Volume 2 - CH 10.2

Five days after the battle, the armies of the Kingdom and the Demon Empire arrived at the Imperial Capital as scheduled. The people in the Imperial Capital seemed to be unaware of the situation and were confused by the arrival of the Kingdom Army in the Imperial Capital. Duke Stark had revolted before, so it was natural for them to be wary of the possibility of another battle.

On the contrary, the Stark soldiers welcomed the arrival of the Kingdom Army. As soon as they arrived at the castle, the Duke Stark himself came to greet them. The fact that we were welcomed in this way meant that our plan had not been discovered.

We are currently in the audience hall of the Imperial Castle. Olympia is the only one who was summoned. The others from the kingdom were scheduled to meet later. In the confusion, I entered the room as Olympia's bodyguard.

When I entered the room, Duke Stark was sitting on the throne, slumped over, with the rest of the nobles standing to his side. Most of them were probably immersed in a sense of omnipotence, as if he had become kings, but as soon as he saw Olympia, he got off the throne and bowed deeply.

「Ohhh, Olympia-dono. Thank you for leading the kingdom's reinforcements.」

「Enough with the greetings, what's going on with the Emperor?」

「I've thrown him in the castle dungeon. I'm planning to execute him at a later date.」

「I see, thank you for your hardwork. I've informed the kingdom army of what will happen next, so please don't worry and disappear.」

「Disappear? What on earth are you talking about?」

「It's like this.」

Olympia approached him, drew the sword at her waist, and in a fluid motion, cut off the Duke's head. Leaving the Stark nobles frozen by the sudden event, the Kingdom Army and the soldiers of the 2nd Magic Corps rushed into the room. With a single signal from Olympia, the soldiers set out to kill all the Stark nobles. The nobles, who had no idea they were being framed, were captured and killed one by one, unable to put up much of a fight because they were just too flustered by the sudden situation.

「Olympia-dono, why are――......!」

A certain nobleman tried to say something, but before he could, his neck was slit open by the soldiers, and he could only move his mouth with a crunch. Seeing such a nobleman, Olympia sneered at him.

「You guys have done well, but I was originally thinking only of the Gran family. Useless people who only think about coveting power are best used in this way.」

「P-Please have mercy on me, I'm ......!」

He was trying to beg for his life from the attacking soldiers, but the soldiers would not listen to his every word, and he was cut down in the middle of his speech. It was a ridiculous scene from the side.

Thus, some of the nobles in the castle were captured and most of them were killed. It is said that the kingdom's soldiers are telling the people in the Imperial Capital that they have conquered the capital, so the Imperial Capital is now occupied.

When I went to the room where the nobles were being held, I found some of the nobles I had met at the Olympia mansion. The bracelets had already been removed, so when Olympia walked in, they were all glaring at her with bloodshot eyes.

Not caring about such gazes, she threw a condescending glance at the nobles as she approached right beside me.

「Master, it went well, didn't it?」

「Yes, it did, thanks to your cooperation. I appreciate it.」

「I'm so glad, I'll do anything for you from now on, Master.」

Seeing Olympia hugging my arm as if she was being pampered, the nobles seemed to have understood the situation. I could see that they were looking at me with anger, but she started to lick my neck as if to show them. She seemed to be excited because she had seen the blood. Even her breath was filled with heat, and I could tell that she was in heat.

「Have you bastard been seduced by such a magician and tricked us!?」

「What is such a magician? I don't know anyone I should be serving more than him. I'd gladly kill my parents or anything else if it means I can earn his favor.」

「Well, there you have it. You can all gloat over your failure to be deceived by this woman.」

「Damn it!」

Olympia rubbed her ass against me as if she wanted what was mine without fear of being seen, but this was not the time for that, so I pulled her off and left the room.

The rest of the time, the kingdom will be sending us personnel to govern again, so this mission is now complete. The commander of the kingdom's army will take over, and I and the other heroes will return to the royal capital for the time being. I thought Olympia was going to stay here, but she insisted on coming with me.

「What are you going to do about the Magic Corps? It will eventually belong to the Kingdom, but there's no way the Commander can just go away.」

「It's okay. I'm just my father's deputy, and I've left the rest to my younger brother who will be the next head of the family. I've summoned my brother to the Imperial Capital for this purpose.」

Well, it is true that the next head of the Gran family will be her younger brother, but I think he was still a young man not even twenty years old. I wondered if it would be okay to leave it in the hands of someone like that. I was a little troubled, but decided not to worry about it since it was not my responsibility to take care of her house.

「Anyway, why would you take the trouble to come to the royal capital?」

「Of course, I'm trying to to be my master's concubine......」

「Huh?」

「Eh?」

I couldn't understand what she said and made a dumb noise. She seemed to be surprised by my reaction and gave me the same response.

「I don't remember saying anything about that, but ......」

「No way, you said you would give me a reward if I finished this mission!」

「You wouldn't normally interpret that as a reason to make you my concubine, right?」

My God, I had no idea that she had thought that. I knew that her fondness for me was not limited to loyalty, but I hadn't realized that she had been so blinded as to think that I would welcome her into my side.

She looked as if it was the end of the world when she realized that she was rejected by my attitude. Tears are welling up in her eyes and she looks like she's about to start crying in earnest. If I'm not imagining it, her hand is on the hilt of her sword.

「I-is there any other reward you want?」

「If so, please at least keep me by your side, even as a slave. ...... If even that is not possible, then there is no point in living in this world any longer. ......」

「I-I get it. For now, I'll let you stay at the mansion as a maid. I can't make a decision about make you my concubine on my own.」

「Really!?」

She stopped crying at my reply and instantly smiled. I felt as if I had been deceived somehow, but I thought that I was responsible for being deceived, so I forced myself to accept it. Well, with her as a maid, there would be no problem.

※

「Oh, Yard-sama, I didn't know you were here. Alec-sama and the others were looking for you.」

When I turned my head toward the voice, I saw Fairis approaching us. I hadn't had much of a chance to meet her since she had been in charge of logistical support such as recovery in this battle. She glanced at Olympia, who was standing beside me, and had a look of defeat on her face.

Olympia must have sensed something in her reaction, because she alternated between looking at me and her, her face becoming increasingly grim. She seemed to have understood the relationship between Fairis and me, which put her in a bad mood.

「My bad, is the occupation of the Imperial Capital finished?」

「Ah, yes. It appears so. I'm glad there were fewer casualties than I thought.」

「I see. Speaking of which, what do you want looking for me?」

「We're returning to royal capital with a portion of the army, so the heroes are asked to prepare for that.」

「Yeah, I understand.」

There's nothing to do but prepare. There isn't enough room in the Imperial Capital to accommodate the kingdom's army, so they'll be leaving immediately. Prompted by Fairis, we were about to head for the Kingdom's Army.

But something was bothering me. There is also the matter of the Demon Empire's army, whose magicians were too weak, and the other nobles who did not come to the Imperial Capital's crisis, no matter how much Olympia had been laying the groundwork.

At that moment, a soldier arrived. He seemed to have come in a hurry and was breathing heavily, but I wondered if something had gone wrong.

「...... What is it? Report quickly. I don't want to hear about your trivial business.」

She've been in a bad mood since a while ago, and Olympia is throwing cold words at the soldier who came to report. The lower-than-usual voice seemed to be enough to make the soldiers understand her mood, and he was moving his mouth to report, but his voice was not coming out well.

「This ...... Emperor, your majesty, is ......」

「What happened to the Emperor?」

「Uhm......He seems to have escaped from the Imperial Capital. ......」

「Huh? Wh-What do you mean by that!?」

Olympia shouted out in confusion at the unexpected situation. As I recall, the emperor had said that he was locked up in a dungeon, but how could he have escaped from such a place?

「He was supposed to be locked up in the prison, but it seems that he disappeared when the soldiers on guard changed for the briefest of moments. ...... But there was no sign of a hidden passage, so how could he have escaped?」

「Why don't you keep an eye on him!? The castle is still in turmoil, and we should have taken into account the possibility that someone could have helped him escape!」

「You're right, ......, but there's only one way in and one way out, and there's no sign of anyone passing through.」

「Oh my god, whatever you do, hurry up and follow his trail! It hasn't been long since he escaped, so if we seal off the Imperial Capital and search the surrounding area, we might be able to find him!」

「I-I understand, we'll find him right away!」

The soldier, who had been pressured by Olympia's swordsmanship, quickly left the room. But even if they chase after him now, it's unlikely that they'll be able to catch up with him. I hope what I'm thinking is right.I hurried to the prison with Olympia and Fairis.

※

As reported, there was no one in the prison. The bars of the prison are also made of iron, and I know that they are not something that can be removed by a mere mortal. The Emperor may be able to use magic, but there is no sign of any damage to the walls or bars. There's no way he could have gotten out of here on his own.

「That's strange, I don't think he can escape unless he unlock the door.」

「Let's see, yeah, you're right.」

Olympia and Fairis are also examining the walls, floor, and ceiling, but no matter how many places they look, it won't make any sense. I sent a reminder to the person who seemed to be the most suspicious about this.

(...... Master? How can I help you?)

(I'll get straight to the point . You're the one who kidnapped the Emperor, right, Elle?)

(......Indeed. Surprisingly, you didn't realize it until much later.)

After a few moments of hesitation, Elle admitted that she was the culprit.

(Why did you have to do such a silly thing?)

(Fufu, it's all for Master. What's more, can you be bothered with me? I did a lot of things while Master was leisurely attacking the Imperial Capital, you know?)

（……!!）

I forcibly cut off the telepathy with Elle and checked the reaction of the magic tools in the royal capital. Fortunately, nothing in particular seemed to be happening, so I was relieved, but then I wondered what Elle was talking about.

「Yard-sama?」

Fairis was looking into my face, probably wondering why I was standing stiff.

「Oh, it's nothing. But I think I know who kidnapped the Emperor.」

「Is that true?」

「Yes, unfortunately, the culprit was my apprentice.」

「Elmair-sama? Why on earth would she do that?」

「Who knows. I don't know the details, but I can guess roughly. I just need to know a little more.」

I walked out of the dungeon and headed for the prison where the nobles were being held. It was the Marquis Evarts I wanted to see.

When I entered the room, I ignored the stares of the nobles and approached the Marquis Evarts. He was completely exhausted from all the problems that kept occurring, and he didn't seem to have the same energy as when I first met him.

「Marquis Everts, I have a few questions for you. First of all, do you have any idea where the Emperor ran off to?」

「I don't know, but if he were to flee, it would be to the Frontier Count Naylor. He was geographically absent from the battle, but he is a man of great loyalty to the Emperor.」

「The Frontier Count Naylor is it, certainly there are nobles who will hide it in the north.」

In the north, there are fewer Stark nobles and more Evarts nobles. It seems that most of them have been killed, but there are some nobles who didn't participate in this campaign, so the Frontier Count she mentioned is probably one of them.

「Does the Frontier Count's territory have a certain amount of war potential?」

「No way. Since there have been few invasions from other countries, they probably only have a private army and have little experience in actual warfare. That's also the reason why they didn't participate in this mission.」

「I see, the Emperor must have known that, but he still went over there. ......」

If she's right, we'll be able to destroy that Frontier Count's territory immediately, but if there's a possibility that Elle is involved here, the difficulty level will jump all the way up. And there is no guarantee that the Frontier Count is not planning something.

Why would the Emperor go to the trouble of fleeing to an ally he had no chance of winning? If I were in the Emperor's position, I would hide in another hiding place until things cooled down, and I wouldn't even be talking about the fact that they know where I'm running to.

Unless the Emperor is an idiot, there is only one possibility. It means that there is something there that can resist the invasion of the kingdom. It is possible that the magicians who did not participate in the battle this time are secretly gathering there, or that there is a superweapon that can burn down the Imperial Capital or something of that sort.

「Do you have any idea how he's been operating?」

「He wasn't one of our factions. I don't know what he's doing either.」

Feeling frustrated with the Duke's subtle reply, I decided to look at the information directly through <Memory Reading>, and he was right, there was very little about the Frontier Count Naylor. But there was one thing that bothered me.

「The Frontier Count's territory is close to the place where that 『Red Scale』 was ....... If it's close to the dragon's territory, then it can be seen that it had an influence on the dragon slayers, no?」

「Yes, you're right. It was his suggestion that we send adventurers to Leshiana. It seems he had a few adventurers under his wing.」

「So he's counting on the strength of the adventurers? But there are too few of them for that. ...... It would be a different story if the adventurers were as skilled as the dragon-slayers. ......」

「Not many people in the Demon Empire claim to be dragon slayers. And since more than half of them were killed in Leshiana, there are only three who might be still alive: Adriana, Orvan, and Sinclair.」

「I see......」

Some of the names sounded familiar, but one of them was dead. So there are at most two of them left, which is still not enough in terms of strength. However, the other name that was mentioned earlier is also one that I have heard before.

「...... What kind of person is this Orvan?」

「He's a top-notch magician and one of the first to claim to be a Dragon Slayer. He has also made remarkable achievements in the field of new magic development, but he disappeared a few years ago during a request. I've also heard that he has a tendency to wander, so I wonder if he's working as an adventurer in another country?」

Indeed, someone who knows a lot about magic and has a wanderlust, that fits his description.

「You said he was developing a magic, but what exactly?」

「It's a magic for using demons. It has greatly increased the strength of the Demon Empire's army.」

Anyone familiar with telepathic technique would have come up with a countermeasure to that technique. His suspicious lack of memory may have been part of that countermeasure. Elle's change must have been related to him.

I didn't think I'd be betrayed here. All I could do was hold my head in my hands as a new problem and the biggest obstacle of all appeared.