The robber's blade aim straight for Lola's neck but being prepared. Lola was able to easily dodge by taking a step back but then counterattack with an slash of her own.
Aiming for his stomach, Lola struck with all her strength but then the robber blocked her attack. Ritzy seeing them in a standstill; he said,
"Make some distance and take a different approach if you think you don't stand a chance".
Ignoring Ritzy's words, she kept pushing forward. Having both blades interlocked, both Lola and the robber couldn't push any farther. Seeing this, Ritzy noticed that Lola was naturally using the heaviness of the sword in her favor. That if she wasn't, the robber would've easily overtaken her.
Lola not getting anywhere, she decided to listen to Ritzy's advice. Pulling away, the robber clumsily fell forward.
Ritzy's thoughts,
'These robbers are extremely weak so where did they get the courage to attack these knights? Are they just really stupid or is there something else?".
Lola seeing her foe fall down, she quickly plunged forward and penetrated her sword into his shoulder.
The robber screamed in pain but with determination, he launched his own counter-attack. Using his one good hand, he unsheathed the knife on his waist and aimed for Lola.
Lola not paying attention, she was too late to block. The robber's knife slashed her hand and left a small painful cut.
In pain, Lola resumed her attack and didn't let her guard down. She took out the short sword she used on the nobles before and stabbed the robber in his stomach then twisted.
Lola looking at the robber for any counterattacks, she slowly watched the light from her enemy's eye go out.
Ritzy standing behind Lola,
"Don't drop your guard until your sure they're dead. Now let me see that hand".
Lola turned to Ritzy and showed him her hand as requested. Examing her hand, Ritzy saw no serious injury.
"You'll be fine but as punishment for performing unsatisfactory, I won't heal your hand till tomorrow's training".
Lola became frustrated and looked scornfully at Ritzy. But then a second passed and she sighed from giving up on expecting good from Ritzy.
Looking at the dead body, Lola grabbed the impaled sword but then twitched in pain. Knowing it was a bit too painful to use her right hand. She decided to sheath her short sword and then pick up the gladius with her left hand.
Ritzy,
"Let's go check up on the Princess".
Walking toward the royal carriages, Ritzy saw that there was a higher concentration of foes here. For every royal knight, there were 3 robbers.
The assailants seeing Ritzy and Lola coming to back up their target, they quickly divided themselves and sent some towards Ritzy mainly. Seeing Ritzy's glowing golden eyes, they knew he would be a difficult foe that needed the most men to defeat.
As they were coming closer, Ritzy spoke to Lola.
"Try protecting me. Last as long as you can".
Lola turned to Ritzy in confusion.
"huh?".
Ritzy stopped walking forward and stood still. This caused the robbers to become confused. Not sure what to do, they started surrounding Ritzy and Lola.
Lola wanted to say something but from seeing Ritzy fiddle with his fingers and not care what's happening around him, she knew he was serious with what he said.
Knowing she had no say, she decided to attack first.
There were five people surrounding them and she decided to attack the ax wielder first. As she swung her sword at the ax wielder, an arrow came for her face but miss. She didn't dodge, she was just lucky.
Ritzy,
"Always check your surroundings, your luck can only last so long".
Lola listened to Ritzy's words and then resumed fighting. As she fought, Ritzy picked up some slow movement close to the Princess who was two carriages away.
Intensifying his Mana Presence, Ritzy discovered that it was a pitiful assassin or rogue as they called them here. Sadly though, even though his sneak attack was pitiful, all the servants and knights protecting the Princess haven't noticed the rogue.
Knowing he had to act, he walked up to one robber. The robber had been fully focused on Lola so he didn't expect the golden-eyed noble to suddenly appear in front of him.
Shocked from Ritzy's sudden appearance, he swung maniacally. But before he could get his first swing in, Ritzy grabbed the sword's hilt and then kicked the robber in the stomach. Causing him to let go of the sword and fly off into Lola's direction.
Lola seeing her chance. She quickly stabbed her sword into the man's throat and then resumed fighting the others.
Ritzy holding this cheap sword, he was surprised by how light it was. This whole time he's been using swords in the dozens of pounds but this sword was cheap. Its blade felt brittle and the whole sword only weighed between 2 to 3 pounds.
Finished calculating the swords weights, Ritzy examined the area around the Princess again. Seeing the rogue about to surprise attack the Princess, he decided to wait.
Seconds tick by with Ritzy observing the rogue movements but then finally the rogue attacked.
He jumped out of his cover and aimed his dagger straight for the Princess's throat while yelling
"die!"
Ritzy's sighed from disappointment. The point of sneak attacks are so the target doesn't see you coming. Screaming just reveals one's position.
Then recouping from his disappointment, Ritzy threw the short sword he got from the robber. The sword flying through the air, the sound of wind breaking could be heard until it reached the rogue chest.
The sudden force into the rogue chest caused him to be launched back with the sword in his chest. Then in a second, he became posted on a nearby tree.
Screaming in pain while pinned onto a tree, the rest of the robbers and knights looked at the rogue in horror. It wasn't until dozens of seconds passed that the rogue's screaming finally stopped
The robbers became terrified after that spectacle and knew they had no chance against Ritzy. But then suddenly a voice came from one of the fatter looking robbers.
"Retreat!".
The surviving robbers then began to run away and the knights responded by hunting them down. But Ritzy instead of killing them, he decided to capture one.
Ritzy started accumulating wind magic and then when he felt it had enough strength, he makes a pulling force of the wind. Forcing one of the runaway robbers to be flung to him. Ritzy then caught the robber flying at him and then pinned him to the ground.
Pulling the rapier from his sheath, Ritzy stabbed the blade right through the man's ear.
"Now tell me, why are such weak people ambushing such a big group of travelers with pristine armor?".
"I doubt you're all dumb enough to try and rob such highly armored and guarded people with such pitiful equipment".
Enemy,
"Please let me go, I don't want to die!".
Ritzy pulled out the rapier from the man's ear and stabbed it into the man's hand.
"I'll let you go if you satisfy my curiosity".
Lola and Diana weren't hunting down the runaway foes so they were able to see Ritzy have his torture session with the poor attacker. They already knew Ritzy was dangerous but they never thought he would play with his enemies. Only mercilessly kill them. This caused the Princess to become more warry of Ritzy.
Enemy,
"I can't do that, they'll kill my family".
Ritzy thoughts,
'So they're forced to do this'.
Ritzy,
"Why do you think they'll still keep them alive? You've been captured, meaning as soon as they go back to their base. They'll most likely kill your loved ones".
At that point, the older fellow stopped struggling. He only looked off into the distance and showed no response to a blade being in his hand.
Ritzy,
"You're trying to get one last look, aren't you?... If you truly want them to live, then how about you help us and we'll help you free your family?".
The man then turned to Ritzy with desperation and said,
"I'll do whatever you want, just save them!".
Ritzy's thoughts,
'I knew there was something bigger'.