The Traum Empire's Land, Ruber
One day passed, and morning arrived. After finishing a simple breakfast, Elsid, Lance, and their escort target Bearvid left the small village and set out immediately. Though the events of the previous day had been difficult for the young boy Bearvid to endure, they couldn't afford to linger. If they delayed, another ambush could strike at any moment.
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"Don't worry, Uncle Lance. Thanks to resting for a day, I've calmed down quite a bit."
When Lance asked with concern, his tone respectful, Bearvid answered with a smile. Yet it was impossible not to notice that the smile was forced, meant only to reassure them. No matter that he had been chosen by the gods or gained special powers as a hero candidate, Bearvid was still just an immature boy.
"Understood. Then let's move quickly."
"Yes. Elsid, I'm counting on you again."
Lance understood as well, but chose to respect Bearvid's wishes. At the same time, Bearvid bowed his head toward Elsid in greeting.
"Leave it to me."
Elsid replied confidently, clenching his fist and tapping his left chest twice. They had also changed their marching formation from the day before. Yesterday they had walked casually in a horizontal line; today they moved in a single file, staying alert to their surroundings. Elsid took the lead, Bearvid the middle, and Lance the rear.
"No enemies have appeared yet," Lance said from the back.
"We'll reach territory under the empire's influence soon. That's a relief."
"What do you plan to do after that?"
"One more escort will be waiting there. Once we link up, we should be able to breathe a little easier."
Lance answered Elsid's question kindly. They continued walking for some time.
"Don't these guys ever get tired?"
Elsid frowned at the unpleasant, sinister presences he felt nearby. Sensing the same thing, Lance drew his weapon a moment later. Just in case, Elsid held both his wooden sword and his sheathed arming sword, one in each hand.
Shhhk!
More than five daggers flew out from the surrounding bushes all at once. Unlike last time, they were aimed at Elsid rather than Bearvid. He quickly swung both blades, deflecting the daggers away from Bearvid's direction. While Elsid dodged and parried, Lance did his part as well.
Clang! Clang! Ting! Ting!
As Elsid knocked the blades aside, Lance pulled Bearvid close, shielding him.
"Now! Attack!"
Before long the assailants revealed themselves—five men in black masks, the same number as before.
"..."
There was no need for words against these filthy assassins. When the first one swung at him, Elsid met the strike with his blue-aura-clad sword.
Kaang!
The clash of steel rang out. 'Heavy,' Elsid thought as he caught the blow. This sword carried a solid weight unlike the light daggers from the previous encounter. Though the difference lay in using longswords instead of short blades, the heaviness came not from the weapons themselves but from the fact that these enemies were simply stronger than the last group.
"There's one here too!"
While Elsid dealt with one, another assassin attacked from behind, shouting as he swung. What a fool, announcing his presence while striking from the rear. Elsid pulled back his blade and rolled aside to evade.
"Lance, protect Bearvid!"
He shouted without turning his head.
"R-right!"
Lance answered, forgetting his usual polite speech in the urgency.
'Focus.'
Elsid was a half-baked swordsman who couldn't cut living things despite being a swordsman. With people he had to protect behind him, retreat was not an option.
'Retreat means decline, fear means death. So the only answer is to advance.'
Recalling the words his grandfather had drilled into him, Elsid took the initiative this time. His wooden sword shot forward with a sharp whistle. The two masked assassins in front swung their blades, but he knocked them aside with the arming sword in his other hand. Then he thrust the wooden sword into the solar plexus of the closer assassin.
"Guhk!"
Immediately he followed up with the arming sword, striking upward at the jaw of the groaning man clutching his chest.
Thud.
One assassin collapsed to the ground.
"Kgh..."
But the opening had been too large. The remaining assassin's blade grazed Elsid's side, drawing a pained groan.
"My turn now."
Refusing to take the hit lying down, Elsid endured the burning pain and repaid it twofold.
Crack! Crack! Crunch!
With the crisp sound of breaking bones, he struck the assassin's body repeatedly, dislocating three ribs and a shoulder blade and forcing him to drop his sword. The momentum didn't stop there. Stepping forward, Elsid clashed blades several times before another sharp crack rang out, disabling a second assassin.
"Hah... hah... If you won't come to me, I'll come to you."
Breathing heavily from the intense movement, Elsid kept his burning gaze fixed on the remaining assassin.
"Yaaah! Die!"
One assassin charged, screaming with hatred as he swung his sword.
"I'd rather not."
Clang.
Elsid easily blocked the strike with his arming sword and prepared to thrust the wooden sword into the man's solar plexus. At that moment—
Shunk!
Before Elsid could land his own blow, blood sprayed from the assassin's stomach like a fountain. A silver longsword pierced through the man's abdomen and shot toward Elsid.
"Well done. I'll make good use of your life, subordinate."
"You idiot..."
The subordinate assassin wore an expression of bitter resentment as he looked at the sword impaling him and the blood pouring out, then breathed his last. The leader had used his own man's life to launch an unavoidable, lethal strike.
"You should have aimed properly."
Yet even the leader's desperate attack, bought at the cost of his subordinate, failed to reach Elsid.
"Wh-what...!"
The leader's longsword, thrust through his subordinate's body toward Elsid, missed the swordsman's heart by mere centimeters. Shocked, the leader tried to pull his blade back and retreat, but Elsid had no intention of letting him escape. He clamped the sword between his arm and side, locking it in place, then swung the wooden sword into the leader's head.
"Aagh!"
The leader cried out and stumbled backward, dropping his weapon.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Elsid released the trapped sword and drove an uppercut with the wooden sword into the leader's jaw.
"You bastard... Mmph!"
"Don't worry. I'll make sure to keep you alive."
When the leader still refused to faint, Elsid shoved the wooden sword into his mouth.
"So shut up."
Crack.
With a final kick to the lower body, the leader finally fell silent, foaming at the mouth as he lost consciousness.
"Whew... I thought I was going to die from exhaustion."
The sudden ambush by five assassins had been dealt with safely.
***
After finishing off the five assailants and walking for another two or three hours, the three finally reached the empire's territory.
"We've arrived at last... the land of the Traum Empire."
Lance murmured as he gazed at the massive reddish-brown walls, far larger than any ordinary territory. This was the Traum Empire—the sole empire on the continent of Carnea, founded a hundred years ago by the combined power of the hero and the saint. The place they had reached was Ruber, a region firmly under the empire's influence.
Of course, even within the empire's controlled lands, Ruber was a fairly remote territory. By the standards of the Five Kingdoms it was sizable, but to the empire it was merely average. Nao was also imperial territory, but as a trading city it had frequent exchanges with other nations, so interference was less strict compared to proper fiefdoms. Needless to say, Ragna Castle—constantly invaded by monsters and offering nothing worth taking—was in an entirely different league.
"Mmph!"
Ah, there was one thing he had forgotten to mention: they weren't entering Ruber with just the three of them. They had brought one more person—the leader of the assassins, gagged and dragged along. Lance had already removed the poison hidden in his teeth, but they had taken this extra precaution just in case. The leader had tried to escape, but he couldn't overcome Lance's solid muscles and had been forced to come this far.
Unfortunately, aside from the one assassin who had died from a sword wound, the others had all committed suicide by poison. The only remaining clue about who was behind the attacks on Bearvid was this man. As troublesome as it was, they had no choice but to bring him.
Thus, what had started as three people became four upon entering the empire's land, including the extra. The group approached the guards standing watch at the city walls.