The Goddess Granted Me the [Hatching] Skill and Somehow I Became the Strongest Tamer, Commanding Mythical and Divine Beasts - 137

Chapter 137: The One Who Is Discarded

“You’re late…”

At the carriage stop in front of the outer wall, I waited with Celia and the familiars for Charlotte.

Since we needed several carriages to carry the familiars, I had rented them early in the morning and waited, but even after the appointed time passed, she still did not show up.

“Maybe Lady Charlotte got lost on the way?”

Celia spoke up from the side.

“No, Douglas said he would bring her right up to the spot, so I doubt that’s it…”

Douglas had said he would accompany her for the drop-off, so it should be fine.

“It’s amazing that you can talk casually with the head of the count family, Brother.”

My senses had gone numb to it, but normally, he was not someone I could just chat with, so I could not deny it.

“Well, a delay in departure is not that big a deal anyway…”

As I scanned the surroundings, my eyes met those of a certain person.

“Klaus. You have not left yet?”

He carried a bag in his hand—it was Douglas, the very one we had just mentioned.

“Yes, we were waiting for Charlotte. Where is she, by the way?”

I had thought she would come with him, but I did not see her. Maybe she had stepped out for something?

“Charlotte joined you a few dozen minutes ago, right?”

“No, she has not come.”

Our perceptions did not match, and our expressions stiffened a bit.

“Are you sure she came here?”

“Yes, I dropped her off nearby a few dozen minutes ago. I came to deliver a bag she left behind on the carriage.”

“We have not… seen her.”

Celia nodded too, and it became clear that no one had laid eyes on her.

“Something… feels off.”

I felt a bad feeling swell up inside my chest.

★

—Clatter clatter—

She heard the sound of the carriage shaking.

When Charlotte woke up, she realized her body was bound.

She lay on the floor, where the air smelled of dust.

She should have met up with Klaus and the others by now and headed out for the trip, but…

How much time had passed? The carriage stopped, and she sensed someone entering the cargo area.

“Now, time to bring you over here!”

They stood her up and grabbed her arm to drag her outside.

It was a desolate wilderness with no sign of another soul.

The man, dressed like an adventurer, drew his sword and pointed it at Charlotte.

“Since you saw our faces, we cannot let you live.”

His employer had ordered him to eliminate every witness without exception.

“Th-there is no need to kill her, right?!”

Negrei panicked and rushed toward the man. He had sold off the country’s secrets countless times as a spy, but he did not want to watch Charlotte—someone he had known since childhood—die.

“If you let her bear my child, she could become an excellent tamer…”

He tried to save her life with words of persuasion, but…

“Eek!”

Right before her eyes, Negrei got slashed, and Charlotte screamed.

“You seem to have the wrong idea, but our original job was to take you out too.”

“Wha… betrayal…?”

Negrei lay on the ground and glared at the man.

“Betrayal? It looks like they planned to do this from the start.”

At the man’s words, Negrei’s eyes widened greatly, and

“Lady Charlotte… I am sorry…”

“Lord Negrei?!”

A pool of bl00d spread across the ground, and a choking, metallic stench filled the air.

“Well, he was useless to the end, but I have to give him credit for luring in the daughter of the Boyle count family at least.”

The man lowered the sword he had used on Negrei and approached. A few drops of bl00d dripped onto the ground.

“D-do not come closer…”

His underlings surrounded her, leaving no chance to escape. With no allies and no one the wiser, she would lose her life just like that.

As Charlotte closed her eyes, the faces of the people she cherished flashed through her mind one after another.

The moment the man swung his sword down—

“Charlotte!”

Klaus dropped from the sky and stood in front of her.