Chapter 80: The Choice is Yours

I was always on alert, but a person can’t be too careful. So I always brought two Heilon’s knights as an escort whenever I had to go out. Both were acquaintances. 

Today was the same. I rode a carriage while the two knights followed with their horses. Our pace wasn’t that fast, so I opened the window and chatted with the knights who were on horseback outside. The knights were friends with me so they often threw a joke at me. 

“If our miss got scratch on her body, he would kill us.”

“Miss, you’re not going to walk around ruthlessly like you did in Heilon, are you?”

This was definitely not a joke, this was blatantly a criticism.

“Wait a minute, gentlemen, when did I just walk around recklessly?”

That was a very unfair evaluation! I always worked hard at Heilon.

“Miss Fiona, um.. No, should I call you Lady?”

“Call me whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“Then, Miss it is.”

One of the knights, Isaac grinned. “Well, Miss, you didn’t particularly only walk around.”

“I was working hard.”

I corrected it again.

Then this time, Sir. Liander, the other escort, became skeptical. “As much as I recall, didn’t Miss catch the mercenaries and soldiers of the second and fourth walls like you were catching a mouse…?”

“That one was because I was ordered to sort out the affairs.”

The places where I was located mainly were on the second and fourth walls. Because of the special circumstances of those two places, naturally, there was more friction between the mercenaries and soldiers. At that time, because I was a young girl, there were many people who argued with me just because of my appearance. So I just had to show them who has the upper hand. 

Isaac pretended to applaud. 

“At that time, Miss Fiona was the best. Smiling like a cute little girl while grabbing men who were as big as me.”

“Rea..really?”

It was a little different from what I remembered. 

“I think I still treated them with basic courtesy though.”

Sir Liander, who was more gentle looking and older than Isaac, gently corrected my thoughts. 

“Miss Fiona, just smiling and using honorifics to your opponent doesn’t mean that what you did was considered polite.”

Isaac then added, “Sometimes, that behavior of Miss scares me even more. In a sense, it’s more terrifying than Our Lord….”

“….”

Scarier than Abel. 

Wait, wasn’t that a bit too much? Moreover, how could they say that when my personality was better than Abel’s? Yes, I was proud to say that. 

Isaac glanced at my expression and quickly changed his words. “Oh, Miss, I’m not criticising you. Well, some people are okay and even fall in love with that.”

“Fall in love, you say…”

I didn’t know who the hell that person was, but it seemed that kind of people truly exist, seeing how convincing Isaac was. Fall in love with people who caught mercenaries like they caught rats, they have a very unique taste. In addition, there was more than one person,

Suddenly, Isaac looked around and then closed my carriage window with a stiff face.

“What’s going on?”

“Someone is approaching.”

The carriage squeaked and then stopped. I almost fell, but barely managed to balance myself. It was fortunate the carriage was not going too fast.

HIINGG—!

A harsh wailing sound of horses rang out. 

“What the heck!”

It was Lord Liander’s shouts.

Something must have happened. I opened the window that was connected to the coachman’s seat. 

“…”

And I quietly closed it again. The coachman was dead. His neck was pierced by a dagger. After checking the situation, I opened the carriage.

“Miss!”

Isaac screeched.

“Please, stay inside!”

I laughed softly. “I really haven’t gotten used to being escorted yet.” 

If I were an ordinary noble girl, I would certainly have followed his advice. That was also the right thing to do in this kind of situation. But I had been on the battlefield, and there were many times I had soldiers under my command. Sometimes I was protected by them while I was also in the position to protect them. Maybe that was why it didn’t fit my personality to watch quietly while someone was fighting, defending me. I couldn’t help but feel responsible as their superior. 

Looking around, I saw men surrounding the carriage. 

Were they assassins?”

“It’s that woman! Catch her!”

I changed my assumption. That kind of action was not assassins’. There was a highly good chance that they were mercenaries. 

“Sir. Isaac, Sir. Liander. Just do as you normally do.”

When a mage used their magic, there were times when a delay inevitably occurred. I had a short delay, but it was still a delay. Because of this, usually, when I used magic in those days, I tended to have a soldier or knight by my side to assist me. 

Sir. Liander, who fixed his sword, let out a short sigh.

“Miss Fiona, I think you need to understand the concept of being escorted first….”

He meant I should do whatever I wanted to do.

I flicked my fingers with a smile.