As soon as the preparations for the entire cavalry is complete, together with the military affairs chief, we will advance towards the Magic Stone Workshop. I will take four men with me together with it"

"Understood. Don"t push yourself and overdo it"

"Sorry, but "pushing yourself" and "overdoing" is not in my dictionary, chief"

Yui said so with a smile on his face towards Ernst.

"Now then, Please excuse us"

After he said so, Yui saluted, then walked over to Crary behind him.

"Boss, what about that Kureha?"

"She is as it is. Just tell her not to go out unless unless it"s for reporting"

Yui immediately replied to Crary"s question.

"Understood. It is wise to increase the number of intel gatherers as well"

"I"ll leave it to you. After that, Nanya, you will apply Waterball Spell on everyone as soon as we reach the site. Got it?"

"Aye. Prepare for it, because I will make you wet so hard"

Nanya said so while raising the both ends of her lips, and Huth who doesn"t seem to want to get wet expressed disdain on her face. Kains who saw it placed his hand on Huth"s head, smiling broadly as usual.

"Good. Well then, let"s move"

*****

"Princess Else, rest a.s.sured. A little more and we"ll break through this fire"

"Yes. I understand"

Receiving the words of encouragement of Eins, they desperately descended in the blazing mountain path despite of the flames grilling them little by little. They have already pa.s.sed through the area with huge flames, so the temperature of the surroundings gradually started going down.

We we"re waiting for you, princess"

Suddenly, a voice reverberated throughout the surroundings, and the burnt trees ahead of Elise and Eins collapsed.

"Watch out!"

Because he tried to find the source of the voice, Eins" reaction was slightly late, but he somehow managed to throw himself in front of Elise while the trees rolled towards them.

Because he jumped with all his strength, Eins couldn"t control his power, so the two ended up rolling on the ground. While bouncing back and forth through the slope several times, they somehow managed to stop when they hit a tree nearby.

"Are you alright, Princess Elise?

Although he managed to protect her despite of being covered with scratches and wound marks here and there, Eins spoke to the princess.

"Good work. But our business with you is over. Because right now, you will disappear here"

Eins gazed at the source of the voice. From there, two men dressed as soldiers stood, blocking their path.

"I guess at this point we don"t even have to ask. Tarim"s thugs"

"Being branded as thugs might be a little too far, but it"s true that we have a cooperative relationship with Tarim"

"Elder Brother, we have cut off the rear, but we don"t know when the other people are coming. Let"s not waste our breath here and do the job quickly before they come"

The man who was called "Elder Brother" by the man at his left side clicked his tongue, then as if accepting the words of the "younger brother" as a fact, he extended his right hand in front.

When Eins aimed his gaze a little toward the front, the guards who are leading the way earlier were getting suppressed by dozens of armed soldiers, and their lives were cut off one after another. Seeing their situation leading to an unfavorable outcome, Eins resolved himself for the worst.

"Now then, I see you don"t have any weapons, and yet you still call yourself a magic soldier? It is slightly unfitting for a n.o.bility of a rural area to hire someone like you, don"t you think? But it seems that they don"t have a choice but to do this in this place, I see"

Eins, making sure Elise is secure behind him, drew his sword he had on his waist.

"Eins. I"m sorry"

Trembling in fear in the situation, it was the only thing the miserable Elise could do now.

"Your Highness, you are wrong. In this situation, you have to say "I"ll leave it to you" instead"

While smiling so towards Elise, he turned around and faced the armed solder again.

"So, have you made up your mind? Then prepare your life to be taken. 『 Feuer 』!"

At that moment, flames dwelled instantly on the right hand of the man who was called the "Elder Brother", and was released aiming for Eins. Eins, with a hair"s breadth avoided it to the side, and at once he filled the interval between them quickly, then swung his sword towards that protruding arm from his lower left.

Just before Ein"s sword reached that arm, a second flame aiming at him rushed from his side, making him jump back in a hurry.

"『 Feuer 』, huh. Indeed, you are a magic soldier of the empire. With this, I can now see the general view of the situation"

"Hmph. Well, that will be irrelevant now because you will lose your life here"

As he said so, he reiterated his right hand to fire another fire magic, aiming at Eins once more.

But Eins once again dodged that flame, and this time, he ran towards the other magician.

"Tch, 『Steife Brise』"

When the second magician invoked so, the s.p.a.ce in front of it distorted, and the next moment, Eins was blown away from that spot.

"I knew it, this wind magic equation is also a system made by the empire too. Are you one of the hands of the Imperial Army by any chance?"

Because of receiving too much of a shock, using the sword as a cane, he then stood up and glared at the two magicians.

"Stop! Release me!"

Eins who was confronting the two magicians, looked towards Elise"s sudden outburst in a hurry. And from there, some of the people who were surrounding the Royal Guards from earlier are now grabbing the princess, and was about to take her with them.

"Stop!"

Eins whipped his staggering body and launched himself to the place of the princess. But at the moment he started running, a magic shockwave blew his defenseless body once again.

"Whoops, did you forget that you are in the middle of a fight?"

While saying so, the wind magician pulled out a dagger hidden from his bosom, removed its sheath, then swung down to give a decisive low on Eins. Feeling regret from his actions, he closed his eyes, but his body wasn"t seized with pain at all.

"Y-you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"

The dagger the magic soldier swung down with confidence, was stopped by a longsword barely in front of the chest of Eins.

"Eins, didn"t I tell you not to give up till the last moment!"

There, though his whole body was scorched including his armor, was the figure of Lute gazing him with no signs of wavering at all. Then Lute parried the dagger as it is, then cut the left arm of the opponent holding the dagger with his sword.

Because of too much pain, the wind magician writhed on the ground. Eins stoop up in that opportunity, then picked up his sword once again and gave thanks to Lute.

"Thank you very much. Now that you mentioned, you also told not to give up from the past. But the other senior always told me to "give it up quickly, then then devise an easier way immediately", you see"

"Hmph, that"s why I tell you he"s no good"

Lute said so, twisting his lips forcibly to make a smile.