CH 186

「Why is Alina here?!」

Did Principal Miliera mess up? Or did Inglis actually tag her as an object of exclusion?

「Wh-, what the hell?! Aren’t you the guy who stays in our inn, Diego?! What is happening?!」

The merchantman who bought Alina was also left behind. There were also the other children from the same place as them. There were about ten people in total.

Diego didn’t give an answer. It seemed that he didn’t even listen to the question. Perhaps he was bewildered that his assassination target, King Charleas, had vanished.

「Splendid, very splendid, Ian must have double-crossed us……」

That was a misunderstanding on his part. It just happened that ‘Yua-countermeasures’ that Inglis had devised before she even knew the danger matched up perfectly for it.

However, Rafinha had no obligation to correct that misunderstanding. She was more interested in the fact that Ian’s name came up. It seemed that he was one of them after all.

「General! What do we do now?!」

One of the other two suspicious-looking men asked for instruction; they must have been Diego’s subordinate.

「We’ll try again later. We lost our target, but they haven’t seen our faces too, dispose of everyone here. Seal these girls’ mouths, then we strike in the next opportunity after we lay low. Go.」

「「Sir yes sir!」」

The two subordinates nodded and braced for the kill. They were in favor to shut them up for good.

「Don’t look down on us! We’re not that easy a target!」

Rafinha wasn’t intimidated and talked back.

The girls, too, had their own share of carnages behind them. Just the other day Rafinha had fought in the middle of a clash between the Highlanders and the Ironblood Chain Brigade, whilst Leone and Liselotte themselves were facing a Prisma, albeit a juvenile one. They were not so weak-minded as to be intimidated by a few human assassins at this late hour.

「Exactly!」

「You will taste your own medicine!」

Both Leone and Liselotte held up their black greatsword and white halberd respectively.

「Then we’ll use these!」

One of Diego’s goons ran towards Alina and the other kids who were some distance away from the three. Rafinha didn’t know what trick he used, but at the same time she heard a metal click from the guy’s arm, several sharp blades appeared out of it.

Had he planted them within his arms to avoid suspicion?

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Either way, Alina and the kids were in danger. He was going to take them hostage!

「I won’t let you!」

Rafinha promptly drew her pure white bow Artifact. The moment an arrow of light appeared in her hand, she shot it without delay.

Peeew!

The light arrow darted towards the assassin who was heading for Alina. However, it deviated as its trajectory was far above the man’s head. There was no sign it would ever hit him.

She fired her second and third shot in succession, but they too would miss him both to his left and right respectively.

「A good Artifact needs an equally skilled wielder!」

「Oh, I wonder!」

The moment Rafinha said so, her first arrow took a sudden turn. It descended rapidly at an acute angle, grazing the assassin’s nose and pierced the floor at his feet.

「……! Hurry!」

——he stopped!

「There!」

Her second and third arrows also made a sharp turn and shot the assassin in both knees the very moment he stopped in his tracks.1　

「Ugh……?!」

The man fell down on the spot according to Rafinha’s aim. Those were highly precise sniping shots that she aimed at predestined body parts.

The theme of Rafinha’s training these days was to control the trajectory of the arrows that she shot with her own will. If she shot a large number of arrows, she could only control the general direction of their movement, but if she limited her shots, just like now, she could control them to fine precision. As was displayed, her accuracy was very high.

That being said, when she was up against Inglis, she couldn’t even hit her once.

Inglis moved way too fast, and no matter how much Rafinha changed her arrows’ trajectory, she always managed to evade them until her light arrows eventually vanished. Compared to her, the goon was too easy a target.

「You won’t move anywhere!」

As she spoke, Rafinha made a run towards Alina and the kids.

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「Big sis!」

「Alina! It’s alright, I’ll protect you, it will be fine!」

Looking at the fact that they were about to be taken as hostages, it seemed that Alina, the kids, and their master had nothing to do with Diego and his lot. She had to protect them.

「You mean we, Rafinha!」

Leone and Liselotte also made their move.

「Rafinha, you cover that girl!」

「We will take the vanguard!」

「Yeah, please do!」

Then I will snipe the others from my position! The greater control she had over her arrows, the more she could unleash her attacks without the fear of friendly fire.

Controlling the trajectory of the arrows was a technique that excelled in a free-for-all battlefield, much like this one. It was the correct decision to dedicate her training to this. In addition, improving her skills like this would also bring about a positive effect on her other power, the Healing Gift, or so Inglis said.

Rafinha once again plucked her Flowing Radiance, targeting Diego’s other goon, but…

「UOoooohh!」

The silhouette on the edge of her vision moved around violently. The assassin that had collapsed after being shot in the knees stood up and rushed forward furiously.

「Wha……?!」

That wasn’t the movement of someone with arrows wedging into their knees. He was fast! With it being a surprise attack, even when Rafinha managed to twist her body around to evade it, the assassin’s blade still grazed a wound on Rafinha’s shoulder. A hot pain ran through her, and the stage costume that she was still wearing ripped open, soaking with blood.2　

「Kgh……! How could you move around?!」

Normally, he shouldn’t even be able to stand, and yet he was so agile that it gave the impression that he was completely unscratched.

Not to mention, the weapons he was handling didn’t even seem to be an Artifact. Despite that, it still had the power to inflict a wound on a Knight who wielded a High Grade Artifact?!

「I can hardly feel this wound!!」

Having said so, he grew even more vigorous than ever, furiously swinging around his slashes. Rafinha also recovered her form, she parried the blades with the limb of her bow. Still, she wouldn’t be able to counterattack now. She had to create a distance before she could unleash her arrows.

Whilst she was looking for an opening to counter and taking a distance away, Rafinha noticed it. The man’s legs weren’t bleeding even with the arrows going through it.

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「How?! It’s not taking effect?!」

「Rafinha!」

Leone’s voice rang. The blade of her black greatsword extended with the power of its Gift, becoming a huge mass of black Iron that swooped down the assassin from over his head.

「Uoohh?!」

Reacting to it, the assassin jumped far back to avoid the blade. The distance opened! It was just for this alone that Leone lent her hand. She never intended to deal a blow with her attack.

「Thanks!」

With the distance, Rafinha had the fight on her palm! Once again she fired three consecutive light arrows and manipulated their tracks. This time, she aligned the three arrows to land at the assassin’s shoulder.

「UOoohh?!」

「How about now?!」

The light arrows converged and tore through the assassin’s clothes at his shoulder, then what was revealed under the garb was a humanoid mechanism made of tubes and gears, not so different from the internal structure of a Flygear.