TFR 414

Prison of Terror [Part 3]

"Mr. Evan, sorry to bother you late at night. I have a few people I want you to look after for a little while."

Joshua glanced at a carriage parked neatly in front of the gate.

"Hoh-hoh... I see...?"

Sturdy Kingdom knights surrounded the carriage Joshua pointed at with his eyes. 'This must be another occurrence of "something or other happening without you knowing it" that Mrs. Martha talked about,' Evan instantly guessed.

Even though it was a surprise late-night visit while the master of the house and his family were out, Evan opened the large gate and let the carriage through readily. He wouldn't be qualified to be the gatekeeper of House Stuart if he couldn't make a judgment on a matter of this level.

When the large gate was opened for the carriage to pass through, Joshua whispered about the destination to the coachman.　

"Eh?! There?!" The Rothschild Company coachman, who was accustomed to visiting the Stuart Mansion, asked back with a startled face.

"That place is the safest," Joshua replied with a grin to the coachman whose body started trembling slightly.

"Sa... Safe...?"

The coachman sympathized with the guests inside the carriage from the bottom of his heart.

Among all the vehicles in the convoy, only the carriage of the Rothschild Company carrying the magicians passed through the gate of Stuart Mansion. The carriage rolled straight across the large mansion's grounds for a good ten minutes...

"Um, is this really the right place?"

Timidly, the coachman pulled the reins and stopped the carriage at a place quite far from the main building of the mansion.

There was even a cave in the outrageously huge property of Stuart Mansion. And that place had become the home of the favorite insects of the insect-lover young lady, Emma. The coachman couldn't stop shaking as he recalled the appearance of that young lady's favorite insects.

knock knock Joshua knocked on the entrance to the cave.

'Why be so polite to insects...?' People would think that usually, but the coachman didn't even wonder about it. Because... that thing... already went beyond the bounds of insects.　

rustle rustle?

"EEEK!"

The coachman was so scared that he covered his eyes. He could never get used to it no matter how many times he saw them.

Joshua shrugged his shoulders at the coachman's reaction and instructed him to unfasten the harness on the horse. Joshua then gave a slight bow to the tailless whip scorpions that came to greet him at their front door (the cave's entrance). He remembered hearing before that they were nocturnal, so he wasn't worried about his late-night visit being rejected.

"I have a few people I would greatly appreciate your help with for a little while. May I trouble you with their care?"

Joshua talked to the tailless whip scorpions like the insect-loving young lady always did. These insects were intelligent. After seeing them several times, Joshua noticed that these insects understood human words.

rustle? rustle rustle?

(Huh? Huuuh?)

The cave interior was pitch dark, and Joshua could only hear the slight movements of the tailless whip scorpions.

"Thank you, I appreciate it."

ru-rustle rustle?

(Wait, wha?)

Unfortunately, Joshua didn't understand tailless whip scorpions' language. Still, these insects were good-natured and soft-hearted. Joshua knew they couldn't say no to others' requests. At times like these, the squeaky wheel gets the oil.

"Well then... I entrust them to you. Oh, one more thing: please be careful not to let them run away, okay?"

rustle? ru-rustle

(Huh? ...oh, okay, we'll be careful)

In the end, the humane tailless whip scorpions agreed to the weevil Joshua's selfish request.

"E-Excuse me... it's done."

The coachman, close to tears, finished taking off the harness from the horse and reported to Joshua. The freed horse quenched its thirst at the stream flowing through the mansion's grounds.

"Then tie the rope to the singletree hook on the carriage's back... Oh, thanks."

Wanting to leave this place as soon as possible, the coachman got it done in a split second and handed Joshua one end of the rope tied to the hook.

"Well then, please."

Joshua wrapped that rope around the long first leg of one of the tailless whip scorpions.

rustle!

(Yeah!)

slide slide slide... As the tailless whip scorpions retreated, the carriage carrying Joanna and the magicians was drawn into the cave's entrance.

"Thank you. You really saved me! I’ll definitely bring some gifts next time!"

With a big smile on his face, Joshua waved towards the cave's entrance where the carriage had disappeared.

"Oh god... Oh lord... Show mercy..."

The Rothschild Company coachman could do nothing but pray for the guests' safety. No matter how evil those people were, he couldn't help but feel sorry for them for having to suffer such treatment.