The Female Soldier

Chapter 11

Before Shou left the palace, Moren had gone through a list of things of things he should and should not do. And one of the things on top of the list is that...

"Prince, one of the most important thing that you have to remember if you would like to remain in disguise is that no matter what, unless your life is at stake, you must not and never ever fight."

Shou recalled Moren lecturing him yesterday. He wondered since when Moren began to have the guts to lecture him. 

"I cant' fight," he replied calmly.

"Whaa..at?" Reon's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. Song's guys are going to wallop him in any moment now. 

Before Shou could respond with an alternative, one of Song's man started lunging at Shou, which he evaded his punch easily. Irritated that his opponent is not staying still, the man started throwing more punches and kicks. Shou barely moved but merely shifted his angles just enough for the man to miss him. From afar, it would look like the man is just punching and kicking air. 

On the other hand, Reon was faced with the other attacker. Reon as usual, went all out to tackle his opponent. He kept getting kick at the back thus, falling on the ground repeatedly. He would get up and continue one fighting. Although it was clearly a losing battle, Shou had to give the little boy some respect. He does not give up. 

Shou would then purposely trip Reon's opponent, such that his face would be aligned at a perfect timing with Reon's  punch. 

"Whoa, Shou! Did you see that??" Reon exclaimed in excitement but the man suddenly looked angrier. "Uh-oh."

The man Shou was effortlessly evading accidentally trip on himself that had sent him flying towards the nearest table of the high-rank soldiers that were eating and watching nearby. The man's whole body basically thrashed into the table spilling everyone's porridge either on their bodies or their faces. About twenty angry looking soldiers started marching towards them , folding up their sleeves.

Then here comes Moren's second lecture.

"Prince, if you are faced with with a group of angry soldiers, there is only one thing you can do to defend yourself."

"What is that?"

"Run."

"Run? Oh, run into them and fight. Got it."

"No," Moren said  more seriously. "Run like a butterfly."

Shou did not really understood what Moren's second lecture completely. But he knew he had to run away from the group of soldiers that were approaching them. It would be too obvious if he were to avoid all their punches at once. 

Shou turned to call Reon to start running, little did he know Reon was no longer by his side. Reon had already started running, heading towards the forest.

And that was when he understood what it meant to run like a butterfly. 

Reon was running  with both his hands up, flapping away without a care in the world. He was also screaming for a person's name.

"Fa Leeeeeeeeeiiiiiii !!!!" tears streaming parallel with the wind.

There was nothing much Shou could do but run along Reon. He easily overtook Reon. He was known to be the fastest in the entire kingdom. 

"Shou, w-wait!" Reon called out.

Shou ignored him. He was not going to expose his identity yet, so all he had to do now was outrun Reon. He ran first into the unknown forest. Little did he know that Reon was actually calling out as a warning.

Now to find a good hiding spot, Shou stepped around the trees and bushes, spying on the incoming angry mob. To his carelessness, for once, his feet slipped and he fell into a deep hole in the ground. It looked like it was a trap. 

"Dammit," Shou cursed but landed gracefully at the bottom of the hole. It was pretty deep. And very dirty. He dusted the dirt off his sleeves. If Moren were to see him at this state, he would have screamed. He tsked.

How did the fearless Dark Prince been reduced to this? Was the mission too much for this prince to handle? 

"Shou!" Reon whisper-shouted  down the hole. "You alright? I told you to wait, didn't I? This part of the forest is full of traps!" 

Shou rolled his eyes in the dark for his own ignorance. 

"Get me out of here," he ordered. 

"Right, hold on," Reon said and left to search for a rope. 

Shou could hear the angry mob searching for them in the other side of the forest and soon their footsteps faded away. Even they were smart enough not to come to this side of the forest. 

"Got it!" Reon came back with an old rope.

Shou looked at the rope with doubt, "Are you sure that rope can hold my weight?"

"Yeah, sure sure. Lei pulls me out with this rope a number of times. It's our hidden rescue items, you know," Reon said confidently and threw the rope down into the pit.

Shou grabbed the rope and tugged it a few times. After assessing it, he started pulling the rope and climb out of the hole while Reon pulls it from above.

Cre...cre-ak..

Shou's ears perked up but the next thing he knew he was already falling back down into the hole. The rope had snapped.  Shou sighed in his fall with disappointment and gracefully landed again.

I should have known-

"AHHH!"

Shou did not had the time to look up from where the sound was coming from. He was head slammed into the ground by Reon's body.