The sound of sword fight echoed in the back alley.
It was the sound of a sword fight between Wayne"s escort and the attacker.
(This looks bad…)
While observing the situation calmly, Wayne inwardly clicked his tongue.
The number of attackers was ten. On the other hand, Wayne had 5 escorts with him. By the number alone, the enemy had the advantage.
However, the escort Wayne had brought with him were the best soldiers in the Natra army. They manage to maintain the defense and not collapsing despite the numerical disadvantages-…
(No, we"re being led…)
While they manage to deal with the surprise attack, Wayne and the others were being driven to this alley. Wayne could see the intention of the enemy.
(If we stayed at our previous place, the citizen would realize the sound of swords cla.s.s, and it won"t take long for the patrolling guards to come to them. Or, they just want to have a short battle. Which means this place is actually a trap…)
Where was it… Wayne runs around his eyes with his back on the wall of a house. The back alley was narrow and it would be hard to set up a large trap. Normally, it would be a simple trap– Such as a surprise trap–…
“—Dangerous!”
At that moment, a spear pierced the wall from the other side of the house wall.
“Nuooooooh!?”
Wayne"s cloak was being pierced by the spear.
“Chi!”
Another attacker— Oulu clicked his tongue when he knew his plan had failed. Wayne manages to deflect the surprise attack with his sword.
“Your Highness!”
“I"m fine! Just focus on the enemy in front of you!”
Wayne raised his voice to calm down Raklum who sounds fl.u.s.tered. While doing so, Wayne didn"t avert his gaze.
“I can"t believe it, to think I could avoid that…”
Wayne laughed…
“Are you saying just now was a fortune? It is our first time meeting but, somehow I sympathize with you who had such a thing as a fortune.”
“That was dangerous! This is impossible, impossible I said! There"s no way I could avoid such an attack a second time…)
Wayne starts to think a way while surprising his heart that was ready to explode.
(As soon as this guy appeared, the other attackers become tense… It is apparent that this one is their mental support. This means, if we could finish him off, the other attackers would collapse. However…)
When Wayne saw Oulu, the enemy, held a spear in his hand, he realizes that his enemy was a formidable one.
There was no opening that Wayne could exploit. On the contrary, Wayne was not sure if he could hold on if he had to fight while focusing in defense against the enemy.
(If that is the case then…)
A bold smile floated on Wayne"s face.
“I see, you guys are the one who brought the rebellion plan to Marquis Greenach…”
“…”
“Well, I guess you won"t be able to answer it huh? But, let me guess. Your real ident.i.ty is someone from the allied countries that were being conquered by the Empire—”
Wayne who said that was as if he had shot through something.
“Or possibly, you guys are a spy from the western side…”
Oulu"s stance wavered.
Wayne who saw that immediately swung his sword aimed at the enemy"s belly. The blow was heavy. It caused hands to feel numb after parrying it.
“For you guys to even involve this kind of remote region Marquis household into your plan, you guys sure are persistence. However, you guys chose the wrong person. That Marquis is akin to that of the G.o.d of bad luck. Thanks to him, your plan has been shattered, no?”
“…”
“You still think you could fix all of this, don"t you? But, are you sure about that? You, you still have a comrade inside this city right? However, they cannot move due to another matter. Am I wrong?”
For the first time, Oulu showed a surprised expression.
“Let me guess further… They had their own mission, and that is to a.s.sa.s.sinate Greenach to silence him. And erased all of the evidence of the uprising in the mansion. Furthermore, because of the current situation, it would be easy for them to move around.”
(This guy…!)
Oulu shuddered. Everything was exactly as Wayne says. The young prince had read Oulu"s movement when he was still in Natra.
But, that was it. In his eyes, it didn"t matter if his movement was being read. Since his comrades had already entered the mansion and Wayne was stuck with him—…
“– Who said I couldn"t do anything anymore?”
Oulu"s opened his eyes wide.
Antogadar"s mansion was in utter chaos.
Instructions were given as soldiers come and go, sometimes they also shouted some curses in anger.
The scene was like a city under a heavy storm, but there were people watching the situation as if it was just a sudden wind blowing…
“— I wonder, what is going on?”
“Who knows, it must be master coming up with something again…?”
The one who had such a conversation was the junior maids. They were given work related to the maintenance of the mansion, and they didn"t have much interest in anything else.
“Rather than that, here, bring these meals to that young boy.”
“Aah, right…”
The servant girl then went to the medical room with foods on a tray.
The person she was going to give the food was Gerald"s servant who had survived coming back from Natra.
“Come to think of it, hmm…”
The servant girl walked alone in the corridor.
“I saw the servants Gerald-sama had brought with them before the departure but… If I remember it correctly, no one looked like him. After all, he does have such a cute face…”
As she whispered those words, suddenly she saw a man in the hallway.
“Huh? That is…”
There were several rooms in the mansion that even a servant was not allowed to enter. She had heard that some treasure and important doc.u.ments were being kept inside the room. She didn"t have much details about it, but the man she saw was about to enter one of the forbidden room.
She thought he might be a soldier that was unfamiliar with the mansion and got lost. She was about to ignore it since she was currently bringing a meal to the medical room, but if Greenach found out about what happened, he would get angry at the other servants as well including her.
(I guess it can"t be helped huh–)
The girl went back to the hallway and went toward the room the man had about to enter…
“Emm, you can"t enter that place…”
Her words had stopped halfway.
At the end of her view were two men. The two were dressed as soldiers. When they heard her voice, they turned their faces toward her with a scary face.
The girl was also surprised when she saw them closer. One of the soldiers was on his knee in front of the door and tried to pry open the door forcefully.
“Err, what are you— Kyaa!”
One of the men forcefully pulled her hand and driven her to the corner. The tray that was on her hands fell down and made some noise.
“Didn"t I told you already, to watch the surrounding properly?!”
“Sorry. I will immediately clean this up.”
The girl finally realized what was happened and what was going to happen to her in the future. These two men were thieves– And she was the witness.
She decided to call some help. But, her judgment was a bit too slow. The moment she was about to shout, one of the men blocked her mouth with his hand and pulled a knife with his other hand.
(N-No..)
Even though she had struggled and tried to escape, the difference in strength made the situation hopeless. She could only look without being able to do anything as the knife drew closer and closer–
“… Ah?”
A sword pierced the head of the man holding the dagger.
She could not understand what was happened— And since the man and the girl had a similar height, the man collapsed together with the girl while covering her.
When the girl tried to look around, she was dumbfounded, one boy was standing in front of her.
She knew the person… He was Gerald"s servant that had survived before…
“Sorry, for the meals. You"ve brought it to me, and yet…”
When she saw him, she was even more bewildered. After all, the boy"s hair was supposedly black. But now, the boy in front of him had silver hair as white as snow.
“Well, don"t worry. Everything will end soon.”
The boy, Nanaki Raleigh, said those words casually.