Chapter 77
"Wait! Go change clothes! You're not planning to go dressed like that, are you?"
It was only then, when Rapiria-sama pointed it out, that I realized I was soaking wet.
It was almost the time of year when snow would begin to fall. I hadn't noticed because I'd been so absorbed, but once she pointed it out, I suddenly felt cold.
"I've already arranged for the horses, so go back for now," Wickhart urged. I was eager to hurry, but I returned to my room for the moment.
In any case, I hurriedly stripped off my wet clothes and promptly sneezed.
The first thing I spotted that I could put on right away was the Knight Order's uniform. Although I was on vacation, I had brought it just in case, since I was staying with the Third Knight Order.
Anything I could wear would do. I slipped my arms into the uniform and hurried out of the room. As I dashed off, I snatched up the dull-glinting cylinder that threatened to pop out of my clothes and shoved it into my pocket.
I headed for the stables at full speed. Wickhart had already gotten Arrow ready to leave. Rapiria-sama was already mounted.
"Sorry! Wait just a little longer!" I called to the two of them, then asked the stable hand's permission and tore off some of the hay.
"What are you doing? We'll leave you behind!" Rapiria-sama turned her horse toward the exit. I replied, "Do you have any idea where we're headed?" "The stable owner saw a group ride past that way," Wickhart said.
"What about Zackhart-sama?"
"It isn't confirmed, but it is a possibility, so I've sent a stable boy to deliver the message."
As expected of Wickhart. Then all we had to do was chase them.
"Arrow, I'm counting on you!" In response to my signal, Arrow promptly accelerated.
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After Arrow had galloped hard for a while, we spotted a cloud of dust some distance from Gadeland's harbor.
"That's them... There are more of them than I expected."
I didn't need to hear Wickhart say it. Even at a glance, I could see roughly thirty mounted men. Judging by their appearance, they clearly weren't respectable folk.
"There!" Rapiria-sama pointed toward the middle of the group, where a man was holding a large burlap sack. The sack looked about the right size to hold a single girl.
"We don't have enough arrows to shoot them all. Besides, if Lufa is in that sack, we can't risk bringing down the man carrying it. I'll take out those around him."
Wickhart raised his bow, while Rapiria drew her sword.
"Roa, turn back at once and tell Zackhart-sama where we are! If we're only buying time, the two of us are enough!"
Neither Rapiria-sama nor Wickhart had considered me part of the fighting force from the outset. To be honest, neither had I. Objectively speaking, if I joined the fight only to get in the way, it was better not to join at all.
That's why I'd brought this.
"I'll leave the fighting to you! Just make absolutely sure you fight upwind!"
"What are you..." Rapiria-sama looked at me suspiciously as I held up the dull-gray cylinder. That alone conveyed everything.
Rapiria-sama said nothing more. She turned her horse around and began maneuvering to circle the group.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wickhart fire the first arrow! It flew straight into one man's head, and the man it struck crumpled from his saddle.
At that point, the kidnappers realized something was wrong and turned toward us, shouting. The man carrying the sack was shouting something in particular. He seemed to be their leader.
Seeing how few of us there were, about ten of them turned around and charged us.
However, Wickhart gave them no chance to approach. His arrows flew with unerring accuracy, piercing the kidnappers' heads without mercy.
After three more went down, I saw the others begin to falter. The man with the sack started shouting again. He seemed to be yelling something along the lines of, "If you don't do your jobs properly, you won't get a share!"
I moved a little away from Wickhart and took the hay from my pocket. I had worried there would be nothing nearby to use, but fortunately, this was a plain. There was no shortage of dried grass at this time of year.
I pulled out the dull-colored cylinder—the pressure-ignition device—and forced air into the hay as tinder with all my might!
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"You useless bastards! It's only two or three of them! What are you waiting for?!"
The man carrying the sack, Kirius, shouted at the others around him.
"Then you go!" one man shot back. Kirius retorted, "Then you won't get a share!"
"But how can someone shoot a man in the head so accurately from that distance...?" another man said nervously. "It was a fluke! We've got thirty men! If we all attack at once, it'll be nothing!"
Even with Kirius urging them on, they were merely men who had joined up for money. Their movements were sluggish.
In the midst of all this, someone began saying, "Doesn't it smell kind of burned...?"
"Hey! Smoke's rising!" someone else shouted.
I couldn't figure out why a place with no apparent source of fire was burning, but this smoke might be useful. It would be convenient for me to leave these guys behind and escape on my own.
"...Anyway, we'll face them together! Don't move on your own!" Kirius issued the exact opposite order this time, while slowly beginning to put some distance between himself and the others, using the smoke as cover.
Most of the men were already in a panic as arrows continued to come at them with deadly accuracy from beyond the smoke.
"This is as far as I go," Kirius muttered as he tried to flee alone. The moment he heard a whisper right beside him—"Where do you think you're going?"—his arm was severed.