Chapter 69.
Ooohng~
I didn’t make that sound. Where is that coming from, ah!
I had forgotten about Arelia’s existence on my back. I started to descend before she woke up. As soon as my feet touched the ground, before I could even let out a breath, a sword aura flew over at me.
"b.l.o.o.d.y!"
While I was dodging it, I heard William"s shout. It must have been Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y who shot the sword aura.
"It"s all right, it"s not like he can"t avoid it."
From Uncle"s voice, I could feel a coldness beyond calm.
"Eeya, this is too much, Sir Knight. I even protected the princess on your behalf."
William was furious. "Don"t make me laugh! Had she stayed still at the magic school, she would have been protected by magic! Aren’t you the one who took her out!?”
He then aimed his magic staff at me with his eyes closed as if he were blind. I couldn"t stand the ridicule in his words.
"You mean that magic circle that’s like a piece of paper? Yes, I"m sure the ’princess’ would have been safe with that around."
Maybe Yuria would be safe too. But what about the others? I couldn"t guarantee their safety. Perhaps some would have died if the masked people had invaded.
"Isn"t the fact that I was able to get her out of the magic school in the first place proof of how lax it was?”
Keuk!
William was speechless. In fact, his magic circle wasn"t all that easy to deal with. It was so elaborately and skillfully placed that I didn’t even know of its existence until I heard from Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y that a magic circle had been installed in the school. Perhaps it would not have been easy for even someone like me to bring Arelia out like this had I not known of its existence prior.
However, considering the skills of the masked people, especially the magic skills of the golden masked old man, there was ample room for breaching. Of course, there was Yuria in the banquet hall and some talented people too. Even so, if they had actually broken through, there would certainly be fatalities.
And some of those could have been my friends!
This isn"t a joking matter!
Let"s calm down now. From William"s point of view, it was only natural that he could not tolerate an irregularity like me. I was taking a deep breath and calming myself when I heard a puzzled voice behind me.
"Hmm?"
I helped Arelia off my back and onto the ground.
"Oh, did you wake up, Ms. Arelia?"
She seemed so adorable in her half-asleep, half-awake state.
"Lupin, where are we?"
Let"s leave the reply to Uncle or William.
"I"m afraid this is the end of our date. There are people here to welcome you."
As I pointed at Uncle, Arelia became restless like a child caught in the wrong.
I hope you learn from this incident not to follow those you aren’t familiar with.
Then suddenly, the magic recovery started up again. The mana around me suddenly began to gather. William and Uncle felt threatened by the mana movement and took a defensive stance.
"Then I will be off. Don’t chase after me. And—"
Ttak!
I flicked my finger to remove the mana that was lingering around William"s eyes.
"Don’t be sloppy and go around losing your vision please."
A surprised William looked at me with his eyes wide open. Looking at it, he probably thought it was a curse and tried to dispel it, but unfortunately, the magic around his eyes was not a curse.
Rather, it felt more like a blessing. Like holy power.
William would have figured it out soon too, but it was not unreasonable that he hadn"t resolved it yet considering how hectic the situation was up until now.
"It"s autumn now, so be careful not to catch a cold."
And with those words, I took to the skies. I concealed myself with magic high up in the air and landed back in the corner of the terrace where I had been originally. I took off my mask and put it in the pocket s.p.a.ce.
"Haha."
I let out a tired laugh. Thanks to the mana recovery potion, my mana recovered completely in an instant, but the fatigue from mana exhaustion remained.
Why did the MP potion suddenly start working? I guessed that the white light was the reason, but it was just a hypothesis.
Even that was nothing more than a guess when I saw the masked people coming back after they had completely disappeared from sight.
But now, it was time to worry about the aftereffects. Sure enough, even in the cool night air, sweat began to show on my forehead. My legs gave out and I leaned against the railing of the terrace.
"Uuh, it"s cold."
Additionally, I started feeling the chills.
"Den?"
Surprised by the sudden voice calling my name, I checked the entrance of the terrace to see Lisbon standing there.
"Den, what"s wrong? Are you all right?"
I smiled at Lisbon who had a look of concern for me, but I could feel that it was a powerless smile even without being able to see my own face.
"Other than a little cold, hoo-ooh, I’m okay."
I felt like I was going out of breath now.
Lisbon touched my forehead with a worried look. "Oh my gosh, you’re burning up!"
Haha, it"s so cold and I have the chills. What do you mean I’m burning up...
By the way, was Lisbon’s hand always this cold? The hand on my forehead was cool. I stumbled as I tried to get up casually.
"Uh uh!"
Lisbon grabbed me by the arm while making a fuss.
That"s strange. I didn"t suffer this much of an aftereffect when I was in my village. But considering the environmental traits, I think that was probably the reason for the aftereffects.
It didn"t matter because the recovery rate had been low in Olympus Forest because the magic environment was crazy. But outside the forest, the efficiency was so good that I seemed to have been overloaded.
In comparison, if the genuine v.i.a.g.r.a has an effect of 1, it is as if the illegal v.i.a.g.r.a from China has as little as twice and as much as ten times the efficacy.
"I"m sorry, but could you... help me out?" A little out of breath, I asked Lisbon knowing that this Pushover, would readily help. It was foolish of me to have such a thought.
"Okay!" Lisbon vigorously replied and lifted under my legs and back.
Wait! This posture!
"Hey, just!"
Just give me a little support!
I wanted to shout, but suddenly I was tongue-tied and I couldn’t speak. Let me down, you Pushover!
But this helpless body was limp and did not listen to me. Lisbon held me and walked across the banquet hall, where the ball was in full swing.
My needlessly sensitive ears heard the voices of the n.o.blewomen whispering in the distance.
How rotten! This world is rotten!
In the distance, I could see Flam carrying a sleeping Alphonso on his back, who had gone to explore the magic school.
Like that! Carry me like that!
But all that the helpless me could do was barely raise my hand to cover my face and use perception interfering magic to prevent anyone from recognizing my face.
The already overloaded mana circuit stung.
d.a.m.n you, Lisbon! I’ll get you back for this!
-o-
Malive led his subordinates and brought Fernando to an emergency shelter. Watching him lying on the bed like a corpse and being treated, his heart was heavy.
One of his comrades died because of his incompetence. In addition, Fernando, whom Mario saved by sacrificing himself, was also on the verge of death. They had failed to kidnap the princess, a vital key to bringing down the empire. It was all an absolute failure.
Even if the kidnapping failed, they should have at least obtained the access cord she had on her.
Arelia was a secondary target in the first place. Their real goal was to be able to move about freely in the palace that was under the protection of a ma.s.sive magic circle and also be able to approach the emperor unrestrained. The access cord was needed for that.
Both Malive and Fernando knew that this opportunity could have been a trap to some extent. Nevertheless, the reason they still proceeded with the rebellion was that they were confident as they had Fernando in the golden mask.
They had thought, with such a powerful force like themselves, they would succeed. However, they were too conceited. Far from being able to approach the princess, they were thoroughly fooled.
Facing the half-white masked thief, Lupin, Eagle suffered serious injuries that put his life in danger. Even if the four subordinates made full recovery, it was unknown whether they could hold a sword again.
What made Malive even more heartbroken was the fact that Mario, who had been with him since his early days as a paladin student, had died.
"Keuuuuuuuuh!"
"Your Excellency, Cardinal! Have you came around?"
At Fernando"s groan, Malive pa.s.sed by the priest performing healing magic and approached Fernando.
"Keuk! Ma... is it Malive?"
"Yes, it is me, Cardo Fernando," said Malive, holding Fernando"s hand carefully.
At the mournful look on Malive"s face, Fernando let out a hoa.r.s.e breath and laugh.
"Kuhuhu. It doesn’t seem like you, kulok! You look like you"re going to cry."
"Please save your words, Cardo Fernando."
Fernando nodded slightly at Malive then asked with a somber face, "Mario and... Vibrio where, hoo. Where are they?"
Malive swallowed dry saliva. "They"re both fine. So--"
"No. Lies, hahaha. Don"t lie.”
Fernando let out a hoa.r.s.e cough and looked at Malive with a gloomy expression. His eyes were moist.
Malive noticed that the tears were not due to pain.
"Mario... Mario is dead, isn"t he?” Fernando said what Malive could not bring himself to say. "The young man died because of this wretched old man!"
Large tears streamed down Fernando"s eyes. "Cough! Cough!" He coughed heavily and vomited blood.
"Please calm down!"
Despite Malive"s worried cry, Fernando did not stop crying. "So foolish, so foolish."
Is he referring to Mario who died on his behalf? Or talking about himself, who made his men die in vain? Malive couldn’t tell. He just stared silently at the sobbing old man"s shoulder.
"Sorry Vibrio, keuk!" Fernando grasped his wounds while speaking.
"Priest!" Malive cried out.
A priest standing by rushed over to treat Fernando.
“I will tell Vibrio about Mario"s death."
Mario was Vibrio"s lover. It was heartbreaking to have to bury a close friend’s lover, but he couldn"t bear to burden Fernando, who was seriously injured.
"No, it"s my fault. So it’s more appropriate for me to deliver the news."
Malive shook his head at Fernando whose breathing had stabilized from the priest"s healing magic. "I"ll deliver the news to Vibrio and to Mario"s family."
"Don"t talk nonsense! Keuk!"
“Please calm down! Your Eminence!" The priest cried out.
Fernando took a deep breath and closed his eyes helplessly.
"I will take responsibility for everything. Even if I fall into the abyss. That is the duty of those who are above." Saying so, Fernando fell asleep again.
A single drop of tear fell as his eyes closed as if saying this would be the last of his tears.