"Don't be ridiculous, I say! Why should I have to give you a ride, mind you?! You brought this on yourself, I'll have you know!"
I had been furiously scolded for acting on my own and crashing into the gate. The safety check had pushed our departure back two hours, so honestly, I had it coming.
If anything, the fact that this was the extent of my punishment was nothing short of a miracle. I'd already caused a major incident before we'd even departed—I wouldn't have been surprised if they'd removed me from the escort entirely. But it seemed the Emperor absolutely insisted on keeping me along.
"Hey! You—weakling—stop grabbing me in such indecent places, mind you! Don't step on my hair, I say! You weaklings have no respect for me whatsoever, I'll have you know! A mere human touching a Spiritfolk is absolutely inexcusable! I haven't given you permission to touch me, so stay as far away as you can while you ride—ah!"
And with that, I was banned from traveling by carpet. I'd been looking forward to soaring through the open sky, so this was a real letdown.
What was the point of a "flying carpet" if it refused to carry people? What a hopeless contrarian.
"Come on—at least try to hold on, I say! Falling off a horse? Are you really only Level 8, mind you?! What are your legs even for, I'll have you know! This is pathetic—I can't believe it, mind you! Don't tell me you're doing this on purpose, I say! We can't afford any more delays, I'll have you know! Fine, for now I'll grant you permission to hold on—now grip tight, I say! Ahh—"
After being thrown off twice and burning through two more Barrier Rings, I was finally allowed to ride behind Kryus on her horse without further complaint.
Our pace had already been thrown into disarray. I couldn't afford to cause any more trouble.
The Iron Horse was a sturdy mount—thin-framed Kryus and I could both ride it with no problem at all. Getting a ride behind a girl was a bit embarrassing, but even I didn't have the nerve to ask Kechachakka or Terumu, whom I barely knew, for a lift. The Kiruknight in independent-thinking mode was completely out of the question. And having a fully armored giant riding behind you wouldn't be great from a burden standpoint, either.
Behind me, the carpet—its mood improved now that I'd gotten off—floated along, bobbing gently.
Spiritfolk, as far as I knew, almost all wore their hair long. Apparently, they used it as a magical medium in emergencies.
Kryus's white-silver hair was well-maintained and silky to the touch, like velvet—slightly cool, too. Spiritfolk ran a bit cooler in body temperature than humans. The body I was holding onto firmly from behind—separated only by robes—was cool as well.
With the power of [Comfortable Vacation], riding on horseback was comfortable too. I was growing quite drowsy.
"Once this mission is over, make sure you tell Lucia that Kryus helped me out a great deal, mind you! You should be glad I'm so kind, I'll have you know! If I were an ordinary Spiritfolk, you'd already be dead, I say!"
"Got it. Thanks a lot. Kryus, you're way more impressive than that carpet."
"!?! Are you—making fun of me, I say?!"
That was a compliment, though... I'd also need to ask her to recharge the Barrier Rings I'd used up later...
I gripped Kryus's body firmly, let out a massive yawn, and got scolded for it.
§ § § West of the Imperial Capital Zebuldia.
In the middle of a grassland several hundred meters off the main highway, over a hundred men had gathered.
They lay flat on the ground, hidden among the tall grass, and with their camouflaged equipment, a casual glance from outside wouldn't reveal that such a large number were concealed there.
The men were a mercenary band. More precisely, a combat group hired by underground organizations to do dirty work—essentially a thief guild, not far removed from one. In certain circles, they had quite the fearsome reputation.
The job they'd taken this time was far from legitimate: ambush a carriage bearing the crest of Zebuldia as it passed by.
It was a big job. The client was unknown, but they'd paid a generous advance. The route and timing of the target's passage had already been determined—this was a simple matter of striking when the time came.
The targets were to be killed without exception—men, women, and children alike. Everything seized would belong entirely to the men, split among them. The targets apparently included Zebuldia dignitaries accompanied by a proper knight order, but that had been factored in as well.
No matter what knight order it was, there couldn't be many assigned to the escort, and the attackers had nothing to protect. The only thing they needed to be careful about was letting the targets slip away, but this location had clear sightlines and almost nowhere to hide.
But the band leader's expression was grim. He scowled, his face smeared with special scent-masking paint, and spoke to the man beside him.
"The scheduled time has already passed. Something may have happened."
The men were experienced with this kind of mission. They could lie in the grass for hours on end under the blazing sun, but no one could maintain focus indefinitely.
The scouts they'd sent out hadn't returned yet. They'd already received their payment. If the schedule had changed for some reason, there should have been a signal, but there was nothing.
A sudden gust of wind blew. The grass swayed violently, but it wasn't enough to expose the men lying flat on the ground.
"We'll wait another quarter-hour. If the target doesn't show, we pull out. Whatever happened, we can't wait any longer."
If the client had been captured in some way, the hunters could become targets themselves. Dying in battle was one thing, but they couldn't risk the entire group over a single contract.
Perhaps from exhaustion, one of the nearby comrades let out an enormous yawn—hardly the behavior expected during a mission.
Noticing the leader's gaze, the man spoke with an apologetic expression.
"Sorry. Sudden wave of drowsiness."
"Quarter-hour. Keep your wits about you."
"Yes, sir."
Based on past experience, targets rarely arrived at a time like this.
This client had been efficient, but something must have happened. It was also possible the target had changed their mind. The route information had come through only a few hours ago, but there were countless reasons a plan could change.
And then, at that moment, a shadow appeared in the distance, heading straight toward them.
A single figure. Not the mercenary band's target, but this location was off the main road. It didn't appear to be one of their scouts either—if someone was heading directly toward this hidden spot, it could be a messenger from the client.
The figure was a woman. Sun-tanned skin, black boots. She wore revealing clothing, and from her outfit she could pass for a thief.
She walked straight toward them. The leader signaled his men with an open palm to hold their positions, then drew his weapon and stood up.
The woman's feet stopped more than ten meters away. Her eyes widened as she stared at the leader's green-painted face.
"Are you the contact? Show me the code."
Over a hundred men were hidden here—if she were an enemy, coming alone would be unthinkable.
But in response to the leader's words, the pink-blonde woman with pale pink eyes simply turned around and shouted at the top of her lungs: "Citryyyyyy! The sleeping potion doesn't seem to be enough! I told you not to skimp—hurry up and finish them off, remember?! If you don't hurry, Klye's going to get here!"
"!? What—!"
At the leader's signal, the men rose in unison. From a nearly flat grassland, bodies springing up all at once created the illusion of countless trees suddenly sprouting from the earth.
But even at the sight of their numbers, the mysterious woman's expression didn't change.
Without haste, she produced a mask from somewhere and placed it over her face with practiced hands. Confirming the mask's appearance, the leader took a step back.
He knew of the fearsome Hunter who used a grinning skeleton mask as their symbol.
They had once taken the initiative to dismantle criminal organizations, feared by every group in the underworld. A party of just six who'd taken on dozens of organizations—a bunch of lunatics. No one would dare impersonate the masks of that much-maligned party.
"That's impossible... You—the Mourning Specter?!
You've been quiet lately, I thought."
Trembling as he spoke the name, the skeleton-faced woman replied in an offhand tone: "Sorry, but I don't know how many more groups are coming, I'm not interested in your names, and I'm in the middle of a speedrun right now."
A thunderous sound suddenly erupted behind her. The usually unshakable men gasped and let out strangled cries.
There stood a colossal knight clad head to toe in gunmetal armor—towering over them even compared to the tall band leader, more than double his height.
Peeking out from behind the knight's right shoulder, the pink-blonde woman appeared.
"Big sis! Don't kill them—cleaning up corpses is such a hassle! I'll make sure every trace is completely erased!"
Insane. They were looking down on them.
If the rumors were true, the Mourning Specter was a party of six plus one new member—seven in total. Taking on a mercenary band with just seven people was utterly beyond reason.
But what the leader felt was intense dread. The opponent looked at the standing men and didn't even consider them threats.
"Hey, Liliz! The strongest one is mine—you can have the rest."
A red-haired man climbed up onto the left shoulder and shouted in a high-pitched voice for a man.
Without acknowledging this, the woman called Liliz turned on the identical-haired woman and unleashed a torrent of shouting. She showed no sign of even preparing to face the men who had readied themselves for battle.
"There's nobody asleep! You said you'd use the sleeping potion, remember?! What are we supposed to do now?! We don't have time to waste! Lucia, frog!"
"Lucia, frog, please! We'll catch them all and release them into the labyrinth to roam free!"
"?? Lucia, frog!"
"Mm-hm."
From directly above, a voice that sounded like a scream rained down upon the completely nonchalant voices.
Involuntarily, they looked up.
"Cut it out, will you?! I keep telling you, that thing is really tiring!"
Floating in the sky was an absurdly large kite, like something out of a joke.