Vol 1 Chapter 13 (1/2)
The party reached the road from Kanon to Valis two days later in the has so steep that they had no choice but to take the mountain road
At last, the party had reached the pass and was cli difficult It was so hot Slayn had lost even the energy to speak The merciless summer sun beat down on theing of cicadas
“It’s going to get even hotter frohed, his face lost somewhere under his hood He could barely su in this heat
“Yep, that’s what happens in the su at Slayn from the corner of his eye
“Wow, I had no idea,” said Slayn with annoyance
“Ah,” said Deedlit, stopping all of a sudden “I wonder if these are hoofprints The road see the holes with one finger
Parn stopped as well and watched her
“Just as I thought, they’re hoofprints It looks like quite a few horses rode through here They came from Valis, so it’s possible that they’re part of Valis’ army”
“Valis decided to stand and fight after all” Eto nodded “Not that I expected any differently, ith the ene the dark armies of Marmo”
“Obviously There’s no way King Faould let Beld’s atrocities go unpunished, not with the invincible Holy Knights at his back! Looks like Beld’s plans will fall to ruin,” said Parn happily
Parn spoke as though it was already decided, but Slayn doubted that it would go that smoothly
Slayn acknowledged the strength of Valis’ knights, but Marmo’s army counted many monsters of evil power He especially feared the dark elves’ hts, whose power he had once had the displeasure to face If Deedlit and Woodchuck had not been with hiht, a shi+ver ran down his spine, and in spite of the summer heat, he broke out in a cold sweat His cotton underclothes clung unpleasantly to his skin
This will be a long war, thought Slayn He kept his thoughts to himself so as not to dampen the mood, but he was almost certain of his prediction
The next day, their journey continued in much the same fashi+on They left the hill road as the land flatted out,easier But they baked under the cloudless sky Their order had not changed - Parn and Deedlit in front, followed by Ghi ragged, he alking as fast as he could, in order not to hold the group back As always, he carried his staff, and his face was hidden in his hood
Before they realized it, they were surrounded by farmland Perhaps they had even entered the reale mansion, probably the residences of the local farmers and lords But they stood empty It seemed likely they had been evacuated in preparation for war
“Yes, it looks like Valis is standing up to fight Mar by the lack of soldiers, the front is probably farther to the east”
“Would that ?” Wood asked Eto
“Yes, most likely,” Eto replied
“Valis is winning for sure,” said Parn without bothering to turn his head
That’s when they realized so from ahead of them The first to notice was Woodchuck
“So his eyes and gazing into the distance
The tension in the group instantly went up
“Let’s just go on as if it’s nothing If we do anything suspicious, they’ll notice” Slayn’s voice came from behind them
“True,” said Parn, narrowing his eyes to try to see the approaching group They were kicking a lot of dust in the air It looked like in addition to the horses, they had a wagon It was hard to tell with the sunlight glaring in his eyes, but it looked like a merchant caravan Or perhaps part of Valis’ supply train The partyto see silently Anxious not to overlook anything, they were concentrated on observing the other group
“Madame Karla, I see people ahead” The nervous voice interrupted Karla’s concentration She slowly pulled aside the shade covering the carriage’s
“What is it?”
One of the warriors guarding the carriage pulled his horse up alongside her
“Yes, there is a group of several people approaching us on foot They seemed to be armed, but one of them looks like a child”
“A child? That’s odd They must not be soldiers of Valis, then”
“Probably not…”
“I see Well, as long as they don’t uard!”
As soon as she had given that order, Karla sat back in her seat Only a little farther With a sigh of relief, Karla turned to look at the young woirl’s eaze With a nod of satisfaction, Karla closed her eyes and thought of what she must do next
“What do you think?” murmured Parn in Deedlit’s ear
“I don’t know either, but they’re a strange lot You could say the sah”
The little group of six really did seem like an odd combination Parn smiled, but his s group once again
As the groups drew closer, both of theure the other group out Both were prepared to strike at any moment, but the walkers stepped off the road to allow the other group to pass
“It’s getting really hot out,” said Wood in greeting to the ht it roup seemed to relax
“Must be hard traveling on foot, then,” replied the mountain man in a relaxed tone, a smile on his face
“You got that right” Wood replied once aze froht to himself
The carriage passed by in a clatter of hooves
Slayn nonchalantly glanced at the carriage It was a very fine carriage, and he was dying of curiosity as to who , he saw that there were two occupants, both wo, one of the horse Slayn’s view Keeping an eye on Slayn, the e until they were out of sight
Looks like they don’t want us to knoho’s in there Thinking that strange, Slayn stopped and watched as the carriage pulled away
“They scared e pulled out of sight
“What a weird bunch Heading out towards the battlefield like that!” Parn seemed taken aback as he stepped back onto the road
“It looked like there were toe, but I couldn’t be sure” Slayn was still looking in the direction of the carriage
“Wo, Wood seeht Deedlit, too, started walking again
I wonder about the one who tried to stop h Slayn cocked his head as he walked
“Not again” Just then, before they could say knife, Wood’s rough voice rang out
“What happened?” Slayn had pulled as far back in his hood as he could, unable to hide from the sun, but he looked up reluctantly at the sound of Wood’s voice He had meant to ask Wood a question, but as he looked up, he sahat Wood had meant
Woodchuck was silently pointing down the road, where another cloud of dust filled the air It was another e by the size of the cloud and the sound of the horses’ hooves, this one was h speeds
“Looks like knights of Valis this tihts of Valis would hite armor and ride white horses like that”
“Knights of Valis?!” Parn, alking in front, yelled this He squinted and followed theh the dust
Holy knights… conflicted feelings warred within hiht his eye as they approached They were beautiful The knights rode like a white wind
As Parn hurriedly stepped out of the way, he couldn’t decide how he felt about theer, perhaps, but beneath it ran a foundation of pure admiration
With what dreams did my father don this white armor? Parn looked down at the old, beat-up array would have been closer The shi+ning silver part of the chest was the proof of his father’s dishonor He reeneral store in Zaxon, and the anger and shaain
How ahts? Parn felt a ht that he wore the same kind of arrew stronger as the knights drew closer
“What’s wrong?” Deedlit’s worried voice whispered in his left ear Parn felt for a moment that her beautiful voice had saved him
“It’s nothing, Deed” Parn looked at Deedlit with affection and pulled hiht With this resolute posture, he turned to face the approaching knights
The knights slowed down and pulled their horses to a stop just in front of Parn Slayn and Eto respectfully lowered their heads before the knights, but Parn did not
“Where did you lot come from?”
One of the knights stepped forward to interrogate them
“We’re travelers who cae here” Slayn spoke with his head still bowed
“Yes, that’s right,” Wood immediately seconded him
“Hht, unconvinced, and scrutinized the group “I understand, but we can’t afford to trust you so easily Pardon me”
With these words, the knight started chanting in a low voice Slayn recognized it as a prayer to Pharis
As expected frohts were skilled not only with swords, but with thethat no ic of Pharis was harave a cry of surprise and lifted his head, giving the knight an affronted glare
“How very rude of you, using ic My name is Eto I have been formally ordained as a priest in the temple of Pharis in Alan I don’t care what your ic because of baseless suspicion!”
“Ah, I apologize for my rudeness I had no idea you were a priest of Pharis But because we er, we have turned to Pharis’ power We have no further questions for you, and you are free to go on your way Please forgive our impoliteness Farewell”
The knight kicked his horse to start ain
“Would the reason for your hurry be a group guarding a carriage, by any chance?” Lifting his head, Slayn called out to the knight
“What!” The knight reined in his horse The horse reared up, neighing in protest
“Oh, we just passed a strange group with a carriage, and we thought it suspicious Who were they?”
“Don’t ask too many questions It’s a matter of state, so I ask that you not speak of it to others”
This ti to Slayn’s pleas to wait The other riders took off after hie floated in the summer breeze
“What in the world was that about?” Parn had watched the riders off, but as they vanished in the distance, he turned to Slayn, who had pulled up his dark blue hood again
“I’hts’ actions and the strange appearance of the group with the carriage”
“I wonder if we should go have a look”
“I can’t decide that on my own, but if you want my advice, we’d do best to stay out of it” Slayn said vehemently Not that he felt like his words wouldParn, he would reject them
“I wonder That knight said it was an affair of state If that has soht, his arms crossed
“Well, if Parn’s thinking, thatto have to retrace our steps under this blazing sun” Hoisting his luggage onto his back, Ghi
“Ugh, what aback at Parn “What are you doing? You know you’ll go even if we try to stop you Don’t waste your ti”
“They’re right, you know,” said Deedlit, breaking into a half jog and stretching her hand out to Parn “Let’s go It’s not like you to worry”
“Stop teasing,” Parn coht face, but his body auto “I think and worry just as uy!”
“That’s the first I’ve heard of it!” Wood laughed loudly
“We’d better hurry if we don’t want to lose sight of the to look like a forced march
“If only we had horses too” Deedlit, at the head of the group, looked back as she said this Her hair caught the sunlight, gloith a rainbow of colors as it drifted gently through the air
“What’s that sound?” Deedlit suddenly stopped and put both hands to her pointed ears
“What’s wrong, Deed?” Parn looked around and checked that nothing had changed before asking
“Shh! Quiet I can hear a noise co from over there So don’t let your armor make any sound”
Parn quickly ca tobehind the on, doing their best not to distract Deedlit
Elves were famous for their sharp ears It was said that they could even hear the sounds tiny creatures made as they scurried over the leaves in the forest
“Looks like I was right They’re fighting I can hear people screa metal”
“Those knights are fighting! We’ve got to hurry!” Hearing Deedlit’s words, Parn broke into a panicked run “They e Even if they’re outnuainst mercenaries”
“You can’t say that for sure We’re still going to rush to their aid, right?”