The Attack Continues

“Shitoen, don’t move!”

The window frames and the area around the carriage handles had been completely destroyed, but the carriage itself was still holding together. The wheels were undamaged as well.

I wanted to check on Shitoen’s condition, but if we stopped the carriage, it would all be over.

“Don’t stop! Pick up speed! Get out of here!”

When I gave the order, the coachman firmly reseated himself. I saw him encourage the horses and swing a whip as long as a fishing rod. The carriage accelerated.

At that moment, a sound like torrential rain thundered behind us.

A chill ran through me as I looked back, but the crossbow bolts had barely missed the rear of the carriage, piercing through the air like streaks.

Damn it. They fired a volley! How many more shots did they have prepared?!

“Crossbows?!”

“I don’t smell gunpowder! I saw a metallic flash on the roof. They must be crossbows! We’ll be in trouble if they have another volley prepared!”

As I told Raul, the third volley came.

The screams came from behind us.

It was the third carriage.

I twisted around to check.

Part of the carriage appeared to have been damaged, but I could see the coachman soothing the horses and trying to keep them running. I shouted.

“Come on! Don’t slow down!”

I did not know whether he could hear me. I gestured and sent hand signals. The coachman swung his whip in a broad, supple arc. I felt relieved that he apparently had no intention of stopping.

Then I strained my ears and kept my eyes alert.

However, no further attack came.

Because crossbows possessed immense destructive power, machinery was required to draw them. Human strength alone was insufficient. That was precisely why each shot took time and why the firing position needed to be prepared in advance.

One shot, one certain hit. That was what gave a crossbow its value.

The only way to escape that certain hit was to move through the area at high speed.

“Raul, get to the front! Make them go even faster!”

“Understood!”

I watched Raul whip his horse, lean forward, and accelerate, then gradually pulled on the reins to draw closer to the carriage. Unlike my own horse, the black horse was cautious. Especially now that its master had gone ahead, it bit down on the bit and growled, trying to chase Raul rather than obey my instructions.

“It’s all right. Raul, whom you love so much, will come back later.”

I somehow soothed it and tried to guide it toward the carriage, but…

It did not go well.

Having no other choice, I raised my voice despite the considerable distance between us.

“Shitoen! Just answer me!”

I could not risk having her make some careless signal toward me and become a target.

“I-I’m all right! Lady Mail is too!”

Perhaps she understood my intention, because her voice came from inside the carriage.

When I narrowed my eyes, I could make out the two of them huddled together in the empty space between the facing seats. No, Shitoen was shielding Mail with her own body. Mail must have been terrified, because I could hear only her sobbing.

“Stay down! We’re breaking straight through!”

“Understood! Prince Saryu, please be careful too!”

I was also worried about those behind us, but when I twisted around, it appeared Crown Prince Arios’s guards, who had been stationed along the roadside, had mounted their horses and were protecting them.

“Prince Saryu! Raul-san ordered us to come!”

“What in the world is happening?! Is everyone all right?!”

Familiar voices came from ahead.

When I looked, I saw Roze and Mone.

Each of them approached while handling her horse magnificently.

“Protect Shitoen’s carriage!”

I immediately gave the order. Explanations could wait. At a time like this, the more defenders we had, the better.

Good grief, I thought as I wiped the sweat from my forehead.

The reins were suddenly yanked hard.

Whoa?! I hurriedly regained my balance. At first, I assumed the black horse had become wary of Mone’s and Roze’s horses.

But that was not it.

The black horse let out a warning neigh and tried to veer diagonally away from the carriage.

What was wrong? What had frightened it?!

As I worked the reins, trying somehow to convey my instructions, something passed through the air above me.

A black shadow flew overhead.

I looked up.

It was a person.

One, two.

No, three?!

They ran down from the roof of a villa, and one of them clung to the roof of the speeding carriage.

The carriage lurched violently and raced onward balanced on two wheels along one side.

Screams rose from inside, but the remaining two attackers grabbed onto the coachmen, and the recoil forced both wheels back onto the ground.

“Wha—?!”

The coachmen screamed.

Damn it! They were going to stop the carriage!