Chapter 188: Hurrying

To the margrave’s wife who had come to see us off I requested,

"If any information of movement from the capital arrives, would you please contact the Mainz Kingdom?"

"Of course. The margrave also places maintaining friendly relations with the Mainz Kingdom as the first priority. Therefore movements in the capital will be reported to the Mainz Kingdom as well, and we will inform Prince Robin one by one together with that."

The answer that returned from the margrave’s wife was exactly as expected. I conveyed my gratitude and boarded the carriage. We had decided to make the people of the mansion believe that I had boarded the carriage and departed. Just in case there might be a spy of Prince Maxim inside the margrave’s mansion.

I wanted to get outside the gate quickly, but inside the margraviate capital we had to advance slowly. As a noble, and especially as a prince, one must not show people the appearance of being in a hurry. While I fretted, we finally passed through the gate of the margraviate capital’s walls and went outside. Here the three of us changed to horses. As a prince I had of course been trained to ride. Lily and Stevie also said they could ride to some extent. As expected of those whose duty was escort, being able to ride a horse was only natural.

The margrave’s subordinates wore calm faces, but most of the attendants who had come with us from the capital wore suspicious expressions. I gave the order that since we three would go ahead to the Mainz Kingdom, the remaining people should follow the margrave’s subordinates and proceed at the usual speed later toward the Mainz Kingdom. In the worst case, even if these people were found and captured by Prince Maxim’s agents it would be fine. As long as the three of us entered the Mainz Kingdom it was enough. At this point the attendants who had been guarding the carriages clearly sensed that something had happened.

There I revealed what the margrave’s wife had told us. Of course great agitation was visible. Many had left their families behind in the capital. Therefore I told them that if they delivered the carriages as far as the border checkpoint of the Mainz Kingdom (there would be one, probably) they could return. I also told them that if Maxim’s agents came they could reveal exactly what they had heard. Even if we tried to make them say we had headed for the capital, if there was a pro-Maxim faction among them it would be meaningless. Moreover, if they were killed or harmed over something like that it would be pitiful.

Anyway I wanted those uninvolved with me to be left as if nothing had happened.

"Now, let’s go!"

I called to Lily and Stevie.

""Yes!!""

—-

The three of us mounted the horses and started running. Or rather, we intended to start running, but unfortunately I was unable to make a horse run in the first place. First of all, I did not possess a Riding skill. Moreover, even though I had received riding training at the Royal Palace, it had only been the level of making a guided horse run in the palace’s riding ground. So-called trotting speed. At that rate wouldn’t it be faster to run on my own legs? But as a noble, running was something one could not do. Let alone a prince running — it was apparently something that would get one expelled from the ranks of the nobility.

"Lily, how far is it from here to the border? How far have we come?"

I asked right after we set out. If the distance ahead was long it would be hard on Lily and Stevie and I would not be able to stand it.

"According to what the margrave’s butler said, it is probably about 20 miles."

Gaaaan, that far...

"Then how long will it take at this speed?"

"Even if we rest the horses along the way, I think we will arrive before noon."

"I see, it’s far."

"We must not let Prince Maxim’s agents catch up."

"Of course."

I felt depressed.

The messenger carrying the margrave’s report had arrived at the margrave’s mansion last night — or rather in the middle of the night. If Maxim’s (the way I referred to him was gradually becoming worse, which was only natural) agents had departed the capital after that, they might catch up very soon. It would be nice if someone like me was outside Maxim’s field of vision. How about it? But since the margrave’s wife was worried enough to warn us, the possibility of pursuers coming was probably high.

After making the horses run for about an hour we took a rest.

"It would have been better if we could have received slightly better horses."

Stevie rarely complained.

"Stevie, can you tell good horses from bad?"

When I asked she nodded and said,

"These are either horses on the verge of retiring from military service or already retired horses. Therefore I think they were given to us without any expectation of return."

Lily continued,

"Robby-sama, it is already fortunate that we received any at all. The horses our escorts were riding were not much different either."

she said. So the horses we received in the capital and the ones given by the margrave’s wife were not that different.

I could not really tell a horse’s age, nor good from bad. In the first place the only horses I knew were the two-dimensional ones that girls raced around courses.

"Now, let’s hurry to the Mainz Kingdom. How much remains?"

I asked while making the horse run (in my mind I was making it run, but in reality it was probably only a fast walk).

"I think we have come about halfway."

Lily answered. At this rate it looked as if we would not be caught, I thought. Yes — that was something I must not think. Even though I had experienced many times that the moment one became optimistic things rolled in the bad direction, I still had not learned.

The mountain range that had been visible in the distance from the margraviate capital now looked considerably closer. A dense forest spread out before our eyes, and a single road continued through the middle of it. The road was wide enough and looked very good for advancing on horseback. It was clear that this road continued to the Mainz Kingdom. I asked a man who was walking toward us.

"May I ask something? Does this road continue to the Mainz Kingdom?"

The man looked a little frightened by my question, but still answered,

"Yes, that is correct. Further ahead — much further, about five miles perhaps — there is the border. At the border there is a checkpoint, and if you pass through it you will be in the Mainz Kingdom."

"Thank you. That helps. This is only a small token — please take it."

When I handed the man one silver coin he was surprised but looked very happy. He bowed repeatedly.

"Now, shall we advance? Just a little more."

""Yes!""

If I could make the horse run faster we might already have crossed the border by now.

Before we had advanced even one mile I noticed something abnormal. It was strange — there was no one going along the road and no one coming either. After the man from earlier, no one appeared.

At that moment Stevie said,

"Don’t you hear a sound? Something like a high-pitched whistle?"

I strained my ears at Stevie’s voice, but only the sound of the horses’ hooves could be heard. Lily also said,

"I cannot hear anything."

We stopped the horses and strained our ears, but I still could not hear it.

Yet Stevie shook her head and said,

"I can hear it. There is no mistake! A very high, irritating sound that comes in waves, growing larger and smaller. This sound makes my head hurt!"

She spoke as if extremely irritated.

"It is strange that Lily and I cannot hear it and only Stevie can."

"Yes."

At our words Stevie seemed to misunderstand that we thought she was lying, because she said,

"I am not lying! It is true! There are others like me as well! There are sounds that ordinary people cannot hear but only animals can!"

"Heeh— like a dog whistle."

When I said that, Lily looked at my face and asked,

"What kind of thing is a dog whistle?"

"A whistle that produces a sound people cannot hear. When gathering dogs, if you blow that whistle you can gather dogs without people knowing."

"That’s it!!"

At Stevie’s loud voice Lily and I widened our eyes.

"I have heard of it. There is a whistle that produces a sound ordinary people cannot hear, and if you blow it you can gather magical beasts."

At Stevie’s words I felt only a bad premonition. Stevie, that is something you must not say all the way to the end. Lily seemed to share the same thought; she looked at me, nodded, and swallowed.

"Stevie, let me ask — from whom did you hear that story?"

I asked cautiously.

"From a person who came from the Empire. They said there is such a whistle in the Empire!"

Stevie said with her chest out. Stevie, that is a bad one...