Weiss And Leopin (14)

The truth behind the Kanoko kidnapping incident.

That shocking fact had crushed the three of them.

Weiss, Leopin, and the new teacher.

The new teacher was deeply shocked to learn that his own mother was a criminal.

He collapsed limply to his knees and shook his head in confusion, still seeming unable to believe it.

“Th… that cannot be true, I say…! Not Mother, of all people…!”

The leader approached the new teacher and placed a hand on his shoulder with a pat.

“Everyone in the young master’s family knows about this. It seems the young master was the only one who was not told.

Judging from the way you’re taking the shock, it seems what Lady Mothers said was true.”

The leader returned a sadistic smile to the new teacher, who raised his pale face.

“Young Master, it seems you are the first failure in the history of your family. Your grades seem to be excellent, but Lady Mothers said you only ever spout nonsense.”

Rudeness mixed into the leader’s voice, which was pretending to be polite.

“Of course, you will keep quiet about everything you saw here, won’t you? Young Master, you were able to become a teacher at a good elementary school thanks to Lady Mothers’s arrangements, weren’t you? If you reveal this… you understand, don’t you?”

The new teacher trembled violently.

It was as though he were struggling over which to choose, his beliefs or his future.

Before long, as if the scales had tilted greatly… and as if, in that moment, even his heart had been broken… he hung his head limply and stopped moving.

Taking that as a sign of consent, the leader told his men.

“All right, we’ve got the young master’s permission for the feast! Bring the liquor from inside the mansion! All of it, as much of the expensive-looking stuff as you can!”

“Yahoo!”

Until then, the men had never laid a hand on Lady Mothers’s mansion, since she was their employer.

But the moment they realized they had grasped part of Lady Mothers’s weakness, they changed completely, broke the mansion’s window glass, forced their way inside, and searched through it like they owned the place.

Before long, expensive-looking works of art and wine were brought out, and a party began in the barn.

And at last, demonic hands reached toward the boys.

A bandit who had been gulping down liquor approached the two of them, then first stomped on Leopin’s stomach with all his strength.

…Thud! “Guhah!?”

Leopin bent his tied-up body into a V shape and writhed in agony.

Weiss, who tried to stop them by saying, “St… stop!” had his face trampled immediately after.

The new teacher nearby had become like an empty shell, but he raised his face as though he had heard a gunshot.

“Wh… what are you doing, I say!?”

“What, you ask? Isn’t it obvious? We’re enjoying our drinking snacks!”

As though sharing in the feast, the other bandits also approached with liquor bottles in hand.

“Besides, these guys saw our faces!”

“Yeah, yeah! Even though we used the mushroom that makes people forget everything, they still found our hideout!”

“In that case, we can’t let them go home alive!”

“So we’re going to have them die in a fun way!”

“The Saint would actually be more fun, but she’s the Hero’s favorite!”

The bandits surrounded Leopin and Weiss, who were lying on the ground, and raised their feet all at once.

Leopin and Weiss huddled together as though shielding each other.

“Try laying another hand on Leopin! I will never forgive you! I will be your opponent!”

“S… stop! Weiss is a Sage! If you kill him, it’ll become a serious matter! If you’re going to do it, do it to me!”

The bandits laughed mockingly. “Gyahahahaha!”

“Is this what they call beautiful friendship?”

“It’s fun to ruin stuff like this!”

“Yeah, yeah! Once we beat them up, next they’ll sacrifice the other one and try to save only themselves!”

“And there are goblins on this mountain too! If we say they were killed by those things, there’ll be no evidence linking it to us!”

“Their begging when we throw them into a goblin horde is the best! Looks like we’ll be drinking the best liquor tonight!”

“Hey, boys, they’re just brats, so go easier than usual. Otherwise, they’ll drop dead just like that!”

“Heh, we know! …Ready, and!”

Together with the command, a blow that seemed to trample on pure feelings swung downward.

…Thuuuuuuudーーーーーーーーーーーー!

The toes of their boots drove into flesh and bone through clothing.

However, that sensation was slightly different from what the bandits had imagined.

At their feet was, unbelievably… the figure of the new teacher covering Weiss and Leopin…!

The leader had been watching this mad feast while sitting in a chair, pleasantly tipsy.

But he stood up as though he had sobered up all at once.

“Yo… Young Master!? What are you doing!?”

The new teacher shouted while pulling Weiss and Leopin close.

“Th… these children are students in my class, I say! I will not let you hurt them anymore, I say!”

“Young Master, do you understand your position? If you protect brats like these, Lady Mothers will abandon you even more…”

“I… I do not care, I say! These children are treasures of the future, I say! They are far, far more important than my own future, I say!”

“Brats like these could never become treasures. At best, they’re just glass beads. The brat called Weiss aside, that commoner brat called Leopin will only ever be trash.”

“Family status does not matter, I say! Royalty, nobles, commoners, and the poor are all children just the same, I say! They have the right to receive education equally, grow up healthy, and fly freely into the future, I say! To protect and nurture children equally…! That is my mission as an educator, I say!”

The leader looked utterly exasperated.

“Good grief, it seems it’s true that the young master only spouts nonsense…”

Unable to kick them any further on their own, the men looked to the leader as though waiting for instructions.

The leader rubbed his chin and made a thoughtful face.

“If we tell Lady Mothers about this, she’ll definitely give up on the young master. Besides, if we hurt him a little, he’ll cry out and let go of those brats right away. …Do it.”

A savage cry of “Hyahho!” echoed inside the barn.

And the mad feast resumed.