Banging on the walls of the wooden wagon to alert Alex, Elyza shot a glance at the broken down coach that blocked the path forward, gesturing to the merchant sitting next to her to slow down the horses. A groan emanated from within the wagon. It had been only half an hour since Alex had handed off the chaperoning to her, and he was finally about to succumb to a much-needed nap. Lifting his weary head from the comfort of a wooden crate he was using as a pillow, he jumped out and followed behind the horse-drawn wagon as it eased its pace.
Overtaking the wagon as it stopped, the merchant retreated into the safety of the wagon, as Alex joined Elyza as the duo walked towards the kneeling carriage, a man wearing quite fancy garments waving to them for help. He seemed bothered, an appropriate reaction to the situation, but his eyes weren't focused on the people coming to help, his gaze drifting uneasily toward the shadows cast by the surrounding trees.
"T-thank god so-someone arrived so soon." the man spoke, his voice wavering dangerously, as if he was about to collapse from exhaustion, sweat trickling down his reddening face. Unless he thought the two had come to rob him, he was awfully nervous.
"What happened?" Elyza inquired, her gaze shifting between the distressed man and her partner, who was already investigating the intricately embellished coach.
"W-we were just passing through when w-I suddenly heard a loud crack and the whine of horses, and felt the carriage come to an abrupt halt. My driver told me that the horses had panicked and ran, so he went after them and told me to wait." As he spoke, while he did maintain eye contact, he never once blinked. He was trying to seem like he wasn't lying, his posture too perfect, his words too carefully chosen.
While the two were talking, Alex was figuring out how the horses got free. It wasn't an arduous task. The area of the U-shaped shaft to which the horses are tied to in a coach, didn't snap off, there were no wooden shards that had fallen down, they were cleaved off. And something that was even more damning, the pieces that had been separated from the shaft were still lying on the ground, with the part of the traces still attached to it.
He looked towards Elyza, and she met his gaze, and they both came to a mutual understanding. This was a trap, a bad one at that. Without exchanging a word, they seamlessly slipped into their roles, each assuming a character to draw out, in most likelihood, the bandits hiding in the cover of the forest.
Elyza adopted an air of vulnerable naivety, her features softening into an expression of concern and uncertainty, a rare sight for Alex, as he usually assumed that caricature. Meanwhile, Alex himself adopted an air of heavily misplaced self-confidence, his swagger exaggerated as he rejoined the group, even stumbling over the still wooden wreckage in a clumsy attempt to appear authoritative.
"Yup, definitely broken," He announced, puffing out his chest in a display of false bravado as he examined the damaged carriage.
"That's a shame, I was about to lend him one of our horses so he could reach his destination," she began, her voice uncharacteristically exuberant. As Alex closed his eyes and focused, she addressed the man once more, her keen gaze scanning the elegantly decorated interior of the carriage for any signs of additional occupants.
"Were you the only one travelling in this coach?" she questioned, peering inside the elegantly decorated area for any signs it was used to house multiple. A set of muddy footprints on the plush purple carpet confirmed her suspicions, prompting a quick glance from the man towards the concealing foliage of the surrounding trees.
Before the man could answer her, Alex subtly released a pulse of mana, and immediately felt them return, bouncing back as they hit the people hiding in the trees. Elyza felt the wave pass over her as well, and when she glanced over, she saw him holding up a sign for eight. Turning back to the man acting as the bandit's bait, she noticed him quickly glance towards the trees, he was worried about someone hiding within the foliage.
YOU ARE READING
NEMO: Into The Depths
Fantasy"After you achieved your revenge, after that brief moment of ecstasy at finally doing it, killing the person who caused you so much harm, you felt empty inside. It's as if all the actions you took, all the sacrifices you made, all the people you cut...
