Mount and Blade

The rhythmic sound of hooves echoed, splashing tiny specks of mud onto the muddy dirt road.

Cold, damp raindrops fell from the gloomy sky, pattering against the surface of her black waterproof cloak before sliding down the fabric's texture to the ground.

“I hate the rain...”

Rosie complained, riding on Carrot's back.

Although the rain couldn't seep in, the damp, chilly sensation still seeped through her metal visor and reached her skin.

“Neigh~”

Carrot let out a snort and shook its head, spraying droplets of water from its mane in all directions.

Its ears twitched backward, as if echoing its master's complaint.

“Do you think we should find a place to shelter from the rain first, or keep going...”

Before Rosie could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a commotion coming from ahead.

The sounds of shouting and horses neighing echoed from around the bend in the road.

She looked up, and through the veil of rain, she could faintly make out over a dozen mounted figures surrounding a carriage stopped by the roadside.

It was a four-wheeled carriage, with one of its wheels stuck in a muddy ditch on the side of the road.

Around the carriage, the mounted men were shouting and hollering.

Two corpses lay on the ground. One wore leather armor, and the other wore plain cloth clothes, both collapsed a few paces in front of the carriage. The rain diluted the flowing blood into a pale red stream, which slowly trickled along the depressions in the road.

A man dismounted, strode to the front of the carriage, and reached out to pull the door open.

The door was barely pulled open a crack.

A crossbow bolt shot out from the gap.

The tip of the bolt protruded halfway from the back of the man's neck, carrying a thread of blood.

His hands instinctively clutched his throat, but blood was already spurting out from between his fingers.

His body fell backward, crashing onto the ground and splashing muddy water. After a few twitches, he lay still.

“Shields!”

An angry shout echoed through the rain.

Two more men immediately dismounted, raising the round wooden shields they carried to protect themselves as they approached the carriage door.

Rosie could tell at a glance that this was a classic highway robbery.

Right at that moment, one of the bandits turned his head. His gaze pierced through the curtain of rain and landed on her. “Boss! Someone's coming!”

A man who seemed to be the leader turned his head, squinting through the rain to size her up. “Only one person! Go kill him!”

His judgment wasn't entirely unreasonable.

Rosie was wearing a black waterproof cloak, which hid the outline of her plate armor and left no weapons exposed.

Under the dual concealment of the rain and the cloak, she looked like nothing more than an ordinary traveler.

Two bandits charged out on horseback, flanking her from the left and right. Their weapons were already raised, the blades gleaming dully in the rain.

Their horses ran fast, their hooves trampling the muddy water and kicking up large splatters of mud.

“Tsk.”

Rosie clicked her tongue. Slipping her right hand under her cloak, she gripped the hilt of her meteoric iron sword and drew it.

Squeezing her legs against the horse's flanks, Carrot's ears pinned back, the muscles in its four legs tensing simultaneously before it suddenly surged forward.

Its speed far exceeded the expectations of the two bandits.

They had originally planned to pincer her from both sides, but before they could even complete the encirclement, Carrot had already arrived.

With a swing from left to right, Rosie's meteoric iron sword drew a silver arc through the rain.

The blade first met the throat of the first man, and a line of blood sprayed from the side of his neck, rapidly dispersing in the rain.

Carried by its momentum, the sword continued its horizontal sweep to the right, followed by a natural thrust.

With a wet squelch, the meteoric iron sword effortlessly pierced the second man's leather armor and chest, the tip of the blade protruding from his back with dripping blood.

The powerful impact directly lifted the man off his horse.

With a flick of her wrist, Rosie flung him off her sword.

The man's body flipped in mid-air before crashing into the roadside mud, splashing dirty water everywhere.

Rosie did not stop. Amid Carrot's neighs, horse and rider continued their charge.

Raindrops pattered heavily against her cloak, blending with the sound of the wind and the thundering hooves.

Her sudden acceleration caught the bandits completely off guard.

The leading two bandits had just raised their weapons to engage when Rosie, aided by her horse's speed, was already upon them.

Her meteoric iron sword slashed horizontally. Before the first man could fully raise his sword, the blade had already slit his throat, sending him tumbling off his horse.

The second man reacted slightly faster, raising his hand axe to block. However, Rosie's strength far exceeded his estimation. The meteoric iron sword snapped his axe handle in two and sliced clean through his shoulder.

He let out a bloodcurdling scream and rolled off his horse.

Two arrows shot from the rear of the bandits, the sound of them cutting through the air muffled by the rain.

Unable to dodge while mounted, Rosie simply ignored the arrows and squeezed her legs, urging Carrot to charge straight ahead.

With two crisp clangs, the arrows were deflected by her plate armor, exactly as expected.

“Damn it, he's wearing armor underneath! Shoot the horse!”

The bandit leader's voice came from the rear of the group, tinged with panic.

But the moment the words left his mouth, Rosie had already ridden up to the archers.

The two bandits were still holding their bows. Before they could draw their melee weapons, flashes of sword light swept past. Two arcs of blood spurted into the air as their bodies slid from their saddles.

Carrot tore through the bandits' line, leaving behind four corpses as their frightened horses neighed and bolted off the road.

Rosie pulled the reins. Carrot wheeled around in the rain, planting its hooves firmly and facing the remaining bandits once more.

Sensing its rider's intent, the horse exhaled heavy plumes of white breath, its ears pointing forward as it awaited the command to charge again.

Led by their chief, the bandits let out a collective shout, brandishing their weapons as they charged head-on.

Hooves trampled the muddy road, kicking up a spray of mud, dirt, and grass clippings.

Rosie did not hesitate to launch a counter-charge.

The two sides clashed and crossed paths once more.

Rosie's meteoric iron sword swung out fiercely, its blade drawing an arc through the rain.

The bandit leader slashed back at the same time. The moment their blades collided, a massive force surged from her sword, instantly knocking his weapon from his hand.

However, the bandit leader was quick-witted. He ducked to the side of his horse, pressing his body flat against the horse's flank to dodge Rosie's follow-up slash, narrowly escaping a fatal blow.

Rosie reversed her sword trajectory with an upward slash, severing the entire arm of the second bandit on her right at the elbow. The severed limb spun through the rain as the man shrieked in agony.

She spun her blade back around, impaling the bandit charging from her left and knocking him off his horse.

Seizing the opportunity while Rosie was striking to the right, another bandit slashed at her waist. But her plate armor blocked the blade, leaving only a shallow scratch.

Rosie suddenly let go of the reins with her left hand, swept her hand across her waist, and flicked her wrist backward.

A dagger flew out, striking the man squarely in the back of his neck.

The bandit collapsed without even making a sound.

“Retreat!”

Seeing things turn sour, the bandit leader roared, tugging his reins to flee without looking back.

The remaining few bandits immediately scattered and fled after their leader.

The two bandits who had previously dismounted with shields were out of luck. Just as one of them managed to scramble back onto his horse, Rosie's sword arrived.

With a wet slice, a head went flying. Blood sprayed out, drawing a dark red arc in the rain. The headless corpse sat on the saddle for a brief second before tumbling to the ground.

The other bandit, who hadn't mounted yet, watched his companion's head fly off and instinctively raised his shield to cover himself.

Carrot didn't slow down at all, slamming straight into him. The bandit was sent flying, crashing heavily into the mud and sliding for a distance.

He struggled to crawl out of the mud, spitting out a mouthful of blood and muddy water.

Then, Carrot galloped past him once more.

Her blade sliced downward, effortlessly parting his neck.

He collapsed once more, sporting a horrific gash.

The muddy water beneath him turned crimson in an instant.

Carrot galloped forward a few more steps before slowly coming to a halt.

Rosie inspected her meteoric iron sword. The blade remained as sharp as ever, with no chips or nicks. The dwarven craftsmanship was indeed superb.

She flicked the blood off the blade, sheathed it, and pulled the reins, her gaze sweeping over the corpses and bloodstains scattered across the ground.

Two lines of translucent prompts floated into the edge of her vision:

【Level 3 Swordsmanship 300/300 → Level 4 Swordsmanship, Strength +1】

【Completed knightly deed: Gained 2% advancement experience】

A warm power surged from within her body, spreading along her spine to her limbs.

She could feel the muscles in her arms growing stronger.

Her eyes lit up behind her helmet once again.