Chapter 26.3 - Dark Fog (1/2)
… …. …
I call the name of the man who’s slashing his sword at me.
It’s the temple knight Lucullus, the escort of hero-sama.
His battalion has come a few times to visit this kingdom.
He is different from the other temple knights and won’t look down on others, truly a man of character.
Why is that kind of person attacking the royal palace?
Still armed to teeth after the investigation in the tower, I was heading to the royal palace to make a report and met Almina along the way.
And then, when I was chatting with Almina, I heard a scream.
At that time, I saw Lucullus defeating one of my fellow knights.
When I glanced around, he seems to have defeated a few knights and palace guards already.
To be honest, I’m still confused.
And then, Lucullus suddenly slashed his sword toward me.
I somehow managed to stop the first attack in the spur of the moment.
But, Lucullus isn’t replying to me. It seems my voice isn’t reaching him.
Then, I noticed Lucullus’s lifeless eyes. It’s as if his eyes were devoid of any emotions.
But, I didn’t have the leisure to worry about that right now.
I crossed my sword with Lucullus’s. My opponent sword was fast, and I could barely protect myself.
Moreover, my body feels heavy since a while ago.
Standing behind me, Almina is calling my name with an anxious voice.
There’s no way I’ll let myself get defeated with Almina watching behind me.
Lucullus is swinging his sword even faster.
To be honest, it’s fast. I barely managed to protect myself.
I draw my sword closer to defend myself against Lucullus’s relentless assault.
After our swords crossed at each others several times, Lucullus suddenly pulled back from attacking.
「What is….」
Before I noticed, another person’s already standing behind Lucullus.
「You’re… Orua」
I know her.
Orua’s a doctor who arrived at this kingdom around two weeks ago.
Orua has bad eyesight and always wore a black cloth around her eyes. She’s currently untying that said cloth.
「You were a Striges all along, huh….」
Orua’s eyes weren’t the eyes of a human. She has big round eyes with yellow color on the white part; that was the eyes of an owl, a Striges.
And then, I noticed something. Last night, the defeated temple knight was carried from Orua’s store after receiving first aid from her.
「I see, it’s at that time huh…」
It’s too late.
「You’re different from the other knights. It seems you’re a bit stronger than them」
Orua is approaching with an evil smile while saying those words.
Never did I think that there could be a Striges who can shapeshift into a human.
Regarding the matter of entering a country, no one can enter a country unless they’re introduced by a citizen of the country or they’re a citizen of an allied country.
But, there’s always an exception to such a rule. And that’s the case when the candidate’s a holder of special skills such as magic. The reason is naturally that it’ll benefit the said country.
Orua was also allowed to stay in this kingdom due to her expertise in medicine.
I think we should put some restriction for any skilled person to enter this country after this.
「Well, shall I grab that princess? She will become a tool to defeat the hero」
「As if I’m going to let you do that!」
It seems she’s going to use Almina as a shield against the hero, but I won’t let her achieve that.
I raise my sword and rush at her.
It’ll be the end as long as I defeat this woman. Orua is careless for pulling back Lucullus. Now is my chance.
「Feather Arrow!」
Orua makes a sweeping movement with her hand and then something is fired from it.
「Na!」
I desperately defend myself.
「GUH….」
The feeling of pain is coursing through my body.
I can’t ward all of them; thus, a few of them lodged itself into my body. The things that lodged itself into my body were bird feathers.
The bird feather that lodged into my body was strong enough to pierce my armor.
「Dammit….」
I fall on my knees. My body won’t move at all.
「REMBER!」
Almina cries grievously.
「Almina…. Run」
But, it might be impossible. We can’t go back from where we came from, we’re at a dead end.