Encountering Bandits

One month after that.

A formal letter of invitation and domestic travel permits arrived from the Kingdom of Luminous, and Shitoen and I, along with my knightly order, set out for the Kingdom of Tania.

To reach the Kingdom of Tania, we had to cross straight through the Kingdom of Luminous, but at the border an escort knight was waiting for us and accompanied us as far as each lodging place, so nothing unexpected like “getting lost” or “having to sleep outdoors” had happened so far.

Nothing had happened, but…

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…”

Letting out a huge sigh, I slumped my shoulders on horseback.

“Pull yourself together, would you? Even His Highness the Crown Prince told you, ‘The trip there is official business,’ didn’t he?”

When I glanced over, Raul, riding abreast of me, was looking my way in exasperation.

“I know. I know, but… even though we’re married now, we hardly ever get to be together like this. And yet it’s ‘travel separately’ and ‘separate bedrooms at the inns’…”

The rattling of wheels clattered loudly.

We had gradually reached a mountain road, and the condition of the road was poor. I could hear the wheels of the carriage carrying Shitoen and Eaton all the way from here.

“His Highness the Crown Prince gave strict orders that you were to keep separate bedrooms until the official business is over. As long as I still draw breath, I won’t let you stay together.”

Should I just kill this guy, then?

“Why not ride in the carriage together? Then you could enjoy chatting with Princess Shitoen on the way.”

Raul said that, and as if agreeing with him, his black horse gave a snorting huff and bobbed its head.

“If it’s the commander’s beloved horse, I’ll lead it along for you.”

“In the carriage, Eaton just keeps talking the whole time. She’s noisy as hell.”

At first, I had tried riding in it, but Eaton talked to Shitoen far more constantly than I had expected.

‘My, milady, we’re already in Luminous!’ and ‘Rather than nostalgic… it’s scenery that makes me angry when I remember it,’ she kept going on and on, pouring out all her bitterness and resentment toward the Kingdom of Luminous.

Well, Shitoen must have her own thoughts about it too. She kept listening sympathetically and comforting her with things like, ‘You were made to suffer,’ and, ‘That did happen, yes,’ so it turned into a one-woman performance from Eaton.

“Well, still… from the time we left the royal capital, everything has gone smoothly, so that’s what matters.”

Raul nodded along. I also agreed with a, “Well, true enough.”

It took about five days from the royal capital to reach Luminous. Then another five days of traveling continuously along Luminous’s highways.

Right now, the vanguard entering ahead of us was heading into a mountain pass road.

Once we got through there, the border of the Kingdom of Tania would be right nearby.

The setting sun was sinking into the mountains, dyeing the surroundings in deep orange light.

To the sound of hoofbeats, the group moved onward with a knight of Luminous at the head.

“But still, you have to admit, Luminous is being generous, or rather…”

Raul gave a shrug while looking toward the front. The aiguillette on his uniform swayed lightly with the horse’s movement.

“They’re letting us use their roads and all like this.”

“They must be that desperate. Besides.”

Unlike Raul, I turned my gaze behind us.

Around the middle of the procession.

That was where the carriage was.

Surrounded by mounted knights, Shitoen ought to be inside. Maybe Eaton was still there complaining about something.

“No matter what you say, Shitoen lived in this country for two years. At this point, even if they tried to hide things…”

Roads and highways are vital state secrets in wartime.

Letting foreign royalty enter so openly like this and see the road conditions and the surrounding area was surely not something they wanted to do much.

Saying, ‘We would not want you to lose your way,’ knights of the Kingdom of Luminous accompanied us to each lodging place every time, but they were really just polite watchers. They were probably keeping an eye on us so we would not stray from the road and investigate the country.

That was likely why they deliberately led us through prosperous urban districts and along scenic routes, but…

Even so, there was a hint of unease on the merchants’ faces.

The wheat had apparently already been harvested, and even in the farming regions, which ordinarily should have had a festive air in anticipation of the harvest festival, shadows still lay across the peasants’ faces.

That may have been caution toward the coming winter.

“More than that, they probably just want to hurry up and apologize to Shitoen and have the whole country prepare for winter.”

When I said that, Raul smiled cynically.

“They brought it on themselves.”

Once you said that, there was really nothing more to say, and for that matter, Shitoen and I might never have gotten married.

A broken engagement.

It had caused all sorts of consequences, but…

As far as I was concerned, Crown Prince Arios had made the best possible choice for me.

“Commander!”

Just as Raul’s horse and mine set hoof on the slope of the mountain pass, one of my men came galloping toward us alone from ahead.

“What happened?!”

Seeing the alarmed look on the man’s face, Raul spoke first in a wary voice.

“A merchant wagon ahead is under attack by bandits! The knights of Luminous are fighting to drive them off, but… what are your orders!?”

“Halt! Everyone, halt!”

Raul wheeled his horse around and shouted toward the rear. Heavy hoofbeats thundered, mingled with the neighing of horses and the groaning of wheels.

“What orders, you ask…”

I gave a sharp laugh.

“It’s the same thing we do on the winter frontier. ‘Bandits get put down.’ What else is there?”

Twisting only my neck, I looked behind me and shouted loudly.

“Suleiman unit, Mirei unit, guard the carriage! Everyone else, with me! Don’t let the knights of Luminous outdo you!”

When I dug my spurs into my horse, it sprang forward as though understanding my intent.

The knights around me also drew their swords and followed after me.

With a thunder of movement, I raced my horse up the rocky slope lined with trees.

Shadows immediately began to fall across the road.

Not because the sun had set. The trees were growing thick and dense, blocking out the evening light.

A curved stretch of road came into view. To the right was a cliff. By the time I had pulled the reins left and turned my horse’s nose higher up the slope, curses, shouts, and screams were already reaching my ears.

As I pressed the horse onward, a broad space opened up, making the narrow road from before seem like a lie.

Maybe this place had been widened so wagons coming down from above and wagons coming up from below could pass one another.

But at the same time, it was also a dim place.

Perhaps, but this might have been a place where bandits posing as peddlers frequently blocked the road from the front, lured travelers into this clearing, and attacked them.

At that moment, two covered wagons had been stopped at angles across from each other, and fighting had already broken out around them.

The wagon that seemed to have come down from above still had horses attached, and they were rearing and whinnying wildly, but the wagon that had been about to climb the pass had no horses. Only the yoke remained, and the covered cargo bed sat halted facing uphill.

Men dressed like merchants were swinging long swords to drive back the knights of the Kingdom of Luminous, while others were stretching their hands toward one of the halted wagon covers, trying to search for something.

“I am Saryu, Third Prince of the Kingdom of Tidros! I shall punish these insolent wretches!”

When I raised my voice, everyone there froze for an instant.

They all looked up at me on horseback.

My eyes met those of one of them.

As if released from a spring, he raised his long sword and charged at me.

Still mounted, I swung out my left hand holding the whip.

Before the man could bring his long sword down, my whip struck his wrist.

The man screamed, “Gyaa!” and writhed in agony.

The moment I jumped down from the horse, I threw aside the whip.

Immediately, another bearded man in front of me drew his sword and came at me.

I ducked under the strike, and the moment I rose, I drove my clenched left fist into the man’s stomach. His body folded onto my fist. With a grunt, I stepped in one pace farther and leaned forward.

Then, with a shout, I swung my arm through, and the man’s body went flying backward in a pathetically easy arc, crashing to the ground with his companions.

The man dressed like a merchant who stood there staring up at me in stunned disbelief got a spinning kick for his trouble, and I sent him tumbling off the cliff. Then I planted my feet on the ground with a thud. At the same time, I slapped my palms together once and gave a laugh.

“Well then, who’s next?”

“Th-the Winter Bear. A mad bear that can’t hibernate… the Winter Bear of Tidros…!”

The one who cried that out in terror was…

A knight of the Kingdom of Luminous.

…Uh…

No, you and I are on the same side right now. It’s fine, it’s fine, I’m not going to attack you, not you, that’s what I thought, but the moment our eyes met, he shrieked, “Eek!” and raised his sword at me.

…I’m not some indiscriminate mad bear, you know.