As Rieta was about to tell him all the great things about Noel, a thought suddenly occurred to her.
“Tomorrow, no, it’s already today. Go out with me.”
He had asked her to go to the temple.
“He said he had something… important to say.”
“So the Princess said you would meet him?”
It seems that Emile quite liked these kinds of stories, seeing how his eyes sparkled as he looked back at her.
“Yes. Of course, I promised. He’s the person I like.”
“Oh, oh! Then, then?”
He bit down on the candy, looking at her with high anticipation.
“Tell me quickly, what happened next?!”
He urged her for the story, anticipating a sweet noble love story.
But Rieta’s expression turned cold. Emile wondered what he had done wrong.
“Uh… Do I have to pay if I want to hear more? This is all I have now…”
He waved the basket of snacks Rieta had given him earlier.
Rieta seemed to have no choice, and let out a long sigh.
“Alright. I’ll tell you.”
Rieta snatched the entire basket of snacks he was carrying.
“Huh, are you taking everything? At least just five chocolate cookies…”
As his eyes lingered on the snacks, Rieta told him what happened after that.
“On the morning of the promise.”
“Yes, yes!”
“I was kidnapped.”
“…Oh.”
He responded with a groaning sound.
“So, how many cookies do you want?” Rieta asked him.
He lifted one hand slightly then shook his head quickly.
“… I’m not taking any.”
“Good.”
Rieta closed the window with a bang.
At that time, the carriage running along the mountain road suddenly stopped.
Because Rieta wasn’t sitting properly, she fell backward, but luckily she didn’t hurt herself.
“What…!”
When Rieta opened the window and asked about the situation, Emile, who had a serious expression for once, glanced back at her with narrowed eyes.
“Princess, stay still. It looks like a group of bandits had attacked.”
Rieta nodded her head nervously. Emile added a joke to keep her from getting too scared.
“I’m asking just to confirm, but among those people…”
He pointed to the people visible through the narrow window.
They looked armed, but their identities were unrecognizable.
“The Princess’ boyfriend wouldn’t be there, right?”
Of course Noel couldn’t be in the Kingdom, so Rieta nodded her head.
“Definitely not.”
* * *
Rieta stared blankly at the ‘bandits’ seen through the window.
What can I say…
The only thing bandit-like about them were the long sticks they were holding, with maybe a few swords.
Even so, the swords looked rusty because they weren’t properly maintained.
Looking at their skinny appearances and awkward postures, it seemed like they were probably not people who had been doing this kind of work for very long.
Probably not thieves… Maybe they are slash-and-burn farmers.
However, the hostility directed toward them was real.
“…Emile.”
She asked him, still with her face pressed against the window.
“Let’s give them an appropriate amount and pass quietly.”
The people of Liz had good reason to be angry at such a fancy carriage. Rieta sympathized with that, so she didn’t really want to confront them.
“Umm…”
Emile also somewhat agreed with her opinions.
“I understand what the Princess means.”
Of course, on a personal level.
“But my master wouldn’t want that.”
He smiled, his smile a little more eery than before. It was the face of a mercenary.
He stood up and gestured to the other mercenaries guarding the carriage.
The movement was simple. His long finger was just pointing at the bandits.
“…!”
And that moment.
The loose and relaxed atmosphere of the procession immediately changed.
The sharp sound of swords being drawn came from all over the place. There were also those who lightly swung their weapons.
“Emile!”
Rieta grabbed his clothes and pulled at him.
“Kill them.”
Suddenly, Emile muttered in a low voice.
A voice so low that it did not reach those around them. These were probably the words he was telling Rieta.
“Anything that stands in the Princess’s way, until she reaches the border.”
“…!”
That must have been the request Emile received from the King.
“But those people don’t know anything. They don’t even know who’s here!”
“Is that important to a paid mercenary?”
Armed mercenaries formed a line and began to approach the people.
The bandits also did not give up and raised their weapons.
It was tense.
What they needed now was a starting point to cut it off at once.
Emile stood up. So that his shouting will make everyone move.
“Wait a minute, Emile!”
However, Rieta immediately grabbed his waist, nearly falling back.
“Princess, do you really want to die?!”
He shouted harshly at Rieta, and she gave her last request with an expression close to a plea.
“I think there’s a child in there. I caught a glimpse of a small head inside.”
“Even bandits do everything they can, so they probably have kids there too.”
Emile grinned appropriately as if he had heard everything.
“That is no reason to cancel the request. Whether they are a child or an elderly person, they only have one life. There is equality before money.”
He solemnly said, raised one arm, and looked blankly at the bandits.
Emile knew better than anyone else that they were not real bandits, but just hungry villagers.
Wasn’t it obvious just by looking at the way they held their swords?
They were just a group of people who didn’t know how to use their bodies or their heads.
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