Volume 5 - CH 2.10

It rained from morning the next day as expected.

Early morning—although one might say so, because of the earliness to accommodate the queen, a few hours had already passed since they departed from the inn at the time when the sun would have risen long ago if it was a clear sky. In any case, the top priority was to arrive at the next town by sunset today, and the plan was to solely advance forward without taking short breaks frequently like they had during the journey so far, but the ground which was muddy because of the rain was hampering the horses’ steps. In reality, even though noon had just passed, delays were starting to occur in the plan already.

The visibility was extremely poor due to the pouring rain and the cloudy sky blocking the sunlight. Dimitar, who was sitting on the driver’s seat of the queen’s carriage and grasping the reins, lowered the hood of the fur mantle with high heat-retaining property, looked up overhead and let out a white sigh slightly.

At that moment, high-pitched neighs of horses reverberated as if to pierce the sound of rainfall, which was sticking to his ears and wouldn’t go away.

「!」

Hearing that, the first wagon which the maids had got on stopped. The excited horses might not be listening to what the driver was saying. The front blocked, the queen’s carriage and the wagon with the menservants which had come from the rear also naturally stopped.

「…Good grief」

Dimitar stroked his nape lightly and stood up.

Before long, several men and horses pushed the darkness aside and came from the path of the highway, which meandered inside the forest. The violent neighs just now probably belonged to these horseback riders. When Dimitar looked back, several horseback riders were also kicking up mud and approaching from the rear of the party as expected.

Noticing that there were swords, which were reflecting dim light and shining dully, in the hands of the horseback men, Dimitar hit the roof of the carriage with a bang and shouted.

「It’s thieves! The women should run away! The men should surround the carriage at the centre! Protect Her Highness!」

At that one voice, middle-aged women, who had put on plain mantles, rushed out from inside the first wagon with a force that they literally fell over and ran into the forest while screaming. Subsequently, the men who had jumped down from the third wagon, far from protecting the queen’s carriage, also followed the maids and ran into the very dim light.

「…As one would expect, they’re excellent」

Dimitar followed the attendants who had fled in the twinkling of an eye with his eyes, carried the petite maid, who similarly had been sitting on the driver’s seat side by side with him, under his arm and jumped in one breath.

「Now then—」

Dimitar, who had jumped up onto the branch of a tall tree, looked down at the men who had suddenly appeared from the front and rear of the party jumping down from their horses and then surrounding the carriage at the centre without paying any attention to the attendants that had run away.

「!? That man there, come down!」

One of the thieves looked up at Dimitar and shouted, but Dimitar ignored him. He understood that unless they had leg strength enhanced by magic, they couldn’t come up here no matter what they said.

「Leave the attendants alone!」

Another thief shouted in a low voice.

「—More importantly, kill the queen first!」

With an unreserved thirst for blood, the thieves put their hands on the door of the carriage.

The next moment, several men were blown off at the same time the door opened.

「Gya—」

「Gu, ah…」

Both men who had fallen over had large burns in the middle of their chests and were groaning in anguish in the mud. The other thieves who had been staring at that in astonishment raised their faces with a start at the faint creaking of the carriage.

「…You’re those assassins, huh」

Valeria, who had lightly blown her index finger which stood upright and descended from the carriage calmly, put her hands on her waist and surveyed left and right.

「What… w, where’s the queen!?」

「Just the guard—?」

「Though I feel slightly awkward saying such a thing in front of the queen—」

Valeria narrowed her eyes, and a deep crimson magic crest emerged on the back of her right hand.

「You’re too insolent! Who do you think I am!?」

When Valeria swung her right arm once, a veil of brilliant flame spread out between the thieves and her.

「Uoah!?」

「So hot!」

Scorched by the explosive flame, the thieves retreated.

Dimitar, who had been watching that from a high place, gently put the mantle, which he had put on, on the maid beside him.

「I’m sorry, Your Highness the Queen. Can you wait here a little longer?」

「It’s fine if I wait here, right? Or rather, the height here isn’t one that I can go down by myself at all though…」

The one who had lowered her hood and smiled at Dimitar was none other than Queen Almudena. Dimitar, who had predicted that there would be an attack in this forest today, made Almudena wear the clothing of an attendant from the time they departed from the inn, and he not only put a mantle on her so that her face couldn’t be seen but also placed her right next to him.

Moreover, all the attendants fleeing was also something prearranged from the beginning so that it wouldn’t cause casualties. Dimitar shouting to protect the carriage at the centre was just a cheap trick to direct the thieves’ attention there.

When would the attack happen—putting it the other way around, in what kind of situation would they surely attack; if he could guess that, then it wasn’t difficult to repel them. It could be said that the success of this plan was almost assured when the king decided to use the queen as a decoy.

Dimitar made the queen cling on to the trunk of the tree and whispered.

「Please don’t move carelessly and fall down—I’ll deal with them immediately」

「Yes, please do, Richternach-kyou」

「The queen is over there! Prepare the bows and arrows!」

The thieves, who had finally realised that the queen was up on a tree, took out their bows and arrows, but Dimitar had already jumped down from the top of the tree branch.

「Though I’m underhanded, you slacked off towards the end, or rather the problem is from before you’re cornered. You’re too sloppy」

Dimitar, who had come down at a terrific speed, swung Jagielka which was kept in the scabbard as it was and struck the thief, who was trying to notch an arrow to the bowstring, with a side blow.

「Bubo!」

Although it wasn’t a drawn sword, the content of the sturdy scabbard was a huge sword that could be called a mass of steel. If one was hit on the side of the face by this dangerous weapon which was even heavier than an incomplete blunt weapon, there was no way other than to become unconscious in one blow.

Dimitar took a step forward with great force without a moment’s delay, thrust the hilt of his sword at another thief in the solar plexus once and made him faint in agony. He then looked at Valeria over his shoulder and spoke.

「We’re in front of Her Highness the Queen, don’t spill any blood!」

「I’m doing so!」

「Also, I don’t think I have to worry, but don’t kill them!」

「I know that too!」

Valeria brushed up her hair, which had got wet in the rain, and swung both hands, shooting “Fire Bullet”Blast successively.

「Gu!」

「Gaha!?」

The thieves surrounded Valeria and tried to slash at her from every direction, but their swords couldn’t even get into reaching distance, and they were blown away one after another. For Valeria who possessed extraordinary magic power, if it was a magic arrow of which its power was controlled to this degree, she probably wouldn’t get out of breath shooting several tens of it in succession. At the point of time when there wasn’t a single magic warrior mixed in with the thieves, it was clear that things would become like this.

Even if fully-armed heavy knights charged at her in hundreds, she could cut them down calmly—that was the power of a Dominas.