Chapter 431

「Whimper」

「Urushi, are you okay?」

「wuff....」

Urushi came back with wounds all over his body. He is healing himself with regeneration, but even so, the wounds must have been much deeper than before. It seems that there were assailants outside as well. He tried to chase after Velmeria, but the assailants seemed to have prevented him from doing so.

Urushi's method of fighting is to use a variety of skills to toy with his opponent. When his dark magic and skills were blocked by the pseudo fanatic sword, it seemed that his fighting style was quite limited.

In particular, it becomes difficult to evade and do surprise attack when he can't use shadow diving and shadow crossing. That alone would reduce Urushi's strength by half.

(TLN: 影渡り kage watari - 影潜り kage moguri)

The fact that we were in the middle of the city in broad daylight was also a problem.

If Urushi, her follower, makes a scene, Fran will be charged with a crime. So, I've taught him to not run amok in the town and grow back to his original size....

Because of this, he was forced to go head-to-head with the assailant in his small size, and ended up grinding away at each other until the other party destroyed itself by using potential release.

「Urushi, can you follow Velmeria's smells?」

「Woof! woof woof!」

Urushi pointed her nose at the attacker's pseudo fanatic sword and complained about something.

『Could it be, that they escaped to the same place as the magic sword?』

「Woof!」

「Marquis Ashtner's mansion?」

「woof!」

It seemed that he had already tracked them.

「We'll be right behind you!」

Fran said this with great enthusiasm, but it was none other than Urushi who stopped her.

「Grrrr! woof woof!」

He bites Fran's sleeve, desperately pleading for something. He was apparently trying to discourage her.

「What's wrong?」

「whimpering!」

Then, Urushi points to the pseudo fanatic sword again.

『Could it be that there was a sign of pseudo fanatic sword in the Marquis' mansion?』

「woof!」

He was sure of it. Moreover, Urushi must have felt that their number was enough to stop Fran. When the Count heard this, he questioned Urushi with a stern face.

「Could it be, that Marquis Ashtner's mansion has a large number of people with these mysterious swords stuck in them?」

「Woof!」

「That is unbelievable...」

But Colbert didn't quite get it.

「What's wrong? If we know where it is, let's crush it right now!」

Colbert had a good point. However, Count Bailleys

「....We don't have enough strength」

「What are you talking about! These assailants are all drugged! Maybe they can't be controlled otherwise. On the contrary, if you leave them alone, even Miss Velmeria!」

「I know that!」

「We are preparing our force to attack Count Olmes' residence!」

「They're just making preparations secretly in several bases. They haven't finished those preparation yet!」

「Then we'll go on our own!」

「It's useless, I can't allow it!」

Count Bailleys may actually feel the same way as Colbert. It was painfully obvious that his words were the exact opposite of what he really felt.

「But why?」

「Don't underestimate the enemy's strength. In light of this raid, I expect more frightening possibilities」

「What do you mean?」

「It is no wonder that the location of our base has been discovered this time. They must have gotten the information from those who were captured. But he's sending that much force to kill me? Depending on how he does it, that's enough force to turn the capital into a sea of fire. And all we get out of it is only one person, Velmeria? Even if he had succeeded in assassinating me, it would only bring the Count's family down by one notch」

I thought that the inspection scheduled for this evening could be postponed, but the Count has many excellent people under his command. He said that the mission would not be cancelled just because the Lord was dead.

「Rather, they will be motivated to avenge me. Some of the commanders are knighthood holders, so there's no problem in transferring command」

Besides, even if the inspection was prolonged in this way, the suspicion of the Ashtner Marquis would only increase. In the not too distant future, a thorough investigation will be led by the royal family.

「It was too much of a force to be used up just to buy some time....」

「I see. But maybe that's how cornered they are, you know?」

「That's true, but there's another possibility.」

「What is it?」

「It's possible that he didn't mind for such force being used up」

He must have immediately understood the meaning of Count Bailleys' words. Both Colbert and Frederick looked at him in surprise.

「In other words, they have a lot more stronger force in their mansion?」

「Yeah. The chance is high. The signs that the Black Lightning Princess's followers have sensed must be more than we can imagine.」

「Damn...that's worrisome!」

Colbert mutters in frustration. But it is so. We don't know how many of these pseudo fanatic swords there are. If they can mass produce it, it would not be surprising if there were dozens of them.

「....They are skilled swordsman who has the ability to cancel out magic and is not afraid of death. This means that you'll be dealing with a legion made up of these mad swordsmen」

Our force here is Fran, Colbert, Frederick, the Count, and a few surviving soldiers. At most, there would be a few dozen more knights.

However, the ability of the pseudo fanatic sword is too troublesome. It cancels out skills and magic, and the other side can use it as they please. No matter how you look at it, it's reckless.

There was also a high possibility that the pseudo fanatic sword had something to do with the fact that so many secret agents had been captured. Could their skills have been sealed off without their knowledge, blocking their ability to hide or block their presence? With that in mind, there was a possibility that it would be difficult to rescue her by sneaking in.

「Damn it. What the hell is that sword!」

「It's a pseudo fanatic sword」

「Black Lightning Princess! Do you know something?」

「Appraised it, but, only got its name」

「SO you can use appraisal huh....Pseudo―what was it?」

「Pseudo fanatic sword」

「Are you saying that it was the fanatic sword, but only a fake?」

「Nn. Fanatics Sword is a divine sword that was destroyed a long time ago. The Swords of Blind Devotion. Fanatics」

We didn't know much about it, but we pretended that we had heard about it from an acquaintance and told everyone about the ability that Alistair had taught us and I could see the astonished expressions on their faces.

However, he seemed to shudder more at the fact that it could be a dead copy of the divine sword than at its ability.

(TLN: デッドコピー deddokopi-)

「Pseudo Divine Sword, you said....Ashtner has reached this far....」

「Oioioi. Isn't this sound bad」

「What if, he has a real divine sword with him?」

A divine sword is a super weapon mentioned in mythology. And now, it might be in the hands of our enemy. I can understand their tragic expressions.

I'm glad they trusted Fran, and didn't say that her word was a lie, but you've lowered their fighting spirit.

「From what I've heard, the Fanatics must have been destroyed」

「So, is it possible that they only got Fanatics manufacturing method?....」

「However, by just having a lot of those sword is worrisome!」

Just after Colbert shouted out in frustration. There was a sign that someone was coming into the house. However, it was not hostile. In the first place, he hadn't even tried to eliminate his presence.

「E-excuse me! I-is there anyone!」

「Th-this is bad...」

「Who is it!」

Count Bailleys shouted out who and what he was, and the men began to identify their affiliation. It was a patrol soldier. The one leading them was a knight. Come to think of it, after making so much noise in the noble town, they came too late.

However, according to their story, the attack was not limited to this residence only. This house and several other houses and homes were attacked at the same time, causing a lot of damage. They said that nearby station was also attacked.

It seems that the commander who was in charge of the soldiers in this area had died, so the handover didn't go well, and the new commander had finally dispatched the soldiers.

Count Bailleys told him about the attack and asked him to send personnel to treat the injured and so on.

As the soldiers rush out, they looked grim. I thought they were worried about the magnitude of the situation, having heard that other places had also been attacked, but apparently that wasn't the only reason.

「.....It seems that those who had been secretly preparing to investigate Count Olmes' villa have been attacked」

To my surprise, the mansions and private houses that were attacked were the hiding places prepared by Count Bailleys. It must mean that not only the information about this mansion, but all the information had been leaked.

「.....We need to assess the damage. But we're definitely short handed」

Frederick questioned in the dark tone to Count Bailleys.

「So you're saying you're going to sit tight until we have enough strength?」

「I didn't say that. I can't leave a rebel with that much power unchecked. If they start a rebellion in the capital, our prestige will be greatly damaged. No, it can already be called a rebellion. We have to prevent the Marquis from running amok any further. Even if we have to be a little reckless」

Count Bailleys then gave a flurry of instructions to his surviving subordinates.

「I'm heading to the royal castle. This is very confusing. I'll have to explain what's going on. I'm sure we can get help from the other Knights. Frederick, you contact the inspection team of the Olmes villa! Tell them to rescue the survivors and give those who can fight two hours to finish their preparations! Tell them we'll avenge their friends. That should inspire them!」

「Yes, sir」

「After that, I'll put you in charge of the reconnaissance unit. Infiltrate in time for the battle on the surface. I'll authorize operation into the Marquis Ashtner's residence as well as Count Olmes'」

「Ha!」

「The fact that he went to the trouble of kidnapping Velmeria means that he doesn't intend to kill her right away. For now, just bear with me」

「....Yes」

When he had finished giving all the instructions, he finally turned to Fran and Colbert.

「Colbert, Black Lightning Princess. I need you both to connect me to the Adventurers' Guild」

「A connection?」

「Yes, I would like you to ask Eliante to send a force. Of course, I'm not trying to requisition you. I will hire them properly」

「I see. So, you're saying we should supplement our strength with adventurers!」

「Yeah. It can be any adventurer who is willing to help. No upper limit. I'll double the asking price. But make sure you explain to them that this is a dangerous mission. I don't want to scare them off on the way」

Double the market price. That's a lot of money. Colbert is also impressed. If we use adventurers, there is a risk that information will leak out, but for now, I guess they are prioritizing replenishing their forces first.

「No upper limit? What if we have to hire hundreds of people?」

「We have plenty of work to do, and the more forces we have, the better off we are. It's a small price to pay to have a better chance of rescuing my daughter safely」

「Heh. I see」

「The operation starts in three hours. I'll leave all the negotiating to you」

「All right, sir. We'll go to the guild!」

「Nn!」

「So far we've been completely fallen behind, but now it's our turn to fight back!」