The Red-Hooded Assassin
Disclaimer:
Princess Resurrection is owned by Yasunori Mitsunaga and TBS
My heart-felt apologies for the late update! I was struck down with pharyngitis during the first 2 weeks of last month, and after recovering, I was besieged with office work that kept me off the computer and thus my progress was slowed down and got delayed, but nevertheless, I managed to complete it and here it is…the latest chapter.
Many thanks to those who read and reviewed this fic. I am really happy and this inspired me to bring in the next chapter, and here Riza and Reiri are facing a situation after seeing what transpired and immediately realized that sinister work within the Monster Realm is in progress…meaning that Sherwood's frame-up was intentional from the start, and now they are finding a way to get help from Hime and her siblings…
Well, enjoy!
Ch. 3: Shāuddo no kyūjo
At the Monster Kingdom, the scene shows that the carriage has arrived, and the guards are seen unloading a chained Sherwood, and as the guards are about to remove her restrains, a few castle guards show up and told the guards that they can go and the guards asked why, as they were told that they are tasked to escort her to the castle to have her undergo trial to answer the charges, but the castle guards said that the council ordered it, and the castle guards reluctantly left and Sherwood is left alone with the castle guards.
Not far, Riza, Reiri, Francesca and the three pandas are seen watching behind a huge rock where they noted that it is suspicious as normally Sherwood should be given due process, and they saw Sherwood still restrained, and they have a feeling that this may be a set up to eliminate her, which Reiri noted that it is a possibility given that one of Sherwood's siblings may have an accomplice within the Monster Kingdom and is using his position to perform unscrupulous means.
"Looks like someone is pulling the strings."
"Are you serious?"
"Looks like it."
"How is that possible?"
"You just saw it. Sherwood is still chained, and was not even being escorted inside…"
"So you're saying…?"
"I have a feeling that…"
"Huh?"
Their discussion was interrupted when they saw the castle guards, in which they began attacking Sherwood, who is still chained, and thus made Riza pissed and alarmed, seeing that Reiri's theory and suspicions are correct as the guards are now mauling Sherwood, as she is too restrained to protect herself, and you can see her getting several bruises and is even BUSTED OPEN, and her face is slowly getting bloody, and Reiri told Francesca to do her thing, which the gynoid nodded.
"Quick! Go help Sherwood!"
"Fuga."
"Hurry before she gets beaten up to a pulp!"
"Fuga."
"Make sure that you subdue those guards and leave them alive if possible. We might need them for information!"
"Fuga."
"Hurry!"
"Fuga."
The scene shows that Sherwood is being mauled cruelly as she is being pinned down and the others kicked and beat her, and there one of the guards took out a spear and is ready to impale her to the neck so as to kill her on the spot, and Sherwood can only glare as he mouth is still taped as the guard holding the spear sarcastically APOLOGIZE for this and said it is nothing personal, but strictly business, and told her not to have any hard feelings.
"My apologies, Princess Sherwood…"
"…"
"Nothing personal."
"…"
"Just following orders."
"…"
"At least you won't have to suffer in this battle royal between your siblings…"
"…"
Before Sherwood is about to be impaled, her gynoid arrived and attacked the guards, knocking them down just as Riza and Reiri arrived and tried to remove the restraints before Francesca removed them, and Riza helps Sherwood up as you can see that she is bleeding from her nose, mouth and forehead, the bruises and cuts were quite deep and Reiri approached the guards, who are being tied up by Francesca and Reiri began interrogating the guards, asking them who ordered in giving Sherwood some ROUGH WELCOMING.
"Now then…who ordered you to beat up Princess Sherwood? Wasn't the point of this is to interrogate her and find out if she is the one who caused this ruckus about murdering werewolves…?"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"No answer?"
"…"
"…"
The castle guards said nothing, which made Reiri more suspicious and is about to hypnotize them to make them reveal their knowledge when more castle guards show up, in which they fired arrows and struck the captive guards, killing them on the spot as she floated away from harm's way as Francesca shield Sherwood it its own body as Riza told the others to board the wagon and they did so, while Reiri summoned several bats to distract the guards, which worked and both she and the wagon flew away.
Inside the wagon, Francesca tended to Sherwood's injuries as Riza asks the youngest princess if she has any idea on who want to kill her given that she is not directly a threat, which Sherwood says she has no idea other than suspecting that the one who framed her may be the one behind all this.
"Really, Sherwood?"
"That's…what I…think for…now…"
"Damn."
"…whoever is the…culprit…she must have…made a good…way of…impersonating..me…"
"I think there is someone here at the Monster Realm wants Sherwood dead for whatever reasons…"
"…"
"We better find a safe place so we can tend to your wounds, Sherwood."
"…okay…"
Riza gritted her teeth as she realized that there is someone behind all this and felt that Hime should be informed, but right now getting Sherwood to safety is the priority, and an idea formed on inside her head, and looked down where a forest is seen within an island, and she directed the horses to land somewhere within Monster Realm and both Francesca, Reiri and Riza took Sherwood to a safe place, which was a forest, and then had the flying horse move ahead, in which the creature did, taking the wagon with it, and the two females and Francesca carried the injured Sherwood and went towards the middle of the forest to hide, where moments later he saw several flying horses zoomed above the forest, chasing the wagon, in which they believe that Sherwood is there, unaware that Riza tricked them into going after the runaway wagon.
The soldiers can be heard shouting as they were instructed to capture Sherwood and prevent her from letting anyone see her no matter what, which made Riza and Reiri realize that Sherwood is indeed in danger as the soldiers were instructed to bring down the wagon if needed.
"Princess Sherwood is still in the Monster Realm…she has no means of heading back to the human world…"
"Still…we can't let her loose!"
"He's right! If we cannot let Sherwood go and tells anyone what happened…it would mean our end…!"
"What should we do?"
"Keep finding her…! No matter what!"
"Deem her armed and dangerous!"
"Kill her friends if needed…we must recapture Sherwood no matter what!"
"Yes sir!"
As Francesca puts Sherwood down, the gynoid saw her lose conscious and tried to rouse her but to no avail, and Reiri recalled something and took out a small bottle, which turn out to be ammonia, and she opened it and had Sherwood breath in to it a little, and almost a minute she slowly woke up, and the two females are relieved to see her awake, and Sherwood looked around which she is slightly surprised to see the place around her, and Francesca told her what happened and that made Sherwood realize that this is more than just a simple case of mistaken identity...she is in danger.
Riza and Reiri nodded seeing that someone is really behind all this and said that Hime is working on a way to bail Sherwood out and find a way to clear her name, which they say that she may be contacting someone who will represent Sherwood when a trial is underway.
"Then onee-sama…"
"Yeah…she's working on a way to get someone to help you…"
"But I wonder…if Hime finds out what Sherwood went through, I bet she'll be as angry as a bull…"
"Hey, Reiri…stop that…"
"Just stating the obvious…"
"Whatever…we need to find a place where we can hide…"
"Right."
"Thanks, you two…"
Sherwood nodded understandably and both of them braced themselves as they are about to encounter more danger even though the war for the throne is currently ongoing, and yet there are some who wants ALL of the remaining ROYALTY removed so that they can have the throne for themselves.
However, trouble arose as several werewolf persons show up, and they are glancing at Sherwood due to her being named the prime suspect in the murder of several innocent werewolves. The tension intensifies when they glanced at Reiri and easily identify her as a pure-breed vampire, and Reiri rolled her eyes sensing trouble and asks Riza on what to do.
"Oh dear."
"Huh?"
"Their eyes are over me."
"Well…"
"Do something, doggie…"
"Why me?"
"You're a dog…so talk to your fellow dogs…"
"Knock it out, will you?"
Riza herself is also in a bind as she knows that the werewolves are wary of Sherwood, especially after hearing word that Sherwood is suspected off the mass murders, and now with Reiri in tow, she would have to come up with a way to calm them down and assure to them that Sherwood and Reiri are not a threat to them, but the tension escalate when some of the werewolves show disdain towards Riza, seeing that she is ACTING COZY with a vampire, calling her a BLOOD-TRAITOR to fellow werewolves.
"Look at that…"
"She's socializing with a vampire…"
"That bitch…!"
"She's a traitor!"
"A disgrace!"
"What shall we do with them?"
"What else?"
"I'm in!"
-x-
Meanwhile, the scene shows that the corrupt castle soldiers have captured the wagon, but upon inspecting it, they find it empty and realized that they have been had, and knew that the officials who ordered them to capture Sherwood would no doubt be upset if they were to find out about this and are now scrambling to find a lead, until one of them recalled passing by a forest earlier, and they decided to check it out in hopes of finding Sherwood and recapture her.
"Very well…everyone!"
"Yes?"
"Let's head to the nearest forest!"
"What shall we do there?"
"Search that area! Sherwood might be there!"
"I see!"
"Then let's go!"
"Come on!"
The soldiers then leave the scene and are now heading for the forest, suspecting that Sherwood and her friends are there, in which they hoped that their targets are there.
To Be Continued...
Hope you liked this chapter, as Riza and Reiri succeeded in bailing Sherwood out, only to ran in to trouble as some of the werewolf community show up and are bracing themselves at the perceived threat by Sherwood…
Moeover, they appeared to be aghast at seeing Riza hanging out with Reiri. Looks like a conflict is about to ensue…
Preview:
The scene shifts to Hiro and Hime as they deal with the assassin…
See you in 5 to 7 weeks…