Chapter 49: Blades and Bullets, Plans and Promises
She was crude and ruthless.
The fact that she had just blown off the heads of two of their comrades showed she was ready to kill without hesitation.
Lord Arcellion didn\'t let his shock show.
Instead, he pointed straight at Rosemarie.
"Get her…" he commanded.
The knights rushed toward Rosemarie on horseback, but she didn\'t hesitate.
She pulled out her guns and fired at two of them, hitting them square in the chest.
But the bullets bounced off their armor.
The two knights she had killed earlier had their faces uncovered, making them easy targets, but these knights weren\'t going to make that mistake. Their plate armor was made of gallenite, the toughest metal in Serathen, so her bullets didn\'t seem to make a difference.
"Tch! You really think I\'d piss myself over this? That\'s a weak-ass, pathetic move──just like the shit your slut mothers probably pulled when they were spreading their legs!"
She moved incredibly fast, but to these knights, it wasn\'t anything too special. With a strong leap, she jumped into the air and, on landing, wrapped her thighs tightly around the head of one of the knights.
"Gnnrgh──get off me, bitch!"
He struggled, trying to free himself from her grip, but it was useless.
Out of the corner of her eye, Rosemarie saw more knights charging in on horseback from both sides.
On her left, she fired a shot at the ground, causing the horse to rear back in fear.
On her right, she aimed for a knight\'s elbow, hitting the joint and making him fall off his horse, screaming in pain.
The knight trapped between her thighs tried to take this chance to attack, but before he could lift his sword, Rosemarie tightened her grip even more and snapped his neck.
krrk────SNAP!!
With a smooth backflip, Rosemarie launched herself off the lifeless knight\'s shoulders and landed back in her original spot.
The whole thing happened in just three seconds, so fast that most of them barely had time to react.
It wasn\'t that these experienced knights couldn\'t keep up with her, but Rosemarie had the upper hand with her range and flexibility──two things that were crucial when facing hunting knights.
Lord Arcellion stayed calm.
『Interesting…』
He watched one of his knights on the ground, clutching his bleeding arm and struggling to fight through the pain.
『She\'s not stupid. Being from Serathen, she knows exactly how tough our plate armor is. That\'s why she aimed for my men\'s faces, even though it made for a bloody scene. We reacted by covering our faces, but she understands that our joints are still exposed for movement. She considered that when shooting and hit her targets with precision.』
Lord Arcellion smiled and stepped down from his horse.
『Interesting indeed…』
The moment Lord Arcellion took a step forward, Rosemarie aimed both her guns at him.
"Take another step, and I\'ll blow your fucking head off, you armor-wearing son of a bitch!"
Her fingers were already pressing the triggers slowly, her teeth clenched in disgust.
Lord Arcellion ignored her threat and took another step.
Bang! Bang!
BANG!
Instantly, Rosemarie fired rapidly at him.
"Honestly…"
Lord Arcellion sighed in disappointment and deflected all the bullets with four quick sweeps of his halberd.
────WHUUUUSH!
In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Rosemarie, with her guns on the ground and his halberd\'s blade pressed against her neck.
His expression was calm and indifferent.
For him, this whole situation… chasing her down, pinning her against a tree, and having his halberd poised to strike, was just another ordinary day.
"Ranged weapons are merely extensions of weakness in the hands of those who lack the strength to face their enemies up close."
Arcellion\'s words were icy.
In situations like this, the hunting knights would pull back with their horses to avoid facing their captain\'s silent, ruthless anger.
But Rosemarie wasn\'t intimidated.
"LET GO OFF ME!"
She continued to resist.
The moment she made a move that Arcellion deemed unnecessary, he slammed his fist into her stomach, causing her to lurch forward and gasp in pain.
"Harck────!!"
She was tough, but not invincible.
"Are you stupid? You\'re about to die, and you\'re still making a fuss. You\'re just like the other sisters from the Church… blind idiots who follow our glorious Lord."
Lord Arcellion didn\'t even give her a moment to recover from the gut punch. He pulled his halberd back and swung it fiercely at her neck.
────BOOOOOOOM!!
The massive tree that Rosemarie was pinned against was sliced in half by Lord Arcellion\'s powerful halberd swing.
If he had swung any harder, the whole Kantor Forest might have been cut in two, just like the tree.
The hunting knights were pushed back by the shockwave of the swing. When the dust settled and the ground stopped shaking, they looked around in shock──there was no sign of fresh blood.
Rosemarie was gone.
"Wh-, Where did she go?!"
"What the hell?! Does that bitch somehow know [Invisibility Magic] too? That\'s gonna be a problem!"
"Damn it! She\'s a friggin\' cockroach!"
They scanned the entire blood-red forest, searching for any sign of the nun, but she was nowhere to be found.
Lord Arcellion quickly tried to use [Primal Sight], but it was canceled the moment he activated it.
… Oh?
He was mildly surprised.
However, this wasn\'t the first time someone had blocked his [Primal Sight], and the skill level made him suspect someone familiar.
"Red Rogue…" he muttered.
Almost everyone in the tower cities across the Red Desert knew that name.
Arcellion sighed and lowered his head. He spun his halberd with precision before turning to his men, who were still searching for the nun.
"Alright, men, let\'s head back to Kaalen Tower."
"YES SIR!"
They responded without hesitation. If their captain said the mission was over, there was no reason to doubt his always flawless judgment.
━ ━ ━ ━
Meanwhile…
Rosemarie kept her eyes tightly shut and her body tense with fear. But then, she noticed the foul smell of Kantor Forest had disappeared, and she realized she was being carried.
"Huh?"
She opened her eyes and saw a figure holding her. When she looked up at the man in red armor, a bright smile spread across her face.
"Sadim, it\'s you!"
She was thrilled to see him.
Sadim chuckled and smiled back.
"Yes, my love…"
He leaned in to kiss her forehead.
The young man kept running across the red sand, moving so fast that the hot desert wind whipped against his face.
"You\'re supposed to say \'I knew you\'d come save me,\' but I know you\'re too hardheaded to admit you were hoping I\'d show up."
Rosemarie snuggled closer in his arms and gave him a playful side-eye, then lightly punched him in the chest.
"Just do your job, hero boy~"
With that, Sadim leaned forward, increased his speed, and took off with a powerful leap.
━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━
[Armed Palace, Velvana, Duranzia Kingdom]
… Oho?
[Ding! The fated couple\'s bond has grown stronger after the "hero" Sadim Goldtouch saved the "heroine" Rosemarie Redwood from a life-threatening situation. Are you ready to make contact?]
The dark prince just smiled and turned his attention back to the thick book in his hands.
『Oh my, my, my Sadim… I like you already.』
A chuckle escaped Vritra\'s lips.
Soon after, he felt a fork poking his cheek.
It was carrying a piece of cooked chicken.
Next, he heard a small grumbling sound from a woman.
"What…?"
Vritra gave Princess Luciana a side glance, and she quickly looked away, pretending to adjust her perfectly combed hair as if she hadn\'t just tried to feed him.
"Uhh, uhmm…"
She gently placed the fork on the plate and fidgeted with her thumbs, pouting with puffed cheeks.
"Well, it\'s nothing… I know my husband can feed himself and eat whenever he wants, but I still want to feed him sometimes. It\'s… romantic."
Luciana lowered her head, embarrassed.
Vritra sighed and opened his mouth. "Alright…"
This made Luciana\'s mood instantly lift. She picked up her fork and fed him some chicken.
Prince Vritra chewed his chicken with a lack of interest while reading his book without much focus.
Meanwhile, Luciana was eagerly poking at the large pieces of chicken on her plate, preparing to feed her beloved.
Vritra looked at her thoughtfully.
"Luciana?"
She instantly looked up at him. "Yes, my love?"
"I don\'t think we\'ve gone on a honeymoon yet, have we?"
Luciana blinked, a bit flustered. "A honey? No, we haven\'t. I suppose we haven\'t had that chance…"
Vritra raised an eyebrow, now focused on his book. "I think it might be time we do it. It\'s been a while since we\'ve spent some quality time together."
The princess\'s cheeks burned red. "Oh, well, um, if you really want to, I\'d love to. I\'ve been planning to organize a special one, just for us, you know!"
The dark prince glanced up from his book with a rare, genuine smile.
"Then let\'s set a date. I\'d really love to spend time away from all this…"
He gestured to the piles of paperwork and tomes scattered around his chambers.
As the ambassador of the Bloodgarden household for the Bloodgarden-Duranzia alliance, he needed to be well-informed about the nation… at least, the things they wanted him to know. This included rich details about their economy, any hidden military information, and updates on their new magic technology projects.
"ALRIGHT──!!"
Princess Luciana sprang up from her chair, fists clenched and eyes blazing with determination.
"I\'LL GIVE MY HARDWORKING HUSBAND THE ULTIMATE HONEYMOON EVER SEEN IN THE HISTORY OF ULTIMATE HONEYMOONS! I SWEAR IT!"
… Yawn~
Vritra calmly wet the tips of his fingers with his tongue, then used them to turn to the next page.
"Uh-huh, go crazy, my love…"
"Mhm! Fighting!"
The princess shot a fist in the air.