The patrol captain did not know what the so-called Players were, but that did not stop him from understanding the current situation.
— Someone had stolen his duck!
Thanks to the snow that blanketed the sky and the husky's impressive speed, he did not even notice that the fellows who had suddenly appeared to intercept the noblewoman's group were the three children he had killed before.
"Don't let them get away!" The patrol captain roared.
"Relax. As long as we're fast enough, their arrows wouldn't catch up to us." Simba, who was driving the dog-cart reassured him.
"Even if they catch up, they wouldn't have much power left." He added, perhaps feeling that his consolation was a little weak.
Zazu glanced behind him to find that the city watch who had fired the arrows had taken out some red clay from their standard waist pouches and smeared it over their arrowheads.
When Zazu shared his discovery with the others, the noblewoman's face fell and she turned to look behind her, before crying out in surprise. "It's a phlogiston used for enchantment!"
"What's that?" Simba asked her even as he steered the dog-cart.
"It's an alchemy material that's neither common nor rare. It's made from the residue of fire-elemental Illum crystals. It has a wide range of uses in alchemy, but it's not too expensive since it's not rare …" The noblewoman seemed to be quite accomplished in alchemy, and was explaining with assurance.
"Summarize the essentials of this stuff into one sentence!" Simba, who was not in the mood to listen to that, quickly cut her off and said simply and crudely.
"To put it simply, smear it on a metal weapon with higher activity, and if it causes the slightest impact …"
Before the noblewoman could finish, the enemy's arrow had already landed on the snow beside them.
A 'Booooom!' was heard!
The snowy ground that was hit by the arrow exploded, and the thick layer of snow completely disappeared. Even the frozen ground below was blown into a crater.
Moments later, the snowflakes that were blown into the air formed a small mushroom cloud that slowly descended from the skies, giving everyone the feeling that they had returned to the feathery snowfall of winter.
"It will explode."
"It's too late to say that now!" Simba did his best to pacify the frightened huskies, dodging the pyrokinetic bolts from behind while keeping them on their way towards Lancaster.
The husky, who was a little leisurely and even wanted to roll in the snow, was frightened by the power of the pyrophoric arrow. It stopped drooling and ran for its life.
Zazu and Nana were no longer idling around the carriage, and were instead using their magic and sacred arts to shoot down the arrows coming from behind.
Snow pillars were constantly exploding on both sides of the sleigh, and several times, the sleigh was hit by a hair's breadth.
Fortunately, the city watch soldiers were not believers of the God of Games or the God of Hunt, and their attacks naturally did not have the same accuracy as the rangers.
Moreover, Codo Bosra wasn't a city on horseback, and the city guards were only average at archery. It was fine when the camel was still, but once the camel started galloping, they could only rely on luck when sitting on the bumpy back.
As a result, the accuracy of the city guards was extremely low.
At first, Simba had intended to head all the way to Lancaster … or at least to a place where there were outposts around the city.
After all, once they reached a place where the outposts could observe, the city watch of Codo Bosra would definitely not dare to act so brazenly.
In fact, if they could catch up to the Lancaster City Watch who were clearing out the swamp fishmen while they were on the move, the tides would turn in an instant!
However, the appearance of the pyrokinetic bolts messed up his plans.
After all, they wouldn't lose much HP if they were hit by a normal arrow, and they just had to replenish it with potions when their HP was in danger. Zazu and Nana could very well act as human shields for the others.
However, the pyrokinetic bolts were too powerful. Even if they didn't know the exact damage numbers, it was clear from the snow pillars that were exploding high above that the trio who were less than Level 10 would have to wait to be resurrected in a small black hut if they were hit.
"Wait, isn't this the carriage to Lancaster?" The noblewoman suddenly noticed that Simba's carriage had changed direction.
"Even if it's just luck, those fellows would hit us sooner or later," Simba explained. "It's a pity that this sleigh isn't sturdy — we're done for if we get hit once."
Simba had already realized how unreliable the sleigh was on the way to save the noblewoman, Gwendolyn, and the others.
Even the slightest tremor would cause the joints of the sleigh to creak. If the sleigh accidentally scraped against a rock, a part of it would remain in the snow forever. In fact, the size of the sleigh had shrunk by about a fifth along the way.
"Wouldn't it be useless even if we run here?" The noblewoman asked, noticing the scenery around her and realizing that they were heading towards the hunting grounds.
The soldiers stationed at the hunting grounds had all been slain by the human-faced fish monsters, just as the monsters had been cleared by the murderer of Baron Nigelania. While there was barely a wooden hut that they could hold on to, an ordinary wooden hut would never be able to stop the enemy who wielded a Pyrophoric Block …
"It's fine. Please trust us."
Simba said solemnly without turning around, focusing on driving the sleigh instead.
The noblewoman was silent for a moment, before nodding firmly.
In fact, her mind was filled with questions.
The patrol captain's claim that the three children had been killed did not seem to be a lie, and yet they were here in one piece, and had even gotten their hands on the sleigh …
And why would they help her to this extent? Or rather, why would the organization that murdered Baron Nigelania help him to this extent?
Saving Gwendolyn, who was easily brainwashed, was enough if he simply wanted to earn Lancaster's favor. He and his two maids weren't necessary at all, especially since he had almost no fighting ability and was just an ordinary burden. Therefore, leaving her behind in exchange for a chance to escape was basic maneuver when the enemy was cornered to such an extent.
But until now, the three children had been fighting Codo Bosra's city guards with all their might. Even when the situation was so dire, they had no intention of abandoning themselves, not even thinking about that possibility.
"Don't mind me. Run yourselves — I'll buy you some time!" Watching as the sleigh was almost blown apart by the enemy's pyrokinetic arrows, the noblewoman finally couldn't help exclaiming, "It's fine as long as you can bring Gwendolyn back!"
"Master!" The two maids, who had just managed to catch their breath on the sleigh but were suffering from motion sickness, could not help but have tears in their eyes. "We will always follow you!"
The three maids looked at each other. Even though they had met often, it was still a little embarrassing to share their heartfelt feelings with each other.
After the shyness, they were deeply moved — they were childhood friends who had grown up together in the first place, and they had followed her to Lancaster as her dowry after she married into the city.
Even now, he was still loyal and devoted, never abandoning his side.
"What are you two talking about?"
Simba, however, clearly wasn't moved by their emotions. He found their behavior rather baffling. "There's no need to kill ourselves. We're already at the hunting grounds!"
"That's why there's no use even if we run to the hunting grounds …"
"I remember there's a small colosseum in the hunting grounds, right?" Simba asked, ignoring the noblewoman's words and continuing to steer the sleigh.
After all, there were some ferocious beasts in the hunting grounds, and the nobles would usually put them in the colosseum after catching them during hunts, amusing themselves by watching the beasts kill each other.
Still, the colosseum in the hunting grounds was very small and merely a self-entertainment facility, and couldn't compare to proper colosseums.
"Isn't an open-air colosseum even harder to defend than a small wooden hut?" The noblewoman couldn't help asking in return. "What are you thinking?"
Simba didn't answer her question, and simply drove the sleigh through the gates of the colosseum and drove inside.
The city watch that was right behind them naturally followed suit, blocking them inside.
Even though winter was over, the weather over the last two days was still gloomy. Dark clouds covered the sky, and it appeared dark even during the day.
The small colosseum in the hunting grounds had a roof, but that was precisely why it was dimmer than normal colosseums, to the point that even the audience could not be seen.
"We've finally caught you! You have nowhere to run now. Surrender! " The patrol captain finally showed an excited look when he saw Simba and the others trapped in the colosseum. "There are twenty of us here, and I'm one of the best swordsmen in Codo Bosra. You can't escape!"
Simba, however, rose from the sleigh unhurriedly and began clapping right in front of him.
Left confused by Simba's actions, the patrol captain growled viciously. "Stop! Don't even think about playing tricks!"
Soon, Zazu and Nala, who had also risen from the sleigh, laughed and clapped as well.
Soon, the Illum lamps hanging from the roof slowly shone, dispelling the gloom of the audience.
Almost a hundred Players who had just finished fighting the Marsh Drake and had come to the scene after reading Simba's post on the Player forums rose from their seats, applauding the patrol captain who was less than Level 20 and yet dared to spout such nonsense.
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Chapter 181:
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