CH 328

Chapter 328 – Countermeasures Against Espionage

“I received reports that you were safe, but it’s a relief to see you here.”

“Mghh”

As soon as I returned to the castle, I received an order from Sylphy to report to the office, and as soon as I arrived, Sylphy hugged me tightly. Her face was happy, but it was a little strong, Master.

“I was really worried too.”

“Oghh!”

After the intense pain, my face was again enveloped in happiness. Melty-san. I, you know, am not a stuffed animal or anything like that, so please treat me a little more gently. I don’t think I should be forcibly picked back from Sylphy’s hand, and I think it would be very bad if you don’t take a little more care of my neck as well.

“Melty, you’re not behaving yourself, are you?”

“Ufufu, I couldn’t control my surging emotions.”

Yes, you two, stop it. If you two get out of line here, the piles of papers will be scattered, and you will be in big trouble. And you two will be the ones who end up crying.

“Ouch, ouch… So, how’s the assassin who attacked me being treated?”

“We left them in the hands of Lime and the others. With them, there’s no point in committing suicide or keeping quiet.”

“The report says they put a fast-acting poison in their back teeth. Poizo immediately neutralized it.”

“Oh… that sounds a little inhumane.”

I don’t know the full extent of Lime and the others’ abilities either, but it seems like basically anything goes when it comes to these girls. Poizo, in particular, is resistant to poisons and drugs, so it seems she can synthesize something like a powerful self-confession serum… Above all, their abilities are very suited to torture. They can inflict pain, healing, and pleasure at will.

“The fate of a captured assassin is a given. That’s why they have suicide poisons in their back teeth. I told Lime and the others not to show any mercy. And not to kill them.”

“Indeed…”

The reason they don’t take a life is to make them into evidence, right? No, although they say don’t kill, they don’t say don’t destroy… Sylphy is kind to her people, but she has a very harsh nature towards her enemies. The future looks bleak for the captured assassins.

“Now that we wait for Lime and the others to squeeze the information out of the assassin, what are we going to do about the Holy Kingdom?”

“Well, I can’t say at this point because it depends on what kind of information we can extract. We had nothing to prove their identities, and it would be difficult to use their testimonies as evidence once Lime and the others had narrowed down the information. That’s the end of the story if they say they have no knowledge of such things.”

“In fact, they might even say that we made it all up. However, by all accounts, they do not seem to be hired assassins, so perhaps we can acquire information on the Holy Kingdom’s spy and assassin bases. If we can find that out, we may be able to seize physical evidence.”

“The raiding parties are already standing by. Until the base is destroyed, Kosuke must not leave the castle.”

“Understood.”

It seems that Sylphy and Melty are completely determined to do it. I don’t think the two of them are going to go directly into battle… No, it’s possible for the two of them to do so.

“You don’t think you two are going to go there directly, do you?”

“No way, I wouldn’t go. I’d like to go wild once in a while.”

“I’m the only one going.”

“Are you going, Melty…? Just in case, take the Cure Poison Potion with you. The crossbow arrows used in the assassination were coated with basilisk poison.”

Saying this, I took a wooden box out of my inventory and placed it on the office desk. This wooden box contained two dozen―twenty-four bottles of Cure Poison Potion. This amount should be enough to supply the raiding party with a certain amount of supplies.

“The basilisk poison is dangerous, isn’t it…? Okay, I’ll take this one.”

“You can also use it on the enemy who tried to commit suicide. Kosuke, give me another box.”

“Roger that. I’ll also put out a life potion.”

In addition to the Cure Poison Potion for detoxification, I also put out two additional wooden boxes containing Life Potion to heal wounds. That makes two boxes of each, forty-eight bottles of Cure Poison Potion and forty-eight bottles of Life Potion.

“That should be enough supply for the entire raiding party.”

Melty smiles happily when she sees the tower made of wooden boxes about the size of an armful. She’s showing such a cute smile, but don’t be fooled; this is a person who can break through thick steel doors with her bare hands. No, there’s probably a cute side to her, too.

As I was doing so, a light blue figure appeared from the corner of the office.

“I found the place.”

“I see, Melty.”

“Yes, well, I’ll be leaving now.”

“Lime is coming, too.”

Melty and Lime leave the office with two wooden boxes each… they’re both awesome!　Lime is more slime-like. She doesn’t have a silvery metallic luster*, but that speed is an NG. [T/n: It refers to metal slime from dragon quest.]

“Well then, I guess I’ll go help Sylphy out.”

“Hmm? That’s good to hear, but don’t you have to go and show your face to Ellen and the others? They seem to be very worried about you.”

“That may be so, but right now, I’d rather be with Sylphy. I’ve been spending a lot of time with Ellen and the harpies lately.”

“…I would not be stingy if you say so. Let’s hope Kosuke can fill the hole left by Melty to the fullest.”

“It’s a bit of a burden to be expected to work that hard.”

I stood right next to Sylphy, who was still sitting at her office desk, laughing, and began assisting her with her duties. I wonder how useful I was since I am not usually involved in Sylphy’s work, but I think it was a successful attempt since Sylphy looked satisfied with my work from start to finish.

☆★☆

The raid on the Holy Kingdom base by the raiding party led by Melty was completed by sunset.

Several prisoners of war were newly secured, and various pieces of evidence were apparently seized. Some of the materials were apparently burned before the raid, but even so, several pieces of evidence supporting the Holy Kingdom’s involvement were apparently raised.

“Fufufu… we’ll have to do more thorough investigations in the future, but this is an opportunity to clear out all the bugs in the country at once.”

It seems that there was also information on bases in other cities, towns, and villages, and Melty had a wonderful smile on her face. It’s super scary.

The kingdom of Merinard is strong in this situation. This is because a communication network using golem communicators has been built between each city and large town, and air boards exist that can quickly move to towns and villages outside of the communication network.

The speed of air boards is faster than that of horse-drawn carriages and can even maintain a speed equivalent to or faster than a full gallop of a cavalry horse. These two pieces of equipment are especially effective in this kind of speedy situation.

“Let’s contact the local guards and have them raid the strongholds of these spies.”

“That would be good.”

So, through the golem communicator, orders were given to Sir Leonard, who was in command of the eastern side of the Merinard Kingdom, and Ms. Zamir, who was in command of the western side. Danan, who was in command of the area south of Erichburg, and Worg, who was in command of the northern side after the battle in the north was over, to raid the bases of the spies, respectively. The secret bases of the Holy Kingdom that existed within the Kingdom of Merinard were to be destroyed one by one.

In particular, there seemed to be many spy bases in the east due to its proximity to the Holy Kingdom. Sir Leonard was overjoyed to be able to go on a rampage against the Holy Kingdom after a long time.

“So, under these circumstances, I am going to carry out the development of the pioneer villages.”

“Even if Kosuke-san is not here, we can destroy the stronghold of the spy, but only Kosuke-san can develop the pioneer village. Also, it is easier to deal with assassinations than in the city.”

“That may be true, but you know…”

It is true that it would be difficult to attack me in the uninhabited wilderness or uncultivated forests. During the work, the harpies will always be on the lookout for me in the sky, and I will be guarded not only by the oni girls but also by Grande. And at night, the golem turrets will provide perfect security. Those who would go out of their way to sneak up on me at night are not good people anyway, so I will set them to be shot without mercy as soon as I detect them.

“If anything happens, I will immediately contact you via the golem communicator.”

“I understand.”

As the storm of the spy sweep was raging in the country, I was to leave Merinesburg again for the development of the pioneer village.