My Harem of Dangerous and Crazy Women as a Reincarnated Necromancer-Chapter 87: Time to Go
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU TWO THINK YOU’RE DOING?!"
Without warning a hoarse, raspy, broken voice rang out, freezing both Rose and Alice in their tracks instantly.
The two forces that were about to collide stopped dead, and between the trees, Mark advanced toward them, walking with difficulty.
Yuki was at his side with one hand slightly extended toward him as if ready to catch him in case he collapsed. Behind them came the others, who had been alarmed by the commotion and had followed Yuki when she went to get Mark.
Upon arriving, Mark stopped a few meters from Rose and Alice.
His face was pale, sweat covered his features, his eyes were red and swollen from the fever, and his breathing came out in raspy gasps that made clear the simple act of walking there had cost him an enormous effort.
But his expression wasn’t one of pain, it was one of anger.
"Have you lost your minds?" Mark said in a voice so hoarse it was barely intelligible.
Rose and Alice didn’t answer.
"Is that it?" Mark continued, looking at both of them alternately. "Or are you just a pair of little girls who can’t be left unsupervised for five minutes because the moment you get the chance you try to kill each other?"
The silence that followed was heavy. Rose had her gaze fixed on the ground and Alice was in the same position.
Neither of them dared to look up.
Seeing their reactions, Mark let out a long, heavy sigh that ended in a raspy wheeze as it passed through his inflamed throat.
"I expected many things from the two of you," Mark said with difficulty. "Many. That you’d argue, provoke each other, not get along at first. All of that I understood and even accepted, because I believed that with time you’d get used to each other."
Mark paused.
"But this..." he said, looking around. "I never imagined it would come to this."
He didn’t raise his voice or shout at any point, and somehow, that was even worse.
"I’m very disappointed in both of you..."
Those words fell on Rose and Alice with a weight no physical blow could have matched.
Rose’s lips were pressed tight, her eyes still fixed on the ground, her hands trembling slightly at her sides — not from cold or fear, but from shame.
Alice was no better, her jaw was clenched so hard her teeth ached, she felt a knot in her throat, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears.
Mark tried to speak again, but instead of words, all that came out was a cough so violent it shook his entire body and made him double over.
Hearing it, Yuki took a step toward him and put a hand on his back until Mark finally straightened up slowly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"...I’ll speak seriously with you two later," Mark said in a voice that sounded even worse than before, as if the cough had destroyed what little was left of his throat. "But right now it’s time to go."
"Go?" Rose asked, fully raising her head. "Master, you still need to rest. You can’t—"
Rose stopped before finishing her sentence upon seeing the clear frown on her Master’s face.
"And why do you think that is, Rose?" Mark said, pointing toward the sky where the magical circle was slowly fading. "Do you think we can stay here and rest peacefully after you two put on a light show that was probably visible from kilometers away?"
Hearing that, Rose closed her mouth and looked back down.
"That commotion definitely drew everyone’s attention in the area," Mark said, running a hand over his face. "And not drawing attention was exactly what we were trying to do by taking the forest route."
Rose didn’t respond, because Mark was right and she knew it.
The magical circle she had summoned wasn’t exactly discreet, and the energy it had released alongside Alice’s miracles was the magical equivalent of setting off fireworks in the middle of the night and shouting "Look at us, we’re right here."
Alice, who until that moment had remained in complete silence, finally spoke.
"...My lord," Alice said in a voice that tried to sound firm but came out trembling. "Rose is right — how are we going to leave if you’re this sick? You can barely stay on your feet."
Mark looked at her for a moment, then looked at Yuki.
"Yuki," Mark said with difficulty. "Can you carry me on your back?"
"No problem, Master," Yuki replied without hesitation.
"Perfect."
Yuki turned around and crouched slightly, offering her back to Mark.
He approached and climbed on with slow, clumsy movements, draping his arms over Yuki’s shoulders as she held him beneath his legs.
When Mark was finally settled on her, Yuki straightened up and he hung from her back with his head resting against her shoulder.
And to be honest the sight was pitiful, but at that point Mark couldn’t care less how he looked.
"See?" Mark said, looking at Alice. "Problem solved."
Alice opened her mouth to say something, but the words got stuck in her throat.
"My lord, I..."
"Later, Alice," Mark said, looking away from her to rest his head on Yuki’s shoulder.
"Alright..."
Rose, who also hadn’t said anything since the scolding, stepped forward.
"Master, at least let me check if your fever has gotten worse before—"
"Rose," Mark said without lifting his head from Yuki’s shoulder. "What part of ’we’re leaving now’ wasn’t clear? We’ve already drawn enough attention."
"...Understood."
"Good," Mark said. "Yuki, direction of the dungeon. You lead."
"As you command, Master," Yuki said as she began moving away quickly.
Alice’s five companions looked at her, then exchanged glances among themselves for a second before following Yuki.
Rose and Alice stayed where they were, watching the group move away.
Alice clenched her fists at her sides and swallowed.
"Rose, I..." Alice said without looking at her. "What I did was wrong and I know I shouldn’t have—"
"Later, Alice," Rose interrupted, and began walking toward the group. "You heard the Master... it’s time to go."
"You’re right..."
Alice stayed still a moment longer, watching Rose’s back move away from her, then let out the breath she had been holding and followed the others in silence
