Chapter 11
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: The Princess's Carriage (2)
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'Why the hell is an ogre rampaging around here...?'
The Hill Where the Wind Lingers was a low-level zone even in the game.
I remembered luring goblins for some solid experience points, then one-shotting the shaman that showed up at the end.
But an ogre...? I'd never seen one in this area.
It was a high-rank 'magical beast' that absolutely shouldn't appear here.
"Grroooaaar-!"
"Kieeeek!"
The goblins and ogres formed a bizarre formation, pressuring the imperial carriage.
Dealing with the swarming goblins was easy for the imperial guard knights.
They were all Sword Expert level or higher. Probably on par with or even stronger than our ducal family's guards.
Even the ogre would've been handled by them if just one had appeared.
But as I mentioned earlier, the goblins' and ogre's movements were unnatural.
"Hah, hah... U, uwaaaah!"
"What the hell! How is this... Gahk-!"
"P-Protect the lady! Kya aaah!"
The guard knights had to pour all their focus into blocking the goblins charging at the carriage.
That bought time, and then the ogre blindsided them, smashing the knights to death with its massive tree club.
I'd seen magical beasts with enough intelligence to throw simple objects or shoot arrows, but tactical maneuvers? Never heard of such a thing.
I stared blankly down at the hill from above, snapping out of it only when screams reached my ears.
"P-Princess...! Run! We're done for!"
"Grrr..."
...No time to think right now.
People were dying.
Either way, I had to move. It'd be too late to go call our knights.
Decision made, I reinforced my legs with mana and dashed down the hill.
"Emil! Pull yourself together! You can't die in a place like this...!"
"Urgh... Princess, please escape... It's impossible now..."
"How could I abandon you and run...! I won't do that!"
"No... you can't..."
Emil—her closest friend and most trusted personal guard knight—was battered beyond recognition after taking a goblin's club to the body.
Tears welled up in Rozaria's eyes.
She steeled her expression and raised her staff toward the goblin horde.
"Y-You filthy beasts...!"
"Kieeeek!"
"Kie! Kieeek!"
Rozaria couldn't bring herself to abandon Emil, who was gasping raggedly behind her.
"Flame Burst-!"
⟨ Flame Burst ⟩
Rozaria chanted with her staff raised.
A massive fireball began forming at the tip of her staff, growing to about 50cm before launching toward the goblins.
Flame Burst
-Fwoooosh... KABOOM!
"Kieeeek!"
"Kiek! Kieeek!"
Dozens of goblins burned to death right before her eyes.
But more kept coming.
No matter how many she killed, they seemed endless, and with each wave, the ogre rampaged even wilder behind them, slaughtering knights.
"This can't be..."
Watching the scene, Rozaria's mind went blank as she realized there was nothing she could do.
Why was this happening?
Was it some faction that had opposed her until now?
No, that didn't make sense. She was the 4th Princess, a bastard child.
The 1st Princess, 2nd Prince, and 3rd Prince were all born to the same mother.
Only the 4th Princess, Rozaria, was the illegitimate child of a commoner mother.
So she was irrelevant to the factions fighting over succession and management rights. That meant this was a natural occurrence.
...Impossible. Magical beasts capable of strategy just happening to target her carriage? With a prepared ambush, no less?
Rozaria blankly stared at the critically wounded Emil collapsed behind her.
Emil was gasping heavily, seemingly unconscious. Blood poured from her left side, the injury severe enough to knock her out.
Rozaria pushed past her knights blocking the goblins and knelt by Emil.
"Emil, wake up. Please... Emil..."
"......"
Rozaria gently stroked Emil's forehead.
Tears streamed down her chin, dripping onto Emil's face.
"Why... why is this happening..."
It was like a bolt from the blue.
A fleeting thought crossed her mind: if they hadn't all gathered to protect her, maybe this tragedy could've been avoided.
Rozaria was already lost in the panic of battle.
Humans rationalize in their final moments.
Most blame others, but the pure-hearted Rozaria turned it inward.
Was all this her fault?
Because she was a princess.
Because everyone had gathered to protect her.
Maybe heaven was punishing her for her picky eating and lavish lifestyle...
As Rozaria closed her eyes, sealing away her heart in self-blame...
"Damn! There sure are a ton of 'em!"
A unfamiliar male voice laced with profanity echoed from behind.
Startled, Rozaria whipped around.
And gasped once more.
...An unbelievable sight unfolded.
Someone moving at impossible speeds dove into the goblin horde alone, cutting them down.
When a guard knight's back was exposed to a goblin attack, he intercepted it.
When the massive ogre swung its tree club at an unguarded knight, he scooped them up and leaped away nimbly.
From the moment this stranger intervened, the crumbling formation began stabilizing.
Stunned, Rozaria called out to him.
"Wh-Who...?"
"Can't hold out much longer! Should've picked a few more Strengthening Herbs if I knew..."
He approached Rozaria near the carriage, carrying an injured knight.
He laid the knight down beside Emil and spoke to her.
"Just take down that ogre, right?! Once the ogre's gone, the goblins are a piece of cake for the knights!"
"Eh...?"
"You zoning out or something?! Fine, no choice!"
He hoisted Rozaria onto his back and glared at the enemy lines.
Snap out of her daze, Rozaria shook her head vigorously and shouted at him.
"N-No! I'm fine, totally sane! So, are you one of us...?"
"Can't you tell?! Cover me! You can use magic, right?!"
"Cover...?"
"I'll carve a path through the goblins, you hold off the ogre! I'll finish it off in that opening!"
"...? R-Right!"
With those words, the slightly plump man plunged back into the goblin swarm with blinding speed.
Even watching again, it was unbelievable. He severed goblin necks with practiced agility.
No way someone with such a pudgy build could move like that.
"Hup! Hup! Hah!"
Advancing with minimal movements.
Dodging goblin attacks adeptly, slashing, dodging, slashing.
Like a seasoned hunter repeating precise motions, he swiftly cleared a path.
On another level from the other knights.
Was he a goblin-hunting specialist?
"Cover! What're you doing! Cover meee-!"
"Ah! Y-Yes!!"
Rozaria snapped to and raised her staff, beginning her chant.
Flame Burst
-Shwooo...
Her red hair glowed brilliantly from the magic's activation.
Chant complete, she cast the spell.
"Flame Burst-!"
⟨ Flame Burst ⟩
It was smaller than the previous one due to depleted mana, but sufficient.
Not for killing, but to halt movement.
-Fwoosh... Fwoooosh!
The fireball she launched struck the ogre overlooking the lone fighter dead-on.
-KABOOM!
"Groooaaaarrr!"
The ogre writhed in agony from its burning flesh, glaring at Rozaria.
That was when he struck.
"Who're you looking at, you trash mob?!"
He mana-reinforced his legs and leaped high.
The ogre turned, but too late.
His sword swing was faster.
"This'll sting~!"
-STAB!
"Grro... oooaaarrr!"
He plunged his sword into the gem embedded in the ogre's forehead.
More precisely, the ogre's core, which resembled a jewel.
Damage to an ogre's core—where all nerves connected—deprived it of senses, sending it into a frenzy.
-Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Groooaaaarrr!"
The ogre flailed its tree club wildly, hopping about.
Not missing the chance, he yanked his sword from the core, landed, and leaped again.
Infusing his blade with aura, he spun midair.
Thunder Sword Arts 1st Form: Rotating Thrust.
The aura-clad blade, accelerated by the spin, pierced the ogre's tough hide effortlessly.
"Raaah!"
-STAB!
The sword sank into the ogre's nape.
Life extinguished, the ogre froze mid-motion and crashed to the ground.
-KABOOM!
The ground shook like an earthquake from its massive body hitting the dirt.
"Ooooh-!"
The five or six surviving knights, fending off goblins while witnessing it, cheered.
Morale restored, the knights refocused and swept through the goblins.
The tide turned in an instant.
Just moments ago, they'd struggled against the ogre's assaults, but now fully committed to goblin cleanup, the battle shifted.
The ogre-slayer joined in, rapidly thinning the horde.
"Who... is that guy...?"
Bewildered amid the reversal, Rozaria stared at him blankly, as if beholding a hero.