Wrong Genre! - Chapter 18.1
Through the haze of his mind, Rueg heard the sound of people arguing.
He remembered leaving the office to go to the infirmary, but after that, his memory was blank. He thought he’d seen someone’s face right before losing consciousness…
“……!”
At that moment, Mason’s face—smirking down at him—flashed through Rueg’s mind.
Rueg’s heart plummeted and he held his breath, quickly sitting up.
“Ahh…”
It hurts.
His whole body ached as if he’d been beaten all over, and his vision swam, making him feel sick.
Clutching his head for a long time, Rueg was finally able to look around as his vision cleared.
‘This is…’
Judging by the rough wooden floor, it looked like he was inside a freight wagon.
As Rueg stared blankly around, trying to grasp the situation, he noticed a faint sliver of light leaking in.
When he crawled over on his knees, he heard someone’s voice from outside.
“…Are you out of your mind?! I said it’s not possible! Even now, just drop that person somewhere and leave. That’s a Verdic! We’re talking about the Crown Prince’s aide! Even if you succeed, it’s too late anyway. Didn’t you say His Grace and I have already been reported to the Crown Prince?!”
“Yeah, you’re right, it’s already too late. But we still need to get revenge.”
“…What?”
“That’s not Versha Verdic, it’s her little brother. Now that the black market incident has been reported to the Crown Prince, we’re as good as dead anyway! If we’re going to die, we might as well take revenge on that damned Verdic.”
With a growling voice, the man arguing let out a sigh and approached the wagon.
Rueg, trying to quickly hide near the cargo, suddenly heard someone desperately holding their breath.
“Hic!”
Turning his head in surprise, Rueg saw a child, who couldn’t have been older than ten, stifling sobs with both hands.
“You’re…”
He’d never seen the child’s face before, but he recognized the clothing.
It was the uniform worn by those who did chores in the palace dormitories, meaning this was someone who worked in the imperial palace.
The moment he realized that, Rueg recalled what Yuri had said.
“It may not just be a rumor that he’s involved in illegal activities. If you can, don’t go anywhere alone, and be careful.”
“P-Please… let me go…”
“……”
“M-My family has no money… We went bankrupt… I was basically sold off and sent to the palace…”
The child pleaded desperately, tears streaming down his face.
Seeing the child’s chicken-egg tears, Rueg swallowed hard.
“Don’t tell me…”
He muttered to himself in dread, and at that moment.
“…Damn it! Fine, whatever! We’re not going to kill them ourselves, right? You’re going to sell that Verdic in there, not kill him, right?”
“Of course. Why would I kill him nicely? We’ll sell him to some depraved noble with perverted tastes, make him a slave and drag him through the mud. That’s real revenge! Hahahaha!”
The final nail in the coffin sent Rueg’s fingertips trembling.
His head hurt from the beating, and his body ached everywhere.
But he couldn’t just stay quiet. If things went on like this, he could be sold off somewhere.
“It’ll be alright. Let’s look for a chance to escape together.”
“……”
“If you cry, they might hear us outside, so try to be quiet. Do you know where we are?”
Despite blood dripping from his head, Rueg forced a smile. The child wiped away tears as best he could, lowering his voice to a whisper.
“We’re… sniff… not outside the palace yet… They said they have to wait until the gatekeeper changes… then we can leave…”
If they were still inside the palace, there might be a chance to escape.
But there was a problem.
‘If it were just me, maybe, but…’
He had no idea how to escape the wagon with a child in tow.
Rueg bit his lip hard, then took a deep breath.
“I’ll help you escape first.”
“M-Me…?”
“Yeah. But if you get out safely, can you bring help back here?”
Rueg worked to steady his trembling voice for the frightened child. The child gulped and nodded his head vigorously.
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