RATH 27

TL: Eevee

4. The others’ stories (1)

#1 Their story: the story of the one who defeated the Sword Star.

“The enemy has defeated the Sword Star!”

“Kuaak, this, thisaaaaarrrrghh!”

“d.a.m.n it, tighten the encirclement! We cannot let him escape!”

“Ah, d.a.m.n it. Why am I running away.”

“To not get hit.”

“That’s it!”

Magic that changed the landscape, and arrows that could paralyze with a scratch all flew over my head.

Ahh. d.a.m.n it. I’m tired as h.e.l.l, and according to my original estimations we should have been captured a long time ago.

“Stop! You are already surrounded. It’s too late for you to run now!”

The knight chasing after me is the problem!

What’s there to hide, that’s the duke’s daughter I’ve constantly been referring to all this time!

And now that reminded me, the princess herself was part of this operation!

In that case it wasn’t weird for the princess’s knight order to mobilise, meaning that it was possible to meet up with said daughter, but to think we’d meet up right in front of each other!

If she saw me right in front of her eyes, how would she act?

Would she try to kill me for playing her? Or would she cry with tears streaming down her face?

Either way I’d prefer not to deal with. Especially the latter.

“Now, isn’t it about time for us to get caught?”

“Since you defeated the Sword Star some really dangerous things are flying at us now too!”

“No.17, duck.”

“Hiik! Hu, hurry with the warnings!”

No.17 of the Nermia family yelled at me as she just ducked under the arrow.

At this rate it seems like it’ll be hard to get support from the Nermia family as well.

Hm. Yep. Let’s just…

“Should we just die?”

“What bulls.h.i.t is that!”

“Save the sleep talk for when you’re actually asleep!”

“I think we really are going to die.”

A large-scale magic dropped in front of us and left a crater.

It seems that the mage brigade have shown up in the air as well.

I think they’re still mistaking me for the instructor at this point, I was wondering if I should mix in a counter or not but.

“That’s dropping right this way?”

“What the h.e.l.l, that’s a bombardment! And a direct line of fire!”

“Dodge!”

That’s an attack that even left No.1000 terrified, who the instructor said dodged the Empire-style bombardment like a joke.

Ah, now that I think about it, the instructor could have thought ‘if it’s this human, they probably won’t die from just this.’ and just poured on the attacks.

If I go forward, it’s dangerous, if I stop the n.o.ble girl is waiting. Options, options….

‘There is one!’

Yes, there was a way.

Although it really did a number on my conscience, it’s better than me meeting directly with the girl.

“Doppelganger, if you complete this successfully then you’re free.”

“I’m ready for anything.”

As I saw the doppelganger nod, I had the doppelganger take off its hood and run in a different direction from ours.

And the bait was successful.

“Re, Rein?!”

Although my heart hurts to see the n.o.ble lady’s wide eyes on seeing the doppelganger but it can’t be helped!

-Run, as far as possible!

-Alright.

I said the contract would be complete once it was caught.

But instead, getting caught deliberately was forbidden. It just had to run as far and fast as possible to divert attention.

“Kasen! You lead the squad and continue pursuit. I will chase after the stray.”

“Eh? Vice-captain, what?!”

Thankfully the n.o.ble lady took five subordinates and started chasing the doppelganger.

After separating from us the doppelganger would be lucky to last ten minutes.

If a person uses magic then they could exert speeds even faster than a horse, but there’s a limit.

Because of this we’ve been using many tools the instructor had given us to stop the horses’ movements and increase the distance between us, but we were running out of tools, and I didn’t want to feel any guiltier seeing the n.o.ble lady nearly fall off her horse several times chasing after us.

And now, since she’s not here…

“Surrender now?”

“Is it finally over?”

“End?”

The moment we stopped the bombardment stopped like a lie, and the kids breathed a sigh of relief.

“Don’t move!”

“Iiiit?”

“Hold, hold on?!”

But very quickly, I brought a dagger up to No.1’s neck.

He’s still a duke’s son, therefore he has plenty of use as a hostage!

“We need to buy more time.”

“Wait, but why am I the hostage?”

“Your house is the best off.”

“Really?”

Looking at is, our pursuers made baffled expressions.

Yes, organization members were running away together, and if they suddenly start up a hostage scenario then anyone would find it weird!

“Ahhh~ I’m Duke Raina’s son Raina rel Swin! I was undercover in the evil organization as a spy, but I got caught! Save me.”

“Oi, that’s way too awkward, can’t you act properly.”

“This much should be fine?”

With those words it seemed there was a commotion among the knights before another knight came forward after sending the others back.

“I am Her Highness’s Third Knight Order’s First Squadron Captain, Kasen! If there’s anything you want then begin negotiations!”

Wow, it seems like the name of the knight order really is the Third Knight Order. While others use family names, flowers, animals and such, the rumours that princess said she couldn’t be bothered and just named them by their ordinal numbers was true!

Wait, before that.

What kind of deal do I have to make so that I don’t show myself getting caught to the n.o.ble lady.

She’s going to come back anyway once she realises the doppelganger is a fake, so if I’m caught now the end result is the same anyway.

Should I ask for my face to be hidden? Or, should I ask to be carried away by the mage corps instead of the knights?

“Tell us your demands. Right now thanks to the mages, only you and I can hear each other! So tell me what you want!”

“We had no warning?!”

“They’re serious… is this the skill of the empire’s strongest mage corps?”

To my horror and No.17’s lament. The surroundings were already surrounded with a thick magic barrier.

That meant that we were already trapped, and the barrier could not only absorb sound, but also act as a formation to keep us trapped, and also a method to kill us.

And to think they could trap us like this without any of us getting the slightest warning!

Is this the skill of the imperial princess’s mage corps, that are called the empire’s strongest!

“Then… I surrender on the condition that my ident.i.ty is not revealed!”

“What kind of conditions are those?”

“Adults have adult’s problems. If my face is revealed right now then I’m in big trouble…”

“Wait, wasn’t this to stall for time for the instructor?”

“Just for old times’ sake, just because the princess was chasing after the instructor, that was why I was running away with you?! But this was just for your own problems?”

Wow, these kids eyes’ are getting icy. If I drag this any longer I thought I might be blindsided by these kids first…

“The reason is… is it because of the other women you met. Or…”

But there was someone else that blindsided me first.

“Is it because of me, Rein?”

“Milady?!”

“Rein, did you really think I wouldn’t recognise you?”

This is a trap! I’m currently under the influence of illusion magic by these skilled empire mages. There, there’s no way that person can be the real deal!

“Hm, by the looks of that expression it seems you believe that I’m an illusion brought on by magic.”

“Ha, how?!”

“Well, it’s obvious on Rein’s face.”

Those blue eyes look into mine and curved into gentle crescents.

Is that really an illusion?

As if he could tell my insecurity, No.1 who was caught as a hostage muttered.

“Um, could you please not hold the knife so close to my neck? You’re shivering a lot right now? Because of that the blade’s brushing my neck a lot, at this rate it really seems like I’ll see blood? Wait, hold on! You’re shaking even more! Dan, dangerous!”

“Now Rein, leave that thing behind, and come to me. Even Her Highness permitted it as well.”

“That thing? Did she just call me ‘that thing?’”

“No.1, I don’t think now’s a time for us to interrupt.”

“Yep.”

“Hey, do you think those words would come if you were in my shoes?!”

No.1’s yelling something, but since the n.o.ble lady in front of me took up more of my attention I ignored him.

“When did you know?”

“I’d be lying if I said from the beginning. Just. Out of curiosity. I asked Her Highness, and she told me.”

“Then, why…”

“That’s. because I like you.”

Those were lines that should definitely be giving me a touching feeling, but all of a sudden, for some reason I understood the instructor’s sentiments.

Such as Sia or the princess, just why he went around running away from beautiful women.

“I know. That you were working for the organization. That you handed over the information you got from us over to them. But, you never once told them any of our secrets, and you never lied to us, not even once. And… Rein is too kind so you can’t abandon people.”

The sword at her waist slowly rose higher and higher. But the direction it was pointing at was the opposite direction to its normal use.

“Now, this is a hostage, Rein. If you don’t come to me, this sword will stab the human named Iris.”

“Holding yourself as hostage, are you insane?!”

“I don’t know. For all you know, this is an illusion, like you imagined. But Rein, I’ve told you before. I.”

-Rein. If it’s for you, then I could even die for you.

“Rein, if it’s for you, then I could even die for you.”

The moment the girl wearing a beautiful dress and the knight in armour overlapped in my imagination, a red line of blood started to trickle down her throat.

“Milady!”

“Heheh, I’ve got you.”

If this is an illusion then I don’t have a choice but to be captured…

“Wow, they’re ignoring us and filming a love story…”

“Ah, I’m getting gooseb.u.mps. I hate those kinds of things.”

“I only had one meal today.”

Although it’s a heavy love that these kids can’t understand, but I still can’t abandon her.

The warm blood that I touched as I brought my hand up to her neck only served to tell me that this was reality.

“Really, did you have to… eh?”

Click.

“I’ve really, caught you.”

But, as I was wiping the blood off the lady’s neck, at that moment I felt something fasten and lock around my own.

During my tertiary trainee days, the words that the instructor had said to me then flashed through my head.

-Ahh, I nearly died back then. In the pandemonium called the imperial court, I was working under that princess to boot. Plus, the. Princess. Always. Picked. People. Si. Mi. Lar. To. Her. As. Her. Own. People. So. Even. Her. Sub. Ord. In. Ates. Were. All. Si. Mi. Lar. To. Her. So everyone close to the princess were all essentially miniature versions of her.

And not too long ago, what I’d said when we parted from the instructor.

-Just what is the princess to you that you’re doing this…

-A Sia on a bigger scale?

-I can’t refute that.

And, the story of the black rose I’d talked with this girl previously.

-I met Her Highness a while ago, she said she was raising black roses as a hobby. She said she was raising them to give to someone, and I thought that the princess had a unexpectedly girlish side to her. Ah, Rein, do you know what a black rose means in the language of flowers?

And the last thought was, when I told the instructor that I was working as a club host under the Intelligence Agency, he had said this.

-Let me make a prediction. I’ll put one gold on you either getting enslaved or stabbed to death by a girl you meet there.

Ah, instructor. The comments you threw so casually so often became reality, but was that not a joke?!

At least you should have put more money on it to make me more careful!

But was that it? Before I worried about the instructor, did I have to watch out for myself first!

“No.17. Hold on. Something’s weird?”

“Moron, we didn’t see anything. Didn’t you learn this in the organization?”

“Where from?”

“The Intelligence Agency vice-director.”

“I think I get it.”

Right now I wanted to turn my head to those kids and yell at them to save me, but the lady’s hand that had put something around my neck held my face tight and stopped me from so much as turning my head.

“This is a special collar that Her Highness gave to me to put on the person called Ast. It’s a special dwarven collar that has no key hole, and once it’s locked the only person that can undo it is the mana flow of the person of the original user. As a matter of course, it can track the wearer’s location, and it can also paralyze or knock out the wearer. So Rein.”

As her red lips came closer to me and kissed my cheek, she whispered quietly into my ear.

“Now… you can’t, run away.”