Chapter 14. An Unpredictable Opponent

The carriage was forcibly moving forward on an unpaved, bumpy mountain road. The horses pulling the carriage were struggling, exhaling rough breaths, and sometimes despite pushing hard against the ground, they remained in place.

‘So this is what it’s like.’

Unlike a carriage running on flat ground, the vibrations coming through the walls were turning all her internal organs upside down.

Since it was difficult to maintain balance standing up on the seat, Elena firmly gripped the window frame, trying her best to gauge what was ahead.

“This mountain road really needs to be paved.”

Elena made a resolution to pave the mountain road, even if she had to use her own money.

“If we want to travel comfortably in the future, we definitely need to push for this.”

As if completely unaffected, Rudfelix wasn’t shaking much, unlike Elena.

Elena gave him an admiring look, wondering how he maintained such a perfectly straight posture.

“Come here.”

Rudfelix grabbed Elena’s wrist as she shook mercilessly and pulled her toward him. At that moment, Elena, disregarding propriety, moved close to him and sat right next to him.

Leaning against his body required less effort than trying to maintain balance on her own.

“Thank you.”

She also quietly surrendered her firmly held wrist, almost wanting him to keep holding it even if he let go.

“Move your back.”

Rudfelix placed a folded blanket against her back.

After having her stand up briefly, he added a cushion, making it much better than before.

“I’m newly impressed by Your Highness.”

Rudfelix paused while trying to place the remaining blanket beside her, caught off guard by Elena’s timely compliment and admiration.

Despite her innocent face pretending not to know anything, she was a woman smarter and more perceptive than anyone.

“Don’t think you can gloss over things by flattering me like that.”

Elena’s smiling lips trembled slightly.

“You know exactly why I’m taking care of you like this.”

“Because you like me?”

“I wouldn’t have cared for anyone else this way. I also wouldn’t have regretted not paving this road in the first place.”

With the person he likes in front of him, he only sees her and only cares about her. Without intending to, he learns what dishes she likes and places expectations on her every word.

“If you keep expressing that you like me like this……”

“I’m not doing anything.”

Elena’s lower lip protruded in a pout.

“Even taking care of me like this……”

“Shh.”

Rudfelix’s index finger stopped right in front of Elena’s lips. It was so close that it might touch, causing Elena to swallow nervously.

In the tense atmosphere, Rudfelix’s gaze deepened.

If the carriage floated up slightly and then sank down, his finger would touch her lips.

“Your Highness……”

Elena slowly raised her hand to grab his.

“Your Highness.”

Undisguisable tension flowed like breath at Sir Brahms’s low voice.

The growling sound “krung” along with the sound of something running down from above was made by the four legs of beasts. It seemed there were more than just one or two, as the entire forest shook, and an alien vibration of the carriage was felt.

It was a pack of wolves, but their size rivaled that of bears, and they had horns.

‘Those aren’t just wolves.’

“They’re bearwolves.”

They were demonic beasts of this era that made sounds like a mix between a bear and a wolf.

Rudfelix closed the curtain.

“Don’t look.”

“I’m fine.”

“No. There’s nothing good to see.”

Rudfelix pulled Elena to the back of the carriage and blocked her from seeing.

“Everyone, surround the carriage.”

Sir Brahms was the first to draw his sword as he called the knights together.

Under Sir Brahms’s command, the tense knights gathered around the carriage with swift movements. They didn’t clumsily try to protect the horses, and they just drew their swords and waited until Sir Brahms’s orders were given.

“Are we waiting?”

Sir Philai looked impatiently at Sir Brahms, who wasn’t readily ordering an attack despite the approaching bearwolves. Though the beasts approached threateningly, he considered them manageable opponents and thought of Sir Brahms as a coward.

“Not yet.”

Sir Brahms carefully looked around. Meanwhile, ten bearwolves completely surrounding the carriage bared their teeth and pawed the ground with their front legs, as if ready to pounce at any moment.

“Never leave the carriage. Only engage the bearwolves that charge at us.”

Sir Brahms ordered only partial attacks. The knights paired up to face the bearwolves that charged simultaneously. They killed them one by one methodically, alternating between attack and defense, and although blood splattered on the carriage, there didn’t seem to be a major threat.

The Imperial Knight Order.

Rudfelix’s hands, watching from inside, showed no lingering attachment to his sword, not moving even a hair.

As the vibrations caused the curtain to slide slightly to the side, the situation that had only been heard became visible. Legs were cut off, necks were slashed, and blood splattered on the window.

“Aide Elena.”

Rudfelix raised his hand to cover Elena’s eyes. But Elena grabbed his wrist.

“No.”

Elena shook her head slightly.

“I’m fine. I’m not scared.”

No matter how Rudfelix looked at her, Elena kept her eyes fixed on the outside.

As she watched the knights methodically killing the bearwolves, Elena noticed one bearwolf at the very back that was watching without attacking.

She was bothered by how the largest bearwolf, presumably the pack leader, was calmly observing.

At the sound of it scratching the ground, the pack that had been attacking the carriage simultaneously retreated. This left the Imperial Knight Order facing off against them with the dead bearwolves serving as a boundary line.

“Are they retreating?”

A knight stared ahead, shaking his head to get rid of the sweat flowing into his eyes.

“They should be. Half of them are dead, so they should retreat.”

Sir Philai confidently cleaned his sword and smirked. The bearwolves had a fearsome reputation, but they weren’t impossible to deal with. Sir Philai, counting the number of bearwolves killed by his sword, lowered his weapon, assuming it was all over.

“It seems to be over, so shouldn’t we leave quickly? Other beasts might be attracted by the smell of blood, right?”

The other knights agreed with Sir Philai and wanted Sir Brahms to leave the place soon.

But Sir Brahms just stared at the bearwolves without saying anything.

‘Tsk. That caution should be used in moderation.’

Philai looked impatiently at Sir Brahms, who couldn’t easily give orders, then turned his head.

“Your Highness.”

Philai called out to Rudfelix, hoping he would give instructions to Sir Brahms. However, Rudfelix merely folded his arms and ignored Philai’s call.

“Your Highness.”

“I’m not the one responsible for this.”

Rudfelix strongly emphasized the current chain of command to Philai. Philai flinched and turned his head. He had thought that showing off his skills would bring him closer to the Grand Duke, but that was a big miscalculation.

The Grand Duke was still a difficult superior.

“I understand.”

Elena observed the situation from behind Rudfelix.

‘The Grand Duke knew all along.’

He had recognized that the squad leader wasn’t respected by his team members, but he hadn’t pretended to know.

Though he had been at the forefront during the fight, killing the most bearwolves, Sir Brahms’s heavy gaze slowly scanned ahead as he restrained himself as much as possible once the lull in fighting began.

“They’re retreating, Squad Leader.”

The knights who had been urging instructions to leave once the bearwolves disappeared were now half-lowering their swords.

“Not yet. Keep your swords up!”

Sir Brahms shouted.

“They’ll attack again, so don’t lower your guard.”

“But……”

Just as Philai was about to argue, he turned his head anxiously at the small noise of rustling leaves that shook his eardrums.

Dozens of bearwolves appeared behind the original ones.

Realizing they had deliberately pretended to retreat to buy time and increase their numbers, Philai let out a despairing sound.

With no confidence in handling the multiplied numbers, Philai unconsciously took quick steps toward Sir Brahms.

“Squad Leader, what should we do?”

“The method is the same as before. Surround the carriage and prioritize its safety above all.”

“But with their numbers increased like this, we won’t be able to protect ourselves, let alone the carriage.”

“No.”

Sir Brahms knocked on the carriage door.

“This is not a situation to just watch. Please come out and deal with at least one of them.”

Sir Brahms called for Rudfelix who was inside the carriage. Having been deployed on special missions, Brahms had a more flexible mindset than others and involved his superior in the fight.

“Can’t the Imperial Knight Order handle one bearwolf?”

Rudfelix replied from inside the carriage without immediately coming out. His tone was just as cold as when he had spoken to Philai earlier.

“One strong one is less scary than dozens of medium ones. Nothing is stronger than a mob attacking together.”

Brahms immediately responded to Rudfelix’s words.

“Even watching from the back with your hands behind your back is something you can only do before everyone dies, so please come out quickly.”

Elena covered her mouth and held back laughter at the words that sounded like they were addressed to a gang leader.

She tried not to laugh because it wasn’t right to laugh in the middle of a bloody battle, but laughter kept escaping between her fingers.

Rudfelix slowly picked up his sword and opened the carriage door.