Extra Story: Lufa, First Half

Extra Story:
Lufa, First Half

 

THE SALBARD HOUSEHOLD had been ruined by a single girl who looked like a bear, and Lord Gajurdo had been arrested after years of terrible deeds, ranging from intimidation to backroom deals to bribery…and worse. What finally brought the Salbards down was Gajurdo’s son, Lord Randle, for making the mistake of kidnapping the noble Lady Misana.

 

I was in the middle of tidying up at the Salbard estate when a terrible crash came from the front entrance. I rushed over and found a girl who looked like a bear along with actual bears—one black and one white.

The bear girl looked positively furious. She glared at Lord Gajurdo and Lord Randle with a fury that I could hardly think someone so adorable could even contain.

From what I could gather of their conversation, it seemed that Lord Gajurdo and Lord Randle had kidnapped Lady Misana of the Fahrengram family. Lady Gajurdo denied the accusation, but the girl seemed confident that Misana was here.

Randle instructed his bodyguard, Brad, to take down the girl. I knew the man was terribly strong. Well-spoken though he was, the man was a lover of violence. Not the sort of man you would want to cross paths with.

Brad and the bear girl began fighting. How would he toy with her? She could run—she should run—and yet the cute bear girl fought on equal terms. With her magic, she defeated Brad in the end with a well-placed fist. I could hardly believe the scene in front of me. The other servants seemed just as shocked. We merely stared at the furious bear girl and at the brute she’d very quickly rendered immobile.

When I got a hold of myself and looked around, I realized Lord Randle had fled at some point.

Only Lord Gajurdo remained.

 

The bear girl began questioning Lord Gajurdo…and eventually, Randle returned with Lady Misana as a hostage. But before Lord Randle could get a word out, the bear girl sent him flying and saved the Lady.

Lady Misana was sobbing, but the bear girl hugged her gently. I supposed that tender expression on her face was the girl’s true, most natural expression.

Lord Gajurdo began to shout, and the girl knocked him out in a single blow. Soon after, the noble Lady Ellelaura entered the fray. She knew about the merchant children being snatched away, and so Lord Gajurdo was taken into her custody.

In that short span of time, the Salbard family was no more. I was finally released from Lord Gajurdo. It would become known that I had assisted him, yes, but that meant little in the grand scheme of things.

I offered to cooperate with Lady Ellelaura. It wasn’t as though that would forgive what I had done with Lord Gajurdo, but I wanted to repent. I guided Lady Ellelaura to where the kidnapped children were underground.

The children were happy when they found out they were being rescued. When we emerged from underground, I asked Lady Ellelaura to check on the other rooms.

Those were torture rooms where people who opposed Lord Gajurdo were brought. I had often heard screams echoing out from those rooms. But far worse than the screams was when, sometimes quite suddenly, the screams completely stopped. I had never gone inside then, but it took little imagination to understand the place.

After the children were sent home, Lady Ellelaura and I retrieved the keys from Lord Gajurdo’s room and returned to the dungeon with two guards.

“What is in these rooms?”

I used the key from Lord Gajurdo’s room and opened the door.

A putrid odor spilled out. “What is this?”

The inside of the room reeked of blood. When Lady Ellelaura saw the room, there was no need for me to give her an explanation of what had occurred there. Lady Ellelaura and the guards began to investigate.

I opened a drawer in a desk. Inside were several citizen and guild cards. I slowly checked the cards one by one. There it was; a guild card…and on that guild card, my father’s name was written.

My father had not run away. He had not abandoned me.

I began to cry.

“Lufa…?” Ellelaura called out from behind me, but I couldn’t answer.

I tried to overcome the sobs. Then I wiped away my tears and looked back to Ellelaura. “I think these are the citizen and guild cards of the people who were killed in this room. Please, take a look.”

“Is your father’s card there as well?” Lady Ellelaura asked.

“Yes…it is.”

“Is that right? I…I don’t know what to say.”

“You’re fine. I thought there was a possibility he had been killed, but seeing the guild card myself…I couldn’t stop myself from crying.”

“Oh, of course you’d cry. He was your own flesh and blood, Lufa.”

I wiped away the tears, but they simply wouldn’t stop. Oh, Father…

“Lady Ellelaura, I have something to ask of you.”

“What is it?”

“Would it be possible to find out where Gajurdo put the, ah…remains of the victims?” I wanted to know where my father was.

“Of course. You should be able to place flowers at his resting place.”

“Thank you very much.”

After that we searched the rooms, but I ended up feeling sick.

“It’s okay to take a break outside the room,” said Ellelaura.

“No. No, I need to help.”

“We appreciate that,” she said, “but are you really okay?”

“Yes, I should be fine.”

“You’re very strong,” Lady Ellelaura said.

But I wasn’t.

I was always thinking about how I wanted to run away. But since I was weak, I hadn’t been able to escape. I wasn’t strong at all…

 

After that we checked the other rooms, we went to Lord Gajurdo’s room. That’s where the real investigation began.

“Looks like these are the contracts from the merchants,” I said. We found a large number of the contracts in a drawer. “He forced people to sign them with his threats. I hope you can review them.”

“There’s quite a few here,” said Lady Ellelaura. “This is a job for Gran. Still, from the number of them, I’ll need to send for help from the capital.”

I checked the next drawer.

“This is...”

“Is there something there?”

“It’s my card.”

I held it out to Lady Ellelaura. I was a criminal too, after all. The other servants had given up their citizen cards, so I thought it would be fitting to give mine to Lady Ellelaura. It seemed she had understood what I intended.

Lady Ellelaura took the card—one of many servants’ cards that turned up in the investigation.

“Confiscating citizen cards sure is cruel,” Lady Ellelaura said.

“I suppose we all had no choice in the matter because of our debts.”

“You seem quite unaffected by this, don’t you?”

“I have to be. If I think too much, I don’t know that I could bear it...”

When I had seen my father’s guild card, I hadn’t been able to contain my emotions. Somewhere deep down, I’d still believed that my father could be alive. All this time, it had kept me going.

“I’m sorry,” said Lady Ellelaura, but she had nothing to apologize for.

 

Lord Gran came by after that, looking quite worn down. Lady Ellelaura filled him in.

“We’re investigating everything,” she said with a sigh, “but it’s taking some time.”

“Yes, I suppose it would.” Lord Gran looked even more exhausted, now that he knew what Lord Gajurdo had done. “I never imagined that his cruelty ran so deep.”

 

The servants who had worked at Lord Gajurdo’s estate were taken into custody—I was no exception. But I had worked closely with Lord Gajurdo, so I knew a considerable amount about his operations. As such, I was placed in a private holding room, away from the others.

The people who had been detained were interviewed, one by one. Those without a direct connection to Lord Gajurdo were released and returned to their families. But I still remained.

I knew full well I wouldn’t be released after all I’d done. I couldn’t escape either way—I had no family in town, and I couldn’t leave since I didn’t have a citizen card. Even if I did get out of town, where would I go?

From time to time, Lady Ellelaura and Lord Gran would come to talk and question me. Sometimes, they’d take me to Lord Gajurdo’s estate and I would explain things to them.

 

Several days passed since Lord Gajurdo had been arrested. Lord Gran and Lady Ellelaura were to head for the capital with Lord Gajurdo.

But before they left, Lady Ellelaura and Lord Gran stopped by.

“Are you sure you would not like me to go as well?” I asked.

“That won’t be necessary,” Lady Ellelaura replied.

“Everything you have told us has been correct,” Lord Gran said. “There is no reason to take you to the capital.”

“I see.” I thought they would take me with them, but they were to leave me behind…

“Once Gajurdo’s punishment is decided, yours will also be handed down,” said Lord Gran. “My apologies. Could you hold on for a bit?”

“Yes,” I said.

I had no future ahead of me.

All I could do was wait.