Volume 3 - CH 8

Chapter 8 – At Last, The Royal Capital

Then the day of departure arrived.

“Are you ready?”

“We’re golden.”

Aegan and the others nodded vigorously. Wow, how dependable.

“Okay then… I’ll now explain the plan in detail. First of all, we’re going to be moving on foot, but I’d like us to split up into three groups”

“I see, a carriage would be conspicuous, and even on foot, a group this size would inevitably raise eyebrows”

“Exactly.”

Even though we will be leaving behind enough force to defend the village, it will still leave us with quite a large group. Although it will be a bit of a detour, we can avoid standing out when moving by breaking up the route among the troops.

“I’ve decided on a route for the invasion based on the information provided by Tendo and the others. There are three routes: the east, which is the main entrance, and the north and south, which are less guarded, so each group should take the road closest to their entry point and head for the royal capital.  By the way, I’m planning to go in from the east, where there are more forces and security is tighter.”

“I see, so that’s how it is…In that case let me, Jill, and Ganan accompany master as one of the main forces. Faz and Gerda will be the main force of the second group, and the third group will be led by Dor and Zara, and they’ll head north and south respectively.”

I was going to ask Aegan to assemble the groups, since the elves would probably have some chemistry with each other, but he decided before I did.

“Thank you Aegan. I’m going to give each group a magic tool for communication…everyone, try not to kill the enemy soldiers if possible. With your skills, you guys should be able to neutralize them without killing them.”

If we cause any fatalities here, it will only cause unnecessary grudges.

It would be best to stun them or put them to sleep.  We also have a very special item that’s perfect for the job.

Everyone nodded vigorously.

“Okay, let’s move out!”

“Roger!”

～ 

——Noon, three days after we left the village.

Our group arrived at the east side of the royal capital of Glicente.

It was the first time I had been in the capital since I was kicked out, but I didn’t feel overly emotional about it.  Well no surprises there, I was only here for a brief moment.

There’s still some time before the night operation, so I guess we’ll be on standby.

But there was nothing to do, so I changed into black clothes so that I wouldn’t stand out in the dark, and after eating, I decided to rest my body.

Then, as night fell, I received word that the other groups had also arrived.

The surroundings were completely dark, but the capital was still bright.

There was a wall surrounding the capital, so we couldn’t directly see the lights of the city, but the lights were leaking from the top of the wall.

As more time passed, and the lights slowly faded and the city fell asleep, we made our move.

I picked up the communication tool and announced.

“——Commence Operation”

Aegan and I took the lead.

We climbed the wall that surrounded the royal capital.

The wall was nearly 20 meters high, but thanks to the protrusions in places, it was easy to climb.

At the top of the wall, soldiers were patrolling in pairs, so we stopped and let them pass before climbing the wall.

As they passed by, we climbed up the wall and attacked the soldiers from behind.

Before the soldiers could raise their voices, I had knocked one of them out with a hand chop to the neck, and Aegan had punched the other in the gut also knocking him out.

After checking the safety of the perimeter, I signaled to the others waiting below.

Then, when everyone had climbed up and were all together, we rushed off towards the royal castle along the route I had picked out beforehand.

This route, which I had selected based on the information from Tendo and the others, was designed to exploit the blind spots of the guards.

In addition to that, no one would be able to catch us jumping from roof to roof in this almost somber capital.

Well, should anyone notice us, we’ll simply just put them to sleep.

As we were moving, I checked the map, and the other two groups seemed to be making good progress.

And so we arrived safely under the walls of the royal castle.

Glicente’s royal castle is surrounded by walls, and there are no guards on the ground except near the gates.

Instead, however, there were turrets at intervals of several dozen meters on the castle walls, and they were monitored in pairs.

We unfolded the ladders and climbed the castle walls, each approaching a turret.  Of course, I climbed up too.

“Yawn~…so sleepy.”

“Pull yourself together man. Remember you’re still on duty. If our superiors find out you’ve been yawning, you’ll be in big trouble.”

“Yeah, I know.  But I’m feeling sleepy, so what can I do? …Hey, at least, say something.

The guard turned his head and saw his partner lying on the ground.

“Hey, hey. What happened…to…”

The guard who ran up to him was knocked unconscious by a chop from me, as was his partner.

“This is Alpha. Clear.”

“This is Bravo. We’re clear.”

“Gamma here. We’re also clear.”

I also received a report back from the communication device.

We went down to the garden from our respective turrets and stunned the guards patrolling the garden.

The other groups informed us that the soldiers’ camp inside the castle was also under control.

Now all that remained was the interior of the castle.

“Good work, everyone. Group three, stay put. If anyone tries to escape from the castle, don’t let them get away. Do not harm the maids or any of the servants. Group two, rendezvous at our location.”

‘‘Roger!’’

To be honest, I am not familiar with the internal structure of the castle. I was only there for half a day.

So, once everyone was gathered, I unfolded the map that Tendo and the others had made for us beforehand.

“I’ll go over the plan again.  Our group will capture the royal family. The second group will support the first group by capturing the soldiers and servants in the castle. Once you have them, gather the royal family in the hall on the first floor”

Using the map and comparing it with the information from Tendo and the others, I was able to determine the exact location of the royal family’s bedrooms and gave them their orders, and the elves quickly moved in.

On the other hand, me, Finne, Iris, Asha, Kusel, and Tendo and the rest of the heroes put on our hoods to avoid being recognized and headed down the hall.

On the way, there was a soldier lying around who had probably been stunned by the elves who had entered the castle earlier, but we ignored him and continued on our way.

The hall we arrived at was a familiar place.

The front of the hall was slightly elevated, and there was a luxurious chair that looked like a throne——oh, so it was the room where I had an audience with the king.

I decided to sit in that chair and wait for the mission to be over. It didn’t matter if the chair was for the king or not.

Soon, I received a message that the royal family had been secured.

While I couldn’t help but raise the corners of my mouth, Tendo and the others who saw the sequence of events were breaking out in a cold sweat.

“Say Haruto. Are you going to kill the royal family?”

“Beats me. But, you know, at least I’ve come this far for revenge. But for now, I’m going to kill the king, that’s for sure. I don’t know about the rest.  Maybe turn them into slaves?  Ah, but the queen hasn’t done anything to me, so I guess I’ll hold off regarding her for now.”

Tendo and the others didn’t say anything back in response to my response.

“You guys have also seen what’s going on in this country, haven’t you?  I even think that this country should be destroyed.  But that’s not up to me to decide”

“Who then–“

There are those who are more deserving of that privilege than me. The ones who lost their friends, their families, their loved ones.

“The elves.  They deserve revenge more than I do.”

Tendo and the rest of the heroes, as well as Finne and the others, didn’t say anything and had undescernable expressions on their faces.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you guys feel that way.”

“It’s okay. I fully understand how you feel, Haruto. So please don’t worry about it.”

“Thank you, Finne.”

A few moments later, all the royals who had fainted in their nightgowns or in their underwear were gathered together. Of course, Mariana, the princess, was among them.

～ 

The first person to wake up was, conveniently enough, the king.

“Wh, where am I…I uh, I’m sure I was knocked unconscious by a silhouette, but…”

The king then looked around and realized the situation.

All the royalty in the castle were lying in a state of bondage.

Moreover, surrounding them were elves, all in black, with anger in their eyes.

“E, Eeeeeeeelves!? Wh, what are you doing? Do you think you can get away with what you’re doing! All of you savage hillbilly elves will be execut——”

The king’s words were interrupted not by the elves, but by me.

“QUIET. This is nothing when compared to all the crimes you’ve committed. Remember what you’ve done to your people, to other countries, to other races.”

While saying that, I stood up from the throne and approached the king.

“What are you talking ab——gahaa!”

Seeing my foot digging into the Glicente King’s belly, the other royals who had been awakened by the king’s voice earlier turned pale.

I suppose that’s to be expected. These royals have never imagined that they would be in pain.

In the Glicente Kingdom, no one dares to defy the royal family.

Even if the royal family is doing something wrong, no one can say anything because if they point it out, they will be punished for some random reason.

A reign of terror by an absolute monarchy. This is the true face of the current Glicente Kingdom.

It was bad luck for me and Tendo and the others that it was in a country like this that we were summoned as heroes.

These guys, they probably think of the heroes as nothing more than tools of war.

If the summoning had taken place in another country, things would have been different…damn, now I’ve gone off-topic.

The Glicente King crouched at my feet, his face contorted in pain he had probably never experienced before.

“I, I don’t know!  “I don’t know anything——Fughuu!?”

I launched another kick. This time, I kicked harder than before.

“Don’t you dare lie to me. I know what I’m talking about.  Isn’t that right, Kusel?”

I called out her name, and Kusel, who had taken off her hood, came forward.

“…That’s right. It’s as you said, Haruto”

“Oh, you’re Kusel, the former Vice Captain. Why are you here…?”

Mariana, who had been silent until now, opened her mouth, her face turning pale.

“Well, I’m a travel buddy of Haruto here, you know.”

“Haru, to…?”

I took off the hood I was wearing and showed Mariana my true face.

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about me already.  That wouldn’t be the case right?  Princess Mariana?”

“——!? H, how are you still alive…no, why are you here in the first place?”

Oh Mariana dear, your true feelings are leaking out. More like, she’s not even trying to hide it.

“As for how I’m still alive, I ain’t telling. And the reason I’m here is for revenge. Plain and simple.”

“Revenge…”

“Kusel told me you royals were the ones who attacked the elves, ring a bell? And from what the elves told me, they’re definitely your troops. Isn’t that right, Aegan?”

“Yes. We checked the armor of the knights and soldiers along the way, and it was definitely Glicente that attacked our village.”

Glicente King, Mariana, and the others fell silent.

“Plain and simple enough, right? Almost everyone here, with a few exceptions, wants revenge. These are people who have had loved ones, lovers, friends, confidants, and relatives taken from them at your hands. As for me, well, Princess Mariana, I think you understand me best, don’t you?”

And then King Glicente raised his voice to call for help.

“Somebody! Is anyone there!? Intruders! Kill these people! Anybody!”

But no soldiers or knights answered his call no matter how loud he screamed.

“Wh…why, why isn’t anyone responding…?”

I laughed out loud, enjoying his dismay.

“Why are you laughing? …!? Don’t tell me, you son of a bitch!”

“You guessed it. They’re all out cold. No one will be here until morning. We’ve got everything under control inside the castle walls, including the barracks.”

“Oh, no no…!? When did you…”

“A little while ago. While you lot were sleeping so soundly.”

Even with the hellish training, the plan seemed to have proceeded a little too smoothly. Shouldn’t this guy be training his soldiers better?

“Uh, so… we have your lives in our hands, so to speak. I’m sure that’s a no brainer at this point, right?”

“What do you want? Is it money? Women? Status? I can get you anything you want! And I can pardon you if you quit this now, pretend like it never happened!”

Yeah thanks, but no thanks…

“Oh that’s too bad, see money is no object, and I have lovely fiancées. As for status, that’s the least of my worries…but, saying that you can ‘pardon’ me? Who the hell do you think you are?”

The king’s face quickly turned blue, or rather, white.

However, in spite of the situation, a young man——who seemed to be the first prince named Heeris, according to his status confirmed through god eye——let out a high-pitched laugh.