Chapter 295: The Chase

The one who broke the encirclement fled, leaving a tail of light. The members who had been surrounding them did not follow. Meaning it was left to us. That was why they had put a mark on them.

"Let us go!"

"Yes!"

Lily and I began the chase. The fleeing one was fast! They had been entrusted with the link for a reason. Running parallel on the roofs, we were about to be left behind.

"Lily, down!"

"Yes!"

When we landed, the fleeing one glanced back for an instant.

"Damn!"

they spat. The voice was a woman’s. I see. I might have to kill a woman. Letting her go was not an option, so I would change toward catching her no matter what.

My running speed was slightly faster. I was about to catch up. The woman still seemed not to have noticed she was glowing, and turned a corner. Had she meant to wait for us to go past? When we turned, the woman was there. Breathing hard, hands on her knees, she looked at us.

"Kuh, dogs of the kingdom!!"

she said, drew a dagger, and took a stance.

I wanted to say I was not a dog of the kingdom but Her Majesty’s hound. But that had nothing to do with the present situation. The woman edged backward, trying to flee again, and I could not allow that.

I closed the distance in one go with Divine Legs and slashed.

Kin!! The woman’s dagger caught my sword. We ground against each other, blade to blade. For me there was leeway. Then Lily passed over her head and landed behind her.

Of course the woman could see Lily’s movement. I could not read her expression now that she was circled and caught between us, but she seemed shaken. In the press of the bind I suddenly eased my strength. The woman pitched forward. I struck her back with the flat of the sword.

Gakii!

A loud sound. I thought I had hit bone. She had not lost consciousness.

"Lily, let us catch her!"

"Understood."

Lily took out a thin cord. Still face down, the woman put something in her mouth.

"Bad! She swallowed something!"

"Poison?"

I hurriedly flipped the woman and looked at her face. It was too dark to tell, but she gave one large convulsion and stopped moving.

"Dead?"

I checked for a pulse. There was none. I put a hand to her chest, but the heart was not moving. Was there poison this fast-acting? I wondered, but the proof was right in front of me.

"She seems dead."

Lily said after checking her over as well. The body was still warm, but it would grow cold soon.

"The dead cannot be helped. Let us take her in and go back."

I said that and put the woman in the mana bag. I did not think anything had come into me from this woman. Was she simply fast on her feet? She had not gone toward Lily, had she? If something like a charm had gone in, I would die. I could see a future where vitality was sucked out, the man wasted away, and the woman grew glossy and more attractive. Frightening. I could only hope it would not turn out that way! Ahh, but I had a feeling she already had something like essence-drain.

Thinking such worthless things, I climbed to the roof. At once there was a man running along the road that led from that house. I could see only a silhouette, but the running form was clearly a man’s. He held a sword, ran bowlegged, and swung his shoulders. It was obvious he was not used to running, but you could tell he was running with all he had.

However you looked at it, that was someone involved. Even if not, running down a public road at midnight with a sword was enough to arrest him.

I jumped down from the roof and stood in front of the man. He was short but built with knotted muscle. A build like that should have suited short sprints, not long distance. That was why he was panting with heaving shoulders.

"Move! Do not get in the way!"

He barely forced the words out.

"That is impossible. The moment you run down a public road in the middle of the night waving a sword, we have no choice but to catch you, do we not?"

"What!? That is my business! A-a guy like you standing here is suspicious too!!"

He was right. But the one who said it first won.

"Fufun. To begin with, running down an empty street panting that hard is suspicious beyond measure. I will catch you and hand you to the authorities. Then I should receive a reward."

"The authorities? What is that!?"

Ah. Did Mainz Kingdom not have the word "authorities"? From behind I could feel Lily laughing through her nose.

"Anyway, be caught quietly!"

"What are you saying! You bastard! Like I would let you catch me!"

he shouted, and slashed in. Ohhh! The sword he brought down had a tip faster than I expected. I twisted my body and evaded. But the sword stopped midway and a sweep came.

"Uwawah!?"

I bent my back and barely slipped it. The sword passed right before my eyes. This one was strong!! I was kicked where I was bent and rolled backward. I rolled while absorbing the force of the kick, so it must have looked like I tumbled with a lot of momentum.

"Lord Robbie!?"

Lily worried and let his real name slip. But the man had no leeway to care about that. He closed in to finish me, and Lily slashed at him there. The man tried to evade, but Lily’s sword was sharp and grazed his belly. It looked shallow, but the blade seemed to have gone in.

"Kuh!"

the man cried. He had looked down on Lily as no match and was surprised she was unexpectedly useful, and now he was on the back foot against Lily’s steadily driving blows.

I stood as well and put my sword in from the man’s side. The man knocked Lily’s sword aside and caught mine. On that timing Lily swept his belly.

"Guwah!?"

This time she seemed to have carved deep. The man stepped back and pressed his belly with one hand. Once it became a one-handed sword, the power usually dropped to half or less. We did not need to finish this in a hurry. We only had to bring this one down.

The man swept aside the sword I thrust. The speed of his blade had clearly fallen. He had taken Lily’s sword twice, so his attention was turned toward her. A sword fight was hard enough one against one. Against two of equal skill, and caught between them, there was no future but losing. Would this one drink poison too? If so, that was fine. Let him do as he liked.