Carriage Attack

Clunk—the wheel of the carriage at the head of the procession made a hard, metallic sound. Several dozen seconds later, the horseshoes of the horse I rode began making the same sound.

The convoy had entered the villa district.

The fierce sunlight was blocked, and the roadway was swallowed by pale shadows, as though viewed through a translucent curtain.

That was because villas stood packed tightly together on both sides of the road.

This was the Shalese District, located on the outskirts of the royal capital.

There was a well-maintained royal park nearby, and several dozen species of resident birds had been confirmed in the planted district. There might have been some migratory birds around the artificial pond as well.

Ordinarily, carriages and the like were prohibited from entering, but today we had submitted an application and received permission. If we made our rounds slowly, we might have been able to see small animals that preyed on birds as well, but…

Well, they would probably flee from the sound of the wheels. Even if we somehow managed to see them, it would only cause trouble. Mail might start shouting, “I’m getting out! I want to see them!”

It was better for the birds to flee.

“It looks like everything will proceed according to schedule.”

Raul, riding alongside me, raised his voice. He then drank directly from the canteen hanging from his saddle. He was probably relieved that we had finally entered the shade.

The members of our knight order were accustomed to traveling on horseback, so that was one thing, but… The men wearing their uniforms must have been unbearably hot. We were not in the snowy mountains, so their uniforms were black. My condolences. We were almost there.

“They are patrolling the area, right?”

I checked just to be safe.

That was because, although the Shalese District was a villa district, one-third of its properties were owned by foreigners.

Some belonged to stationed diplomats, while others belonged to wealthy merchants. Naturally, our approval was required when purchasing them, but some people resold them to unsavory individuals, so it was an area where we needed to remain vigilant.

“The local security forces should be patrolling. We also specifically asked Crown Prince Arios’s escort unit to focus on this area. However, there are several residences whose owners are unknown, so please be careful.”

Just as Raul had said, once we reached the middle of the district, knights wearing unit insignias identifying them as Crown Prince Arios’s guards were stationed along the road to protect us.

“Ah… But we really don’t have enough people.”

I grumbled.

It seemed Crown Prince Arios had immediately requested that his homeland dispatch additional knights, but… naturally, it would take time for them to arrive.

The more people we had, the better, but… by the time they arrived, we would already be returning home. There was not much benefit for us.

“It’s hot. You should drink some water too, Commander. You could get dehydrated.”

At Raul’s words, I looked ahead, wondering how Roze and Mone were doing.

They were guarding the decoy carriage.

Even if it was a decoy, it would be obvious if it rattled along completely empty without any guards.

To see farther ahead, I placed my weight on the stirrups and stretched upward. Raul immediately scolded me, saying, “Please stop that.”

The reason was the horse I was currently riding.

It was Raul’s beloved black horse.

I had originally planned to ride in a carriage today, so I had not brought my own horse.

When the plan changed and I had to ride, I tried to borrow one from a member of the order, but they all refused with tears in their eyes.

“Unlike your horse, Commander, ours aren’t that sturdy! What will you do if its legs break?!”

…That was cruel.

Well… My beloved horse certainly was so large and thick-legged that people sometimes mistook it for a draft horse.

To put it nicely, it was loyal to me. To put it badly, it was an idiot that left every decision to me. If I ordered it to, it would climb or charge down any cliff. But even I took safety into consideration. I loved my horse, after all.

But everyone else felt the same way.

They had raised and trained their horses since they were foals. Our order in particular primarily handled mobile escort duties, so we spent our entire lives alongside our horses.

Naturally, they would not simply say, “Of course, go ahead,” just because their commander ordered them to lend one to me.

That was when Raul tearfully sacrificed his own horse for me. What a noble spirit of self-sacrifice. He truly was a knight.

However, he was not entirely convinced.

Until I mounted, he had acted as though he were bidding his horse a final farewell, and he had also warned me, “Even if you’re the commander, I won’t forgive you if you make him do anything reckless!”

It was fine.

Unlike mine, Raul’s beloved horse was intelligent.

Because it was intelligent, it would judge matters for itself and would not overexert itself. If it found itself in danger, it would surely flee and refuse to obey.

“Ah… I still can’t see them.”

I muttered, though that was only natural.

We were positioned near the second carriage, where Shitoen and Mail were riding. There was no way I could see them.

I only hoped those two were not pushing themselves and becoming dehydrated.

I suddenly raised my head.

I had intended to check the sun’s position and observe the movement of the clouds.

That was when the sight of a villa roof reminded me of something.

The dream.

Come to think of it, there had been something like an iron plate mounted on top of the building that appeared in that dream. Had that really been a weapon? What exactly was it?

As I pondered that, a small but sharp flash of light pierced my eyes.

I immediately turned toward its source.

From where I was, it had come from the roof of a villa five houses ahead.

There.

Someone was there. No, something had been set up there.

“Get down! Shitoen, get down!”

I cracked the whip and gripped the reins. Following my command, the black horse thrust its muzzle forward and broke into a gallop.

“Commander?!”

Raul’s voice followed behind me, but I leaned forward and raised my hips. The horse accelerated again.

“It’s a crossbow!”

By the time I shouted back, I had caught up with Shitoen’s carriage.

“Get down!” I yelled through the window. Shitoen widened her eyes in surprise, but immediately grabbed Mail by the arm and pulled her down from the seat opposite her.

“Commander?!”

The knight serving as the coachman twisted his neck and looked toward me. There were two coachmen. The other one was probably holding the main reins.

I cracked the whip once more, making the black horse accelerate.

“Don’t stop! Break through! It’s already—”

The word coming was drowned out by a tremendous destructive sound.

Although the sounds were high-pitched, each carried a different tone, creating an overall discordant noise like a chorus of screams.

I twisted my neck and looked back at the carriage.

The glass had shattered, and part of the wooden carriage had been blown apart.