Chapter 48

The tent shook. Without hesitation, the knights strongly opposed Ricardis’ plan. ‘Step on our corpse if you must. You cannot die!’ They felt their determination in their boiling blood. Ricardis put someone’s name in his mouth to make a stand against them. It was a small sound that only Isserion and Starz next to him could hear.

[Sir Rosaline.]

There was a calm reply with no fluctuation in tone.

[Yes, Your Highness.]

It was Rosaline. To be more exact, the lower part of the tent lifted, and her head, with only her face shown, answered. Her wavy hair spread out on the dirt floor, which was somewhat terrifying.

[...]

[...]

J- Just now, Raymond had caught her, but when did she come back? Is it just the head that’s back? Pardict and Kairo were stunned by her persistent dedication.

Ricardis smiled as if he was having fun.

[Instead of Starz, she will protect me. Are you okay with this arrangement, Sir Rosaline?]

[Yes, I will protect His Highness.]Nnêw n0vel chapters are published at novelhall.com

[With Sir Rosaline here, the number of escorts doesn’t matter.]

[That’s right. Honestly, more people will only get in the way.]

‘See? Doesn’t she say that too?’ Ricardis looked at the people in the tent with a gentle expression. They were stunned with their mouths wide open but soon came to their senses and shouted.

[Not possible!]

[Never!]

[As if a single senior knight...!]

Ricardis raised his hand and interrupted them.

[Sir Rosaline.]

Rosaline rolled over and fully entered the tent with her white uniform stained with dirt. Ricardis handed her a gigantic shield from the corner of the tent. Rosaline wielded the heavy shield of the protector knight, Pardict. The shield obscured most of her body.

She glanced at Ricardis. He made eye contact with her and opened his mouth.

[Break it.]

Everyone laughed at Ricardis’ joke. But soon, they had to shut their mouths as the thick shield crumpled like a piece of paper in her hands. Clang. Crraack. Tendons bulged on the back of her tender hands, but her expression was still gentle. The shield, which became more and more deformed, was completely twisted, and eventually... Taang! The metal broke into two pieces with that sound. Pardict was so shocked that he did not realize his precious shield had just gone to waste.

[Shall we do more?] (Rosaline)

Ricardis shook his head lightly. Isserion’s mouth was gapping, unable to speak. He couldn’t understand what he saw with his own two eyes.

Ricardis spoke his words into the quiet space.

[She will protect me.]

After that, the beast shoved a few people away with its head and buttocks. All of them were knights of Illavenia. One by one, knights joined the horde of survivors in the direction the butt had bounced them. Everyone had a blank expression on their faces. It was unclear what was happening, but it was clear that the beast was only targeting the assassins of the Black Moon. Amid the chaos, Starz tore his uniform to stem the wounds on his shoulder.

“Find the wounded!”

Throughout the constant screams of the assassins, the knights moved quickly according to Starz’s orders. They’re not being attacked now, but he didn’t know how things would change after all the assassins died.

The screaming stopped. The dirt floor was wet with blood. A few lucky assassins escaped. The black beast looked around at the knights with wide eyes and disappeared into the forest in the direction the assassins ran away. Thud. Thud. The sound of the shaking ground gradually faded away.

“Haaa... Haaaaahh...”

With pale faces, the knights let out a breath they had been holding. It was an increasingly more terrifying experience than the battle with the assassins. But thanks to that creature, they avoided annihilation.

“Commander.”

Pardict trudged towards Starz. He also had a cloth wrapped around his thigh to stop the bleeding.

“Did you notice that beast?”

Starz nodded. Everyone had been so absorbed that they didn’t even think about it, but the two of them noticed. The black bear was soaked in blood before it showed up here.

“Perhaps the crowd that followed His Highness suffered similarly. That’s great luck for us. Did the Black Moon bastards steal the bear’s money?”

“You have no talent for joking, Sir Pardict. It might come back, so let’s get out of here quickly.”

“Or was it deprived of its prey? Did they touch its cub?”

“...”

Since then, Pardict has made all sorts of assumptions, even talking about the enemies of the bear’s parents.

Starz had enough of his words and put an end to the chatter, “I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure they must’ve threatened something precious.”

Starz suddenly looked up at the sky. The eagle that should be flying above their heads... he could not see where it had gone.

***

Tyreng was quite angry. The plan to obliterate all the knights in the field and kidnap the prince kept going wrong. Ricardis’ tactics and even the eagle that attacked only the raiders. ‘Is this one of those very unlucky days?’ He hurried his steps in impatience. He had to go back and put an end to the situation. However, when he reached where the third carriage should have been, the scene he faced was somewhat different from his imagination.

“T- This...!”

Tyreng looked around quickly.

“Damn it! Those damn bastards!”

There was nothing left in the empty field. Whether it was the carriage, the horses, or even the living Knights of the White Night. It was as if they had scattered in the cold rain, leaving only corpses stained with blood in the mud. Most of the dozens of corpses were members of the Black Moon raiders, and there were only four corpses of Knights of the White Night. The team members who followed Tyreng back to the starting point of operation were all bewildered.

Tyreng screamed, “Find them and kill them all!”

He looked around with red, bloodshot eyes. The corpse of Janan, who was in charge of the 2nd team, was seen. He was a good-natured guy. Tyreng sat and gritted his teeth.

“...This is?”

Tyreng picked up a small glass bottle that was rolling around the corpses. It was a bottle containing Balta’s mad poison, Fragment, distributed only to the captains. But this one was empty. It’s a weapon that shouldn’t be taken out unless it’s a desperate situation, and someone seemed to have used this.