Snow Flower (2)
The carriage thundered down the deserted highway, hooves hammering a relentless drumbeat against the packed earth. Only after a long stretch of that empty road did it finally begin to slow.
"Frey. The horses are spent. We should rest here a while before we move on."
"Yeah. If the horses collapse first, things will only get messier."
"Hah... haah. Thank goodness. Those weird people... I don't think they're following us anymore."
With Ariel's words, we decided to take a brief rest.
I dropped down from the carriage roof and surveyed our surroundings. There was nothing along the highway. No village nearby, from the looks of it — nothing but the occasional cry of a beast or a bird, and a silence that sat heavy over everything.
"It's quiet. Too quiet."
That was my brief impression. It wasn't the same unspeakable dread that had crept up on us when we'd entered the village, but a strange unease lingered all the same. I tightened my grip on my sword and swept the area in a rapid search.
The footwork born of Sword Demon's profound enlightenment unfurled through both legs.
Distance collapsed in an instant, and the forest's scenery filled my vision.
"...What? Am I just being paranoid?"
Having confirmed it was safe, I returned to the carriage. Had my instincts been wrong? There wasn't a trace of anyone within hundreds of meters.
"Frey. Catch your breath. We have no idea what else might go wrong."
"Yeah. Fair point."
I answered shortly, walked over to the driver's seat, and dropped down onto it. Then I studied both of their faces. It was obvious none of us had fully shaken off the shock.
...Ariel's stamina drain is worse than I thought.
Her complexion had been pale ever since she'd used her magic. Was the mana consumption from that wide-area spell that severe? I could see her hands trembling faintly.
"Ariel. You exhausted?"
"H-huh? No. I was just... a little startled, that's all."
"...Don't take it so hard. You're not thinking this happened because of you, are you?"
"Ah..."
Was she really thinking she'd caused us trouble? Ariel's faintly trembling hands finally stilled.
"...Thank you."
"Thank me? There's nothing to thank me for."
Surviving that hell just now hadn't been a solo act. Me, Lancelot, and Ariel — all three of us had done our jobs exactly where we needed to be.
"It's just... everything. When I think about how we suddenly fell into danger... I got all sentimental without meaning to. Hehe."
"Woman. Do not let your guard down. The claws those bastards have extended may yet threaten us."
"...Okay."
At the scolding that wasn't quite a scolding, Ariel hung her head. Did she have something she wanted to say? Her small fist clenched the collar of her clothes. The pristine white Helios uniform crumpled at once, but she didn't seem to care.
"A long time ago, too."
"...?"
"Something like this happened before. You wouldn't remember, Frey, but it was a very long time ago."
A wind of recollection passed across Ariel's face.
"A long, long time ago, when I was trapped with an aunt who used to abuse me... you came to save me, Frey."
"Me?"
"Yeah! And when you secretly freed me and we ran away together, we never looked back... just like today."
Ariel giggled, kicking her legs. Anyone could tell the voice wasn't natural. Her laugh, her words, her movements, her expression — all of it felt strangely light, as if she were hoping to thaw the frozen atmosphere.
"You were so cool back then, Frey."
"..."
"Just like a prince on a white horse. You know."
A prince on a white horse? That's a phrase that feels a long way from me.
"Anyway, Ariel."
"Yeah?"
"That promise you mentioned before, and the blessing you have — you're really not going to tell me?"
"Mm... a little, just a little later. You'll probably find out naturally."
"From where I'm sitting, she just doesn't want to answer."
Oh, is that so? I hadn't noticed, Lancelot.
"Just how hard is this subject to talk about?"
"...I-it's just. Well... it just feels kind of... you know."
Watching Ariel scratch her cheek, I couldn't bring myself to press any further. I'd already been shot down twice. A man has his pride — from here on out, I'd have no choice but to wait until she brought it up herself.
Don't tell me it's something like Serial Killer, or Glutton... traits like that?
I took a step back and looked at Ariel with the deepest gaze I could muster. An irregular who had never appeared in Silvering. But her abilities were beyond imagination. Of course I'd be curious about who she really was.
The one silver lining is she doesn't seem like a bad person.
Ariel, who claimed to be an old friend, was clearly a soft-hearted person at a glance. When she'd first appeared, wrapped head to toe in blue mana, I hadn't been able to tell — but after just a little conversation, you could see she was a deep, rather adorable girl.
Time... if time just passes, she said.
I tipped my head back and looked at the sky. The sun was beginning to burn red.
After that, we rested for about thirty minutes and then resumed our journey. We still hadn't settled on a direction. There was no telling where the Blood Cult remnants might be hiding.
"...Maybe we should just turn back."
Ariel muttered it with a slightly darkened expression.
"That might be the better call. We don't have a guide who knows a detour, and heading straight for Helios like this is honestly too much of a risk."
"...I guess so, huh?"
It was in the middle of that grave discussion about where to go next that my sharp hearing picked up a strange sound. A rustle, cutting through the quiet.
"Wait. Shh."
I raised a finger for silence and slowly moved toward the driver's seat.
"Lancelot. Something... is chasing us."
"...Damn it."
Lancelot's face twisted; he knew exactly what those words meant. I turned my head quietly and scanned our surroundings. Afternoon was tipping into evening. The slowly sinking sun made the forest even more ominous.
Something tore through the undergrowth.
"...!"
Once more, a noise punched through the air and reached my ears. I braced my arm against the front of the carriage and spoke in a low voice.
"Full speed."
"Understood."
The whip in Lancelot's grip whirled wide. The moment it struck the horses' rumps, they screamed and the carriage surged forward at a blistering pace.
Branches snapped. Undergrowth ripped apart in our wake.
"...Damn. These bastards have properly trained their mana."
Identifying the ones chasing the carriage through the dark forest wasn't difficult. Their affiliation was obvious. The Blood Cult. They'd finally picked up our trail. We'd taken a fairly straight route away from the village where the Blood Calamity had struck, but apparently we hadn't been able to slip their notice after all.
That didn't mean I had any intention of quietly playing along with their plans. The carriage tore through the reddening air at full gallop.
"F-Frey? What's going on?!"
"It's them. Something might happen, so make sure you don't slam into the carriage walls."
Ariel nodded grimly. From here on, even I couldn't predict what would happen. The ones who'd caught the scent of blood might attack the carriage — or they might just let us go.
But watching them crash through the forest in pursuit, the former seemed far more likely than the latter.
I gripped the hilt seated in its scabbard. The late-afternoon sunset settling over us pressed down on my chest. Even at a glance, there was no way we were getting out of a fight.
"What is that?!"
Lancelot's voice, from the driver's seat, exploded in shock.
"...Frey! Watch yourself! Woman! Hold on tight!"
His urgent warning rocked the carriage. I pulled the fragile-looking Ariel into my arms. Worst case, the carriage could overturn — that was why.
"We're going to hit!"
"Hit?!"
Ariel cried out in alarm. From her position, she probably couldn't see the front of the carriage well. So of course she wouldn't understand what we were about to collide with.
...A person?
But I was in a different position. Through the gaps in the fine canopy covering the passenger compartment, I'd seen the shape of someone in red. He was standing dead center in the highway. As if he'd been waiting for us to come.
The strange figure in the distance drew a blade. Unlike a sword, it was a saber — sharpened on only one edge.
And then Lancelot's scream rang down the highway.
BOOOOM——!
Then something astonishing unfolded. The carriage we were riding lifted high into the air. For a fleeting instant my body went weightless — and then a carriage that most certainly did not come equipped with a flight function plunged toward the earth.
CRACK! CRUNCH! BOOOOM!
The Grand Duke picked up the broken pen. He hadn't even been pressing particularly hard, yet the nib of his favorite pen had shattered into pieces.
"Y-Your Grace!"
As if following a well-rehearsed script, a familiar voice rang out from beyond the door. A subordinate burst into the office in a panic. Under ordinary circumstances it would have been a breach of etiquette worth a reprimand, but the Grand Duke simply looked at the man's frantic face in silence.
"U-urgent report! Y-Young Master Tristan has run away from home!"
"...Run away?"
The Grand Duke's eyes narrowed. So his son had finally gone and done it. Given the boy's burning sense of justice, he'd always figured something like this would happen eventually. He'd told him to be wary of the Blood Cult's minions — and instead the boy had run off to hunt them down himself.
"Understood. Dispatch knights and find him."
The Grand Duke answered shortly and buried his face in his documents once more. There was still a mountain of work to process. His son's little rebellion could be dealt with later.
"Th-that's not all, Your Grace!"
"...?"
At the subordinate's frantic voice, the Grand Duke's eyes turned back to him.
"Lady Maria — Lady Maria has also run away from home!"
"...What? That child?"
Maria had never caused an incident in her entire life... no, she had never so much as talked back. And she had run away?
The Grand Duke's face twisted.
What on earth were those two plotting?