CHAPTER 13 - II -
We regrouped at the village of Nebat, which the villagers remained loyal to the king of Amaranth. However, the village chief had warned us it wouldn’t be long before the enemy forces reached their place. After all, it was still a long way from the borders of the western lords still faithful to the crown.
“Well, don’t worry!” Maddie boasted to everyone, “I could teleport us back to the Holy Palatial Gardens! Just…let me rest for a bit…”
“Oh…” My eyes inadvertently fell on Eris, who remained silent as she tried to hide from my stare.
Maddie had told me what happened between them; about how she deceived everyone about her duplicitous loyalty to the Saint of the Flame, Seirna. Honestly, I shivered at the thought that she almost had Maddie killed. I’d like to talk about her motivations later.
By this time, Lily was already awake, and once again, at the front of our preparations to leave the kingdom of Amaranth altogether. So, while Maddie slept, she was the one who took the leadership of our group from the Saint.
“Milady, it’s really fortunate of you to have come to our village in this time of great peril.” the village chief told her, “Our lord, Count Henri had ordered us to set aside and maintain several horses to aid in your escape.”
“Oh?” Lily was surprised at the revelation.
“Well…let’s just say that he intended it for his family.” he explained, “However, seeing that our beloved saint needs our help, we’ll let you use it.”
“Don’t worry about Count Henri.” the maid, Tatiana, reassured him, “It’s Her Holiness we’re talking about here! Of course, she’s our priority.”
“Of course…” the village chief, however, had other plans, “But, if it’s alright with Her Holiness, milady, could we ask for her blessing to our humble village?”
“Why of course!” Lily agreed, “I’ll tell Her Holiness about your request, good sir.”
Delighted by Lily’s promises, the villagers of Nebat also offered their best carriage to carry our VIPs to the borders of the lands of the western lords. They also gave us their best produce—grains from their farms, the finest clothes from their weavers, and even their highest-quality ale.
“It’s for the long journey ahead, young man.” a villager told me.
However, the Marquise and I requested to Lily that she try to buy a more ‘modest’ carriage—a simple cart would be best. It’s for us to avoid standing out, so we could make good of our escape. The plan was to hide Maddie and Jessica under the goods the villagers gave to us, while Lily and Eris would pose as a mother and daughter couple.
“What? You’re also an actor, Kuro!” Lily declared, “You’re the father in our ‘family’!”
“Hey! I didn’t agree with this!” I protested.
“Well you can ride with me.” the Marquise of Monfort offered, “I won’t guarantee your safety though; I’ll dash towards the borders, after all.”
“Just tell me I can’t ride your horse.” I countered. She’d been endlessly teasing me about the incident from before.
Since we plan to travel incognito, we allowed the royal knights to depart for their own lands, as coming back to Amaranth would only result in their futile deaths. After Lily and the Marquise thanked them, the boys set out on their return journey.
I’m going to miss those guys. In a short time, we’ve been together, we protected each other’s asses.
Once she got her magic back, Maddie healed our injured, so we’re back again to full strength. We divided the paladins into three groups, shedding their flashy armor and equipment. Led by Dame Atkins, we sent the first twenty ladies ahead of us to act as reconnaissance and vanguard.
And then we followed with another twenty, dressing up as common merchants on a caravan. As per our plan, Lily and Eris played as a mother-daughter couple, with me traveling on foot as the ‘father’. The Marquise had given me a terse instruction on how to pull a horse, but Lily was the one who actually held the reins.
And finally, the last twenty paladins that left the village of Nebat under the Marquise of Monfort acted as our rearguard.
Though there’s still a sense of urgency, for most of us, the threat of being surrounded and captured had long passed our consciousness…
After one long sleep, we finally reached the border of the western fiefs, and an armed escort from the army of the lord of the land came to greet us, along with the first group of paladins we sent ahead.
“Our lord, the Countess of Hemmen, bids you welcome to her lands, Your Holiness!” the captain of the soldiers of the Countess of Hemmen said to Maddie.
“…”
Maddie was still out of herself, as she had just awoken. Lily was quick to cover for her, “Thank you for your kind greetings, sir. As you have seen, Her Holiness was still tired from the long journey from the city of Amaranth. I suppose our advance party had told you what happened there?”
“Ah, yes, milady. It’s the most unfortunate.” the captain replied, “However, my lord and I would like to express our assurances for your safety in our lands. Let it be known to you that our swords would forever remain faithful to our beloved saint!”
“Thank you for your loyalty!” Lily told him.
With that, we shed our disguises and went back to our old roles. Lily and Maddie were escorted to the lord’s manor. As for me, I waited at the border, together with some other paladins for the group led by the Marquise of Monfort.
“Sir Kuro, don’t you think that they’re delayed?” a paladin asked me when we noticed that we’ve been waiting for too long.
“Well, I’m not sure…” I honestly told her what I was thinking. Without a clock, I couldn’t tell exactly if the Marquise’s group had been delayed or not. But, deep inside, there’s this little feeling that there could’ve been something wrong.
I prayed my hunches are wrong.
Soon enough, the paladins who were with me got tired of waiting and had to retire. They’d been awake for quite some time now since we left the city of Amaranth, and they couldn’t keep up with me. Of course, I’m dead tired as well. However, the ‘small feeling of dread’ in my chest grew bigger at this moment that I couldn’t afford to sleep.
Plus, I snoozed while on the road, for Lily was the one guiding the horse.
“Lady Heath, Lady Baraneia, if you’re tired, you may go ahead. Just leave me here; I’ll just tell you guys if something adverse happens.”
“But we couldn’t just leave without our captains, Sir Kuro…at least, let us sleep here.”
“Nah, it’s fine.” I told them, “Maybe the Lady Monfort got busy with some other things. Besides, the enemy armies are near Amaranth. It couldn’t be possible that they’re able to catch us that quick.”
The two paladins pondered on my words for a while, and when they properly weighed their options, they agreed to leave and take their well-deserved rests.
So I alone was left watching for any signs of the Marquise’s group at the border…
Long after the paladins had gone to take their leave, I finally saw something stirred at the horizon.
“…”
At first, I thought it was smoke. But then, as it grew bigger, I realized it was the dust and sand, whipped-up by multiple hooves running through the dirt road that led into the land of the Countess of Hemmen.
It must be the Marquise and the rearguard.
Excited to see them, I ran forward in their direction to meet them. However, my smiles gradually turned into horror as I saw they were under attack.
“Hurry! Cross that border, girls!” was the thunderous voice of the Marquise, prodding her paladins to make haste to the border.
I tried to look behind them to see how many enemy soldiers were pursuing them, but to my astonishment, I could see no army running after their group. It was rather a single person—a girl, and she flew as she leisurely threw flames from her hands.
The ground exploded upon contact with the flames. It sent two paladins crashing on the ground, and one of them got her leg crushed by the injured horse.
“Lady Uthiah!” the Marquise turned her horse around and rushed to the aid of her fallen comrades.
Naturally, I also ran to help them as well.
“Ah, Kuro!” the Marquise finally noticed me, “We’ve been under attack! Help me free Lady Uthiah!”
“No! I’ll help Lady Benise and you cover us!” I told her, “Keep that floating bastard busy!”
“Right!” the Marquise quickly leaped into action as I and the other paladin worked to free their injured comrade.
“Oh look! The 12th Golden Sword of Heaven would entertain me while the Fist of the North Lands is busy trying to be a hero…” I heard the flying girl said.
“Well, sorry, but you have to keep with me for a while.” the Marquise then began attacking the girl, which the latter gleefully parried.
“Lady Benise, at the count of three…pull her out!” I told the paladin beside me, “One, two, three…PULL!”
With that, the paladin freed her comrade. I quickly put the injured paladin’s arms behind Lady Benise, and once she was secured, I told them to run to the border.
“I’ll help the Marquise!” I told them, “Call for the rest of the paladins! Tell them we need help!”
The girls nodded and took off at once.
Picking up the fallen paladin’s sword, I took a step forward to stand with the Marquise.
“Ah! Finally, now I could get serious!” the girl laughed at us.
“Careful Kuro!” the Marquise warned me, “She’s a different enemy.”
“Of course, I’m not like you, puny mortal!” the girl replied to the Marquise, “I’m an existence that is way above you! In fact, I could kill you both with a snap of my fingers if I wanted to. But, nah, I decided I wanted to be a respectable saint!”
Saint?
“That’s correct, Kuro…I’m a saint!” the girl then stopped floating and softly landed on the ground as she did a curtsy, “I’m Lord Gaius’ faithful servant, Seirna of the Flame! A pleasure to meet you, otherworlder!”
