Chapter 439 Nokia’s Darkness, and the Escape Route.
“Hmm, did the servant Iptimas get killed… Useless servant. Defeated by one little girl…”
The man curses his summoned beast. When he steps out onto the balcony of the castle, he can see the cityscape lined up among the steep mountains with the cold wind. Shenbara, the royal capital of Nokia, is a natural defense fortress surrounded by mountainous areas. Long yellow triangular flags are fluttering everywhere in the castle town.
The man is a military lord who was appointed general commander to lead the entire army of the country. A long black robe is worn on the body and the jewel decoration made of gold and silver, agate, coral hung from his neck, showed his position.
He is in his mid-twenties. He has red hair, is tall, has no beard, but has a mustache. Both eyes, which tend to hang down overlooking the castle, praise the stagnant light.
The door opens and a man is entering the room. The man is a little man with a hunched back, blue robe he is wearing. This represents the position of a military officer. In other words, he is a subordinate of a man who is a military lord.
“Do you call me, Kanaza-sama …”
“Iptimas has been killed. It seemed that Pafia had Brunhild on his side. A d.a.m.n guy. I wish she could give up and became my doll …”
“Brunhild is not scary enough. They cannot reach Kanaza-sama’s feet, who inherited the “Legacy of Elkus”. “
“Hmm, of course.”
The little man in the blue robe speaks without moving his lips at all. The voice he uttered is not this man’s voice. It was the voice of Evil spirit (Specter) manipulated by Kanaza.
This man’s personality had already unconscious, he was transformed into a puppet by Kanaza, a Manipulation User.
“Zebeta. You take over the Iptimas’ work. Take over Pafia. If you can’t, kill her.”
“Yes”
“And get rid of the woman on the bed. Sell her to the slave trader as usual.”
A little man called Zebeta glances at a naked woman who is fainting with her white eyes on the bed. This woman is the daughter of the Count… At Kanaza’s hands, the daughter’s father, the Count, owed a great deal of debt and committed suicide.
He got his daughter in the name of taking over the debt.
“Are you sure? Did you have a hard time getting her?”
“I don’t need a woman who can’t obey me. One night is enough.”
Kanaza tells him that he is no longer interested and leaves the room.
Zebeta who is left in the room, looked closely at her, there were traces of whipping around the woman’s body. Perhaps she resisted quite a bit.
Kanaza’s manipulation cannot be applied to a strong human. This girl probably hadn’t broken her heart even though she was in debt because of her father.
Therefore, the result of Kanaza’s unreasonable attempt to break her heart was the figure of this girl.
“As usual, he is not good at grasping the gaps in the human heart. If he can do a little better, he can become a rare manipulation user. “
While giving criticism for his master, Zebeta brings a woman lying on the bed to float. The whole body is full of wounds. Even though she was a former Countess, she shouldn’t be bought cheaply, he sighs.
◇◇◇
“Hohou. Is this the royal capital of the Nokia kingdom, degozaru ka?”
Yae, Kyoro Kyoro, looks around.
Shenbara, Nokia’s royal capital’s atmosphere, resembled Berge, the royal capital of Mismido. However, the building is not made of brick but made of wooden pillars and plaster, which seemed to be more like Eashen. Various houses are lined up, and long yellow triangles flags had been fluttering everywhere.
With the transfer technique of Tokie, the G.o.ddess of s.p.a.ce-time, Touya’s Fiancee Yumina, Lou, Elze, Linze, Yae, Hilda, Sue, Lean, Sakura, Princess Pafia as a guide, Lithia, a maid, and a teddy bear step in the royal capital of Nokia.
Princess Pafia is being chased, so she hides her figure with a hood. However, other girls have the same appearance.
Nokia is an almost isolated country, so there are not many ethnic groups. Therefore, their clothes stand out. First of all, they need to get clothes from this country.
Princess Pafia also has only a few Nokia folk clothes but the size doesn’t fit, so she decides to buy them locally.
“Let’s go over there.”
Everyone enters the clothing store designates by Lithia, the princess’s maid. The inside of the store is quite large, and various colorful costumes are line up on shelves and hangers. Not only clothes but also hats, scarves, accessories, etc. There are many kinds of things.
“Nokia clothes are colorful, aren’t they?”
“That’s right. I thought when I see the people in the town, it seems more fas.h.i.+onable to wear various colors than to unify them with one color.”
Lou said, picked up the clothes lined up, and Linze replied with a small nod. Of course, a sense of color combination can be asked. It was not just about wearing a lot of colors.
“There are a lot of accessories to match with clothes. I don’t really like wearing a lot of jingling clinking.”
Sue frowned at the many necklaces hung on the sticks on the wall.
“Each has its own meaning depending on the jewels and stones you wear. For example, for both men and women, agate represents single, jade represents a married person, and for men and women, tiger’s eye stone represents the eldest son, and amethyst represents the eldest daughter. “
“I see. You will understand a person to some extent at a glance.”
Nods as Yumina was impressed with Lithia’s explanation. That said, they didn’t have to be foolish and honest about their profile in the enemy territory, so Princess Pafia decided to combine the accessories appropriately.
Enjoy the lively coordination with this color for the obi and this one for the hat. If there was Touya here, he would definitely have a long wait.
When she decided on her own clothes, Tokie helped Sue, who was having trouble getting dressed.
“Yes, this is fine.”
“Thank you, Grandma!”
Sue smiles and hugs Tokie. Sue is completely fond of Tokie. Originally, Sue has been grandmother’s child, so she loves Tokie, who is kind and elegant. Linze, Mel, and others are learning knitting, they think they must be able to do it themselves.
Everyone else seemed to have finished changing clothes. By the way, only Princess Pafia and Lithia were still wearing hooded robes.
She wears a similar outfit underneath, but it’s not good to be a princess. They don’t know where Kanaza’s eyes are looking. Although Lithia thinks that there is no one acquaintance, she wears a hood just to make sure.
If there was Touya, he would change his appearance with the non-attribute magic [Mirage]. He could make only Pafia and Lithia disappear with light magic [Invisible], but they would not be recognized by the girls, which is also troublesome. Besides, [Invisible] was not compatible with crowded places.
When everyone had changed their clothes, Yumina and the others paid the price and left the store. Even on a busy street, they looked like a strange group, but they didn’t get any particular attention.
“Well, the problem is from here.”
While straightening the collar of the clothes Elze had just bought, she turned her gaze to the royal castle of Nokia in the distance.
Nokia’s Royal Castle is a white palace that rose above a small mountain with higher white walls. Rather than being built on top of a mountain, the mountain itself looked more like a palace.
Originally, Nokia’s palace was built in the place where the ancient ruins were, and according to Princess Pafia, there were still some dungeons in the bas.e.m.e.nt of the royal palace. The synthetic magic she used was also learned from the spellbook found in the dungeon.
“First of all, we have to get in touch with Tou-sama and Ane-sama…”
“But there is a mastermind, military lord named Kanaza in the royal palace, right?”
“There are also people who have turned into puppets by that guy, degozaru. It is like royal palace has just turned into a demon cave, degozarou.”
Hilda and Yae answered the words of Princess Pafia.
When it came to the royal palace, many people knew Princess Pafia. The risk of being discovered by Kanaza increases, and if things got too rough, unrelated casualties might occur. A human manipulated by Kanaza is by no means a villain.
“If we have Touya-san, we may be able to sneak in by using transfer magic, but…”
When Linze glanced at the same transfer magic, the gentle old woman opened her mouth with a smile.
“Sure, I could send everyone into that castle, but are you okay with that? I told Touya that much with your own power, and immediately borrowed my power. Isn’t it a little uncool? “
“… Sure, it is pathetic, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. Let’s go here without the help of Tokie-sama. We must be able to do it. “
Everyone nods a little to Lou’s words. Among them, Sakura raises her hand.
“I might use [Teleport] to enter the castle. Unlike [Gate], [Teleport] is less likely to be hindered.”
“It’s true that [Teleport] is not like [Gate] which can transfer unless you’ve been there once, but can you jump with multiple people like Darling?”
“… Mmm. If one or two people, somehow.”
“You don’t know where to move, so in the worst case, you might move right in front of Kanaza, right?”
“Nuguu …”
[Teleport] is magic that transfers by setting the direction and distance. The setting depends largely on the sense of the user. An easy example is like throwing an empty can into a trash can away.
It is if you are lucky, but if you not, you wouldn’t get where you want. Of course, depending on the practice, you will be able to throw it in a pinpoint, but not knowing the transfer destination is like being blindfolded.
[Teleport] is not suitable for long-distance transfer because there is such a feeling-reliable part. Of course, if you don’t mind the gap as far as you can see, it goes without saying that it is a magic that can be used quite a bit.
“It may be better to avoid being found by transferring poorly and increasing vigilance.”
“If you just want to get in touch, why don’t Yumina-anesama or Sakura call the summoned beast and go to the royal palace?”
“I can’t because the magic power of the ring I got from the Ou-sama is directly connected to Nyantaro, and if I call something other than Nyantaro, I may lose my magic power. And Nyantaro is not suitable for stealth action. …… Despite being a cat.”
“I also don’t have a contract for a summoned beast for stealth. When it comes to the new summon, will the target beast come or not…?”
“Ah, yeah. I am completely misunderstood because Touya was so easy …”
“Actually, we won’t know what the summoned beast will be summoned. Touya-san can summon them freely, though.”
“Mmm, what should we do, degozaru ka na?”
“A, Anou…”
From the outside, where they are discussing like a well-end meeting, Princess Pafia’s hesitantly raises her hand, and everyone’s eyes gather.
“There is a secret pa.s.sage that only the royal family knows. If you use it, you may be able to infiltrate the royal palace without being discovered… I-I’m sorry, I can’t figure out the timing to say it…!”
After said that, the nine gazes and silence make Pafia smaller.
“… Kohon. Then, what the secret pa.s.sage is?”
After clearing her throat, Lou asked.
“It’s an escape route when the enemy attacks the castle. Almost … or rather, it’s never been used, so I don’t know the details either.”
Since its founding, the Nokia kingdom has been almost isolated as a natural defense fortress. They have been attacked by Yulong many times in their long history, but the royal capital has never been attacked. It’s no wonder that the escape route is unused … or rather, usually it will be used when the end of the country, so it’s the same in most countries.
For royalty to escape from the royal palace, an emergency escape route is always created. It was in the castle of Belfast Kingdom, and it also exists in the castle of Brunhild, which was modeled after the castle of Belfast.
Princess Pafia’s suggestion was to take this evacuation pa.s.sage in the reverse direction and sneaked into the royal palace.
“Isn’t it the King’s escape route, degozaru ka? Is it okay to tell us that?”
“It’s no longer the case. And since this pa.s.sage was originally made from a part of the dungeon, it was not suitable for an escape route. I’ll remake it when everything is done.”
It would be correct to consult with his father, the king. However, the situation is similar even if the country has already been hijacked. Pafia decided that if she was particular about such trivial matters, she would not be able to move. Nokia will fall into Kanaza’s hands anyway. The order of things must not be wrong. First of all, she has to ensure the safety of her father, who lies down, and her sister.
“So where is that escape route?”
“There is a royal mine at the north of the royal capital. It is in it.”
“I see. Alright! Then, let’s go over there!”
“Wait, Sue. It’s owned by the royal family? There must be some guards. We should wait until night here.”
“Sure. It would make a huge suspicious if this number of people were wandering around such a place in the daytime. Besides, there would be fewer people in the royal palace at night.”
Yumina and Lou stop Sue, who is about to go out. She is dissatisfied, but Sue was convinced, so she silently obeyed.
“Then, what do we do until night?”
“Take an inn and sleep for the night”
Sakura responds immediately to Elze’s words. In a way, it is the correct answer. Conserving physical strength is basic.
“Why don’t we eat before that? We have come all the way, so I’d love to taste Nokia’s food!”
“It is a good idea, degozaru ne! I can’t fight if I’m hungry. First of all, fill our stomach, degozaru!”
Yae immediately agreed with Lou’s idea. When it comes to food, these two people show an outstanding combination.
Even in the castle, Yae had many opportunities to eat Lou’s dishes that were experimentally made. Lou wants to do a lot of trial and error, but she still doesn’t want to waste food.
However, if there is Yae who is a big eater, the food will not be wasted. Yae is happy to eat any dish unless it is an obvious failure. On top of that, Lou was grateful because she gave her opinion on the taste properly.
It’s only natural that these two people want Nokia food.
Everyone else has no complaints about eating, so they can’t say anything about it.
“Then, what about mutton? There are dishes such as sliced ?lamb and fresh vegetables fried with sweet and spicy spices, and dishes such as a purse-like wrapping of ingredients mixed with lamb with wheat skin.”
Lithia, the maid of Princess Pafia with her hood on, opens her mouth. Even though Pafia was born and lived in the royal capital, she had never been to a restaurant or eating house there. In that respect, Lithia had eaten out several times in the royal capital when she was a student, so it was somewhat cheerful. However, she is also from a n.o.ble family, but she is still at a better level.
Anyway, they decide to eat together, so they move. After that, they decide to stay, take girls’ time and spend the night.
The decisive action is tonight. A long night begins.