An Unexpected Battle
The carriage rattled along with a pleasant clip-clop, clip-clop of hooves. Sitting in the driver’s seat, I gently shook the reins.
“The Red Moon Sect?” I asked. Princess Mage, seated to my left, gave a small nod.
“Yes. If Duke Eisenvelt hired an assassination group, it would almost certainly be them.”
Wait a second. Princess Mage sat on my left, and Charlene sat on my right. That meant I was wedged between two women on the driver’s bench. Was this what they called having a flower in each hand?
Hmm… No. Hold on. I needed to keep my expression under control. Charlene would definitely pick a fight with me over my face again. I quickly schooled my features into a serious look and gripped the reins with forced solemnity.
The horse pulling the carriage snorted happily, as if in a good mood. Charlene, who had been resting her chin on her hand in thought, finally spoke.
“What kind of people are these Red Moon Sect guys? And why does the princess think Duke Eisenvelt would hire them?”
“Duke Eisenvelt knows exactly how skilled you are, Charlene. He watched your battle against Sephirot with his own eyes. He wouldn’t bother hiring some half-baked assassination group.”
“So… you’re saying he hired this Red Moon Sect?”
“Yes. Most likely. If he truly is targeting us.”
I gave the reins another light flick and asked again.
“What exactly are these Red Moon Sect people?”
“They’re an assassination organization made up of incredibly powerful mages and magic swordsmen. Most of the members are wanted criminals with massive bounties on their heads. Their feats are so terrifying that they’ve become the stuff of legends.”
Hmm. Just as I thought. After hearing that, Charlene stretched her legs out in front of her and answered in a bored tone.
“Duke Eisenvelt sure is going all out. Why would that guy hire an assassination group? Are you sure he’s really after us?”
“Before you appeared, Duke Eisenvelt was the one who tried to hand Father over to Sephirot in exchange for a truce. Once the current chaos caused by Sephirot and the Demon King Apocryon ends, he’ll be in a very awkward position. After all, he wants to become emperor.”
I organized my thoughts. In that case…
“Princess. Does that mean Duke Eisenvelt doesn’t want the Demon King Apocryon to be sealed?”
“It’s almost certain. That’s probably why he even hired the Red Moon Sect. To interfere with us.”
Tsk. The lust for power really is terrifying. Even if everything went according to Duke Eisenvelt’s plan and he became emperor, he wouldn’t last long because of Apocryon and Sephirot. Was he so blinded by the throne that he couldn’t see that? Even I could tell.
Charlene fiddled with her nails as she spoke.
“Whether it’s the Red Moon Sect or whoever, if they get in our way, we just kill them. No matter how strong they are, how strong could they really be?”
“Charlene. Don’t underestimate the Red Moon Sect. They’re people the imperial government hasn’t been able to touch for a very long time.”
“That just means the imperial government is weak. That’s all.”
As expected of Charlene. Her usual confidence was fully intact.
While we exchanged words like that, the carriage we rode in entered a sparsely populated forest. Charlene poked her head out, glanced at Princess Mage, and spoke again.
“Princess. Please get inside the carriage now. Since when did you like the driver’s seat so much that you’ve been sitting here?”
“W-what? It’s stuffy if I stay inside the whole time. Why? Can’t I sit here?”
“You’re distracting Master while he’s driving.”
“Who’s distracting whom? Isn’t it you who’s the real distraction, Charlene?”
Ugh… The two women were at it again. Just as I was about to snap at them in irritation, the horses pulling the carriage suddenly stopped moving.
Huh? What’s going on?
I got down from the carriage and looked ahead. A sheer cliff. There was no way forward. Strange. A cliff this wide should have a bridge to cross it. I examined the area around the cliff carefully.
Oh? There’s a bridge over there… but it’s destroyed.
I walked over and inspected the broken bridge. It didn’t look like it had been destroyed very long ago. The broken cross-section was clean. Meanwhile, Charlene and Princess Mage got down from the carriage and stood behind me.
“Looks like someone broke the bridge on purpose, doesn’t it?” Charlene said from behind me.
“Yeah, it does. Which means…”
A bad feeling settled over me. Right then, an unfamiliar voice came from behind us.
“To think I would get to meet the famous Charlene. What an honor.”
Huh? Who is that?
Elite assassination group of high-ranking mages and magic swordsmen. All members are wanted criminals with massive bounties. Their feats are legendary.
Five people appeared. One woman and four men. The atmosphere around them was anything but ordinary. The man who seemed to be their leader gave a light, mocking wave.
“Nice to meet you, Princess. And Charlene. My name is Morgas.”
His movements and speech were relaxed. But… what the hell? Was he ignoring me?
When I pouted, Princess Mage looked at my face and let out a small laugh. At least she didn’t seem scared. I decided I should speak first.
“Morgas? Did you destroy this bridge, Mr. Morgas?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Why?”
“Because it seems you all need to die for our sake.”
Just as I thought… At that moment, Princess Mage spoke up.
“You people. You’re the Red Moon Sect, aren’t you?”
“As expected of Princess Mage. You’re sharp. That’s correct. We are the Red Moon Sect. And just so you know—”
Morgas drew the long sword he carried on his back.
“So far, not a single person who learned our identity has survived. So, shall we begin?”
Damn it. Things really were heading this way. I gripped the whip at my waist tightly.
“Master? Looks like we’ll have to fight, right?” Charlene asked. I nodded.
The problem was the princess. She was an ordinary human without any special powers.
“Princess. Charlene and I will fight. Please hide somewhere safe. Quickly.”
When I whispered that, Princess Mage’s voice grew slightly angry, as if offended.
“I learned a bit of swordsmanship in the imperial palace. Are you looking down on me?”
At those words, Charlene extended one hand and summoned the large scythe she usually used as a weapon. No matter how many times I saw it, that scythe was terrifying. With a crackle of magical power, Charlene lightly swung the scythe and answered.
“Princess? It would be best to listen to Master. Those guys aren’t opponents you can handle with the level of swordsmanship you learned in the palace. While we fight, please stay quietly hidden in the bushes like a good little princess.”
Princess Mage bit her lip, clearly stung by the remark. Charlene rested the scythe on her shoulder and stepped forward first, shouting.
“You won’t cowardly attack one person with all five of you, right? Who wants to go first?”
Good. That’s it, Charlene. Provoking their pride to force one-on-one fights was the smart move. No matter how much we could use the power of a Grim Reaper, if those monstrous bastards all attacked at once, we’d be overwhelmed.
Then the only woman among them—the lone red flower—stepped forward.
“I’ll take a turn. She doesn’t look like an easy opponent. Charlene.”
She spun her long spear with a flourish and pointed the blade at Charlene.
“Myla. You won’t tarnish the honor of the Red Moon Sect, will you?” Morgas asked after stabbing his sword into the ground. The woman named Myla answered while keeping her spear aimed.
“Don’t worry, Boss Morgas. She doesn’t seem like much anyway.”
Charlene doesn’t seem like much? Charlene turned to look at me, gave a light smile, and said,
“Master. I’ll be fighting now.”
“Huh?… Yeah.”
Boom!!
Charlene charged first, scythe in hand. I could see it. I could see Charlene’s movements now. Was it thanks to Annette’s divine power? Last time in Marenost, when Charlene fought Sephirot and Apocryon, I couldn’t even tell how she was moving. But now I could see it clearly.
Charlene kicked off the ground, leaped into the air, and brought her scythe down on Myla.
Clang!!
Myla gripped her spear with both hands and blocked Charlene’s attack.
“Wow. That’s some seriously brute-force power. Where does all that magic come from, miss?” Myla muttered in a slightly trembling voice.
Whoosh!
After defending, Myla used her spear as a pivot and charged at Charlene with incredible speed. She was just as fast as Charlene. The moment Myla’s spear tried to pierce Charlene’s lower abdomen—
“Hah!”
Charlene, who had moved a beat faster, spun in mid-air and delivered a roundhouse kick to Myla’s shoulder. Myla, struck squarely by the kick, flew sideways and crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
Whoa. Charlene. Did she train in martial arts too? Her movements were pure art.
Charlene rested the scythe on her shoulder again, shrugged, and spoke.
“When you’re fighting for your life, there’s no rule that says you have to use only weapons. Right?”
“This bitch…”
Myla looked furious. Charlene gripped her scythe with both hands again, preparing to fight. The moment she swung the scythe down once more—
Boom!!
Myla dodged the attack like a flying squirrel, then swung her spear at Charlene’s side. Fast. She was really fast. Was this the Red Moon Sect? They weren’t playing around.
The moment the spear blade was about to pierce Charlene’s side—
“Enough with the cheap tricks. Are we playing house here?”
Charlene grabbed the shaft of the spear and hurled Myla to the opposite side. Myla flew straight toward a boulder along with her spear.
Crash!!
This time it looked like she hit pretty hard. The boulder shattered, sending clouds of dust billowing up. A moment later, Myla stood up using her spear as support.
“Ha. Fine. I admit it. You’re strong.”
Myla wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and muttered. Then Morgas shouted from behind.
“Myla! Need me to help?”
“No! I’m fine! I’ll take this bitch down myself!!”
Her pride now fully ignited, Myla tied her long hair into a tight ponytail and gripped her spear again. At that moment, Charlene called out to me.
“Master?”
“Yeah. What?”
“If that guy Morgas jumps in too, help me right away. Even I would have a hard time handling two at once.”
Ha— So it really came to this. For our first real battle, we’d run into some seriously tough opponents. I gripped the whip at my waist tightly.
“Yeah. Let’s do that.”
I glanced at Princess Mage. She wasn’t even thinking about running away. Instead, she was watching our fight with wide eyes. I tried to tell her with my gaze.
Princess. Run away now, even at this point.
But she just shook her head firmly. Tsk. What stubbornness. Was this the famous stubbornness of the Saint-Clear imperial family?
It looked like I would be fighting soon too. All I could do was pray that I could use Annette’s power as effectively as possible.