Absolutely Do Not Touch Eldmia Egga – Chapter 22

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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My head hurts.

Amid the mild dizziness and the strong headwind that came out of the blue, the only thing I felt was confusion.

I definitely remember… Eldmia left, saying he would wrap things up.

Waiting for Jin to call the guards and pondering with Auntie about what to do with the bloodstains in front of the inn.

I also remember briefly turning my head towards Auntie, who was going inside, saying she should prepare a warm cup of tea for when Eldmia returned later.

And then my memory cut off.

“It seems you’ve regained consciousness, Miss Lien.”

My body was tied up like a piece of luggage. I belatedly realized that I was wearing a hood.

It seemed to be a measure taken to ensure that I won’t get a cold while flying. Thanks to that, even though it felt like a tremendous wind was blowing, I wasn’t cold.

Cradled in the arms of a person whose voice gave no clue as to who he was, I sorted out my thoughts while looking at the dizzying scenery unfolding below.

“It was a wyvern after all.”

“Did you and that mysterious friend of yours deduce that together? It’s a clever judgment.”

The owner of the voice was a young man, but I had no memory of him.

Perhaps it was someone I had forgotten because it was too long ago, but the fact that nothing came to mind right away remained unchanged, so it didn’t matter.

The utterly serene voice felt like proof that he had anticipated all the actions Eldmia and I had taken, and I unknowingly bit my lip.

“Was it a diversion?”

“That’s right. In fact, it was more about dealing with a possible royalist faction’s interference rather than your friend.

Procuring two wyverns, and using the wyvern pilot we had as a pawn was a painful expenditure… but since we succeeded like this, I think it was worthwhile.”

“A wyvern knight participating in this low-quality kidnapping and still managing to feel a sense of accomplishment… the honor of the noble faction must be rolling in the dirt.”

“Shouldn’t you guys be digging through the sewers of the entire city at a time like this, and not flying? It would take more than a year or two to retrieve your remaining honor from the pile of dung.”

“Hmm. What a fresh and sharp expression. Did you not neglect your learning and studying?

Although, merely surviving in that harsh environment for 3 years must have been overwhelming.

Margrave would have definitely been proud if he had seen you. He also had an incomparably sharp tongue.”

For a moment, I thought it was an insult that brought up my parents, but Lagnis could tell that the man’s attitude was sincere.

In fact, the sharp tongue that Father Engrin Lien da Levien had when he faced his enemies was almost like a spear.

Seeing that he knew that well, he must have seen it at least once, but I couldn’t figure it out at all.

“And I’m not a wyvern knight. While I feel relieved that you don’t remember me well, I’m also a bit disappointed.”

“It’s treason! To ride a wyvern and learn swordsmanship without being a wyvern knight!”

“Well, it’s fine as long as you don’t get caught.”

Lagnis felt a chill at that reaction. To commit an act that amounts to treason so nonchalantly?

“Miss may not know the dark side of nobles yet, but surprisingly, there are quite a few people who secretly learn wyvern riding once you leave the capital a bit.

Most of them do it as pre-learning, dreaming of becoming a wyvern knight someday, rather than with impure intentions, but there are bound to be some who aren’t included in that majority.”

“…What happened to Eldmia?”

When I abruptly cut off the conversation and changed the subject, the man fell silent for a moment.

“I see. I was watching from afar, so I couldn’t hear well what he was saying, but it was Eldmia. Eldmia Egga, right? He’s probably dead.”

I felt like my heart had sunk, but the man continued speaking calmly, naturally, and indifferently, regardless of my feelings.

“I’m the type of person who needs to set a perfect bait to feel satisfied, even if it’s just a decoy.
I had stationed four friends who only had the knight’s test left to pass on the wyvern pilot’s side.

No matter how much your friend could fight, in the end, it was just a crude brawl without foundation. He probably couldn’t last a few exchanges against them and died.”

The rising cry that reached the end of my throat disappeared. At the same time, my heart started pounding for a different reason.

‘A crude brawl without foundation?’

Eldmia, who had been using aura since at least the age of 11 and was learning techniques from an elf who had lived for 120 years?

The man thought he had read all our moves, but he was completely misjudging Eldmia’s skills.

‘Then their level of caution would have skyrocketed.’

On the roof of a building whose owner I didn’t know, the words Eldmia had said flashed through my mind with a chill.

“Hmm? Are you crying?”

Perceiving the trembling Lagnis, the man lowly hummed as if it was troublesome.

“I’ve heard that young ladies sometimes say they like men overflowing with wildness… but that friend was closer to a delinquent than wildness.

Not to mention him being a commoner. Don’t dwell on it too much.”

I didn’t answer.

Realizing that the man’s misunderstanding was the last twist that could overturn this entire situation, I chose to remain silent.

Lagnis was smiling.

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“So that human named Delt decided to ride the wyvern himself?”

It was only a few dozen minutes ago that I was surprised by the surprisingly good ride quality of the wyvern.

I was sitting on top of the fiercely flying wyvern, holding the waist of the wyvern pilot.

“Th-that’s right. If those adventurers succeeded in de-defeating Mr. Eldmia, I would escort the young lady, and even if they failed, with the wrong information, Mr. Eldmia would come to our side and d-… no. It would buy time…”

“You thought I would die? To those 4 guys earlier?”

“…….”

“You didn’t even do it, so why are you trembling? I’ll cut off your fingers if you don’t answer.
I’ll use them to find you by the traces of your fingers when you return home”

“I-I’m sorry! You’re right! Delt was convinced that Mr. Eldmia would die to them!”

“Were they that strong?”

They were humans who couldn’t even use aura. While I was having that doubt, the wyvern pilot who introduced himself as Gies opened his mouth, trying to recall.

“That’s… I don’t know the specifics either, but I remember Delt telling them that they could leisurely wait for the knight’s test once this job was over.”

“Meaning they had the skills to easily pass the general knight’s test?”

“Exactly.”

It’s truly an unfair world. The difference between having something like aura and not having it is this huge.

I had no idea how twisted the power imbalance of this world was, considering that the general knight’s test of the kingdom isn’t played with marbles or hopscotch.

The difference is just this large.

Still, it was clear that the guy named Delt, who might be a wyvern knight, had completely misjudged my skills. That alone showed a possibility.

“But why were you dragged into this? Aren’t wyvern pilots high-level personnel? Isn’t it the end for you if you get caught up in a conspiracy like this?”

“Be-because of my parents’ debt…”

Oh, fucking world!

The wyvern pilot Gies, whom I thought was a hateful bastard, turned out to be a rare filial son in this dog-eat-dog world!

After listening I grasped his story.

He became a wyvern pilot through his own efforts alone, and was nearly a self-made man, but his parents’ eyes were blinded by the sudden increase in their son’s salary, leading to excessive spending.

He unknowingly ended up sitting on a pile of debt. In the process, the private lender who lent him money was owned by a noble belonging to the noble faction, so he ended up helping with this job in exchange for debt forgiveness.

It was a heartbreaking story.

“No matter how I think about it, it seems like you were set up?”

“Huh? Set up?”

Gies asked back in a confused tone, so I kindly explained.

After hearing all the hypotheses that they deliberately targeted a wyvern pilot, approached him over a long period of time, and made him indebted in order to use him, Gies couldn’t hide his shock.

“Oh my gosh, is that even a plausible story?! How can a person come up with such an evil idea?!”

“There are scammers everywhere. If you were a guy who knew that your parents were shitty, wouldn’t it be very effective?”

At first, I was so annoyed by everything, and I really wanted to cut off at least one finger joint whenever I had the chance.

But when I thought that he might also be a victim, those feelings disappeared without a trace.

“Really… I really don’t know. Even though I think it might not be true… looking back, there are more than a few things that seem suspicious.”

“…Hey! Don’t fucking worry about it! Who am I going to save now? Lagnis Lien da Levien, the Margrave. The successor who will fully inherit all assets and rights once she meets the royalist faction.

If you hadn’t cooperated and had bitten your tongue and died, it would have been the end of this saga, let alone my pursuit, so I’ll tell Lagnis that you actively helped.”

“Re-really?”

“I lost my parents when I was young, so I’m merciless to unfilial children, but I’m a bit weak to filial ones. I’ll try to use my head to erase even the sins you had, so just match your words well later.
If you were manipulated by those fucking noble bastards, you should have at least one good thing happen to you.”

“…Sob. Th-thank you.”

Those noble faction bastards are really hateful from head to toe. They even prey on commoners with private lending.

Thanks to that, an unexpected connection was formed, but the irritation remains.

But for now, Lagnis was the priority.

“By the way, are we really sure we can catch up to them? In the end, if we lose them, I’m fucked and even if your current debt disappears, a future where you can be manipulated in the same way again will unfold.”

“Th-that’s nothing to worry about. Because Mr. Eldmia moved much faster than Delt anticipated, if we just keep flying like this, catching up to them is literally only a matter of time. Although they’re far away right now and we’ll have to fly for a few hours to see them.”

“As long as we can catch up.”

“But… even if we catch up, don’t we have no other options?”

“I’ll stake my life on one fucking act.”

“Fu-fucking act?”

The man who stole Lagnis might be a wyvern knight. The reason I consider it fortunate that he misjudged my skills is because thanks to that, I was able to buy a lot of time, not because I believe I can beat him with that.

No matter how much I racked my brain, there was only one way to defeat him in the air.

“Yeah. I’ll jump from a higher place than him and stab the wyvern’s head.”

Even I think it’s a crazy thing to do, but there’s really no other answer.

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