It was the midnight, the day after Valetta and Valin bid farewell to Kazura.
In the living room at the village chief’s house, Valetta sat in fetal position with her back against the wall.[2]
She had been in this for about four hours.
The burning firewood in the hearth had already vanished. The moonlight also couldn’t pass through the closed door, and so the room was enveloped in darkness.
After Valetta arrived home, she unloaded the luggage from the carriage and prepared Valin’s dinner whilst still showing a gloomy expression. Without eating anything, she just sat against the wall since then.
Looking his daughter like this, Valin was worried and trying to say something to her, but her answer didn’t change from the half-heartened answer she gave yesterday.
Eventually, Valin gave up and head up to his bedroom early and slept, leaving Valetta to herself in the living room.
Valetta curled motionless like this for some time, when she suddenly raised her face towards the direction of the entrance.
She noticed the creaking sound coming from the entrance door.
「……Who’s there?」(Valetta)
At the same time as Valetta’s address, the entrance door slowly opened, letting the moonlight illuminate the ground in the entrance.
Normally, she would put the wooden latch on the door before sleeping; however, today the latch hadn’t been put on the door.
「……Kazura-san?」(Valetta)
The idea that maybe Kazura had returned crossed her mind, so Valetta stood up and headed towards the door while still having a blank expression.
But, in the next instance, Valetta’s expression froze with fear.
There was a man standing in the entrance with unsheathed longsword.
「Sh…! There is someone still awake! Kill him before he raise the alarm‼」(Bandit A)
As soon as the man in the entrance yelled behind him, four men holding with longswords and shortswords rushed in through the entrance, checking the living room for Valetta, and approaching with glaring blades.
As the sudden event unfolded before her, Valetta unconsciously scream 「Hiii」 and stepped back from that place.
「Hm? It’s a girl. Moreover a pretty one.」(Bandit A)
As soon as the large man, who approached Valetta, realized her gender, he quickly put the longsword in his hand back to its sheath at his waist and then seized Valetta.
Valetta, who had both of her wrist grasped, was swiftly pushed down to the floor forcefully.
「Ah! Father‼」(Valetta)
While still being pinned down to the floor by the man, Valetta screamed loudly at her Father who was sleeping in the inner room.
However, the man seemed undisturbed by what Valetta had done, his eyes examining Valetta’s body from top to bottom.
「I will enjoy for this a bit. I leave the clean up to you guys.」(Bandit A)
While still having his eyes locked on Valetta, he gave instruction to the other invading men that were making a ruckus in the room.
Although the other men were smacking their tongue, they broke into the inner room without complaining the man who had pinned Valetta down.
「Since there is no time, I will finish this quickly so don’t worry.」(Bandit A)
「N-noooo!」(Valetta)