-The Ambush and what was not said-
In the first place, it was very difficult to tell who was an enemy.
In games, friends and enemies are separated by color schemes that make them instantly distinguishable. They would have different coloring on their armor, even bosses could be easily made out from the rest.
And I had a.s.sumed that this world, which resembled the game so much, would be the same. They had blue cloaks, so they must be our friends.
However, the difference in color for the game also represented the difference between the Kingdom of Ruain and the Kingdom of Faruzia.
Then what would you do if your enemy was from the same kingdom?
-You would probably taste the same sense of betrayal that I did after first feeling relief that help had come.
This in-fighting would quite easily make a fool of you.
I had much to repent for afterward, but at the moment I was too frantic to do anything.
"…!"
I tried to scream but there was no sound, I panicked. I would surely be killed if nothing changed.
But I was wearing a blue dress, fit for a lady. It would make any escape very slow. I was not even holding a knife. But if I did nothing then I would only be getting in Reggie"s way! I think. Yet getting off of the horse would make me a target. I was scared.
"Grol! Kiara, hold onto the horse!"
The knight who was named Grol had already moved in front of Reggie before he was called.
Reggie pushed me forward over the saddle as I held on.
In that state, I turned my eyes ahead.
As I saw what was in front of us, I could not help but a.n.a.lyze it as if it were a game.
You could attack once per turn. Even if he could defeat one with a single hit, Grol would either have to evade or block the attacks of the three others. I began to sweat as I wondered if his HP would hold.
On top of it all, a single enemy knight was using his turn to come for Reggie.
"Ahh!"
The single knight charging at Reggie swung his sword downward.
As Reggie blocked it with his own sword, I could hear the fearsome ring of metal on metal above my head. It reverberated all the way through the horse.
And then the horse moved. As I desperately clung to the horse that moved as if to turn around, I saw that the enemy had been unhorsed.
I don"t know how he did it. But Reggie, that was amazing!
But it was too early to be surprised. The horse had trampled over the knight as it started to run away.
At this point, I was practically scared to death.
Being so close to death, the swinging swords. And while it was necessary in order to escape, I was also afraid of hurting others.
And I just did not have the means to escape from this situation on my own.
The only thing that I could do was to try and stay out of Reggie"s way. And that hurt. Because I knew that I was only being a burden to him.
The horse that had run away was quickly brought back.
Reggie once again traded blows with his sword. But we were soon outnumbered. A second knight had appeared to Reggie"s left side.
The man in front of us now drew his sword back and steered his horse a step backward before addressing Reggie.
"Hand over the girl."
It appeared that I was the target after all. Reggie answered without a moment"s pause.
"I refuse."
When they heard Reggie"s answer, the two men immediately brandished their swords once again.
Reggie would die if this continued. As the image of Reggie dying in the game entered my head, I frantically tried to stop him.
"You- you must not, Reggie! What will happen if you die? Just for someone like me…"
Reggie was a prince. The death of the heir would be a tremendous issue.
Furthermore, this fight was quite an irregular incident. It should not be happening in the first place. It was only happening because I had run away from the school. That is why I am not sure if Reggie will be allowed to survive.
"Please don"t say, "just someone like me," Kiara."
Reggie said as he stared the enemy down. His hand tensed as it continued to wrap around my waist for support.
“We"re friends are we not? It"s only normal for me to help you, if I don"t want you to die.”
At Reggie"s words, I felt a sensation like my breath had been taken away.
It"s normal to help.
He didn"t want me to die.
I sat speechlessly, the enemy started at him with swords swinging. Once again I leaned forward onto the horse as the sounds of sc.r.a.ping metal sounded above my head.
Reggie"s pained voice made me feel like my heart was being crushed.
But just as I looked up to see him, help had come.
It was Grol.
Grol shielded us, and Reggie was once again able to race his horse forward. This time there was no one in front of us to stop us.
The fact that Grol had come must have meant that he had defeated one or two of our enemies. Even so, I was worried that he would now die alone.
As this new fear started to take a hold of me, actual help appeared in front of us.
"Lord Reggie!"
It was Wentworth who shouted as he dashed towards us on his horse, he was followed by three knights who I recognized.
"I left the others to Grol!"
Reggie shouted quickly. And they understood what they needed to do.
One of the knights followed Reggie and the other two ran pa.s.sed us.
Now there was a chance that Grol could be saved. And Reggie would escape to the castle safely.
I was so relieved by this that for a moment the strength left my hands and I nearly fell off of the horse. But if I fell off here, and by chance, there were more enemies, I would surely be killed.
So I steeled myself until we reached the castle.
But perhaps I was trying too hard because now my hands would not release the saddle and I could not get off.
"Kiara, I"ll help you."
Reggie noticed what had happened and gently unraveled my fingers one by one.
When they were finally released, they would not stop shaking. Seeing this, Reggie gently carried me off of the horse.
I knew that I was only causing him inconveniences. I was so scared by the experience of being involved in such a battle for the first time, but I was grateful for the warmth of his hands.
"Lord Reggie, should I carry the lady for you?"
The knight who had come with us asked, but Reggie refused the offer.
"No, I need you to call the Margrave. Also, the surrounding area must be searched. You must tell him to gather some men."
Saying this, Reggie then took me to a flower garden that was nearby.
He continued to hold me as he sat down. There was a row of trees growing here that made us invisible from the stables.
Now that I was no longer on the horse and cut far off from the fighting, my hand had finally stopped shaking.