Chương 19: Bonus Story : Victory Day : Part 5 : The Raid

Within minutes, the once peaceful area transformed into a tightly packed mass where every movement depended on the movements of hundreds of other people. Conversations resumed with renewed intensity, drowned out by distant announcements from the police and the constant sound of footsteps against the stone. Emma stood up carefully, making sure not to lose her balance, while Aldric was already studying every possible route. The street they had used to arrive was almost completely blocked.

The first staircase was occupied across its entire width by a line that advanced only a few inches at a time, the second forced spectators to weave around several barriers, and the third disappeared behind such a dense crowd that it was impossible to see where it ended. Emma slipped her phone into her pocket and looked around. She knew what Paris was like after the Bastille Day fireworks. Every year, the same problem repeated itself. People arrived gradually over several hours, then all tried to leave at once.

The nearest metro stations became nearly inaccessible, the streets clogged up, and even the narrowest bottleneck was enough to slow thousands of people. She had planned to wait a while before leaving the riverbank, but the crowd behind them was already growing thicker. Standing still would only leave them even more trapped. She motioned for Aldric to follow and merged into the flow of people, trying to keep enough space in front of her to avoid being shoved.

The hero walked just behind her, instinctively holding his sword with one hand so the scabbard wouldn't bump into anyone. After only a few yards, the crowd came to a halt. Even so, more spectators continued to pile up behind them, gradually compressing those at the front. A man raised both arms to signal that there was a child in front of him, several people shouted for the crowd to stop pushing, and the police officers stationed near the barriers tried to redirect the flow toward a second staircase.

Aldric observed every reaction with absolute focus. The danger was not visible like an enemy. It had no weapon, no commander, and no will of its own. Yet a crowd of this size could become even more unpredictable than a routed army. A single moment of panic could spread in a matter of seconds. One person would fall, those behind them would stumble, and the entire line would collapse before the people farther back even realized what was happening.

In his former world, disorganized retreats had sometimes claimed more lives than the battles themselves. Here, the people wore no armor, and countless children were trapped among the adults. △ RAID EVENT △ Escape the Crowd Estimated Difficulty: A This time, the difficulty was no exaggeration. The number of participants far exceeded that of most raids he had taken part in back in his own world, yet none of them seemed aware that they were participating in a collective event. He raised his head to get a better view.

Ahead of them, the main staircase was still moving far too slowly. To the right, a narrow path ran alongside the stone wall before connecting to a street farther ahead, but several groups were already heading that way. To the left, barriers blocked access to an area reserved for emergency services. Behind them, the crowd continued to press forward. He calculated the average speed of the flow, the crowd density, and the risk of becoming separated.

Emma took a step forward, then quickly pulled her foot back to avoid stepping on a woman carrying a child in her arms. Aldric placed a hand behind her shoulder to keep the people farther back from shoving her. His arm formed a solid barrier.

"We'll wait until things start moving again," she said.

"That strategy would require more than an hour."

"Maybe."

"The crowd density is still increasing."

"I know."

"You could become separated from me."

"I can walk on my own."

"I have no doubt of that."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Your height limits your visibility, and the crowd could carry you in a different direction."

"My height?"

"The people in front of you are taller."

"Thanks. I'd noticed." He didn't answer. His mind was already searching for a solution. Protecting Emma while staying behind her worked as long as the crowd remained stationary, but that formation would become less effective on the staircases. Holding her hand would reduce the risk of becoming separated, but it wouldn't guarantee that she wouldn't be shoved. Carrying her in his arms would block his view and make his sword much harder to control.

"I have a solution," he announced.

"Why am I already worried?" Aldric turned slightly and crouched down in front of her.

"Get on."

"Excuse me?"

"On my back."

"Absolutely not."

"It will be faster."

"I'll walk."

"We are not moving."

"That doesn't mean you get to carry me around like a child."

"I have never carried a child this way during an evacuation."

"That somehow makes it worse."

"Nobles used this method regularly whenever they had to evacuate a dangerous area."

"So now I'm a noble?"

"No."

"Thanks."

"But the principle remains effective." At that very moment, the crowd suddenly surged forward. Several people moved at once, a shoulder slammed into Emma, and she lost her balance. Aldric caught her by the arm and pulled her back against him before she could fall. Aldric looked at her.

"Get on." Emma opened her mouth to protest once more, then looked at the crowd ahead of her. The staircase was still far away, the flow of people was becoming increasingly erratic, and another wave of spectators was arriving behind them. She knew he would never let her fall. She also knew that his armor made him almost impossible to shove aside. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Only until we're off the riverbank," she clarified.

"Until we reach a safe area."

"That's what I just said." Aldric crouched down once again. Emma cast one last glance around, vainly hoping no one would pay them any attention, then rested her hands on his shoulders. The metal of his armor was colder than she had expected. She wrapped her arms around his neck and climbed onto his back while he slipped his hands beneath her legs to support her. Despite the weight of both his equipment and Emma herself, Aldric stood up without the slightest effort. To him, the burden was almost insignificant.

Emma, on the other hand, suddenly realized how high up she was. Her head now rose above almost everyone else's, and the crowd stretched out around them like an immense human river. Several people turned toward them immediately. A teenage girl smiled before discreetly pointing them out to her friend. A man raised his phone. Two tourists exchanged a few words in a language Emma didn't understand before taking a picture. She felt her cheeks grow warm.

"Everyone's staring at us," she whispered near Aldric's ear.

"They're probably trying to understand our strategy."

"No. They're looking at a knight carrying a woman on his back in the middle of Bastille Day."

"That description appears to be accurate."

"That wasn't an invitation to agree with me." Aldric started moving. Thanks to his height, he could now spot openings several yards ahead. He waited for the right moment, slipped through every available gap, and adjusted his path before the crowd closed in again. His armor occasionally let out a soft metallic clink, alerting nearby spectators to his approach. Most turned around, noticed Emma riding on his back, and instinctively stepped aside.

Thanks to that reaction, the knight was able to make much faster progress than before. Emma kept her arms firmly wrapped around his shoulders. At first, she tried to hide her face, but that only seemed to attract even more attention. Eventually, she lifted her head, determined to act as though the situation were perfectly normal.

"Mom, look! A knight!" His mother turned around, followed the direction he was pointing, and spotted Aldric making his way through the crowd with Emma on his back.

"Yes, I see him."

"Did he save the princess?" Emma's face turned an even deeper shade of red. The boy's mother gave him a slightly embarrassed look.

"Don't bother the gentleman." Aldric, who had heard the entire conversation perfectly clearly, inclined his head slightly toward the child.

"The evacuation is proceeding smoothly." The boy's eyes went wide.

"He talked to me!" Emma immediately buried her face against Aldric's shoulder.

"Why did you answer him?"

"He appeared to be requesting information."

"He's five years old."

"His age does not make his question illegitimate." A woman gave them a thumbs-up. A teenage boy even called out encouragement to Aldric as though he were competing in a race.

"Hang in there, Sir Knight!"

"Thank you." Emma closed her eyes. « Stop answering everyone."

"That would be impolite."

"They're teasing us."

"Their morale appears to be high. That is beneficial during a raid." She gave up arguing. They finally reached the first staircase. The crowd was even denser there, but Emma's elevated position gave Aldric a clear view of the overall flow. He waited until one group started climbing, then followed behind them while keeping a safe distance. He climbed each step with perfect stability. Emma barely felt any sudden movement.

The metal of his armor creaked softly beneath her hands, but Aldric's back remained as solid as a wall.

"Have you done this often?" she asked, trying to think about something other than all the phones pointed at them.

"Carried someone during an evacuation?"

"Yes."

"Several times."

"Princesses?"

"Rarely."

"Rarely?"

"Princesses usually traveled with a sufficiently large escort."

"Then who?" Aldric climbed a few more steps before answering.

"Wounded soldiers. Children. Elderly people. A priestess who refused to leave a temple before she had finished treating the wounded."

"And the priestess?" she asked.

"She survived."

"Because you carried her?"

"Because she agreed to leave before the roof collapsed."

"Did she protest as much as I did?"

"More." Despite herself, that answer drew a quiet laugh from her. They reached the top of the staircase, but the raid was far from over. The next street was just as packed with spectators. The police had set up barriers to separate the flow of people, forcing everyone to follow a specific route. Signs pointed toward the open metro stations, yet almost no one seemed to read them. Several groups stopped without warning to check their phones, creating bottlenecks that the crowd had to maneuver around.

Aldric analyzed every obstacle as though it were part of a dungeon. The barriers formed the walls of a maze, the stationary groups acted as moving traps, and the narrowest streets became choke points to avoid. △ RAID PROGRESS △ 32% Party Members 2 / 2 Formation Status Stable"Our formation is stable." She looked at the position they were currently in.

"You actually call this a formation?"

"Yes."

"I'm riding on your back."

"Precisely." They crossed one avenue, then another. At every intersection, tourists stopped to take pictures. Some even asked Aldric to stop, but he politely refused to slow down during an evacuation. Emma was already imagining how many photos would be circulating on social media by the next day. She could practically see the headlines already: Knight Carries Princess After Bastille Day Fireworks or Best Bastille Day Cosplay Ever.

"I'm going to end up all over the internet."

"Is the Internet a territory?"

"Not exactly."

"Then why would you be everywhere?"

"It's complicated."

"Is it dangerous?"

"To my dignity, maybe." Aldric didn't fully understand, but he committed the term to memory. If the Internet represented a potential threat to the honor of his companions, he would have to study how it worked later. The crowd finally began to thin out once they moved farther away from the nearest metro stations. The groups gradually split apart, some turning down side streets while others continued toward the main boulevards. The gaps between pedestrians steadily widened.

Even so, Aldric kept Emma on his back for several more minutes, refusing to set her down until the system confirmed that the raid had truly ended.

"Can I get down now?" she asked as they reached an almost deserted sidewalk.

"The area is not yet sufficiently secure."

"There are fifteen people on the entire street."

"Some entrances could still generate another wave of pedestrians."

"Aldric."

"Two more intersections."

"You're impossible."

"That observation does not alter my assessment of the terrain." So they crossed two more intersections. The last one opened onto a quiet residential street where the noise of the crowd had faded to little more than a distant murmur. The shops were closed, and the lit windows revealed a few residents still watching the final traces of the fireworks from their apartments. △ RAID EVENT △ Escape the Crowd Progress 100% ✓ SAFE ZONE REACHED The knight crouched down to let Emma climb off.

She set one foot on the ground, then the other, before letting her arms slip from around his shoulders. After spending so long without walking, her legs felt strangely light. She took a few steps back and fixed her hair. Aldric straightened up.

"The mission is complete."

"Do you realize that hundreds of people took pictures of us?"

"They appeared to appreciate our strategy."

"They thought you were evacuating a princess."

"That interpretation is inaccurate."

"Thank you for clarifying."

"You do not belong to any known royal family."

"That wasn't exactly the part that was bothering me." The knight still didn't understand. Instead, he surveyed the street, confirmed that no new wave of people was heading their way, and rested a hand on the hilt of his sword. Emma let out a long sigh before taking one last look at the lights of Paris glowing at the end of the street.

"Well..." she admitted.

"Your strategy worked." Aldric inclined his head slightly.

"Thank you."

"But next time, warn me before turning me into an evacuated princess."

"I asked you to get on."

"That's not the same thing."

"I was unaware of that." Emma shook her head, then burst into laughter. All the tension that had built up during the entire escape vanished in an instant. She pictured the little boy asking whether Aldric had rescued a princess. The more she replayed the scene in her mind, the harder it became to stop laughing.

"Did you find the raid enjoyable?" Emma wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Not at the time."

"And now?"

"Now... maybe a little."