Morning sunlight streamed through the carriage window.
Saito slowly opened his eyes.
He yawned and stretched.
"...Are we there yet, sir?"
The driver glanced back.
"Not yet, Captain."
"Just a couple of hours."
Saito nodded sleepily.
"Got it."
He leaned back and closed his eyes again.
A few moments later—
THUD!
The carriage suddenly came to a stop.
Rin and Bomb were thrown forward.
"WHOA!"
BAM!
Their heads smacked against the seats.
Saito immediately opened his eyes.
"What happened?!"
The driver looked nervous.
"Sir..."
He pointed ahead.
"Looks like our path is blocked."
Saito frowned.
Kaito leaned toward the window and looked outside.
"Yep."
A large pile of fallen trees and rocks completely blocked the road.
Fanny poked her head out from the other side.
"Who could've done that?"
Saito groaned.
He looked toward Bomb.
"Bomb."
Bomb slowly looked at him.
"...What?"
"Could you clear it?"
Bomb pointed at himself.
"Wait..."
"Why me?"
Saito stared at him.
"Because I asked."
Bomb's expression dropped.
"...That's your reason?"
"Yep."
Bomb sighed and climbed out of the carriage.
"Fine."
He walked toward the blocked road while muttering under his breath.
"Captain gets to sit comfortably..."
"...and I get to blow things up."
Rin rubbed his forehead.
"At least you didn't get your head slammed into the seat."
Bomb stopped.
"...You know what?"
"You're not helping."
Fanny laughed from inside the carriage.
Saito leaned back with a grin.
"Come on, Bomb."
"Show us what you can do."
Bomb shrugged.
"Whatever."
He walked toward the fallen tree and grabbed one of the thick branches.
With a grunt, he lifted the tree from the road.
"See?"
"Not that hard—"
THWACK!
An arrow suddenly struck the branch right beside his head.
Bomb froze.
"...Oh."
He slowly looked at the arrow.
"That's bad."
Another arrow flew through the air.
Then another.
And another.
"WHOA!"
Bomb dropped the tree and dove behind a large rock.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Arrows slammed into the ground around him.
"Okay!"
"Definitely bad!"
Inside the carriage, Saito immediately ducked down.
"Everyone, stay low!"
Suddenly—
THWACK!
An arrow struck the driver.
"AH!"
The driver fell from his seat.
Saito's eyes widened.
"Rin!"
Rin nodded.
"On it!"
He jumped out of the carriage.
More arrows flew toward him.
Rin swung his scythe rapidly.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
He knocked several arrows out of the air before rushing toward the fallen driver.
"Come on!"
He grabbed the driver and dragged him behind a large rock.
Rin crouched beside him.
"Hey!"
"Wake up!"
The driver didn't respond.
Rin frowned.
"Come on!"
He slapped the driver's cheek.
Smack!
Nothing.
He slapped him again.
Smack!
Still nothing.
Rin sighed.
"Seriously?"
SMACK!
The driver's eyes suddenly shot open.
"What happened?!"
Rin pointed at him.
"You fainted!"
The driver looked confused.
"What—"
Rin immediately grabbed the arrow sticking out of his shoulder.
"Hold still."
"Wait!"
Pull!
The arrow came free.
"AAAAH!"
The driver clutched his shoulder.
"Mercy!"
"What is wrong with you?!"
Rin stared at him.
"I'm trying to help you!"
"You could've warned me!"
Rin shrugged.
"Would you have stayed still?"
The driver paused.
"...No."
"Exactly."
Another volley of arrows flew overhead.
Rin immediately raised his scythe.
"Okay..."
"Complaining later."
"Right now, we've got archers to deal with."
Saito carefully looked through the trees.
Nothing.
No movement.
No footsteps.
Not even a glimpse of the attackers.
He narrowed his eyes.
"Where are they...?"
Another arrow suddenly flew past the carriage.
Saito ducked.
"Okay, definitely somewhere around here."
He turned toward Alya.
"Alya."
"Intel, please."
Alya immediately pulled out her transparent tablet.
The screen flickered to life as she scanned the surrounding area.
Her eyes moved rapidly across the information.
"Give me a second..."
The device displayed several moving signals.
Alya's expression changed.
"Oh."
Saito looked at her.
"What?"
She pointed toward the forest.
"We've got a lot of enemies."
"From our right side."
Saito sighed.
"Great."
Kaito remained surprisingly calm.
He leaned against the carriage and looked toward the forest.
"Maybe we should just wait."
Saito raised an eyebrow.
"Wait?"
Kaito shrugged.
"They'll run out of arrows eventually."
Saito stared at him.
"...That's your plan?"
Kaito smiled.
"Simple."
Another arrow slammed into the carriage.
THUNK!
Saito slowly looked at it.
"...You know what?"
"Maybe we shouldn't wait."
Saito and Kaito stepped out of the carriage.
Saito looked toward Bomb, who was still crouched behind the rock.
"Bomb."
Bomb looked over.
"Yeah?"
"Throw some of your grenades."
Bomb immediately grinned.
"Roger that!"
He pulled three grenades from his equipment.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Bomb pulled the pins.
"Bomb away!"
He threw all three deep into the forest.
The grenades disappeared between the trees.
A moment later—
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOOOOOM!
The forest shook from the explosions.
Leaves and branches flew into the air.
Saito narrowed his eyes.
"Did we get them?"
Kaito stared into the smoke.
"...I don't think so."
The smoke slowly cleared.
Footsteps echoed through the forest.
Several figures emerged.
They wore black clothing and masks that concealed their faces.
Saito raised an eyebrow.
"...Well."
Kaito glanced at them.
"So we have ninja guys now, huh?"
Saito nodded.
"Yep."
He looked them up and down.
Then frowned.
"They don't look anything like the ones in books."
Kaito smirked.
"Maybe the books lied."
The masked figures silently spread out around the carriage.
Saito drew his sword.
"Alright."
"Let's see what they're after."
One of the masked figures suddenly lunged at Saito.
Saito's eyes narrowed.
"Too slow."
SHING!
He drew his sword in one smooth motion and slashed across the attacker's chest.
The ninja staggered backward and crashed into the dirt.
"One down."
Two more immediately rushed toward Kaito.
Kaito barely moved.
The first ninja swung at him.
Kaito caught his wrist.
"Got you."
He twisted and threw the attacker sideways.
WHAM!
The ninja slammed directly into another one.
Both crashed into the carriage.
Kaito looked at them.
"...That worked."
One of them quickly got back on his feet.
He charged forward—
BANG!
The carriage door suddenly swung open and smashed directly into his face.
Fanny stepped out.
"Oops."
She looked at the growing number of masked attackers surrounding them.
"There are a lot of them!"
A ninja rushed toward her.
Fanny immediately punched him aside.
BOOM!
He went flying into the dirt.
Fanny cracked her knuckles.
"Okay."
"That's more like it."
Nearby, Bomb caught another ninja by the collar.
"Hey!"
The ninja struggled.
Bomb grinned.
"You're coming with me."
He spun around.
"Bomb delivery!"
He threw the ninja straight toward three others rushing at him.
WHAM!
All four crashed together.
Bomb dusted off his hands.
"Perfect."
Saito looked around at the chaos.
"...How many of these guys are there?"
Kaito dodged another attack.
"Enough to make this annoying."
Fanny grinned.
"Then let's make them regret attacking us."
Saito raised his sword.
"Blue Scarf!"
The crew immediately prepared themselves.
"Let's clear the road!"
Rin suddenly noticed another group of masked figures rushing toward him.
He tightened his grip on his scythe.
"Okay, sir."
He glanced at the injured driver hiding behind the rock.
"You'd better crouch."
The driver blinked.
"What?"
Rin immediately stepped in front of him.
"Just crouch!"
A ninja lunged.
CLANG!
Rin swung his scythe and knocked the incoming knife aside.
The ninja tried to recover.
Rin drove his fist into his face.
BAM!
The attacker stumbled backward.
"One."
Another ninja rushed in from the side.
Rin spun around.
The sharp tip of his scythe thrust forward.
THUD!
The ninja was knocked backward by the impact.
Rin pulled his scythe away and threw him aside.
The remaining attackers hesitated.
Rin smirked.
"Who's next?"
The driver stared at him from behind the rock.
"...You know, when you said crouch, I thought you meant hide."
Rin glanced back.
"I changed my mind."
He raised his scythe.
"Stay down anyway."