Chapter 23

Primal fear stormed within his heart as Slug kept backing away. “I-i don’t have anything I swear. Please let me go.”

But the bandit did not listen and merely drew closer with a slow and mocking pace. His sword, swinging lazily to and fro, caught an occasional gleam from the sun.

Hoping to convince him, Slug shoved his hands into his pockets and pulled them outwards. The pockets truly were empty save for a half-eaten piece of chicken which fell to the floor.

The bandit paused slightly as he stared at the chicken leg.

Doubling over slightly, he started laughing uproariously.

Slug followed suit with his own nervous laughter. But that stopped as his heart clutched tightly.

The still laughing bandit sent his sword towards the boy’s head.

His life flashing before his eyes, Slug knew he was done for. “Ma, I’m sorry ma.”

But the sword did not connect. Rather it was the bandit who was wounded; blasted away, leaving behind a trail of fire.

“Let’s go!” The young magician said as he held out his hand.

Slug opened his eyes and reached out for the hand, but he pulled back slightly for reasons unknown to even himself.

Rine did not care as he extended his hand and forcefully pulled the larger boy to his feet.

Along their hurried march to the carriage, the two youths saw that the fight was winding down. It seemed like the bandits had lost interest and decided to flee.

Soon they reached the entrance of the carriage where Slug’s friend remained dead.

“Boss,” Slug screamed as he went over to the body.

Watching Slug grieve over the loss of his friend, Rine felt pangs of guilt assault his heart. Had he been a bit quicker with his cast, he would have probably been able to save him. He shook his head and sighed as he attempted to get the feeling out of his mind, this was difficult to do as every now and then a certain young lady’s face would replace the corpse’s.

“Sir magician I can’t thank you enough. Your help was invaluable to the defense of our carriage,” Said the merchant as he awkwardly disembarked his horse. Throughout the entire battle, he had not moved a single inch, yet just as a promising young magician made himself known the man moved at the speed of sound.

“T-thanks,” Rine replied hesitantly as he watched the other passengers. The mother and daughter pair were huddled close together in one of the carriage’s corners, while the mysterious warrior-looking man sat still as a rock. Come to think of it, that man had also never taken a single action.

“Truly the young shall overtake the old just look at you, a fully competent first-grade magician at such a young age. I say, your future is boundless.”

Rine listened to the merchant without much care; the man’s eyes bothered him. They looked at him akin to how a man would look at a valuable treasure he found laying on the side of the road.

The youth opened his mouth to half-heartedly respond, but shock held his tongue. An ax brutally dug itself into the merchant’s skull. Like a blooming flower, blood splashed all over the place staining the man's once pristine white shirt.

Reflexively, he turned his sight to the place where the ax originated from. There he saw another horrific sight. All the guards lay dead, their eyes still opened in a perpetual expression of shock and horror. Amid their lifeless bodies, a man stood uncaring as he had his gaze fixed towards the carriage.

At least Rine thought it was a man. Shiny black armor covered the figure from head to toe, obscuring any features. One thing was clear though, this was no common bandit.

He could feel fear gripping his heart, and he took a step back just as the Knight began to approach the carriage.

Thoughts of escaping ran through his head and the temptation was nigh impossible to resist. But as he remembered the passengers who remained in the cabin, and as he recalled the sight of Slug grieving over his friend’s corpse, he somehow found the strength to stand his ground. ‘No, no more blood on my hands.’

The intimidating knight finally stood face to face with the young magician. The knight’s impressive stature made it so that Rine had to look up to meet his gaze.

“Move boy,” The knight said coldly.

Again the man’s aura made him shrivel up inside. It was now that he realized his foe’s true strength. ‘Almost as strong as Cort, maybe stronger…’ He thought before gulping

“M-mmake me!” Rine said defiantly.

The sight of the scrawny magician standing off against the intimidating knight was comical, to say the least, yet no one laughed.

Looking down, the knight finally met Rine’s gaze. “Why go so far for people you do not know, young one?” His voice was softer than what Rine expected.

“I…” Amy’s face flashed through his mind. “None of your business.” Rine outstretched his arms in an act of childish defiance.

The knight unexpectedly let loose a deep sigh. “I’m sorry, but orders are orders,” he said as he rested his arm on Rine’s shoulder.

“What are you talking ab-” He could not continue for he felt an ungodly force move him about. Like a doll, he was tossed to the side in one smooth motion.

He grunted as he landed roughly on his feet. “{Fireball}!” He roared after regaining his footing.

Yet even as the spell neared, the knight did not flinch, and for good reason. As the spell hit the knight’s armor, it unexpectedly did nothing. As if dropping a wish-engraved rock into the sea, the spell disappeared, leaving no markings in its place.

After getting over his shock, he fired another spell and when the same instance repeated itself, Rine knew he stood no chance.

“No,” He refused to accept this as he picked up one of the dead guards’ swords and rushed towards the knight.

The pitiful sight of the boy recklessly mashing a sword against the knight was accompanied by an equally dispirited thud as sword met armor. Again, not even a scratch.

Humiliated, he grew frustrated and in a final last-ditch attempt, Rine wrapped his arms around the knight’s waist. So impressive was his figure that the youth’s arms couldn’t even wrap around his waist completely. But Rine did not care. Defiantly digging the soles of his feet into the ground, dirt was uplifted as he was dragged along. Yet despite the magician’s best efforts, he could not even slow the knight’s pace.

But his actions had succeeded in doing one thing, and that was wearing the knight’s patience thin. Again he placed his hand on Rine’s chest and pushed him away. This time, the force was greater and Rine almost flew away.

But even as he ungracefully fell on his ass, the magician did not give up.

Once more placing himself between the carriage and the knight, Rine panted heavily as he confronted him again. “Stop,” He said between pants. He was starting to feel mental and physical fatigue. It seemed like the flurry of spells he unleashed previously was catching up to him.

“That’s enough.” The calmness of the man’s voice scared Rine. And he flinched once more as the knight raised his hand and held it towards him.

‘A spell?’ Rine thought, but soon his answer came. And it did so in the form of a heavy blow to the back of his head, knocking him almost unconscious. Falling to the ground for the third time, he could barely see an ax landing gracefully into the palm of the Knight’s hand. On the side of the ax, a strange symbol gave off a faint glow. ‘Rune artifact.’ He thought as he felt himself slip into unconsciousness. His eyes closed as the Knight entered the cabin. He waited for the sounds of screaming.

However, when seconds passed by and there were still no signs of conflict, Rine grew confused. All the more so as a full minute rushed by.

‘What’s going on?’ He thought.

Sudden, hurried footsteps appeared to his left. Painfully tilting his head to the side, his eyes widened in shock as he saw the young woman from the carriage approach him.

“What happened?” He stuttered

“No time, no time. Just listen. You were very stupid, but also kind of cool. Plus you’re kinda in this mess because of me, so for payment take this,” She said as she tossed a rather large bag at Rine.

“H-huh?” Rine asked ineloquently.

But the young woman ignored his flustered appearance and turned around, back into the carriage.

As Rine watched her go, an odd sense of relief assaulted him. Finally, he fell unconscious.

…………………………………………

Just as the black knight made his way inside the cabin, Slug retreated away in a hurry. He was watching as the young magician was toyed with, and he knew that he stood no chance whatsoever.

His back against the furthest wall away from the demon, Slug prayed to the gods to keep him safe.

But the gods seemed too busy to answer. The knight’s looming figure appeared before him, his ax primed to attack. “N-no please I,” He closed his eyes in fright and waited for death.

“That’s enough Eric, he’s suffered enough,” A sweet voice appeared.

Slug opened one of his eyes and was startled to see the ax a palm width away from his face. He gulped.

The knight stood straight before turning towards the young girl. “Knight Eric greets princess Rain,”

“Yeah yeah, hey Eric.”

“Princess, I must inform you that I am under strict orders from the king to return you to the castle. Please cooperate.”

“Mmmm. Nah.”

“Princess, please reconsider. This tantrum of yours has caused the king great pain.”

“Tantrum?” The young woman asked as she stood up.

“You would call my actions a tantrum?”

The knight said nothing.

“Tell me, Eric, what king would sell his daughter’s marriage away in order to further his agenda.”

Eric said nothing. Of course, he knew about the grievances the princess had with her engagement. And while on the surface, her actions of running away may seem noble…

“How dare he marry me off to such a ragtag nobleman’s son. The literal bottom of the barrel. My husband to be would be nothing more than a wastrel. How am I to compete for the throne with such wretch at my side. The least my father could do is give me the option to stay unwed. But noooo, [It would be unfitting of a lady from my house to remain unwed and follow the path of a spinster.] Bullshit. He just wanted me out of the race. That’s it, he wanted either Callum or Cindelle to take the throne. Look at Cindelle, she’s older than me, and yet no words of marrying her off ever left my father’s mouth.”

“Princess, you must understand that the King just wanted what’s best for you. He wanted to keep you safe-”

“Ah yes, SAFE. Tell me, why doesn't he do the same for Callum? Huh? He’s even younger than me, yet there he goes gallivanting around here and there not a care in the world. Why am I so special, so fragile?”

“Princess that’s different, Callum-”

“Is a mid-ranked warrior and Cinds is a fifth-grade magician, so what? I’ll have you know I’m plenty strong myself. I am a rune magician after all. Look, I even helped forge this ax.” She said as she brought herself closer to Eric. She smoothly ran her hand through the ax’s symbol.

Eric sighed.

“Princess...it’s for the best…”

“Eric,” She said in a soft whisper. “I know you are worried for my safety, and I thank you for that. However, there comes a time in every person’s life where they must choose a path. And this is mine, it is not pretty, but it is mine.”

“How will you survive? What are your plans?”

“For now I plan to run far away, and have myself a little adventure. Don’t worry about my safety, Cecil and Sophia are here too. Besides, I’m plenty capable myself.” She smiled as she crushed a blue crystal.

“I know you are…” Eric said with a rueful smile as he looked down at his chest. There a piece of paper marked with certain symbols began emitting a faint light.

“Good luck,” He said before shortly disappearing.

“So he did know huh…” Rain said as she watched him go.

“Of course he did. Do you think someone as strong as he would fall for such a ruse?” The warrior who sat in the corner passively-aggressively said.

“Well it worked on you didn’t it Cecil?” Rain rebuked.

“Tch, that happened once,”

“So we are really going through with this huh,” The old woman, Sophia, remarked.

“Yes, we are. Anyway I will prepare more rune scrolls and we’ll teleport away; surely Eric wouldn’t be the last, the others are bound to be close by. Before that though, I have to do something. Excuse me,” She said as she made way to the door of the carriage. “Oh and Cecil, take care of that.” She pointed towards Slug.

For the first time, Slug saw the mysterious warrior smile. Though, the fact that it was directed towards him did make his skin crawl.

“Sure thing princes- I mean captain.”

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