Chapter 744

We left the arena and separated from Judith and the other Scarlet Maidens to start a search for Kaitly and Nilfe, who were supposedly being held hostage somewhere.

Our first destination was their hideout close to the arena. The mastermind of the enemy might be there……

「No sign of them!」

「Kaitly and Nilfe are gone.」

As Abarb already told us, the hideout had been abandoned. We knew that, but we wanted to eliminate the possibility first.

「Anyway, we need to find the location of Miss Nilfe now…… Urushi, I'm counting on your nose.」

「Good luck, Urushi.」

「Woof!」

Urushi, with Fran on his back, sniffs and sniffs. Yesterday, he had managed to find the undead from a great distance.

This time, too, we can expect great things.

「Sniff sniff sniff sniff!」

Urushi sniffed the ground as he walks around the hideout. He sometimes stops and stretches out his nose to sniff the air.

「Arf!」

Urushi starts to walk at a brisk pace. We followed him as he ran through the town of Ulmutt.

『It's more of a commotion than a panic…』

（Nn.）

The undead that suddenly appeared in the town and the thugs that went on a rampage had already been defeated. Adventurers were seen in various places, looking proud in the face of the undead that had already been taken down.

Even if the dispatch of soldiers was delayed, there were a large number of adventurers mixed in with civilians in this town at this time of the year. They should be able to deal with this easily.

This was a plan made by Raydoss's men, who knew nothing of adventurers, so that mistake was probably inevitable.

As we were making our way through the town, Colbert opened his mouth with a complicated look on his face.

「Fran?」

「Nn?」

「Congratulations on your win. I really didn't think you'd beat Miss Hilt.」

Colbert must have been rooting for his Dimitris school to win because he was a former student. However, that is not the only reason why he thought Fran would lose.

「There was a big difference in experience, since Miss Hilt has fought against countless swordsmen before. Also, the Dimitris style is a school that specializes in fighting against human opponents. Well, the master is different, or rather, he is invincible against any opponent…… But the fact remains that we are the best at fighting against people.」

Those parrying and other techniques were designed for fighting people with weapons, after all. They can be used against magical beasts too, but they are most effective against people.

「I know that you have defeated other rank A adventurers. I saw it myself last year against Gaudartha, but he was specialized against armies and monsters. Even though the two are both rank A, their specialties are completely different.」

It was true that Gaudartha's ability was more suited to unleashing wide range moves to destroy everything around him. I guess he was a similar type to Biscot who fought Fran this year. You could say Gaudartha was like a tougher and stronger version of Biscot.

「It's only been a year since then. No matter how much you've grown, I thought there was no chance you could defeat Miss Hilt in the tournament, yet……」

Colbert, who still admires Dimitris, must have mixed feelings about his successor losing.

He seemed to be torn between celebrating or regretting the victory of his friend. One thing for sure though, is that he wasn't showing any signs of romantic feelings for Hilt.

He was treating her as only the successor of a respected master. A former colleague who is more talented than he is. There was a sense of camaraderie and respect too, I guess……

And now, with Fran's victory, Hilt will not succeed him for a long time to come.

『Hmmm…… Hilt, keep at it!』

（Master?）

『Oh, no. It's nothing. I was just wondering how Hilt's doing.』

（Hmm.）

After ten minutes of following Urushi's nose.

「Woof!」

Suddenly Urushi's speed increased. It's not quite full speed, but it's at least as fast as a normal dog can run.

『Are you close to the scent?』

（Woof!）

Urushi turned the corner, crossed the street, and ran as fast as he could. But is this really the right way?

The direction Urushi was going kept slightly turning, and as a result, he was heading back to the arena.

『Are you sure you want to go this way?』

（Woof!）

He says this is the right way.

But Urushi ended up back at a familiar place.

『We're back at the arena.』

「Arf……?」

Urushi tilted his head lightly as he looked up at the arena in front of him. His nose twitched again and he twisted his head.

「Urushi?」

「Woof.」

Urushi bellowed lightly as he stared at the arena.

「Maybe he's saying they're somewhere in the arena?」

「Woof!」

Urushi bellowed again at Colbert's words with a look that said "Precisely!"

I thought they were going to threaten Dimitris and Aurel by holding them hostage somewhere…… But are they going to bring them in person and use them as shields too?

Or perhaps when we ran out of the arena, the undead of the Black Skeleton Corps had already come to the arena with Nilfe and Kaitly?

A-Anyways, we really need to hurry now!

We rushed into the arena with Urushi in the lead again.

There was no sign of any undead, so they must have been defeated already. However, perhaps because of the large number of powerful undead, injured adventurers were lying on the floor everywhere, receiving first aid.

As we were making our way through the corridors, we heard loud voices talking ahead of us. It was a group of soldiers looking panicked.

「Hey! Something's going on at the closing ceremony!」

「What do you mean "something"!?」

「I don't know! But it's something more than just undead! Let's move!」

「O-Okay!」

「Shit! We're already short of guards because of all the commotion outside!」

Looks like the Black Skeleton Corps have already arrived at the closing ceremony. This is not going to end well if we don't hurry.

「Urushi, rush!」

「Woof!」

Urushi began to dash again, chasing after the soldiers. They looked astonished when he passed them. Sorry guys.

「Woof woof!」

After taking a few turns led by Urushi, we arrived at a familiar passageway. This should lead us to the spectator seating.

However, even from here, I could sense something strange. The closing ceremony was supposed to be taking place, but it was dead quiet.

「Hold on! Pause a second!」

「Woof?」

「We won't know what's going on inside if we just run in. We should do a bit of reconnaissance first.」

「I see.」

「Woof.」

That's right. If we rush in without knowing what's going on, we won't know what to do.

But Fran and Urushi are making a face that says, "I see… that's a great idea!" Don't tell me you guys were seriously about to go in with no plan?

「First of all, is Miss Nilfe and the other girl up ahead?」

「Arf.」

「What? They aren't there? Both of them?」

Colbert asks Urushi a few questions. To sum up the situation, it seemed that Kaitly was the only one ahead of us, while Nilfe was in another part of the arena.

Maybe they were separating them to make them harder to recapture?

「Then we split up. Urushi and Colbert, you two get Nilfe.」

「Wait! I can't let you go alone right now……!」

「No problem. I won't push myself.」

「But…… No, you're right. Miss Nilfe will be more relieved if I go to her…… Got it, leave Miss Nilfe to me.」

「Woof!」

Urushi and Colbert head off to locate Nilfe. Fran and I will take Kaitly.

Fran can't fight properly now, so it's practically all up to me. I guess it's time for her mysterious sword manipulation skill to shine again.

『First, let's check the status of the closing ceremony.』

（Please.）

『Okay. Wait here for a second.』

I morphed my decorative string into a very thin thread and stretched it from the aisle to the audience seats. I can still get a full field of view with just one piece of string.

「――Come now! Put this collar around your neck, Dimitris!」

As I entered the audience, I saw a man in an iron mask shouting triumphantly on the stage.