chapter 3

“Walter, we have to hurry back! Now!”

Her face was deadly pale that it worried him, thinking that it might be because she had lost too much blood.

“Please wait a moment. I am almost done-“

“No, we have to go!” without waiting for him to finish his words, Charlotte ran in the direction of the camp as fast as she could. She didn’t even feel the pain in her shoulder anymore, as the only thing on her mind was her father.

She realized something important. In the original story-line, Charlotte had been killed in the first strike. But now, she had managed to survive. When she screamed, Duke Adrian and the others had heard her thus, sending Walter to check up on her as now.

But, because of that, Duke Adrian was now alone. That was right. Amongst all the others, everyone else was an assassin in disguise.

In the original story-line, the one to have discovered this first was Walter. But now with Walter by her side, that means that the chances of the surprise attack having succeeded is high. Also, even if he realized this on time, even if he was a general commander, he was still one man who was currently unarmed. Going against 9, including the driver, how long could he survive on his own!?

Back at the camping site, Duke Adrian had just sent off Walter and was pacing in circles around the carriage. He didn’t notice the strange expressions on the knights and driver and just kept walking in circles.

Finally, he could no longer wait. He had wanted to go back inside to grab his sword and go look for the two of them but was suddenly stopped by one of the knight guards.

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“What is it?” he was a bit impatient at the moment. He frowned at the knight and wanted to shove him aside, but was instead returned with a heavy punch.

“Ghu!” Duke Adrian blocked the attack with his right arm and was sent back a few steps.

Something wasn’t right.

One by one, the knights began to surround him in a circle with no way of getting through. He finally realized what was going on.

“Who sent you?”

Obviously, there was no reply.

All 9 of them had weapons and they simultaneously charged at him. Duke Adrian quickly chanted a short defensive spell and managed to get away with only a few slashes. He dashed towards the closest enemy and killed him with a single lightning spell.

Duke Adrian picked up the sword and charged towards the remaining enemies headfirst. But, even with a sword, the odds were still against him.

When he had killed three of the assassins, the remaining 5 took a different approach. 3 attacked from the front while the remaining two attacked with magic.

Duke Adrian quickly chanted a defensive spell, but as soon as the two spells collided, the three assassins attacked from behind and his sides. He didn’t have enough time to evade or block.

“Father!”

A young girl’s voice interrupted their rhythm. From behind her, Walter, seeing the situation, sped next to his master and struck down the assassins. Duke Adrian also did not stand by idly and swung his sword down on the assassin on his right.

“Is Lotte alright?”

“…apologies. She has been injured with a cut in her shoulders, although not life threatening.”

But seeing his daughter’s worried face, he let out a sigh of relief “Let us quickly deal with these two.”

“Understood.”

Now, the tables had turned. The remaining two didn’t have enough time to finish their chants, nor were they able to defend or escape from the pair’s attacking speed.

Just like that, the situation had been dealt with.

Charlotte ran up to her father, looking worriedly at the wounds on his arm and back.

It wasn’t until he pointed out that her dress was disheveled that she noticed her chest almost completely exposed.

“Oh, Walter, I do think it would be best to first look at father’s wounds though.”

“Lotte…that isn’t the problem.”

Duke Adrian held his head in his palms, while Walter kept averting his gaze. Charlotte tilted her head as she tidied her dress, asking herself what was wrong with the two.

“Lotte, how are you feeling? Does it hurt too much?”

“I am fine father. You should be more concerned about yourself.”

“This is just a scratch. …We should hurry to the capital and get our wounds treated.”

Since using the carriage would take a lot longer, they instead used the horses. Charlotte sat in front of Walter, while Duke Adrian went on a separate horse.

Charlotte looked behind her at the dead bodies lying on the ground and realized something.

(Ah, I can move again.)