Clashing Arrows (1)
City Nassau.
One of the few port cities in the West.
The ruler of the place, Baron Iznik, was looking at the report on his desk with a frown.
“…You worked hard to get rid of it.”
It was a report that made a lot of sense just by taking a quick look at it.
Damn northern bastards.
The act of someone fearing that the blood of barbarians is not mixed in is extremely vicious.
“After all, they are servants who should not interact with each other.”
The Baron shook his head and put away the paper he was looking at.
After all, it is unlucky to have anything to do with the North.
It was a maxim that was like a prejudice deeply rooted in the empire, but it had never struck me as clearly as it does now.
As much as right now.
“Baron! “We’re in big trouble!”
The door to the office swings open for a moment as if it will break.
In the moment of silence that followed the noise, I saw the knight commander leaning against the threshold, out of breath.
“What’s going on!”
“…Baron Baron.”
The knight commander is catching his breath, unable to continue speaking despite the baron’s shouting.
Baron Iznik’s judgment had already been greatly distorted by a man named Vlad, but he could not help but show embarrassment rather than anger at the words he soon heard.
“It’s an attack…!”
“what?”
The knight commander fell to the ground with his last words uttered like a groan.
Red blood was flowing down from the threshold he was leaning on.
“What on earth is this…”
The baron’s beautifully grown mustache began to tremble in a situation that was completely incomprehensible.
No matter how experienced the Baron was, it was difficult for him to immediately understand the current situation.
Because there was no warning.
The enemy was stuck in the north, and the only ones roaming the west were a detachment of about 20 people.
“Are you Baron Iznik?”
However, misfortune and accidents always come from outside of our knowledge.
The head’s body is leaning forward, blocking the office.
There was a man who casually stepped over the corpse.
Screams that I had never noticed before began to come through the wide open door.
“……Who are you?”
Black hair and black eyes.
The faint smile on his face was wonderful, but the coldness it contained was colder than the snowy cold of the North.
“Bayezid’s Lutger.”
“…!”
Rutger Bayezid.
A knight of Bayezid whose name is known not only in the North but also on the continent.
“how how.”
“It took some hard work to get here.”
Even though he was not told to sit down, Rutger pulled a nearby chair and brought it in front of the desk.
Although the intruder behaved proudly as if he were his own, Baron Iznik could only swallow his saliva.
“I guess the salty wind doesn’t suit me well.”
‘……ocean!’
Baron Iznik was able to figure out where the road opened through Rutger’s words.
The place where I felt most safe because it was the hardest.
The northern invaders boldly penetrated into the heart of Iznik.
“I have come to convey the words of Peter Bayezid, the commander of this war and my father. baron.”
The ferocious smell that had been building up for so long wafts from the man’s unsmiling face.
Baron Iznik, a western nobleman and seasoned merchant, knew well the type of people who gave off this scent.
“Baron Iznik must stay out of this war.”
Black eyes raised fiercely.
Black flames were rising in the port beyond.
With the screams of the sailing ships anchored in Nassau.
The city of Nassau fell.
by northern invaders who came in waves that seemed incongruous.
An arrow from the North, which no one expected, was stuck deep in Gaidar’s shoulder.
※※※※
“The road ahead is also blocked!”
“…That’s pretty fast.”
The streets are becoming increasingly blocked.
The lords of the west had been like grains of sand until now, but now they were blocking the party’s retreat with all their might.
As if someone was directly giving instructions behind them.
“The lords’ movements are more agile than expected. “If I do something wrong, I’ll be locked up.”
Marcus was talking about a desperate situation, but he did not lose his relaxed attitude.
No, it seemed like he was trying to do that.
“How about trying to penetrate from the front instead?”
“It’s not a bad method, but it’s not a great method either.”
At Vlad’s suggestion, Marcus gestured to a woman riding a horse behind him.
The woman’s lips were turning completely white, as if her condition was getting worse.
The eyes of the boy shaking in her arms were filled with Vlad’s gaze.
“You might be able to break through it, though.”
The western soldiers had firmly blocked the road, but considering a certain amount of sacrifice, they should be able to break through.
Of course, the problem was that the boy’s safety could not be guaranteed.
“Then what?”
“There are still a few escape routes left to figure out.”
Crows continued to fly from the front along with Marcus’ words.
However, unlike before, the dwindling number of crows looked ominous.
“…But don’t go there.”
“yes?”
It was a close battle with the intention of biting and biting, but Marcus was able to figure out Gaidar’s intention before it was too late.
“Turn your head! “We are heading to Nassau!”
If they cleared one or two roads, they would be headed straight to the north, but Marcus decided to turn around and head to Nassau.
This road in front was not an escape route, but a road to the grave.
“If it’s Nassau….”
“I know someone. “Let’s borrow a boat from him and take a ride.”
“…….”
Marcus, who knew Bayezid’s inner workings, knew that Rutger would have occupied Nassau by now.
However, there was no time to explain the whole situation to Vlad next to him.
“We are going to the wasteland! “I will cut the road in a straight line!”
The members of the clandestine group turn their horses without delay according to Marcus’ orders.
Age and Stefan hesitated at the sudden change of direction, but eventually, seeing Vlad grit his teeth and move along, they also changed their minds.
“There are people following you from behind!”
“also.”
Seeing Marcus with a faint smile, Vlad turned his head to check behind him.
A group of people who had not been seen until just a moment ago.
However, seeing them suddenly starting to catch up, Vlad felt a chill in his stomach.
‘…I can’t handle a battlefield like this.’
A knight is a swordsman in peacetime, but a commander in wartime.
Vlad was also in command of the strike force, but this was his first time experiencing such a complex skirmish.
If it hadn’t been for Marcus’ judgment, they would have been stuck, stuck in the back and forth as they had intended.
“Don’t just look ahead, look beyond.”
“…….”
The world is wide and there is a lot to learn.
Vlad looked at Marcus, who still did not lose his composure, and realized that he was still only half a knight.
“It’s an arrow!”
Arrows start flying from behind as if there is nothing to hide anymore.
Among them, one evil arrow pierced the most delicate target.
“Aaaah!”
Vlad shouted loudly as he saw the arrow stuck in the woman’s shoulder in the blink of an eye.
“Holy shit!”
The blood stains spreading from the shoulder become clear.
The woman’s complexion gradually became paler along with it.
“Martha! no!”
The cry of the child holding the woman in his arms began to shake one of Vlad’s memories.
“…Everyone wear shields!”
At Vlad’s shout, the Thornwood mercenaries hung their shields behind their backs.
It was a wooden shield made of thorns, their symbol.
“To the bramble cove!”
Age and Stefan, who were following Vlad’s instructions, began to cross each other.
Thus, the Thornwood Mercenary Group stood at the very rear.
As they erected a temporary barrier, the number of arrows flying began to decrease slightly.
“You won’t last long!”
Vlad quietly bit his lip at Stefan’s shout.
Even if you block it with a small shield, it’s only a temporary solution.
Vlad was taken aback as he saw the chase group starting to increase from behind.
“It’s a wasteland.”
“yes?”
Marcus’ voice speaks to Vlad like that.
As soon as Marcus finished speaking, a bright yellow wasteland began to unfold before my eyes.
It’s hard to believe that it was a forest road just a moment ago.
It was the beginning of the West with no end in sight.
“They are the Gaidar cavalry. “They are called wilderness outlaws.”
As they emerge into the wide field, the pursuers are finally fully identified.
A flag was waving above all those with fierce eyes.
A flag with a wilderness eagle engraved on it.
It was the emblem of Gaidar, the ruler of the West.
“how is it. “Is it worth a try?”
As a commander, judge for yourself.
Can you stop them?
“…….”
In response to Marcus’ question, Vlad quickly closed his left eye.
The Auror who looked through the wildly blowing dust detected a wave of shaking enemies.
‘There are five knights.’
Five knights reacting to Vlad’s aurors.
These were Gaidar’s knights who were said to be more capable than anyone else on horseback.
Will I really be able to do it in this situation?
“……You can.”
“Is this confidence based on foundation?”
Vlad looked at Marcus with his closed left eye.
Vlad’s world, which was flowing little by little, was clearly full of confidence.
Auguste’s traces were showing the way to Vlad.
“If there is no one guarding it.”
“good.”
If you are alone, you can break through it.
Because there won’t be anything to worry about.
There is only one road pointing there.
“Then let’s meet in Nassau.”
The members of the undercover group lift the staggering woman following Marcus’s glance.
The eyes of the boy I met between them were looking at Vlad.
The tears that fell from the boy’s eyes were carried by the wind and touched Vlad’s cheeks.
‘…….’
A single teardrop flows from boy to boy.
Like that child right in front of us, everyone has those vulnerable times when they cannot help but shed tears.
“Oh!”
“why!”
However, Vlad decided not to open his closed eyes even in the face of tears.
Because now he was a person who could do it.
“They say they are the fastest cavalry in the world!”
“……Who said that!”
Although he knew it was a clumsy provocation, Age decided to ignore it with all his might.
The seasoned barbarian warrior clearly understood Vlad’s intentions.
Those who do not bow before the outlaws of the West.
“Who dares say such a thing to the Buddhaat people?”
Following Vlad’s intention, Age began to raise the morale of the warriors by shouting loudly.
Following his cry, the Budhaat warriors raised their weapons.
“Stefan! Follow Marcus!”
“but!”
“Complete the mission without fail!”
Talent in the right place.
Now is not the time to protect with a shield.
“All right!”
With a nodding head, the Thornwood mercenary unit joins Marcus as if they are being sucked into the open Age formation.
As they watched the group getting further and further away, the Budaat warriors began to shout loudly.
“Are you ready?”
“of course.”
I could see the Gaidar cavalry starting to approach from behind.
It’s a threat, but it’s definitely an opportunity to prove it.
The Budaat warriors simultaneously began to look backwards towards the approaching threat.
A horse that runs without stopping.
Above, the warriors of the Buddhaat tribe are looking back, supporting their balance with only their thighs.
The arrowheads hanging at the end of the demonstration are as sharp as their fierce eyes.
Vlad found his way in the ways of these ruthless men.
“Shoot!”
Sharp arrows shoot out from the hands of the barbarians.
A special posture that cannot be imitated even with training and can only lead to innate fatigue.
The barbarians’ unique method of expulsion, which had been harassing northern warriors, was being demonstrated in the wastelands of the west.
※※※※
“Enemy! Turn around!”
“what?”
Wagner, commander of Gaidar’s 3rd Cavalry, was shocked to see the northerners’ sudden reversal.
“No, I just turned my body!”
“What a strange thing…”
A strange posture never seen in the West.
From the position where I thought it was possible, sharp arrows began to shoot out.
“Kaaak!”
“Tsk!”
The cavalrymen fall off one by one in a tactic they have never encountered before.
Wagner stuck his tongue out as he saw the arrows boasting accurate accuracy even while running away.
“What is this…”
But even though he was embarrassed, he did not waver.
Even as his men were dying, Seobu’s eyes were fierce as they dug into the gap.
“Speed up!”
It is natural that the speed will decrease because you are not holding the reins.
The outlaws in the wilderness began to speed up, highly intoxicated.
If you’re going to pull off a trick like that, it would be more effective to get close and hit him.
“huh?”
However, this was not the end of the arrows that started from the North’s fingertips.
“what!”
The formation of barbarians split apart in the blink of an eye.
There was a pitch black horse running out from inside.
It was a horse with a shining white horn hanging from the middle of its forehead.
“…This is thrilling.”
The speed of catching up and the speed of rushing.
Even during the dizzying moments of running backwards facing each other, Vlad’s blue eyes did not waver.
“let’s go!”
A small northern flag begins to rush towards Gaidar’s flag.
The world that began with the tears of a boy flowed through the left eye of the knight who had proven himself.
There was not the slightest hesitation in the charge of knights and horses, expanding the limits at the end of the world they were in contact with.
Kwaaaaang-!
A shock so terrible that even sound could not be heard.
Someone’s bodies start bouncing around without mercy.
Bright red blood began to splash onto the daytime moon that rose prematurely.
