As Allen Rovenne and Vizkus Levancool made their escape, the railgators ran behind them to give chase, and it reduced the swarm around Rio and his subordinates.
"I'm sorry, boss... that arrow... he definitely meant he could have killed me anytime. ...I doused water on everyone's effort."
Rio turned to clean out the remaining railgators when Gil approached him, and apologised.
"Don't put your mind on it... any mage would be unable to cope up with this much ruckus. Well, though I heard the mages in Yuglia's Knight Order can do some hand-to-hand fights. Anyway, I am not generous enough to lose your life to a mere machine."
Jin was applying salve on Rio's wound, and inquired in a reserved tone as he wrapped bandage on it.
"...The jump with the machine was truly mind blowing. But Boss... was it hard to dodge the arrow?"
They may not have enough skill to back them, but Rio was their boss for a reason. It's hard for him to swallow that Rio would just let himself be shot given that distance. And he wasn't some rookie that would lose in the moment of surprise like the stunt that mana vehicle had pulled.
"It was. I can't properly explain what actually happened... but I believe it must be the work of, what was it, Wind Magic? that Allen Rovenne is researching. The rumours in the royal capital are that he purposely made it appear like something to satisfy his pervertness, but that was all a simulacrum and the true objective was to pioneer a new technique for sailing. ...But, my personal theory? I am sure even that is another veil that hides his true objective."
Rio narrowed his eyes, recalling the moment of their confrontation—the only thing he could tell was the direction of wind that had suddenly changed, and he was blasted with cold wind.
"But that said, I had thought the the hope of Yuglia, one that has been selected for that unrivaled Royal Academy, would be more righteous in their action. But they—they seemed like the outlaw type who would rather save their wool first. ......Allen Rovenne, and the other was, Vizkus Levancool?"
Rio mumbled back, and recalled another, negligible point about Allen. He could tell from their initial confrontation that 'he's never killed someone'.
There's a striking difference between one who has crossed that line, and one that hasn't. After the time he had spent on the battlefield, he was quite sensitive to such stuff.
It might appear a virtue, but when the scene is drawn to a mortal danger, this one factor could rewrite the whole situation. In the moment Allen had drawn the arrow and targeted his heart, he saw how the boiling emotion had vanished without a trace from Allen. It was like he had completely concealed his bloodthirst like an assassin.
But a moment before that arrow was shot, he definitely had felt conflicting emotions. Rio only felt a chill down his spine when he recalled Allen's expression at that moment.
It would be too cheap to say he was oozing with bloodthirst. It was something more profound, like... the presence of 'death' itself.
In that moment, he felt he had been under the scrutiny of a grim reaper. Maybe, the true reason he had turned around wasn't that Gil was in danger, but that he himself was— Fresh chapters posted on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱
"...But you sure appear happy with that big smile, Boss. Are you saying you accept that's your loss?"
Rio's train of thought came to an abrupt halt when Jin made a teasing remark, and realised his expression.
Rio's gaze trailed the gradual orange glow that had started to color the sky in its shade, seemingly in rumination of the experience.
"Yes... you're right. It was... my loss."
And at the end, his lips twisted in a fierce grin.
"But not for long. I will pay him back for this one day. —Anyway, let's make escape before those scary knights find us. We can keep the mana vehicle huh? It's our souvenir alright!"
We somehow managed to shirk away the siege of railgators and made our way to the lakeshore of Lake Eclair, where we crossed paths with Tim-san and Airu-san, both rushing on their horses along with a squad behind them.
"So you're safe... I'm glad nothing bad happened. What happened around here?"
Airu-san affirmed our safety before seeking an explanation for the situation, her eyes on the second mana vehicle I had retrieved. I briefly described the situation.
"Good heavens, this is some reckless move... You two return to the Headquarter and wait for us there. Kurushina is undertaking the command there, so you just report him the same. Kurushina would know what to do next."
"Ah, one of them is quite a tough guy. And I doubt your horse can take you down a slope. I can guide you if you want..."
I offered my help, but Tim-san gently shook his head. Instead he placed his one hand on Viz's head, while the other peeled away his fingers from the handle one by one.
Maybe keeping a tight grip on the handle had affected his hands, or the situation we had experienced had been holding such a grip on his heart, Viz's hands were trembling.
"What you ought to do is take a rest first. You may have trained to put your body in action from rest, but do not underestimate the trial and actual battle. Just leave this place to us, and... you did well in staying alive. I'm proud of you."
Airu-san showed a similar gentle smile and nodded to show she shared the same feeling.
"Your friends from Magic Car Club have also been at Eclair. I could tell from their expression they'd been extremely worried about you. You should show yourself there quickly."
...Oh? Dui and others have arrived?
I was torn between my guilt that I couldn't secure the last bike, and my feelings to meet them immediately.
"...Understood. Please take care of the rest... and be careful."
The two nodded and turned on their heels, jumping on their horses respectively. Immediately, the gentleness of their expression switched to steep looks.
"Chase after the thieves!"
—No thieves can outpace them.
From their departing back, I felt their unwavering confidence as the leading figures that were Kingdom's Knight Order.
"...We should be on our way then, Viz. Let's have a race till Eclair. Loser will face a punishment game!"
I said, giving Viz's shoulder a nudge, though he only replied with a dispirited sigh.
"Fine... but you're dreaming if you think I will lose in speed, Allen!"
The pursuit force, commanded by Tim and Airu, and as well the force of Yuglia were ultimately unable to catch up to thieves.
On their chase, they had ended upon an abnormal outbreak of railgators, meanwhile the terrain had been unsuitable for horses, thus delaying their arrival at the scene. However, mapping the path that thieves should have taken, everything—the broken encirclement near the rocky mountain, just beyond the landslide affected area, the traces of a carriage preemptively lying in wait for their arrival, and the further manoeuvring in their escape—alluded to the fact that they'd a traitor.
For a period of time, having outsmarted the famed knight order of Yuglia, and even picking up intel from their confrontation against that Allen Rovenne, the mercenary group «Wings» became the overnight sensational figure of the underworld.
However, unlike what one would have expected, Wings choose to lay low and focus on strengthening themselves.
It remained a question to speculate for many; how far he had seen trough this situation, or when had the fate taken a twist for Wings? No one knew the answer, but one thing was for sure—Allen Rovenne had played a card beyond and took it out of equation to theorize.
If this was a game of Othello, then what Allen Rovenne did was taking his pieces outside of the game board.
And, there was just one person who was privy to all this; Vizkus Levancool.
T/N - Hmm, I am not sure what the author actually meant at the end honestly.