Crownless: The Fallen World - Chapter 34

After all the preparations were done, Cielle made them eat a lot of nutritious food. The food prepared was a collaboration between Cielle’s and Bonham’s ingredients stock.

Bonham was the one who cooked and forbade Cielle in participating. Really, who would let a woman use their kitchen who basically put unknown chemicals in their food?

“Those chemicals are healthy!” Cielle argued while scooping a ladle of vegetable soup.

“Sure,” Bonham continued eating as they all hastened to finish their food. It was nearly five in the afternoon when they finished. With their tattered clothes and almost skinny bones, they worked together to roll the stone off the entrance. Bonham only helped when he saw that they were too weak to even made a budge. Of course, they have been starved and fed little food in their time inside the cave.

Bonham spun and kicked the stone as it slowly turned over then a loud thud came when it toppled to the ground. Cielle kicked Bonham on his shin that made the male kneel on the ground, writhing in pain, “Are you stupid? You are stupid. You must be really stupid.”

“Curse you, woman! I was just helping and you’ll treat me like this?!” The male gritted his teeth and growled at Cielle.

“What if we attracted the townspeople?! And… find this!” She pointed at the stone, “We won’t be able to escape! Oh, and mind you, we still have to inform Sir Axel and their group!”

“You go. I don’t want to do anything with them,” He furrowed his brows as he carefully caressed his poor shin. Bonham sprawled on the ground and decided to sleep the time away, he waved them off, “Just wake me up when it all ended.”

Cielle blankly stared at the male. She retrieved her paralyzing agent and injected it in Bonham’s legs.

“Ouch! What the prick?! Huh? Wha… NOVA- gh!” The said woman pushed a huge chunk of cloth in Bonham’s mouth.

“The only thing you did good was to inform us and cook for us. Now, be a good boy and we’ll do good things to you, understood?”

Bonham groaned as he felt the numbing was coming up from his legs. He just nodded as a compliance that made the albino’s face lit up, “Okay! Now, we have to put that stone in its rightful place! Can the two of you patrol to see if there are any reactions from the town?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Two men saluted and departed. Cielle retrieved a huge robotic skeleton, the same size as Aires which he was the only male in the High Order Academy who was that tall.

Cielle started to control the robot with a short cylindrical controller and a small screen to show what the robot was seeing from its point of view. Moreover, it was 360 degrees.

The robot lifted the huge slab of stone and carefully placed it in front of the entrance. Cielle sighed in relief and was proud that she performed a difficult task by using her Aires PT-01. She squealed in delight when she succeeded in the first activity it ever did!

“Oh my gaawd! I can’t contain my happiness!” She teared up and wiped her tears with a huge grin on her face, “Okay, haah, please carry that idiot and we’ll go on! To the town!!”

It was then she received a message notification from… Bonham. It read, ‘Why the heck am I irritated when I saw that metal slave of yours? And can I at least talk? Give a veeeery small amount of your antibody. Come on, yeah?’

Oh. She forgot that they could still send messages using their brain even if paralyzed. Cielle turned around with a scoff and skipped towards the town.

‘WOMAN!’ Which was ignored by yours truly, Cielle.

—–

“Where do you want us to start?” Adelaide asked while she was preparing her weapons inside her belt holster, filled with tranquilizer bullets. The others readied their weapons too. Because they couldn’t contact Cielle Novalee and Bonham probably blocked their numbers, they decided to find them personally.

“Kaia and Trystan will search outside while me, Adelaide, and Kael will search inside the town. Is that okay?”

“Yes!” They all said in hushed unison but Axel heard a small ‘no’ from his group, which he instantly thought that it was Kael.

“… Kael, I know that you don’t like being with me, but can you endure it first?”

“Huh? What in the world of idiots are you on about?” Kael rolled her eyes as she puffed her soft cheeks.

Axel intently stared at Kael with confusion visible in his eyes, “You really didn’t say it?”

“I said ‘yes’, stupid.”

“Then who…” His eyes scanned the small group and saw an unfamiliar presence just behind Trystan. The muscular man tilted his head when Axel looked at him or, rather, at his back. Trystan stepped aside and there was the man they saw earlier in the town with the old lady.

Trystan shivered and ran to the van as he locked it hastily. The group awkwardly watched how their main fighter got scared by a feeble young man, besides Axel who was pale from the appearance of the man.

“I’m Julian Preston. Nice meeting you all,” Julian unreservedly outstretched his hand for a shake and they all greeted him back with enthusiasm, except Axel and Kael who never greeted him back. 

Axel spoke through gritted teeth, “That guy is with the town.”

“I have to stop you right there. We never ate human meat and we lived-” Julian spoke with haste as he didn’t want to be misunderstood, but his words were stopped by Adelaide who screamed in realization as she pointed at the now confused Julian.

“Y-you! Trystan! You were fcking right!” Her face also paled as she opened the passenger seat of the van to hide.

“… anyway, me and my Ma never ate human meat. We lived through our lives by just fruits and vegetables,” He explained calmly.

“Then how do you explain how your old lady acted wildly while catching rats and how is her words, like not being addicted to human meat, going to save you in this situation?” Axel’s words were coated with venom, his eyes boring through the young man’s arctic blue eyes.

“Trust me, I never had the intention to kill you all or even inform the chief about your plan. I should’ve done that without me appearing in front of you, though must say, you all are so careless. What if the townspeople heard this instead of me? You’ll be dead by now.”