Volume 19 - CH 1

A luxury inn in the magical kingdom of Austin, where the self-proclaimed Wigger Liberation Front is believed to be secretly holed up.

The inn was located on the main street.

「This is Whitestone, arriving at point A, east of target.」

I heard the slightly noisy voice of Serina.

「This is Fast Hope, we're at point B, west of the target! The target went home in a good mood about ten minutes ago, drinking, singing, and eating all kinds of fancy sweets.」

Saki reported, but there was no way that the hostages, who were supposed to be locked up, could drink freely outside. This case is confirmed as a crazy story.

「I knew it. Next, point C, report.」

「This is Cherry Boy――」

Cherry responded, but halfway through, the twins blew up.

「「Pfft, Cherry Boy? Only elementary school students that are allowed to have virginity, cyahaha」」

「Ummm, I'm a married man with kids. ...... Oh well.」

「What?」 「「Eh?」」

Everyone's surprised to learn that Cherry wasn't a virgin, but it's time for a mission.

「Wow, Cherry-sensei, what's your wife like?」

「If you ask me what kind of person she is, ......, I can't really describe her in a few words, Serina-kun. My wife is a kind, devoted and respectful person.」

「Whitestone, Cherry Boy, keep your mouth shut. We're on a mission.」

「Yes, yes, copy, Harem King.」

「Roger that, too, Harem King. Cherry Boy is on schedule to arrive at point C, north of the target, or the back entrance to the luxury inn.」

「Okay, next. Oi, Silent Archer, answer me.」

「Mmm. Mmm.」

Mare's nuanced reply suggests that she and Thalia are safely in position at Point D, upstairs across from the inn, sniper point .......

There's not much point in communicating. If this was the case, I should have put her partner Thalia in charge of communications. Thalia was so nervous that she declined, saying, "I'll leave it to the first team member!" I'm sure she's coming with her, though.

By the way, Cherry-sensei had the magic tool for this communication, so I borrowed it. It's a small device that can be attached to the ear, and it functions the same as a hands-free radio.

Cherry is an excellent mage who makes things that can be used in a humble way.

「Next, Gemini.」

「Ahh, yeah, this is Gemini. let's see....Serina ....... no that's not it, we're right behind Whitestone, at Point E. right?」

「Riight~!」

Sasha and Misha seem to be in position as well.

「Now, count to ten and go in. If the target resists, you can kill them. But don't let them escape. I've already talked to the owner of the inn, so we can destroy the building. However, don't cause trouble to other buildings or passersby. It's a matter of honor for the Black Cat of the Wind.」

「「「 Roger that! 」」」

Thirteen seconds later, I heard an explosion from the street across from me, and it seemed to have begun. There's a small tapping sound, but it's probably the sound of magic.

「This is Whitestone, target suppression complete, both of them are captured. We're taking them in now.」

「All right, bring them to Point Omega as planned. I'm on my way there.」

Meena, Elisa and I are heading for the basement of the warehouse on the back street.

「Come on, get in there.」

Luka kicked them and made them sit on the chairs in the basement with black hats on their heads.

「Eekk, help mee!」

「Ah, I'll pay you all the money I have! Please, please, please spare my life!」

They were shaking and shivering, but they didn't seem to know it was us yet.

「Serina, take off their masks.」

「Okay.」

Serina took off their masks.

「Huh? That's Alec. What a surprise!」

Letty shows a relieved face, but the other middle-aged man with brown hair remains pale.

I tried to use [Appraisal] this guy, but his name was not O'Neill.

It may be an alias or one of his friends, but whatever his name is, it doesn't matter at this point.

「This letter, you guys wrote it, didn't you?」

I showed her the letter from the Wigger Liberation Front.

「Uh, yeah, right? A scary masked man threatened us, so we were forced to write it」

Letty says, smiling.

「That's a lie.」

「H-How do you know that, Serina?」

「I got in touch with the real Wigger Liberation Front people and asked them if they knew you guys. The answer is, "We don't know". They said they didn't kidnap anyone but people from the Holy Kingdom.」

「No, I was born and raised in the Holy Kingdom.」

The man in the chair next to her said with a smile.

「Don't lie to me, I've done my research on you too, Yamasi-san. You're a former bard from the Kingdom of Vernia, and now you're a professional hostage taker, right?」

「T-that's bullshit! I'm suing you for libel, boy! And you've got the wrong guy. My name is O'Neill now.」

I sighed. I can't believe he's still feign ignorance.

「Well, it doesn't matter either way. At least today you guys were in a good position to sing, drink, and eat fancy sweets at the tavern.」

「「Uh, that's ......」」

The two of them swept their gazes and broke out in a cold sweat. They both seem to understand that there are many witnesses, as expected.

「Letty, why did you do this? If you could have gotten out, why didn't you just come back?」

「No, I managed to get out and had a drink at a bar over here, and O'Neill and I hit it off.」

「T-that's right. We were talking about a easy prey, and Letty said she knew a rich adventurer. I'm so sorry! It was just a spur of the moment thing.」

「So that's us.」

「W-well yeah... Hey, you know, Alec's party is rich, right, tee hee」

I could hear the sound of the tension in the hilt of Serina sword even from here. That's scary.

「Letty, if you were really caught, threatened, and sold us out, I'd have some sympathy for you. But if you're in league with the criminals, then you're an accomplice. In other words, you're our enemy.」

I said, and pulled out my sword.

「Ehhh! N-Nononono, It's just a light joke. you don't have to take it seriously.」

「Letty! When you were captured in the Holy Kingdom, everyone was worried about you, you know. Maybe a little.」

Serina scolded her.

「What do you mean a little?」

「It's your own fault. You knew we were going to the Holy Kingdom and you didn't tell me about the bombing, Letty.」

「It was because I thought that my true identity was not known to the Holy Kingdom. ...... Besides, the headmaster asked me to do the bombing.」

Letty said something unexpected.

「What? Is that true?」

「If you want, you can ask the headmaster. It was a rescue mission for our graduates who were trapped inside the Sacred Tomb of Irv.」

「Hmm, I've heard about that mission from the Headmaster as well. "Operation Hurricane of Freedom." Unfortunately it was terrible story that more than half of the prisoners were either dead or insane. ...... But the tombs were used as brainwashing devices to make the prisoners swear allegiance to the Holy Kingdom.」

Since Cherry says it, it must be true.

「T-that's a lie! There's no way such a thing could happen in the Holy Kingdom!」

Elisa, who was listening to the conversation on the side, became upset.

「Calm down, Elisa. We can look into it later.」

I say. It's probably true, though.