“E- enemy! An enemy’s approaching!”

“From our right! They’re here! They’re sliding down the cliff!”

Panic spread through soldiers due to the unexpected attack, but someone managed to keep them in line. “Quickly! Get into position! Engage them as soon as they land and prevent them from moving!” With a confident voice, Flanne rallied the soldiers, and they formed a line between the caravan and the cliff.

A handful of cloaked, hooded figures landed on the wide road, and the sound of metal clashing quickly followed. “Take this!” Our side had the number’s advantage, but not by much. “Th- they’re strong! Gyaaaah!”

“Sounds like one of the soldiers went down…” What’s going on out there? I can’t really see what’s going on from here.

Besides me, Carol, and Bea, there were only a couple children together with one of their parents. The adults worried for the children and covered them for their protection, using their bodies as shields. “That’s it. I’m heading out.” Without hesitation, Carol grabbed her sword and was ready to jump out.

“Wait, Carol!” I reached for her shoulder. “Are you seriously going? That’s crazy!”

“Shut up, Iroha. I’m still going. You can’t achieve anything without being a little crazy. Fighting was the reason Flanne let us tag along, remember?”

“We’re guards, Carol! We’re supposed to guard the people. You’re gonna leave behind the people you’re supposed to protect?”

“Yeah, that’s why you’re staying there, and I’m heading out. Everyone will be safe if everything’s dead.” Carol brushed off my hand and jumped out.

Dammit… I gotta go after her… If something happens to her, I’ll never hear the end of it when I go back. But… what about the people in here? What about Bea? They can’t fight, so if I leave them here alone, won’t they get… scared? I glanced at Bea’s face, and I saw something strange.

She’s not scared.

The adults holding onto the children had worried looks on their faces, but Bea seemed perfectly calm. Maybe that’s just how she reacts to tense situations. Maybe she’s the type to freeze up. But that’s not what it looks like to me. It looks more like the face of someone who’s ready for battle, not unlike the one Carol had. What’s going on?

Before I could make a decision, I heard one of the soldiers again. “T- two more enemies sliding down the cliff. Th- they jumped!?”

*Tear!* A second later, the top part of the carriage was sliced off. The two new fighters jumped over the soldier’s formation and came straight for us. After the first hooded figure opened the lid of the carriage, the second jumped down from above, trying to get to the people inside. “No, you don’t!” I quickly drew my sword then…

*Clink!* The hooded figure slashed down with a short, curved sword, and we both got pushed back. The two of them were very agile. They were able to move with sudden bursts of speed, similar to what I do with Agility Burst. A- are these ninjas or something? They probably have skills from the Momentum skill tree like I do.

“Ouch! Let go!” While I was recovering from the recoil, the one who had ripped open the carriage returned and forcefully grabbed Bea’s arm.

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Slash Flurry! I tried to protect Bea, but the mysterious figure swiftly pulled her up and jumped away with her before my sword could reach. What? Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit! I can’t let them get away! I jumped out of the carriage to go after Bea.

“We got who we came for. Let’s get out of here.” I stepped outside and heard the two figures exchanging some words. Bea was their target? Why? Who are these… people?

Now that I was outside, I was finally able to get a look at the situation. The soldiers formed a line, and they were tied up with their fight. They couldn’t chase the two who got past them without showing their backs to the enemy.

The two figures didn’t try to rejoin their allies and instead started running to get away from the carriage. There should have been no one to stop them, so they should have been able to get away easily. But there was someone in their path who they didn’t take into consideration. “I was gonna join the fight over there, but stopping you two seems much more important. If you’re in such a rush to leave, how about you start by dropping the girl?”

“Carol!” She pointed her sword at the hooded duo in a challenging manner. The two of them stopped and looked at each other. “They’re surrounded, so we gotta stop them here! We can’t let them kidnap Bea!”

“Oh, no… I stopped them, but I was actually gonna let them go.” Carol said sarcastically. “Of course we’re not letting them kidnap Bea. Why are you stating the obvious?” Harsh… At least we’re on the same page. Let’s do this.

Each of the hooded figures drew a short sword, and they both rushed Carol. She ran in the opposite direction of the one with their hands empty and locked sword with Bea’s kidnapper. We’re no longer surrounding them like this, but if someone’s gonna escape, it’s the one without Bea. Wow… well done!

Agility Burst! The one Carol ignored maneuvered around their ally to get an angle on her, but they were too slow. “You’re up against me!” *Clang!* Slash Flurry! The first clash stopped their attack, and the following flurry forced the figure to jump back with a stumble.

The small sword couldn’t handle too many strikes from my katana, and it looked damaged. Quick! I gotta finish this before they find a way to escape! I gave chase with a second Agility Burst and activated Butterfly’s Wings for my next attack. *Snap!* “Gahh!” Two slashes with a single motion. One of them broke the damaged blade, and the other downed the enemy. Huh… I could tell it was a good skill from the get-go.

Out of the two kidnappers, only the one who snagged Bea was left. “You idiot… How did you go down so easily?” They looked at their fallen ally while locking swords with Carol. After a swift step back, a stronger slash was aimed at Carol. She got into position to block, but the attack never landed. It was all a feint by the hooded figure who dashed away without missing a beat.

“You think I’d let you go?” The whole point of Carol’s way of engaging them was to prevent this exact scenario. A little head start was nothing, and Carol was able to keep up with the figure. She kept getting closer, and at this rate… she’s gonna kill them! Would she really?

“Leave it to me, Carol!” Agility Burst! I quickly passed Carol as she was about to swing her sword and got in range to attack. The kidnapped blocked the attack, but they now had to stand and fight.

“Dammit… Where the hell did you two come from!?” The hooded figure threw a series of knives to keep us at bay, but that was nothing to me. Slash Flurry! I knocked the knives out of the air and dashed forward. “Just need one more second…” The figure held up a sword while muttering to themselves. I hit it once, then Slash Flurry for good measure. They couldn’t handle the barrage, and their sword went flying. Heart Piercer now would finish them off. Wouldn’t it…? But… That’s overkill… Do I really need to- “Finally!” The kidnapper once again activated the skill similar to my Agility Burst and managed to put some distance between us.

“Wait!” Shit! I hesitated! Why? I thought I’d be able to finish things off. “Agili-” *Puff!*

“They’re escaping!” The soldiers nearby suddenly shouted. “Smoke bombs!” The ones fighting in the line blinded the soldiers, and the one I had downed threw a bomb in my face before following the one with Bea.

“Dammit!” I ran through the smoke, but when I arrived at the other side, it was completely empty… No way… Did they seriously get away? Just like that? It’s all my fault… What do I do now? What’s gonna happen to Bea?

“Iroha! *Cough cough!* What did you do?!” Carol emerged from the smoke behind with an angry voice. “Why did you get in my way? I fucking had it!”

“I- I…” This is such a mess… What was I even thinking? “I didn’t want you to kill anyone… You came with me to help, I felt bad forcing you to spill blood because of me.”

“Huh?! Are you fucking serious? I don’t want that kind of consideration from you! I don’t have problems killing anyone! I’m like, the person for the job. What am I doing here if you don’t let me do what I can do?” Carol seemed more sad than angry. She wants to be useful, and I just robbed her of that opportunity. All that only for me to hesitate at the last moment…

“Sorry, Carol… I thought I could do it… But you’re right… I shouldn’t have butted in.”

“If you’re going to do it, then you’d better do it properly. You’re always going to fail if you take half-measures.” Half-measures… Right… I got distracted by other thoughts instead of doing everything I could to save Bea… Damn it… I can’t believe Narumi was right back then…

“Sorry, Carol. You’re right… I won’t hesitate anymore.” I bowed slightly to Carol since I felt honestly bad. In hindsight, I think the kidnapper would have escaped regardless of whether I interfered or not. Carol’s attack might have gotten blocked, and it would have probably gone the same way. But I interfered, and now it’s all my fault. It’s all because I hesitated.

“If you’re sorry, I guess it’s fine. But what are we gonna do now?” Carol sighed and let it go.

While we were talking, the soldiers in the background were moving and reorganizing after Flanne gave them some orders. Once she was finished, she came over to us. “I’m glad you two settled things up. Can you still fight? We’re gonna give chase.” That answers Carol’s question. Me and her exchanged a glance, then turned back to Flanne with a nod. It’s not over yet. Let’s do it!