Chapter 75: A Carriage Battle
“An inspection? Why out here?”
Startled by the sudden appearance of another carriage, our coachman began slowing down.
Seeing our speed drop, I urgently called to him.
“Don’t stop, sir! Those men aren’t military police!”
“What? Now that you mention it, they’re far too intimidating for military policemen. Are they…bandits? Whoa! Another carriage is coming from this side!”
He glanced the other way, grasped the situation, and accelerated.
Though he'd mistaken them for mountain bandits, he tightened his grip on the reins and tried to pull away.
Because we’d already slowed, however, the pursuing carriages steadily closed the distance.
At this rate, they’d catch us before long.
“L-Lloyd-sama, what should we do?”
Lilina watched a carriage approach from the opposite side, then looked at me anxiously.
How could we stop carriages while racing down the road?
The answer made me glance at Alisha. Understanding before I spoke, she nodded.
“Alisha, can you hit their wheels with your bow?”
“Leave it to me, Lloyd-sama.”
She smiled, took her bow, and leaned partly through the window.
Ignoring the carriage’s vibration, she took aim and released an arrow with magic.
“Swift Wind… Sniping!”
Shoom! Crack!
The arrow struck the pursuer’s wheel perfectly and shattered it.
“Guh! Whoa!”
The damaged carriage swerved from side to side, lost its balance, and slowed sharply.
“An accurate shot from a moving carriage. As impressive as ever.”
“I’m happy to receive Lloyd-sama’s praise.”
Alisha gave me a mature smile.
The men in the other two carriages watched their companion fall far behind, then glared at us.
“You’ll pay for that! Hey, blast them!”
“Hm? Blast us?”
The ominous command was followed by rough men emerging through the windows. One aimed a rod half as tall as he was, while another pointed something like a wand.
“Flame Bullet!” “Wind Sphere!”
Fire and compressed wind shot toward us.
Their group had people who could use magic too?!
Realizing the spells would strike the carriage, I shouted.
“Turn right!”
“What? R-right?”
The coachman couldn’t respond quickly enough. I drew my sword and leaned out of the window.
“No choice. Dragon Wind (M)!”
Thinking it rather excessive, I brought my blade down.
A tornado flew along the ground, its center aimed at our attackers and its winds gouging the earth.
It swallowed the incoming spells and raced toward the carriages behind us.
“”Whoa! Waaah!””
Both tried to evade it. One was clipped, and the impact tore apart its wall and brought it to an abrupt halt.
The other lost balance in the wind, slammed into a tree, and stopped as well.
BANG!
Our carriage also wobbled in the wake of 'Dragon Wind (M)'. Then I thought I heard a dull impact from the driver's seat.
Was he all right?
“Damn you! We won’t let you escape!”
A voice came from one of the disabled carriages. Something shot into the sky and burst overhead, releasing red smoke.
“Lloyd-sama, something was launched.”
“Y-yeah. A distress signal. We need to get away immediately.”
Looking up beside Alisha, I grimaced.
We should have remained hidden, but instead we’d been thoroughly discovered and had allowed them to summon reinforcements.
Then again, without fighting back, they would have stopped our carriage. It couldn’t be helped.
There was no way to silently subdue everyone aboard three carriages.
“…Wait. Aren’t we slowing down?”
For some reason, our own carriage began losing speed. At first, I thought the wind had caused it, but it slowed steadily and stopped completely.
“W-we’ve stopped.”
“We need to put distance between us and those men now! Sir, is something wrong?”
I called loudly, but the coachman didn’t respond.
Could someone who’d talked throughout the journey suddenly fall completely silent?
“I’ll check!”
Lilina hurried to the driver’s seat. She cried out in surprise and repeatedly called to him.
After a moment, she leaned back into the compartment.
“Lloyd-sama! The coachman is unconscious!”
“U-unconscious?”
The instant she said it, I remembered the dull impact I’d heard from his direction.