Chapter 85 — The Target Is Frieren!
—BOOM!!
In a flash of lightning-fast chaos, a deafening explosion rang out, catching everyone completely off guard!
In that instant, Frieren felt only a sudden, overwhelming impact—
…ugh!!
Instinctively, helplessly, she squeezed her eyes shut.
Then came a piercing scream of agony.
"…AAAH!!"
When she opened her eyes again, what filled her vision was Elias's broad back and outstretched arms.
His brows were drawn tight, fury barely restrained—
an expression Frieren had never seen on him before.
And yet—
She was completely unharmed.
A sharp realization stabbed into her mind.
Her heart lurched as she snapped her gaze toward the source of that scream.
The one who had stepped in front of her at the final moment—
the one struck head-on by the meteor iron bird—
"…Yuna!!!"
Pain and panic exploded at once.
Their companions screamed and rushed forward in unison.
Frieren tore free from Elias's protection and sprinted toward the person who had just saved her life.
Yuna's shoulder had taken a devastating hit. Blood sprayed outward, soaking her blue hair until it turned a dark, sickly purple.
Her face was deathly pale.
She lay in Zanni's arms, teeth clenched tight, barely holding back the agony.
"…hh… hhh…"
Hearing her muffled groans, Frieren's eyes instantly filled with tears.
"Yuna…!" she cried.
"That thing was clearly coming for me! Why did you step in front of it?!"
Yuna's eyes shimmered with tears as she forced a weak, painful smile.
"Frieren… everyone always says I'm the smart one…"
"But this time… I acted without thinking."
"I don't even know why… maybe I just wanted to feel… useful…"
"—Stop talking, Yuna!" Camilla shouted.
She fired a distress flare into the sky—bang!—the signal exploding overhead.
Zanni pressed her hands to Yuna's shattered shoulder and cast Healing Magic.
"It's not working…!" she cried.
"The wound's too large—we have to stop the bleeding first!"
"Stop the bleeding… I—I can do that!"
Frieren was sobbing now, hands shaking as she frantically rummaged through her storage pouch.
"The music box… where is it?!"
"Why—why can't I find it now of all times?!"
"—Let me do it."
A completely unexpected voice cut through the chaos.
Under Elias's killing gaze, Leiya nevertheless steeled herself and stepped toward Yuna.
Her stride was firm, her eyes resolute—every inch of her radiating righteous determination.
And then, in the very next instant, she realized—
At some point she hadn't noticed, her body had already been trapped inside a barrier.
Even sound had been completely cut off.
Leiya spun around in shock, staring at the pale man behind her.
"Elias, what are you doing?!"
"My friend is seriously injured, and you're still thinking about protecting me?!"
"I'm going over there to save her!!"
Elias advanced step by step.
His eyes were hollow, bottomless—like a staring abyss.
"At this point…"
"Are you really going to keep acting?"
"—Acting?"
Confusion crept into her irritated gaze.
"What are you talking about?"
Watching her stunned expression, Elias curled his lips into a smile—one that only grew more unsettling.
"Relying on your status as a 'lady,' you think I wouldn't dare touch you?"
"Don't forget—we're the same kind."
"And just like you, I can be utterly unscrupulous."
"I can even return it a hundredfold."
"—The same kind?!"
"I honestly have no idea what nonsense you're talking about!"
Leiya glanced back at Yuna, then roared furiously at Elias:
"Elias, I order you—release me immediately!!"
"—GRAUSAM."
Hearing that name, Leiya froze.
She tilted her head, brows drawn tight.
"…Who are you even talking about now?"
"Heh…"
Elias chuckled softly, nodding again and again.
"Fine. You like acting, don't you?"
"If you insist on playing the role of a lady…"
"Then I'll continue playing the role of a guard."
"And a guard's duty is to ensure that the lady remains—"
"Completely. Unharmed."
"—You!!"
Leiya stomped in fury, teeth clenched.
But faced with Elias's overwhelming magic, this body of hers could do nothing at all.
"—Ah! I found it!!"
Frieren cried out.
[The blood-staunching music box!]
She immediately wound it.
As the gentle melody flowed out, the bleeding from Yuna's shoulder finally stopped.
Her strength, however, was already spent—
she slipped quietly into unconsciousness.
Zanni and Camilla both released shaky sighs of relief.
"We need to get her back to the estate immediately," one of them said.
"She has to rest somewhere safe."
Before the words had fully settled, hurried, disciplined footsteps sounded nearby.
The troops stationed at the hunting grounds had received the signal and advanced at full speed.
At their head, Thomas rolled forward like a human cannonball, leading the charge.
Sensing the surging magic, Elias withdrew the barrier.
Leiya broke free at last and rushed anxiously to Yuna's side.
Seeing her friend's miserable condition, tears actually slipped from her eyes.
Thomas finally came to a stop, wobbling slightly—apparently he'd rolled too fast and gotten dizzy.
"Lady Leiya! Are you hurt?!"
"—What do you think?!"
Leiya snapped furiously, venting all the anger she couldn't unleash on Elias onto Thomas instead.
"Hurry! Yuna's injured!"
"Send her back to the hunting grounds entrance immediately—we're returning to the estate at once!"
"—Understood!!"
Only after the sounds of hurried movement faded into the distance did Brian, who had been trembling in the bushes the entire time, dare to poke out half his head.
"…Huh?"
"Wait for me!"
"I don't want to die out here!!"
---
Without delay, the group returned to the hunting grounds entrance.
Thomas personally placed Yuna and her three close friends into a carriage and assigned elite guards to escort them.
He wasted no time, then hurried back to Leiya and Elias.
"Lady Leiya, are you returning now? Are you absolutely unharmed?"
"—She isn't."
Elias answered flatly, ending the matter.
Leiya, standing in front of him, trembled with rage.
She took a deep breath, barely regaining composure.
"Master Thomas… I truly am uninjured."
"As for why a meteor iron bird capable of harming people appeared in the hunting grounds—"
"Please investigate this thoroughly, and as soon as possible."
"—Understood!"
Thomas thumped his chest, the sound solid as stone.
"Please take care on your return, milady!"
"Thank you for your concern, Master."
Leiya bowed her head politely and turned toward the carriage.
But just as her left foot stepped onto the carriage board—
Elias's eyes snapped wide.
"—Someone's inside the carriage!"
—CLANG!
At the instant a blade flashed, Elias used levitation magic to yank Leiya away.
In that split second, the assassin's knife had come within a hair of her body.
The attacker carried no magic at all.
To evade Elias's detection, they had relied on pure physical assassination.
This was no coincidence.
They were prepared.
Was this, too, one of Leiya's "contingency plans" to get herself injured?
Elias instantly deployed a barrier, sealing the entire carriage.
The next moment, his enhanced hearing caught the assassin's low, venomous mutter:
"…Damn it…"
"Alzoros was clearly right there…"
"—Lady Leiya!!"
Thomas's face drained of color.
Two assassination attempts—back to back—during a single hunting lesson.
This was no accident.
They were targeting Leiya.
"If she returns now, the danger will only grow!"
"Lady Leiya," Thomas said urgently,
"Please remain at the hunting camp today!"
"Once I finish interrogating the assassin, I will personally escort you back to the estate!"