Never touch Eldmia Egga - Episode 184
After returning to the Ogatorf Mansion, Asilier and I made some simple preparations and then borrowed a horse to leave the capital..
Since I was treated like a person going back to my hometown after a vacation, the employees just sent me off as usual, so there was nothing special about it. Since I had a lot of work to hand over without Cheryl, I was able to leave the mansion with a light heart..
"5Matching food would be enough.?"
"It's leisurely. I'm not walking, I'm riding a horse.."
After purchasing various items while paying attention to nutritional balance at a store that sells preserved food products to adventurers, we passed through the castle gate without any inspection and headed out into the cold plains..
At first, I was just planning on going normally, but I was wondering what was so exciting. Suddenly, Asilier started running ahead of me, so I followed her, and before I knew it, we were running as if we were competing with each other..
As expected from a family of knights, they were war horses by nature and did not tire easily. As if they were wearing barding, the war horses carrying ordinary people without even proper armor galloped over the plains at a fast enough speed without any sign of fatigue..
Since they were extremely expensive, I originally declined and tried to find a place that would rent the horses reasonably, but I couldn't beat Sir Ekaf's firm will to just take them since he wouldn't tell me to take responsibility even if the horses died..
The plain was empty. Although we occasionally saw adventurers and travelers walking along the road, we only encountered a handful of them even though we ran fast and covered a considerable distance in a short period of time..
In the past, I might have felt desolate at that scene, but perhaps it was a transference of Asilier's heightened emotions, what I felt was a strange sense of refreshment..
"Eld! My horse riding skills have improved a lot.!"
"As I started doing this, it started to increase.!"
Even before coming to the capital, I often rode horses to go to Ogwen, but it was only at the level of relying on myself as a means of transportation. He was bound to be on a different level from learning horseback riding on the premise of horseback combat in the Ogatorf family. I still don't feel like riding a horse is particularly enjoyable, but I can ride it to a level where I don't regret it..
"I think it would be better to learn how to shoot an archery from a horse now.!"
Asilier smiled and spoke happily, but I firmly shook my head and stubbornly refused. I don't have much time to ride a horse, and I don't have the energy to learn advanced techniques that take a very long time to master..
After running for a while longer with Asilier, who brushed aside my argument with a refreshing smile, we decided to settle down at a suitable location and eat the lunch we had brought with us..
When I first came up to the capital, I didn't have time to look around, and after that I didn't have to go in the direction of Ogwen, so I was eating a sandwich full of ham, cheese, and other vegetables while admiring the unfamiliar scenery, and Asil was flapping her ears cutely. Rie tilted her head..
When Asilier moves her ears like that, it means she's making sounds that aren't usually common around her..
It's been a while since I left the capital, and I felt anxious, wondering if I'd get caught up in another incident. I looked at him quietly, and Asilier made eye contact and said,.
"After eating, let's take a detour to the right.."
"...What is that sound??"
"The sound of fighting. Considering that there is less clashing noise compared to rumbling, could it be that the minority is being chased by the majority? It seems like the direction is similar to ours. But if you keep your distance, there won't be any problem.."
In this damn fantasy world, sword fights are going on non-stop, anytime, anywhere..
Since I had no interest in taking the initiative to get involved in troublesome and troublesome matters, I ate my sandwich in a hurry and then rode my horse after Asilier. He wanted to run faster, but he was running so fast in front that it was difficult to speed up..
If I had known this would happen, I would have moved a little later and distanced myself from that fight, but I would have continued on for about 30 more minutes, feeling a sense of pointless regret..
"It's not good."
Asilier opened her mouth with a slightly serious expression..
"why? Now come this way?"
"It doesn't just come. Suddenly we started getting closer."
"suddenly?"
What reason is there for that? As soon as the question passed through her mind, Asilier explained it as if she had read my thoughts..
"Maybe... they're trying to force us into their business.."
"...why?"
"Are they trying to buy some time because they are a difficult opponent to deal with? Or are they trying to confuse the enemy by making them think we are part of their group? It's clear they're not here to be considerate of us for any reason.."
Unlike Asilier, who spoke calmly, for the first time in a long time, the bad Eldmia and the even worse Eldmia began to have a fit inside me..
"So, ultimately, they're trying to take advantage of us.?"
"I don't know how they found us, but I guess so. I think the wizard probably used a visibility-expanding spell like eagle's eye to detect the surroundings.."
Magic? I raised my magic power and looked around to see if anything, but there was no particular movement. On the ground.
In a strange sense of discomfort, I raised my head and looked up at the sky to see that there was something floating around that looked like a huge sphere with concentrated magic power. I guess that's it since you can't see it when you remove the magic power..
Now, it made people angry that it would be meaningless to borrow Asilier's bow and shoot there with magic power..
"Who did that before?."
"huh?"
"If someone hates you for no reason, tell him to make a reason."
I don't know who it is, but since they're coming to do something I don't like, I guess it's right to assume they hate me.?
◈
A carriage was crossing the plains.
The carriage, driven by as many as four horses and a loud tourezil, looks ordinary at first glance, but the wheels and other links are reinforced like a chariot. The driver who drove the horse roughly was clearly a heavily armed adventurer, and the person sitting in the passenger seat only had light armor and was carrying two crossbows that were obviously of high quality, showing off that they were not ordinary people..
Following them was a group of 10 people who looked suspicious to anyone. It was not easy to give a friendly look to them as they ran with their swords and bows drawn, their faces covered with masks, their hoods pulled down tightly to prevent them from coming off even while they were riding furiously..
Four of them, who seemed to have just changed their positions, got as close to the back of the carriage as possible and took out javelins mounted on horse saddles at the wheels and hurled them, but rather than breaking the spokes, the javelins were smashed as if they had been caught in a crusher..
One of the masked assailants, who had already used up almost all of the short spears he had prepared, gritted his teeth and shouted..
"Damn you bastards! It's been converted into a battle chariot.!"
"If you know, get out of here.!"
The man in the passenger seat responded nervously while handing over the crossbow he was holding between his legs to the driver, and as carefully as possible, he aimed at one of the assailants and fired the loaded crossbow. It was an action that had been repeated over and over again during the chase that had continued until now, and the gunman easily blocked it with his shield. Teuong! The man clicked his tongue as he looked at the bolt that had become one of the many bolts embedded in the shield with a sound..
"They also put a fucking enchantment on their shield! You lazy bastards!"
The coachman didn't bother to understand the correlation between the enchantment on the shield and the poor quality. Because I understood that it was just a case of wanting to curse for any reason out of my overflowing frustration. Instead, he just skillfully finished loading the crossbow and handed it over to the passenger seat..
"Merdella! I'm sure it's this way?!"
"It's distracting, so stop asking and go for a run! You'll see it soon!"
The wizard Merdella answered with difficulty, trying to distinguish between the view inside the violently shaking carriage and the view shown by the magic eye looking down at the ground from the sky, which were trying to mix together..
"But will they help??"
"It'll be better than our situation now.!"
It was a pity for those whose names and faces were unknown, but this was also a life-threatening incident. One of the adventurers shown by the magic eye was an elf, and since he was holding a bow, it was clear that he would be of greater help than the group who were eagerly shooting a crossbow that did not hit them right away..
"With elf elemental magic, bypassing that shield and shooting an arrow is no problem! Now I have to stick with them at all costs.!"
The effect of the reinforcement given to the horses did not last long. The pursuers also know this, so rather than chasing them too hard, they just follow suit and hunt slowly. If I had seen the Itisel Kingdom's security force, I would have rushed there right away, but they were the only ones in this vicinity who seemed at least capable of fighting..
"see! What now?!"
"Pretend to be part of the group!"
"what?!"
"That way, those damn things won't panic because they think it's an unexpected situation! Even if they run away, if they think they have something to do with us, they will at least send a special force.!"
"But then..."
"Carls, you idiot! Then, let’s just hang out together like this.?!"
Merdella, who deactivated the magic eye that was no longer needed, let out a curse and immediately cast an attack spell..
That's what adventurers were originally like. There are times when you have to struggle to survive and do terrible things for the safety of your colleagues and yourself. They have all endured the shackles of reality for too long to live with dreams and romance. Everyone in her party knew that Merdella was not a psychopath lacking synesthesia and was saying things like that..
And the man in the passenger seat, called Carls, also knew that fact well, so he could not refute Merdella's cry..
"hey! The plan went wrong! caught by the tail!"
That's why I acted as urgent as possible and shouted as if I was in the company of the two adventurers in the distance. But the response he got back was something he didn't expect at all..
"uh?"
The tall man got off his horse with a leisurely movement, and the elf next to him skillfully steered his horse and began to fall to the side..
"what. Why is that friend like that??"
"Damn, I'm going to crash at this rate..."
"I am!"
The tall man shouted, not caring about the distance that was suddenly narrowing..
"Eldmia Egatha!"
There was no time to ask questions like what on earth are they talking about or what are they doing?.
Faster than they could understand the situation, the man approached the moving carriage at explosive speed and struck a horse running in front between the eyes with his fist..
-Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
The horse that was hit between the eyes died without even being able to scream. The resounding cries of the horses were nothing more than the cries of other horses dying due to the corpse. And Carls was convinced as he watched the other horses starting to fall after being caught by a fatal horse, and the carriage that got caught in it and overturned..
"fuck."
something was definitely wrong.
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