Volume 3 - CH 6

In the place where I had transfered to, the devastation was worse than in Leshiana. The outer walls, which I had repaired to regain their solidity, were crumbling everywhere under enemy fire. The bodies of the soldiers who had defended the fort were lying everywhere, and not a single one seemed to be breathing.

「Who are you, tell me your name!」

I was feeling sick at the smell of rusty iron and the traces of blood spattered all over the place, but the magicians of the Demon Empire soon surrounded me. There were too many of them for guards, so they must have been still in the fortress. It seems that the worst was averted.

「This is Yard Ray Werner. I have business with your superiors.」

「Count Werner, huh? I've been told to let you through specially.」

I was thinking I'd have to break through here as well to proceed, but it looks like they'll save me the trouble.

「Is there anyone who was originally in the fortress here who is still alive?」

「Hmm? Yes, there's only one more now. We can't afford to be taking prisoners.」

I regretted a little when I heard the man's words, which he answered as if it was a casual thing. After all, it was too late to come here. I swore to myself that I would make the soldiers of the Demon Empire suffer the same fate as the kingdom's army.

I followed the man who started to lead the way, and after a while we arrived at a large room. This must be where Orvan or Elle was. I deployed my battle barrier and went inside.

※

First of all, there were a number of dead bodies lying around the room. All of them had minor scars and burns on their bodies, so I could assume that they had been tortured. There were also a large number of non-commissioned officers, so I guess they were not trying to extract information from us.

Among the pile of corpses, I saw several people standing there looking at me, three of whom looked very familiar.

One of them was Margarete, who had been worried about my safety. She, too, had been tortured, her usual light armor removed, her clothes torn to shreds, and her exposed skin covered with painful scars. She even had a collar around her neck like those worn by livestock.

She seemed to be barely breathing, but her expression was tainted with despair, as if she had been subjected to some horrible experience.

「It's been a long time, Count Werner. If you had been a little late, we were just about to head for the royal capital, but I'm glad you made it in time.」

Orvan, one of the familiar faces, spoke to me in the same tone as usual.

When I checked his memory before, I really couldn't find any information about the Demon Empire, but I knew there was a connection to it. It seems that I had completely fallen into his trap.

「I didn't think you were skilled enough to fool my magic.」

「Oh, you were trying to read my memories. I hate to say it, but I have some of my memories stored in a magic stone that is embedded in my body. You only saw the information recorded in my brain, didn't you?」

When I heard what he said, I tried to detect the magic power again and found a slight reaction of the magic stone in his body. How could I not notice such a simple trap? It seems that my intuition has been dulled by my familiarity with the level of this world.

「So much for getting carried away. Shall I have Margarete released now?」

「I don't mind, but I'm leaving it up to you, Elmaire, to deal with her.」

With that, he turned his head toward Elle. She had only been silent and downcast since earlier, and even when he spoke to her, she remained silent for a while.

「...... I guess it was a failure to give it to that woman.」

「Hmm?」

By failure, I assume she mean Lily and Lucia. Indeed that they succeeded in catching me off guard, but they were not skilled enough to assassinate me. Elle, who had been muttering something with a disappointed expression on her face, let out a sigh as if she had no choice but to look at me again.

「Sigh...... it's been a while, Master.」

「Yes, it has. I never thought you would betray me. What the hell do you think you're doing?」

「Master, I have not betrayed you Master. I'm cooperating with this man because I'm doing everything for you.」

「I don't know what you're thinking, but it's true that you're causing me unnecessary trouble as a result, and now that you're causing damage to my allies, there's no excuse for that.」

「I don't care if the Master hates me now. If I can rescue Master from all the bonds, then I'm sure you'll start to look only at me.」

Looking at Elle's completely tripped out state, I knew that it would be useless to say anything to her now. If she was still sane, there would have been a way to persuade her, but now that she's like this, there's no choice but to stop her, even if it means killing her.

「I understand what you're thinking. But first, let's have the hostage back.」

「I can't return this woman now. Her discipline is not yet complete.」

「Discipline?」

「That's right. She has been behaving rudely to Master, the one who saved the fortress from the enemy's attack and brought victory to the kingdom, so I'm just giving her a chance to show some respect. Now, you too must apologize to Master for all the rudeness you have shown him.」

「Kyaaa!?」

Then Elle kicked Margarete as hard as she could around the waist. Margarete was kicked out of her stance and fell down, whereupon Elle kicked her repeatedly in frustration.

Margarete, who had been treated as no better than a slave, came lumbering forward on all fours. Her eyes no longer had the will to resist, only the fear of violence in them.

「Y-Yard-sama.........I sincerely apologize for my behavior thus far. ......」

That was all she managed to say in a shaky voice, and Elle kicked her again. This time, she managed not to scream, but she must have felt a lot of pain because the kick was stronger than the last one and went into her side. The fact that her breathing was erratic also indicated that she was in a lot of pain.

「What, do you really think you can ask for forgiveness with such an apology? Just because you are a princess does not mean that you can get carried away.」

「I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry!」

「The person to apologize to is not me, but to my Master. It would be unforgivable for a trash who doesn't understand such things to have caused trouble for Master. But Master is probably more angry with you than I am, so I won't kill you until you sincerely apologize to Master.」

「I-I, am, sorry!」

「...... I can't believe you don't even understand what you did wrong. It was a mistake to leave the discipline of this woman to Orvan. I told him he could do as he pleased to a certain extent, but he had better not use her for fun.」

Elle's legs were digging into Margarete's body as she spoke each word. Elle's kicks were so filled with murderous intent that even the discipline of livestock would not have been that violent, and her body was painfully covered with several bruises.

「That's harsh. I don't think I had much time for discipline her.」

「I suppose I should have let you interrogate the Royal Guard, Orvan.」

「Well, don't say that. I've taught her how to flirt with men a bit. Oh, it was Margarete-sama, wasn't it? You'd better do as I taught you before Elmaire-san gets any angrier, okay?」

Orvan spoke to Margarete in a gentle tone, but she backed away as if she had seen something terrible, and hurried towards me to get away from him. She looked at me again with pain and smiled awkwardly, then turned her back to me and slumped down on the floor, thrusting her buttocks up toward me and spreading her crack with both hands so that I could see her secret.

I don't know if she had been raped or not, but looking at her beautiful secret flesh, as if she had never accepted a man yet, it seems that her innocence is still intact.

「Yard-sama, please feel free to use my body as an apology for the trouble I've foolishly caused you. It's a poor body that can't satisfy even one man, but if you use it until it breaks ......」

「Stop it, Margarete-dono. You don't have to listen to their orders.」

I can't get excited by the sight of Margarete's slightly swaying her hips as she spoke inviting words to me. It might have been different if she had done it voluntarily. This is something that Elle and the others are forcing her to do, and I can only feel pity for her rather pathetic state.

「Hey!」

As if something in Margarete's words had upset her, Elle interrupted her and kicked her in the face as hard as she could. It seems that she kicked her with a lot of force, and this time she couldn't even catch herself and rolled on the floor, sobbing with blood dripping from her mouth and nose.

「Who told you to invite my Master? Do you think Master is the kind of man who would be happy to be offered the body of a piece of trash like you? How dare you insult Master again at this time? I knew it, it's better to kill a piece of trash like you.」

As Elle said this, she raised her arm carelessly. The magic power is concentrated in her hands, and the magic formula is about to be activated. Looking at the composition of the technique, it seems to be a similar magic to the <Raysword> I use.

If her head is hit by that, her brain cells will be burned and it will be impossible to revive Margarete. If that happens, there's no point in rushing over from Leshiana, so I stepped in between Margarete and Elle and grabbed her arm as she was about to swing down to stop her.

「Master, please let me go. If you don't I can't kill this woman.」

「I hate to say it, but one of the reasons I'm here is to rescue her. It would grieve Sophie if you were to kill her. If you want to kill her, you'll have to deal with me first.」

「Poor thing, you've been poisoned by those women after all. I need to break that spell quickly. ......」

Elle reached out her other hand to me, and I hurriedly distanced myself from her. The magic barrier for combat is quite strong, but it has the disadvantage of being weak against contact-type magics because it does not repel mere contact that is not an attack. It's not surprising, though, since mages themselves are not designed to fight at close range.

Elle seems to be wondering whether to kill Margarete or not. If she had just swung her hand down, she would have been able to attack her while she was at it, but things don't seem to be going as planned.

「...... I understand. You, there, take care of this woman. And you can put your hands on her, but please don't do anything unpleasant in my line of sight.」

Elle left Margarete with the soldier closest to her and nailed the soldier who was about to strip her of her clothes. It was definitely not out of concern for Margarete, since she had been so violent to her, but it was certainly appreciated that I could concentrate on fighting Elle if she didn't touch her.

As Elle began to measure the distance between us and prepare to draw a magic circle, I prepared myself to counterattack at any time. But at that moment, Orvan, who had been watching from the sidelines, stepped in.

「Don't forget about me, Elmaire-san. It would be quite reckless for you to take on Count Werner by yourself.」

「You don't have to tell me every little thing. Make your preparations quickly.」

While the two of them were exchanging words like that, the magicians around me began to prepare something while surrounding me. It seems that it's more than just the two of them, but if I only look at the amount of magic power, it's not much except for Elle. Even Orvan had less than a quarter of the magic power of Elle.

The only thing is that all of the people surrounding me had some sort of magical tool in their pockets. It's hard to tell what kind of magic formula will be activated just by looking at it, so I had to keep a wary eye on my surroundings, but when Orvan saw what I was doing, he noticed my thoughts and smiled happily.

「You're curious about this magic tool, aren't you? Then let me show you its effects right away! You guys, do it!」

「Ha!」

At Orvan's command, the magic tools were all activated at once. The magic formula that was activated must belong to the telephatic system as far as the composition is concerned. If I don't know the details of the effect, I can't activate a counter-magic, so I decided to use a magic barrier to withstand it. However, it seems to have been a bad move in the end.

(『The first magic barrier has been disabled. The second magic barrier has been disabled. The third magic barrier has been disabled. Fourth magic barrier disabled. Fifth magic barrier, resistance failure canceled. Tracing attack magic failed. Retreat is recommended.』)

The moment the non-corporeal sash made of magical power came into contact with my magic barrier, my magic barrier was nullified along with the combat barrier, and the sash wrapped around my body.

Fortunately, there was no physical force, and it seemed that I was not particularly unable to move my body, but as soon as I tried to deploy the magic barrier again, the flow of magic power was forcibly stopped and I failed to activate it. It was then that I finally realized that the magic formula they had just used was something that would interfere with my ability to activate the magic formula.

It's the kind of magic that would require dozens of magicians in this world to nullify magical barriers and even sealing the ability to activate a magic. It is not possible for the magicians in this room, less than ten of them, to activate it. Perhaps by limiting the effect to only me, they have greatly increased the nullification ability.

I had dismissed everyone but Elle as no threat, but when I thought about it, there was a good chance that she was advising them because she knew my magic formula well. I may have underestimated her a bit.

「Hahaha, I didn't expect you getting hit by magic without even dodging! Now you're just a human being who can't use magic. How does it feel to have your best magic sealed?」

「...... Yeah, it's been a really long time.」

「Isn't that right? It's true that you are unrivaled in magic, but that's why you underestimate the other magicians so much! You think that no matter how many of magician we have, there's no way we can beat you, and that's why we're trying to take the spell you just cast! That's your weakness!」

Perhaps he was getting excited because he had sealed my magic, Orvan spoke to me in a loud voice as if he was shouting. The situation was so depressing that I felt the urge to punch him, but I managed to restrain myself. He was probably deploying a magical barrier, so if I hit him, my fist would break.

「Master, there's nothing to worry about. I will bring you back soon after I undo the brainwashing of the women who have been seducing you. Please wait just a little longer.」

Elle happily hugged me and rubbed my cheek. The other magicians were also smirking at me and smiling uncomfortably. It seems that in their minds, I've been rendered powerless and harmless.

「Count Werner, I won't harm you if you stay quiet, but if you get out of control, you'll have to be prepared to lose an arm or two.」

「Fumu, let's check it out, shall we?」

As soon as I pushed Elle, who was hugging me, away from me, the magicians around me immediately unleashed multiple magics on me. As there was no magic barrier protecting me, of course I was hit directly, and just as he had said, I heard the bones in my arm break. Even so, the attacks did not stop, and my arm had already become like an avant-garde object.

「Orvan, what are you doing to my Master! Stop this attack now!」

「Even so, Elmaire-san. He's the one who ignored my advice.」

「Do you really want to be separated from your head and body so badly?」

「Oh, God. I understand. Stop the attack!」

When the attack stopped with a snap at Orvan's command, Elle came up to me in a panic. She took my arm and had a sad expression on her face.

「Master, why are you doing this meaningless thing? I am not an enemy of Master. You don't have to do this suicidal thing, I will definitely release you. ......」

「Yeah, I certainly don't need you guys to release me.」

I shake off Elle's arm and apply the <Major Heal> to my own arm. My arm, which had been like a squishy broken tree branch, instantly regained its original shape, and I could even move my fingers to confirm that the nerves were connected.

「Ehh? Wh-why ......」

Elle looked at the scene with a shocked expression. No wonder she was surprised if she believed that I couldn't use magic. Orvan and the other magicians around me were generally showing the same reaction. Since his appearance was so full of gaps, I was able to activate the magic barrier and various strengthening formulas with plenty of time to spare in the meantime.

「You guys, if you are so dumbfounded in front of me, it's like you're asking me to kill you, you know?」

I launched the <Dismemberment>, which enlarged the target, at everyone who was still frozen looking at me, and all the magicians except Orvan and Elle, who barely resisted, fell to the ground with their limbs severed.

The power of this magic is still far less powerful than that of the original magic which not only can cut the limbs, but it can cut entire body that can be cut into small pieces, but the fact that it only cuts off the limbs is proof of that this magic is inferior.

Incidentally, Margarete, who had seen the arm of the person who had grabbed her fall from her grasp, seemed to have let go of her consciousness and collapsed on the spot, as if her mental load had reached its limit at the sight of the rain of spattering blood and the sound of moist flesh falling to the ground.

「Th-the sealing magic must have succeeded for sure! So why can you still using magic without a care in the world!?」

「Fumu, it might be hard for you to understand since you only know the magic of the Demon Empire, but there are two systems of magic that can seal the target's magic. One is the telepathic system that you used on me, which interferes with the opponent's ability to activate the magic and seals its activation. The other is the Special Nature Manipulation Magic, which interferes with the effects of a magic that has already been activated and suppressing or nullifies it.」

「Wh-What does it matter!?」

「I've heard that you used to be a researcher, but you have no idea. The only thing that can be sealed by the telepathic system magic is my ability to activate the magic. There are no restrictions on the activation of magic tools that already have a formula configuration. Like this.」

I cast a <Dispel> on myself to break the seal. Now there were no more restrictions on my magic. It was the first time in a long time that I could experience the sensation of being unable to fire my magic, so I felt like I had benefited as a result.

「If it is a magic tool that can be used for multiple magic, its size will not be something that can be hidden in the pocket. The magic tool that you just saw was also divided into eight parts so that it could be held by hand. And yet, you don't seem to be holding that magic tool!」

「I do have it. Here it is.」

I took out a small bottle from my pocket. The vial, which has been hardened, contains what looks like a piece of crystal. When he saw it glittering in the light, Orvan gave me a wry smile even though he was in a trapped situation.

「It would be impossible to make a magic tool out of such a small object, right?」

「Not according to your common sense, man. This is a piece of a dark elf's brain that I picked up when I picked up Elle. Even at this size, it's capable of activating several kinds of magic.」

Unlike ordinary magic tools that need to be carved into objects, the brain can be activated simply by giving it magic power as long as it can remember the formula structure. It's not impossible to memorize several kinds of formulas, as it has the capacity to store countless amounts of knowledge.

As expected, I could only use a magic that was much less powerful than the one that I had activated on my own, but the magic tool was still able to generate enough power to break the seal that was placed on me.

「You can crystallize the brain into a magic tool ......?」

「If you were involved in the development of the magic, you should have pursued more possibilities. A surgeon's brain should be the first place to study, right? Well, no need for more chatter.」

Orvan has been trembling since earlier, listening to me. Since he was so vulnerable, it would be a shame if I didn't target him, so I activated the <Fear>. He couldn't react to my attack and looked like he was going to fall into a coma, but Elle stepped in between us just in time to stop my attack.

「Orvan, how long are you going to be ridiculous? Just because the seal has been broken, it doesn't mean you've lost yet.」

「Y-yeah......」

Shaking his head lightly, Orvan regained his composure and showed his intention to fight me again. I knew that most of his attacks would go away, but it was still a little troublesome for the two of them.

No matter how much she wanted to protect her friends, I didn't think Elle would be willing to take the hit on his behalf. In addition, if I had been able to do so before, she would not have been able to take the my current attack and would have been subjected to the effects of the <Fear>. It seems that her magic power has increased considerably.

Elle's magic power must have been almost at the limit of its growth. If you think about it, there is no way to increase your magic power this much in a short period of time, but if you want to do it temporarily, there is a way to force it to increase.

Many of the corpses of the kingdom soldiers lying around were dressed as magicians. If she had dared to gather magicians, I could immediately guess the method Elle had taken.

「Elle, you took the magic power of the kingdom soldiers, didn't you?」

「Yes, I did. I used the magic that Master showed me before, I think it was <Mana Seize>. The increase in magic power is only temporary, but this is the kind of preparation that is necessary to fight the Master.」

「Yeah, you're right, your amount of magic power is much higher than before. It's twice ...... no even three times as much as before.」

Even the old Elle had a magic power that far surpassed that of an ordinary magician. The current Elle would be able to pull out my magic barrier and hit me with an attack magic.

「I'm coming! Ovan, match me!」

As soon as Elle said the words, she started running and tried to get behind me. She uses her <Ice Statue> to check my movement and freezes the floor around me to block my movement.

「『Light』!」

Orvan started running in the opposite direction of Elle, and then unleashed a light magic to further blind me. The light painted my eyes shut, and I lost sight of the two of them for a moment.

It would be troublesome if they took a pincer position, so I tried to release a <Fireball> in the direction Elle ran to break the ice on the floor, but the moment I got used to the light and regained my vision, Elle was not in the immediate vicinity of the position I was aiming for, and I hurriedly stopped the activation when I saw Margarete fall instead.

I was once again alerted to my surroundings, but I couldn't see Elle anywhere in the room. Since Covert magic cannot hide one's appearance, she must either be hiding with her own Covert magics, or she has been using transfer.

「I can't have you looking away!」

When I lost sight of Elle and stopped moving for a moment, Orvan took advantage of the opportunity and thrust out a dagger at me. The blade had been given a magic similar to a <Dispel> in order to penetrate my magic barrier. But an attack of that magnitude would not be able to break through even one of my battle barriers.

「Wha, guahhh!?」

Trusting in the strength of the magic barrier, I activated the fireball without defending against his attack. The blade stopped moving right in front of me, and I succeeded in hitting him with a close-range counter when his attack created an opening.

The fireball that exploded at close range broke through his magical resistance without difficulty and struck him directly in the abdomen, melting his skin, cutting his flesh, and burning his internal organs. Because it exploded at close range for me as well, the blast and heat wave that my barriers couldn't prevent came at me, but the damage to him was more serious than that.

「Gahaa! He-『Healing Light』!」

Even with blood dripping from his mouth, he was able to activate the recovery magic on himself. But burned scars take longer to heal than normal wounds. I'm not so naive as to wait for such time, so I tried to finish him off, but I saw something flying from behind me as if to cover him.

「Tsk!」

It was a knife with no markings on it that was repelled by the magic barrier. It's not possible to hurt me with such a thing, but it did give Orvan time to recover from this distraction.

Looking at him sideways, I could see that he had already recovered enough to be able to act. The knife that Elle had released seemed to have interfered with me more than anything else.

「! 『Barrier』!」

The barriers that were quickly deployed were able to catch my fireball that I fired as I turned around. However, his magical barrier could not kill the power of my magi, and his body, which had not yet fully recovered, screamed and was about to collapse after just one hit.

In a case like this, it's normal to move around while deploying barriers to avoid the enemy's continuous attacks, but he seems to be doing his best to maintain his magic formula and continues to stay in place. Unlike Elle, he doesn't have a lot of magic power, so I can't blame him, but he's clearly not strong enough to fight me. Well, it's convenient that he can't move.

There was no way I was going to miss this opportunity, so I fired fireball after fireball at the dying Orvan. His barriers, which had been able to withstand a few shots, were shattered when he lost enough concentration to maintain them.

He kicked the floor the moment the barrier shattered, somehow trying to evade my attack, but he landed where the fireball was exploded, and he was caught in the blast, injuring his leg badly.

When he lost his balance due to the pain in his leg and fell down, I took advantage of the opportunity to hit him with the <Fear>, and he was caught off guard and hit directly by my magic without avoiding it. Now I've finally defeated one of them.

As I approached to check Margarete's condition, wary of the unseen Elle, I suddenly saw the presence of Elle behind me, the barrier catching the knife and making a violent *ka-ching* sound.

Turning back to her, I reached out and tried to apply a <Sigil>, but she avoided my magic just in time and distanced herself from me again.

「I thought my surprise attack was perfect, but I knew it, that Master's magic barrier is foully hard.」

「Since you knew that, and you still fought me, so of course you naturally have a way to break it, right?」

「Yes, of course. I'll show you that I wasn't just spending my time idly.」

Then Elle took out a tube from her pocket and threw it at me with magic power. The tube seemed to be made of a material that was easily permeable to magic, so it must have had some kind of magic tool or there are magic circle inside.

When the tube exploded in the air, a large amount of paper came out. By compressing the space, the magic circle was written on each of the sheets, which were more than the volume of the paper, and the magic power was poured into all of them to activate them.

All of the magics were powerful enough to kill an ordinary magician instantly, but none of them seemed to be able to penetrate my magic barrier. I was only momentarily frightened by the large number of magics, giving Elle enough time to make her next move.

「How about this!」

In a split second, Elle had drawn up a magic circle and activated it. My magic barriers were penetrated one after another, and an overwhelming load was placed on my body. This must be the <Super Gravity> of the Fourth Type of Tactical Class Magic. Although its power is considerably diminished by my magic barrier and my magical resistance, the load on the body is still considerable.

It's quite a feat just to be standing there, being hit by a magic that crushes the enemy with several thousand times the gravity, but I can't even move a finger.

「What's the matter, Master? You're not the kind of person who would fall over from this level of magic, are you? Please show me something more relaxed.」

「I......see, if you want to see it that badly,......, I'll show you!」

As soon as I managed to endure the load on my body and activated the magic, Elle lost her posture and almost fell to the floor, just like me. What I've just activated is a Shared Joint, a magic that belongs to the Seventh Type of Special Nature Manipulation system, this magic divides the effect of the magic you're undergoing with the target in equal parts.

By sharing the effects <Super Gravity> on me, the load on me was cut in half, and combined with my magical resistance, I was able to move. On the other hand, she, who didn't have as high a magical resistance as I did, couldn't withstand the sudden impact and was knocked to the ground. She seemed to be unable to even look up due to the high gravity that made her bones creaking.

「What do you think, how powerful is your magic is?」

「Yes, I-I understand it, very well!」

As long as she can't move, there's no point in continuing the magic, and if she immediately released the <Super Gravity>, I'll release the Shared Joint as well.　

「I knew it, I can't win a head-to-head match against you, isn't it? I understand perfectly.」

「Hou, so, what are you going to do next?」

「The same as before. It seems that surprise attacks are effective against the Master.」

Elle unleashed a large number of ice statues at me. My magic barrier prevented it, but the magics collided with each other, scattering ice and filling my vision with white. She also used the thick fog <Deep Mist> to fill the room with mist and hide herself.

I tried to use Magic Detection, but there was no response at all, as if she was using a recognition blocking magic. Then I used Gust Wind to blow away the ice and fog that blocking my vision, but even though my vision became clearer, I still couldn't see her in the surrounding.

As I carefully observed the area, wondering how she could have disappeared, I felt a presence behind me and quickly jumped forward and rolled on the floor. A moment later, a number of ice spears passed by where I was standing. The magic barrier that she had slightly grazed had been broken, so I knew that it was a magic that increased the penetrating power. If I had tried to catch it, I would have been pierced.

When I checked the direction she had come from, I saw that half of her body was out of the shadow and the her other half was sinking into the floor. Apparently, the reason she had disappeared from earlier was this magic that allowed her to hide in the shadows. I reflexively activated the <Paralyze> on her, but before I could reach her, she sank into the shadows.

「It's another unusual magic. Did Orvan teach you that?」

I tried to call out to her, but there was no reply. I wondered if she couldn't hear me through the shadows. But this doesn't help me locate her. She probably wouldn't run away, but even if she just stayed like this, time would pass. I can't take too much time to prevent her from making another move.

I had no choice but to use a desperate measure. First of all, I activated the Optical Light. A dazzling light source appears, erasing the shadows in which she lurks. Now she can't come out from there. In this way, I eliminated the shadows one after another, so that no shadows appeared on the floor.

「Now, how does she come out?」

I left only one shadow, daring her to make her exit. I'm going to shoot the magic the moment she pops out of the shadow. I approached it and readied myself to attack her at any time.

She knew that she would be the target of an attack if she jumped out, but there was only one shadow that could serve as an exit. Numbed, she had no choice but to jump out from there, but I had another aim in mind.

「Wha!?」

She stopped with her shoulders trapped and only her head sticking out. I thought that only shadows larger than a certain size would be able to show their bodies, but it seems I was right.

In any case, I invoked the <Fear> with maximum strength on her when she stopped moving, but she was transferred just in time. Apparently, she had prepared a magic circle for an emergency escape. I could feel the reaction <Transfer> outside the fortress. The battle situation was bad, so she was probably planning to escape.

If I let Elle escape here, it would be another hassle, so I hurried to chase after her, but before I could draw the magic circle, someone was making a move at the place where Margarete had fallen.

「That's enough, Count Werner. If you try anything, the princess will be dead.」

When I looked at Margarete, I saw that Orvan had gotten up before I knew it and was pointing his sword at her. I wondered if he would try to kill her with a sword even though he was a magician, but I decided not to go into it.

「If you put up a futile resistance, it will only make things harder for you later on, you know?」

「*chuckle*, if I had defeated you here, there would have been no problem. Now that Elmaire-san has also escaped, it has become difficult for us to make a raid on the royal capital. Fortunately, we have a good number of magicians, so even if we go to another country, there will probably be nobles who will hire us. I feel bad for Count Naylor, though.」

「Yeah, you're such a small thing, aren't you? Well, as a magician myself, I can appreciate your attitude of trying to survive at all costs.」

Only a warrior who has sworn allegiance to something is enough to risk his life so easily. If you die, you will not be able to study the magic formula. That would be the thing that those who are trying to master magic fear more than anything else.

Orvan kept his sword on Margarete's neck and proceeded towards the exit. All the while, I watched his actions without taking any action, and I didn't feel like I was being attacked.

「By the way, I forgot to ask one question. How did you brainwash Elle?」

「I didn't do anything. She offered to help me. In exchange, I offered to help her get all the women away from you.」

「I know that she had feelings for me, but she's not fool. It's hard to believe that she'd go to such great lengths just for that.」

I knew that if she had continued to approach me the way she had been, I might have eventually fallen in love with her. She would have known that I liked her to that extent.

But Orvan was surprised for a moment when he heard my words, and then he let out a deep sigh as if to provoke me.

「...... Do you really mean that? I don't think Elmair-san deserves this.」

「What do you mean?」

「Apparently, you proposed to her, didn't you? And yet you ends up with another woman, and you can't even hold her. It's no wonder her mind is warped.」

He gave me a condescending look and said that he had no choice but to talk to me, but I had never proposed to Elle. I've only formally confessed my love to Sophie, Tia and Natalia. The only three people I've formally confessed to are Sophie, Tia and Natalia. The <AwakenedAwake> is always activated, so it's not like I was made to say it while I was unconscious.

「No, I've never proposed to her, you know?」

「Well, since you're here, I'll tell you. First of all, you know that elves are attracted to the strong opposite sex, right? The Dark Elf has the strongest instinct of them all. I think it's partly a personality thing in her case, but once she goes into heat, most Dark Elves are like that」

It seems that Elle's abnormal obsession was a tribal thing. Does this mean that the Everts and their children will eventually become like Elle? The mere thought of it is terrifying.

「Now, as for the Dark Elves' method of marriage, instead of confessing to the opposite sex, they show their own bravery. The better their bravery shown, the stronger the courtship. Also, it is said that courtship should be done in a private situation, with no one else around, and should be kept between the two of you until marriage.」

「...... Hmm?」

His words brought back memories of the time when he showed Elle the magic. At that time, I had wiped out a mountain in order to teach her the power of the Fourth Type of Magic. I also remembered instructing Elle to keep quiet so that she wouldn't find out that I had wiped out the mountain.

Come to think of it, I think it was also that night that her attitude clearly changed.

「I just happened to find out about it too, you know? I heard that you blew up the mountain. Even when the Marquis Evarts confessed his love to his wife, he only killed one giant, but for you to confess your love by blowing up a mountain, wouldn't that be enough to make her give up her entire life?」

In other words, it seems that I had unknowingly stepped on an oversized landmine. I can no longer imagine being rejected by someone I was prepared to give my whole life to. I'd rather praise herself for having endured so well until now. It's no wonder Elle is so twisted, as he says.

「...... I see, that was valuable information.」

「Is that right? Well, I guess it's too late for you to know now, but please make the best use of it. Then, I'll run away as well. I'll leave the princess on the way, so don't worry.」

「Oh, don't worry about that. Because I'm not planning to let you out of here.」

「Huh?」

I unleashed the <Wind Slash> at Orvan, who let out a dumb voice because he didn't understand what I mean, and split his torso in half, along with Margarete's body in front of him. The wall behind them was stained red from the sheer amount of blood that slammed into it.

It was because I judged that he didn't know the conditions of <Resurrection> when he was holding a sword to her neck, but to someone who didn't know that, it would look as if I had sacrificed Margarete. He tried to mutter something with a shocked expression on his face, but he was bleeding so much that he just died like that.

After confirming that he had stopped moving, I approached Margarete and connected her upper and lower body, healing the wounds all over her body before activating <Resurrection>.

Since there was still time for her to regain consciousness, I drew an escape magic circle first, then collected those who could be used as specimens, including Orvan. In the meantime, she seemed to have woken up as well.

「...... Ah, I-I'm ......?」

「You seem to be awake, Margarete-dono.」

When I called out to her, she backed away, her face drawn in fear that almost startled me. Her reaction was unavoidable since she had been tortured by the soldiers of the Demon Empire until now.　

「Don't worry, I've defeated all the soldiers of the Demon Empire that were in this room. There are no more people who will attack you.」

「Eh? Ah ......」

When she looked around and saw that all the soldiers of the Demon Empire had fallen, the strength in her body relaxed. And as soon as I thought her eyes were moistening, she hugged me vigorously.

「Uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh ......」

It must have been unimaginably terrifying for her to be alone in that kind of situation with all her allies wiped out. The fact that she was crying with her face pressed against my chest, I thought it was her way of trying not to be seen crying, so I let her do what she wanted for a while.

After a while, she seemed to have calmed down and her face was back to her usual strong mood as she pulled away from me. I don't want to mention that the edges of her eyes are red.

「Yard-sama........Thank you very much」

「Don't mention it, there must still be Demon Empire soldiers inside the fortress. Let's go outside for now.」

「Okay. kyaaa!?」

I picked up Margarete, activated the <Advanced Group Transfer> that I had prepared in advance, and transferred to a place far away from the fort. When I left her looking around in panic not knowing what was going on. I looked towards the fort, and I saw that the Demon Empire soldiers were still there.

「Margarete-dono」

「Ye-yes. What is it?」

「The fort has fallen into the hands of the enemy. If we leave them alone, they will only harm the kingdom, so can I eliminate them with the fort?」

「Eh-uhh......?」

She didn't seem to understand the part about the with the fort, and when she heard my words, she was so confused that it felt like there were a lot of question marks floating around in her head. Well, no one in common sense would be able to answer immediately when suddenly asked if it was okay to destroy the fort. Let's make preparations while she's still wondering.

She nodded once as if to convince herself and looked at me after weighing the loss of the fort and the annihilation of the Demon Empire soldiers here for a while. It seems that she has finally come to a conclusion.

「Was there anyone else from the kingdom in the fortress besides me?」

「No, they were literally wiped out. The enemy could not afford to take prisoners.」

「...... I see」

Even though it was expected, the fact that her subordinates had been wiped out would have given her a great shock. But her eyes never wavered as she stared at my face.

「If we can annihilate the enemy by destroying that fort. I'll allow you to do so on my own responsibility.」

「I see, I'm sorry.」

「No, it's all my fault for not being able to prevent the enemy from invading. You have nothing to apologize for.」

I was a little worried that her heart might be broken, but it seems that such concern was unnecessary. Seeing her eyes filled with her usual strength of will, I was reassured that she was fine.

Now that I have Margarete's permission, let's go out with a bang. I activated the magic circle that I had prepared and activated the Fourth Type of Nature Manipulation Magic, a <Minor Black Hole>.

Immediately after the activation, there was no change in the situation, and Margarete's gaze pierced my body as if to ask me what I was doing, but after a while, the fort began to collapse. And the crumbling part of the fort did not fall down, but was pulled towards the black spot in the center of the fort.

Naturally, those who were inside the fort were not safe, and those who were a short distance away also fell to the black spot, along with the walls and ground they were clinging to. When there was nothing left to inhale, there was nothing left but the hemispherically gouged ground.

Not a single weed was left, and even Margarete had to admit that she was in awe.

「Yard-sama ...... this is ......」

「Hmm?」

「Isn't this similar to the devastation that occurred near the northern watchtower before?」

「...... You're right, it could be similar.」

Come to think of it, Margarete was one of the people who might have known about the destruction marks of this magic. I hadn't thought about what was around me before, because I had only used it to show Elle.

Passing her gaze that seemed to accuse me of having done that too, I decided to leave her with Sophie for the time being, after confirming that there were no magicians left by magic detection.

※

After I left Margarete at the mansion, I went back to Olympia and Melvina. When they saw me, they hurriedly approached me, and I caught them so they wouldn't fall.

「Master, where on earth have you been!?」

「I don't want you to just say something like that and disappear! You have no idea how narrow-minded we were because of Yard-sama's sudden disappearance. ......」

I couldn't keep up with the momentum of the two girls who, after hugging me, started questioning me like I was on fire, so I just listened to them for a while, Sagami came up to me when he noticed I was there.

「Sigh ...... where have you been up to, Yard-dono?」

「Ah, Leshiana and Fort Gurta. Both were attacked by separate units of the Northern Alliance. It didn't look like I was going to be able to rescue them in time, so I did what I could to destroy them.」

「I-I didn't know that. ...... But if it's true, even more so, you should tell someone about it. Your sudden disappearance has raised suspicions that the two of them are working with the Northern Alliance.」

「Yeah, I'll be more careful from now on. So, what's the status of the war here?」

「I'd like to hear more about your side of the story, but I don't mind. Our battle is already over. The enemy troops were unable to use magic as soon as Yard-sama disappeared, and the soldiers who left the front line surrendered. Now, I've just sent a surrender notice to the lord again.」

「Oh, you've already gotten to that point? That's good to know.」

Well, as soon as I released Leshiana, the enemy's reliance on the improvised magician squad would no longer be functional, and Alec would have to go on a rampage to finish the job. Now he could take the credit for destroying the enemy force all by himself. I guess I kept my promise.

Seeing that the war was over and the tense atmosphere in the main camp was gone, I knew that I had survived this crisis. This time, I had been outwitted, and it had been really dangerous. I have to give my utmost thanks to Elaine for making me aware of the enemy's tactics.

「Oh, I thought you were going to involve them in the negotiations. The other side's negotiators will probably be arriving by the end of the day, so you'd better get ready quickly, Yard-dono.」

That's harsh, considering that I had just been engaged in a series of battles. Well, it can't be helped that Sagami doesn't know about my situation.

「Yard-sama, you shouldn't be wearing such dirty clothes, let's change quickly.」

Hurried by Olympia and Melvina who were so excited to finally be on duty, I headed for my tent.

※

Just as Sagami had said, as soon as I had changed my clothes, the Emperor, the Frontier Count Naylor, and several other nobles arrived at the main camp of the Royal Army as they were taken by the Royal Army.

When they entered the tent used for the meeting, they first saw Olympia standing on the side of the Royal Army and became angry, and then they saw Melvina standing next to her, and now their face paled.

For some reason, one of the most senior nobles in the Demon Empire was attached to the side of the Royal Army. In addition, the Gran family, Olympia's parents' family, and the Evarts family, Melvina's bride's family, did not get along well, but both families were known for their loyalty to the Emperor, and the sight of them working together on the side of the kingdom was seen as evidence that the nobles' interest in the Emperor had drifted away. It must have been.」

「You are, I believe, the daughter of the Duke of Gran,.......」

「Yes, Olympia Lia Gran Daro, Your Majesty. But the current head now belongs to my brother.」

「...... Next one is Melvina-dono, right? I had no idea that your house would betray us, but ......」

「If you had surrendered when the Imperial Capital was attacked, I don't think the situation would have deteriorated to this extent. It seems that Your Majesty was putting your own self-preservation first, but if you do such an injustice, there will eventually be no one left to follow you, you know?」

「Hmph. Those who wag their tails to the kingdom will have no idea what I am thinking.」

「If this is the result of your thinking, it won't be good for future generations either.」

「Nuuu......」

Negotiations have begun to determine the treatment of the Northern Alliance by appointing the Emperor and the Frontier Count, who were already in a state of scarcity, before the negotiating table.

Incidentally, the negotiator here was Alec. I heard that he wanted to do it by all means. Since he was too anxious, Melvina was placed next to him. She knows a fair amount about the situation in the Demon Empire, and he chose her so that Alec wouldn't feel uncomfortable next to her, but she looked like she was dying when he asked her.

「Now, before I hear what you have to say, I would like you to keep in mind that the Kingdom will not compromise on the execution of the Emperor of the Demon Empire, no matter what conditions you offer.」

「...... Yeah, that's a given.」

The Emperor, who looked depressed when he first came in, didn't seem to be too shaken by Alec's check. The other nobles also did not lose their relaxed attitude even though they were detained.

Perhaps it is because of the presence of the separate team that they can afford to do so. They may have realized that something had happened to Leshiana when they were no longer able to use their magic, but they probably think that the fortress has been taken over by the other team and that they are now marching to the royal capital.

「Now, let me give you a word of advice. Don't get carried away by the fact that you've captured us, or you might get caught.」

「What ......?」

「If you don't know, that's fine. The only conditions we can offer are the immediate dismantling of the Northern Alliance, the return of the titles of the nobles who belonged to it, and the dispatch of deputies from the kingdom to the remaining territories. My execution is also basically acceptable, but with a few conditions.」

「Murgh, tell me」

In contrast to the Demon Empire's strong stance on negotiations, Alec, who was definitely not experienced enough in negotiations, seemed to be listening to what the other side had to say. Maybe he doesn't understand exactly what the other side is offering. It's a real mystery to me why he has chosen to be a negotiator.

Just as I felt the same way about Alec, Olympia and the others seemed to feel the same way about him.

「Master, why does the kingdom have a man like that as a negotiator?」

「He is still the man who is regarded as the most accomplished among the heroes. Such a man confidently proposed himself as a negotiator, and the surrounding nobles must have agreed without thinking.」

「...... It was a wise decision in every sense of the word for the kingdom to summon a hero. If they hadn't relied on a non-standard existence like Master, even if there hadn't been the threat of the Demon Empire, the kingdom would have fallen in the not too distant future.」

「There are a lot of people in the royal family who think properly, so they should still be fine.」

「If they can't control the stupid nobles, they can't be competent, right?」

Olympia, who was sitting next to me, took advantage of the fact that the others were concentrating on negotiations to talk to me all she wanted. Melvina was on the other side of Olympia, too far away to talk to me, and Melvila looked at her with envious eyes.

Although I occasionally listens while talking with Olympia, the negotiations don't seem to be going well. The kingdom, as the victor, is offering strong conditions, but it seems that the kingdom confused that the Demon Empire denying the conditions with mysterious ease. Thus the discussion followed a parallel line, and Alec, who had finally reached the end of his patience, stood up, banging on the desk.

「The kingdom's army is the one that won this battle! So why do we have to make peace with the loser on equal terms! If you can't accept our terms, I can execute all of the people who belonged to the Northern Alliance!」

「C-Count Gilflea, you can't expose your emotions like that.......」

Melvina froze for a moment because of Alec's sudden standing up, but she quickly came back to her sense and hurriedly pulled on his clothes to get him to sit down. But once he showed his anger, it was already too late.

「Ohhh, that's terrible. But the remaining people would never obey a country so ruthless that it would purge us all. Besides, the kingdom had no experience in invading and ruling other countries, not even in dealing with rebellions, so how could the kingdom possibly plan to rule the entirety of the Demon Empire?」

Anger now was a bad move. I could understand his frustration at the fact that the other party wouldn't budge at all, but negotiations are a psychological war. If you show anger, it will be obvious that you can't handle it.

As expected, the other side seemed to have recognized Alec as an easy opponent. The kingdom's pale complexion is uniformly bad, but Melvina's pale complexion is especially bad. She's smiling and trying to look comfortable, but she looks like she's about to collapse.

It's a scene that makes it hard to tell who has the initiative, the Demon Empire side negotiating with a relaxed atmosphere or the kingdom side. To be honest, it's not an interesting scene to watch.

As for me, I'd rather they just admit defeat and fold. I didn't want to interfere too much, but if we don't break the source of their confidence, this discussion will only drag on.

「Please forgive me to interrupt the negotiations, but I just have one question for you.」

All of the people on the Demon Empire's side distorted their expressions as if they were offended because someone who hadn't participated in the negotiations until now suddenly started talking, but I didn't care because their expressions would soon collapse.

「As a matter of fact, as a result of our investigation, we have received information that the forces of the Demon Empire had also invaded Leshiana. If you have surrendered, then those troops must also stop fighting, is this information true?」

「Such a story is beyond our control. Or is the fact that we have surrendered seen as a slight by those in the kingdom?」

「I see, it seems that the report contained false information. Then I would like to apologize here with the life of the person who delivered the report.」

I activated the <Advanced Matter Transfer> and showed the other party Orvan's raw head.

The people of the Demon Empire who saw his face understood the fact that the fortress had already been subdued, not to mention the case of Leshiana, and the leeway they had shown until now instantly turned to despair.

It was a grotesque sight, so I hid it with a cloth and turned to the Emperor again.

「U-Umu, I forgive you for your rudeness.」

Inwardly, they probably wanted to question me, but since I hadn't told them anything about the fortress, they replied with bland words so as not to dig their own graves. f they had slipped up here, we could have gotten a big bargaining chip to justify their surprise attack on the kingdom and the damage they caused to the fortress, but even if they didn't want to go that high, this would have made negotiations easier.

「Yeah, that's the end of my questions. I apologize for interrupting the negotiations, please continue.」

「Murhh, I wasn't sure, but ...... fine, let's continue the negotiations.」

After a pause, Alec regained his composure and spoke to the Emperor, but it seemed that the other party no longer had time to negotiate. The last and greatest trump card was gone, so it was only natural.

Still, I would have to take care of Melvina later. It was too much to ask her to take care of Alec. She was undoubtedly the one who had the most trouble during this mission. If I were in her position, I would have given up before we reached the Frontier Count.

I'll keep listening to everything Alec and the others are saying, and I'll make appropriate responses to Olympia's questions. I'm tired from all the work I've done today. I'll go to bed as soon as this negotiation is over.