Chapter 128:Release The Dog (6) Part 2

The pungent smell was clearly the smell of something burning. 

There was no way Alyssa, who was studying magic in the School of Purification Flames, couldn’t distinguish the smell of burning.

Thinking that far, Alyssa hurriedly got out of bed. Noise kept pouring in through the slightly open window.

Aaaaaah!

It was a scream. That scream she had heard in her sleep. Alyssa’s eyes blinked blankly.

Walking slowly to the window, the first thing that caught her eye was a garden with a slightly different scenery than usual.

“What…!”

The garden engulfed in flames was all bright yellow. The things burning brightly in vermilion were Alyssa’s beloved family garden.

So, was that where the burning smell was coming from? That wasn’t it.

Alyssa noticed that smoke was seeping in through the gap under the door. The wriggling smoke was slowly covering the room.

The fire wasn’t just in the garden. The mansion was on fire.

Thump, thump!

Suddenly, the sound of knocking on the door echoed. Alyssa flinched without realizing it.

Milady! A familiar voice could be heard from beyond the door.

Without even distinguishing the owner of the voice, Alyssa’s body was already reflexively opening the door.

“Milady!”

“Pia! What on earth—!”

Alyssa’s vision, who gasped for breath, was all red.

The hallway beyond the door was engulfed in red flames, and Pia’s body, which had hurriedly hugged Alyssa through those flames, was soaked in blood and red.

Alyssa’s body stiffened. Her brain, which was good enough to learn magic, struggled to keep up with the situation.

“Milady! Alyssa Milady! Get a grip!”

“You, you… blood…”

“I’m, I’m okay. I’m okay, so…”

Alyssa looked down at her hands. Her palms were already soaked with blood. The flames flickering in the hallway were reflected in the blood on her palms.

Blood. Whose blood? Pia’s blood. Was Pia injured? By whom?

“Milady. From now on, listen to me carefully.”

Just as such chaotic thoughts were about to tangle messily, a slightly trembling hand grabbed Alyssa’s cheeks tightly.

Her blue eyes, which had been looking down at her palms, were raised to look at Pia. 

Her face was covered in soot, and the ends of her hair were burnt, making her look a mess.

“The mansion is on fire. Soldiers are spread out inside the mansion. They are harming people as they see them.”

“Soldiers? Who on earth…”

“…It’s the Rucellai family.”

Pia, who bit her lip tightly, muttered as if she was resentful.

“They betrayed us. Soldiers from the Baldi family have stormed the mansion. It seems… they have turned to the Holy Roman Emperor.”

Alyssa was just dazed. She couldn’t understand what Pia was saying at all.

The Rucellai family betrayed them? Then, what was the exchange over the past decade? There was no reason to suddenly abandon the Pope’s support base at this time…

More than that, what happened to her father and mother?

“Pi, Pia. Father… where’s Father? What about Mother…”

“…I have no excuse.”

Pia’s response that followed was enough to completely shake Alyssa’s head.

For some reason, the tip of her nose felt tingly. This was… yes, it was because of the burning smell that kept seeping in from outside. It was because of that wriggling smoke. Alyssa believed that.

The smell, the smell was too strong. Alyssa’s nose was about to go numb. It wasn’t just a normal burning smell, but a sour and unpleasant smell…

“Milady!”

“Alyssa!” Pia shouted. Alyssa, who had been grabbed by the shoulder, snapped to attention. Pia’s urgent expression was right in front of her.

“Now more than ever, you must stay focused. We have to get out of this mansion.”

“H-How?”

Pia, who had jumped to her feet, strode to the window.

Then, she tore the blanket from the bed with a dagger and quickly braided them together tightly. A makeshift rope was created.

“Alyssa. Climb down this and go straight to the stables.”

“B-But…!”

“Alyssa! Please, just listen to me for once!”

The fact that she was at a loss for words might have been an extension of the truly bizarre day.

The strangely good weather, Pia’s unusual defiance of Alyssa’s opinions.

“Just this once, please. Just this once… listen to me.”

“……”

That uncharacteristic firmness was so frightening. Alyssa’s eyes welled up with tears, making her eyelids heavy.

“This way!”

“She’s not dead yet! Chase her!”

Unfamiliar shouts echoed from the hallway outside the door. Alyssa looked down at Pia’s feet.

Her bare feet, without shoes, were soaked in blood. From outside the door, there were footprints of Pia’s blood.

“Find the girl! She’s a mage! We can’t leave her alive!”

The voice that rang out again was, like before, unfamiliar. But it didn’t feel entirely foreign to Alyssa.

‘That mage.’

The unpleasant mage who had been sitting across from her at the evening banquet. It was definitely that witch-like woman’s voice. Alyssa’s keen intuition told her so.

“Alyssa! Hurry!”

There was no time to think. Before she knew it, Pia had wrapped the rope around Alyssa’s body.

The rope, hung on the windowsill, slowly descended. Calmly and carefully, lest Alyssa should fall.

Before long, Alyssa was standing on the lawn, filled with acrid smoke.

She untied the blanket rope from her body, but she didn’t leave immediately.

No, she couldn’t leave. Because Pia was leaning out of the window high above.

“Alyssa!”

“Pia…”

“Go, quickly!”

“This way!”

Bang, bang. 

Harsh sounds echoed a couple of times. Pia’s expression, as she turned back, became urgent.

“Hurry!!”

After that, little remained in her memory. All Alyssa remembered was the acrid smell of burning that stung her nose.

The smell of the mansion burning. The smell of the garden, filled with memories, turning to ashes. The smell of flesh burning, hair burning.

Those disgusting smells ravaged her nasal cavity. 

Until she frantically ran to the stables and climbed onto her favorite horse.

After mounting the horse, Alyssa inadvertently looked back. 

The mansion engulfed in crimson flames came into view.

Alyssa’s gaze followed the long blanket rope hanging down.

“The girl escaped!”

Pia was nowhere to be seen, and instead, the mage she had faced at dinner was yelling from the window.

“Release the dogs!”

When she came to her senses, Alyssa was already riding her horse past the collapsed fence.

The sound of dogs barking came from somewhere. 

She was definitely getting farther away from the mansion, but the acrid smell was embedded in her nose and wouldn’t go away.

Alyssa kept running. Before she knew it, the gates of Firenza, welcoming the dawn, were wide open.

The soldiers guarding the gates were half-asleep and even more lax. 

It was easy for Alyssa, on horseback, to pass through the gates in an instant.

After running like that for a while, Alyssa’s vision was filled only with the blue of the approaching dawn.

☩   ☩   ☩   ☩   ☩   ☩   ☩

She moved for days on end.

All she had was the small amount of money Pia had given her at the last moment and a few pieces of charcoal she had hastily grabbed.

Exhausted, Alyssa rode her horse endlessly, looking haggard.

But even though her body was tired, her blue eyes, looking ahead, sparkled strangely.

She had no set destination. She was just riding her horse.

However, the direction was clear. Alyssa kept riding north.

‘Flame insignia.’

Alyssa kept dwelling on the only clue she had seen at the dinner that day.

The flame insignia engraved on the mage’s collarbone. The shape was so unique that she could recognize it at once.

Alyssa knew nothing about them. But there was one thing she was almost certain of.

The Rucellai family had turned to the Ghibelline faction, which supported the Emperor. And they had suddenly brought a mage with them.

The Emperor of the Empire, and the mage with the flame insignia.

The Rucellai family and the Valdi family. And the Ghibelline forces, who must have been involved in that day’s events.

“…I’m going to kill them.”

She couldn’t go back to Firenza right away. The Emperor’s supporters in Firenza might have already put a bounty on Alyssa.

Alyssa didn’t despair. If she didn’t have the power to take revenge right away, she could start slowly from a small place.

The whereabouts of the mage with the flame insignia were unknown. But the Emperor of the Empire was, of course, in the Empire.

Let’s start there.

Alyssa’s horse was headed only north. Towards the Permafrost, located in the northernmost part of the Empire.

For now, she needed to get as far away from Firenza as possible.

It was quite painful, but revenge was originally painful.

Alyssa was running away for now. But she would definitely come back someday. Even if it took five or ten years, she would definitely.

Alyssa was still young, not even graduated from the Academia, and fortunately, she had plenty of time for revenge.

It is said that revenge begets revenge.

No. Alyssa shook her head.

Perfect revenge begets justice. The flames of revenge blazed.

There are many who wander the world, so it wouldn’t be strange to include a girl burning with revenge among them.

At least, that’s what Alyssa thought.