The Princess's Carriage (2)
The wind-swept hill was a low-level zone even in the game. I remembered grinding goblins for decent experience before one-shotting the shaman that spawned at the end. But an ogre? I had never seen one here. It was a high-ranking monster that should never have appeared in this area.
“Grrraaaawr—!”
“Kiiiieek!”
The goblins and ogres moved in a bizarre formation, pressing hard against the imperial carriage. Dealing with the swarming goblins was easy work for the imperial guard knights. Every one of them was at least a Sword Expert. Their skill level was probably on par with, or even higher than, the knights who guarded our ducal house.
If there had been only one ogre, they could have handled it themselves. But as I mentioned, the way the goblins and ogre moved was unnatural.
“Huff… huff… Aaaargh!”
“What the—how is this—ugh!”
“Protect the lady! Aaaagh!”
The escort knights had to focus entirely on stopping the goblins rushing the carriage. That distraction let the ogre swing its massive wooden club from a blind spot, crushing the knights to death. I had seen monsters and magical beasts throw simple objects or use bows, but I had never heard of them employing actual tactics.
I stared down at the absurd carnage from the hilltop in a daze until the sound of screams snapped me back to reality.
“P-Princess…! Run! We’re finished!”
“Grrrk…”
There was no time to think. People were dying. I had to move, no matter what. Running back to call our own knights would take too long. The moment I made up my mind, I poured mana into my legs, strengthened them, and sprinted down the hill at full speed.
“Emile! Stay with me! You can’t die here…!”
“Ugh… Princess, please run… It’s no use anymore…”
“How could I ever abandon you and run, Emile…! I won’t do that!”
“You… must…”
Even Emile—her closest friend and most trusted personal knight—had been beaten to a bloody pulp by a goblin’s club. Tears welled up in Rosaria’s eyes. She soon wore a grim expression and raised her staff toward the goblin horde.
“You… you awful creatures…!”
“Kiiiieek!”
“Kieeee! Kieeeeeek!”
Rosaria couldn’t bring herself to leave Emile, who was gasping for air behind her.
“Flame Burst—!”
Rosaria lifted her staff and chanted. A massive sphere of flame began forming in front of it, swelling to about fifty centimeters before shooting forward at the goblins.
—Whoosh… BOOM!
“Kieeeeeek!”
“Kiek! Kieeek!”
Several goblins burned to death right before her eyes. But more kept coming. No matter how many she killed, the tide never seemed to end. And the more she fought, the more wildly the ogre rampaged behind them, slaughtering the knights.
“This can’t be…”
The moment Rosaria realized she could do nothing to change the situation, her mind went completely blank. Why was this happening? Was it the work of factions hostile to her? No, that didn’t make sense. She was the Fourth Princess, a bastard child. The First Princess, Second Prince, and Third Prince had all been born from the same mother. Only Rosaria had come from the womb of a commoner mistress. To the factions fighting over management rights and the line of succession, she was irrelevant.
That meant this attack had occurred naturally. …It was impossible. Monsters intelligent enough to plan strategies had just happened to target her carriage? And they had even prepared an ambush?
Rosaria stared blankly at Emile, who lay critically wounded behind her. The knight’s breathing came in ragged gasps, and she seemed to have lost consciousness. Blood poured heavily from her left side. The severity of the injury had clearly knocked her out.
Rosaria turned away from the knights still holding back the goblins and approached Emile.
“Emile, wake up. Please… Emile…”
“……”
Rosaria gently stroked Emile’s forehead. Tears streamed down her chin and fell onto the knight’s face with soft plops.
“Why… why is this happening…”
It had come like a bolt from the blue. She suddenly wondered if this tragedy could have been avoided if everyone hadn’t gathered to protect her. Rosaria was already lost in the panic of battle. In their final moments, people often rationalize things. Most blame others, but the pure-hearted Rosaria blamed herself. Was all of this happening because of her? Because she was a princess? Because everyone had gathered to protect her? Had heaven decided to punish her for all the years she had thrown tantrums over food and lived a life of luxury…?
Just as Rosaria was closing her heart, blaming herself for everything and her eyes began to drift shut—
“Damn it! There’s way too many of these bastards!”
A crude male voice rang out from behind her. Startled, Rosaria spun around. And she was shocked once again.
…An unbelievable sight was unfolding.
Someone was moving at an impossibly fast speed, charging alone into the goblin swarm and carving through them. Whenever a guard knight looked like he would be attacked from behind, the stranger stepped in to block the blow. When the massive ogre swung its wooden club, he scooped up the defenseless knight and nimbly leaped away to safety.
From the moment this mysterious man joined the fight, the knights’ collapsing formation began to stabilize.
Flustered, Rosaria called out to him.
“W-Who…?”
“I can’t hold out much longer! If I’d known it would be like this, I should’ve brought more Gangryeon Herb…”
The man, carrying an injured knight on his back, approached Rosaria near the carriage. He gently laid the knight down beside Emile and spoke to her.
“All we have to do is take down that ogre, right?! Once the ogre’s dead, the goblin swarm will be nothing but a warm-up for the knights!”
“Eh…?”
“Are you spacing out?! Guess I have no choice!”
He turned his back to Rosaria and glared at the enemy lines again. Rosaria, who had been staring at him in a daze, shook her head violently to clear her mind and shouted at him.
“N-No! I’m perfectly sane right now! So… are you an ally…?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking?! Cover me! You can use magic, can’t you?!”
“Cover…?”
“I’ll carve a path through the goblin horde, so hold the ogre back for a moment! I’ll finish it off in that opening!”
“…?! O-Okay!”
With those final words, the slightly plump man dove back into the goblin swarm with astonishing speed. Even watching it a second time, it was hard to believe. He moved with nimble grace, slicing through goblin necks with practiced ease. No one would have guessed he had a chubby build.
“Hup! Hup! Ha!”
He advanced using only the bare minimum of movement. He dodged goblin attacks with skill, cut them down, dodged again, cut again. Like a seasoned hunter, he repeated the same efficient motions over and over, quickly opening a path. His movements were on a completely different level from the other knights. Was he a goblin specialist?
“Cover fire! What are you doing?! Cover me—!”
“Ah! Y-Yes! Right away!!”
Rosaria, who had been momentarily stunned, snapped back to her senses. She raised her staff and began chanting. The effect made her red hair shine brilliantly.
Once the chant was complete, she cast the spell.
“Flame Burst—!”
It was smaller than the previous Flame Burst because she had already expended a lot of mana, but it was enough. After all, it wasn’t meant to kill—it was meant to restrict movement.
—Fwoosh… Whoosh!
The sphere of flame she launched flew straight at the ogre, which had been watching the lone fighter. It struck dead-on.
—BOOM!
“Grrraaaawr!”
The ogre thrashed in agony as its flesh burned and glared at Rosaria. That was when it happened.
“What are you looking at, you worthless mob?!”
He strengthened his legs with mana and leaped high into the air. The ogre turned to face him, but it was already too late. His sword moved faster.
“This is gonna sting~!”
—Squelch!
“Grr… rraaaawr!”
He drove his sword straight into the jewel embedded in the ogre’s forehead. More precisely, into the ogre’s core, which looked like a jewel. If the core—where all its nerves connected—was damaged, the ogre would lose all sensation and go completely berserk.
—Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Grrraaaawr!”
The ogre swung its wooden club wildly in every direction and began stomping around. He wasn’t about to miss the chance. He skillfully yanked the sword free from the core, landed on the ground, and leaped again. This time he wrapped his blade in Auror and spun through the air.
The technique he used was the first form of the Thunder Sword Style—Rotating Thrust. The sword, accelerated by the rotational force and coated in Auror, easily pierced the ogre’s tough hide.
“Haaaaah!”
—Squelch!
The sword sank deep into the back of the ogre’s neck. Having lost the spark of life, the ogre stopped moving and crashed to the ground.
—BOOM!
The moment its massive body hit the earth, the ground shook as if struck by an earthquake.
“Ooooh—!”
The half-dozen or so surviving knights who had been fighting the goblins cheered at the sight. Their morale recovered. They refocused and began sweeping away the remaining goblins.
The situation had reversed in the blink of an eye. Just moments ago they had been struggling under the pressure of the ogre’s attacks, but the instant they could concentrate solely on clearing out the goblins, the tide turned completely. The man who had slain the ogre joined them as well, rapidly thinning the goblin numbers.
“Just who is that man…?”
In the midst of the suddenly reversed battle, Rosaria could only stare at him in blank amazement, as if she were looking at a hero from legend.