Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Volume 3 Chapter 40

A giant cascade of snow came with the deafening roar. From knowledge, Maomao knew that it was called an avalanche.

The snow surged like a waterfall from behind the cliff's top. The snowy cascade quickly stopped, not flowing all the way down to where Maomao was, but the place that she assumed was the storehouse disappeared in a flurry of snow.

Maomao watched that scene from the balcony.

Most of the workers had escaped with the underground explosion. The ones left were fighting the fire. Furthermore, with the avalanche coming, the other people would have to split up. Soldiers were jumping out from the outer wall - she could see that they were dumbfounded by the situation.

And there were people who couldn't escape that situation.

White somethings broke into the outer wall that had become short-handed.
She couldn't see it from a distance with the protective colouring. However, they confronted the panicking soldiers, and she could see something red flying.
Blood splattered on the pure white snow.

The white somethings were invaders. When they took off and threw away their white overcoats, they revealed themselves as soldiers.

Maomao recognised the one leading them.

Even though he had changed his clothes into armour, it was detestable that his elegance was still the same. His hair danced with every swing of his blade. Even though he was on a bloody battlefield, it looked like she was watching a sword dance.

(Did he come to suppress them?)

A high ranked consort escaping from the inner palace, was equivalent to treason. And above that, with her family having barricaded themselves in this kind of fortress, she had no excuse.
Then she looked at Jinshi's appearance.

Those with the social position to wear bluish purple on their body were limited. She wouldn't think Jinshi was at this place as a eunuch.

She felt a little relieved, but at the same time she can't let down her guard yet.

The stench of sulfur was still in the air. She might end up poisoned, being here for such a long time. How was the situation underneath? Since the fortress was constructed of stone and brick, the fire wouldn't spread much, but she had to pay attention to the smoke.

Even if she didn't, it wasn't limited to not rousing Shenmei's frenzy either. Basing from the way the woman had dealt with Maomao, she might not have realised she was related to the weirdo monocle. Also, she wouldn't think Rouran would let her mouth slip.

If it turned out like so, she had planned to jump down from the balcony, land on the snow and run away, but-

That would be the worse case scenario.

From the balcony, Maomao looked at the prone children who look like they were sleeping. It was pitiful that they had pallid skin, were not breathing and had no pulse either.

(We should have just run away.)

That was for Rouran, and for herself as well.

Maomao had no idea what Rouran was going to do from here on, but she felt that she only understood the reason why Rouran brought her here.
It was for that reason, that Maomao couldn't leave this place.

Intense footsteps approached. She heard the sound of metal.

The same time she heard something fall heavily, the door was kicked open.

It was a soldier in a white overcoat who entered. It was patterned like red dots scattering on a white background.

"…you are?"

In his confusion, he squinted at Maomao.

"Oi, what is it?"

A voice she recognised approached them. The one who showed his face unexpectedly was the mongrel she recognised.

"Is this person the one?"

He asked Rihaku, the mongrel soldier, to make sure.

Rihaku tilted his head, arms crossed. He came closer with his brows furrowed.

"Awkward question. I have a feeling that you look like a girl called Maomao who works in the imperial court."

"I'm that person."

Rihaku asked a stupid question, but he was in armour rather than his usual official robes. He had a staff in hand.

"Why are you here?"

"It seems I was abducted."

The angle of Rihaku's head tilted even more. It was bent to about directly horizontal.

"Hey, is your daddy…."

"It's probably as you imagine. Please cease from mentioning that name. I'll understand if you call him that old man or something."

In response to Maomao's request, Rihaku stopped saying anything more, but he blatantly shuddered, and after that, he smacked his fist into his palm with an expression like he strangely understood.

What did he understand in his thoughts?  She had no idea, but it was somewhat aggravating.

Rihaku pointed to Maomao and said, "It's this person, this person". The subordinate made a dubious expression as he pulled out a flute from his breast pocket and blew it.

"Welllll, my bad my bad, it's like this if you say so. That aside, you look filthy. Huh? Your ear hurt?"

He was a rude guy as usual, but he came over peering at her in concern. The military officer with a somewhat detestable personality was also bathed in blood splatters, stinking of iron when he came closer.

"Stop it with the injuries. That old man, he said that he was going to come along even though he couldn't even move properly. He couldn't move as expected."

He really used "that old man".
The one who thought up this strategy must be that old man. Even the avalanche occurring, there was no mistaking that old man did something, Maomao thought.

She had wondered if Rihaku was a guy who doesn't get a sense of wariness, but then he instructed his subordinate to stand before the door as a lookout.

"What is this? Are the children sleeping?"

Maomao spread out her arms and stopped Rihaku from getting closer.

"They're not breathing. They seem to have drunk poison."

Rihaku's face contorted at Maomao's words.

He must think it is a cruel scene. However, even if they were alive here, their only path is to go up to the gallows.

Even with the attempted assassination of a high ranked consort, the person concerned was sentenced to hanging, and their clan more or less had their fortunes seized.

This time there was no other way but that.

It didn't matter whether they were woman or children. Everyone would be executed.

At Rihaku, who displayed a pathetic expression, Maomao wanted to ascertain a certain matter.

"The executed ones, are they thrown away?"

"Of course not. They are interred in a dedicated graveyard. It's only just that they are cremated."

"Can we let them, at least, have a memorial service with their mother?"

At Maomao's words, Rihaku made an indescribable expression. He tugged his hair roughly and groaned.

"I don't know. This kind of thing ain't my job."

However, Rihaku came closer and lifted up one of the children. He ripped up the blanket, tore up half of it and bundled the child in it.

"They look like they're sleeping. I thought about getting them together, but they're quite heavy."

Rihaku said, and he wrapped the next child with the rest of the blanket. He ripped up the bedsheet in the same way, and bundled up the next.
When she thought that the last child wouldn't have enough cloth left, he ripped up the overcoat of the subordinate who was keeping a lookout at the door.

"Oi, call for another two people to come."

That was all he said. Then he carried the children on both sides of him.

"Rihaku-sama?"

"We can't hold a memorial service for them together, but leaving them here is also like that, right? We can just secretly bury them close to the graveyard then."

Rihaku grinned, showing white teeth.

"Would you get accused of a crime?"

"Who knows. But, in that time you can do something for me."

"Even if you say something."

Maomao crossed her arms sullenly, and Rihaku made a look like something had occurred to him.

"Oh, you have a good hand."

"What could it be?"

Rihaku said, and his lips curled into a grin.

"If you call him papa even, wouldn't that old man do whatever you ask?"

It goes without saying what kind of response Maomao made to those words.

"…sorry. That was nothing."

Rihaku immediately looked away and apologised.

It seems she made that face.

Chapter end