Chapter 202: That’s Why You Mustn’t Raise Flags…

The horse should have advanced smoothly — but because Knight White could not walk, we made no progress at all. We had not brought a spare horse, so this fellow had no choice but to walk. I keenly felt once again how important it is for people to walk on a daily basis. No matter how much he poured with sweat, his legs simply would not move forward.

A mountain range pressed close on the right, while forest continued on the left. Between them we followed a slightly more respectable packed path that was little more than an animal trail. Because of a road like this, White looked as if he might fall at any moment.

"Just a little more! Not even one mile left!"

When Squire said that, an arrow struck Squire’s neck. Squire fell from his horse. The knight beside him was also struck by successive arrows and fell from his horse. An arrow grazed the tip of my nose!

"Enemy! Dismount! Prepare for the enemy! Arrows are coming!"

A man who seemed to be the vice-commander shouted. Arrows continued to fly. One struck the vice-commander’s chest and he too fell from his horse. With two commanders down, the group fell into uproar. Was a single arrow a fatal wound!? What if it had hit me?

"Calm down! The enemy is from the forest! Take cover!"

I shouted, but there was nothing to hide behind.

One after another the members of the margrave’s household were hit by arrows and became unable to move. The men who had been lined up around me like shields fell one after another. The arrows were nearly one-hundred-percent accurate! And once they hit, the power was enough to knock a rider from his horse without fail.

"Lily, Stevie, into the forest! At this rate we’ll just be picked off!"

""Yes!!""

White? The fellow was flustered but had not been hit by an arrow. Was he not regarded as a target? The enemy did not see him as a threat either.

I ran toward a tree at the edge of the forest. Arrows flew aiming at me. I dodged and knocked them down. No arrows came toward Lily or Stevie; it felt as if they were focusing solely on me.

"I’ll block them!"

Stevie stepped in front of me and knocked down the flying arrows with her sword. I ran right behind Stevie. Lily? She was there! Behind me! Did she still have aftereffects? Was there no sharpness in her movements!?

Using Stevie as a shield we plunged into the forest. There the arrows stopped. I could only tell that the arrows were flying from deeper in the forest. Probably two or three archers? Or more?

From deeper in the forest three men holding swords appeared and began running. They were not large men, but none of them carried unnecessary muscle; their builds looked specialized for combat. Their facial features felt different from those seen inside the country. All three had strong jaws and high cheekbones. That was a facial structure not often seen inside the Marie Kingdom, wasn’t it?

In the blink of an eye they closed the distance and arrived right in front of us. The lead man charged at Stevie. Fast! Stevie barely managed to dodge. The next man came straight at me. Grinning, he thrust his sword. His footwork was so fast my eyes widened.

This guy knew not to raise his sword high. Had he watched me fight earlier? I twisted my body and the sword barely passed my side. I tried to bring my sword down toward that opening, but he seemed to have anticipated that the thrust would be dodged; he pulled the thrusting sword back and received mine. This guy possessed strength that did not lose to my Strength. No — greater than mine! The sword I had brought down with force was bounced back by his. Instantly I stepped backward.

This time he raised his sword high and charged with ferocious speed. Because my center of gravity was already back, I could not move forward. I rolled to the right. His sword — the downward-swinging blade — stopped midway and swept toward me.

"Uwah!!"

I thought it passed so close that a hair’s breadth of my hair might have been cut. I heard the byun! of the sword. But at that timing his abdomen appeared right in front of me. I drove my sword into it.

"Gan!?"

A sound rang out and my hand went numb. Was he wearing metal armor on his abdomen!? How underhanded! — I thought, but when facing battle this was probably the normal thing.

Seeing my sword bounce back he exhaled with a sneer,

"Hmph!"

Bad! Does that mean even if I cut the torso the sword won’t go in? Does that mean I have to aim for arms and legs? The guy’s expression had changed to one of composure.

After a momentary pause he charged. A sword that had built up speed swept in from the side of his body. I could not receive this. I would lose to the momentum. I escaped my body in the direction of the sweep. The guy made an "Oh?" face, but immediately recovered his stance and brought the sword down. It was so fast I could do nothing. The sword was brought down right in front of my eyes and bit into the ground. If this were a single-edged Japanese sword I could step on it, but that was impossible. Just as he tried to lift the sword I slammed my own sword down on it.

Kin!!

The sound of metal striking metal rang out. I stepped back and looked at my sword, but it was neither broken nor chipped. As expected of a ducal-house sword! But his sword was broken from the place where the blades had struck. It was not that his was a dull blade, I thought; it was the difference in the quality of the swords.

"Tch!"

He spat and discarded the sword. Then he pulled a greatsword out of thin air. He swung that sword with byun byun!

"As I thought, this familiar sword fits my hand best."

Hmm? Something about the words I was hearing felt different from usual? What was this sense of wrongness?

That had nothing to do with him; he charged with the sword lowered and cut upward. Fast! Even though the sword had become large and long, the speed had not changed.

"Fah! Fah! Fah!"

With strange battle cries he cut downward and upward. I could only keep retreating. I was retreating, but my margin was disappearing. The distance between his sword and me was gradually closing.

When it finally came to the critical moment,

"Dieeeeee—!!"

With a scream he raised the sword high. At that moment the sword struck a tree branch and stopped for an instant. This was the moment! Using every spring in my body I dove into his right side and slid the sword into his armpit! The sensation of cutting flesh was transmitted to my hand. The sword struck bone; I slid it between the shoulder and arm bones and changed my grip so as not to cut the bone.

And just like that I ran past behind him!!