Episode 132 – Possibility

*

It was late afternoon, the sun slowly passing over the fortress walls, darkening the surroundings.

The people of the city were heading to their homes or taverns one by one, starting to empty the streets.

The Shioland Central Square, which had been used by citizens for leisurely strolls thanks to the blocked entry of merchants, was now deserted.

In the center of the square stood the 60-meter-tall sculpture, ‘The Sacrifice of the Noble Hero.’

At the very top of its head, Lara closed her eyes and raised the tip of her nose towards the sky.

Lara was slowly feeling the breeze blowing from the west brush past her nose.

The strength was enough to make her short hair flutter and tickle her nose.

Lara slowly opened her eyes and lowered her head.

,I’ve read the wind,,”

Lara’s gray eyes flashed as she stared into the distance.

Her sharp eyes, like those of a raptor, overflowed with murderous intent.

There were still about 30 minutes left until complete darkness, and Lara thought that was enough time for her.

Lara’s vision quickly passed the ‘Courage of the Great Hero’ statue modeled after Robin and headed towards Robin’s mansion, which was much further away.

,… She’s not there.”

In no window, no garden, nowhere could Lara see the target she was looking for.

Mela wasn’t at the mansion.

Mela couldn’t have gone outside the mansion; there’s no way that woman would be in her right mind to do that.

Lara was anxious, wondering if Mela was in a room she couldn’t see from her angle.

She had deliberately chosen this spot because it allowed her to see both the garden and her room at once; had it been a mistake?

Perhaps Mela had overcome her unstable mental state and gone out.

After receiving a kiss from Ed, that is.

,Shit,”

Lara bit her teeth and spat out a curse.

Without panicking, she quickly began to scan the city.

As a Countess, there was no way she would be walking long distances, so if she had gone out, there would definitely be a Voldiras family carriage moving around the streets.

Lara scanned every place within her sight.

Even though Lara was in a high place, finding a carriage lower than the surrounding buildings was not an easy task.

But Lara was finally able to find the carriage she wanted.

Luckily, the carriage was returning to the entrance of the Voldiras mansion.

Lara held her breath, took out the bow she had slung on her back, and waited until she saw someone get out of the carriage.

If she shot an arrow at the carriage without properly confirming, and Robin happened to be inside, she would be intercepting Ed’s revenge.

For Lara, who didn’t want to get in Ed’s way more than she wanted to kill Mela, there was no worse situation than that.

The carriage entered the mansion’s entrance and slowly stopped near the fountain in the garden between the entrance and the mansion building.

Lara took out an arrow and placed it on the bowstring.

As blood vessels rose in her eyes, the distance seemed so close as if it were within her grasp.

It was a very familiar sensation to her.

,Found her.”

The people who got out of the carriage were Mela and her son, Edward.

Mela was holding something like a bundle in her arms.

Because of the distance, Lara couldn’t confirm what it was, but she could tell that she had bought something and was holding it preciously.

Lara scoffed and instantly pulled back the bow and shot.

Pung.

With a sound like the air exploding, the arrow was fired.

But…

Pung!

The arrow shattered into pieces with another explosion right in front of Lara’s eyes.

A huge shock strongly collided with Lara’s body.

Lara lost her balance and fell, landing on the shoulder of the statue after falling from its head.

,Kuh, what the hell!”

Lara regained her balance and looked around with her eyes wide open to see what had happened.

She saw the silhouette of a woman with long hair fluttering in the wind standing on the roof of a nearby building, lower than the statue in the shape of Ed.

The silhouette was aiming a bow at Lara.

The arrow she fired had shot down Lara’s arrow.

For a moment, Lara felt as if her past self was standing in that spot, and she flinched, but soon she identified her identity and bit her lip.

“Lily…”

*

Whether it was fortunate or a terribly sad misfortune, the ominous premonition did not miss its mark.

Lily, who had felt the murderous intent and desperate resentment overflowing from her mother’s expression, still felt uneasy even after her conversation with Ed, so she went outside to look for Lara, just in case.

Lily, who had thought of going up to a high place for now, jumped onto the roofs of the surrounding buildings and scanned the area.

Lara’s figure, which couldn’t be seen anywhere, came into view only when Lily sighed and slightly raised her head.

Far away, on top of Ed’s statue, Lara was standing quietly with a bow on her back.

Lily was shocked to see the bow hanging on Lara’s back.

It was a special bow that she would normally never take out, only using it for ultra-long-range shooting or to completely destroy an opponent with its powerful force.

Lily hurriedly ran towards Lara, jumping over the roofs.

But even before Lily could get close, Lara was already aiming her bow at a target.

Lily didn’t know what Lara was aiming for, but she knew all too well that whoever was at the end of her arrow would surely die.

Lily had seen her almost magical archery skills in the Vortex Forest her whole life.

When Lara shoots, she always hits.

That was almost a truth.

Lily was afraid that Lara would be consumed by anger and kill someone, so she was desperate, but she couldn’t shout at her, fearing that someone might witness Lara shooting her bow.

Lily hurriedly took out the bow she had slung on her back.

Even though she didn’t have as much power as Lara, Lily was confident in her accuracy in hitting the target.

Lily tried to shoot Lara’s bowstring.

But Lily, seeing the bowstring already drawn taut, slightly changed the direction with her fingertips and shot first.

Pung!

Even though it was shot later than Lily’s arrow, the two arrows collided in front of Lara, one meter away, with a loud explosion.

It almost looked like it exploded at the same time Lara released her hand.

Lily, who had fallen from the head of the statue due to the impact, slowly got up from her shoulder and met the eyes of Lara, who was glaring at her.

Lily slowly approached Lara and lowered her bow.

Lara stared at Lily for a moment, then took out another arrow and placed it on the bowstring without paying any attention.

Lily started running again.

The distance wasn’t a problem as she thought.

The nimble and resilient body unique to elves lightly leaped over the roofs of the city, allowing her to quickly approach Lara, but the problem was that large statue.

Lily couldn’t think of a way to quickly climb that statue, which didn’t have a proper place to grab onto.

But if she spent too much time climbing that statue, Lara would have already shot her arrow before Lily could do anything.

Lily stopped running again, took a breath, and fired at Lara’s quiver.

The arrow, which flew with a whip-like sound cutting through the wind, hit the drawstring of Lara’s quiver and cut it off.

Lily, seeing the quiver falling as the drawstring loosened and the arrows pouring out, started sprinting again.

Lara was startled and tried to pick up the falling arrows, but the quiver, which had slipped under Ed’s shoulder, crashed to the ground and shattered.

The arrows inside were probably the same.

Lara bit her lip and looked at Lily.

The light was gradually disappearing, and darkness began to fill the world.

In that darkness, Lily looked at Lara with a desperate expression, shaking her head as if to say no, and ran towards her.

Lara looked down at her feet.

A few arrows were still scattered on Ed’s shoulder, not yet fallen.

Lara hurriedly turned her head towards her target, Mela.

Fortunately, she was heading towards the garden with her son.

As night fell, a small light was shining in Mela’s garden gazebo.

It seemed like they had set up a lamp.

Lara began to memorize the direction and location of the gazebo while watching Mela.

So that she could shoot and hit it without looking, even if Lily interfered, she was using the direction of the wind and the direction of the setting sun, memorizing the location with her body.

Lara slightly turned her eyes to check where Lily was coming from.

And at that moment, Lara was startled.

Lily had disappeared.

,Is she already climbing up?”

Lara judged that Lily had already reached the statue and was climbing up to stop her.

But she didn’t bother to peek her head down to see where Lily was hanging.

After all, she had no intention of shooting Lily, and rather, now was the perfect opportunity to kill Mela, as it was clear that Lily’s interference would be absent for at least 10 to 20 seconds.

Lara took a breath, stopped her rough breathing, and pulled the bowstring back as far as she could.

*

No matter how fast Lily ran, it seemed impossible for her to reach Lara before she shot her next arrow.

No matter how much she racked her brain, reaching the top of that unnecessarily large statue would take quite a bit of time.

Besides, Lily, who had simply come out to find Lara, had only one arrow left.

Lily, who finally found Lara picking up an arrow at her feet, tried to shout at her.

Please don’t.

But at that moment, someone appeared next to Lily and covered her mouth.

,Wh, Who!”

,Shh,”

,… E, Ed?”

From when he was there, from when he had been watching, he suddenly appeared next to Lily.

Ed put his index finger to his lips, gesturing to be quiet, then took his hand off Lily’s mouth and grabbed her slender waist, which was exposed.

Lily was startled by Ed’s sudden touch and asked.

,E, Ed… R, right now, Mom is…”

,I know, Lily. There’s no time to explain, so put your arms around my neck for now.”

,… Huh?”

,Hold on tight,”

Lily put her arms around Ed’s neck with a bewildered expression.

Ed nodded, hugged Lily’s waist tightly with one arm, and stepped into the air.

At that moment, Lily felt it.

Her body and Ed’s body were melting into the darkness as if they were mixing together.

Lily felt a strange sensation as they looked like a mist.

She had seen Ed go into stealth a few times, so that’s how he disappeared in front of her eyes.

Lily was amazed, and at the same time, she reaffirmed that he was also a member of the legendary hero party.

Ed, holding Lily, leaped into the air and powerfully shot a jet-black chain towards the top of the statue with the arm that wasn’t holding Lily.

Ed hit the chain on the head of his statue, quickly wrapped it around his arm a few times, pulled it, nodded, and then quickly began to suck the chain back into his sleeve.

Ed and Lily’s bodies soared towards the head of the statue where Lara was, as if they were being launched.

Lara was already pulling the bowstring taut, as if she was about to release it at any moment.

Ed whispered in Lily’s ear.

,Can you hit that bowstring right now?”

,Ah, right now…?”

Lily grabbed her bow.

To be honest, she was very embarrassed to be held by Ed at the waist right now.

At the same time, she was scared because they were flying so fast, and her posture was very unnatural because she wasn’t standing on two feet.

She only had one arrow left, so she only had one chance, and if she failed, the arrow would be fired at someone.

Looking at the trajectory of Ed and Lily, who seemed to be passing in front of Lara, she felt like she or Ed might get hit if the timing was off.

Cold sweat started to break out on Lily’s face.

Could she hit it in this situation?

,Yes, I can!”

Lara closed one eye and shot quickly, almost as soon as she pulled the bowstring.

.