The Harvest Mouse Exits the Fairytale Together with Cinderella-Chapter 133

Geno leaped across rooftops and walls, swiftly making his way to Seraphina.

Crash—

At that moment, he stepped on a roof that had long since decayed from years of neglect.

“Squeak, squeak?! (W-What was that?!)”

As Elodie tried to poke her head out, Geno gently pushed her back into his pocket and spoke in a coaxing tone.

“Hey, you’ll get hurt. Stay still.”

“You messed up again...”

“You think I do nothing but mess up?”

Elodie squeaked in protest, but Geno, with his beast-like instincts, understood her meaning immediately. He grumbled loudly while struggling to pull his leg out from where it had lodged into the rotten wooden beam.

Yeah. He had messed up.

He didn’t need to see it to know.

‘I can just compensate for the damage later.’ 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

For the sake of her peace of mind, Elodie decided to change her perspective.

It was like raising a large dog.

Meanwhile, Geno finally managed to yank his leg free from the hole in the roof, exhaling in relief.

“Phew, I almost brought the whole thing down...”

“What did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything? Are you hearing things?”

Feigning innocence in a way that wouldn’t fool anyone, Geno quickly resumed moving.

Before long, the figures of Edmund and Seraphina came into view.

“Elodie!”

Seraphina had been sitting expressionlessly, but the moment she saw Elodie, her face brightened, and she waved her hand.

It was like watching a doll suddenly come to life—a breathtaking sight.

“Hey, you see the little one buried in my pocket, but not me? Did I die somewhere along the way or what?”

Geno murmured.

Of course, Elodie ignored him entirely.

The moment Geno pulled her out and set her down, she transformed back into her human form and dove straight into Seraphina’s embrace.

“Seraaa...”

She had wanted to hold her so badly.

Back then, she had only pretended to be infatuated with Daniel, trailing after him, keeping up the act. Even when she happened to run into Seraphina, she had only exchanged brief, casual greetings.

But in reality, it had been unbearable.

She had missed her so much.

As the two of them relished their reunion, Geno, who had been deep in thought with a serious expression, suddenly spoke up.

“By the way...”

“Hm?”

“We’re going after the spy, right? But how do we figure out which one of those harvest mice is the spy?”

Should they just beat them all up first and sort it out later?

Clenching his fist, he added with determination.

“...”

“...”

Seraphina, momentarily speechless, then turned to Edmund and asked, “Are we sure it’s okay to include him in the plan?”

Edmund, who had been calmly smiling, answered.

“He follows orders well.”

His older brother vouched for him.

Like someone who had reached enlightenment.

“Hey, don’t just leave me out—explain it to me properly.”

Geno protested.

No one had actually left him out. It was just that Geno’s brain had a habit of skipping ahead of others.

Elodie sighed and explained.

“Not all of them, but the spies are most likely among the ones who stepped forward first to have their curse removed.”

Otherwise, how else could they have directly intervened like this?

Daniel, the wet nurse...

There was no way a harvest mouse in its natural form could orchestrate anything.

“The spies might already know how to break the curse. What if they lifted their own curses, turned into mice, and then just pretended to be clueless?”

“I don’t know if that’s possible, but Seraphina could immediately tell whether someone was cursed or not just by looking at them. Right from the start.”

The High Priest’s curse was tangled like a ball of string—impossible to unravel easily.

If she could see even that, then she would definitely notice if someone had freed themselves from it.

“If someone’s curse was never lifted but they’re suddenly fine, it’s obviously suspicious. So to make their plan work, they would have had to ask Seraphina to break their curse.”

At last, Geno seemed to understand.

“So basically, we just need to beat up everyone whose curse is already broken?”

No, he didn’t understand at all.

Did he think every single one of them was a spy?

Some of them had probably just been desperate to rid themselves of the curse and had rushed to the front.

‘It’s highly likely that the spies are from House Mouseton or someone originally connected to that family.’

When Daniel handed Elodie over to Nyx, he had only been seven years old.

If some unrelated adult had suddenly ordered a child to lure away the High Priest’s daughter, would he have obediently followed?

Most likely, the entire family had been involved.

"__, does this mean I can finally receive your blessing?"

That’s what had been said.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

If someone’s parents had served a master since birth, it wouldn’t be strange for them to do the same.

“For now, Geno, just stick close to Edmund and handle things as they come. You’re good at picking up on things without thinking too hard.”

“That’s true.”

Geno took it as a compliment, nodding in satisfaction.

“Get out all the artifacts we confiscated from Daniel.”

At any rate, it was all just speculation until they saw the truth for themselves.

They planned to lure the spies out directly.

***

Daniel Mouseton.

The order he had given to his subordinates this time was clear.

When I send the signal through the artifact, come to my location and regroup.

A servant held his breath, staring intently at the artifact with a cautious expression.

He had pledged loyalty to the Mouseton family from the very beginning—one of the spies who had been transferred to the Grand Temple alongside the wet nurse about ten years ago.

"Not yet?"

"No..."

"It's taking longer than expected."

"Should we withdraw for now?"

"No, it's only been a little past the scheduled time. Let’s wait a bit longer."

They had just finished leaving traces in Lady Ratson’s chamber and had relocated to a safe place, waiting anxiously for contact.

How much longer had they waited?

The gemstone flickered, emitting a crimson light.

The servant hurriedly relayed the message to the captain of the Mouseton family's knights, who was leading the operation.

"My lord, the signal has come."

"The location?"

"It’s different from the agreed meeting point."

"Hmm."

Master Daniel did say that the location could change depending on the situation, but...

"Just in case, you go alone."

"Pardon?"

The servant flinched.

"But what can I possibly do there? I don’t even know how to fight..."

"You’re not a fighter, but you’re the fastest among us, and your stealth skills are excellent."

The knight captain’s command was firm.

"I’ll lead the rest of the group and remain hidden nearby. Just assess the situation quickly, and if it’s a trap, send a signal."

"...Understood."

Though displeased, the servant soon resigned himself to the order and nodded.

Not only had the signal come late, but the designated meeting place had changed as well.

That alone made it highly likely to be a trap.

But even if someone else was waiting there instead of Master Daniel, he was confident he could escape quickly.

Transforming into a harvest mouse, he took the signaling artifact into his mouth and darted forward.

The knight captain watched his retreating figure in silence before cautiously leading the rest of the group after him.

If anything went wrong, he gripped the artifact tightly in his hand, ready to send an immediate report to their superiors.

It was at that moment—

Piiiiiiiik—!!!

Gasp.

The knight captain swallowed dryly at the sudden, piercing cry that cut through the air.

He snapped his head up in alarm.

The ruler of the sky—an eagle.

"Damn it."

It couldn't have been a beastfolk.

No one, aside from the harvest mouse beastfolk, could set foot in this holy nation.

Not without the High Priest’s permission.

Which meant... it was a real eagle.

The realization that he had instinctively felt fear toward a mere animal was humiliating.

He had once been a proud knight captain of the Mouseton Count’s household.

And yet, memories of living as a harvest mouse clouded his instincts.

Forgetting that his transformation had been by his own choice, he gritted his teeth.

"Advance!"

As if to compensate for showing fear before his subordinates, he shouted even louder.

But his bravado didn’t last long.

"Aaagh!"

A massive golden eagle, larger than any normal one—perhaps even a mutant—swooped down from the sky, its talons grazing past his head by mere inches.

"Hh-hhuh..."

He had nearly been impaled.

No—if the eagle had actually grabbed him, his neck would have snapped, and he would have been carried off to become bird feed.

Faced with the sudden appearance of a predator, all the harvest mouse beastfolk froze on the spot.

"W-what should we do?"

"It’s fine. I-it’s just a mere beast..."

The knight captain had barely managed to scramble back up, his hands groping at the dirt beneath him.

That was when the massive golden eagle—so unnaturally large that it could have been mistaken for a mutation—suddenly spoke.

"I have no right to harm you, so remain still."

And it spoke.

"At least until I have joined the young master, who should already be capturing the servant you sent ahead."