And now, spin on your left foot

'What happened...'

My sight went blurry for a second and the next moment I was being supported by Ranger beside the carriage...

I turned my head to the right. Alaric was grabbing both my shoulders with trembling hands and helping me sit in a comfortable position. Tears were flowing down from his amber eyes, wetting his pale face and blood-drenched clothes. His whole body was shaking and his breathing was still ragged.

'Did he take me here when my sight went blurry a few seconds ago?'

We weren't too far away from this place when that man jumped out of the carriage and attacked us, so I guess it wouldn't be too hard for Alaric to grab my momentarily limp body and jump to this side.

"Ian t-this... This... C-can you hear me? Ian?"

Without turning my head towards Ranger, I nodded my head to his words and shifted my gaze to somewhere else.

"B-blood... Blood... Brother Ian... Old Ranger, do something. Do something!"

The kid on my left side was whispering with a trembling voice as he pressed on the wound on my side with his small hands. He hiccuped a few times and raised his gaze to look at Ranger. The old man was not too different from the kid. With a terrified expression, Ranger suddenly placed his hands on the wound on my side and pressed them on the cut spot as hard as he could, making it hurt and bleed more.

"Gah!"

I couldn't help but let out a gasp and my body jolted up a little bit due to the sudden sharp pain. Ranger hurriedly retreated his hands and stared at me, frightened.

"Gasp... Just wrap some clothe around it... huff..."

The wound was burning and it was itching all over. I felt as if a part of my body was dangling from a small piece of meat and it would be separated if I moved too much. The wound wasn't too deep though, but as it bled so much, I could say it was quite fatal. Gradually, my heartbeat increased and my heart began beating more strongly. I felt a little bit short of breath and the tips of my limbs were getting cold. I guess at this rate I'll die from blood loss...

While Ranger proceeded to open my shirt and find the exact location of the wound with his still trembling hands, I once again moved my heat to the right and looked at the battle that was still unfolding.

A few meters away from where we were sitting, a tall figure was facing the attackers with his back to us. He was easily cutting off the bandits one by one as if they were nothing but worms being smashed under his feet. He didn't even break into a sweat as he sliced and slashed through the bodies of the attackers. Not too far away from him was Lian, who was also defeating the bandits easily, but he seemed to be struggling a little bit battling with some of them. The other knights were also engaged in the battle and were not doing relatively badly. The bandits had the upper hand in number, but after a huge number of them were killed by the hands of the black-haired dude, they were now struggling and attempting to find a way and flee.

'What is that man doing here...'

I moved back my head a little bit to lean it on the body of the carriage behind my back and stared at the black-haired swordsman.

One

Two

Three

With each movement of his sword, more and more bodies fell down to the ground. His strikes were powerful and brutal, but at the same time, they looked rather elegant when combined with each other. It looked like he was moving through the water, as if he was water himself, flowing gently yet having the sharpness that could bite your skin and take away your life.

"Huff... Huff..."

My vision was getting dimmer and dimmer and it was getting harder to breathe. I could hear my own loud heartbeat while my hands and feet felt as if they were freezing. At the same time, I sensed something getting wrapped around my body and then the two edges of it being pulled.

"Aargh- gasp!"

I couldn't even scream properly as I felt out of breath and had to gasp for air. When I took a few deep breaths, I sensed something smelly in my mouth. Something that tasted sour, or maybe like iron. I swallowed down the liquid as I looked down at my body. Ranger had wrapped a piece of cloth around my body and was pulling the two edges of it with all his might. The cloth had already gotten wet with blood and the old man's tears.

'Why are they acting as if I'm dead?'

I might die, but I'm not dead yet! Also, even if I die, there is no need for them to be so dramatic. It's not like I'm an important figure or anything. I'm just a mere servant dying due to his bad luck.

I scoffed inwardly and once again, moved my gaze to the black swordsman. He was still fighting. The number of the bandits had reduced significantly and the corpses on the ground had increased. Not minding the blood that had splashed on his face and not being distracted by the corpses that bumped into his feet, the man lowered his head to dodge an attack, and before the attacker could even retreat his stretched-out hand, the black swordsman bent his sword-wielding arm and turned his body 180 degrees in an instant, spinning on the tip of his foot and slicing the attacker in the process.

'That... is kinda...'

In my blurry vision, I watched the man's movements. How he grabbed his sword and how he dodged the attacks.

The way he moved... The way he struck his enemies...

They all brought me a strange sense of familiarity. A feeling of nostalgia. A distant sensation... Something like remembering a very old memory, like a small butterfly flapping its wings inside your heart and spreading a mysterious warmness inside it.

One step

Two steps

Three steps

And now spin on your left foot.

In my blurry and dark vision, I could see a small child doing those moves one by one with a small, wooden sword.