Hugo instinctively pushed the front seat with his shoe to maintain balance. Simultaneously, he instantly generated water from the hand gripping the window frame. The stream of water that filled the carriage interior wrapped around his body, thrown by inertia, protecting him. It pressed his back against the seat and supported his neck to prevent strain.
Fortunately, the tilting carriage did not overturn. Thanks to the weight of the water, it righted itself with a thud. Though the speed decreased, not all the impact was perfectly absorbed.
"Ha–"
Hugo tilted his head back and let out a short breath as he lowered his tingling right leg from the front seat. Then, after absorbing the water streams blocking his vision, he tried to get out of the carriage to assess the situation.
However, for some reason, the door wouldn’t open no matter how much force he applied. Frowning, he pulled back the curtain—only to find one side of the window completely blocked by a wall.
"What happened?"
"The carriage crashed..."
"Looks like a noble's carriage?"
"Check if anyone's injured!"
The neighing of excited horses and the commotion seeped in through tiny gaps. As several people seemed to be approaching to assess the situation, Hugo opened the door on the opposite side without hesitation.
At that moment, knights and attendants who had been riding in other carriages ran over, grabbed the door frame, and asked urgently:
"My lord, are you alright? Are you injured?"
"I'm fine. What happened?"
"Please wait inside for a moment, as it could be dangerous. We'll check immediately."
Two knights urged Hugo not to come out and hurried to the front. The attendant anxiously examined the Duke’s complexion and well-being.
Hugo followed the backs of the frantic men with his eyes and scanned the situation outside through the gap in the door. Though people weren’t crowding around, the running carriages and tanks were all slowing down. Wondering if there might be casualties, he disregarded the advice and got out of the carriage.
As the elegantly dressed noble appeared, the murmuring people suddenly fell silent. Some recognized the Duke’s identity from the family symbol and the aura he emitted, and bowed.
Hugo, with no time to notice them, strode to the front of the carriage. His brow furrowed as he confirmed the situation before him.
"Oh no..."
The white carriage had been pushed to the corner of the main road and had collided with a wall, leaving it damaged. Moreover, the left front wheel had completely come off. Under the carriage body, broken wooden fragments and the metal rim of the wheel lay scattered after splitting apart.
"Howard?"
Hugo first asked about the condition of the coachman driving the carriage. The coachman was surrounded by knights, trying to calm the startled horses. Upon seeing his master, he bowed with a pale face.
"M-Master, I'm sorry. Are you injured? I have committed a mortal sin."
"I'm fine. How about you?"
"Yes, I am fine, but... I am ashamed. I'm truly sorry..."
Though the coachman didn’t appear to have difficulty moving, he kept apologizing, perhaps as startled as the horses he’d been driving. There was no doubt about his skill. Howard was a capable coachman who had been in charge of his outings for over five years. Judging that the cause of the accident lay elsewhere, Hugo looked around to check if anyone else had been caught up in it.
Not only citizens but also the attendants’ carriages running before and after had narrowly avoided collision. It was likely thanks to Howard’s experience, which minimized the damage even in the urgent situation.
With narrowed eyes, Hugo turned back and patted the coachman’s shoulder encouragingly.
"I'm unharmed, so don't worry. Rather, could you explain what happened?"
"Well... there was a cracking sound from the left wheel. The carriage tilted, and I think the horses were startled when the harness was pulled, causing them to pick up speed."
"A cracking sound?"
"It seems the wheel had cracked."
A knight examining under the carriage body, bent at the knees, added. He carefully held out broken wooden fragments to his lord. Just as Hugo was about to lower his head to check, guards from Pentagove near the main road discovered the accident scene and shouted:
"What happened!"
"Are there any injured?"
They approached the white carriage while managing the stalled traffic on the main road. Upon alternately looking at the cool man standing in the middle and the symbol on the carriage, they too turned pale and stopped abruptly. Then, they all placed their hands on their left chests, bowed their heads, and saluted.
"We come before Your Grace the Duke. Glory to Raina Logia."
"We come before Your Grace the Duke. Glory to Raina Logia."
The fact that an imperial duke invited to a banquet had an accident while visiting another territory was surely a significant problem. The guards’ voices were filled with anxiety and nervousness beyond bewilderment. They were concerned that the accident might have occurred due to inadequate control on Pentagove’s part.
Along with that, carriages from other families were gradually stopping in the middle of the main road, unable to simply pass by. This was because they recognized the noble Duke of this country in a predicament. As more gazes gathered and the traffic jam worsened, Hugo’s knights guarded all directions and closed ranks, using their bodies to shield their lord from the awkwardness.
Hugo merely tilted his head slightly and carefully examined the wooden fragments.
'...The wheel cracked? Suddenly?'
He bent one knee along with his knight and looked under the carriage. As he lowered his posture, not only the guards positioned nearby but also the gathering people all flattened themselves to the ground. Heads lowered as if the earth around the accident scene had sunk.
Since Hugo himself knew best how thoroughly the carriage was maintained, instead of suspecting a defect, he checked for gravel or obstacles that could have struck the wheel. However, the well-paved main road didn’t have a single stone fragment to be found. Moreover, the wheel itself had broken into pieces, leaving no traces to suggest external factors.
Finally, with a low sigh, he rose. An attendant quickly reached out to dust off his master's knees, but he politely declined and instructed his subordinates:
"If we stay here, traffic will be paralyzed, so let's ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ first move with Pentagove's help, and then clean up the scene."
"Yes, understood. Master, how about visiting a physician in case there are any injuries? It wasn't a light collision, so we're very concerned."
"I'm fine, so send Howard first. The coachman's seat was damaged, so there must have been some impact. Ah, is there a place nearby where we can rent a carriage or escort vehicle?"
The last question was directed at the guards. A guard who had been reading the situation quickly raised his head and answered:
"Ah, yes. There is. Please come this way. I'll guide you to a nearby place."
Guards who had arrived by now opened a black parasol over the Duke’s head. Along with the knights, they escorted His Grace across the controlled main road. Though Hugo moved under their protection, he looked back at the view revealed beneath the parasol.
'An assassination attempt?'
The strange mana he’d felt before the wheel broke bothered him. That which had rapidly approached had clearly been aimed at them. However, with so many people around, and with the sun not yet set, those bold enough to attempt a plan with impure intentions would be rare.
'If the intent was assassination, the window would have shattered, not the wheel.'
The energy would not have been detected just once either. They would have fired magic to cut off his breath somehow.
Various incidents that fatigued his mind were occurring one after another today. Hugo, scanning his surroundings with a puzzled, vigilant gaze, instructed the attendant who had volunteered to clean up the accident to take photographs as evidence.
Afterward, the group surrounding the Duke quickly left the roadside. The murmuring people gradually dispersed as well.
The shadow watching them from the top of the spire also quietly disappeared around the same time.
*****
A 10-slot manual slide viewer where alphabet films flipped over with a clicking sound when a button was pressed. It was one of the toys children played with when they were just beginning to learn letters.
It worked by combining the alphabets inside to create various words, and it was once popular as a prop. One of these sat on a small table in the residence located in Libertas.
[LIBERTAS!!]
The toy that shouted for freedom looked quite old, its surface worn and broken. It seemed somewhat unnatural even as a vintage prop. Leonardo, sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed and tapping the floor, occasionally stared at that toy persistently from the corner of his eye.
In front of him, his partners engaged in heated discussion while pacing around a large table. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to pay much attention to the leader who had sat down for a brief rest.
After sitting alone by the toy for about ten minutes, the alphabet films began to flip over on their own, even though the button hadn’t been pressed.
Click, click, click–
The alphabets, changing sequentially, eventually formed a new word.
After confirming the completed letters, Leonardo hid the smile that was about to spread across his lips.
[COMPLETE!!]
Then, expressionless, he stood up and pressed all ten buttons at once with his palm. As the films flipped over manually again, the word became an unrecognizable jumble.
Leonardo joined the central table where the discussion was taking place as if nothing had happened. As he approached, Tergio was the first to reach out and pull his arm toward himself.
Just then, Mirail, who had been greeting a bird perched on the window frame, turned her head.
"The crowd is starting to gather."
The atmosphere inside the previously noisy residence suddenly quieted. She, who had been listening to the small bird's whispers, added softly:
"They're moving."
