The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 88: The Beginning

It had already been two hours since the monster extermination exercise began, and during that time, we had been slowly advancing deeper into the forest while making Sonia take down the monsters.

“Eir, how far are we going? It feels like we’ve come quite deep into the woods already; we should be heading back soon or we’ll run out of time, you know?”

“Yeah, I guess this area is fine.”

“Huh?”

“Hey, you think it’s about time they showed themselves? Or should I attack them first?”

We halted our steps, ignoring Sonia’s question, and spoke to the empty space around us.

However, as expected, we received no response, and Sonia looked at me with confusion.

“I see, I see. So they have no intention of coming out… Then, Shuvina.”

“Got it.”

Shuvina immediately replied and summoned Dōna, giving her instructions.

“Dōna. Capture the people hiding.”

Dōna, upon receiving the command, unleashed her magic to manipulate the plants, causing the vines and roots around us to move towards the grass and trees.

“Whoa!?”

“W-what?!”

Suddenly, the surprised voices of men echoed around us, and in the next moment, five men caught by the vines and roots appeared.

“W-what? Who are these people?”

Sonia, confused by the sudden turn of events, looked around in a daze.

“Fiera.”

“Yeah?”

At that moment, arrows aimed at Sonia came flying from behind, but Fiera quickly moved behind Sonia and caught the incoming arrow.

“Nice job.”

“Of course.”

I couldn’t help but praise Fiera’s sound judgment for catching the arrow from the side rather than knocking it away head-on.

Had she knocked it away directly, given that her opponent was an assassin, she could have been poisoned by the arrowhead.

Her ability to think of such possibilities and act accordingly was indeed commendable.

“Eir, what should we do with these guys?”

“This time, we’ll mostly keep them alive. Break their arms and legs to knock them out.”

“Got it.”

Considering that Sonia was the target and that we were currently in another country, we decided it would be less troublesome to keep them alive.

“Alright. I’ll take action too. ‘Cage of Light.'”

The Cage of Light I used was a spell to literally create a cage to confine enemies.

The range could be adjusted according to the amount of magic power put into it, and by accurately specifying what to confine, it was capable of keeping only the specified existence from escaping.

Having grasped the locations of all enemies with my searching magic earlier, I used the spell to cover even the farthest enemy, ensuring nothing would slip through.

“Fiera, move clockwise and hunt the enemies from the outside in. Shuvina, you go counterclockwise from the outside in as well. Don’t let a single one escape.”

“Understood.”

“Got it.”

The plan this time was for me to use magic to cage the assassins first. Then, Fiera and Shuvina would take them down in opposite directions.

By doing so, the assassins would be forced to flee inward, and since they needed to kill Sonia, they would ultimately be funneled towards me.

I would catch them while protecting Sonia, which was the strategy I devised.

“Eir, where did the two go? And, what are these people?”

After Fiera and the others dove deeper into the woods, Sonia, still trying to grasp the situation, spoke up.

“These guys are assassins hired to kill you. The two went deeper into the woods to capture them.”

“A-assassins to kill me? And they went to capture them by themselves?! That’s too dangerous!!”

Sonia trembled at the thought of the assassins after her, but more than that, she seemed worried about Fiera and the others and immediately attempted to follow.

“Calm down. They’ll be fine.”

“They can’t be fine! No matter how strong Fiera and the others are, they’re professionals at assassination! There’s no way they can win!! Worst-case scenario, I could act as bait…!!”

Just like from the future, she was truly a kind-hearted person.

Even though she was the one targeted, she seemed ready to use that to help her friends.

“It’s fine. You’re underestimating their strength. There’s no way they’d lose to a bunch like this.”

“How can you say that? Aren’t you worried? They’re your allies!”

“Allies? Hmm, we do move together, but if you ask me if they’re truly my allies, I’m not so sure.

But I’m the one who trained them. They aren’t weaklings who would lose to such trash.

Besides, if they die here, then that was their fate. It’s not something you need to worry about.”

“That’s…”

I couldn’t gauge what Sonia felt from my words, but after that, she fell silent, standing quietly beside me.

(So, I wonder how they’re doing right now…)

While grasping Fiera and the others’ movements through searching magic, I began to gather magic power in preparation for the assassins approaching us.

~Side Fiera~

After parting ways with Lewis, Fiera dashed through the forest, making use of her speed.

“W-what?! Guh!!!”

Even while moving at a breakneck pace, as a Silver Wolf tribe member finely tuned in her senses, she took down each assassin hiding with magic tools and scent disguises without leaving a single one behind.

And when she attempted to take down one hiding up in a tree, the man caught her attack without realizing it, landing on the ground with a short dagger.

“Huh? Who are you, cutie? Oh, could it be, you’re the reason my buddy’s signal disappeared?”

The man lazily asked while spinning the dagger in his right hand and looking at Fiera with drowsy eyes.

“Yeah. I took out the other assassins.”

“Oh? They were weaklings, huh? After this job’s done, I might need to train them. But that sounds annoying. Yawn~”

The man spoke while yawning, but Fiera, searching for a gap to exploit in his demeanor, shifted her mentality as she realized he had no openings.

(This person is strong.)

“Ha ha. If you keep staring like that, I might get shy. What? You like me or something?”

“Not at all.”

“Whoa, an immediate answer! That stings a bit. But more importantly, cutie, looking at you again, you’re pretty strong. No wonder my guys are losing. Ugh, I was told this would be an easy job just killing some kid. Total lie. Boring~”

The man lazily took his stance with the dagger, and in an instant, he closed the distance to Fiera, swinging the dagger toward her neck.

“!!”

Fiera narrowly evaded it just in time and attempted to sweep his legs, but the man easily jumped over her.

“Clap, clap, clap~. Impressive, cutie. It’s been a while since someone dodged my first attack.”

The man sincerely praised Fiera’s evasion and suddenly shifted from a lethargic aura to one more befitting an assassin.

“Well, it’s about time I go all-out.”

Fiera sensed the change in the man’s vibe and readied herself, focusing completely on his movements.

“…Huh?”

But the moment the man stepped forward, he vanished like smoke, and when Fiera noticed, he had already drawn his dagger behind her.

“Crap!!”

Fiera managed to turn around and crossed her wrists to support herself against his downward strike, barely stopping the dagger just before it pierced her.

“Wow, seriously amazing. You even reacted to this. But too bad.”

The man casually complimented her, but then aimed his other dagger at Fiera’s exposed midsection.

“Whoa?!”

In response, Fiera instantly unfurled her crossed arms, grabbed the man’s arm, and while moving her body away from the incoming dagger, she threw him.

The man landed gracefully on the ground, and the two stared at each other.

(This man is really strong. What was that last attack? I was watching closely, but I completely missed the moment he moved.)

“Ha ha! Nice! It’s getting fun for the first time in a while! I’m Zaid. This might be a short relationship, but I look forward to it.”

“I’m Fiera.”

The man who called himself Zaid, excited from finally meeting an opponent worth fighting, completely lost the lethargic vibe he previously held.

Conversely, Fiera couldn’t read his movements, and she felt that this battle would be a tough one.