"Haa~"
"Aaahh~"
The sound of the slaves' heavy breathing sounded like the moans of humans reproducing.
"We can finally breathe freely."
"Guys! Are we really free?"
"That's right. Our suffering is finally over."
They all shouted happily as they realized that they had made it out of Finsterer Forest.
A vast grassland greeted them as their feet broke free from the thick trees.
The total time it took me and them to get out of Finsterer Forest was less than a week... it was a miracle, wasn't it?!
[Scenario Progress: 96%.]
I stood at the very back of the line among the slaves.
Ever since Livia realized the conflict between Dmitri and me, her fox eye had never left me, even though she was busy leading the other slaves.
The sword I had originally used had also been confiscated.
The wounded Dmitri was being carried by Tumelo on his back.
Although everyone looked happy, Livia still seemed quite panicked as she wanted to get to the nearest village as quickly as possible so that she could heal Dmitri, who had only received the first treatment.
Zaa-zuummm!
The deep buzz of the engine suddenly sounded.
Above the sky, we saw the arrival of a zeppelin.
The other slaves and I automatically lifted our faces like baby birds begging to be fed.
Huuummmm..... Thrum-thrum-thrum!
The sound of the propeller grew louder as the zeppelin began to approach the ground.
'Is that the arc transition's place?'
When the protagonist entered the zeppelin, we would transition to a new arc.
It turned out that the zeppelin did not land on this grassland.
The zeppelin was just floating in the air.
One, two... thirty... There were many soldiers who were seen getting off the Zeppelin using a rope ladder.
Among those soldiers, I saw one who stood out the most.
The gold-colored armor and bald head were the first things I noticed.
[Name: Baldwin Ironhelm
Class: Sword Cultivator
Tier: High-Level Knight].
Baldwin was the first person to get off the zeppelin.
I thought for a moment that divine light was hitting me.
Who would have thought that the blinding light hitting my face was the sunlight reflecting off Baldwin's bald head?
Although his appearance might make you laugh and want to mock him, he was a high-level knight from a prominent noble family in the Celesta Kingdom.
The family Baldwin served was the Flowerside Family.
The Flowerside Family was the largest noble family after the Celesta royal family.
There was a special term to refer to the Flowerside family name in the script. The term was the shadow royal family.
You must be familiar with the name of Flowerside.
Yup, it was Livia's surname.
Thud! Baldwin's feet finally touched the ground. In typical honorable knight fashion, where he slightly fluttered his cape, he immediately came to us.
"Are you the leader?" The person Baldwin asked happened to be Livia, who did look like our leader. "Are any of you from the village of Lovus?"
"I'm from there." Livia nodded in response to Baldwin's question. "Who are you?"
"Just answer my question!" Baldwin frowned and asked again, "Are any of you named Livia Flowerside?"
Fox-eyed Livia suddenly perked up when she heard her name mentioned.
She looked like she wanted to say no, but Baldwin threatened her to tell the truth by grabbing one of the slaves and putting a sword to their neck.
"Answer!"
"...Livia... That is my name!"
"I like your attitude! We finally found you, Young Lady."
Baldwin smiled and released the slave he had used as a testing tool for Livia's character.
I knew what Baldwin was doing.
He was testing whether or not Livia would dare to risk her life for the safety of others.
After the test, Baldwin lowered one of his knees to the ground. He was doing the style of a knight who pays homage to the person they serve.
Baldwin's style was followed by the other soldiers who had just gotten off the zeppelin.
They all simultaneously knelt in respect to Livia.
"??" A question mark appeared on Livia's face. "What are you doing?"
"As expected of the Flowerside family blood. Your actions earlier were clearly a true manifestation of noblesse oblige. Only those of true nobility understand noblesse oblige without having to be given any explanation."
"What are you talking about? Moreover, how do you know my family name?"
"You probably don't know this..."
From there, Baldwin began to tell her about her unknown past.
Of course, Baldwin introduced himself first.
He told Livia that he was a high-level knight sent by Duke Flowerside to pick her up.
I was sure you didn't want to hear him ramble on, so I kept it short.
The point was that Livia had been banished to the village of Lovus a long time ago.
The Flowerside Family only taped a paper that read Flowerside to the flower basket where Livia was dumped, so that the person who took care of Livia could give her the family name Flowerside.
About... why did the House of Flowerside choose the village of Lovus? Also, did the Flowerside Family deliberately appoint individuals to be Livia's adoptive parents?
I put those stories aside.
Throughout Baldwin's story, Livia had various expressions.
Sometimes she would chatter her teeth, raise her eyebrows, and sometimes she would lower her lips.
"I have one important question. Why did that family called Flowerside throw me away?"
"I cannot answer your question, Young Lady. The only explanation I can give is that the House of Flowerside had a misfortune in the past and was forced to banish you to the village of Lovus."
"Then, why are you looking for me now?"
"...Didn't you say one question, Young Lady?" Baldwin raised his face to look at Livia's face with an innocently questioning expression.
Livia let out an annoyed expression.
"Ugh!"
Dmitri's groan broke the awkward atmosphere in the air.
In the end, Livia agreed to be taken by Baldwin aboard the zeppelin because she wanted to leave immediately to find treatment for Dmitri. Moreover, she wanted to get the other slaves some rest.
In an instant, all the soldiers and other slaves had boarded the zeppelin first.
The last person to climb up the rope ladder to the gondola was me.
[Progress scenario: 99.5%.]
I couldn't hide my excitement as I watched the scenario progress indicator continue to grow as I gripped the rope ladder tightly and slowly climbed towards the zeppelin.
But my expression turned to horror in the next second.
I was only a few meters away, but the rope ladder I was holding on to shook violently.
I looked up and Baldwin was standing at the edge of the gondola, sword in hand.
My eyes widened at the sight of him raising his sword.
Snap!
He suddenly broke the rope ladder I was climbing up.