Book 9: Chapter 21

After a while, Eltrinde returned wearing silver armor and blue clothes, and behind her was Brutus with a slap mark on his face and a snickering Ykslaas.

「…Ykslaas-sama, I still can’t accept this.」

「Accept it. The crime of seeing a woman change clothes is the gravest of all.」

Brutus became quiet from those words, with his gaze then turning to Vermudol as they reached him.

「…Demon King-sama, I can’t accept this.」

「Give it up. It’s a fact that you did see her changing.」

「But that’s…」

「Don’t worry about it. It was an unfortunate accident, and Lady Eltrinde herself is often referred to as the Knight Princess. As long as you apologize, I’m sure she’d forgive you without an issue.」

「…I will never forgive him.」

Vermudol ignored that muttering and turned to face the members that had gathered up.

「…Anyway, am I correct to assume that this is everybody?」

「Yes, let’s see… Princess Eltrinde will take the lead, followed by myself… and then the Red Knight, Blue Knight, White Knight, and Black Knight… that sounds about right.」

「I’m guessing I’m the Black Knight?」

「Yes, that’s right. The Black Knight… hmm, the Black Knight Chrono… how about that?」

As she spoke, Shironos was helping her put on her armor as well.

It was much lighter compared to Vermudol’s, but that was likely because that would serve her combat style better. The bare minimum armor necessary to have her considered to be a 「knight」 was there at least, so there were no issues there.

「Do I really need that name?」

「Why, of course. Everything needs to be set up perfectly, after all.」

「…More importantly, what are your plans for what we’re going to do from here on out?」

Ykslaas expressed a question mark in response to Eltrinde’s words.

Seeing that expression, Eltrinde, continued to speak.

「All things considered, this place still is the meeting hall for Narika’s Knight Screening Tournament. There’s no doubt that Narika’s knights would be stationed here… Would it not cause any problems if we happened to run into them?」

「Oh, that’s what you mean. Well, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that.」

Ykslaas spoke while she dusted her hands off together.

「B-But…」

「There’s nothing to worry about. We’ve already investigated the Casinote area, right?」

「Yes, via the work of the intelligence members. We’re free to Transfer anywhere within the vicinity.」

Hearing Vermudol’s words, Eltrinde was reminded of the 「Transfer Magic」. This technique that only Mazoku could use would definitely allow them to move anywhere they’d like.

「I see! In that case, we could transfer directly into Elreim Castle! (check spelling of castle?)」

「Why would we do that? I know we might be a pretty small band here, but it’d be too much for us to just suddenly pop up in the middle of the castle, don’t you think?」

「Urgh…」

After letting out a deep sigh, Ykslaas muttered 「Well…」 as she began to think to herself.

「Our best bet would be the back gate. If we’re going to attack with only a few people, that would be ideal.」

「Why couldn’t we just charge in from the front?」

Ykslaas smacked Olred’s head as he grumbled that comment, and then Vermudol’s muffled voice from within his helmet could be heard.

「We could, but that would cause problems in of itself. If we display too much physical might, it would only cause more people to follow our traces, and that would bring about undesirable results.」

「…What if people label us as cowardly?」

Ykslaas shrugged in response to Brutus’s concern.

「Sorry if you don’t like how it sounds, but all that matters is that we win. Regardless of the strategy used, the winner will always become glorified as the tactician while the loser will be slandered as the coward… This unfair mindset will always cloak over the finer details.」

Ykslaas then turned to Eltrinde.

「The only problem left… would probably be you.」

「Me?」

「Yes. You must be the one to defeat Mazenda. It’d be a fitting end to this short play… Do you think you can do it?」

Yes, defeating Mazenda was indispensable for this play.

And of course, the one to defeat her would have to be the main character, Eltrinde. It wasn’t as if no one else could be allowed to do that, but when taking into consideration the post-civil war matters, it would be most desirable for Eltrinde to be the one.

However, Mazenda is said to be a 「powerful magic user.」

Would Eltrinde be able to defeat that?

if not, appropriate measures would need to be devised. That was what Ykslaas was getting at.

「Wait just a second.」

Vermudol cut Eltrinde off just before she was about to say something.

「While it is absolutely necessary that Mazenda is to be defeated… there is one more important person we need to consider.」

「Oh, are you talking about Princess Narika?」

「Yes. Not only are we to defeat Mazenda, we must capture Princess Narika as well. If Narika were to escape, any reason to dissolve the 「Unnamed Knights」 would go away.」

「You’re right. In that case, perhaps we could leave capturing Princess Narika to Princess Eltrinde, seeing as it doesn’t seem like it’d be too difficult.」

Eltrinde had a dissatisfied expression when Ykslaas turned to look at her.

「I have a fair amount of confidence in my ability as a Magic Swordsman. Even if my opponent is Mazenda, I will not fall behind.」

Typically speaking, Magic Swordsmen have an advantage against magic users in combat.

Magic Swordsmen have a decent understanding of the workings of magic, and above that, they are able to instantly change up their attacks at a moment’s notice. So even if a magic user were to put up a barrier, it would easily be taken down. For example, a sword charged with the energy for a finishing move could be used against a Magic Guard, and magic would be used against an Attack Guard.

Magic users can switch between barriers as well, but typically speaking, Magic Swordsmen are known to be able to adapt much faster.

「My armor is not here… but my beloved sword is still in my hands. As long as I have this, I will not lose.」

「It does appear to be a rather fine blade.」

「You can tell?」

Shironos nodded to Vermudol’s inquiry.

「Yes, I am somewhat of a swordsman myself, after all… Not to mention, it has a rather similar air about it to Ichika-dono’s sword.」

「Ichika’s…?」

Ichika’s sword was called the Severance Blade Endrow. (i don’t know if this has come up before 絶剣エンドロウ)

If Eltrinde’s sword resembled that… then it might be the same kind of sword.

「Now, then. It’s about time we head out. Let’s begin the tale of the Unnamed Knights.」

As Ykslaas stood up, Zwei hopped down from a tree behind her.

「…I will guide you to your destination.」

Following Zwei’s words, a magic circle appeared.

Vermudol and the rest disappeared within the gathering Transfer Magic light, making the middle of the mountains void of people once again.