I decided to dismount and walk.
A noble who does not ride a horse — and a member of the royal family at that! Are you not ashamed as a noble!! — it would not be strange if someone said that. As general aristocratic theory it was unthinkable, but right now my own body was more important. Riding a horse would only make me a perfect target, I thought.
The knight was apologetic, but that did not matter. If necessary I would even have the knight mount and act like an attendant myself. Only, doing that would merely make the knight a substitute target. Still, I wanted to advance quickly. Because the knight stubbornly refused to ride while making me walk, saying he could not mount himself, we ultimately ended up walking five people surrounding the horse.
"People are coming from ahead!"
Stevie cried. I still could not tell. Lily also frowned. Yet the knight's face blossomed into a smile as he said,
"Could it be that the welcoming party has already arrived?"
