The Youngest Daughter Of The Great Wizard Of The Famous Swordsmanship [EN]: Chapter 175

175. The Vanished Expedition

April 23, 2024

There was no chance of it happening, but I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to control myself if I used attack magic to fight the monsters.

Perhaps that destructive instinct remained in my heart, causing me to lose my mind and fire off magic indiscriminately.

What if Lucas saw that? No, what if I attacked Lucas himself before that?

Because of such unfounded anxiety, I hesitated to use attack magic, my body stiffening. For that reason, I controlled myself and wielded my sword.

The chilling sensation of the sword piercing the monster’s body was unpleasant, but finishing it that way made me feel a little more at ease.

Lucas, unaware of her feelings, advised Rosette.

“Don’t do that. Use magic from now on. You might be fine now because you’re distracted, but you might feel complicated later when you calm down.”

“…Yes.”

“Let’s go then.”

Rosette and Lucas calmed their excited horses and rode down the forest path again.

Sensing danger, Rosette didn’t pick up speed like before. Instead, she maintained a moderate pace and watched her surroundings.

While riding, unknown monsters ambushed them from time to time. Some moved alone, like the first monster they encountered, while others charged in groups.

Rosette took Lucas’s advice and tried to use magic as much as possible. Lucas ignored Rosette’s request to stay in the corner and guarded her.

“I can’t be a coward and run away as your brother! Right, Pipi?”

[Peep!]

You’re helping by staying out of the way!

Lucas didn’t understand what Pipi was saying and just laughed.

In any case, as the number of attacks increased, the two gradually got in sync, and Rosette relied on Lucas little by little.

Rosette was able to maintain her sanity, making her worries about losing control when using attack magic seem pointless.

“It’s okay, kiddo.”

As they dealt with another horde of monsters around sunrise, Lucas tightly grabbed Rosette’s trembling hand.

Even though she tried not to show it, he seemed to know everything she was feeling.

“Everyone will be safe. Even if they’re in danger, we’ll save them all. That’s why we’re rushing like this.”

He patted Rosette’s back once and then stabbed his sword into the body of a monster that wasn’t quite dead yet. The monster they faced was not human-shaped but resembled a large hound with three heads.

“It looks like a gatekeeper dog guarding the gates of hell [referring to Cerberus, the mythical three-headed dog of the underworld].”

[Peep!]

Pipi, who had observed the monster up close, flew to Lucas’s shoulder and chirped in agreement.

Rosette shook off the green slime on her clothes and got back on her horse.

“Judging by the increased frequency of monsters appearing, we’re almost there. Pipi, can you help us out?”

[Peep!]

“Look around for the expedition’s base camp. Lucas and I will also search slowly as we go.”

[Peep!]

Leaving those words, Pipi flew into the air. Rosette quickly added to Pipi’s disappearing tail feathers.

“Be careful!”

[Peep!]

“Let’s go, Brother.”

Rosette and Lucas slowly rode forward. After defeating about three monsters that were hiding and ambushing them, Pipi came to find them.

[Peeeeep!]

Lucas shouted excitedly.

“What is Pipi saying? Did she find it?”

“Yes. She found a tent!”

Rosette hurriedly followed Pipi, who was already flying low. After riding for about five minutes,

[Peep!]

Rosette arrived at what appeared to be the expedition’s base camp.

“What on earth is this?”

Lucas, who dismounted instead of Rosette, who was frozen by the sight before her, began to examine the tents.

“Judging by the Imperial Knights’ insignia, this is the right place, but why is no one here?”

The tents were all empty. Even if everyone had gone out to subjugate monsters, there should have been people left in the tents, but there was really no one.

“Didn’t Daniel say he was injured? Why aren’t he or the medical officer here?”

Lucas kicked at the firewood that had been burned and left unfinished.

“It looks like the fire hasn’t been lit for a long time. It’s not just the fire. There’s no sign of anyone coming or going overall. Look at the ground. There are no footprints left.”

Rosette, who had been listening to Lucas’s words in silence, barely opened her mouth.

“What on earth is going on? Did they move somewhere else?”

“That’s a possibility, but it’s strange. They left this place as it is and moved? They should have erased their traces.”

Rosette swallowed hard.

“Could it be that something so urgent happened that they had to leave without cleaning up here?”

“I don’t know about that… What is this?”

Lucas, who had gone into the nearest tent, shouted. When Rosette reflexively tried to run, he reached his hand out of the tent to stop her.

“Don’t come in.”

His voice was hard.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ll explain it later, so don’t come in under any circumstances. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yes.”

“Just in case, don’t go into any other tents and stay put.”

“…Yes.”

Rosette stopped a little away from the tents. Lucas completely closed the tent so that the inside could not be seen.

Rosette stared blankly at the tents and then sat down roughly on a log placed around the bonfire.

“Ah, Brother….”

Lucas, who came out after a while, moved to another tent without even looking at Rosette. His face was so stiff that Rosette couldn’t bring herself to speak to him.

[Pee….]

Pipi rubbed her face against Rosette’s palm, sensing her uneasy heart.

“It’s okay, Pipi. It’ll be okay. Silver is here, right?”

[Peep!]

“Yeah. I’m sure it will be.”

It was when Rosette was continuing to mutter words that she didn’t know whether she was saying to Pipi or to herself, that Lucas, who had checked the last tent and even looked around the base camp, approached Rosette with his mouth covered. Rosette jumped up from her seat.

“What’s wrong, Brother?”

Lucas, who took a few deep breaths with his chest and shoulders heaving greatly, opened his mouth in a trembling voice.

“Listen carefully to what I’m about to say, and don’t be surprised.”

Rosette swallowed hard as well. Her mouth was parched with the sudden sense of tension.

“The medical officer is dead. It looks like he was attacked by a monster.”

“…!”

“It seems that the other people who were left behind are dead as well. Probably the people who were left to guard.”

“What about the others? What about Daniel and Joshua!”

“The two of them aren’t here for now.”

Rosette didn’t know whether to be relieved or sad at that answer.

“Then where did everyone go? Why aren’t they here? If the medical officer is dead, then how is Daniel…”

“Calm down, Rosette Adrian.”

Rosette tried to calm down, as Lucas rarely said her full name.

“The fact that the two of them don’t have bodies means that there’s a high possibility that they’re alive. So don’t get excited, put up a defensive magic here and wait for a while. I’ll go and take a look around some more.”

“No. I’m going with you.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“That’s why I’m saying let’s go together.”

Lucas looked at Rosette’s determined face and grabbed her hand.

“Okay, let’s do that.”

Rosette followed Lucas and looked around. However, they couldn’t find any traces of the rest of the expedition anywhere.

* * *

“Rose is gone?”

Duke Adrian jumped up from his seat after hearing the words of Rosette’s exclusive maid, Joan, who had rushed in since dawn.

Joan continued to explain with a pale face.

“Yes. I thought you might be having bad dreams, so I went to check on you, but you weren’t there.”

“Calm down and speak calmly. Maybe you just went for a walk?”

“Your bag is gone. And there are traces of you rummaging through the dressing room in a hurry.”

Only then did the Duke realize the seriousness of the situation, and his eyes turned cold. Joan was stomping her feet.

“What if someone came and kidnapped you, Master? What if something happens to you…”

“Rose is not a child who can be easily attacked or kidnapped. Rather…”

After thinking for a moment, Duke Adrian passed Joan, who was shedding tears, and left the office. The first place he headed to was his eldest daughter Isabel’s room.

“What’s wrong, Father?”

Isabel, who was already awake and preparing to go to early morning training, looked at him questioningly.

“Have you heard anything from Rose these past few days?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Anything.”

“Well, I don’t remember anything special. But what happened to Rose?”

“Rose has disappeared.”

Isabel, who was tying her hair up, was surprised and approached him.

“Disappeared? An assassin?”

“I think I need to find out more first.”

The Duke left Isabel’s room and headed to Lucas’s room this time. Isabel also followed him without tying her hair.

However, no matter how much they knocked on Lucas’s room, they couldn’t hear any response from inside. Duke Adrian, who exchanged glances with Isabel without a word, opened the door and went inside.

“….”

Lucas’s bed was empty. The bed was spread out without a single wrinkle, as if no one had ever slept in it.

“It seems that Lucas went with Rose.”

Isabel, who quickly headed to the dressing room, whispered in a low voice. Lucas’s closet was also a mess, as if it had been rummaged through in a hurry.

“Where on earth did the two of them go?”

Duke Adrian answered immediately.

“It seems that they went to the North.”