I’ll Steal Everything and Escape - Chapter 16

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

16.
“Looks like you’ve found a pretty safe hideout.”
“Seems that way.”
“How, exactly?”
The students gathered in a cluster and lowered their voices. The prince whispered.
“What if we lost that hideout? Wouldn’t they naturally come asking for help from those of us who have the strength?”
At Robert’s words, four pairs of eyes lit up. They agreed it was a good idea. Now that they had come this far, finding Elodie’s dwelling was not difficult.
“She dares to hide that she’s alive, and she won’t even give us bananas!”
“And she’s putting on airs even though she can’t summon a single spirit.”
“Mm. She ought to be punished for looking down on Prince Robert!”
Those who had been battered by Demonic Beasts and hunger for a whole month were already brimming with discontent. And the target for venting it, naturally, was one student who had stuck out like a jagged stone.
‘I have to maintain my dignity as a prince.’
Robert had a precise grasp of their churning emotions.
“Tell her she’ll never be forgiven unless she gets on her knees and begs!”
“If she apologizes, we should be gracious and accept it. That’s what nobility is for.”
To drag Kamil Beltier into it and heap shame on him, how bold.
‘I’ll make her regret it for the rest of her days, right by my side.’
Robert Bayern wore a genuinely warm smile for the first time in a long while.
* * *
The plan was carried out swiftly. The people deployed were Tristan, Stefan, and Silvia.
“Why is it so hot here?”
“Mm. This island seems rather peculiar.”
It was their first time coming this way, but they had already picked out a suitable Demonic Beast.
“Kwaaaah!”
A Big-Footed Fire Bear. By Empire standards, it might count as a Second Class Demonic Beast. Tristan swung his brown hair and set his feet in motion. Thud-thud, he slammed his shield, careful not to forget to draw the creature’s attention.
“Right, I’ll throw out the bait first. Follow me slowly.”
“Grrrr…”
A large figure and the furiously pursuing Demonic Beast quickly grew distant. Silvia was already drenched in sweat, flapping her sleeve as she grumbled.
“What a hassle all this is.”
“It’s all because of that idiot.”
“Elodie is really terrible, you know? If this were the Academy, she wouldn’t even dare speak to me!”
“Agreed.”
Stefan and Silvia snickered as they chased after Tristan. The two of them, belonging to the rear support group, secretly hoped Elodie would join them.
‘There isn’t a single person lagging behind more than me. How embarrassing! It’s all so irritating!’
Elodie was at the very bottom of the ranking, both in status and in ability. Once she joined, the chores would finally be someone else’s problem. Was it reasonable for them to be the ones boiling water and standing night watch?!
“If your ability is your memory, you should at least know how to cook, right?”
“Ugh. Do you remember what Tristan made yesterday?”
“…Quiet!”
What? Stefan, who had been laughing, narrowed his eyes. A blurry, hulking figure. In the distance, the shadow of Tristan appeared to be coming back. Had he already arrived?
The brown-haired man waved his hand frantically.
“Ru, ……run! ……go!”
Why was Tristan, who had been sprinting so fast, acting like that? Silvia scrunched up her blue eyes sharply.
“What’s he saying?!”
“Everyone!”
Ah, now it finally reached them.
“Run away! Run, run, RUN!”
What is he saying…?
The two of them, who had been staring at him blankly, sucked in a sharp breath. Just catching a glimpse of ‘it’ made the fine hairs across their bodies stand on end.
Holy crap.
“Wait!”
A black cloud behind Tristan. That’s…
“Bees, it’s bees!”
Both of them immediately turned around and began to run.
* * *
Somewhere far off came the flutter of birds taking flight. Elodie sipped from her canteen, savoring the small taste of revenge.
“It’s good to be alive again. Days like this are coming back too.”
The moment she saw Robert’s group again, she sensed it: her dwelling was going to be in danger.
[Now every single person is precious. I should bring them in if at all possible.]
[Kamil Beltier, how dare he treat us like this?]
The method of luring a Giant Grizzly to destroy the hideout. Previously, it was the tactic she had used to try to bring Kamil into the group.
“This time I’m the one who got to take that spot.”
Should I be grateful for that? Thanks to it, I could quickly think of a way to prepare. Elodie Pontaine dipped a sweet potato slice in honey with an elegant flick of her hand.
“One beehive should be enough for this sort of thing.”
Anyone who dismissed a single hive as harmless would be in for a rude surprise. The hives on this island rival the size of a grown person. And besides…
“Freezing them doesn’t kill them. It’s horrible, honestly.”
[Aaagh! Tristan! You said you killed them!]
[That’s impossible! I froze every last one.]
Vicious little things.
Elodie drew on her crystal-clear
memory
and brought the entire hive over frozen solid. If it thawed even a little, a swarm would burst out at once, which was about as dangerous as it gets. But well, never mind that.
“Now that I can use magic, this is easy.”
All I have to do is keep freezing it. Once that’s done, I just place it on the side the demonic beasts are approaching from. The Giant Grizzly will get distracted by the honey, and the bees will chase whoever was standing nearby.
“Time to taste that again in this life.”
Those things Robert named Battle Wasps never lose a target once they’ve locked on.
‘That buzzing, louder than any airship, was so unbearable, and I had to listen to it for so long.’
Elodie sucked the honey off her fingertip, gazing off with a wistful look.
“For now, I’m definitely heading for the sea.”
And that will fail. The bees’ persistence doesn’t cool off easily. On top of that, the sea swarms with demonic beasts, so it’s hard to hold out for long. There was good reason the party never pushed out into the ocean.
Kwang!
Ugh. Elodie flinched, shoulders jumping.
“Stefan?”
Honestly, he’s hopeless. I wonder if he remembers what Robert’s Flame Pillar did.
Her amethyst eyes narrowed.
“Well, this will take a while.”
The only thing that can deal with that troublemaker is the toads of the Western Marsh. A few days from now, Robert or Louise will slowly start to realize it. No matter how many times it’s burned, one of them will stubbornly keep tailing after us from somewhere.
Anyway, enough of that. Time’s up. According to her calculations, it should be today or tomorrow for sure.
Tap.
Ripples stirred across her calm violet eyes. Elodie knelt on the cave floor and drew a deep breath. A small sound echoed through the cave.
Tap.
“Please.”
Let nothing have changed. Let it be born without any trouble…
And with Elodie’s desperate hope, it began. A crack ran across the shell that had seemed impossible to break no matter how hard it was struck.
Crack. Crack-crack.
Thud. The little shell rolled across the soft nest. Clear mana swept through the cave, claiming it.
“…”
Elodie Pontaine unconsciously held her breath. For just a fleeting moment, she felt as though she had tasted the most beautiful mana in the world. A crisp, sweet sensation. Her violet eyes shimmered like an aurora.
And at last.
A small, red body tumbled across the soft nest.
“…Hello, Red.”
“Peep, peep.”
A new life, greeting her in her second life.
Watching Red hatch, Elodie made a vow. This time, she would never let herself or this tiny creature slip away.
* * *
“So, Red, when suspicious humans show up, you have to hide, all right?”
“Peep, peep-eep.”
Red juice dribbled from the baby dragon’s mouth. Elodie beamed and fed it a few more berries.
“Well, it’ll be a long time before we have to worry about that.”
Our hideout had been discovered, but we’d bought a good amount of time. Shaking off the bees’ pursuit was one problem, but passing through the Western Marsh and heading straight for the Lava Basin was far too difficult. Elodie could slip around the dangerous demonic beasts’ habitats in secret, but they had no information to go on.
“They’ll have a rough idea of how dangerous the center of the island is, you know.”
The heart of Dragon’s Grave, its core. High-grade demonic beasts far beyond anything on the outskirts have made their home there. Crossing it at this point would be nothing short of suicide.
“If they go around the beach, it’ll take nearly a month. But then, you see…”
Do you remember? The words she’d said back at the Tree of Rest, that they couldn’t hold out for long. Elodie snorted, hugging the squeaking Red to her chest.
“Come June, something very big is going to go wrong on the Eastern Beach.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————