Volume 5 - CH 3.14

Pulling out Jagielka which he had never used during the journey as a guard, Dimitar shouted.

「Lindegaard-kyou! Those guys are a hindrance when they’re wandering aimlessly! Tell them to quickly protect the girls and escape into the wood!」

「Understood!」

If it was the other members, even if he asked such a thing, the best one could expect was that he’d be ignored. Lindegaard-kyou, who thought highly of Lucius, was one of the few nobles who would treat Dimitar properly without despising him.

On top of the triumphal arch, the large man was nocking arrows on the crossbow and pulling the lever. It seemed that it wasn’t just a big crossbow but also a thing called the multiple bolt crossbow, which could shoot many arrows all at once. Moreover, those arrows seemed to be much thicker and heavier than a normal one. If it was from this distance, they’d probably even penetrate the armour of a heavy cavalry. It was a non-standard projectile weapon, of which practical use was possible only because he had extraordinary physical strength.

Dimitar instantly raised Jagielka overhead and fired a wind blade.

「Gu—」

Making a strange “bagin” sound, the multiple bolt crossbow that the man was holding was smashed up. The magic blade that Dimitar had fired had only cut its bowstring, but perhaps it was because the tension was too strong, the multiple bolt crossbow itself seemed to be damaged by the recoil.

When the man, whose cheek was cut deeply by the bowstring that had snapped, glared at Dimitar, he grabbed the huge barbarian’s sword at his feet and jumped down from the triumphal arch.

「Kyaah!」

If one had jumped down from that height, they most likely wouldn’t have survived. Perhaps they were imagining the death of the large man, new screams rose from among the girls who were running about trying to escape, but the man didn’t strike the paved road and die.

「Uoooooooh!」

Skilfully using the rope tied around his waist, the large man kicked the side of the triumphal arch and descended on the ground safely, and then he let out a roar of anger and charged towards Dimitar. However, the man’s aim most likely wasn’t Dimitar. The one whom he was actually staring fixedly at should be either Isaac, who was hiding behind the carriage, or Almudena.

「Dimitar!」

Valeria who was hiding herself together with Isaac’s party screamed, her voice cracking.

「Don’t worry」

Dimitar faced the man and smiled coldly.

If one thought as a soldier who couldn’t use magic, it could be said that this large man was quite a formidable enemy. Whether it be his accurate shooting with that multiple bolt crossbow, which seemed to be difficult to operate, or his physical strength or his keen and nimble movement that was like a wild animal’s, which he had shown just now—he was without a doubt the type of person who had weathered the most of his life with violence. He probably wouldn’t hesitate to kill people either.

However, now that he had failed in the sniping of his surprise attack and exposed himself, the man no longer had any chance of success.

「…Shouldn’t you get up soon? Show everyone your strong point as much as possible」

The moment Dimitar called out to her so, Bettina, who had fallen down spreadeagled, got up slowly.

「Uoh!?」

The large man seemed to be surprised by the pink armour that had suddenly stood in the way in front of him. However, the surprise was only for a moment, and he immediately raised the barbarian’s sword overhead and brought it down towards the top of Bettina’s head.

「Interrupting the long-awaited reunion of a parent and child…」

「Guoh…!?」

Making a loud “gain!” sound, the large man’s barbarian’s sword was repelled. The hands of Bettina, who was facing him, were grasping a battleaxe, which was named Rucheruku.

「—It’s unforgivable!!」

Bettina rotated Rucheruku, which was kept short, once and struck the large man in the stomach with its handle.

「Ga—」

It was a compact movement with hardly any motion, but if it was Bettina who had the power of ten men, that was enough. The large man, who had received a severe blow directly, was blown off flashily without being able to let out his voice properly and fell face down, and then he was motionless as he was.

「Capture the ruffian!」

At Lindegaard-kyou’s order, the young men serving as guards finally got involved in a work typical of that. The large man was immediately tied up and taken away while he was unconscious.

「Whew… that surprised me」

Looking at Bettina, who had turned around after following that with her eyes, Isaac, Almudena and even Valeria let out voices of surprise simultaneously.

「Uwa!?」

「Kya!」

「Hey… a, are you all right, Bettina!?」

「Pardon? Ah, I’m all right」

Countless arrows were stuck in the face of Bettina, who had answered nonchalantly. To be more precise, the arrows were caught in the slits section of the helmet.

「A, all right, you say… really?」

「Yes. All of them stopped midway, so I’m unhurt」

「Well」

Dimitar casually put his foot on Bettina’s visor and was pulling out the arrows, which had got stuck in the slits, with all his strength.

「Hey, Dii-kun, be a bit more careful—」

「There’s no problem. She’s sturdy, after all」

「That’s not it」

Taking little notice of Isaac who was nervous somehow, Dimitar pulled out the arrows one after another. When he took them in his hand again like this, he could fully understand the viciousness of these arrows. If the shooting at the beginning had been fired towards the participants of the garden party, five, six casualties would have certainly appeared.

「Ah, my field of vision is finally clear」

When all the arrows had been pulled out, Bettina stroked her chest as if she felt relieved. However, her body immediately trembled with a start, and she started stamping bashfully.

「W, what’s the matter, Bettina-jou? As expected, are you injured somewhere…?」

「N, no, it’s not like that—」

「You don’t need to worry, Your Highness. It’s something like a usual spasm」

Dimitar hit Bettina’s helmet hard.

「—Oi, go quickly before you wet yourself in front of both Their Highnesses」

「Y, yes! P, please excuse me!」

Bettina bowed and ran off from that place.

Almudena followed the pink object, which was being urged by a physiological phenomenon and had run off, with her eyes and murmured in a daze.

「…Who on earth was that just now?」

「That was the niece of Chief Engineer Albiol of the army, Bettina Albiol-jou, Haha-ue」

Sighing lightly, Isaac explained to Almudena.

「—She’s an important friend of mine」