#60: The Bandits’ Attack — I Found a Wife Whose Engagement was Broken Off in the Neighboring Country, But She’s Too Cute, What Should I Do? (Wn)

“…I can stay here on watch, so would you like to wait for Princess Shitoen in front of the women’s bath, Captain?”

As I was absently staring up at the bamboo fence, Raul quietly suggested that.

“Princess Shitoen was probably just embarrassed, not seriously angry at you, Captain. If you say from your side, ‘I didn’t choose my words well earlier,’ then she’ll likely find it easier to soften too.”

“…Maybe I should do that…”

I muttered with my head hanging down.

To be honest, I hated the idea of any man other than Raul being here, but with Raul, I could feel at ease…

Maybe it would be better to leave this to him and wait in front of the women’s bath.

“Then…”

I was about to say, I’m counting on you, but then—

“Ah…!”

A startled cry from Shitoen rose from next door.

Immediately after that, there came a heavy splashing sound, as though something had sunk into the water.

That was followed by frantic sounds of water splashing.

“Shitoen!?”

My first thought, instinctively, was that she had slipped and gone under the water.

Even though I called out to her, there was no reply. The violent sound of the water being struck still kept ringing out.

Raul grabbed my hand as I tried to head next door.

“It’ll be faster to jump over!”

With that, Raul stood in front of the bamboo fence, laced his fingers together, and faced me.

Without answering, I dashed toward Raul and placed my right foot on his interlocked hands.

He shoved upward with a grunt.

And just like that, I flew through the air.

Swinging my legs, I cleared the bamboo fence.

Below me, I could see the state of the women’s bath.

Five stone lanterns.

They had been placed around the hot spring, and all of them were lit.

Their orange light illuminated the surface of the water, but it looked roughened and glittered fiercely.

In the middle of that was what looked like Shitoen.

Because she was submerged in the water, all I could make out was white skin and silver hair.

And then— a figure dressed all in black, pinning Shitoen down from above in the water.

“Shitoen!”

A few seconds after shouting her name, I landed in the women’s bath.

Water erupted upward with a splash.

The one in black reflexively turned toward me. Because the face was covered as well, I could not read the expression, but apparently the thought had never crossed the attacker’s mind that I would come flying in from next door.

The grip must have loosened.

Shitoen’s face broke the surface of the water, and I heard the ragged sound of desperate breathing.

Then, at once, the bastard in black shoved Shitoen’s head back under the water.

After that, I could think of nothing else.

I swung with all my strength and punched the one in black in the face.

In reality, maybe it had struck more around the neck and right ear than the face. There was a hard impact, but it did not feel like the full force had landed head-on.

Even so, the black-clad figure staggered, and the hand came off Shitoen.

In that opening, I bent down, wrapped an arm around Shitoen’s waist, and hauled her up all at once.

Maybe because she was slick with hot water, my hand slipped with a jerk, but I clenched my back teeth and lifted her.

Holding the violently coughing Shitoen in my arms, I slowly backed away while glaring at the one in black.

In any case, we had to get out of the water.

The footing was bad.

The one in black, perhaps concussed from that earlier hit, was swaying and shaking the head from side to side.

Looking at the body with the clothes plastered tightly against it by the water, I felt a strange sense of something being off.

Shitoen, whom I held in my arms, was still breathing roughly, but it was becoming more stable. Relieved, I fixed my gaze on the figure in black.

The body was strangely slender.

No, the person was tall. About as tall as Raul, so that much was one thing…

But compared to that, the frame was oddly thin.

As I backed away inch by inch while watching carefully, I noticed a faint sound.

I moved only my eyes.

Something flashed.

Still holding Shitoen, I twisted my body to the left.

There was a sharp clink, and something embedded itself in a marble rock.

Even while moving through the water with splashes, I confirmed what it was.

A knife.

The kind with an extremely short handle.

There came a sharp sound of something slicing through the air, and I moved again. In the water. I ran while carrying Shitoen, but knives came flying after my back one after another.

“Damn it!”

No matter what, I wanted to get out of the hot spring. I had jumped in wearing boots, so now hot water had filled them, making them even heavier. It was like training with extra weight strapped on.

Where!?

Where are they throwing from!?

And including that one in black, are there two of them? Three?

While probing and fleeing at the same time, it seemed the knives had finally run out. For an instant, a gap opened.

I used that opening to get close to the washing area and planted my foot at once.

Kicking up a great spray of water, I came out of the hot spring carrying Shitoen in my arms.

These boots are heavy as hell!

I was about to shake one leg to throw off the boot when there came a tremendous splash.

The one in black who had been in the hot spring came charging at me wearing clawed gauntlets.

“Don’t mess with me, you bastard. You’ve got some nerve.”

I somehow managed to get the boot off only my right foot.

I leapt away from the hot spring, and with half a grin, faced the bastard in black rushing at me.

“Do you really think a winter bear can be taken down by a monkey soaking in a hot spring?”

The clawed gauntlets came slashing down.

I waited until the very limit, then took a half-step back.

The claws sliced through the air just in front of my nose.

As the one in black pitched forward, I drove a kick into the chest and knocked the attacker back.

I planted the foot I had kicked with, then used it as my pivot leg and turned my body halfway around.

The droplets clinging to Shitoen and me flew off like spray.

I kicked the staggering bastard in black hard in the side.

This time it definitely connected.

But the person had something wrapped around the stomach.

The figure in black slid sideways with a scrape, but had not taken as much damage as I had expected.

“Tch.”

Just as I clicked my tongue, something flashed at the edge of my vision.

A knife.

From the position, the speed, the angle— after thinking it through, I realized the target was Shitoen.

I twisted my body around and turned my back toward it.

“…Tss!”

More than pain, I felt something close to a burning sensation in the upper right part of my back arm. A knife had stuck there. Well, better that than getting cut open.

“Aaahhh!”

Making a sound that was not even words, the one in black came rushing in with the clawed gauntlets raised.

My reaction had definitely been delayed.

There was no time to step back now.

I faced the attacker.

I dropped my hips low.

At that distance, I charged while keeping my posture low.

Before the clawed gauntlets could come down, I slammed into the attacker, and in the moment the balance broke, I hooked a leg.

The figure stumbled, but the one in black could not afford to fall.

Desperate to recover footing, the attacker retreated hard to regain distance.

Yes, bought some time.

While we stood glaring at each other with our feet spread shoulder-width apart—