I Obtained Sword God Level Talent

26 – 026. Snow Flower (2)

Thudthudthudthud!

The carriage bolted.

Racing down the empty road, it was quite some time before the carriage began to slow its pace.

“Frey. The horse is exhausted. It’s probably best we rest here for a while before moving on.”

“Yeah. It’d be more trouble if the horse collapsed first.”

“Hah, haah. That’s a relief. I think we’ve finally lost those strange people.”

With Ariel’s voice as the end, we decided to take a short break.

Tap.

Stepping down from the carriage roof, I surveyed the surroundings.

Nothing existed by the side of the road. No sign of any villages nearby either. Besides the occasional cry of animals or birds, a heavy silence hung in the air.

“It’s quiet. Too quiet.”

That was my brief observation. The indescribable unease I’d felt entering the village hadn’t returned, but a strange disquiet lingered.

Clutching my sword tightly, I quickly scanned the area.

The ‘Way of the Flowing Cloud,’ born from ‘Sword Dad’s’ deep enlightenment, flowed through my legs. Soon the distance closed, and the forest scenery filled my vision.

“…What was that? Am I just being overly sensitive?”

Having confirmed the safety, I returned to the carriage. Was my intuition wrong? I couldn’t find any trace of people within several hundred meters.

“Frey. You should take a breather too. Who knows what problems might come up again.”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

Giving a short reply, I walked to the driver’s seat and slumped down. I then studied the faces of the two. It was clear that none of them had yet calmed from the shock.

‘…Ariel’s stamina is more depleted than I thought?’

Ariel’s face had been pale ever since using the magic. Perhaps the wide-area spell had depleted her mana drastically? I could see her hands trembling slightly.

“Ariel. Are you tired?”

“Uh, uhm? No. I’m just a little… startled.”

“…Don’t worry about it too much. You don’t think any of this is your fault, do you?”

“Ah…”

Could she possibly think she’d caused me worry? Ariel’s trembling hand finally stopped shaking.

“…Thank you.”

“Thank you? What is there to thank?”

And then, Ariel thanked me.

The feat of returning alive from that hell just now wasn’t something done alone. Me, Lancelot, and even Ariel. All three of us had flawlessly carried out our assigned tasks.

“It’s just… everything. Suddenly remembering being in danger… I got a little sentimental, I guess. Heh.”

“Woman. Don’t let your guard down. The tendrils those b*stards extended could still threaten us.”

“…Uh-huh.”

At that not-quite-scolding, Ariel hung her head low.

Did she have something to say?

Her small fist clenched around her own collar. Her pristine white Helios uniform was immediately crumpled, but Ariel didn’t seem to notice.

“Even back then.”

“…?”

“Something similar happened. Frey probably doesn’t remember, but a long, long time ago.”

A gust of the emotion of memory swept across Ariel’s face.

“A long time ago, when I was held captive by my abusive aunt, Frey came to save me.”

“Me?”

“Yeah! And when he secretly set me free and we ran away together, I remember running without looking back… just like today.”

Ariel giggled, tapping her foot.

Her voice, every bit of it, sounded unnatural. The laughter, the words, the actions, the facial expressions. All of it felt strangely light. As if she longed to ease the tension that had frozen the air.

“Back then, Frey was so cool.”

“……”

“Like a knight in shining armor. Seriously.”

A knight in shining armor? That sure seemed like a phrase that had nothing to do with me.

“Anyway, Ariel.”

“Hm?”

“The promise you mentioned before, and your blessing, are you really not going to tell me about them?”

“Uh-uh… A little, just a little later. Maybe you’ll naturally come to know about it.”

“Looks to me like you’re avoiding the answer.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t know that either, Lancelot.”

“How difficult of a topic is it to talk about?”

“…It’s, just… you know… it’s just a bit… weird.”

Seeing Ariel scratch his cheek, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything more.

I’d already been turned down twice. A man has his pride, right? Now, I really had no choice but to wait until he brought it up himself.

‘Please don’t let it be a serial killer, a glutton… things like that.’

Stepping back, I gazed at Ariel with an unnervingly deep look.

An Irregular who doesn’t appear in ＜Silver Ring＞. Yet, their abilities are beyond imagination. Naturally, I couldn’t help but be curious about their true identity.

‘The good thing is, they don’t seem like a bad person.’

Ariel, my long-time friend, was clearly someone with a gentle heart. At first, they were covered head-to-toe in blue mana, so I couldn’t tell, but after a few conversations, I realized they were actually deep and quite adorable.

‘Time, it needs time.’

I tilted my head back and gazed at the sky. The sun was beginning to glow a fiery red.

And after that.

After about thirty minutes of rest, we resumed our journey.

We still hadn’t decided on a direction. It was impossible to know where the remnants of the Blood Cult were hiding.

“…Maybe… it’d be better if we just went back.”

Ariel said, his expression a bit darker.

“That might be best. We don’t have a guide who knows a detour, and heading to Helios like this is honestly too risky.”

“…Guess that’s right, huh?”

Rustle!

It was during this serious discussion about which way to go that a strange sound caught my sharp ears.

“Wait. Shhh.”

I raised a finger, signaling to be quiet, and slowly moved towards the driver’s seat.

“Lancelot. Something… is following us.”

“…Goddamn it.”

Lancelot’s face twisted, he knew full well what that meant.

I turned my head slightly and surveyed the surroundings. The time was now past afternoon, heading towards evening. The slowly setting sun was making the forest even more eerie.

Crackle!

“…!”

Once again, the noise pierced through the air and reached my ears. I pressed my arm against the front of the carriage and whispered quietly.

“Full speed.”

“Understood.”

*Crack!* Heeheehee-hiiiing!

Lancelot’s whip, gripped tight in his hand, spun in a wide arc. Then, as the whip cracked against the horse’s rump, the carriage shot forward with sudden speed.

*Rustle!* *Crackle!*

“…Damn it. Those b*stards have trained their mana properly.”

It wasn’t hard to identify the figures pursuing the carriage from the dark woods.

Their affiliation was obvious. The Blood Cult. They’d finally caught our scent. We’d taken a fairly direct route away from the village where the bloodbath happened, but it seemed we couldn’t evade their notice.

*Thud thud thud!*

Still, we had no intention of meekly surrendering to their wishes.

The carriage, galloping at full speed, sliced through the crimson air.

“F, Frey? What’s going on?!”

“It’s them. There might be trouble, so try not to bang into the inside walls of the carriage.”

Ariel nodded gravely.

From this point forward, even I couldn’t predict what might happen. Those blood-scented fiends might attack the carriage, or they might just let us pass.

But.

*Crackle!* *Crackle!*

Judging by the way they were tearing through the forest in pursuit, the former seemed more likely than the latter.

“…”

I grasp the hilt of my sword, sheathed at my side. The late afternoon sunset, gradually sinking lower, weighed heavily on my heart. It was clear that a battle was unavoidable.

“What’s that?!”

It was at that moment that Lancelot, who was driving the carriage, cried out in shock.

“…Frey! Watch out! Woman! Hold on tight!”

Following that. Lancelot’s urgent warning shook the carriage.

*Clasp*, I pulled the seemingly fragile Ariel into my arms. I did it as a precaution, in case the worst happened and the carriage flipped over.

“We’re going to crash!”

“Crash?!”

Ariel gasped in alarm. She couldn’t see the front of the carriage from her side, so she had no idea what we were going to crash into.

‘…A person?’

But my situation was different. Through the gap in the luxury awning that covered the passenger compartment, I had glimpsed the figure of someone dressed in red.

He stood his ground, dead center of the road. Like he’d been waiting for us.

*Shhhrrrring!*

The monster in the distance drew his blade. Not a sword, but a ‘do’, a single-edged blade.

And then.

“He’s coming! Hold on tight, everyone!”

Lancelot’s scream ripped through the road.

*Thuuuhhhuuung——!*

Then, something incredible happened. Our carriage shot up into the air. For a split second, it felt like we were floating, then the carriage, which had no business doing so, plummeted back towards the earth.

*Kwaduk! Kwajik! Puhhhooong-!*

* * *

*Kwajik!*

“……?”

The Duke held up his broken pen. He hadn’t even pressed down hard, but the nib of his favorite pen had shattered into tiny pieces.

“Y-Your Grace!”

Right on cue, like a well-rehearsed play, a familiar voice echoed from outside the door.

*Kwadang!*

His subordinate burst into the office. Normally, the Duke would scold him for such rudeness, but seeing the urgency in his face, he just watched him quietly.

“It’s, it’s urgent news! P-Prince Tristan has run away from home!”

“……Run away?”

The Duke’s eyes narrowed.

His son had finally stirred up trouble. Considering his fiery sense of justice, he knew it was bound to happen someday.

He’d warned him to be wary of the Blood Cult’s lackeys, and now he’d run off to find them!

“Understood. Send out knights to find him.”

The Duke replied curtly, burying his face in his documents again. He had a mountain of work to do. Dealing with his son’s escapade could wait.

“Th, that’s not all!”

“……?”

The urgency in his subordinate’s voice pulled the Duke’s gaze back to him.

“Lady Maria… Lady Maria has also run away!”

“……What? That child?”

Maria was someone who had never caused trouble… or rather, never rebelled in her life. And *she’d* run away?

The Grand Duke’s face contorted.

What are those two plotting now?