Volume 6 - CH 4

Chapter 4 – The Great Frederick Bridge

Eto and his group went along with their travel plans smoothly and were about to reach the Margrave in a few days. Right in front of them was the Yuxed River, which flows from east to west through the kingdom.

The people of the Kingdom have long used the Yuxed River and its tributaries for drinking and agriculture. For that, people have built temples and churches in various places, with a Goddess enshrined as an incarnation of the large river, to thank the river for its grace.

Here, Eto was thinking about the Goddess who chose him as the sage, while looking at the shining surface of the river illuminated by the sunlight. He thought about why the Goddess selected him as the sage. But, having not a single clue about the answer to that question, Eto turned his sight to the bridge across the river.

On the Yuxed River, which is over 200 meters wide, there was a magnificent stone bridge that was big enough for two carriages to easily pass through. That bridge is called the Great Frederick Bridge, a bridge that took over 20 years to build and was completed by the current King of the Kingdom, King Frederick Carmine.

It is said in the past, the Yuxed River often flooded the area, causing great damage to the surrounding towns, villages, and corps. As a matter of course, the flood also washed away the bridge built on the river many times.

To improve that situation, the King set the construction of a great bridge as a national project. Then, he also promoted hydraulic control by revetment work and construction of a bridge using a new construction method.

With the completion of the Great Frederick Bridge, the traffic between the Royal Capital and the Margrave of Erven became more active than before, leading to a turnaround in the Kingdom’s economy. Because thanks to the bridge, for merchants, the distance from the center of the country to the frontiers has shortened, greatly expanding the possibilities of business.

‘Well, Kabs was also trying to sell those who were forcibly enslaved in the Royal Capital by taking advantage of that close distance, though.’ Eto thought.

“Eto-dono, the formalities are over. Let’s cross the bridge.”

“… Understood.”

Eto nodded and boarded the coachman’s carriage.

With that, the two carriages crossed the great Frederick bridge. The wooden door of the carriage was also opened, and the passengers were curiously looking at the outside scenery from there. That is natural. Because they probably couldn’t afford to enjoy the scenery when the slave trader brought them to the Royal Capital. Everyone could see people fishing from their fishing boats and cargo ships for carrying cargo in the river. They could also hear someone say that the river shrimp is a specialty of this area from the carriage.

Meanwhile, Eto shrugged his shoulders at the cold wind blowing over the river. The atmosphere was peaceful, to the point he could even hear a white bird singing far above the sky. Until suddenly, When their carriage was about to cross the bridge, a thunderous roar reverberated from behind the group.

‘Is that an explosion? Or maybe a magic attack?!’

Thinking like that, Eto ordered Tommy to stop the carriage. Immediately after that, Eto’s and Tommy’s bodies floated in the air for a moment due to the strong vibration spread to the bridge. Not long after that, the screams of the women also echoed, and the neigh of the horses pulling the carriage were heard here and there.

“Tommy-san! Are you okay?”

“T-that was… Won’t this bridge collapse?! In that case, we have to leave here quickly–”

Although Tommy was able to stop the carriage in the spur of a moment, it seems that the trembling that caused their bodies to float has not stopped yet.

“Tommy-san, let’s calm down first.”

“B-but, Eto-san? I am c-calm. We have to leave this place right away.”

Saying that, Tommy tried to control the reins with his trembling hands. And while looking at Tommy, who was agitated, Eto took a deep breath as if he had made up his mind.

“If you are like that, Sally-san will laugh at you, you know? Are you fine with that, Tommy-san?”

When Eto said the name of his ex-girlfriend, Sally, Tommy looked at Eto with a surprised expression. Eto then grabs Tommy’s shoulder and looks into his eyes.

“Tommy-san, I’m sorry for saying Sally-san’s name. But, please calm down first. Trying to move the carriage at this time will only make the horse become more agitated. So please keep in step with your surroundings and soothe the horses first so we can leave anytime. Can you do that?”

“Aa… I’m sorry, Eto-san. I lost my composure for a moment… And ee, if it’s about horses, leave it to me.”

Despite still shaking, the agitation that Eto saw in his eyes earlier had disappeared. Thus, Eto nodded deeply to reassure Tommy.

“Please.”

“Understood. Where are you going, Eto-san?”

“I will check the situation behind.”

Eto got off the carriage and observed the situation behind, and saw a huge amount of smoke spreading in the sky to the point that he couldn’t see the opposite shore.

For a moment, he was stunned by the magnitude of the smoke, but soon came to his senses when he saw many people running toward the shore with their luggage. However, the danger has not passed yet. Many stones that were part of the bridge scattered around there. For that reason, Eto thought it would be dangerous to let the passengers get out of the carriage and walk to the shore. Leaving the bridge as soon as possible while riding the carriage would be the better choice.

After asking the knights to watch the surroundings, Eto headed to the place behind their carriage with Amou. Of course, Kohaku and Sorano also came down from the carriage to follow Eto. Hence, Eto immediately used the Jewel to cast Protect and Shield to his party members.

“Amou, wait behind the carriage and knock away any stone that flies toward you.”

“Understood.”

“Kohaku and Sorano, you two go to the left and right side of the carriage, and be wary of suspicious people.”

“Leave it to me.”

“Roger that.”

After giving his instruction, Eto returned to the knights alone.

“There is something I want to discuss. Can you please tell the carriages that are stopped at the vicinity of the bridge to move? We still didn’t know if the previous explosion was just a one-time thing. Thus, I don’t want our carriage to stay longer on this bridge. And since this is an emergency, you can also move with the identity of the knights of the Kingdom.”

“Understood, we will try to.”

Two of the three knights then went to the vicinity of the bridge on horseback, while the remaining one continued to protect the carriages. After a while, Eto could see the front most carriage start moving ahead. And just like that, the line of carriages slowly began to move as the angry roar flew around.

By the time the carriage of Eto and his group crossed the bridge, the smoke that had covered the center of the bridge was washed away to the downstream. The two knights who went ahead to the riverbank and watched the situation reported that the center of the bridge had completely collapsed over several meters.

And Eto, who confirmed the scale of the explosion from the report of the knight, thought it was an explosion made by detonating a magic circle.