Chapter 6 (1/2)
6 Escape
Kei was quick tothe ca the area in darkness
“Aileen!”
He quickly grabbed Aileen and ni behind the rock It was the so-called ‘Princess Carry’ However, this heroine lost her romantic appeal due to the arrow stuck in her chest The petite girl, snugly held in his arht
“Get it together,” Kei told her quietly
But she couldn’t answer Her face was distorted with pain and she breathed in short, shallow breaths
—We were careless, he thought in disgust as he clenched his teeth
It was a new rassy plains The light fro distance
Even in the gailant…!
NPC thieves, monsters that are unafraid of fire, even PKers Carelessly standing out at night, especially with only a soes especially if it were a parallel world
If we had at least not kept our backs exposed, Kei cursed his carelessness
Aileen’s 『Enhanced Vision』wasn’t as good as Kei’s crest-engraved eyes in the dark Therefore, her ‘Passive Sense’ couldn’t optimally activate
He had the highest level of vision, being a long distance archer Combined with his sensitivity to bloodlust, he should have been the one to keep watch
Kei was also panicked about the day’s events They co watch
“Ugh… Ke…i…” Aileen groaned, her forehead damp with sweat
Everything swirling around in his head suddenly stopped He changed gears and thought, Well, what do I do now? There isn’t much time
Kei popped his head out froht of the fire, it was nearly pitch black However, with his vision, his eyes quickly adapted to the darkness
Three, five, no—six people that I can see
Ca the rock’s blind spots into account, Kei estimated two or three more waited in ambush They were completely surrounded
Whoever the assailant was didn’t matter in this situation What was important was the intellect to maintain archers and surround them
“……Ｏй……Пｏчｅ……ｙ,” Aileen quietly htly tre it, and didn’t understand the aze was distant and unfocused It was hard to see her pupils, but her face was pale
“Don’t speak, just stay still,” Kei whispered into her ear while trying to think of what to do next It didn’t take long to decide “Mikazuki, Sasuke, come”
Mikazuki answered with a, “Bururu”
Quick, but careful not to touch Aileen’s wound, Kei straddled Mikazuki “Aileen, this will hurt a little, but please bear with it”
Perhaps she caught his words Shequietly and faintly nodded
“Here we go!” Kei spurred on Mikazuki
Sure enough the dark brown horse cantered forithout as much as a whinny
“They’re on a horse!”
“They’re getting away!”
The hidden assailants stood up after seeing Kei and Aileen burst out from behind the rock
Their bow strings h the air Kei’s face stiffened, but it see to be hit The bloodlust felt as if it were aimed in an entirely different direction He let his tense shoulders relax a little
Turning around, he saw the leather-clad men flail their weapons in an uproar Another arroas shot at them, but the archer probably couldn’t see thea horse
–They ed to easily escape
Kei checked to make sure
Naturally, Aileen’s treat away
Froroup of arteries Depending on the tip, it h
At the very least, she has a ruptured lung She’ll have trouble breathing if this keeps up Also, holding her while being jolted on top of a horse certainly couldn’t be good for her
Although, being surrounded by the ene her rather difficult
Of course, if they used a potion, then the wound ht about the pain she went through with healing the cut on her palm… It would most likely not show immediate effects on a wound this serious, either In the worst case, she could pass out from the pain
During recovery Aileen would be completely defenseless Even after, if she fainted, then he would have to fight while protecting her Taking all that in to consideration, he was only left with the safest option—escape
Before setting up caraphy If they continued west as they were, they would run into the woods
It wasn’t exactly safe; he didn’t knohat kinds ofthere, but at the least, it would be difficult for anybody to pursue them
He would heal Aileen in the woods, and then they could continue to flee Or, depending on her condition, he could have her ride Sasuke while he turned back and attacked them alone—
“Awoo, awoo”
A beast’s cries froht
He turned around Low to the ground three large black shadows ran toward them
“—‘Hound Wolves’!”
They had black, unkeht, their eyes glowed eerily The leather collars they wore around their necks showed that they weren’t wild, but were owned by a person
Hound Wolf, otherwise known as, ‘Black Siccer’
In the game, they were an offensive type of pet and were extre it of its brutal nature Once tamed, they will carry out any order in any situation with complete loyalty
They were far est, and were quick witted with unparalleled stah attack power And above all else, they had a frightening tracking ability
The wolves use their sense of so Even after galloping throughout the night on horseback, it was possible for the wolves to catch up in approximately thirty minutes
Even if they were to run to the ends of the earth, their ‘scent’ would still linger for the wolves to follow
There were only tays that the Hound Wolves would stop their pursuit If the owner called them off with a whistle, or when they take down and kill their prey
They could even be called the Forerunners of Death—and three of the Kei and Aileen
“…This isn’t good”
The wolves ran like they were a pack, driving on together Surprise flooded Kei’s face Until just a ht But now, it was changed co behind Mikazuki, showed signs of panic
For a horseback archer like Kei, Hound Wolves weren’t such a frightening foe In a confrontation with Kei’s infallible marksmanshi+p and his top-of-the-line horse, Mikazuki, an eneer bodies rassy plains At least, that’s hoould be in a normal situation
But now, he was holding Aileen and couldn’t use his bow
He couldn’t use his bow
…We’re in trouble, thought Kei as sweat dampened his brow
To Kei, whothat taken away from him was an unforeseen situation
For arguame then Kei would have immediately dropped and left Aileen
She could possibly die froround, or could be devoured by the Hound Wolves However, in that short moment Kei would’ve been able to use his bow to kill off the wolves
Afterward, everything would be fine because he would collect the loot, including Aileen’s, and have her respawn at her base That way they could avoid losing any items and minimize the death penalty
In short, inside the game, if victory was assured then there would be nohis offensive abilities inhibited
However, when it comes to reality—
I suppose I can’t just drop her and go
In Kei’s ar from the horse
Abandoning such a fragile girl would be no ery Even if he was ordered to, he wouldn’t be able to do it
If this were『De would be possible, but…
As long as the possibility exists that this is just a world that looks like the game, he couldn’t be too rash
It was too dangerous to be thrown onto the stage with no practice
“Awoo, ohn!” a wolf howled The hound wolves slowly caught up as he was thinking
The black-furred pursuers ran full speed and easily passed Mikazuki with their lightning speed
It’s unfortunate, but even the horse with the highest level in sta distance performance, Mikazuki, eak to this type of foe Mikazuki was not the powerful kind, but rather the fast kind Having even just one more person like Aileen on the horse dropped the maximum travel distance sharply
“Hey, Mikazuki, step on it! I know you’re faster than this!!”
Mikazuki glanced at Kei as if saying don’t ask for the impossible Even so, he ran hard
While his muscles weren’t too dense and he didn’t appear to be, he was actually pretty heavy Overloading Mikazuki with another rider is what caused this sticky situation
…Looks like on’t be able to just run away
He knew it, but he thought it over again as he stared into the distance Aileen’s throwing knife pouch caood with throwing knives Honestly, he had never tried it seriously
Thoughts like, if I had known it would come to this then I would’ve practiced seriously, crowded his rets
Life is about playing the hand you’re dealt, huh
He reached into the pouch slung at his waist and pulled out a pebble-like lead ball about the size of a quail egg It was a pebble
It was so he carried with him as a personal protection charm Its effects on the thick-furred wolves would be li
“If it could at least trip them up…”
Kei decided to aiht
Mikazuki sensed what Kei was doing from the movement in the stirrups and turned his head sideways and turned on a dime
The rapidly approaching wolves ran low to the ground in preparation to pounce Just as they put power into their hind legs to attack Mikazuki, Kei threw soht hand
Kei e with his above average strength
The wolves weren’t even given the time to react, the power hidden in the pebbles blew up in their faces
“Gyan!” The Hound Wolf yelped and tripped fro attack
It lay on the ground, writhing and covering its nose as it shrank away into the distance
After defeating the lead runner, Kei relaxed a little But, “Bururu,” Mikazuki warned him
On the left was a wolf already at point-blank range preparing itself to pounce
—crap!
He deter, so he reached for the short sword on his hip
The Hound Wolf kicked off the ground the same moment that Kei drew his sword
However keen and nie its body position Kei stabbed directly at the scruff of its neck
He felt his short sword cut through the flesh and all the way to the bone A wet cough escaped from the wolf’s throat However, the Hound Wolf didn’t falter; it opened its ht arm
Its tenacity and willpower surprised Kei to the point of dropping his sword
The Hound Wolf with its throat cut failed to bite its target, and died just like that in the grass
“Only one o…!”
He looked at the last, oncoed around his pouch
Two pebbles left
He held one in his right hand He carefully aimed at the wolf
“Grrr…” It growled as if on guard The wolf lowered its body closer to the ground, and bit by bit it changed its course, trying to toy with Kei It knew he held soerous
Kei thought to hient, but while he admired it, he was also a bit annoyed
“Just like the ga as I callared at the black beast
—Die!
Kei filled his body with strength and used the strongest killing intent he could His bloodlust gave off such a dense pressure that it could even be felt physically It made all the fur on the Hound Wolf stand on end
It unknowingly began to tremble, and for just a moment, it froze up
At just that ht arm became a blur
The lead pebble whistled through the air He threith all his strength; a guaranteed kill shot
Luckily for the wolf (not so much for Kei), he messed up his aim