Forgetting the situation, Minerva was riveted to the scene.
　Against the backdrop of the blue sky, which is lined with sinewy clouds, the figure was floating in the air as if accompanied by countless swords.

　Minerva's eyes moisten at the sight of the figure she had been dying to see.
　It was the boy named Ardis, the only person Minerva looked up to as her teacher.

'Master ......'

　The murmuring voice may not have been heard, but as if in response, the swords that were floating around Aldis began to move.
　One of them fell in front of Minerva's eyes and slashed deeply into the back of the Imperial soldier who was spitting at her.

　Remembering that she was in the middle of the battlefield, Minerva tries to confirm the presence of the enemy that followed.
　Faster than she could turn her gaze, an Imperial soldier who had come charging in from either side with a spear in his hand was brought down by another flying sword.

　Having escaped the crisis, Minerva looked around and tried to assess the situation.
　The swords flying from far above were still causing damage to the Empire.

　The next victim was a sorcerer who was in the rear, protected by other soldiers.
　The sorcerer was taken by surprise from the blind spot above, and before he had time to put up a barrier, the Imperials finally realized that they were under attack from the air.

''Up there!''

And it's flying at .......

''You don't think that's ......, the Wizard of a Thousand Swords!

　While many imperial soldiers are unsettled by the unusual sight of a flying human, the sight of him with his many flying swords is followed by a voice that guesses Ardis' identity.
　However, most of them would lose their lives in the next moment.
　This was because the response to them was in the form of a merciless sword falling from above.

''Guaah!''

Hi!

Geez!

　The flying swords released by Ardis rained down on the Imperial soldiers.

''What a thousand swords!　These things aren't much different from flying arrows!

　Most of the Imperial soldiers were pierced in an instant, but some of them reacted quickly and managed to pop their flying swords.

　But that was also a futile resistance.

　The flying sword controlled by Ardis was not a throwing weapon that merely flew in a straight line.
　It is a melee weapon controlled by magic power and wielded by an invisible user.
　An arrow or thrown spear would not matter, but even if you succeeded in flicking the first blow, the sword would still attack the enemy again.

　After being shot, as if it had been partitioned off, the flying sword continued to move at the enemy's neck.
　He swiped, thrust, and slashed down to drive the soldier into a corner, and eventually used his sword skills head-on to take his life.

　The sound of an Imperial soldier who had been resisting until the last minute was pierced through the chest and collapsed.
　Silence has fallen on Minerva and the others, and many reddened, motionless wrecks are lying around them.

　Ardis, who had unilaterally overrun more than eighty imperial soldiers and was watching the scene from on high, descends to the ground.
　The golden-red figure of Rona is seen beside him, and Minerva's surprise and awe is replaced by nostalgia and joy.

'Thank God!'

　It was Moore who first approached Ardis.

It's good to see you," he said. I'm glad to see that Minerva is also in good health. I see you haven't stopped sword fighting.

　After giving an unfriendly reply towards Moore, Aldis turns around and gives Minerva a friendly look and says a few words.
　In spite of Moore's uninteresting face, Minerva's cheeks almost relaxed.

　But apart from her heart bouncing with the joy of seeing him again, she feels a little sadness and anger that had been smoldering for two years reignite.

'...... Why?'

　Without thanking me for my help, the first thing that came out of my mouth was a questioning word.

Why did you stop being silent?

　It's nice to see you again.
　I'm grateful for the help I received.
　My reasoning understands that, but what spills out are words of resentment.

'My feelings that I was not allowed to say just one word ...... goodbye to my master.

'Oh, that's right, ...... my bad. I'm sorry.

　Minerva, who was about to start crying, gave Ardis an awkward look.

　Normally there is no need for Ardis to apologize.
　It's a good idea to have a good time with them.
　Still, the reason why emotions came forward rather than reason is probably because they are that much more lenient with Ardis.

'............ It's us too, I've said some childish things. Please forget it.

　When Minerva noticed herself like that, she quickly regained her composure and turned to face Ardis.

'Thank you for saving me from a dangerous situation. Thank you, too, Rona.

I didn't do anything this time. But you can rest assured that Al and I will take care of Minerva.

　Instead of answering, Minerva patted Rona's back.
　For the first time in two years, the touch was calming.

'I know there's a lot to talk about, but can we move this place around for now?　And we might get another new one.

　That's where Moore came in to interfere.
　It was natural for him to want to stay away from the danger for as long as possible, as he had been entrusted with the escort.

''Yeah, right,''

　He doesn't seem to be in a hurry at all for Ardis, even though he has expressed his consent.
　Even if a new pursuer is involved, he is probably confident that he can handle it the same way as before.

Then let's meet up with my men who are ahead of me and head to the duke's territory. We need to hurry up and treat Cain, and the young lady is injured.

Did you hurt something?

　Minerva replies to Aldis's question with a smirk on her face.

'It's not much on my part. More importantly, Cain-san is ......

　Following Minerva's gaze, Aldis saw the injured guard and held out a high-grade remedy he had retrieved from somewhere.

'If you're still breathing, use this.

A high grade cure!　Thank God!

　As soon as Moore received the high-class cure, he opened the seal and poured the cure on Cain's burns.
　As the name suggests, Cain's burns healed in the blink of an eye.

''See, Minerva too.

No, I'm fine.

Now is not the time to be skinny.

　Using the high-grade remedy that had been handed to her as she was being pushed around, Minerva was finally free of the pain in her shoulder.
　In the meantime, Moore and his team bring in three intact horses from around the perimeter.

'You don't have enough horses ....... Endri, put Cain on your horse. Would you like to ride your daughter on my horse and Aldis on ...... Jake's horse?

'Don't mind me. I'll go after it on my own.

I don't even need to ask you how you did it: ......?

　Moore and the others, like Minerva, had seen Aldis floating in the air.
　They could imagine, without being told, why Aldis did not need a horse.



　Minerva and the others split into three horses and took a course to the west.
　Accompanying them are Aldis and Rona, who fly over the horses.

'I knew it was bullshit, bullshit, but I didn't know it was bullshit enough to fly: ......

　Moore, who rides the same horse as Minerva, looks up at Ardis with a look of dismay on his face.

I wonder if they use something called scaffolding for that too?

How about this: ......

　Minerva's eyes could see two things: a blur that blew on Aldis and Rona's bodies to support them from below, and a blur that pushed them out from behind.

　Aldis, who seemed to suddenly notice something, lowered his altitude and lined up right next to his horse.
　Minerva and Moore's hair was ruffled by the strong wind that blew up from the ground.

The first thing that comes to mind is that there's something running this way. Maybe it's a horse.

Horses?

　Moore raises an eyebrow.

　Of course, the fact that one of them is running alone does not mean that it is a wild horse.
　If this is the case, there should be a human being on that horse, and the fact that a mounted human being is coming running means that there was some kind of mutation in a bad way.

　Soon, Minerva's eyes also saw the figure of a horse coming towards them from the front.

''Ah, ......, that's the one you were following to escort the refugees.

　He sees the figure and decides that Moore is a subordinate guard.

　They close in on each other, and when Moore stops his horse, his opponent does the same.

'What's the matter?'　What happened?

Li, the capital is at ......!

　A guard shouted breathlessly at Moore, who asked him a question.

''The territorial capital has fallen due to a surprise attack by the imperial army!

What?

　The group is filled with astonishment as Moore's voice sounds.

　The guards who came as a messenger began to tell what happened after they separated from Minerva and the others.
　There are about ten guards who are responsible for guiding and escorting the refugees.
　As they were advancing along with the refugees, keeping an eye out for attacks of beasts and wild thieves, they encountered a group of humans coming from ahead.

　Although it was a group, it wasn't an army.
　They were all civilians just like the refugees we were escorting.
　Some of them were carrying large bags on their backs, but most of them were believed to have escaped with their clothes on, and looked no different from the refugees from the royal capital.

　I've heard that the garrison was attacked early in the morning by troops flying the imperial banner, just like the capital, and the garrison was destroyed without much resistance.
　It is said that they encountered the refugees from the capital when they were trying to escape from the battle.

　When I sent one of the guards on horseback to check on them, the imperial flag had already been raised, and it was clear that the territorial capital had fallen.

　If the destination they were heading to was occupied by the Empire, they couldn't just continue on.
　The refugees from the royal capital have joined up with the refugees from the territorial capital and are turning back to us.

''It's a tough joke. ......

　As expected of Moore, he was pale.
　Minerva is pale and pale without a word.

　But we can't keep going on and on with our minds.
　Minerva and her team of refugees are going to meet up with a group of swollen refugees.
　Then they moved to an area off the road and gathered their guards while praying that their pursuers wouldn't come to them, and discussed the future with Ardis.

''I didn't expect the Imperial Army to be reaching out to the territorial capital.

　Moore sighs deeply.
　As expected of an ex-mercenary who had gone through many shuras, he had already recovered from the shock.

''Are the men of the house safe? ......

''More importantly, your daughter's safety is the priority right now. If the royal capital has fallen and the territorial capital has fallen into the hands of the empire, the country is already .......

　Minerva would worry about the people who worked at the mansion in the territorial capital, but that would be far from the case for Moore.

　It was a good thing that he hadn't expected that he would have nowhere to go after coming here.
　The northern part of the city was under the influence of the Marquis of Trier, and to the east was the royal capital occupied by the Empire.
　The nobleman's fiefdoms beyond that would also fall under the control of the Empire in the not-too-distant future.
　If the only remaining west side is also under the hand of the empire, there will be no more places left to call home.

''Do you wish to defect to the Union of City States?''

With a whole bunch of refugees in tow?　That's impossible. I don't care if it's a small group of people riding their horses, I don't think the Empire is going to sit back and let a group of sluggishly advancing men go by without a fight.

　Moore kicks off Endri's suggestion.

　Even if it's just for that, he's bringing with him a slow-footed refugee.
　If you sluggishly walk along the street, you will be noticed by the imperial soldiers, but that doesn't mean you can't turn off the street and pass through a dangerous place.
　With less than twenty guards, it was impossible to protect the refugees.

　If we left the refugees behind and rode past them on horseback, we might be able to get through the eyes of the Empire, but of course Minerva has no intention of doing such a choice.

　But that doesn't mean they can't come up with another effective policy, and the place is enveloped in a heavy atmosphere.
　It's a good thing that you're able to have a good time.

'How about North ......?'