I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain Chapter 126

‘Father must be doing well.’

 

I thought, swallowing hard as I ran quickly alongside Yohan.

 

Yohan noticed my worry and smiled softly.

 

“Don’t worry, Yurika. He’ll handle it just fine. He’s the Duke Medes, after all—no one else.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

We weren’t going to the central garden now.

 

To be exact, I pretended to go to the central garden, but changed direction halfway through.

 

So, in the central garden, my father would be dealing with Theodore or Rivena.

 

‘They’ll have no choice but to split up if they want to find me.’

 

They probably planned to use the Alit grass as bait to lure me out—but I’d already expected something like that.

 

That was why Father had deliberately tossed the bottle of holy water to Yohan earlier, making sure it was clearly seen.

 

Theodore and Rivena, seeing that sight, would have naturally assumed that we were heading to the central garden.

 

‘I’m sure my father will be able to handle it well.… We just have to hide.’

 

I was quite shocked when Mariel was hit by the chandelier and injured.

 

But we immediately moved on to the next plan.

 

From start to finish, our plan had been consistent.

 

The plan is for my father to handle most of the work, and for Yohan and me to step back.

 

We’d only pretended to move together to deceive Theodore and Rivena.

 

‘I will never play into your plans.’

 

My father decided to take all the risks.

 

Part of me was anxious, but he was a man who had made his name on the battlefield as a warrior.

 

Whenever I heard his war stories, he said that he had defeated more enemies in much worse situations than this.

 

‘Theodore can only move his knights. Father will be able to handle it.’

 

Because I had been moving myself all this time, it was harder for me to step back at such a crucial moment.

 

But Father had pleaded with me, desperately

 

“Yurika, we’ve already lost you once. We can’t put you in danger again.”

 

Even if it wasn’t truly the family’s fault, there was room to think that way.

 

“And our family has done nothing but owe you until now. Please—at least this once, don’t put yourself at risk.”

 

That’s why I decided not to step forward this time. I decided to simply play a role in confusing the enemy.

 

If I played along and acted as though I’d fallen into their trap, they would keep the Alit grass bait intact until the end.

 

If Rivena and Theodore lost all hope and burned even that grass away, there would be no way left to completely cure Mother.

 

“Let’s go, Yurika. Quickly.”

 

Yohan stayed close beside me, taking on the role of protecting me in case something unexpected happened.

 

And so we retreated to a safe place.

 

No matter how the ground shook or the temple collapsed, we knew of one perfectly safe location.

 

It was the secret path that had saved my father just a long time ago.

 

Since it was underground, where Rivena’s laboratory must have been, it was the perfect place to hide until everything was over.

 

Once Father managed to pour holy water over the Alit grass and dealt with Theodore and Rivena, Jayden would swiftly cut the grass.

 

Once that was done, there’d be no reason for us to remain in the temple.

 

Afterward, investigating the source of the magic would reveal the truth soon enough.

 

‘They must have thought Jayden had disappeared into the chaos.’

 

In reality, Jayden had planned to quietly evade their notice and hide if anything went wrong—just as if he’d vanished after being swept up in the turmoil.

 

Although he was famous as a merchant, Jayden was also a person who could take care of himself well.

 

He was planning to sneak out at a crucial moment, take care of my mother, hide, and then cut the grass after my father finished his work.

 

John and I weren’t part of any of those plans, so now it was our turn to leave.

 

“Quickly…”

 

Yohan spoke in a low, urging voice.

 

“If we stay here any longer, I think I’m going to get worse.”

 

“Worse… how?”

 

“It’s just… the instincts I’ve been suppressing keep surging up.”

 

He muttered with a sigh in his voice.

 

“Ugly instincts. Like wanting to kill everyone and be alone with you.”

 

“What…?”

 

Like wanting to destroy this entire world, leave only you behind, and make you look at no one but me. Something that horrible—”

 

“Yohan, just don’t say it.”

 

I warned him seriously.

 

“There are things in this world that don’t need to be said.”

 

Now our role is complete. Everything will be alright.

 

Of course, I didn’t expect that in the meantime, the wizards would cause a ruckus and that Yohan would start acting strangely because of the incense that stimulated the wizards being burned in the temple.

 

“You’re just thinking about it, not actually doing it, right? And that’s not because you’re weird, it’s because Rivena’s burning a strange scent here. So don’t worry too much about it.”

 

“…Right. If I were to lose control—”

 

“No. You seem rational enough, and that’s all I need. But if you feel like you’re about to lose that rationality, I expect you to distance yourself on your own.”

 

We quickened our pace even more, heading for the secret passage we’d used before.

 

We didn’t know much about the experiments Rivena was conducting.

 

But there was one person who seemed to know something about the experiment.

 

It was Trevor.

 

We couldn’t have a proper conversation with him for a long time, but if we waited patiently and diligently and asked him questions, he would often drop clues that could help us.

 

“An experiment that uses time, huh….”

 

Trevor had laughed, saying it was doomed to fail.

 

“It can never succeed. Even if it looks like it’s almost complete, it’s impossible—especially an experiment using Medes blood. In Artae, they wouldn’t even be able to attempt it.”

 

“Not even attempt it?”

 

“If you want to use Medest’s blood for time, you need magic power.”

 

Trevor explained calmly.

 

“Medes’s power is a force that stabilizes magical power. It can be said that it always interacts with magical power. In other words, its blood requires magical power to function.”

 

“Sounds complicated.”

 

“By the way, when is the mushroom soup coming out? Why is it taking so long? Don’t get cocky just because the food tastes good. Sure, flavor is the most important thing in a restaurant—but if you treat customers with service like this, they’ll leave one by one, and you’ll end up going under.”

 

I didn’t hear any more details and I couldn’t completely believe it, but it was still a story worth listening to.

 

It made sense that using Medes’s blood would require magical power.

 

If that’s the case, then it makes sense that Rivena would continue to cooperate with Theodore.

 

Theodore was the kind of person no one would want to see even as an ally. Rivena wouldn’t feel much different.

 

If the reason he continues to work with him is because of magic, then it makes some sense.

 

“Then Rivena’s probably always staying close to Theodore, right? She needs magic power, after all.”

 

I swallowed my anxiety and spoke cheerfully.

 

“I hope Father wipes them all out soon.”

 

“…Yeah.”

 

Yohan’s voice, already hoarse, sounded uneasy—but we moved quickly according to plan and slipped inside the entrance.

 

As long as Rivena remained with Theodore for the experiment, this place was safe.

 

Unlike the chaotic temple, this place was surprisingly peaceful and quiet.

 

It felt like another world.

 

“Yurika… should we keep a bit of distance?”

 

As soon as we arrived, Yohan sighed and said:

 

“I think I’m the most dangerous one here.”

 

“S-Should we? Then maybe you should just calm down for a bit—you used a lot of magic—”

 

“No. I’m already calm.”

 

I stepped toward him, but Yohan quickly retreated.

 

“Huh?”

 

“My condition is… worse than you think.”

 

His gaze wavered, more unstable than I’d ever seen it.

 

The image of the other wizards openly lunging at me earlier flashed through my mind.

 

I’m not a wizard so I don’t know for sure, but I could tell that this space made wizards unstable.

 

Meanwhile, Yohan used a lot of magic and was more powerful than any other wizard.

 

“For now… let’s put some distance between us.”

 

“…Okay. If that’s what you want.”

 

When I nodded readily, Yohan turned away and hurriedly moved farther from me.

 

At the same time, instinctively, I quickly turned around and looked toward the entrance. It was a beastly instinct that kicked in whenever I was in danger.

 

And I couldn’t help but be shocked when I saw the face of the person who appeared alone at the entrance.

 

“Rivena…?”

 

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