7 Chapter 6: Princess Ekaterinas Journey Part II (2/2)
A rustle in the woods startled Estelle. She was riding up front to avoid further teasing from her friends. Suddenly, she saw a muzzle pointed toward the carriage. A shot fired through the foliage and ricochetted on the princess' armored carriage.
”Estelle,” Ursula ordered, ”the bullet came from the front! Find the shooter!”
Estelle took out her already charged gun, her eyes screening the forest for any clue of the shooter.
At the same time, Alexa stormed pass her and drew her sword and her pistol, determined to kill any criminal who dared attack a member of the Royal Family. In fact, the Royal Family represents the national identities of all Lacrimosians no matter their ethnic background. No Lacrimosian, be it peasant or lord, would allow anyone to lay their hands on their royals. This is what Alexa felt beyond her duty as a guard.
Suddenly, they were surrounded and outnumbered by the mysterious enemy. Ten fully armed men came out of the woods, swords and guns ready for combat. They wore sinister black garbs destined for stealthy activities. Seeing how the cadets have seen through their hiding spots instantly, they have decided to come out and fight them openly on the road. As such, they would not be hindered by trees and branches as they fought close combat with the guards. What they did not know, however, was that the guards were no mere mercenary guards hired by the nobles, but actual Lacrimosian Life Guard Cavalry Candidates. The Life Guard units were the strongest troops even amongst the Lacrimosian Elite Forces and they were charged to protect none other than the Royal Family.
Even if Alexa, Estelle, and Ursula were not official members, they were still the pride of the Kriegsschule's Hussar Class.
After issuing her orders, Ursula charged at the shooters, who smiled mockingly at the beautiful maiden armed with nothing more than a lance. A particularly gaudy one at that.
Mueller (one of the shooters) was impressed by the girl's bravery. She was outnumbered 5 to 1 and she only had a lance, which was obsolete against their superior bayonets. Seeing her beautiful curves and her even more gorgeous face, he hoped to injure her just enough to incapacitate her and have his way with her body afterward. With such dirty thoughts, Mueller loaded his gun, ready to fight.
Unfortunately for Mueller and his folks, Ursula was stronger than she looks. Deflecting with swift movements her opponents' bullets, she plowed her lance right through a man's throat and impaled another man's chest immediately after. Before the other men could come out of their surprise and unload their entire cartridges on her and her horse, she took out a pistol from under her shirt and shot the two men farthest from her. None of them stood a chance against a seasoned warrior like Ursula.
Mueller gasped. In a matter of mere minutes, all the men around him lay dead on the ground and the girl he wanted to ravish rode before him, the tip of her lance at less than a centimeter from his throat. Too frightened to fight on, Mueller peed his pants and fainted.
Meanwhile, Alexa and Estelle also had their ways with the other five assailants. The carriage was proven to be bulletproof, which allowed the graduating cadets go all out without worries.
With great speed, Alexa shot one of the enemies and jumped off her horse, aiming for another man's throat with her sword. Before she could land, four shots rang in rapid succession and Alexa's victim dropped dead, his head pierced through by one of Estelle's bullets. Seeing her targets snatched away, Alexa cursed at Estelle.
From the window of the bulletproof carriage, Erika felt inspired by the cadets' fight. She knew, however, that she must not be too moved by them. The Academy has specifically asked Bonny to judge and grade the young women as objectively as possible without any bias. If Bonny saw her excited expression, surely she would interpret it as the Princess' will to give higher grades and do just that, which was against regulation.
As a matter of fact, there were various mistakes to the guards' performance during the attack. First of all, they allowed the enemy to have a first shot at the carriage. If it wasn't for the bulletproof properties of its outer material, the princess would have been gravely injured, according to Bonny's calculation. This time, the enemy was overconfident and asinine, otherwise, all the guards and the princess would have been slain, or at least shot through. Although their performance during the fight was commendable, they have made a major mistake in their guard duties for not noticing the enemy prior to the confrontation. Individually, Alexa also made the mistake of jumping and expecting to land her sword on her opponents' throat. Even if the action itself looked intimidating, the man was equipped with a bayonet and she was in the air with absolutely no control over where she was supposed to land specifically. The man could have killed her by the time she landed by holding his bayonet firmly on her landing point. At the same time, Estelle's performance was perfect, as she shot down the man before he could harm her companion. Ursula, despite being too bold and confident, she was able to incapacitate all her assailants while avoiding getting shot despite the point-blank range. Furthermore, she also kept some of her targets from shooting, judging by how she hard it would be for her to lunge at them from her far distance. Finally, she was the only one who captured a prisoner for questioning, which was impressive in the chaos of the fight. As a group, this battle was graded B, because of their low awareness and Alexa's mistake.
After the fight, Ursula turned to face Mueller. Her expression was sinister and filled with intense antagonism.
”Speak,” she said while nodding curtly, ”Tell me how did you know we were here! Who hired you bastard?”
Mueller was paralyzed by fear. He stood still, unaware of Ursula's words.
”Cat's got your tongue?” Ursula asked mockingly. ”Let's see...why don't we cut a finger and see what happens then.”
Seeing as there was no reaction from Mueller, she reached toward her hunting knife and grabbed his hand.
His contact with Ursula's soft, cold hand suddenly reanimated the previously stunned Mueller. His lips started shaking from cold and fear.
”I-I-I will tell you everything!” He yelled. ”Just don't kill me!”
”Oh?” She asked. ”Will you then?”
”As long as you promise to spare my life!” He said with a high voice.
”Don't worry about it.” Ursula gave him a reassuring smile while skillfully hiding her deep hatred. ”I will not kill you as long as you cooperate with us.”