After Retirement, Living a Stud Life in Another World - 47
Chapter 47: Ambush
It wasn’t a lie. Behind us, approximately fifty individuals who seemed to be bandits, along with about twenty well-equipped soldiers, were heading our way from the direction of the capital along the road leading to the village. They must have heard the shouts and clashes of the bandits, and suddenly organized themselves into formation, entering combat readiness, which I could now discern.
Upon closer inspection, there was a rather intricately crafted carriage in the rear. There’s no way commoners would use something like that. Unfortunately, it seems that the timing of the appearance coincided perfectly with the nobles associating with the bandits themselves.
“We must capture the nobles without killing them. Moreover, if we get sandwiched, we’ll surely lose. Princess Beatrice, could you please create a diversion? Buy us time until I finish preparing my magic!”
“I’ll do my best.”
Beatrice replied briefly, chanting something in her mouth. As the bandits at the forefront were about to charge, their horses stumbled and fell as if caught on something. Then, two, three more followed suit, tumbling one after another. Observing this, the enemies gave up on their horses, becoming infantry and advancing towards us.
“Well, this is all I could manage. Too bad.”
Finally, I understood what Beatrice had done. She rapidly accelerated the growth of the grass along the road and its surroundings, creating looped traps here and there to entangle the horse’s legs. Horses, trained not to pay attention to unnecessary footing, easily got caught in these grass traps, but humans wouldn’t.
“If that’s the case… then this!”
A slightly longer incantation than before left Beatrice’s mouth in a muffled manner, and the sparse trees standing by the road began extending their branches toward the road. Moreover, in various directions simultaneously. In the blink of an eye, the bandit’s path was being blocked.
This was quite a surreal sight. I would be impressed with just making the grass grow, saying “Wow~,” but watching splendid mature trees extend their branches in unexpected directions, I couldn’t help but feel a monster-like terror. I instinctively took a step back.
“W-What is this? Cut the branches!”
Under the instructions of the apparent leader, an old lady, men wielding axes rushed toward the trees. Muscles flexed, blades bit into the branches, but the branches infused with Beatrice’s magic were resilient, and despite making cuts, they didn’t break easily.
“Amazing, Beatrice. This should hold them off for a while…”
“Lutz, you’re naive. Bandits often have fire magic users.”
Beatrice’s blunt remark was spot on. Just as the men withdrew after the old lady’s shrill voice, fireballs flew in succession, igniting the branches blocking the road. Beatrice repeated her incantations to infuse magic into the branches, trying to endure, but fire attributes were the natural enemy of wood attributes. The branches eventually roared into flames, leaving only black burnt remnants after the towering blaze. There was nothing obstructing the bandits’ path now.
“They’ve desecrated our stronghold. Capture those scoundrels!”
Upon the old lady’s command, the bandits approached. As their faces gradually became visible, we could hear their vulgar conversations.
“Oh, did you see their appearance? They’re nobles!”
“If we capture them, we can do whatever we want, right?”
“I want that blonde girl… ”
“I fancy that refined young man, I want to make him my slave.”
I’m reluctantly included in their enjoyment, but here, I have to become a human wall to protect Princess Beatrice, the future queen, and Ayaka-san, who is carrying my child. The previous enemies should be dealt with soon, and if we can buy some time until Gretel and Sister return, the situation should turn in our favor… with such determination, as I was about to take a step forward.
“Please wait.”
A hand was placed on my shoulder, unexpectedly strong, pulling me back. That hand belonged to Ayaka-san.
“Let me show you the power of the Dark Clan now.”
With her words, something shadow-like flew from her flexible upper arm and deeply pierced the throat of a man who had been ogling Beatrice with lecherous eyes. It was a cross-shaped shuriken, familiar from ninja dramas in my previous world. The cultural influence of Ayaka-san and her Dark Clan is seriously blending with Japan.
“Damn, she’s using concealed weapons! Be careful!”
The bandits quickly distanced themselves. However, their expressions weren’t particularly tense. The concealed weapons flying straight from the thrower were not difficult to dodge or deflect if the timing was right. Many members of the bandit group had combat skills, having backgrounds as former adventurers or ex-military, making them less threatened by shuriken attacks.
“Heh, go ahead and try, young lady… If you miss, I’ll take your body.”
In response to the blatantly lustful words, Ayaka-san’s delicate eyebrows twisted in disgust. She let her damp black hair, cut into a slightly longer bob, flutter smoothly and effortlessly launched a second shuriken. The taunting man, with ample confidence, effortlessly deflected the shuriken with a swift motion of his sword, sending it far into the empty air. Now vulnerable, he lowered his stance to deliver a blow to the defenseless Ayaka-san.
“Lutz! Look behind you!”