376 - Giselle's Perspective - The White Useless One 2
Warning. Mildly gory content for some readers.
"Tina!? What happened!?"
Jasper swept his gaze across the warehouse and noticed Christina collapsed against the wall. As Jasper moved straight to the wall, ignoring the pool of blood, Kalisa shouted after him. Don't you dare call the young lady "Tina", she said.
Christina being called "Tina" is a nickname. Kalisa likely does not want someone who betrayed Christina to call her by her nickname.
The thought that came to me naturally, that Jasper had betrayed Christina, finally settled in my mind. Leaving me aside, the fact that he had managed to get Christina out of the Sedovara Church by outmaneuvering Kalisa was suspicious in itself. Jasper must have used some kind of medicine to knock us unconscious and carried Christina out of the Sedovara Church.
...The small bottle from that time?
Jasper said it was a medicine scented with flowers. When he dropped that bottle, he should have handed out white cloths. Jasper had sprayed something onto the white cloths distributed to us. Since Jasper used the same cloth, I covered my nose and mouth with it without suspicion, but now that I think back carefully, had Jasper actually sprayed anything onto his own cloth? Distracted by the small bottle falling to the floor, the only memory I have is of looking up to find Jasper already covering his own nose and mouth with the cloth.
"Tina, Christina!"
Kneeling beside Christina, Jasper peered down at her where she lay collapsed. Christina had not moved a single twitch since being slammed against the wall. Humans are fragile creatures who can die easily if struck in the wrong place. When someone has need of Christina herself, handling her with extreme caution is only appropriate. All the more so when taking such forceful measures as this. The men neglected this and even went so far as to commit the barbaric act of punching Christina. It would be no surprise at all if Christina, who does not even know how to break a fall, had died from being slammed against the wall.
"...What is going on here? I was told you had prepared someone who could read Japanese."
"That brat was being cheeky, so I just taught her a little lesson..."
"You fool. Even if she was a little cheeky, there is no point if she is dead. She is not like garbage insects like you, who are a dime a dozen. She is a person more valuable than gold."
A man whose attire suggested he was likely a noble looked around the area and frowned at the sight of Christina by the wall. The nobleman spat out those words to the man who was explaining the situation while clutching his bleeding thigh. Christina's life was worth more than gold, while the men opposite were garbage insects.
There is no one who would not get angry at being called garbage or insects. The man raised his blood-soaked fist, saying "Say that again," but he could not finish his words. The nobleman's knife, produced from his sleeve, cut the man's throat, and he fell backward from the force. After that, he thrashed about on the spot, waving his limbs, until he eventually ran out of strength.
"Y-you bastard! How dare you...!"
The bald-headed man who had been using his weight to pin Kalisa down tried to grab the nobleman, but was kicked away. Unlike Christina, this man seemed to have tried to break his fall reflexively, but thanks to losing his hand, he apparently could not do so properly. He fell heavily to the ground, and as he struggled to get up, the nobleman pressed his attack. While elegantly wiping the knife stained with the previous man's blood, he kicked at the bald-headed man's center of gravity, not allowing him to stand.
"...How is the girl's condition?"
"It seems she took a strong blow to the head. It would be best not to move her."
"We cannot very well leave her unmoved."
Since they had kidnapped her to take her away, being unable to move her was a problem. The nobleman, setting aside the means and methods, glared at Jasper while voicing a perfectly reasonable complaint, but Jasper still did not change his diagnosis. One should not easily move a person who has hit their head, he said. If they only wanted her body, it would be fine as long as she was alive, but for those seeking a reincarnator who can read Japanese, Christina being alive alone was not enough. What they needed was not Christina's body, but her knowledge of being able to read Japanese. If Christina's head became useless as a result of forcing her to move when she should not be moved, then the trouble of kidnapping her would have been for nothing.
"Garbage, you have caused quite the unnecessary trouble..."
Glancing at Jasper who was checking Christina's condition, the nobleman's kicks against the bald-headed man grew stronger. He was angry, but he could not take his frustration out on Jasper the pharmacist. Nor on Christina, who had hit her head and could not be moved, of course. And at the nobleman's feet was the bald-headed man who could not even stand. Since they were the ones who had punched Christina in the first place, it was only natural that the nobleman's anger was directed at them.
Jasper dashed out of the warehouse where the sound of the nobleman's continuous kicks echoed, then returned. He knelt beside Christina with a bag as large as he could carry and began checking for injuries by the light of a lantern. He carefully changed Christina's position so as not to shake her head too much, and when he pulled his hand away from her hair, it was stained red. The blood seemed rather light for a head injury, but apparently she had been cut somewhere. Jasper took scissors from his bag and, without hesitation, cut Christina's hair and began treating her wound.
"May I borrow the coachman?"
"I do not mind. Use whatever you can."
Jasper confirmed with the nobleman, the treatment for Christina apparently finished for now. The nobleman, who had kicked the bald-headed man to death, said to use whatever he could, but showed no sign of helping himself. For a man who was a noble, this was not unusual behavior. But as a kidnapper who should want to leave the scene as quickly as possible, it was questionable.
"...You help too."
"Eh?"
Jasper, who had brought a board to serve as a stretcher and a coachman, then came over to me as well. When he told me to help carry Christina, naturally I was bewildered. I am Christina's guard. Even if I am a useless knight, there is no way I can help kidnap the person I am supposed to protect.
"Wha, what... That is absurd. Such a thing..."
"If we move her carelessly, she will die. Are you fine with that?"
"That is..."
If they moved her carelessly, Christina would die. In other words, whether they moved her or not, Christina's condition was not good. And the kidnappers had already succeeded in getting Christina out of the Sedovara Church. It would be hard to imagine them leaving Christina here, retreating for now, and waiting for the next opportunity. This time, Christina had been kidnapped from the Sedovara Church and brought all the way here. With vigilance raised so that the same thing would never happen again, Christina would most likely never leave the residence again. If so, even if there was some risk, they would choose to take Christina away here and now.
"I, I am Lady Christina's guard. Even if I am a useless White Knight, helping with a kidnapping...! But it is impossible for me to take Christina-sama and escape from here alone. In that case..."
I thought I should prioritize Christina's life first. If she was taken, we could chase after them. If she lived, we might be able to reclaim her someday. But if she died here, that was it. We would never be able to get Christina back.
"...I will help carry her, but you absolutely must save Lady Christina. I will not accept excuses like 'we were not in time,'" I declared as I stepped out from behind the crates. As the ropes binding my limbs were undone, I met the eyes of the nobleman who had been watching the situation.
"There was still someone in the back?"
"She is a noble's daughter. It seems those men brought her here with the intention of demanding a ransom and hid her here."
"Truly, garbage is garbage. There is no need for extra baggage."
Saying "this woman too," the nobleman kicked Kalisa's stomach as she lay prostrate on the ground. Even as a way to kill time before their meeting, who would be stupid enough to bring two extra people when kidnapping someone? If it was just Christina, they would only need to carry one child, but the men had committed the foolish act of carrying out two adult women as well, wasting effort and slowing their escape. One of them had even had his neck cut off by a woman they had kidnapped.
"...I did stop them, at least."
"They failed at the stage of choosing their pawns. That is why I said I would send my own subordinates."
"With all due respect, with men who are clearly professionals like your subordinates, we cannot get past the fortress."
It was strange cooperating with the kidnappers' coachman, but I carefully placed Christina onto the board serving as a stretcher, trying not to change her posture too much. The fact that they could not get past the fortress meant the nobleman was likely someone who had crossed the border. I eavesdropped on Jasper and the others' conversation, wondering if he was a noble of the Saenard Kingdom or the Zugari Empire.
Even if there was no helping overlooking the kidnapping for the sake of treatment and prioritizing Christina's life, I had to somehow leave clues for Leonardo and the others. As I pretended to carefully carry Christina while stealing glances around for any information or method, I noticed something faintly off in my field of vision.
...What?
I focused my attention on the area where I felt the anomaly. There was Kalisa, her head being stepped on and held down by the nobleman. Because he was stepping on her, it was probably a blind spot for the nobleman. Kalisa was moving her lips slightly, trying to convey something.
—Stay like that, follow the young lady, protect her.
I could not hear her voice, but I understood that was what she was saying. The cursing from Christina had been my wishful thinking, but this was Kalisa's wish. And it was also her will that she had not given up yet.
When I carried Christina to the prepared carriage, everything was already set up. From the carriage equipped with a false-bottom mechanism, I could tell the kidnappers were likely from the Zugari Empire. This carriage with a false bottom is something you always encounter when studying history. They hide people kidnapped from other countries in the false bottom of the carriage and transport them to their own country. The fate awaiting the kidnapped people is harsh labor as slaves.
...I heard that slaves were packed in as many as possible, just to get the numbers up. I had only learned this as a part of history, but it seemed they wanted to maximize the numbers of slaves they could pack into the carriage floor. Because of that, it was apparently not uncommon for slaves to waste away and die in the cramped space, packed in as tightly as possible, before even reaching the slave market.
The treatment of kidnapped people back then seemed harsh, but they could not do the same to Christina. There was no way Christina, a child, could endure a transport method that could cause even adults to waste away and die. Jasper must have anticipated that too. A blanket, clearly for Christina, had been prepared in the false-bottom space of the carriage.
...I could see a glimmer of hope. Even a White Knight knows that Zugari Empire carriages have false bottoms. There is no way the Black Knights guarding the border would fail to inspect carriages heading to the Empire. It was impossible for me to escape with Christina alone, but the Black Knights would surely find us at the border checkpoint. The Black Knights could save Christina.
I laid the blanket on the floor, then carefully laid Christina down on it, her body wrapped around in blankets. I thought it was to keep her from catching a cold from the cold, but also to restrain her body.
Now, as I was thinking about what to say to accompany Christina, a man's scream came from inside the warehouse. As the coachman and Jasper's attention turned that way, the nobleman came bursting out of the warehouse, spewing curses. I noticed the nobleman walking in an odd posture, as if protecting his right hand. Looking more closely, blood was pouring from the nobleman's right hand.
...Kalisa?
If there was anyone in the warehouse who could do something to the nobleman, it could only be Kalisa. The other three men were already dead. Wondering what Kalisa had done, I turned my gaze to the back of the warehouse beyond Jasper, who was running to the nobleman to treat him. In the warehouse shrouded by distance and darkness, I could barely make out Kalisa's feet, showing she had fallen on her back. Her posture had changed from when I had left the warehouse, so Kalisa had indeed gotten her revenge on the nobleman.
It seemed it had been prearranged to set fire, as flames rose from the warehouse while Jasper was treating the nobleman. As I was distracted by the flames spreading like they were licking the warehouse walls, I heard the nobleman's voice, clearly displeased.
"...No longer needed, are you."
Realizing the words were directed at me, I shifted my gaze from the burning warehouse to the nobleman. With a face that showed not just displeasure but obvious anger, I frantically thought if there was any good way out of this. He had untied me to use me for carrying Christina, trying not to move or change the posture of the girl who had hit her head too much, but now he had remembered that I was essentially useless and unnecessary from the start. More than likely, he wanted to use me to vent his frustration over Kalisa's counterattack.
The nobleman had just kicked to death the man who had punched Christina. He clearly had no hesitation in taking out his irritation by torturing others (commoners). Truly, this was behavior befitting an Imperial noble. Completely different from the nobles of our country.
...I have to somehow follow and protect Lady Christina.
That was what I thought, but I did not know how to negotiate for it. I, the third generation of a half-baked Flower Peerage family, not even proper as a knight, nor as a noble, lacked Christina's flashes of insight and Kalisa's courage.
...Even so, I could not take my eyes off Lady Christina now.
How could I placate the nobleman and be transported together with Christina? No matter how much I thought, no good idea came to mind, and help came from an unexpected quarter.
"Take that girl too. You killed the maid who was supposed to be a hostage for Christina, did you not. This is her replacement."
"Even without a hostage, you just need to discipline a child who does not listen."
"So you are fine with Christina dying from your discipline..."
Before Jasper could finish speaking, the nobleman slapped his cheek. Hitting the pharmacist who was treating him, I thought, but Imperial nobles were like this. In the Empire, the distinction between nobles and commoners was strict, and the status of pharmacists was not as respected as in the Ivizia Kingdom. In any case, nobles were absolutely superior, and pharmacists were treated as commoners who just happened to have knowledge of medicine arts. Naturally, no one wanted to be a pharmacist in such a country, and the "dispatch to Sedovara Churches in other countries," disguised as training that those who became pharmacists at the Sedovara Church were always sent on for the first few years, had the Imperial territories as their main destinations. I thought they could just not work in the Imperial territories where they knew they would be treated like this, but this was prevented by the doctrine of the Sedovara Church that said "Medicine arts are miracles of the medicine god Sedovara, and we must reach out to all lives in need of medicine arts." Saint Yuuta Hiraga had left behind similar words.
"...Get in."
Jasper, leaving his slapped cheek as it was, indicated with his chin the space beside Christina. The nobleman did not seem to have anything more to say, so he must have been at least somewhat convinced that taking me back as a hostage for Christina was one option. Before the man could change his mind, I climbed in beside Christina, and a blanket was thrown over my head from above.
...A guard knight being used as a hostage against her charge. That is not even funny.
The carriage floorboards, from my perspective, the ceiling, were nailed shut. Once the floor was nailed down, it seemed it was quite difficult to notice there was a space where people could be hidden underneath. I had read that when studying history.
...I never thought the day would come when I would be transported like a slave. I never thought so, but I wanted to think positively. Because if I became pessimistic, only bad thoughts would come one after another.
...I cannot say things are safe, but at least I am glad I was not separated from Christina-sama. I could not fight to protect Christina like Kalisa did, though. But I can watch over Christina's recovery in Kalisa's place. Maybe when Christina fully recovers and can move, we can escape. For now, I can only quietly let myself be taken, but we are alive. As long as we are alive, we can do anything.
...I want to protect her. This time, truly protect her.
Despite calling myself a knight, I cannot even step forward in front of an enemy because my legs are shaking. It is too shameful. In place of a useless knight, Kalisa, who should have been just a maid, fought desperately, killing one kidnapper, cutting off another's arm, burying a hatchet in another man's thigh, and even biting off the nobleman's finger.
...I want to become strong, like Kalisa. Strong, so I can protect my master. As things stand, I cannot protect my master at all. On the contrary, I am being used as a hostage against my master. Truly, a White Knight is nothing more than a decorative knight.
...I wonder if Aaron has noticed the anomaly. Even at a time like this, I am still relying on others, I sneered at myself. Aaron is different from decorative White Knights. He is a silver-white knight. Surely he has noticed something wrong beyond the door and has started moving regarding Christina's disappearance by now. We had also brought Kokumaro to the Sedovara Church. Using a dog's nose, there was a possibility they could follow us who had been taken away without anyone knowing.
...Now I am relying on a watch dog, am I.
I truly am useless, I repeated to myself, staring at Christina's face before me. The only thing I could do now was to follow Kalisa's instructions and watch over Christina.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.