened up towards that girl, you'd be pieces of cake... But... It seems to have gotten much more interesting."

"No child would deliberately walk up towards strangers if they think they're kidnapping someone..." Sanke calmly spoke out. "So, explain yourself. Who are you?"

"Me?" The child smiled. "Just a brother of that kid you have. You best give her to me or you might regret it. Mummy won't be very happy if you refuse."

"..." As if stern on her decision, Lier continued to point the sword at the child. "No. We're keeping her with us."

"Hahaha... What? You're trying to keep someone you've only known for two days?" he frowned. "Jee... I thought you'd be naive, but..." he sighed. "Hey, stupid wolf, come out. Mummy said to be kind to them but... I say let's have some fun! A kind gesture for keeping our Nicole safe for two days!"

"N-No... Big bad wolf... No..." Shaking her head in disbelieve, a howl soon protruded out from within the forest.

"...?!" Noticing the loud howl, Sanke and the others turned towards the direction of it. "A wolf...!?" From the bushes of the forest, a big white paw with sharp claws protruded out from it.