Cavalry thundered across the wilderness, accompanied by the neighing of warhorses and the wild laughter of the riders.
Count Hous sat inside the carriage, calmly listening to the sounds outside. His whole body seemed boneless as he sprawled limply atop a fur rug. The maid sat opposite him, so still she resembled a statue.
All of a sudden, he frowned.
"Something's wrong," he said. "Why hasn't there been a single traveler on the road?"
At this time of year, there should have been quite a few travelers on the road. Should they encounter this group, they would naturally have no fate but misfortune and death—at most, they would die quickly or die painfully.
But... from the time they set out at noon until now, they had not encountered a single traveler!
That was not normal. Absolutely not normal!
"Is there an ambush or trap up ahead?" the maid asked.
When it came to warfare, she might not necessarily lose to him. But what she excelled at was advancing step by step and fighting steady battles; in methods like these—howling along like the wind and winning through surprise—she was far inferior to him.
The three Holy Spirits under the God of Nobility each had their own strengths. One excelled at clever improvisation, one at dispatching and arranging matters, and one at deploying troops and setting formations. Now, the one skilled at coordination had already returned to the divine kingdom; the clever one likely would never be able to return; and the one skilled in warfare still needed to finish some cleanup work.
That had been their earlier plan. Unfortunately, plans could not keep pace with change. Just as the plan was nearing its conclusion, an unexpected incident suddenly arose.
Strictly speaking, there did not seem to be any obvious problem with