Ch. 60 One To Ten (2)
She stamped her foot hard on ground a few times. She did not have the experience of a bridge master, but the bridge seemed far too sturdy to be shoddy construction.
“I need to find evidence quickly…”
She wanted to drag Carlisle off the bridge, but if he insisted on evidence her only proof was knowledge of the future. She had to find something more convincing.
The best option was for Carlisle to never appear on the Flower Bridge in the first place, but that was already a failure. The second option was to quickly find evidence so she could evacuate Carlisle and people on the bridge. She stood in place for a moment, straining to grasp those dim memories.
“Who was it who…oh, yes!”
House Casey. A noble house who collected unfair profits in the construction of the bridge. The house once bore the lineage of emperors, but their name had been widely condemned after the deaths and injuries from the bridge’s collapse.
It seemed that she had found a missing puzzle piece, and she was sure she could find the evidence as well. The laborers of House Casey could be witnesses to any suspicious working conditions.
“Shall I go down the bridge first?”
There may be some laborers there still. If she met them, she might find a clue. Time was scarce, and as soon as Elena made up her mind she moved as swift as the wind.
Tadadadadag!
She rushed away from the festival center towards the deserted underbelly of the bridge. The revelers were laughing and chatting in ignorance, while Elena urgently hastened her steps.
*
*
*
A black night.
Unlike the colorful lights of the festival on the deck, the lower part of the bridge was a shadowy gloom. Elena was dismayed as she watched the calm flow of the river.
“…Anyone?”
Although the bridge was completed, the laborers could not have been withdrawn already; They should have been in the vicinity until the official opening of Flower Bridge. She clearly remembered hearing such a story in her previous life. The laborers had struggled until to end to avert poor construction. She had a feeling that her memories were slightly different from what she knew, but she couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
It was then that something caught her eye.
‘What is that?’
Something was attached to the pier supporting the bridge. A closer look revealed what it was.
‘…Explosives!’
Not one or two. There were everal of them on each of the huge piers. She could not help but stare at it in a moment of confusion. In her past life it was reported that the bridge had collapsed due to poor construction by House Casey. And for that reason House Casey was completely destroyed. That meant…
‘Was it a deception?’
If her memory served her correctly, the Imperial Household had invested large sums of money to build the Flower Bridge, and it was out of formality that Prince Carlisle was here. Someone must have planted a trap to undermine the authority of the Imperial Family or to destroy the Casey family.
‘…Who the hell!’
However, her thoughts did not last long.
Mysterious masked men in black were appearing one by one under the dark bridge. She quietly approached them, her ears catching their conversation.
“We’ve attached a few bombs, but we’re still short. We need to install half the amount more to completely destroy the bridge.”
“Alright. Let’s hurry and finish up.”
They began to attach more explosives with trained movements, riding a rope that connected each of the piers. The dark river dropped below them, but they showed no signs of fear. She slowly picked up the crossbow she was wearing behind her back.
‘…Do they know who wants to destroy this bridge?’
She needed to found out who hired them, but first she had to prevent the bridge from collapsing. Elena steadily aimed her crossbow.
Pisyung! Pisyuyung!
Arrows flew from the crossbow one by one. The mysterious figures shouted as the sudden attack poured in.
“The enemy!”
“Watch out!”
She could see dozens of strange men moving through the dark. Elena’s arrows flew from only one direction, and she hid body behind a pillar to protect her body as much as possible.
The men weren’t ordinary, but Elena wasn’t ordinary either. At the slightest of exposure of the men, Elena’s arrows would go singing through the air. The men judged that there would be no end to her attack if they kept hidden like this. Some had to sacrifice themselves, but in the end nothing would change unless she was taken out.
Syung! Syung! Syung!
She saw a charge coming towards her, but she fired first against those who were still attaching the explosives. It was critical that she protect the bridge from being destroyed. She shot down all the men with the explosives, then fired her crossbow at those who were approaching, but failed to hit all of them.
Finally, dozens of men surrounded her. Their swords glimmered dangerously in the moonlight.
“Who are you?”
“That’s my question for you.”
One of the men jeered at her.
“You will die without dignity for ambushing us.”
As the enemy was in close range, Elena had no need for her crossbow anymore. She tossed it to the ground and drew her sword from her waist. It had been a long time since she found herself in this kind of situation.
“Well, is it time for me to have fun now?”
The men didn’t see Elena’s mouth curving into a smile beneath her helmet.