Chapter 94
The first exercise at the military school is designed to give students the experience of spending a night outdoors near the city under the guidance of an instructor. Therefore, the only weapon in the luggage each student carries is a dagger.
A dagger is lighter and easier to handle than a long sword, but its attack power is low, requiring specific techniques to compensate. Even trained soldiers struggle to defend themselves with just a dagger, so there's no way military school students, experiencing their first exercise, could skillfully handle knights wielding long swords.
Unable to block the descending sword with his dagger, Sil is sent flying and rolls on the ground. Instantly, Severi stands to protect Sil, positioning himself to block the sword head-on.
"......Tch, you idiot!"
Seeing this, I leap out from the bushes and, with the momentum of my run, shove Severi aside.
"Get up quickly and run......!"
Barely dodging the sword tip closing in on me, I put my hands on the ground and shout toward the back.
Dodging another downward swing of the sword to the side, I slash at the knight's arm with my dagger and leap backward to create distance.
"......Celes?"
I have no time to respond to Sil's faint voice, focusing instead on the movements of the men in front of me. The knight whose arm I cut glances around lightly, while another knight moves sideways from behind Nils.
"Who do we have here......? Well, it seems an unexpected catch has fallen into our trap!"
Doan, who had been our assigned instructor just a few hours ago, narrows his eyes upon seeing me, then lets out a creepy grin and raises his voice. Drawn by his tone, Nils approaches me and mutters "A catch?" to which Doan spreads his arms and begins speaking gleefully.
"This girl is the granddaughter of Fildé Rotish, the monster of Ransheen Fortress and former Marshal of the Russell National Army!"
"......The granddaughter of that thing?"
Nils pushes aside the knight standing in front of him, staring at me with wide eyes.
"Silver hair and red eyes......? Is there no mistake?"
"No one else bears these colors."
"I see."
Nils, who had been staring straight at me while lost in thought, raises the corners of his mouth just like Doan did moments ago.
"Not only can we eliminate a nuisance, but we also get a valuable hostage......"
Frowning at the word "hostage," I shift my focus from Nils to the knights' movements, ready to act immediately.
"It's fine if it gets a few scratches, just capture it alive."
At Nils' words, which serve as a signal, I notice the knights closing in and throw a small tube from my pants pocket toward them.
"......Tch, cough, what is this!?"
Taking advantage of Nils and the knights choking on the powder released from the tube, I grab the stunned Sil and Severi by the arms, shout "Run!" and dash into the forest.
"Why......"
Sil, being dragged along by me as we run, tries to say something, but I snap "Get it together!" and release his arm. From here on, they need to run with all their strength on their own, or we're in trouble.
I hear Nils and the others behind us shouting "What is this powder......!?" but I don't know what it is either. It's something Dan, who was at the city gate, handed to me to throw at enemies in an emergency.
"Keep going straight...... We'll cut through that thicket!"
Since staying by the moonlit riverbank with nowhere to hide puts us at a disadvantage, we head into the dark forest.
Tripping over grass and trees repeatedly, we can't gain as much distance as we'd like, and there's a limit to running endlessly. Sil and Severi, whose running speed has gradually slowed, finally come to a stop.
"Hey......"
"Wait, just a little......"
"......Huff, ha."
I urge the two of them, who are out of breath and leaning on a thick tree trunk with their hands, to keep moving, but in their current state, they can't even reply properly, let alone run.
After taking a deep breath, I sit them down at the base of a tree and keep watch in the direction we came from.
"Is there no plan?"
Recalling the earlier conversation between Nils and Sil, I ask just in case, though I doubt there's anything. Sil freezes for a moment, then lowers his brows and slowly shakes his head.
"That was just a way to buy time."
"Figured as much......"
"Sorry."
"Severi...... I see."
"I'm sorry."
Looking at Severi, who is still out of breath, I see him shake his head weakly and apologize.
"Finn has gone to the campsite to call for an instructor. So, we keep running until then."
"Finn did?"
"I don't know how long it'll take for the instructor to arrive, but help is coming."
"......Got it."
"Until then, hold on...... Tch, get down!"
Spotting a knight, I push Sil and Severi's heads down.
The speed of a child's legs can't compare to an adult's. It seems the time we spent resting allowed them to close the distance.
"The others......"
Perhaps because of the dark forest overgrown with grass and trees, they seem to be struggling to pursue us. Only one knight is visible.
"Can you run......?"
"Yeah."
"I'm fine."
Crouching low, we quietly move away from the spot, and once the knight is out of sight, we start running again.
Hoping that when the sun rises, an instructor will come to our aid, I keep running blindly with such thoughts in mind until we reach a slightly open area.
"Found you."
A voice sounds right beside me, and as I swing my dagger, a sharp pain shoots through my temple.
"......Ah!"
"They're here!"
Like a hunter who has caught his prey, Doan proudly grabs my hair and yanks it up.
As I lose my balance and am dragged along, Sil reaches out to help me, but I shout "Run!" This seems to irritate Doan, who kicks me in the side, causing my breath to stop for a moment.
"You'd better stay quiet and behave. Unlike them, your life will be spared."
"Hah, cough!"
"You don't need that dagger in your hand."
"......Agh!"
My hand holding the dagger is stepped on, and while hearing an unpleasant cracking sound, I scream in pain. The dagger slips from my hand and is kicked away, and as I'm dragged several meters further, I'm thrown in front of Nils, who is sitting on a fallen, rotting tree.