Louise's complexion changed.
“Which way did they leave?”
“They went south over the highway. Apparently they escaped towards the district of La Rochelle. Without a doubt, Albion has a hand to this. Though the instruction to block the port was sent at once… Dragon Knight corps were almost annihilated in the last war. So the only way we can catch up with them are either by griffons or horses…”
Wind dragons are much lighter than griffons thus they normally would take the pursuit… but the way things were now - it iwas questionable whether it was possible to catch up. Louise jumped onto the wind dragon again.
“Hurry! The thief who kidnapped princess-sama escaped towards La Rochelle! We will be in serious trouble if we aren't able to catch up by the time the morning dawns!”
Everyone, hearing the circumstances, nodded, looking tense. Tabitha gave the orders to the wind dragon.
Sylphid flew up in the darkness of the night again. Louise shouted.
“Fly low! The enemy is riding a horse!”
The wind dragon kept on flying following the highway with a surprising swiftness.
It was a thick dark night, but even though one could not see even few steps ahead, the wind dragon kept on flying using its sharp nose, avoiding trees and buildings.
The griffon unit had split into two, one flew by griffon along the highway, the other rode on horses. It was to be expected as the Griffon Corps was the lightest of the three squads and they could see better at night. Therefore, it was chosen as the chasing unit. A lot of people in the squad were burning with anger. The enemy attacked the court under the cover of darkness. Even in their wildest dreams one could not imagine that someone would dare to attack the palace of the capital. Moreover, it was young queen Henrietta that was abducted, a successor of the throne. For magic knights that have been guardians of royal family there could not be a greater disgrace than this.
Griffons taking use of their wings and feet rushed forwards. Though the departure was delayed due to all the confusion, the enemy was still using horses. There was no reason they should not be able to catch up. The commander scolded the unit harshly.
“Run! Catch up with Her Majesty as soon as possible!”
One group of the Griffon unit dashed forward.
There was a big hustle between the Griffon units going ahead.
They might have found something. Under the commander’s signal, a fire user went forward and launched a flame spell. It lit the highway 100 mails ahead, and one could see distant figures of the riders.
There were ten times as many of them.
The commander put on a brutal smile.
“First of all aim for the horses! Do not hurt Her Majesty!”
The Griffon Corps dashed forwards, launching one spell after another.
After the wall of spells rounded upon the enemies, the knights launched an attack in an instant.
The flame ball, the blade of wind, the spear of ice, all aimed at the horses that enemies rode on. Doh! Earth trembled, making horses fall one after another. The commander confirmed that Queen Henrietta, dressed in her white gown, was riding behind the first horse. In an emergency situation like this, he hesitated – it was necessary to retrieve Her Majesty without injuries. If she were to be injured, he would get some major scolding later.
After muttering an apology, the commander cast the wind spell, cutting the leg of the first horse off and throwing the Princess and the rider down to the ground.
Without mercy, the griffon squad surrounded the fallen enemy knights. The necks of the abductors were cut with wind blades and ice spears went through their hearts. The knight who was leading the run had his head cut of by the commander’s wind blade, a deadly wound.
The match was decided in a moment.
When the commander nodded approvingly, the unit stopped.
Then he jumped down from his griffon, and the moment he approached the queen who fell into the grass…
Knights, who should have been dead, stood up one after another.
Griffon knights, who had relaxed their guard thinking that enemy was annihilated were now caught by surprise by enemy magic.
“Ah!” groaned the commander trying to pull out his wand when his body was wrapped up by tornado.
Limbs were cut off by the tornado, finishing them off in a moment, as the knight who should have been finished by the commander stood up, with a clearly visible torn up wound in his neck, and smiled.
When Wales finally placed the wand to his side he approached the grass where Henrietta had fallen down.
Henrietta only now started to recover from the shock of being thrown to the grass. She watched Wales approach with disbelieving eyes.
“Wales-sama, you… what on earth?”
“Surprised?”
Henrietta pulled out her crystal wand that she always carried with herself and aimed it at Wales.
“Who are you?”
“I am Wales.”
“Lies! You killed the magical knight corps…”
“You want to kill me? It is all right. Scoop me out with your magic. Pierce this heart of mine with it if you want.”
Wales pointed at his chest. The hand gripping Henrietta’s wand started to tremble.
The magic spell did not come out of her mouth. What came instead was a choked sob.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Trust me, Henrietta.”
“But… but, this…”
“I will tell the reasons later. Many different circumstances are the cause of this. For now, come with me without asking.”
“I-I do not understand. Why did you do these kind of things… What are you trying to do?”
Wales answered softly.
“You do not need to understand. You do not need to like oath, you just need to follow it. Do you remember? The words of the oath you said at the Ragdorian lake. Words you said before the water spirit.”
“By no means could I forget. I will remember until the day I die.”
“Please say it, Henrietta.”
Henrietta said the oath word for word.
“...I, Henrietta, the princess of Tristain vows before the spirits of water that she will love Wales-sama for eternity.”
“Only one thing changed now from the oath in the past. You are a queen now. However, does everything else remain unchanged? And will not change?”
Henrietta nodded. I always dreamt only about the day when Wales would hold me in his arms.
“Even though the way things are, the oath sworn before the water spirit cannot be broken. You only have to believe only in your own words. Please leave everything to me.”
Each gentle word of Wales turned Henrietta more and more into a girl that did not know a thing. Henrietta kept nodding many times, just like a child. She was completely persuaded.
After that, Wales stood up and approached his knights. One could see open mortal wounds on their throats or chests.
However… ignoring them, they moved just like any living creature.
They went to check the fallen horses, yet, they all were dead.
Then they hid themselves in the tall grass, one after another disappearing from sight.
The line of the ambush.
Without words they and Wales formed a line of ambush, and stopped moving. Just like one living creature.
Saito and the others flew on the wind dragon following the highway until they saw a tragic sight of corpses scattered around. The wind dragon stopped, and they jumped down. Not getting off, Tabitha looked around attentively.
“Princess.”
Saito muttered. Burning corpses with their hands and feet cut off were laying around. Griffons and horses were lying in pools of their own blood. This must have been the griffon unit.