A short distance off the road, a fight was taking place……no, rather, a one sided stomping.

However, most people who saw this wouldn’t believe their eyes.

The ones being stomped were men with intimidating faces and scars all over their face and body while the ones stomping them were beautiful women in white armour.

「Damn it! Why would such skilled fighters be somewhere like this! Hey, use your bow! Get more arrows! We have no chance of winning in close combat! Shoot them from a distance!」

A man shouted as he slammed a 50cm long piece of wood he was holding into the ground in frustration.

Just a short time ago……only a few minutes ago, the man had been wielding a fine battle axe. However, the axe head had been cut off in the battle, leaving him with just the shaft.

Even so……as one might expect from a bandit leader, he had only lost his weapon.

The same couldn’t be said for his subordinates.

Many who attacked with long swords and spears were either injured or killed.

「Damn it, how did things get to this point! Weren’t we supposed to be able to do whatever we wanted!?」

He spat out those words in frustration, but that didn’t change their current situation.

The only reason they hadn’t been wiped out yet despite the disparity in strength was because the women in white armour……the White Rose Knights, had created a formation to protect a carriage.

The only reason these bandits were here was because their leader had heard from another bandit he knew that they could do whatever they wanted on the roads close to the Imperial Capital.

That bandit had in turn heard it from another acquaintance that bandits were currently free to do whatever they wanted on the roads connecting the Imperial Capital to the Obrisin County.

The bandits’ old territory had been five days away from the Imperial Capital, but after hearing they had free reign to rob merchants heading for the Imperial Capital, they were unable to sit back and stay where they were.

Of course, they knew about the civil war that was occurring, but after hearing about the devastating losses the punitive forces had suffered and that the roads were barely guarded as a result of that, the bandit leader had decided to not let the opportunity pass by and led his subordinates to the outskirts of the Imperial Capital without much thought.

They had immediately started attacking a merchant carriage……but in the middle of their attack, about 10 riders on horseback suddenly appeared.

The end result was……

「You idiot! We can’t do this anymore! We’d best retreat for now! Lotz and Gorzo are both dead! If we keep going like this, we’ll all be wiped out!」

The scream like shouts of his subordinates echoed throughout the area.

No, they weren’t like screams, they were real screams.

Despite knowing that, the bandit leader couldn’t make the decision to retreat.

This was their first raid since arriving at the area close to the Imperial Capital. If he were to order the retreat now, he would undoubtedly be looked down on by his subordinates.

While he understood that it was best to run away when their lives were in danger, there would be people who would later say that he ran away because he lacked guts.

What was worse was that they wouldn’t say it to his face.

That was why the bandit leader couldn’t give the order to retreat. The fact that the White Rose Knights were all beautiful and good looking was probably an additional factor.

「Shut up! I’m not going to lose to those women! Besides, you don’t get many chances to get such good looking women! If we catch them, we’ll definitely get a lot of money, whether we sell them or take them for ransom! If you want money, don’t run away! Capture those women!」

「Shut up, you bastard.」

As the bandit leader was speaking, a bolt of lightning shot out from the long sword of a knight guarding the carriage, striking the head of the bandit leader.

While not powerful enough to shatter his head, it was still more than enough to kill the man.

「L-Leader-!」

「Damn it, the leader is dead!?」

「You’re kidding, what do we do now?」

「Without the leader, we have no chance of winning……」

Confusion spread among the bandits.

The one who had just been killed was their leader and the stronger fighter among them.

Such a person had been killed so easily. Naturally, panic started to spread among the bandits.

「Damn it, I’m running away! I can’t take on these monsters!」

「Me too-!」

「Me too!」

It was only natural that more and more people would choose to run away.

「Captain Widele!」

「I know. You from there to there guard the carriage. Everyone else, follow me! We’ll get rid of these pests in the empire!」

『Understood!』

Everyone raised their voices in unison as Widele shouted.

Half of them stayed back to guard the carriage as ordered while the other half, led by Widele, attacked the fleeing bandits from behind.

As bandits, they were more than happy to abandon their own allies and run away if they were at a disadvantage, although it was a entirely different matter if they did have the advantage.

Of course, not all bandits were like that, there were those who valued honour and human life, but the bandits running from Widele and her knights were not such bandits.

「Kill them! If they escape now, others will be hurt!」

Following Widele’s orders, they slashed and stabbed the fleeing bandits one by one with long swords, spears, and halberds.

Widele and her knights already had the overwhelming advantage earlier when they had to guard the carriage, so what was happening now could only be called a massacre.

That said, Widele did not hesitate to give the order.

As she had said a moment ago, if she let the bandits escape now, other travelers on the road and those who lived in nearby towns and villages would be harmed.

If she showed unnecessary mercy now and later found out that people were harmed because of it, she would only feel regret.

That was why she swung her magic sword to eradicate the bandits here and now.

Ten minutes passed since the start of their pursuit.

There was no way for the bandits to outrun Widele’s knights on horseback by foot and almost all of them had been killed.

Of course, they hadn’t killed all the bandits.

Some probably managed to escape, but they would never forget the horror.

Having annihilated the fleeing bandits, Widele and her knights returned to the carriage, where they were greeted by the knights who had stayed behind to guard it.

「Good work, captain.」

They didn’t ask how things had gone.

They already knew the answer.

「What about the carriage?」

「They are a merchant heading to the Imperial Capital. I checked their cargo just to be sure, but they weren’t carrying any illegal goods. But……」

Should I say it or not? Seeing the hesitation on her subordinate’s face, Widele urged her on.

「Continue.」

「Yes. Apparently, there had been an increase in the number of bandits near the highway recently.」

「That’s……because of the civil war, right? No, wait.」

As Widele responded, she recalled the words the bandit leader had said before she had killed him with her magic sword.

(I’m sure……he said something about being able to do whatever they wanted.)

In other words, the large number of bandits was a result of someone intentionally gathering them together.

In an instant, the figure of the First Prince, Kabajid, smiling gracefully, flashed through her mind.

However, she quickly shook her head as she rejected the idea.

(Even if Prince Kabajid is a calculating man, there’s no way he would gather bandits here himself……was he really expecting this situation to happen? That’s unthinkable. Then, does he have some other plan? ……It’s no use, I won’t get anywhere with my own thoughts. I’d better inform Commander Angela or Princess Frizione about this.)

Rather than reaching a quick decision……or rather, deciding to leave it to her superiors, Widele turned to the carriage where the merchant was watching them from.

「We are from Princess Frizione’s army.」

「Yes, I did hear that.」

A plump, middle aged man in his fifties bowed his head as he spoke.

「I’ve already thanked the other knights, but thank you again for helping me this time.」

「Don’t worry about it. We can’t say we’re not to blame for this situation. Anyway, what would you like to do now? I can escort you along this road towards the Imperial Capital…..as far as where Princess Frizione is.」

The merchant was momentarily at a loss for words after hearing what Widele said.

Of course, as Widele had said earlier, the reason so many bandits were appearing along the roads was undoubtedly because of the civil war.

It was only natural for the merchant to have mixed feelings after hearing the name of a member of the royal family mentioned.

That said, there was no way the merchant would voice his honest thoughts as he just bowed to Widele again.

「Well then, please do that. As expected from the knights under Princess Frizione, you have a reputation for being kind to people.」

His words about them being kind to people were almost a warning against requisitioning his supplies.

Widele understood that and nodded back without saying anything in particular.

She knew that the civil war had caused a lot of trouble for the people.

「I understand. Let’s get going then!」

『Understood.』

With Widele’s order, her ten subordinates and the carriage began to move back towards the road.

However, Widele sent two knights ahead of the group.

It was necessary to report that a merchant’s carriage had been attacked by bandits and Widele judged that it would be best to let others know about her suspicions as soon as possible.

Her decision was correct. But……it was also a little late.

 

 

「Rei-dono, Princess Frizione would like to see you immediately.」

After rejoining Frizione’s army, Rei was riding on Set’s back as he kept an eye on the surrounding area when a White Rose Knight approached and called out to him.

「Me?」

「Yes. She would like to hear your opinion on something.」

「……I understand.」

Rei was a little puzzled as he tapped Set on the back of his neck.

Set understood what Rei wanted him to do and headed for the front of Frizione’s army.

The knight had a dreamy look on her face after seeing Set, but Rei ignored it as if it were normal.

 

 

Reaching the carriage that Frizione was riding in, he found Frizione, as expected, along with Angela, the commander of the White Rose Knights, Marquis Lognos, and a few other nobles, some of which Rei recognised and others that he didn’t.

「I heard you called for me, is something wrong?」

A noble, seeing Rei and Frizione exchange words for the first time, was about to say something about the casual way Rei spoke to Frizione, but Marquis Lognos stopped him with his eyes.

Rei saw that exchange in the corner of his eyes as he asked what was going on and Angela responded in place of Frizione.

「Actually, some of Widele’s subordinates, who went to check on you, have just returned.」

「Hmmm, they’re quite late……huh? Not Widele, but her subordinates?」

Rei asked back without skipped a beat and Angela nodded slightly before speaking.

「That’s right. After seeing that you had handled the Dragon Knights, they were heading back when they came across a merchant’s carriage being attacked by bandits. ……Well, the bandits were easily defeated by Widele and her subordinates, but the bandit leader apparently said some strange things.」

「Something strange?」

「Yes. Apparently, there is a rumour going around that with the civil war happening, bandits are free to do whatever they want near the Imperial Capital. As a result the number of bandits in the area is actually increasing.」

「……I don’t think that’s strange though. it’s true that with the civil war going on, law and order has been disrupted.」

「Yeah. But don’t you think it’s strange? Why do you think bandit activity would increase at this point in time. And those Dragon Knights that you fought seemed like they were being thrown away, weren’t they?」

Seeing Angela’s serious expression, Rei understood what the people here were worried about.

「Everything seems to be going according to the other side’s calculations?」

「……To be precise, Kabajid’s.」

Rei frowned at Frizione’s words.

「So he foresaw us joining the rebel army and prepared bandits and Dragon Knights to delay us even a little? But how can he see that far ahead? Besides, bandits are one thing, but Dragon Knights are too big a force to be thrown away, right?」

「Yes. That is what is bothering me. If it were just bandits, I might have guessed that it was Kabajid’s idea. But adding on the Dragon Knights……and five of them, it gets complicated. What do you think, Rei?」

「I think it’s just coincidence. But if they’ve really read this far ahead and calculated everything……then something might be happening to the rebel army right now.」

Rei’s words were spoken in a worried tone, as if the anxiety of those around him were transferred to him.

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