Chapter 432: Chasing the Carriage

When we exited the grounds, there was no one on the road. With the bad conditions of night and rain falling, the carriage was already nowhere in sight. Only barely, far ahead, could the mark be seen. I had not thought we would be helped so suddenly.

I ran in front of the mansion. Then, an arrow flew from the roof of the mansion! I stopped. It was probably 50 meters from the entrance. Even though we were running without lights, grasping our position and shooting was amazing. Had he climbed from the entrance to the roof?

"Is shooting passersby with arrows a punishable offense?"

"Yes."

"Is it all right to counterattack?"

"Probably."

Both Robbie and Lily were foreigners, so we were not very familiar with this country’s laws. But letting it pass here would not sit well.

I hid in the shadow of a wall that was a blind spot from the roof and took out from the mana bag the bow that had just returned from the Eisleben lands. It was not as good as the bow received from the griffin, but it fit the hand extremely well. I nocked an arrow and stored mana in the arrow. Then I jumped onto the wall and shot! Immediately moving, three arrows passed through where I had been. Literally by a hair’s breadth.

Gya!! a voice was heard from the direction of the mansion. There was a sense that someone had fallen. I thought there were other men as well, so I nocked an arrow to the bow again, stored mana, jumped onto the wall, and released! Immediately moving sideways. The arrows from the mansion flew at a delayed timing compared to before. Aiming toward the point from which that arrow had been released, I released an arrow.

Gya!! Guwa!! Voices rose one after another. I do not think they were fatal wounds, but at least they would no longer be shooting arrows. Still, the fact that they had assembled this many archers meant it would be better to assume enemies were waiting further ahead as well.

"Let’s go."

"Yes."

Lily and I ran along the road. Occasionally there were streetlights, but almost no lights were on in the mansions on both sides of the road. Lily was running following me, but without asking things like "Are you all right?" she was keeping up. She must trust me 100%, but that in itself was scary.

Far away, the movement of the mark stopped. Did that mean the carriage had stopped?

I turned a corner, and buildings with weak lights on here and there could be seen far away. The carriage was stopped there. At that moment, a person jumped out from the side. Until just before they had hidden their presence, but the moment they jumped out the killing intent exploded. Lily reacted before me and charged into them with her whole body. Then they rolled together.

The sound of bodies striking a puddle with a splash could be heard. From the opposite side a mass of killing intent collided. When I dodged, a sword passed in front of my eyes. From the mana bag I took out the sword that had also just returned from the Eisleben lands and cut near the base of the sword!

Gya!! a voice came, and the sword fell to the ground. Probably both wrists were severed. The mass of killing intent vanished all at once, and they rolled away with the momentum. Lily stood up smoothly. At her feet a person was fallen.

"It’s finished."

Lily said plainly.

"Are they dead?"

The one who had come at me had lost their wrists and was rolling around.

"I used poison, so it was instant."

Lily said that plainly as well. Th-then that’s fine.

In the meantime Konoka was moving toward the great gate of the Royal Capital. It was dark and I could not yet visually confirm her. In this darkness, one would not know unless they got quite close.

Run, run, run. Something that looked like Konoka’s figure came into view. Two men were standing beside her. I wanted to secure her before she was put outside.

A chill ran down the back of my neck. Unconsciously I jumped sideways.

"Tch!"

Along with a tongue click, the light of a sword ran. If I had kept running as I was, my neck would have been cut. Without time to ready my sword, the enemy leaped in. Without swinging the sword, it felt as though a bullet was coming in a thrusting posture. I twisted my body and dodged that as well. My posture collapsed and I could not swing the sword.

I tried to straighten my twisted body, but no time was given for that, and the enemy leaped in again. Was this one’s sword all about thrusting? More than having various techniques used, this was far more difficult. If it were slow it would be fine, but it was fast no matter what! They leaped in, grazed my side, and the moment they landed they leaped again. Unable to swing the sword, I barely turned the blade diagonally toward the enemy. The leaping enemy slipped through as if sliding along the back of the sword. The enemy also twisted their body and avoided the sword. An opening appeared. I moved the sword together with the direction the enemy was moving. At the timing when the enemy landed and tried to leap toward me, my sword entered as if sucked into them. The tip of the sword had not risen fully, but the blade entered their face. They opened only their eyes within a face painted completely black and looked at the sword. The sword went in between those eyes. The sharpener from the Eisleben lands must have been first-class. A person’s face was bisected like tofu. It was a sharpness that made one think whether the blood spraying was delayed because it was cut so cleanly.

I could not keep watching forever, so I leaped back from the enemy. Lily? When I searched with my eyes, Lily was also fighting an enemy. The enemy was a man swinging a sword, but Lily was swinging a dagger. The enemy seemed to have considerable strength, and the speed of swinging the sword was extraordinary. Lily dodged the sword and was timing entering the enemy’s reach. If I intervened it felt as though I would disrupt Lily’s timing. I looked toward Konoka.

The solidly built man was just in the moment of throwing Konoka out from the side gate. There was no longer room to hide. I started running toward the side gate. From beside the solidly built man a thin man came out. He had a pale face. But it was a face I had not seen before. He smiled thinly and smoothly drew a slender sword.