Weiss And Leopin (20)

The expressions of the bandits, who had looked as though they were watching someone else’s fire from across the river, changed completely.

“R… runnnnnーーーーーーーー!!!!”

They panicked and tried to run in the opposite direction from the bees, but that was when they finally noticed.

The beehive cannonballs had landed in a circle surrounding the forest clearing.

Every direction had already become like a wall of furious bee swarms.

All of them were closing in on the bandits as though contracting toward a single point.

At this moment, even the sharp-witted leader turned pale and screamed.

“U… ugyaaaaaaaaaーーーーーー!?!?”

The bee swarm swallowed the men there in an instant.

The bandits were wearing leather helmets and armor, but the bees slipped in through the tiny gaps and stabbed them with their venomous stingers.

“Gyaaaaa!? It hurts, hurts, hurts, huuuuurtsーーーーーーーーーーーーー!?!?”

The buzzing like wind and the screams did not stop.

The men thrashed about madly as though engulfed in flames while still alive, then collapsed one after another.

It was a scene just like a picture of hell.

Among them, only Weiss was unharmed, as though he were in another world.

The swarm of bees made the clearing look as though it had been wrapped in a sandstorm.

Weiss was in the middle of it too, but the bees passed right by him as though they could not see only Weiss, and attacked only the bandits.

It was a strange feeling, like looking down on hell from heaven.

And it was a feeling of astonishment, as though the world itself had turned into a magic trick.

“Wh… why…? Why are the bees not attacking me…!?”

Then, as though answering him, something struck Weiss’s chest.

When he picked up what had rolled to his feet, it was a tree nut.

“This is… Confruit…!?”

A certain girl’s voice flashed back inside Weiss.

“It is a potion that uses this ‘Confruit.’ Confruit has a strong fragrance and is often used in perfume.

What is on the desk now is a concentrated version. If you accidentally drink it, you will be bedridden for about half a year.”

“I see…! The tree nuts that were being thrown at the bandits were this Confruit…!”

In a chain reaction, Weiss remembered his own words.

“Bees have a habit of chasing things with strong smells. Judging from how that new teacher dressed, he must have sprayed perfume on himself.”

Weiss looked in the direction the tree nut had flown from.

Just as he heard the trees rustling, a figure appeared beyond the sandstorm.

It had a bulky outline, as though a bush were moving.

It truly deserved to be called a mysterious shadow, but Weiss already knew its true identity.

Before the shadow could speak to him, Weiss rebuked it.

“Why did you come back!?”

From the head of the moving bush, a mischievous face peeked out.

“A night drive with that girl, or my best friend’s crisis right in front of me… there’s no need to compare which one matters more, right?”

Weiss looked unconvinced and tried to reply, “But…!”

“It’s fine. I had Kanoko head toward town on the foot-pedal cart. Right about now, she should be reporting it to the guards.”

“B-but…! But…!”

Weiss was completely confused.

The joy of being saved, the joy of having been rescued, his anger at his best friend’s recklessness, his frustration at not being able to settle the matter by himself… many feelings mixed together, and his voice trembled completely.

“But…! It’s fine because it worked, but if even one step had gone wrong, it would have turned into something terrible…! If even you had been caught too, Leopin, I… I…!”

The boy who looked like a moving bush grinned widely.

“Before holding burning passion, remain calm. No matter the situation, stay calm and take the action that will produce the greatest effect. …Those are words taught to me by the guy I respect most.”

Then, by dawn, many guards arrived at “Mother-Forgetting Mountain.”

The swollen bandits, whom Weiss and Leopin had split up and tied together, were handed over.

According to the guards, all the Saints who had been about to be shipped out at the harbor were saved.

“U… ugh… I-it is dark, I say…! I cannot see anything, I say…! M-my throat… my throat is… so hot, like it is burning, I say…!”

“S-something… is in my pocket, I say…! I do not know what it is, but…! If I am going to die like this…!”

“Gulp… gulp…! F… fuwaaaah…!? P-power is welling up, I say!? Even my terrible injuries are healing as though they were a lie…!?”

“What is this, I say? …Ahh, could this possibly be an ‘elixir’!? Why would something called a legendary secret medicine be in my pocket…!?”

“Th-that is right, I say! Surely the Goddess saw me living correctly and granted it to me, I say! The Goddess is telling me, ‘Live’…!”

“Ah!? This is no time for this, I say! If what the gardener said is true, I must stop Mother, I say!”

“Children are the treasure of this country…! Using them to make money is absolutely unforgivable, I say!!”

“It has been a while, mothers, Weiss-kun’s father. Not since the medal-awarding party, mothers. Not only you, Father, but your son Weiss-kun also performed splendidly, mothers.”

“Not only saving a Saint from a prestigious family, but even saving the Saints from the slums… Weiss-kun is the greatest Sage candidate in the history of our elementary school, mothers.”

“Yes. As for me, it truly was a disaster, mothers. To think my son was using the off-season mansion to do something like that… Well, it seems he was deceived by the bandits, so this time he got off with only a stern warning, mothers.”

“…Well, I did make various arrangements behind the scenes, mothers.”

“More importantly, it seems Weiss-kun took not only the Evil Remains Cloth, but even an elixir from your mansion, mothers. But his achievements this time cancel that out… no, perhaps a little extra is necessary, mothers.”

“So, I have a good offer, mothers. Do you know of the ‘Highest-Rank Job Training Camp,’ mothers? It is a special training camp that only a tiny fraction of selected sons among the highest-rank jobs can attend, mothers.”

“We have specially secured the qualification, mothers, so this time, I am thinking of specially recommending Weiss-kun, mothers.”

“That is exactly what you wished for, mothers? Yes, mothers. That training camp lasts only half a year, yet the children become completely transformed, mothers.”

“Even Weiss-kun, who is uncontrollable at home and at school… will surely return as a good boy, mothers…!”

“This is a present from me to all of you. Please accept it.”

“Oh, amazing!? It’s a necklace!”

“It’s lovely! Leopin, your hands really are dexterous!”

“And the matching design is perfect for us since we’ll be advancing to school together!”

“Indeed. If Leopin is with us, our class is certain to be number one.”

“Leopin! We’ll still be best friends forever even when we become high school students, right?”

“Of course. With this, even if we are separated, I can always remember Leopin. The ‘Highest-Rank Job Training Camp’ I am going to is said to be a very harsh place… But if I have this necklace, I am sure I can overcome it. After all, Leopin will be by my side.”

Weiss smiled as he held his fist out to me.

“Because we are an invincible duo…!”

…Then, half a year later, around the time we were about to graduate from middle school, Weiss returned.

I held out my fist to welcome him, but Weiss did not bump fists with me.

That smile had not changed.

But for some reason, I felt something like contempt deep in his eyes.

“Leopin, I feel like I now understand the meaning of what the Hero was doing to Kanoko-san. The Hero was seriously trying to obtain Kanoko-san.”

“Obtain her, you say…?”

“Yes. People obey because they do not want to be alone. Society, organizations, companions… all humans obey. Then, if you want someone to obey an individual rather than a group, what do you think you should do?”

“Wouldn’t it be becoming a respectable person or something…?”

“That is one way, but there is a more absolute method. It is to isolate them. Arrange things so they are excluded by those around them and no one will deal with them.”

“Weiss, what are you saying…?”

“A person who has known true loneliness… will swear loyalty to the person who reaches out to them at the end… forever…!”