Chapter 32 (1/2)
Volume 1
V2 Chapter 9
⌈How Unreasonable⌋
The forest path wasn’t that wide; there was a ravine to the left, and the thick-rooted trees were set at an incline making it default to see beyond the thicket .
On such a road a large, black, four horse carriage was advancing at a brisk pace .
The carriage had a rather frugal design, but the eyes of a craftsman would have been able to see the finer details of the carriage and judge it to belong to a noble .
Horse-backed knights surrounded the large, black carriage as it traveled along . In combination with the soldiers following behind, there was a total of fifty people protecting the carriage .
Each of them was wearing matching sets of equipment and skillfully advanced without any wasteful movements .
Parallel to the carriage was a horse more excellent than the rest, and the rider was adorned in a prominent set of armor .
The young man, who had neatly combed back hair and a square jaw, was carefully surveying the surrounding area .
This man was a member of one of the seven dukes families of Rhoden, the legitimate heir of the Frivetran family, Lendl Do Frivetran . And he was currently commander of the black carriage’s guards .
Considering the noble riding in the carriage, even such an amount of guards could be considered too little . However, if their numbers were any greater speed would’ve had to have been sacrificed, and since time was of the essence there was no choice but to use fewer people on this expedition .
The purpose of this journey was to get the occupant of the carriage to a secret rendezvous in the Rinburuto Arch Dukedom, so the major towns controlled by lords had to be avoided . Therefore, a different path than the faster highway had been chosen .
On such a path one had to be vigilant of unexpected monster and bandit attacks, so the fifty men present were selected as the best of the best .
Despite that, Lord Lendil wasn’t careless in his duties and had everyone maintain their current speed since the last day and a half .
Inside the carriage, a young lady was gazing out of the window at the forest and the gray clouds overhead while letting out a sigh .
This sixteen-year-old girl still had a youthful appearance despite being the second princess of the Rhoden kingdom, yet she carried a ladylike atmosphere .
Juliana tried to calmed herself down by playing with a lock of her dark blonde hair . Her maid, who was ready in waiting with a basket of confectioneries, called out to the princess .
“Juliana-sama, would you like something to eat in order to calm your nerves? Are you perhaps a little anxious about this visit to Rinburuto?”
Juliana’s childhood friend and personal maid, Feruna, offered a genuine smile as the princess shook her in refusal with a troubled expression .
“Even though this latest visit has been kept secret, I can’t shake this uneasy feeling . Our current speed and distance from our destination should prevent any pursuers from catching us, but……”
While the two were talking, the sky outside the carriage darkened to the point where rainfall seemed to be imminent . An vague feeling of unease swirled within my chest, as I looked up at the sky before shutting my eyes when my view of it started to blur .
At that moment, in front of the carriage── screams and shout resounded as the frontline was fired upon .
“Enemy attack!!!”
Besides the carriage, Lendi immediately took command of the unit and ordered them to to be on high alert as the group was reorganized .
The unit acted as one under their leader’s commands and took up a tighter defensive formation with determination in their hearts .
Lendi took the front most position and glared at the enemies in front of them .
Even after leaving the capital in secret, and traveling at breakneck speeds, an ambush had been set up in advance . There were only a small number of reasons that could explain this situation .
Lendi felt irritation at himself because this happened, but now was not the time to let such thoughts cloud his mind .
At a glance it was clear that the attackers weren’t simple bandits, so they must have been sent by either the first or second prince factions . Multiple 【Flame Bullets]from the flame school of magic were simultaneously cast to attack the unit .
The was no way that simple thieves would be in possession of more than one person capable of using magic .
“The enemies are magicians! Stop their chants! Knights with mithril shields step forward!”
A group of knights readied their shields as they stepped forward while the rearguard began to notch their arrows . All of a sudden something made its way through the unit and managed to hit a member of the rearguard that had been pulling back an arrow .
Screams and unrest ran through the soldiers at the sudden surprise attack, so Lendi tried to rebuild morale with a thundering cry .
Fortunately, the arrow was shot from the depths of the forest, so it had been fired at a vertical incline and only managed to hit a soldier on the end of the row .
Almost a hundred people appeared from the depths of the forest . While they had the appearance of thieves, their movements were those of trained mercenaries .
“Thirty men fall back into a tighter defensive formation! Don’t let any scoundrels approach!! Everyone else form a line in front of the carriage! Protect it by any means!!”
The unit started splitting as commanded .
They were at a numerical disadvantage, and due to the threat of powerful magic attacks, the only viable strategy was a forward charge to get the carriage through the blockade .
However, the movements of some of the soldier were duller than usual, causing a delay in the formation’s construction .
While the guards struggled to form into two squads, the mercenary leader in the rear twisted his lips into an amused sneer .
“Fire the arrows once more!”
When the man gave his order, men with bows simultaneously notched their arrows .
As the arrows were fired, the knights and soldiers formed a shield defensive formation around the carriage preventing any fatal wound from being inflicted .
However, the soldiers that received the volley and suffered injuries had clearly lost some mobility and it was certain that the formation would crumble without perfect cooperation .
“Shave away the defenses!! Our goal is the princess’s life!!!”
At the man’s second order, the hundred bandit-like men gave a high-spirited shout as they broke into a dead run . The guards desperately tried to maintain formation as they collided with the mercenaries on this small forest path .
As the movements of the guard grew duller, they started to fall one after another and they no longer looked like the elites that had been selected to guard the princess .
“Cox-sama, are the poor movements of the guards your doing?”
The leader of the mercenaries was called out by a stump of a man that was dressed in the grubs of a priest . At the divested state of the guardsmen, the little man floated a smile unbefitting clergymen as his associate answered his question .
“Bishop Borane, the secret lies within this ”
The little clergyman called Bishop Borane had raven colored hair atop his head, a stubby beard, sharp eyes, and a vulgar smile more fitting for a thief than a priest .
But, the sword at his waist and the pristine leather armor wrapped around his body were articles that bandits could never possess .
Bishop Borane received an arrow that the man had held out .
The man name was Cox Carlo De Brutus .
He was heir to the Brutus Dukedom of the Rhoden’s several Duke families and was following the strategy his father, a member of the first prince’s faction, had outlined to him .
The arrow which had been handed to him appeared to be an ordinary arrow to bishop Borane, so he glanced at Cox in order to hear his purpose .
“You see, the arrowheads are dipped in poison . However, the Giant Basilisk poison used is a rather hard commodity to come by . While it can’t deliver instantaneous death, it ensures that even the movement of elite soldiers will be dulled . ”
When Cox revealed the secret, Barone’s expression reflected genuine amusement .
“Haha! Cox-sama seems to be well prepared . ”
“These only became available a few days ago . Since there was little time only a small number could be prepared, so once we return I’ll be sure to prepare more .
As the two chatted and laughed, they focused their attention on the collapse of the defensive formation and the man desperately trying to get the get the carriage to move forward .
Lendl, the commander of the guards of said carriage, glanced at the collapsed figures of his men and could only curse the current situation .
The reason being that he never imagined that the rear of the defensive formation would collapse .
The enemy magicians from a while ago now used the opportunity to push the mithril-shielded knights back . However, the magicians fell back as the ambush squad of nearly 50 men closed in .
In no time at all the rear had completely collapsed, leaving the guards little time to act .
“All remaining knights, prepare your 『Explosive magic crystals 』!!”
The knights that had been blocking the magicians’ assault and the ones that had been fighting off the enemies on the front-line sheathed their weapons and pulled a sphere from a pouch on their waists .
When the enemy saw this strange behavior their eyes bulged as they tried to rush the presumably retreating group, resulting in the path being blocked up and preventing them from seeing beyond the backs of those in front of them .
“Bayataroo!! Withdraw!! Withdraw!!”
That holler was raised as the enemy tried to back paddle when they saw what Lendl was holding in their direction .