In This Life, I Will Raise You Well, Your Majesty!

Desert Flower (4)

Translated by Wook
Edited by Wook

The road where the party entered was wide enough for one carriage to run. It wasn’t polished, but it was big enough that the wheels of the carriage wouldn’t break.

At first glance, the road that may seem stuffy felt endlessly desolate because of the surrounding scenery.

On the left and right sides of the road, the ground that should have been filled with something growing was bare.

The boundary between the road and the ground was vague except for the fact that the ground was a little darker in color, mixed with stones, and the height was different because piles of dirt swept by the wind were gathered here and there.

The group stopped before long.

Some of the baron’s knights drooped over on their horses.

People with pale complexions jumped off their horses in a hurry and started vomiting. In the meantime, even though it’s been quite a while, Elisha didn’t ask what happened.

Not because she wasn’t confident, but watching the people in the scene having such a situation, wouldn’t anyone find out that something huge is happening right away? Instead, Elisha pulled Leon, who sat in front of her, deep into her arms.

And caught her breath.

Instead of making the surroundings even more tense, Elisha stood up and waited patiently. In the meantime, Perry quickly approached and reported.

“It seems that there was a problem with the food we ate in the village.”

“The food?”

It’s not just a simple rebuttal.

If it really was because of the food, she wondered why they’re fine. Perry was quick-witted.

“The Knights of the Imperial Palace have many rules to follow when they are outside. Among them, eating and sleeping are included, so we pay a lot of attention. Not to mention what the 2nd Empress and the 3rd Prince will eat.”

As for why the baron’s knights suffer from this, even though they’re on the same side, it is very rude to tell other people’s knights what to do.

“There was no way that beggar village could have done anything right. Uweeekh!”

“Damn, wait and see. I won’t let you go…!”

There was no reason to interfere, so they left the baron’s knights alone, lest they make a mistake that even rookies wouldn’t do. Perhaps not all of them were sick, as Adam, the leader, and his aides, who were fine, were taking care of their less inferior colleagues.

“I wondered if it was poison, but the symptoms weren’t too severe…”

Perry deliberately clouded the end of his sentence. It must have meant that he had doubts because he thought there was no need to poison them.

There was nothing strange about those idiots who had been drinking last night and got sick from the hangover.

But Elisha kept feeling uncomfortable.

Even though it has been concluded that now is not the best opportunity for those who want to harm her to move.

Eventually, Elisha stopped and spoke to Rohan, who had his horse next to her.

Sreung!

Elisha, who drew out a sword, stretched the other hand outward and pulled the hem of the flapping cape.

Elisha covered Leon’s body tightly and fixed the cape.

There is no need to provide a clear basis, it is clear enough that something unpleasant is happening.

Burr!

The ground on which the horse was standing shuddered thinly.

It’s like telling that there was something crawling above it.

Fweet!

Rohan blew a long whistle.

The divided movement stopped and all the 1st Knights stared at Rohan at once.

“There are monsters. Be prepared.”

Rohan didn’t shout loudly, but that was enough.

Of course, there were those who didn’t listen.

“M-Monsters? Hiik!”

“Let’s run…! G-Get on the horse!”

The baron’s knights, who were not in good condition, struggled frantically.

“What are you doing? Don’t move!”

As Adam instructed his subordinates, the baron’s knights, who did not get sick, helped their colleagues.

The carriage window opened roughly, perhaps because of the noise outside.

“What’s going on? What’s going on?!”

Tricia poked her face out the window. Elisha said as she made eye contact. Not with her, but with Dorian, who was sitting opposite her.

“Don’t be surprised. Be still.”

Dorian nodded.

Not because it’s not scary.

The calmness contained in the sky-blue eyes looking at her calms even her heart. And…

Dorian smiled faintly.

Shortly after leaving the village, there was a problem with the baron’s knights, and they were scattered here and there.

Above all else, the 3rd Prince and the 2nd Empress, who are the subjects to be escorted first, are riding separately on horseback.

Ssssssh!

Sssssshhk!

If it was just a signal from the ground just now, now it is a threat from an invading existence. As the depths of the earth rumbled, the surface of the ground cracked and spewed dirt instead of blood. The towering soil creates long mounds, leaving traces of things that are moving inside.

The line approaching from the front was not a single line.

Two, three, four… spreading like a fan and gathering towards a point where the party is!

The closer the line drawn above the ground, the more the baron’s knights faltered. All talks about how they’ve dealt with the desert monsters must have been bluffs.

Rohan turned to Elisha.

“You must never overdo it.”

“I have the 3rd Prince with me, do you think I will do anything unreasonable?”

“Pfft!”

“What’s funny, Sir Perry?”

“…I can’t recall ever seeing the 2nd Empress riding a horse on top of a pile of logs and cussing me and Miller for being stupid. I don’t remember if she was holding the 3rd Prince back then?”

[T/N: He is being sarcastic]

“If you can’t remember that, I think you’ll have to stop being a knight. What do you think? I think quitting quickly would be good for a long life.”

Elisha calmly recited, but the content was very frightening. Perry, who was shaking, cried and begged.

“I am a knight, so please watch me. But Your Majesty, please stay here. Leader and I will take care of everything!”

Elisha had a smiling face, but the moment she turned her head to face the front, her expression changed as if she had become a different person.

Neeigh!

As Rohan ran toward the front, Perry chased after him, and half of the 1st Knights squad followed behind them as they quickly moved away.

“D-Don’t be reckless like that. There’s a different way to catch desert monsters.”

They seem to still have the strength to wag their tongue even with their dying face.

“If you have time to chat, it would be better to hold a sword.”

As Elisha spoke, the baron’s knights showed dissatisfaction.

There has been a lot of accumulation so far because they think they are being severely discriminated against in comparison to the 1st Knights.

For Elisha, the difference between the 1st Knights as the people she can use and those hateful people lies in their worth.

How could she care about something else? Elisha gave strength to the hand holding the sword. Then, before moving, she checked for Rohan who had run to the front.

Rohan jumped from the running horse’s back when there was only a few meters left to the line that seemed to be drawn by inserting a huge nail.

Then, with the tip of his sword pointing toward the ground, he changed his grip and sprinted up the dirt floor. Rohan took a big leap and stretched his arms out in front of him. He placed his other hand on the handle of the sword he was holding upside down, added the force of falling from above, and slammed the ground down as it is.

Koong!

The line in the middle of the road, which left the thickest trace among the lines that had been drawn, stopped moving for an instant. Rohan’s sword was stuck one meter in front of it.

The one-meter-long space with nothing connected was slowly getting wet. Eventually, the line and the sword were connected as one.

At the same time, guaaah!

The traces marked with lines spread from side to side, and a giant snake-like head was raised from within.

Rohan’s sword was stuck in the middle of its forehead. Naturally, Rohan’s body also flashed up into the sky.

Rohan climbed completely on its forehead without panicking.

Instead of pulling out the sword that was stuck on its head, Rohan lowered his posture and began to slide down the back of the monster, which seemed to exceed 10 meters.

Cwarukh!

As Rohan moves, the tough leather pulled taut is torn apart.

Guaaaah!

The gigantic snake shook its long, cylindrical body, but Rohan did not fall off and quickly descended to its tail. The snake with a split back is suffering from blood spraying.

Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!

As it banged its body on the floor and made a riot, dust was scattered all over the place.

As the snake’s tail wobbled, Rohan pulled out his sword and jumped to the ground. Blood was sprayed as he passed by, but Rohan’s outfit was very clean except for a bit of dust. No one could’ve imagined what he just did.

However, what he did after swinging the bloody sword once on the ground was to run straight to the glowing snake.

Crack! Crack!

Rohan lowered his sword several times and smashed the snake’s bones.

The snake’s body was dented here and there as if it was about to be cut into pieces.

Seeing Rohan with a neat face and a serious dignity, there are many who think his sword technique will also be as dignified and elegant, but in fact, it was not like that at all.

Elisha knows.

How fierce the sword that that man wields is.

Kiiiik!

As the blood of the monster spurted in all directions, the lines drawn became thicker and the width of the vibrations increased, perhaps to stimulate its own kind.

[T/N: The so-called “lines” are dirt mounds made by the giant snakes from underground. It seems like there are 4 (or more) “lines” at the moment. Putting this here because it took me a while to imagine the whole scenario]

One down.

Elisha removed her gaze and then lowered her eyes to scan the ground.

The ground was shaking.

Not because of the front fight, but because of the waves flowing deeper.

There’s a smarter guy who approaches secretly unlike the others!

Where is it?

Elisha was vigilant with her eyes open, and found that the side where the carriage was was a little shaken.

The surprised horses stomped their feet and panicked.

Perhaps that stimulated the monster hiding beneath, so the monster immediately raised its head with its mouth wide open.

Crack! Crack!

The wheel of the carriage broke between the monster’s jaws, and the horses tied to the carriage and the frame connected to it were dragged up, flailing.

Neeeeiigh!

A mournful cry rang out.

“Save me! Hurry up and save me!”

The astonished Tricia opened the carriage door. The carriage was tilted and the inside was shaken, so they couldn’t escape easily. Tricia, who was stuck inside the square carriage, seemed crazy, while Dorian closed her eyes with the window frame tightly in her hand.

Tricia tried to get out again, but she was afraid that she might break all the bones in her body if she was thrown out of the carriage because of the distance.

“Y-You have to close the door!”

As she struggled to close the door she had opened, she kicked at Dorian.

“Hey! Come and grab that one! Hurry up!”

Dorian, who opened her eyes, looked at her like she was about to kill her, and held out her upper body to grab the door of the rattling carriage while trying to balance herself in the shaking carriage due the flailing Tricia.

At that time, the monster’s movement intensified as if it was angry at the carriage that did not break as expected.

Swik! Swiiik!

The monster shook its head from side to side while biting the carriage, and at some point it spit it out. A broken and ruined carriage flies through the air.

Dorian thought she would die like this.

She had expected it.

Since she learned that a person can die easily even with a very trivial thing in Barossa, she was also aware that herself or the baron’s daughter in the carriage could be used as bait or thrown away at any time.

So it’s okay.

Besides, the 2nd Empress was a little different from the rest of Barossa.

She wanted to follow her all the time if she could, but… While waiting for the shock that’s supposed to come soon…

Nothing happened.

The carriage was sunk to the ground, unbroken, and there was no pain.

Dorian, who was puzzled, got up and looked around, and met the eyes of the 2nd Empress over there.

“You’re a good listener. That’s nice.”

She could see her muttering mouth.

“Stay there. It’s dangerous elsewhere.”

And the following orders.

After a while, the stream of water that had received them from the air and dropped them on the ground was seen returning to the 2nd Empress.