Chapter 58
That night, there were no stars, no moon, just an impenetrable darkness. The flowers outside the house stood still, but their leaves rustled slightly, as if a breeze stirred, yet there was no wind. Perhaps it was just her imagination.
In truth, Wakako hadn’t sensed anyone’s presence. She had simply smelled something different.
There was something outside the courtyard. As expected, it wasn’t human, but a small yellow dog she had never seen before, sniffing around, as if searching for something.
A mercenary’s sense of smell was sharper than a dog’s, so Wakako was the first to discover it.
The Kitagawa clan never kept pets. Its sudden appearance at this time couldn’t be without reason. Some trackers trained dogs to follow scents, and though she couldn’t be certain if this dog was related to the Eagle Kingdom’s forces, she couldn’t let it go easily.
She held her breath and approached, easily capturing the dog. With a controlled strike, she knocked it unconscious, gagged it, and locked it in a room.
To ensure the Crown Princess’s safety, she should have killed it outright, but Wakako couldn’t bring herself to hurt animals.
She couldn’t help but think of Miki’s gentle gaze as she watched the creatures of the mountains, and how, ten years ago, she herself had been just like this helpless little dog, left at the mercy of others.
At some point, Liu Siruo had appeared, sitting silently on the roof. Her small frame, clad in black, made her almost indistinguishable from the night.
They exchanged a knowing glance without a word. Liu Siruo’s figure then vanished from sight once again.
Whether or not they had discovered the Crown Princess’s whereabouts tonight, since a tracking dog had found its way here, Tsukiyo needed to be evacuated through the secret passage. With her senior sister protecting her, there shouldn’t be any problems.
Wakako discreetly lit a lantern at the courtyard entrance. This was a prearranged signal. Upon seeing it, the Kitagawa clan’s night watchman would alert the Second Daughter, and the hidden soldiers would come to their aid.
But where were they?
Wakako didn’t believe they had only sent a tracking dog. Dogs couldn’t speak; without following closely behind, how could they know what it had found?
She narrowed her eyes, clenched her left hand, her fingers tracing the blade hidden in her sleeve. Suddenly, she drew her bow and loosed an arrow, which silently sliced through the night sky.
“…”
The arrow didn’t miss, but the target had dodged. From the barely perceptible sound of friction, Wakako could tell the arrow had grazed someone, veering slightly off course.
It was too far and too dark to hope for a direct hit. She had only intended to get a sense of their position.
She slowly drew a second arrow, this time with seventy percent of her strength, aiming directly at the direction the person had dodged.
The range of the firearms was long, but accuracy dropped significantly over distance. Moreover, the Eagle Kingdom’s forces hadn’t had the weapons for long and wouldn’t have had much time to train.
They were currently about 150 paces apart. It was impossible for a firearm to hit her.
But Wakako’s arrows could accurately pin down a target at 200 paces.
As expected, she hit her mark.
Without hesitation, she moved toward their position, her steps silent. In just a few breaths, she could make out the shapes of several figures lurking by the manor walls.
At this distance, there was no need for arrows. Wakako touched the short sword at her waist, heightened her senses, and approached with narrowed eyes.
She felt as though she had overlooked something crucial but couldn’t quite pinpoint it.
Footsteps sounded from behind. The reinforcements wouldn’t arrive so quickly; it was likely the Kitagawa clan’s guards.
Wakako moved swiftly, her blade flashing silver under the night sky as she clashed with the enemies. They were clearly trained, immediately shifting to encircle her, but before their formation could solidify, her relentless assault broke through, leaving them visibly stunned.
Wakako, however, was not surprised.
No matter what, they were still a step behind her.
An elbow strike, a side kick, the swipe of her blade, coupled with the earlier arrow – she pressed her lips together, exerting minimal effort as she watched the four enemy bodies fall one after another, their heavy thuds echoing like the rhythmic toll of a bell.
Yet, Wakako’s vigilance intensified. There had to be more than just these men; there were other accomplices.
Her easy victory wasn’t solely due to her skills but also because they weren’t carrying firearms.
So, where were the firearms?
She quickly searched their bodies, but found nothing of value. This wasn’t unexpected, however. After all, they were here for a stealth attack; they wouldn’t be foolish enough to carry anything that could reveal crucial information.
Behind her was the path she had come from, and by now, the Kitagawa guards had arrived and begun a thorough search of the estate for any suspicious individuals. Judging by the commotion, they hadn’t found anyone yet.
Wakako estimated that Liu Siruo should have already evacuated Tsukiyo. Merchants valued their lives, and the Kitagawa clan had a secret passage leading out of the estate. Apart from them, only the head of the family and the Second Daughter knew its exact location. There probably wasn’t much to worry about.
She circled the area where she had encountered the four men but still found nothing, her unease growing stronger by the minute.
Could it be that tonight’s attack was merely a reconnaissance mission, and they hadn’t intended to directly strike at the Crown Princess? But the two teams ambushed outside the city had clearly been targeted for elimination. With muskets in hand, the Eagle Kingdom should be the least likely to want this trial to drag on. It didn’t make sense.
What had she missed…
Alpha Squad always had clearly defined roles, and Wakako was the one responsible for frontal assaults, not for devising strategies. Without her teammates by her side, she couldn’t decide whether to follow this vague intuition and continue searching.
A night raid… yet they hadn’t used firearms. What else could it be?
The image of the dog’s yellow fur flashed in Wakako’s mind, and she finally realized what crucial point she had overlooked.
A tracking dog only follows scents. But the Eagle Kingdom’s forces had never come into contact with Tsukiyo, so how could they train a dog based on nothing? Were they supposed to describe her in some kind of animal language?
Besides, Tsukiyo was still a child who hadn’t undergone any presentation. She didn’t emit any pheromones that could be tracked
Unless the dog wasn’t looking for Tsukiyo in the first place. Then…
“BOOM!”
The deafening sound was far louder than the bells that rang daily in the city, and in an instant, the courtyard behind her was blown apart. Roof tiles cracked and flew through the air, and no matter how carefully the estate had been constructed, it was now reduced to rubble. Flames leaped out, hungrily consuming everything in their path.
The dreaded firearms were just one way to utilize gunpowder. There were many other means by which it could be employed to devastating effect—like blowing up an estate as grand as the Kitagawa clan’s.
And that’s exactly what was happening.
The flames surged in an instant, roaring high and wide, bright enough to illuminate Wakako’s face. In that moment, everything became clear.
The Saint had spent five years in the Eagle Kingdom. The tracking dog had lingered outside the courtyard, not searching for Tsukiyo, but for the scent of cherries.
They intended to…
Kill the Saint directly, ending the trial in one fell swoop.
Trees lined the path, slightly withered in the winter, now becoming accomplices to the fire, fueling its intensity. Thick black smoke billowed, making it nearly impossible for Wakako to see where she was going.
The people in the estate were in a state of panic, sharp cries of fear piercing the night from all directions.
The path ahead was blocked. Even without the ability to feel pain, she could sense the unbearable heat beneath her feet. She knew she would be injured, but relying on muscle memory, she stepped onto the scorching ground. The ends of her hair brushed against the flames, quickly giving off the smell of burning hair, making her feel sick.
“Help!”
“Someone save me!”
It wasn’t that the Kitagawa defenses were weak, nor that the reinforcements were incompetent. On the contrary, they had done their best to arrive as quickly as possible, but they couldn’t withstand the consecutive explosions that ripped through the sky, shattering the walls one after another.
The Eagle Kingdom’s forces had gunpowder, and they didn’t. In a direct confrontation, this was the inevitable outcome.
The first person carrying a firearm stepped in front of Wakako. It was as if he knew exactly who she was, his eyes locking solely on her. He paid no attention to anyone else, silently aiming the weapon at her.
The moment Wakako saw the muzzle, she tensed her body, using her exceptional control to roll out of the way, evading the shot.
The gunpowder exploded from the chamber, blowing a massive hole in the spot where she had been standing just seconds before. If she had hesitated even for a moment, it would have been her body that was torn apart.
The fire was relentless, and there weren’t many places to take cover. Wakako tumbled into the scorching, charred debris. The metal of her armor, unable to withstand the heat, seared her skin, and she felt as though the flesh of her forearm was about to be burned away.
Even without feeling pain, she knew she couldn’t face such a weapon head-on. She would die faster than anyone else. Moreover, she couldn’t see anything clearly. The surroundings were chaotic, making it impossible to even rely on sound for orientation.
The next shot landed dangerously close to Wakako’s feet, and this time, she wasn’t so lucky. Her left calf instinctively gave way, a large patch of blood seeping out, its color invisible in the night but soaking into her black clothes, leaving a sticky mess.
It didn’t hurt, and she knew she couldn’t turn back.
The next moment, the Eagle Kingdom soldier paid the price. The fire, just as it had obscured her vision, blinded him as well. He hesitated for just two breaths, glancing around to locate her, but in that brief moment, he lost his chance to strike again.
The woman in black before him seized his throat with her right hand, lifting him high in the air. Her expression was blank, her eyes devoid of any emotion.
In his final moments, as he struggled to breathe, he gazed into Wakako’s dark eyes and saw her other hand snatch the gun from his grip.
The hard metal crumpled in her hand like parchment, transforming into a mangled piece of scrap. Blood oozed from her fingers, mingling with the gunpowder residue at the muzzle, resembling a vibrant rose blooming amidst the ruins.
Tonight was also a battle where roses bloomed across the battlefield.
Wakako released her grip, and the scrap metal and the corpse fell to the ground simultaneously. Perhaps to prevent their weapons from being seized mid-battle, they hadn’t fully loaded the muskets with gunpowder. After two shots, there was nothing left.
She was just about to move forward when the fallen enemy, clinging to the last shreds of life, seized her injured left leg with a final, desperate grasp.
In an instant, Wakako kicked his hand away. For some reason, she felt her movements becoming sluggish. The flickering flames before her eyes pulsed, like a prelude to dizziness.
This was her first time experiencing the power of gunpowder firsthand. She didn’t know how much damage it had inflicted on her body and had no time to examine the wound. Could it be that the blood loss from her left leg hadn’t stopped?
But Wakako couldn’t collapse. She hadn’t seen that familiar white robe yet.
She had knocked the tracking dog unconscious earlier and left it in her courtyard. By now, they shouldn’t have found the Saint’s residence yet.
She had to persevere and get there before them, eliminating all enemies in her path.
