Its True Form [Part 2]
“Emma, those are really insects, right? They’re not some kind of monster that fell from a local barrier hazard, right?”
George looked up at the sky and started searching for a hole.
“Well, to be precise, the tailless whip scorpion isn’t an insect but an arthropod. Spiders are also the same, actually. Ah, the definition of an insect is that it has a head, thorax, and abdomen. It also has six legs…”
“I’m not asking about that!!! Is it a monster or not? Which one is it?!”
“What are you? An otaku who suddenly speaks fast whenever her favorite character is mentioned?!” William retorted.
“Mhm. Like I said, the tailless whip scorpion is an arthropod, just like spiders, so it’s not a monster, okay? When it first fell, I looked above and saw Robert and Bryan grinning from the tree. I guess they wanted to give me a surprise present… Hmm, maybe Robert is a nicer person than I thought?”
“No, Emma, I think that was meant to harass you…”
George slowly relaxed his tensed body after confirming that his number one worry didn’t come true.
He had been all panicky about whether or not a monster had appeared, because if a local barrier hazard had occurred in the royal capital, it would have meant that the country’s barrier had finally reached its limit.
“The tailless whip scorpion… is a rare species in this world, you know? I didn’t know it existed here until I read the Encyclopedia of Insects which I had found in the library of Rose-sama‘s parents’ house.”
During her stay in the Valerie territory, Emma found 15 volumes of the Encyclopedia of Insects in the library. Additionally, she had finished reading all 15 of them in no time.
“That’s a pretty rare insect huh… How did Robert get hold of it?”
To think that an insect ‘Emma’ didn’t know of… existed.
[T/N: Referring to Emma before she merged with Minato’s consciousness]
“You mean an ‘arthropod’, right?”
Ugh, how frustrating. Or rather, how persistent. But the fact of the matter is that it appears in the Encyclopedia of ‘Insects’, right? The brothers kept their complaints in their hearts.
“P-Pardon me, Emma-sama. Um, please lower your skirt!”
Joshua covered his red face with his hands.
“Ah, sorry, Joshua. Are you still bad with insects? I forgot.”
Emma hurriedly hid the tailless whip scorpions inside her skirt. Ah, I accidentally called it an ‘insect’… Emma resented her own carelessness.
“N-not that, um… that… Emma-sama‘s legs are too dazzling. My heart will burst.”
” ” “Eh? That‘s what bothers you?!!!” ” “
The three siblings said in unison at Joshua’s unexpected answer.
♠♠♠
One of the Knights’ POV
“Are you alright…?”
Under the order of the Second Prince to rescue the young ladies and investigate the cause of the panic, us knights had arrived in the academy. After rushing here in the early morning while speculating what could have happened, we were greeted by the sight of great chaos when we reached the academy grounds.
Some young ladies had fainted, some were crying and screaming… The ladies over there were injured… and the ladies over at this side had fallen into a daze and started behaving weirdly…
We received a report earlier that the brothers of the Stuart family were heading to the scene with the Rothschild family’s son to save their sister. Well, at any rate, we should start with the location of the incident to investigate the cause, so I immediately rushed over to the road leading to the Embroidery class. I might also be able to get some information from the Stuart children there.
As I approached the place, I could immediately see the children standing under a big tree.
“According to my elder sister, a large number of insects fell from the tree. And because that insect had an awfully distasteful appearance, the girls went into a panic upon seeing it…”
William Stuart explained the details of the accident as he had heard from his older sister. Hmm, this boy seems a little too young to enroll in the academy, doesn’t he…
I once heard that the frail and delicate young noble ladies would scream at the sight of even the tiniest insect, but just what kind of insect was it to have caused such a huge panic?
“And the current location of that insect is?”
Although the boy had stated that numerous insects fell from a tree, which meant that they should have been scattered all over the place, I hadn’t seen any insects anywhere.
“W-Who knows… B-By the time we arrived at the scene, there wasn’t a single one… Perhaps it flew away?”
Perhaps still worried for his older sister, the young boy, William, kept glancing at Lady Emma’s face while explaining the situation.
Poor Lady Emma… She couldn’t even stand because her legs gave out from fear.
Well, it’s inevitable for her to be shaken for that insect even made some ladies faint.
“E-Excuse me, is it alright if we go home first? I… I-I want to let my older sister rest.”
Over William-kun‘s head, I could see the older brother, George-kun, holding up his younger sister, who couldn’t stand on her own, carefully in his arms.
“Yeah, of course. You should stop by the first aid room if your sister is injured. If everything’s alright, then you should hurry and take your sister home. The academy, too, will most likely cancel all classes today for there has a big panic.”
After seeing off the Stuart family’s siblings and the Rothschild family’s son, I ran to the royal castle to turn in my report. Hopefully, it could give the Second Prince some peace of mind.
The Prince had bowed his head to a mere knight like me, asking me to save Lady Emma. That was why I wanted to inform him immediately that Lady Emma was safe.
Speaking of which, I wonder what kind of insect it was…
Was it a coincidence… or…
