"Bang! Thud!"
Several heavy thuds came from the banquet, accompanied by the crowd's cries of alarm.
Having been prepared, Tales did not panic. But the moment he instinctively rose, Marius shoved him without mercy.
The force was so great that Tales nearly suspected his own Guard Captain was the assassin.
Tales fell into Gollor's broad arms. Before he could react, the three burly men from the Star Lake Guard's Guard Wing—Bastier, Franzuk, and Feili—appeared from who-knew-where and lunged toward him!
Together with Gollor, they formed a wall on all four sides, pinning the Duke of Star Lake down so tightly that not even air could pass through.
"Highest alert! Guard Wing in position! Vanguard Wing, report!"
Marius's voice came through the gaps between the four walls of flesh. "Forget what happened for now..."
"Protect His Highness and get him to safety!"
Thus, the four walls carried him away in a stumbling yet unstoppable advance.
Surrounded by burly men, Tales could see nothing but darkness. Half his face was buried in Bastier's solid abdominal muscles, which pressed painfully against his armor.
For a full five seconds, he could only struggle to spread his arms, forcing a path between the four thick walls of flesh:
"Don't... don't crowd me... Give me some room, will you..."
Meanwhile, the commotion at the banquet grew louder by the moment. He occasionally heard the dull crash of tables and chairs, the shouts of male guests, and the screams of female guests.
"Oh my God!"
"Pull them apart!"
"No! The Baron!"
Damn it, what had happened?
Fortunately, Tales had only moved a few meters in annoyance when Deputy Guard Captain Vogel's anxious voice rang out:
"Damn it, Royal Guard, stay calm!"
"That isn't an assassination attempt at all. It's far away from us..."
It was practically a