[h1]Dirt Road[/h1]

[hr]

"Hmph."

The blonde girl folded her arms as she examined the travelers before her for a few moments.

"Regardless of if it was simple circumstance or not, you still gave your assistance. Only an idiot wouldn't recognize your efforts, even if they were just the product of coincidence."

She paused for a moment, glancing towards Linie and Sheila again. Indeed, from here, it was difficult to tell just how badly the petite white-haired maid was injured, but it certainly appeared that there was a significant amount of blood staining her side.

"Milady, you really shouldn't be out here," the voice from inside the carriage said, "They could still be-"

[url=https://cdn.donmai.us/original/73/8a/738a5dcfdce3121bb37047e6fb35e5af.png]A third maid emerged, though this one lacked armor.[/url] Similar in height to her mistress, she cast her green eyes briefly over the travelers, then over Linie and the general state of the carriage defense.

"Who are they?" she asked, her left hand drifting towards the hem of her skirt slowly.

"They assisted us in defending milady," responded Sheila, briefly turning attention away from the injured Linie, "There's no need to be cautious."

Though the third maid didn't respond, her hand returned to her side.

"I-I'm fine, it's not safe for us to stay, s-so-"

When the sword-and-shield bearing maid attempted to rise, Sheila very swiftly held her back down.

"Do you want to die!?" she cried.

"I [i]ordered you[/i] to rest," snapped the blonde duke's daughter, before returning her attention to the travelers, and Hikari in specific.

"You said you have some medical knowledge? I'm surprised to see a maid with a pair of travelers like this, but I won't question it if you can stabilize Linie."

On examination, it would become clear the wound was quite deep, and that Linie had lost a considerable amount of blood. However, it didn't appear that it had damaged any organs, her weakened state likely due to her bloodloss.

Meanwhile, the remaining guards were conducting their own examination of the deceased bandits. The mere fact that they were putting effort towards this perhaps implied they suspected something more than mere banditry was behind the assualt.

[@Raineh Daze][@PKMNB0Y][@Sir Lurksalot]