Threefold Plot Unravels in the Woods
The intruders' movements had grown faint, so I focused my senses on the edges of my hearing to glean more details about them.
There were quite a few of them, yet I heard no grumbling or angry muttering. It seemed they weren't wearing heavy armor.
But we faced only a handful of Solea knights against the entire imperial envoy escort force.
Their numbers were higher, but their quality was clearly inferior to ours.
More importantly, I had my master at my side.
I beckoned to one of my aides and whispered in his ear.
“Prepare for a counterattack.”
“Huh? A counterattack?”
“Pass the order to the others. Quickly! They must not learn of it.”
The aide dashed off to relay the message.
“Oppa, what’s happening?”
“It looks like trouble is about to break out. Nothing will happen to you, I promise.”
Lua nodded without hesitation.
It was only natural for her to trust me after I had once asked my master to protect her.
I opened the carriage door and stepped outside.
I had a few questions about the attackers’ identities that I wanted to settle before the assault truly began.
We hadn’t yet reached the kingdom, and from this distance I had heard no rumors of a bandit group of this size.
The attackers had their own motives.
As I headed deeper into the forest, the squad leader asked me.
“Prince, where are you going in the middle of this?”
“While the carriage has stopped, I’ll take a short walk in the woods.”
“A short walk? The prince himself warned us of an attack… where exactly…?”
“That’s why I must go. I’ll be back shortly.”
I felt the rapid movement of scouts in the forest as I advanced.
They had spotted me and were trying to keep track.
I walked with deliberately casual steps.
If an arrow came flying, I could dodge it easily, and if they tried a close-quarters assault, I would welcome it.
But no matter how deep I went into the woods, the attackers only watched from a distance, never striking.
It was clear that their target was not me.
I deliberately raised my voice so that those far from the envoy column would hear.
“You’re all from Solea, aren’t you? Come out and show yourselves.”
The attackers stepped forward one by one.
They looked ashamed to have been seen, but their eyes still burned with resolve.
They carried the clearest purpose of any.
I asked the one holding the best weapon and standing in a combat stance.
“You’re the leader. Why attack the envoy?”
“To save Prince Erewon and Princess Lua.”
“Us?”
“Yes. You’re being forcibly taken away by the empire, aren’t you!”
I immediately understood what had happened.
I had deliberately chosen to go to the empire, intending to remind them of Solea’s value and solidify the alliance.
These civilians couldn’t have known the full plan.
They believed I and Lua were powerless hostages, and they had come to rescue us out of kindness.
I was grateful for their feelings, but if they attacked the envoy, defeat was inevitable.
And once they learned we were Solea people, the relations between the two nations would only worsen.
“I appreciate the kindness in your hearts, but there seems to be a misunderstanding. We are not being held as hostages.”
“That’s impossible. If you’re not being held hostage, what are you doing here? The empire is shamelessly planting spies everywhere!”
The leader clearly had no intention of listening to me.
These were extremists who wanted to punish the empire more than rescue me and Lua.
Driven by rage alone, they were ready to fight even though they knew they would lose.
“I cannot permit this.”
The attackers stirred restlessly.
Because I had drawn my sword.
“The reason my brother and I are heading to the empire is to improve relations between our nations. If you try to ruin that, I won’t stand by and watch. Turn back.”
“Prince, the empire is no longer your ally—it’s your enemy. Crush it! You’re too young to understand, but if you try to stop us, we’ll overpower you by force and take you back as captives.”
“Go ahead and try.”
When I spoke with such determination, the leader exchanged glances with a few subordinates and handed his sword to another person before stepping forward.
He was furious.
I had wanted only to scare them lightly and end it, but the moment he handed his sword over and still came himself.
Even while holding my own sword, I had underestimated him because he was young.
I had already reached the third circle, yet the rumor hadn’t reached these fools.
“You forced this upon yourself. Yaaaah!”
The leader walked slowly closer, then suddenly spread his arms and lunged the moment the distance narrowed.
He had clearly shown signs of quickening his pace while approaching, but I had ignored it.
And even at close range, his skill still fell far short of my feet.
“Gah—!”
The leader let out a ridiculous scream and collapsed to the ground.
He didn’t get back up.
It was so simple that I hadn’t even needed to draw my sword.
The leader had already thrown himself and couldn’t stop. All I had to do was stretch out my firm fist toward the direction his head was facing.
It was simply a matter of hitting the target of his own movement.
While the others hesitated, I felt the mana around me.
I only sensed the mana of the forest and nature; none of the attackers had magic.
It seemed no one here was stronger than the one I had just defeated.
Everyone was too afraid to act.
This was the perfect moment to appeal to the wavering attackers.
“This man wasn’t the leader, was he? Look. He’s been knocked down by one punch and can’t get up. But the envoy has many knights far stronger than us. Some might even be able to fight all of you alone. Yet you still want to fight?”
The attackers exchanged glances and hesitated, but one shouted.
“We’re still fighting! We have to completely erase the empire from this world!”
One foolish cry was enough to restore their determination.
This was the power of persuasion.
It was already too late to turn back.
I reinforced my entire body with mana.
I couldn’t let these people reach the envoy.
* * *
“Oh, you’re back?”
Lua welcomed me as I opened the carriage door.
She was staring at the chessboard.
“Sorry. Did I take long? What were you doing with the chessboard?”
“I was reviewing the game we played earlier.”
She had been reviewing even a casual game.
It was truly terrifying ambition.
“Oppa, are you tired?”
“Not really.”
Even after fighting many ordinary people, they hadn’t even warmed me up.
Suppressing them without injuring them had been annoying, but it was no problem for me, who combined the swordsmanship of a legend with that of the hero Kaelon at the legendary rank.
“You said you weren’t tired, right? Then I think I can win now. Play again!”
“Ugh… I’m too tired after blocking the disturbance. I’ll rest.”
“Huh? Why are you suddenly changing your mind!”
“Umm, I want to sleep but there’s no space here.”
“No! One more game. Ah, aah! My turn!”
While saying this, I energetically swept the chessboard aside.
I leaned against the carriage wall and closed my eyes.
“Uuu… Okay. Then the chess game is for next time.”
The performance was already too obvious, but since I had started with the tired excuse, I had to keep pretending to be asleep.
Lua poked my side with her small hand.
“Why? You said you wanted to sleep.”
“Don’t lean against the hard wall. Come here.”
When I opened my eyes, Lua was pointing at her knee.
“Use my knee as a pillow?”
“You worked hard. I was just sitting quietly in the carriage, so this is only fair, right?”
“If you put it that way…”
I carefully changed my posture and rested my head on Lua’s knee.
Lua gently held my head, feeling a little comfort, and stroked my hair softly.
“You worked hard, Oppa. Sleep well.”
Lua had told me to sleep, but she was actually pressing lightly on my head to make sure my blood could flow properly to her slender knees.
Still, I felt a deep sense of sibling affection in this moment.
As the procession resumed, the carriage rocked gently, like a lullaby.
The tension had eased after dealing with the disturbance, and Lua’s touch was so tender.
I nearly fell asleep.
* * *
In the hidden hideout of a secret organization in Solea.
The leader of the group that had attacked the envoy knelt before a woman and begged for forgiveness.
A woman completely clad in black clothing except for her face.
“I’m sorry.”
“Is that an excuse? You blocked the entire group because of Prince Erewon?”
“Yes. The rumors said he had reached the third circle, so we thought we could definitely win if we all attacked together. But he knocked us down without a single scratch.”
“That’s impossible. Even if the difference between someone who can use mana and someone who can’t is huge, Prince Erewon was only fifteen years old.”
“But we really were all defeated.”
It was an unbelievable result, yet it had actually happened.
There was no point blaming what had already occurred.
The woman thought.
Something was wrong with the fifteen-year-old prince.
“I’m going to the empire myself.”
“Master herself?”
“Yes. Until then, don’t cause any trouble and live quietly.”
“Understood. I will obey the command——”
Before the leader could finish answering, the woman had already vanished.