Louise thought to herself, do I really love Wardes?
Even though she did not dislike him and she did admire him when she was young, that was all in the past.
Suddenly faced with a fiancé and probably marriage, she did not know what to do. Furthermore, they had been apart for so many years, she did not really know whether she still had any feelings for him.
Louise turned her head and looked behind.
She saw Saito prostrating on the horse, it looked like he had nearly reached his limit. Louise pouted her lips. Good for nothing! As soon as she thought of that, she became anxious and her heart pounded furiously.
“We have already been on these horses for nearly a whole day, doesn't he get tired? Are those griffin knights monsters?” Guiche, who was also lifelessly slouching on the horse, asked.
“Who knows?” Saito replied lethargically. He felt embittered each time Wardes touched Louise. He touched her again...this time hugging her by the shoulder... What is that guy up to... Even though you're Louise's fiancé, even though I have no right to stop you, you should have at least done it somewhere else where I could not see...
Each time Saito thought of that, he became more tired and his heart became heavier.
Guiche, looking at Saito in such a state, began teasing him. “Heh heh... Don't tell me you're jealous?” Guiche said with a snicker.
“Ah! What are you implying?”
“I guessed it correctly, didn't I?” Guiche laughed even harder.
“Shut your mouth, mole boy!”
“Mwahaha... You actually carried a love for your master that would never flower? To tell you honestly, love between people of different status will only result in tragedy.”
“Stop talking nonsense! How could I ever like such a person like her? I admit that she's cute. However, she has an extremely bad character.”
Guiche suddenly looked to the front and exclaimed, “Look! They're kissing!”
Saito, shocked, immediately turned to the front. However, Wardes and Louise did not kiss.
He then looked again at Guiche. Guiche was barely controlling his laughter.
“Arggh!” Saito shouted and pounced on Guiche. Both of them fell off their horses and began fighting each other on the ground.
“Hey! If you guys continue fighting, I'll have to leave you both behind!” Wardes shouted.
Guiche quickly got back on the horse. Meanwhile, Saito, realizing that Louise was looking at him, turned his head away.
As they had been traveling at full speed and exchanged their tired horses for fresh ones several times, they reached the outskirts of La Rochelle by nightfall.
Saito looked around in astonishment. Aren't we approaching a port? Why do I still see mountains everywhere? Maybe once we cross this mountain we should be able to see the ocean.
Traveling under the moonlight, Saito and the group finally saw a narrow mountain pathway. Buildings which were carved from boulders could be seen on both sides of the pathway.
“Why is a port built on top of a mountain?”
Hearing Saito asking, Guiche replied sarcastically “Don't tell me that you don't even know where Albion is?”
Although Saito and Guiche were nearly reaching their physical limits, the thought of 'Once we reach town we can finally rest' gave them the strength to engage in small talk.
“Yeah, I don't know.”
“Really?” Guiche replied with laughter. But Saito did not laugh.
“I have no common knowledge of this world and please don't assume that I do.”
Suddenly, from top of the cliff, torches were thrown at the their horses. The burning torches illuminated the ravine they were about to cross.
“What's... What's happening !?” Guiche cried.
The horses, frightened by the burning torches, threw Saito and Guiche off their backs.
As they fell, a hail of arrows showered upon them.
“It's an ambush!” Guiche shouted.
Saito began to panic, just as he tried to unsheathe Derflinger, which was slung behind his back, two more arrows flew towards him.
“Whoa!”
Just as they thought they were about to meet their doom, a strong gust of wind blew towards them, changing into a small hurricane.
That same hurricane caught all the arrows and sent them away.
Wardes raised his wand.
“Are you guys all right?” Wardes shouted.
“I'm all right...” replied Saito.
Damn it! Louise's fiancé just saved my life. That sense of dismal kept expanding, causing Saito to feel inferior. He unsheathed Derflinger. The runes on his left hand started glowing again, reliving him of the exhaustion that he had been suffering.
“I'm so lonely, partner. It's too much of you to keep putting me inside the scabbard.”
Saito looked at the top of the cliff, but no arrows could be seen.
“It was most likely thieves or bandits.” Wardes said.
Louise, suddenly realizing something exclaimed, “Could it be the nobles from Albion?”
“Nobles would not use arrows.”
Just then, the sound of flapping wings could be heard. It was a sound that they were quite familiar with...
Screams could be heard from the cliffs.
Arrows could be seen shooting towards the night sky. However, all the arrows were parried away by wind magic.
After that, a small hurricane created by magic blew away all the archers.
“Hmm... Aren't those wind incantations?” Wardes mumbled to himself.
The archers, attempting to ambush them, rolled down the cliffs after being blown away by the magical tornado. They landed hard onto the ground, giving out moans of pain.
With the moon as the background, a familiar sight appeared. “It's Sylphid!” Louise shouted confoundedly.
It was Tabitha's wind dragon. After it landed, a red-haired girl jumped down from the dragon and flicked her hair.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Louise too jumped down from Wardes' griffin and replied, “What do you mean sorry to keep you waiting!? Why are you here in the first place?”
“Not to help you in any case. When I saw you leaving the academy on the horse in the morning, I quickly woke up Tabitha and followed you all the way here.”
Kirche pointed at Tabitha, from the looks of it she was woken up from her sleep; she was still wearing her pajamas. But she didn't seem to mind at all, and was still reading a book.
“Zerbst! Listen to me, we're on a secret mission given to us by her highness!”
“Secret mission? You should have said so earlier! How would I know if you did not tell me about it? Anyways, be thankful to me, for I have apprehended the people who wanted to ambush you!”
Kirche said this while pointing to the people who were lying on the ground. Those ambushers were unable to move due to their injuries and hurled abuses towards Louise and the group. Guiche approached them and began interrogating them.
Louise, crossing her arms, gave a vicious stare at Kirche.
“Don't be mistaken! I'm not here to assist you. Am I right?”
Kirche posed suggestively, and then leaned on Wardes, who was on the griffin, and said, “Your beard makes you very manly. Do you know what passion looks like?”
Wardes glanced at Kirche and proceeded to push her away using his left hand.
“Huh?”
“Thank you for coming to our aid, but please do not get so close to me ever again.”
“But why? I just told you that I liked you!”
That was the first time that Kirche received such cold treatment from a male. Usually any male would be mesmerized after some sweet-talking from her. But Wardes was not in the least interested. Kirche gazed at Wardes with her mouth wide open.