Chapter 209: Wild Goose Chase
"Michael! We must leave!" Charlotte shouts from above him, but when he goes to refuse, he spots just how ragged she and Sylphid were looking. He'd thought they'd win with Loutiel gone, but apparently, they had other forces in the wings... Judging by the loud 'thumping' sound that sounds eerily like giant footsteps, perhaps Charlotte was right in this estimation.
He nods, "I'll grab them from the tent, protect us!" he shouts while throwing the tent flap open, revealing Charlotte's mother shivering and trembling as she tightly hugs her 'daughter' to her chest. On the other side of the tent is Tiffania limbing on one foot as she rapidly packs supplies, clothes, and other things into a pack that looks fit to bursting.
Most things he keeps in his inventory, but when setting up camp he can't have everyone always asking him for things, thus, he stores them in the tent... This seems to have backfired on them slightly however. He quickly ducks over to Tiffania and grabs the pack before slinging it over his shoulder, allowing the girl to lean her weight on him. "What's with your foot?"
"I-I twisted it, I think? It's fine though, don't worry!" she reassures, but Michael just shakes his head and holds her tighter.
"Come on, we need to grab Charlotte's mother and get outta here." he says, grabbing the now screaming woman's arm and pulling her over his shoulder. With that, he steps out of the tent and spots Charlotte raining down a hail of icy death on any soldiers who dared stick their heads out from behind the ice pillars around the camp.
"CHARLOTTE! LET'S GO!" he shouts, throwing his passengers atop Sylphid when the dragon approaches before hopping on himself. A few soldiers try to shoot them down, but Charlotte easily blocks these attacks as they disappear over the horizon.
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Five minutes later atop Slyphid, Michael is brainstorming/brooding over how the enemy knew where they were. The ambush made it clear they had intricate knowledge of their location, and it was quick enough that they were able to set an ambush incredibly quickly.
Quickly, Michael realises this to be Loutiel's doing, the man somehow manages to track them via whatever spell he'd put on him... Piece of shit. The only problem was, what spell was it, and where? He looks down at himself with an analytical eye, writing off his clothes as he'd been changing them fairly often, so that couldn't be it... Couldn't be Derflinger, as the spell was in place before he even acquired it.
It could be his daggers that he'd bought in Antomiers... But they were usually stowed in his inventory?... Hmm. He shakes his head and tosses them over his shoulder, allowing them to fall to the distant ground below. The daggers weren't valuable enough to risk everyone's safety on, so he was fine getting rid of them, even if they weren't the right answer.
...
It's then that a slight shine of light under his shirt draws his attention... "Of course!" he exclaims, palming his face as he pulls out the Fairy Trinket wrapped around his neck. This must be it, Loutiel had apt opportunity to place such a spell while Michael was in his care, but... The problem with that is that the Fairy Trinket was too valuable to throw away...
"What's wrong, Michael?" Tiffania asks as she rests her weight on his back, peeking over his shoulder and down at the trinket that had his full attention.
"I've figured out how we were tracked. Loutiel put a spell on my necklace... I think we need to find a way to dispel it." he grouses, scratching his head in thought.
"OOOooooh, my head..." Derflinger's voice trails out, the sword finally awakening, "Feels like someone lit a bomb in my face."
"You don't have a head or face, Derflinger... Still, you alright?" Michael asks, hoping there wouldn't be any permanent problems.
Derflinger tentatively clacks its jaw-thing a couple times before letting out a hum of affirmation, "Should be... I see you've cleaned all that rust off of me too! Thank you Partner!"
...
It was Loutiel's lightning that did that, but whatever. "No problem, I knew you were looking forward to it... Listen, you think we could use your magic absorption to dispel a tracking spell on my necklace?"
"Nope!" Derflinger instantly replies, sounding utterly sure of himself, "You can try hitting it with me, but that'd be like trying to cut a mountain to get at the minerals beneath! Even that dopey idiot Br-... Hmm?"
"Derflinger?" Tiffania asks, finding his sudden loss of focus strange.
"Yes, my angelic elf friend?" he eagerly replies, causing Tiffania to blush.
Michael chuckles, "Well, he's not wrong... But Derflinger, you were saying something and stopped halfway. This your amnesia acting up or something?"
Derflinger clacks his mouth-thing unsurely, "Er, I don't remember doing that... Which is the problem, huh? Whatever, not much I can do about it! Maybe I'm just getting old!"
Michael sighs, realising that Derflinger wouldn't be able to help with this issue, he turns towards the front of the dragon where Charlotte was both simultaneously riding and attending to her mother. "Charlotte, that white-haired prick put a tracking spell on my necklace, you know any way to remove it?"
Charlotte focuses on his necklace for a moment before shaking her head, "Can't, otherwise all magic will be stripped." she bluntly advises, causing him to frown.
Then what should he do? He wasn't sure if his inventory could block the spell so he either had to throw it away or...
Micahel grins, yeah, that might just work. Indeed, it might be better than just throwing it away. What's more, the thought of sending Loutiel on a wild goose chase was a marvellous one. "Charlotte, fly us towards the Germanian border."
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