The moment Liselotte’s shoulders shrank, Eren wrapped one arm around her and pulled her close.
“Eren…!”
“Shh.”
Before Liselotte could even talk, a calm whisper sounded above her head.
Without a trace of surprise, he remained perfectly still, like a beast preparing for the hunt, gauging the situation.
‘What on earth is this? We passed the teleportation gate a long time ago. This has never happened before.’
The outskirts of the Capital.
Once past the teleportation magic stone, the road that led straight toward the Capital appeared.
To the densely populated heart of the Capital, it was possible for a single person to move directly with a teleportation stone.
However, for large-scale movement such as a bulky carriage or an escort procession, no matter how much one used a magic stone, it was burdensome to drop directly into the city center.
For that reason, most nobles who used teleportation magic stones chose a route that went from the outskirts of the Capital toward the center.
Because those magic stones were expensive and not used in large numbers, the outskirts of the Capital were usually quiet, but the dirt road was evenly laid out, with trees standing densely on both sides.
Moreover, it was located not far from the center, to the point that after just ten minutes, Imperial citizens from within the Capital would commonly be seen.
To assess the situation, Liselotte turned her head toward the window.
Outside, whoosh, a dark green object flashed past.
It was far too fast to make out its shape.
Hiiiinng, the startled cry of a horse rearing up rang out, followed by the coachman’s shout.
“It’s an ambush! Estimated five attackers, wearing green clothing, with no weapons visible to the naked eye!”
The carriage lurched forward, swaying from side to side.
A crash sounded from the front of the carriage.
While the coachman struggled desperately outside, Eren, as if he had sensed something, was murmuring incantations in a low voice one after another so that Liselotte wouldn’t be afraid.
“Prohibit intrusion into the carriage from the outside. Neither magic, nor the Word of Command, nor any physical effect shall pass through.”
At that moment, with a clatter, the carriage door Liselotte was sitting beside shook.
When the door didn’t open, someone shook it violently, as if they were about to rip it off by force.
As the startled Liselotte sucked in a breath, Eren soothed her in a low voice.
“Until the incantation I cast is lifted, no one can come in.”
Meanwhile, Eren felt as if all five of his senses were stretched taut.
It was as though the situation outside the carriage was visible before his eyes.
The movements of the ambushers were focused on the carriage.
When a knight disguised as the coachman fought back fiercely under the protection of a magic tool, they hesitated briefly, then split up into groups of two and three.
Two of them slashed wildly at empty air with daggers, trying to break through the carriage.
As if they were aiming for Liselotte.
From some time ago, he had been strangely sensitive, and it even felt as though it was because he had instinctively foreseen that something like this would happen.
He had thought it was simply because Liselotte was weak.
Eren reached to draw the sword he usually carried, but hesitated, realizing that swinging a blade inside the narrow carriage could injure Liselotte.
But leaving her alone inside the carriage and going out to fight wasn’t something he wanted either.
Eren pulled her even closer and buried his face against the back of her neck.
“Eren?”
The end of Liselotte’s clear voice trembled.
As memories from his childhood kept overlapping in his mind, Eren felt himself sinking deep down.
He had never imagined that a situation where someone precious to him was being targeted would come again. Without even thinking to smooth his hardening expression, Eren tightened the arm holding Liselotte.
Even so, worried that this much smaller person might become frightened, he kept his head pressed against the back of her neck and quietly layered the incantations.
So that he could end it decisively.
So that it would become an example that no one could ever touch House Keilos, or his people, again.
Liselotte knew nothing about combat, but the terrifying presence flowing out of Eren made her feel as though the surrounding temperature had dropped.
The movement of Eren’s lips as he murmured something was clearly felt through the thin fabric of her dress.
At times, he even bared his teeth as if he might spit out a curse at any moment.
From what she could catch, it was certainly the Word of Command, yet the layers piled on without breaking, to a frightening degree.
“Eren, are you alright?”
At her cautious voice, Eren lifted his head.
“Stay here for a moment. I will be back shortly, so if you are afraid, close your eyes and wait.”
Instinctively, Liselotte grabbed his clothes tightly.
“You said the carriage was safe. This is an ambush. Would it be unreasonable to just push straight through to the Capital like this?”
Once there were more eyes around, no matter how bold an assassin was, it wouldn’t be easy for them to move.
Perhaps knowing this as well, they seemed to have stopped the carriage by attacking the coachman who had been urging the horses on.
Eren quietly shook his head.
“I did seat a knight as the coachman as part of the escort, but it would be difficult for him alone to deal with five.”
He slowly removed Liselotte’s hand from his grip.
At a glance, his expression looked as indifferent as usual, but the faintly underlying murderous aura wasn’t completely concealed.
Then, before Liselotte could even ask anything, he flung the door open and drew the greatsword at his waist.
The assassin who had already reached the front of the door was split cleanly in two by Eren’s blade, but before she could even properly see it, the door slammed shut with a bang.
Liselotte’s mind began to race.
‘If this continues, I won’t be able to attend the hearing. Was this what they were aiming for?’
If a plaintiff failed to appear at court twice without notice, their lawsuit would be dismissed.
There was still one chance left, but if this attack had been planned by Duke Gloria…
‘If they kill me here, there would be no need to even reach a second absence from the hearing.’
Moreover, if Duke Gloria had heard that Diana and Valen had gone as far as Gelloa Village, there was no way he would stay still given his temperament.
Liselotte pressed close to the window and watched the situation outside.
The assassins carried no weapons to speak of other than small daggers.
‘That’s strange. Knowing that Eren can use the Word of Command, they still came like this?’
Unless they had come intending to die, wasn’t this far too meager?
The moment the doubt arose, thunk. An assassin’s dagger embedded itself into the window right in front of Liselotte’s eyes.
“Wow, that startled me.”
Thanks to Eren’s Word of Command, it didn’t pierce through, but she had almost had her face injured by the blade that nearly broke through the window.
When Eren, belatedly grasping the situation, muttered something, the window turned opaque and blocked her view.
Then, over it, some dark-colored liquid was splashed across with a splat.
It was Eren’s way of kindness, not wanting her to see anything gruesome.
***
“Strange.”
Eren looked calmly at the assassin, who seemed unable to feel even pain despite having sustained severe injuries.
He didn’t seem to be an assassin who had undergone ordinary training.
He had intended to keep them alive to find the one behind it all, but the assassins continued to thrash about wildly despite losing a significant amount of blood.
Feeling a strange sense of deja vu, Eren deliberately sliced away the cloth covering their mouths.
In that instant, the shapes of their mouths as they muttered something came into view.
Eren’s brow creased sharply.
Through clenched teeth, his chilling voice spilled out.
“…You bastards. Can you use the Word of Command?”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Eren’s head snapped toward the carriage.
What they were targeting was the carriage.
They were indiscriminately pouring out faint incantations in an attempt to undo the ones Eren had placed.
“Remove the Word of Command protecting the carriage, remove the Word of Command prohibiting access to the carriage…”
“Remove the Word of Command that sealed the carriage…”
The way they murmured in uniform voices was eerie.
Not knowing what the correct method of canceling his power was, they were rapidly spewing out every phrase that might possibly work.
The grating sound of daggers scraping against the carriage stood out sharply in Eren’s ears.
With his already heightened senses, he even felt the fine hairs on his skin bristle.
They didn’t have golden eyes. Nor were they people who carried nomad blood.
It wasn’t a complete Word of Command like Eren’s.
It was an instinctive distinction, but the power was far weaker than his.
Still, this too was undeniably the Word of Command.
In that moment, Eren felt what little rationality he had left snap all at once.
His golden eyes flashed frighteningly.
“Shut your mouths at once.”
The goal of uncovering the one behind it vanished, and his vision went black.
By the time he came back to his senses.
Eren, having cut off the breath of all five assassins, was already sprinting toward the carriage.
“Lise, Liselotte. Liselotte!”
His heart was pounding.
No.
He had to see it with his own eyes. Liselotte was someone on whom the Word of Command didn’t work, but healing magic stones did.
He couldn’t be certain that the Word of Command they used was the same as his.
What if, just in case, even with the smallest chance, she had been harmed?
His childhood memory of standing in a pool of blood surfaced.
Pale-faced, Eren hurriedly flung open the carriage door.
Liselotte, who had been pressed close to the door, was staring up at him with her eyes wide open.
The moment he saw her face.
Eren suddenly pulled her into his arms.
