The Perfect Knight and the Illusionist (BL)
Chapter 31: Blessing in Disguise

Chapter 31: Blessing in Disguise

MARIUS

"Three, two, one. Go!"

On my command, four of us jumped out of the carriage, two on each side. There were no bandits standing at the side of the carriage, but when I looked around, I counted four standing at the front by the horses and four at the back. We then stood with our backs against the carriage, our swords drawn.

The bandits didn’t say a word, so I took the initiative to speak first.

"Good evening, gentlemen. I am Marius Valenkraft and these are my guests. I suggest you let us pass!" I yelled out.

"Who gives a fuck where you are from? We want whatever is in your fancy carriage," one of the bandits said with a sneer, followed by everyone laughing.

"You are making a serious mistake! Unless you disband and let us through now, you will face the wrath of the Valenkrafts!"

"We don’t give a fuck about Valen-whatever! Drop your weapons and we may spare your lives!" the bandit at the very front shouted back.

"YOU drop your weapons now, or it will be your head!"

I gave the final warning.

"Ha! I bet you are hiding something fancy inside that fancy carriage—a fancy lady perhaps?"

My blood boiled.

"GO!" I yelled and gave a sign to Thomas. We ran toward the four bandits at the front, while Alexis and Briant ran toward the four at the back. The bandits were expecting us to stay defensive, so there was an element of surprise as we came rushing in with our swords. Without further warning, I took a big swing at the one who appeared to be the leader, making a wide arc from right to left. That forced him to step back. Thomas followed my movement and lunged forward with another big swing, which pushed them further away from the carriage.

"Good."

I then targeted the two on the right side, forcing them toward the wall with aggressive attacking maneuvers, and Thomas, reading my intention, followed the tactic too.

"Go! Francis!"

It was then that I heard a sound of something piercing through the air, ending with a big thud. I immediately turned to look toward the carriage, and saw that Francis had taken a hit to his chest with something. I saw no arrow, but he was slumped forward and choking. He was in no condition to drive the carriage.

I turned again to see where the "shot" came from, and saw a man swinging a sling, standing way behind the other four bandits. It was impossible for us to reach him without dealing with the other bandits first, but it was impossible to fight them while giving the slinger a free rein to do whatever he wanted.

I heard the sound of swords clanging coming from behind the carriage, meaning that Briant and Alexis were actively engaged now. The four bandits Thomas and I pushed to the sides were now slowly approaching us, while the sound of the spinning sling whistled in the air.

"What to do now—think, Marius, think!"

These guys were well organized. Tactical. Even before our sword skills were tested, they set up the fight to their advantage.

Then before I could come up with an ideal solution, I was targeted by the slinger. I dodged the first one, managed to deflect the second one, but then, to my surprise, a stone fell—or more like, was thrown from—above, which grazed my shoulder. I looked up and saw that there was another man standing on the roof of a building swinging a sling, preparing for the second round.

On my side, Thomas was struggling to fight two bandits. He was managing to defend himself, admirably, but the way the bandits attacked was surprisingly systematic. They weren’t just trying to kill him, but rather, forcing him away from the carriage.

That little distraction I had, looking at Thomas and thinking about how I might help him—while I was being targeted by two slingers and two other bandits who were trying to circle me—was a fatal mistake. Two stones flew at me simultaneously. I dodged one, but one hit my shoulder. Embarrassingly, I let out a groan.

"MARIO!!!"

My head turned, and I saw Skylark stick his head out of the carriage window, and Dimitri trying to drag him back in. I saw the slingers preparing the next round, and judging by how the two bandits around me shifted their weight on their feet, I knew they were going to lunge at me in sync with the next barrage.

Then a miracle happened.

The whole street went dark, as if a big cloud had covered the moon, then fog filled the street. The fog was so thick I could barely see the bandits who were only four paces away, and this was to my advantage as the slingers wouldn’t be able to target me. Then I heard the loud sound of horses neighing and galloping.

"Yes!"

It seemed Francis had recovered and was making a run for it. The carriage bolted forward and ran down the street, disappearing into the fog, and I heard the bandit leader scream.

"They are running away! Follow them!"

With that, the bandits who were about to attack me quickly withdrew and ran in the direction where the carriage disappeared. I didn’t know if they had their own horses nearby, but with the kind of head start Francis managed, I could feel secure that Skylark had escaped.

Then the moonlight shone again, presumably after the cloud had passed. The fog cleared up too, and to my surprise, the carriage was still there, exactly where it stood before.

"Skylark!"

I ran to the carriage and opened the door. With no bandits left, the rest of the team rushed to the carriage too.

As soon as I looked inside, I saw Skylark lying on his seat.

"What happened?!"

I asked Dimitri.

"I don’t know—it got all dark all of a sudden!"

I quickly grabbed Skylark by his shoulders—as gently as I could given the rush I was experiencing—and asked him,

"Are you okay, Skylark?"

"I...," he said, with a great strain in his voice, "am just sleeping."

"...what?"

"Just let me be... I’m just sleeping, Mario..."

With that, Skylark started to snore softly.

Dimitri chuckled, then shrugged as I glared at him, but the others also laughed, which finally made me feel more relieved.

I didn’t know what in the world had happened, but all we needed to do now was to bring the sleepy boy back home.

I got out of the carriage and looked up at the sky. The sky was clear again, illuminating our safe path back home. Only a single crow circled above us.

We had been saved by the blessing of the moon.