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Chapter 10: The Strongest Onmyoji, Captures (Part two)
On the way back, the carriage riders were not the same …… as on the way there.
Fiona insisted on putting me in her own carriage.
The two ladies-in-waiting were again vehemently opposed, but Fiona was as stubborn as ever.
So now I have a smiling Fiona sitting in front of me.
And since she had nominated Grey as well, my second brother was sitting next to me.
What a lineup!
“You really don’t talk when you ride in a carriage.”
Grey said as if he was amazed.
I answer with a bitter expression.
“… I don’t like doing extra things and getting dizzy,”
“It was true that you aren’t good with horse-drawn carriages. It’s been like this for two days since we left. Even so, the shaking is quite small.”
“I’m sorry I can’t be your conversation partner. I will avoid talking, but I won’t cause you any trouble.”
“Ufufu, don’t worry”
“I didn’t think there was something you weren’t good at.”
“That was what Ifa also said to me, two years ago.”
There are at least some things I’m not good at. It’s human.
And there —- I turned my attention to the ceremony that was taking place outside.
The convoy of wagons was approaching a road flanked on both sides by trees.
“Grey-niisan.”
“Ah?”
“Speaking of which, Grey-niisan is it ok for you to be in a place like this?　you’re the platoon leader.”
“It’s all right. I’ve already left most of the work to Lauren.  And I can’t disobey the orders of Her Highness the Crown Princess.”
“Ufufu, you seem somewhat unwilling, don’t you?”
“I didn’t say so.”
“But what if something happens?”
“We’re leading such a large group of people to prevent such an emergency, right? We’re not here to fight, this escort is here to intimidate.”
“But what if they come?”
“That’s embarrassing. If they do, I’ll stay here to protect Her Highness and take command. I don’t mind that much.”
“Well, that’s fine. By the way, how many thieves are common in this country?”
“Thieves?　Such a thing varies from a few to a hundred people…… but I don’t hear of any large groups around here.”
“Oh, really?”
I muttered to myself.
“Then what is that?”
At that time—- a roaring sound echoed in front of the carriage.
The roar of human beings, shouts and horse whinnying.
“What!?”
It seems an empty carriage in disguise has been hit.
Fiona said calmly in the tense air.
I smiled lightly and opened the carriage door.
“You came.”
As soon as I leaped out, I grabbed the edge of the ceiling, kicked the floorboards, and leapt. I landed on the roof of the carriage, spinning backwards through the air.
“I see. It’s been a long time since I did such acrobatics.”
Thanks to this, I could see the surroundings clearly.
The group of dozens of roughly dressed people who split up and spread out on either side of the road.
Looking ahead, the wagon that had been disguised as the imperial carriage had been crushed by a huge rock.
There are no high cliffs around. It was some kind of earth magic.
“It’s not right!　”Yellow Jade” move to the sixth carriage, and “Steel Jade” put an arrow into the eighth carriage!　Left rear, aim at the guy on the roof!　Two, one…….”
The voice that seems to be the head of the group echoes from somewhere, and all the ruffians around the group turn their crossbows on Fiona’s carriage and me at the same time.
Even so, he’s a theif with a good deal of equipment…
The crossbow was much smaller than the ones I had seen in the West, as if it was designed for portability. It would not be that powerful.
I guess that’s enough.
“Release!”
The arrows were shot at the same time, so spectacularly.
At that moment, I activated my jutsu using the Hitogata floating above my head as the starting point.
《Phase of the sun ―――― The art of magnetic flow clouds》
The swarm of arrows approaching.
All of them bent their trajectories in the middle —- and flew away in the wrong direction, avoiding the carriage and me.
I lifted the edge of my mouth and laughed.
“Ha-ha, where are you aiming for?”
“Huh……What, wasn’t it the head!?”
“What?　Softballs, cover eight!　Steel Balls, kill that guy on the roof!”
The several crossbows that were waiting in the wings were pointed at me.
But it was the same thing. All the arrows deflected and flew vacantly into the sky and the forest.
“Wha……What is this, is it magic!?”
“Hmm, yes it is.”
I muttered with a laugh at the crossbowman’s astonished voice.
There is such a rule that when a metal approaches a strong magnetic field created by the positive energy, the metal turns into a magnet, and it always repels against the first magnetic field.
As long as metal is used for arrowheads and barrels, arrows cannot break through the magnetic field of the 《Magnetic Current Cloud》.
“Boss!　Six and seven are also disguises!”
“We are beginning to receive counterattacks from the enemy platoon head”
“It’s the Eight!　There’s a magician blocking us!　Yellow Jade squad, crush them with magic!”
Among the group rushing toward us, there was one who was holding a staff in his hand.
His mouth was chattering a hurried incantation.
“Towering and seated Huang!　The immovable spirit of the stone rock, now fall and hammer in its fury, the giant rock of Rotskvall!”
A huge rock appeared far above the magician’s head and came down at an angle toward me. It must be the one that crushed the carriage in the first place.
But just before it reached —- me, it vanished in mid-air.
“What!, Is it a barrier!?.”
“It’s so easy to deal with magic.”
With such a rudimentary warding, anything can be nullified.
The head of the enemy peeled his eyes impatiently, looked around at the group and shouted.
“Draw your swords, boys!　Leave the escorting magician alone!　We’ll attack the target inside …….”
At that —- moment, a roaring wind blew from inside the carriage.
It collectively flips a few of the wild thieves in front of it and silences the group of enemies in a split second.
“The crossbow attacks are stopped?　Damn, we can finally go on the rampage!”
Grey, who had come out of the wagon and was carrying a staff sword, shouted out loudly.
“You guys!　This is your chance to save the Holy Princess!　Who wants a poet to sing about your valor?”
A brave battle cry rose from among the soldiers who had been crossing swords with the thieves.
The enemy’s spirits, on the contrary, were visibly weakened.
Heh. You can do things like a Captain.
“Seika-sama.”
While I was impressed, I heard Fiona’s voice coming from the carriage below.
“Can you capture the enemy alive?”
“How many?”
“The more the merrier. It would be even more helpful if we had the leader.”
“understood”
《Phase of wood — The art of vine binding》
Green vines erupted from the ground all around the area.
It wrapped itself around all of the enemies, and then it turned into a tree, tightening and restraining them.
Grey stared in stunned amazement at the sight of the band of thieves being captured by the plants.
The soldiers, who had been in high spirits and exchanging sword fights, were all taken aback by the sudden turn of events.
The street, which had been the scene of the battle, was now a scene of silence.
I said to Fiona, who was also silent in the carriage.
“How about it. I caught everyone for the time being.”
*The Art of the Magnetic Cloud
A technique for avoiding arrows using Lenz’s law. When an arrow invades the magnetic field created by the positive air, a special induced current called an eddy current is generated in the metal part of the iron, and the iron itself creates a magnetic field. Since this magnetic field is always generated in a form that repels the first magnetic field, the arrow flies away from the source of the magnetic field. This is called Lenz’s law, and is used in modern railway vehicle braking systems.