For a brief moment, the entire convoy was stunned by Claire's words.
Personal guard? That knight is still standing with a sword to her neck!!
Forget about guarding her, currently the most threat to her life was by himself!
"My lady…" Claire's maid tried to speak but Claire shook her head and said,
"I am not doing this just because I am cornered and might die if I say no, even if that's true. But the reason I am doing it is because it's beneficial for us as well as Sir Charles."
Arlott smiled under the mask and lowered his sword, of course not before letting the other guards lower theirs first.
"Sir Charles, please continue to act like my bodyguard, it will keep the attention off of you." Claire suggested and Arlott nodded before walking to his place.
Once again, he was standing beside the carriage.
Slowly other guards began to walk towards their stations as well, not before giving death stares to Arlott though.
They were murmuring some curses, but Arlott brushed it off since he could barely hear them anyway.
'Emily is still tied up outside the town, but I hid her well enough that she will not be found.' Arlott thought in a worry, 'WIthout any water or food, she should be able to live for 1-2 days at least… right?'
Regardless, Arlott didn't want to take any risk. He walked forward towards the carriage and knocked on it.
"Lady Claire," he said, "I would like to borrow a big basket or a bag from you."
"Huh-" Claire was momentarily stunned by his request before she pulled herself together, "Right, sure. There should be many in the carriage behind us, Sir Charles."
After saying a thank you, Arlott retreated towards the other carriage and relayed the message to the guard sitting in it.
"I see. Go ahead and choose." the guard had a nasty glare on his face looking at Arlott, but he gritted his teeth and allowed him to choose.
If his employer didn't order him to attack, doing so autonomously would be a mistake.
He didn't want to lose his job, after all.
Arlott gave him a nod and went inside the carriage to search for a decent wooden box that could carry Emily.
There were many, but most were already full of things such as fruits, scrolls, items and raw materials.
In the end Arlott chose a big jute bag from the carriage and then separated from the carriage to beehive towards Emily's hiding spot.
The carriage was 5 minutes away, so he had enough time to complete this task.
"Let's go, Emily." Arlott found her where he left her, sleeping.
He slapped her awake before chopping on her neck with his arm, making her unconscious.
It would be a real hassle if she somehow woke up in front of the guards, after all, a jute bag that could shake, move and talk on its own wasn't normal.
He quickly carried her and threw her into the carriage that was carrying other items before heading to his own spot.
Luckily he was on time, the guards were barely visible from his place and he could see the walls that seemed to be touching the clouds.
Whether it was his imagination or reality, Arlott didn't care enough to probe.
In two minutes, the horses neighed to a stop and Claire elegantly moved the curtain of her carriage away, climbing out.
Arlott gave her a low bow before starting to walk beside her, acting like her personal guard, while in reality he just wanted to keep an eye on her in case she tried anything sneaky.
Claire smiled, as if knowing his thoughts.
She didn't pay him any heed and with his hands raising her long skirt, she walked towards the guards.
"Lady Claire! It's our pleasure!" a guard stationed on the door bowed while the other copied him.
Claire smiled slightly.
"The caravan looks bountiful this time," he excitedly said.
"Harvest was good, and the duchy needed funds." Claire chuckled.
"Ah…" the guard coughed awkwardly when Claire brought up the duchy's issue.
After all, who didn't know that the greatest duke of Zordia was slayed by a mere crew of young assassins?
"Regardless, we are glad to have you here, my lady." the guard bowed to Claire and gestured to his partner to open the door, and he swiftly did as asked.
With a last polite smile, Claire spun on her heel and walked off to her carriage.
'Not bad.' Arlott hummed, amused. By talking and seeing Claire earlier, he thought she was just a little brat who was fed with a silver spoon.
But now, he could see she deserved at least 10% of her reputation. Her way of dealing with guards was impressive.
Considering she was a daughter of a Marquise, it was only natural.
Soon, the entire convoy had entered the capital city Plethora and Arlott breathed a long breath.
'Haah~ Plethora, the place where it all began.' he chuckled.
After just 3 months in his training, when he was 10 year old, Arlott and many other assassins were brought into this city to 'sightsee'.
Or so they were told.
But the moment setting step in this place, all hell broke loose.
Initially over 70 children were brought, but then the supervisor brought in a twist.
He ordered all the children to slay each other, engage in a battle royale that could go on for many days to come, until only 30 children are left.
Hiding was forbidden, and every assassin needed to have at least one single kill or he/she would be executed.
'Good ol' days.' Arlott thought with a dry chuckle, this was the place his sword got the taste of blood.
Not the good type of blood that made him a man, he got taste of the blood that turned him into an emotionless killing machine.
Just how the Red Flower Clan wanted him to become.
The tool to kill the duke, and then discard.
'Alas, I survived.'