He had not planned to flee at first. His thoughts had been that it would be easier to buy time for Climb and the rest by escaping to lower ground.
Brain's every action had been to let Climb escape. It was because of that that he had put on this entire show of running away.
But as he ran, he discovered something that should not have been. That something was Climb and the thief, who were waving to him.
How could this—
Brain's mind filled with emotion— intense anger and frustration.
His face distorted by wrath, he charged toward the two of them, grabbed them by the collar and kept running. This was obviously slower than just running by himself, but Brain was not calm enough to have considered that.
After they had run for some distance, and after checking repeatedly behind him to make sure that Shalltear had not caught up with them, he slammed Climb against a nearby wall. Because Brain had not thought to control his strength, Climb practically bounced off it.
"Why? Why didn't you run?!"
Although his emotions were on the verge of overflowing, Brain still had enough presence of mind to keep himself from shouting out loud.
"That… that was…"
Brain grabbed hold of Climb again.
"That was what?! Were you worried about me?! I clearly told you two to escape!"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, I don't know what happened, but back then, you just said some stuff and ran off. The fault isn't Climb-kun's alone!"
After hearing the thief's words, Brain began to calm down. It was true that he hadn't explained anything at all. He forced himself to take deep breaths.
"…forgive me, Climb-kun. I seem to have gone a little mad."
"Ah, no, you must forgive me too, for not heeding your words."
"No, I was the one at fault, and I am truly sorry. Things just… happened."
"Hey, Unglaus-san, what happened? We may not have known each other very long, but just now, you seemed like a completely different person, like a novice who just picked up the sword."
"Stopping here is very dangerous. I'll tell you once we move. Let's just say I met a monster who could give Sebas-san a run for his money."
The three of them moved on warily. It might have been sheer luck that they had not met Jaldabaoth's underlings while they were fleeing, but counting on that luck to continue would only end badly.
"Then… you're unhurt, so it must have been a complete victory, right? Or… no, you settled it with words?"
"Not so. It was with the sword… I cut her fingernail off."
Brain was filled with glee as he said it. There was no mistake about it— he, Brain Unglaus, had clipped the nail of the monster Shalltear Bloodfallen.
"I cut her fingernail off," Brain repeated. He was trying his best to control the overflowing joy that welled up from the depths of his heart, but even so, he was practically trembling with emotion.
"I… I see. Cutting a fingernail off… I guess doing it with a sword is pretty impressive…"
The thief shook his head and trembled slightly.
"…that nail belonged to someone who could rival Sebas-sama. Don't you think she must have been very strong?"
"Is that so? As expected of Brain Unglaus…"
Brain struggled to contain his girlish excitement as he was showered in praise. He shook his head to clear these foolish ideas from it.
"Climb-kun, no, Climb. After seeing Sebas-sama you should know, right? There are people stronger than me everywhere. Even someone like Momon the Black has probably reached Sebas-sama's level too. So keep this in mind, when I tell you to run, run. Even if you try and help, you'll just get in the way. Please promise me, next time, don't question what I say and just do it."
"I… I understand."
"Then that's good. You're serving the Princess, right? Because of that, you could endure Sebas-sama's killing intent, right? Then make sure you keep your priorities straight."
Brain patted Climb on the shoulder, and looked back at the direction from which they had fled.
Why? Why hasn't she pursued me yet? Is there some reason? I totally didn't expect her to show up here. Could it be, it was because of the warehouse district?
Brain recalled Renner's words.
Could it be that she was looking for the same item as Jaldabaoth? If that's the case, wouldn't that make her one of Jaldabaoth's agents?
Since a monster like Shalltear had shown up, the only sensible thing to do would be to abandon the mission and flee right away, but would Climb be able to do that? Since he had already heard Brain's lecture, he would probably listen to Brain and escape.
Would that really be a good thing?
It was obviously good to be concerned for Climb's safety, but people sometimes chose to put their lives in danger for the sake of something else, and being ordered by Renner on this suicide mission was such an occasion.
Brain did not know what kind of life Climb had lived before he earned his name, or how he had served the Golden Princess afterward. Even so, Brain did not think it would be wise to unnecessarily interfere with Climb's determination to carry out Renner's orders.
Brain pulled the thief over, and spoke to him after making sure Climb couldn't see or hear them talk.
"Hey, do you think it was a good idea to bring Climb here? Wouldn't it be better to make sure he went home safe rather than completing the mission?"
"…You're a big old softy, aren't you?"
"Enough with that nonsense. And considering you're the one who volunteered to be the emergency stand-in for this suicide mission, I think you're the bigger softy."
The thief laughed nervously, and then looked at the confused youth who was facing them.
"How shall I put it… seeing a kid like him fight so hard made me remember the days when I was still young, even if it was just for a while. I think I understand how you feel about this too. Even so…"
The thief's eyes shone with a sharp and brilliant conviction.
"It was the path he chose. We have no right to force him off it."
Brain sighed.
"I'm interested in that brat too. I'm pretty certain how he feels about the princess, judging by the look in his eye and the way he reacts when put in danger. Hell of a kid, isn't he? He's honest and brash. Because of that… he's like a thief who's set his eyes on the Kingdom's most valuable treasure."
"That’s right. He might still die, but at least he'll have chosen it."
With that, Brain made up his mind.
"Then, we'd best get a move on. Don't know when Shalltear might catch up with us."
Part 2
The adventurers from the palace retreated past the barricade to the rear. The guards they passed through had been ordered to hold the line until the adventurers' wounds could be healed.
Once the adventurers had passed through the opening in the barricade, it was immediately filled up again with planks and other debris.
Nobody else remained in front of the barricade. This meant that this was the frontline.
Looking back, the guards could see the ragged adventurers as they limped towards the rear. Fresh claw and scorch marks adorned their armor, as did the sprays of fresh blood.
Further behind that was the wall of fire burning in the background. They had penetrated roughly 150 meters into enemy territory. Indeed, judging by the dread that the once-familiar capital had inspired in them, it felt like a foreboding, alien world; enemy territory indeed.
The adventurers had spent time looting the surrounding houses and tearing parts of them down to form a barricade. The guards had thought it would be an useful obstacle, but now it seemed puny and insignificant. It felt like it would crumble at the first sign of serious resistance.