By Zephyria Chzz—
—Northern column, all temporarily halt. Vanguard group, arrive at checkpoint. Additional situation being assessed.
The simple sentence that followed the static made the atmosphere inside the car, which was already silent, freeze even more.
The previous message was not from the public radio installed in the car, but from the personal radio attached to the driver’s waist. The person sitting in the passenger seat turned his head about halfway and moved his Adam’s apple silently.
The personal radio was prepared separately by the Agrizendro family for communication with the knights of the Hares family. The fact that they had received a call from them, who had secretly decided to escort them safely until they left the vicinity of the territory, meant that the situation over there was turning out to be quite unusual.
“My lord, if it’s their doing….”
The man in the passenger seat, with a troubled expression, looked back at the back seat.
His lord was propped on his elbow, gazing without a flicker of emotion beyond the wooded window. His right hand leisurely roamed through his disheveled golden hair, tracing the thin strands with his fingertips.
As if his fingers were entangled in golden threads, the large hand lingered for a long while. Then, Hugo, his gaze fixed, opened his mouth.
“There won’t be any issues with the battalion’s return. I placed the 3rd Battalion Commander at the forefront in preparation for such a situation. If the Imperial royal guard block their path, he’s the type to break through even with hand-to-hand combat, so it might be fortunate if they encounter him first.”
He answered as if there would be no problem with the returning battalion. But that was an answer as a Legion Commander of the Council, not the answer expected by someone who served Duke Agrizendro as his lord.
If the reason the Council’s returning battalion had stopped was the Imperial royal guard, and their purpose was to chase Leonardo Blaine. In the worst-case scenario, there was a risk that the disappearance of the two men would be discovered during the process of checking the personnel inside the transport vehicle.
The moment it became known that the head of the Imperial Faction had intentionally tried to shake off the Imperial royal guard, it would surely escalate into a major conflict.
They could make excuses that they had temporarily left the battalion due to vehicle maintenance or fuel issues, but someone would suspect that there was another purpose behind the independent movement.
However, Hugo, knowing the concerns of his subordinate, did not add any further words. The knight, who had been looking at the back seat, turned his head back to the front at the continued silence. It seemed that his lord was troubled with various thoughts, even though he didn’t show it.
As silence returned, Hugo, who had been staring out the window, slowly closed and opened his eyes.
‘If it’s really them, they’re earlier than expected.’
Oldin Bridge, which they had passed last night, was located closer to Fidele than any other nearby territory. But with all the Portals to Fidele cut off, the only way for them to come here was to physically cross the mountains and fields.
Moreover, he had heard that Cordelia Hares had issued a blockade order within a 20km radius of the bridge due to demon beast escape prevention and repair work. Therefore, even if they used Teleport and all sorts of methods to detour, their estimated time of arrival would be around noon today, unless their Magic Power was infinite.
It had only been about two hours since sunrise, and the location was not far from the Gate of Fidele.
But in this situation, the sudden stop of the battalion… He hoped it wasn’t, but the anxiety that those guys might have already arrived nearby crept in.
Fortunately, even if they were the Imperial royal guard, they wouldn’t have a clear justification to conduct a surprise inspection of the Council’s transport battalion carrying emergency casualties. Furthermore, if they were visiting Fidele to carry out relief work, there would be no reason to send a messenger ‘secretly’ in the first place, would there?
But their actions, as if they were trying to move secretly, felt as if they had not received official permission to appear, or that they did not want this matter to be known to the outside world and attract attention.
‘So even if they encountered the northern battalion, they wouldn’t be able to search the vehicles one by one unless their purpose was to cause a disturbance. Then the problem is rather this side….’
Even if they avoided a head-on confrontation considering the external image, such circumstances would look strange to others the moment they were caught. In the end, the vehicle carrying ‘Hugo Agrizendro’ that had left the transport battalion should not be discovered by the Imperial royal guard. Especially not with Leonardo Blaine, who was at the center of the conflict, on board.
Hugo could not help but admit that all of this, while listing the facts in his head, boiled down to one anxiety.
He rubbed his tired eyes with the hand that had been propping up his chin.
‘What if we’re already surrounded? And why Leonardo, of all people?’
At that moment, the sharp sound of rubber rubbing against the dirt road cut through the air twice. At the same time, the bodies of all the occupants lurched forward as the vehicle braked suddenly.
Hugo braced himself against the front seat with one hand, leaned forward, and wrapped his arm around Leonardo’s head and shoulders. Following his instinct, the shimmering water cushion increased in volume and instantly enveloped Leonardo’s body.
The driver, who had also lurched forward, leaned back against the seat and asked urgently.
“Lord, are you alright?”
“What’s going on?”
Hugo, quickly checking Leonardo’s condition, frowned and asked back. The driver, who was holding the steering wheel, lowered his darkly tinted glasses to the tip of his nose and stared ahead.
She narrowed her eyes and examined the rear of the vehicle that had braked suddenly in front of them. The red fog lights flickered several times. It was an emergency signal.
Just then, a tense voice came from the vehicle’s radio, along with a beeping signal.
―Suspicious individuals discovered approximately 300m ahead, near the dam entrance in the 10 o’clock direction. Estimated to be five in number, all fully armed and mounted on horses.
At that moment, Hugo felt the back of his neck stiffen. He couldn’t see the situation properly because it was blocked by the vehicle in front, but he sensed that the thing he had been worried about had happened.
The person in the passenger seat quickly pressed the fog light button to send a signal to the car behind. Then, pressing the transmit button on the radio, he turned his head and looked at his lord. Hugo asked calmly.
“Have they spotted us too?”
Beep―
―I don’t think they’ve seen us because they’re hidden by the bushes, but they seem to have heard the engine and friction sounds. Two horses are approaching this way. Should we retreat?
Hugo bit his lip. The dam entrance was not a place that seemed like a common thoroughfare. Moreover, it would not have been easy to spot because it was hidden by the bushes, so he never imagined they would be blocking it.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t anticipated this situation at all, but now that the encirclement had become a foregone conclusion, he couldn’t trust the other escape routes he had looked at before. It was not safe to return north now. It was difficult to move rashly because he didn’t know where and how many of them were waiting.
‘There must be more roads….’
Hugo, anxiously retracing the map’s markings, suddenly recalled the moment he shook hands with the newly deployed battalion commanders of the southern branch.
‘There is a fairly wide forest path southeast of the territory.’
If the Imperial royal guard were loitering nearby at the time, they would have reported it to him, and when assuming that a Council vehicle was legally moving away from the battalion, the path that would not look the strangest was that one.
There was no guarantee that it was safe, but no other road came to mind. Having finished thinking, Hugo commanded decisively.
“Turn southeast, quickly!”
“Yes!”
As the order was given, the drivers of the two rear transport vehicles simultaneously turned the steering wheel to the right. Since the vehicle was still in the development stage and the reverse function was insufficient, they had to break through the dense bushes and move forward to return to another place.
As a result, the fragile grass and trees were mercilessly bent by the heavy bumper. The large wheels crushed the dirt and tree roots and began to rush into the forest.
At that moment, the tearing cry of a horse echoed ominously in all directions.
Beep―
―All five have started moving. This is Alpha 1, go ahead first. We will cover you.
As if trying to lure the pursuers, the vehicle at the front blocked the path where the two vehicles at the rear were escaping with its body.
The heavy clanging of armor grew closer. The quickening sound of hooves urgently changed the atmosphere of the forest, where nothing could be seen ahead.
The person in the passenger seat watched the transport vehicle left behind and shouted urgently into the public radio.
“Don’t get caught, lure them appropriately and shake them off!”
Meanwhile, the driver, who had stepped on the accelerator to the maximum speed, avoided the endlessly spreading tree trunks with almost acrobatic skill.
Hugo hugged Leonardo’s upper body and eased the shaking impact, then immediately opened the car window, stretched out his left hand, and concentrated his Magic Power.
After raising the dew formed on the dense bushes to a height of 1m above the ground, he finely chopped it in the air and sprayed water droplets. Then, a thick fog settled over the entire nearby forest, and the figures of the five following behind were obscured by the curtain.
Behind the eerie backdrop, the heavy engine noise and the snorting of horses were frantically intertwined. The occasional unintelligible shouts hinted at their difficult path ahead.