Volume 18 - CH 7

I walked through the castle town of Holy Kingdom of Ufa with Serina.

I had already gotten a map of this place from Frederick.

The sky was still bright, but it would be dusk in another hour or so.

It's a good time to go.

「I don't mean to be inappropriate, but this is kind of like a date.」

Whether she was teasing me or not, Serina said with a mischievous smile.

With a sigh, I coldly said back.

「Yeah, that's pretty inappropriate. Have you forgotten where we are? Keep your lovemaking to your bed. Not while you're in this country.」

「G-got it, sorry.」

I heard from Nicole that if you pick up girls, some scary people will come out and take you away.

I'm sure we'll be fine because me and Serina know each other, but just getting interrogated is a troublesome.

It's like a crown under a tree.

When you come to a place like this, you can appreciate the generosity of the country like a bowl of rice.

「Well, I guess it's a good place for lovers to go on a date. As it's a good place for sightseeing.」

I paid attention to Serina as she fell silent with a stiff expression of remorse.

「Yes, I know it's hard to clean a building that's all white, but they're clean. ......」

「I guess they are required by law to clean it anyway. There are ten different kinds of people, and no matter what country you're from, there's always at least one sloppy person in ten.」

「That's right. ...... In that light, this all-white thing is scary in reverse.」

「I agree」

「All right, Alec, I'm going to go around the central market and then I'm going to the tavern.」

「Yeah, I'll see you later.」

I'm not going to tell her where I'm going, but I'm going to leave Serina and go our separate ways.

The tail is ...... two people?

I can easily spot them without looking back because I have 【Eyes In The Back】 of my head.

They are both young men in white robes, and their muscularity is visible even through the robes.

I don't have a weapon in my hand, but they'll probably 【Call Their Friends】, and I want to avoid fighting here as much as possible.

「Oho, young lady, you're so beautiful!」

「O-old man, what are you doing ......」

The third man, Varius, who seemed to have been following me without any skills, was, of all people, picking up a passerby in the area.

The ridiculous turn of events almost made me dizzy.

「What, I thought I'd help my pupil out a bit. Here comes the priest soldier.」

A group of white ninja-like men dressed like different colored versions of Kuroko's are surrounding the area.

I'm surprised that the security organization rushed to the scene within seconds of the incident,......, but I guess we were marked from the beginning because we were related to Crusher Letty anyway.

But tsk, that old bastard.

And then he just disappeared on his own.

「Where's the old man from earlier?」

「I-I can't find him!」

「Find him! He can't have gone far. Don't let him get away!」

The ninjas (priests) scattered in various directions and disappeared.

The last remaining ninja came in front of me and a passerby who had been picked off and said,

「You can't tell anyone what you just saw. Even if is your family. It's all according to the will of God Falbas.」

「Y-yes, as the Lord Falbas wills.」

「I understood」

I should probably say the same thing, but it would probably sound fake if an apparently unbeliever said it in a nonchalant manner.

I don't think anyone who speaks the name of an important deity so casually has faith.

I don't know if it was the right decision or not, but the ninja in front of me soon disappeared.

「Good grief ......」

I waited there for a bit to complain to the old man when he came back, but he didn't seem to be coming back.

But now I understood that the country's security apparatus was close enough to rush to the scene within seconds.

I thought I had been paying a fair amount of attention to my tail, but I hadn't noticed the white ninja army now.

I almost got caught on the hook of the pseudo-bait (lure), assuming it was just the two of them following me.

I don't want to thank the old man, though.

After walking for a while, I saw a lot of people going into the temple, so I bought a white robe from a stall and put it on, then joined the people and went into the temple.

I used 【Optical Camouflage】 to disappear in the blind spot of the pillars, and then used 【Instantaneous Movement】 to go out to the backyard.

――Okay, this time, there's no one following me.

Even if they found out that they had lost sight of me, it would take a long time to find me with that many people.

Besides, the old man must have taken most of the ninja army with him. There was no way they were going to spend hundreds of man-hours cracking down on pick-ups.

In a state of invisibility, I walked through the city and headed for a place.

Castle Rubidoux.

This is the castle where Elisa is being held.

The castle stood on the western outskirts of Ufa, in the middle of a lake.

The white walls reflected on the surface of the lake, giving us a good view, but I guess this was more to keep the prisoners from escaping than to look good.

There must be an ugly side hidden beneath the beautiful castle.

Elisa, such an honest and sincere knight, is punished for a trivial reason.

It can't be sane.

「Well, let's sneak in.」

I mumbled to myself to get my energy up, and then went straight using 【Levitate】 to cross the lake surface.

I was nervous, but fortunately, I was able to sneak into the castle without the alarm going off or the soldiers rushing in.

It's not time to make a scene yet.

It had to be after Frederick's visit Elisa, or he might end up looking like a stalker.

His childhood crush desperately needs time to check the facts.

Besides, it was still too early to set it up.

Serina and Saki would probably be gathering information, and it would be too dangerous to launch any attack until we knew a little more about the country's internal situation and security.

We need to think about what happens after we rescue Elisa.

The inside of the castle looked like an ordinary castle, but there were large white cloths adorning the corridors everywhere, with a blue double circle in the center.

This is the symbol of the god Falbas, who is widely worshipped in this continent.

Why is it that religions are so particular about decorations, I wonder?

Well, I'm not a religious person, so there's no way I can understand why.

As I was floating down the corridor, I heard the clinking of armor walking from the other side, so I stood still and stuck to the ceiling.

Two full-plate guards came trotting in from the other side, seemingly on patrol.

「Did you hear that the Demi's were planning a rebellion?」

「What, is that true?」

「Yeah, that's not a lie. The security has been greatly increased since yesterday. I secretly overheard the captain talking to the high priest.」

「So that's the reason. ...... I've been off duty today, and I got knocked up, and it's the most stuffy thing since Crusher Letty's bombing.」

「Indeed, What a bunch of devils they are to not fear the majesty of the great God Falbas!」

They didn't notice me and walked right past me.

I don't know what a Demi is, but they did something troublesome.

At the very least, I wanted them to wait until after Elisa's case was settled.

But a rebellion, huh. Maybe this country isn't as monolithic as I thought.

I started to float down the corridor again, looking for Elisa.