Volume 9, Chapter 7 “The Squirming Ones”
Volume 9, Chapter 7 “The Squirming Ones”
Part 1
Inside the school.
A soldier dressed as a lone sky pirate was running around with a rifle.
“Damn. Damn! The savages of the kingdom!”
It was the boys’ dormitory that the man had broken into.
He was sent from the girls’ dormitory to stop the boys, saying that it would be troublesome if the boys came to the rescue.
The soldier hid behind a pillar and took a moment to regulate his disordered breathing.
“They’re just kids, my ass. Aren’t they ridiculously strong?”
As he hid, a group of boys with weapons came down the stairs.
A boy with a headband holding a lantern in his left hand and a dagger clutched in his right hand.
“He must have run this way, Daniel.”
Next to him is a large axe. It’s a tall male student holding a battle axe with both hands.
“Sneaking around like that. I’m gonna kick your ass! Raymond, definitely find him!”
“Of course”
A group of boys, presumably in the upper grades, breathing with bloodied weapons.
Behind the two, a group of boys, each armed with a weapon of their own, were looking around with a murderous look on their faces.
The nobles――the boys hate sky pirates very much.
Especially for the lords and nobles, they are the ones who undermine their interests.
If they saw someone dressed as a sky pirate, they would not be able to forgive him.
When such a group of boys headed to a different location, the soldiers hurriedly headed to the opposite side of the street from where they were headed.
“Damn it! The people upstairs are going to get out of here and leave us to die. ――They’ll kill us if we stay here. We’ve got to get out of here.”
Looking out the window, they could see the airship they were on moving away.
The soldiers predicted that they wouldn’t even have time to wait for their allies to retreat, so they were in a state to throw away their mission and run away.
When these soldiers finally came down to the first floor, they saw a pair of boy and girl.
“Aare, this way!”
“Yes, His Highness Jake”
A small male student was holding the hand of a large female student and running away.
Why is there a female student in the boys’ dormitory? Such a question came to mind, but the soldier raised the corner of his mouth at the words of the female student.
“Is the little one a prince?”
A soldier stepped in front of them with a rifle and pointed the muzzle at the large female student called Aare.
“Don’t move! If you move, that girl over there――”
The soldier’s decision to take Aare hostage and capture Jake to ensure his safety was probably not a mistake.
However, Aare quickly moves herself out of the line of fire and approaches the soldier.
A panicked soldier opened fire, but the bullet only hit the floor.
He made a move to load the next round, but by that time, Aare was close behind. After knocking the rifle off with an elbow strike, Aare kicked the soldier with her long beautiful legs――She swung her leg down from the high point.
The soldier receives a heel drop and falls to the ground.
(T-This girl is very strong――)
As his consciousness faded, the soldier heard the conversation between the two.
“Are you okay!”
“Y-Yes, His Highness Jake”
“I told you to stop calling me His Highness. But you are really strong, aren’t you? I knew you’ve been trained, but I didn’t expect you to have any real combat experience?”
Aare had shown a quick movement, and Jake could see that she was used to fighting.
Aare squirmed in embarrassment.
“It’s embarrassing to say, but I got overheated for a while.”
“No, I think that kind of you is pretty cute too.” (Note: I also agree with him if she is normal and originally girl)
“His Highness Jake”
As Aare’s cheeks blushed, Jake held her hand, hiding his embarrassment, and left the scene.
“I told you to stop calling me His Highness. Come on, let’s get out of here. We are heading to the palace. You follow me.”
“Yes!”
As the two are about to leave, a red-haired boy appears.
“Your Highness! Have you seen Finley-san?!”
.
Part 2
Royal palace corridor.
Among the group of students walking there, I was talking to that Herring bastard.
“I’m the culprit? Are you stupid?”
“You had a gun at the crime scene!”
“The bastard who got shot was the killer!”
“Then why did you suspect me?”
“Because I’ve been suspicious of you for some time.”
“You doubted me too!”
While Luxion and Brave were quietly staring at each other and floating around, Herring and I were talking about our situation.
In the first place, suspecting me, Herring is insane.
“What makes you think I will cause an incident? I’m a peace-loving civilian.”
When I talked about myself, the five idiots following behind me looked at each other.
Brad shrugged his shoulders and snickered.
“If Leon were a peace-loving man, there wouldn’t be any conflict in the world, would there?”
Greg nodded deeply.
“That’s right. I like fighting too, but I’m no match for Leon. Also, Leon is not a civilian.”
―― I didn’t expect that even these guys were misunderstanding me.
Even though I’m a kind-hearted, peace-loving, gentle man.
Even Herring is looking at me suspiciously.
“Anyone would be wary of the man who brought down the Republic from within. And what’s more, the incident occurred right around the time you came back to the royal capital.”
“Luxion said there’s a demonic reaction at the scene. You guys should at least be aware of the reactions of your friends.”
I agitate them, and Brave puts out his little hand to point at me with his meat eyes.
[How can I notice such a small reaction!]
Then Luxion made fun of Brave with a triumphant voice.
[The core of the demonic armor is still incompetent to not even notice that level of reaction.]
[You said it, scrap metal!]
As we walked down the corridor making such a fuss, we arrived at the place designated by the officials of the royal palace. In front of a rather large door, knights and soldiers were guarding it with weapons.
For some reason, the high-ranking officials were also waiting outside the room in a state of intense vigilance.
When the knight noticed us, he hurriedly approached us.
“Your Majesty is waiting, Marquis. Also, His Highness Prince Julius, Princess Erika, and Angelica-sama have been allowed to enter.”
When he said that, Angel narrowed her eyes. Apparently, she doesn’t like the place she has been invited to.
“Isn’t this His Majesty’s bedroom? If we’re going to discuss countermeasures, we should do it in another room――”
After saying that much herself, she realized something and closed her mouth and opened her eyes.
Then she asks the knight.
“――What happened?”
The knight guides us to Roland’s bedroom in a hurry.
“Please ask the Queen for a detailed explanation.”
I turned around, and Livia and Noel gave me small nods.
Neither of them seemed to be complaining about not being able to move on.
“Please go”
“It’s better to be quick”
Behind them, all the idiots except Julius were making a serious expression.
Chris muttered the answer to this unsettling situation.
“It seems that the situation is worse than we imagined.”
.
Part 3
When we entered Roland’s bedroom, we found a canopied bed in a much larger room.
On the bed, which is large enough, there is Roland with a pale face.
His lips had turned blue as well.
I couldn’t feel any vitality in that normally hateful face.
Around him was his family, Queen Milene-san, who was holding Roland’s hand.
“His Majesty, Marquis has arrived.”
Roland opens his eyes at Milene-san’s words and calls out to me in a faint, weak voice.
“Marquis Bartofalt come here”
When I was called to stand near Roland, a man in a white coat who appeared to be a palace doctor explained his condition to me.
“His Majesty was poisoned a few days ago, and he’s been in this state ever since. He’s in no condition to give orders.”
“Poison?”
“Y-Yes”
The palace doctor turned his gaze away from me and was addressing Roland.
“Your Majesty, this is medicine.”
“Sorry about that, Fred”
The palace doctor, called Fred, was giving Roland a little bit of medicine that seemed to be dissolved in water.
After calming down a bit, Roland looked at me and gave me a weak smile.
“I’m under the weather, just like you wanted. What do you think, are you happy?”
I certainly hoped that Roland would suffer, but I couldn’t say anything if he showed me.
“Stop joking. No, please stop joking, Your Majesty.”
“That’s quite an impressive attitude. Just seeing you like that makes the experience of being poisoned worthwhile.”
Roland coughs occasionally, regulates his erratic breathing, and then gives me an order.
“I’m lending you all my command temporarily. Milene will tell you what’s going on and you can take appropriate action.”
“You want me to handle this situation?”
“Right”
I looked at Milene-san, who was nearby, and she was nodding while wiping her tears with a handkerchief. Milene-san seemed to be convinced.
I can kind of understand why Roland chose me. I’m the one with the Luxion, and I’ll be able to solve the problem more quickly.
But then, he should leave the command to Julius, who is here.
“His Highness Julius is here. I will follow His Highness, and I will move as ordered.”
Julius is also by the bed, but Roland doesn’t even speak to him.
His attitude seemed cold.
“No. Julius has no track record and a bad reputation in the royal palace. Even if Julius gives an order, there will be those who disobey.”
“That’s why you nominated me?”
“―― Kid, I hate you.”
I wondered what he was going to say in a near-death situation, but Roland grabbed my hand tightly and gave me a bloodshot look. He’s serious.
“But I acknowledge your power.”
“You overestimate me.”
Normally, I would have been stirring this up, but even I restrained myself in this situation.
“You’ll be able to handle it. I’m counting on you――Marqu――is”
“Your Majesty!”
As Roland lost consciousness, Milene-san let out a scream.
As the palace doctor pushed me aside and began to examine him, he let out a deep sigh.
“He’s okay. He’s tired and asleep.”
His physical strength seemed to be waning considerably.
As everyone around me was relieved, Milene-san left Roland’s side and looked at me.
“Marquis, there is no time to waste. If we don’t take immediate action, the royal capital will be a sea of fire.”
“What happened?”
We headed out of the room, as staying here would be a nuisance to Roland. In the meantime, I was walking side by side with Milene-san to get an explanation of the current situation.
“There have been riots in many places. The ringleaders are unknown, but the former nobles who were hiding in the capital have all started to move at once.”
“Are they from the crushed house?”
“That’s right. If one or two organizations work together and decide to take action, we can handle it, but many of them will decide to take action at the same time and we won’t be able to handle it in time.”
Ange and Julius are following behind us.
Ange was curious and asked for more information from Milene-san.
“Why did you leave them until now?”
“We’re catching the dangerous ones. This time, small organizations have started to move all at once. Maybe――Rachel moved behind the scenes.”
Because the demon armor with the trident also claimed to be a holy knight of the Holy Kingdom.
It was quite possible, but Milene-san seemed to have noticed it before I did.
I thought it was amazing, and Milene-san told me the source of her information.
“Thanks to the Roseblade family for their investigation. They are really helpful.”
“Roseblade? Isn’t that Deirdre-senpai’s parents’ house?”
When we walked out of the room and found the person I had mentioned waiting.
The person in the flashy dress and holding the fan as usual is [Deirdre Fou Roseblade].
With her long hair in a vertical roll, Deirdre-senpai stood there proudly.
“Don’t say my parents’ house like a stranger. Onee-sama is married to the Bartofalt family so of course, we are like a family.”
Ange made a blatantly unpleasant face at Deirdre’s appearance.
“We are in front of the Queen”
When I pointed it out, Milene-san forgave Deirdre-senpai for her attitude.
“I don’t mind. Deirdre, what about the airship that escaped?”
When asked about the airship that invaded the royal capital and attacked the school, Deirdre covered her mouth with a fan.
“Brother-in-law Nix-sama has already taken care of it.”
“Aniki did?”
.
Part 4
Inside an airship leaving the royal capital.
Gabino looked out the window at the flying battleship that bore the family crest of the Bartofalt family.
The speed of the pursuing flying battleships was greater than their, and they were gradually closing the distance.
“Of all people, the Bartofalt family, huh?”
Beside the bitter-faced Gabino, there is a frightened subordinate.
“Isn’t that the same man who annihilated our fleet disguised as sky pirates?”
When the school was on spring break.
Raschel had sent soldiers dressed as sky pirates to the Bartofalt family.
The goal is to destroy the Bartofalt family, Leon’s family.
It was one of the ways of retaliation against Leon.
What was unexpected was that Leon had returned to his parents’ house instead of the royal capital.
Gabino and the others had gotten word that Leon was going to be promoted. So, he would stay in the royal capital for a while and would not return to his parents’ home.
It was a vicious retaliation aimed at the time when Leon was absent.
However, the prediction was wrong. Thanks to that, they had to lose ten flying battleships disguised as sky pirate ships.
The reason why Raschel relied on underground organizations such as the Forest of Ladies was to avoid direct combat with Leon ―― the Bartofalt family.
What a short-sighted, low-reward strategy.
Originally, Gabino did not agree with this kind of harassment level of operation.
However, the Holy King ―― the King of the Holy Kingdom of Raschel forcefully executed the order.
There is no right to veto a royal order.
It is done at the cost of many sacrifices, the harassment ―― It was retaliation for a single person, Leon.
Its purpose was also vague, and Gabino considered the possibility that it might fail.
But he didn’t expect to be pushed this far.
(The Demon Knight has already been sent out, and there are no demonic armor pieces at hand. With few shells and soldiers, is it difficult to fight any further?)
Thinking of escaping, Gabino orders his subordinates.
“We’re about to launch an assault on the enemy! Everyone, prepare yourselves!”
As the faces of the soldiers change, Gabino calls out to his direct subordinates. In a quiet voice, inaudible to those around him, he begins to discuss their escape.
“You go out there and get the small boat ready.”
“Are you sure?”
“I don’t mind”
Gabino sends his men off the bridge and shows his imposing figure to the others. The people around him saw this and assumed that Gabino had made up his mind.
.
Part 5
A flying battleship of the Bartofalt family.
It was Nix who was on the bridge.
Nix, who is on the bridge as commander, confirms that the enemy airship of the sky pirates has left the royal capital and gives the order to fire.
“We’re away from the royal city, aren’t we? Fire at will!”
The captain beside him gave instructions to the sailors, taking orders from Nix.
“Start firing!”
Once the flight battleship’s gun turrets are operational and aimed, it will begin its attack.
The enemy had cannons lined up on their flanks, but the airships of the Bartofalt family were made by Luxion, and their cannons were rotating turrets. Therefore, they could attack without showing their sides, and the air pirate ship in front of them was not their opponent.
As the ship’s guns fired in unison, the shells glowed red and appeared to be trailing in the night.
When they are hit, the sky pirate ship drops in altitude with fire and smoke coming from inside the ship.
“Cease fire!”
Nix let out a loud sigh of relief as the captain’s voice ended the firing of the ship’s guns.
The captain, who had been watching the scene, comes over to compliment him.
“You’ve been a fine commander, Bocchan.”
Nix looks disgruntled when the captain calls him Bocchan.
“Stop treating me like a child.”
.
Part 6
The deck of the Bartofalt family’s flying battleship.
The battle was over sooner than expected and Gabino was unable to escape. He was strapped in with his men and made to sit on the deck.
Soldiers dressed as sky pirates had also been captured.
At some distance away, their fallen airship was ablaze.
Watching from the deck, Gabino glared at the person who had taken his favorite pocket watch.
The person who took it smiled at the pocket watch.
“An imperial watch. You’ve got a good one.”
A beautiful woman with long, silky blond hair and blue eyes was looking down at Gabino.
“It seems you have a good eye.”
“I’ve been educated to see the value in treasure.”
“This savage with adventurer’s blood in their veins”
Gabino’s words were condescending to adventurers. It was proof that adventurers did not have a high social status even in the Holy Kingdom of Raschel.
But the woman ―― Dorothea doesn’t care.
“Even that’s coming from a sky pirate”
The disrespected Gabino lets out a small sigh and tells her proudly.
“It can’t be helped. I wish to be treated as a prisoner of war. I am from the Holy Kingdom of Rachel――”
As Gabino was about to reveal his identity, Dorothea picked up the rifle she kept at her side and fired a single shot into the sky.
After showing him that the gun is loaded with actual bullets, she points the muzzle at Gabino.
“You don’t have to lie to me now. You are a sky pirate, and I am a nobleman of the Kingdom of Horfalt. We have to make sure that the sky pirates are exterminated.”
Gabino was flustered by Dorothea’s words that they would not be treated as prisoners of war.
“W-We’re from Rachel”
“There are no soldiers from the Holy Kingdom of Rachel here. It was sky pirates who attacked, and you’re sky pirates too. That’s good enough, right.”
Dorothea was smiling, but her expression gradually changed to a cold one.
“You were the ones who picked a fight with the Roseblade family a while back, weren’t you?”
Gabino frowned when he realized that the woman in front of him was related to the Roseblade family.
And immediately make an excuse.
“What are you talking about? It has nothing to do with us.”
“All of your survivors have spoken. The Roseblade family has no mercy for their enemies. Nobles and adventurers alike are doomed if they are underestimated.”
When Dorothea looks down at him as if he were a bug, Gabino begs for his life, thinking that he will be killed if this continues.
“I have information that may be of use to you! These are former noble traitors hiding in King’s Landing. I’ll give you all the information on them! So――”
When Gabino tried to get her to spare his life in exchange for useful information, Dorothea looked deeply disappointed.
“It’s beneficial to the royal capital, what’s the benefit for me and my husband?”
“What? No, it should be profitable enough for you to use this information to get a favor from the royal family!”
“That――is not worth it anymore.”
Dorothea looked sincerely bored and ordered those who were around her. The people around Dorothea were from the Roseblade family.
“Take them away. I need to show him what happens to people who pick fights with the Roseblade family.”
Just as the airship of the Roseblade family was approaching the airship of the Bartofalt family, Gabino and others imagined their worst future, and the blood drained from their faces.
.
Part 7
A room in the royal palace.
I decided to call Herring and talk to him.
The main people are probably gathered in the conference room now, discussing what to do with the map in front of them.
If it were true, I would have to join them, as I was entrusted with the command, but I really wanted to talk to Herring first.
“Are you the ones interfering with Luxion?”
The question was to ascertain the source of the jamming that enveloped the royal capital, and there seemed to be no doubt since Herring looked at Brave.
Herring let out a small sigh.
“Kurosuke, release it now. Didn’t you say you were tired too?”
The fact that Brave, the core of the demonic armor, was capable of troubling Luxion was a threat to me.
Brave was wary of Luxion.
[No. If I unjam them, they’ll try to deceive us. My buddy can only say that because you don’t know their true nature.]
Brave, who didn’t trust us, and Luxion was speaking lower than usual. Is that how angry he is? As usual, he has a lot of emotions.
[That’s my line. How many lives do you think have been lost because of your existence?]
[Aah! Aah! You say that, scrap metal! Then let me tell you something!]
Herring and I both shrugged our shoulders as our partners started to fight.
When I see Herring, he seems to think it’s okay to unjam.
So I declare it.
“Then I’ll order Luxion to do it right here and now. Luxion, do not attack the international students from the Empire. And of course, don’t attack the Brave.”
[Are you insane?! What about the promise you made back then?]
Once we’ve defeated the demon armor that holds the trident, the next step is to take out Herring and the others――That’s what he meant.
But I’m a bad adult inside, and I’m willing to forget inconvenient things.
“I’m sorry, I forgot”
[You remember that, don’t you? You really do put your own needs first, don’t you, Master.]
When we’re showing our normal interactions, Herring’s also trying to convince Brave to do the same.
“Kurosuke, you should get some rest. Mia’s worried about you.”
[I never slack off when it comes to protecting my partner or Mia!]
“You’ll protect me if you unjam it, right? Besides, if the royal capital goes up in flames, it’s not good for me and Mia.”
[Uuuh――It’s just this one time!]
It’s not the same as our relationship, but these guys look like they’re having a lot of fun, too.
Luxion’s red lenses glowed as Brave shook his body.
[The link has been restored]
“All right! Let’s finish this quickly. ――It’s also Roland’s last request.”
“Last?”
Luxion looked at me as if to say, “What are you talking about”, from the looks of him, he won’t be long.
He was a son of a bitch, but ―― At the very least, I want to make his last request come true.
I still hated Roland, but I didn’t want him to die. Besides, this commotion would be a nuisance to the residents of the royal capital.
――I’ll finish it quickly.
“Let’s just go. Milene-san is waiting.”
When I said that, Luxion blamed me, as usual.
[I’m afraid that’s not a very nice thing to say in the presence of Angelica. I’ll be sure to tell her as soon as I can.]
“――Please don’t do that”
Herring and Brave, who had been listening to our conversation, looked at each other.
“They’re a funny bunch”
[I feel pathetic when I think that these people almost killed me.]
――You almost got us killed, too!
.
Part 8
The many drones that were deployed in the royal capital.
When Luxion’s link was regained, it floated up and looked down from above the royal capital.
Then, the information was delivered to Luxion.
The increased number of drones will begin to take action upon receiving orders from the main body.
Some drones are waiting in the sky, while others are heading to the designated location.
——Now, the royal capital was under Luxion’s complete control.
.
Part 9
When I came to the conference room, all the main people were there.
Speaking of the royal family, Milene-san and Julius.
Other than that, there is Minister Bernard, Claris-senpai’s father.
When Ange noticed me, she came up to me at a small run and grabbed my arm.
“What were you doing? We wouldn’t be making any decisions without you.”
In an emergency situation where every second matters, it would be upsetting if the person in charge showed up at a leisurely pace.
The gazes of everyone in the room were grim.
“I’m sorry. Well, but it’s okay already.”
As I said this, I approached the map on the table, and Luxion, floating near my right shoulder, directed me to some points by shining light from his lens.
[We have an idea of where the enemy’s hideout is likely to be. We have also predicted the enemy’s future actions based on their movements. I propose that we reassign the troops.]
The conference room was in an uproar as Luxion suddenly mentioned the location and purpose of the enemy.
Milene-san’s panic is especially cute.
The light emitted by Luxion is always moving.
“How long ago was this move made?”
[This information is based on Real Time]
At Luxion’s curt words, Milene-san’s eyes widened for a moment ―― She kept her eyes down and looked sad, then shook her head and looked at me.
It seems that she changed her mind about something, but what happened?
“Marquis Bartofalt, then we will reposition our forces. Is that correct?”
“Eh? Ah, yes”
I thought she should just go ahead and do it on her own, but my position right now is more like General Commander.
It seems she can’t give orders without my permission.
However, this is where Minister Bernard holds his head.
“The enemies are scattered and there are too many of them. This is going to take some time.”
They were not difficult to defeat, but the problem was that there were too many of them to deal with.
I thought about where I could get usable forces from ―― and remembered my friends.
“Let’s talk to some of my friends at the academy. Some of them may have brought their airships.”
Like my parents’ family, they occasionally send airships to the royal capital.
If the timing is right, this should get us a few more ships.
Minister Bernard nodded several times.
“That’s very helpful. But who do we put in command?”
The only people I have on hand that I can move are my friends ―― As I was thinking so, I noticed Julius looking at me.
Right, there were five idiots.
Let’s use them in the optimal arrangement like that otome game.
“Call Brad to lead from Einhorn. Let’s have Greg and Chris work with him. I’ll have them attack the enemy’s hideout.”
When I say that, Julius makes a blatant appeal.
“Leon, there are still men left, right? The most dependable man”
“Oh, you’re right. I forgot.”
“Get a grip, General Commander”
I nodded to Julius, who said he wanted me to rely on him.
“I’d like to use Jilk on an air bike, but I don’t know anyone who knows how to ride an air bike. He’s not here, is he?”
“――Leon, what about me?”
“We can’t put the prince on the battlefield. Be quiet.”
Julius dropped his shoulders upon hearing this, and Milene-san looked at him with a complicated expression.
When I give up on the idea of using Jilk, Minister Bernard makes a suggestion.
“Marquis, how many air bikes do you want?”
“Just some. If I let him command it, he’ll be able to use it well. In a place like the royal capital, an air bike is much more maneuverable than armor.”
“Then how about the Atley family cooperating.”
“Is that okay? Jilk is in command, you know?”
There is a rift between Jilk and the Atley family. Jilk is one-sidedly to blame, he had broken off his engagement to Claris-senpai, the daughter of the Atley family.
From the Atley family’s point of view, Jilk is an unforgivable person.
Still, Minister Bernard didn’t mind and offered me his help.
“I don’t mind. Besides, did you forget? We have an air bike race track. I know a lot of people.”
That’s all well and good, but is it safe to leave those people in Jilk’s hands? ―― Well, It’s not me who’s having trouble with the relationship, it’s Jilk.
I accepted Minister Bernard’s proposal, hoping that he would suffer as much as possible.
“Please”
“Leave it to me”
I then turn my attention to Ange, the person I rely on the most.
The Redgrave family, Ange’s family, must have brought a lot of forces to the royal capital. It would be a great help if they cooperate with us.
“We need the Redgrave family to cooperate. Ange, can you do that for me?”
But Ange looks down when she catches my gaze.
She clenched her hands and with an uneasy feeling, she shook her head.
” ―― I’m sorry, but Father and Ani-ue won’t move. They are away from the royal capital now.”
“Eh?”
“I can’t move the Duke’s army on my orders. I’m sorry, Leon.”
Strange.
There is always one of Vince or Gilbert staying in the royal capital.
There were times when the two of them would return to the territory at the same time, but usually one of them was always in the capital.
When I tried to ask the reason for their absence, Minister Bernard put his hand on my shoulder. I looked back at him and he was shaking his head. Milene-san’s eyes were lowered, too.
Is it better not to ask?
“If they can’t, we’ll deal with them with our current strength. As for the rest, if I go out with Arroganz ―― “
Then, Milene-san objected to my going out.
“No! Leon-kun――No, Marquis Bartofalt will have to stay here. Is that clear?”
“Eh? Ah, yes”
I nodded my head in response to the undeniable power.
Then Julius is sulking a little farther away from everyone.
“I wanted to go out there too”
You should be more aware of being a prince.
.
Part 10
Einhorn Bridge.
There, Brad, who was wearing a dress-colored uniform, sat cross-legged in the chair where Leon usually sat.
“Good grief, Leon is really rough with people. But this me. Yes, it was the best decision to entrust me with the airship! I don’t mind working as a spearman, but this kind of intellectual position suits me the best.”
At Brad’s side, who seems to be enjoying himself alone, are Daniel and Raymond, who were forced to ride Einhorn.
The two of them looked outside, dejectedly.
Apart from Einhorn, there were three flying battleships accompanied by friends.
Daniel let out a big sigh and spoke to Brad, who was in a good mood.
“So, Captain”
“Call me Commander. I am now in command of four flying battleships.”
Raymond throws a look at Brad, who points at Daniel and asks him to correct him.
“Commander, what are we going to do now?”
Brad and his crew were given the task of transporting troops by flying battleship. They are responsible for dropping troops and supplies at the indicated locations, and sometimes retrieving and repositioning them.
They can’t even use the cannons of a flying battleship in the royal capital.
It was also given the task of making its presence felt in the skies above the royal capital and intimidating those who were rioting.
“We’ve already found the enemy’s hideout. We’ll go around and get them. There’s a lot of them, and they can be annoying.”
Daniel grumbled in dissatisfaction because he was suddenly dispatched.
“If they knew, why didn’t they just move in right from the start.”
Raymond agreed, and seemed to be unable to understand the high officials in the capital who did not do so.
“That’s right. With the way things turned out, aren’t they going to remove some of the people from their positions?”
Brad listens to Daniel and Raymond, and thinks about it as he looks at the map showing the location of the enemy’s hideout.
(The whole of royal capital is under Leon’s control. This is not going to be a peaceful time for that Queen, is it? And the Redgrave family has given up.)
The Redgrave family and other noble families are showing a non-cooperative attitude toward the riots taking place in the royal capital.
Some of them were nobles who had residences in the capital and were aware of the situation, but were watching the situation from a distance. Many of them were the feudal lord nobles.
It’s as if they don’t care if the royal capital is burned to the ground.
(――From now on, even if he doesn’t like it, it’s going to be stormy around Leon)
Letting out a small sigh, Brad changed his mind and put his right hand out in front of him.
“Okay, I’ve decided, we’ll attack clockwise! It’s more beautiful that way.”
Both Daniel and Raymond shrugged their shoulders and looked incomprehensible at Brad’s desire for beauty on the battlefield.
.
Part 11
A tavern in the royal capital.
Greg kicked in the door of the store, which was empty due to the riot, and went inside.
He was dressed like a soldier, which was different from what he usually was, and he was holding a rifle.
Leading a group of armed soldiers, he looked around as soon as he entered the tavern.
“It’s this way!”
Greg gets in with his rifle and finds a staircase that leads to the second floor.
The second floor of the tavern had been turned into an inn.
When Greg found the stairs, he ran up the steps as fast as he could.
A soldier stopped him from behind.
“It’s dangerous!”
“Should be fine”
With that, Greg went upstairs and backed up against the wall as he approached the door to the room.
Multiple holes were made in the door as gunshots were heard from inside the room.
Greg judges what kind of gun they are carrying by the sound of gunfire and other factors.
(A handgun. Only one person with it?)
He kicked the door open and entered just as his opponent was finishing shooting and reloading his ammunition, only to find a family of what appeared to be former nobles.
“Don’t move!”
A man with a beard, his wife and his family.
As the soldiers came in behind Greg, the family dropped their weapons and raised their hands.
A man with a beard was crying and regretting his actions.
“Damn. Damn! How could this happen? If only I hadn’t run away that time, I also”
He started to make excuses, but Greg didn’t have time to listen to him.
“It’s too late to lament now, you know. If only you’d applied that energy to your actions a long time ago.”
In front of him was a family that had fled before the enemy during the war with the former Principality of Fannos, and had been stripped of their noble status.
The family runs a tavern and an inn, and has been inviting mercenaries and criminals into the royal capital to help with the riots.
Greg leaves the family in the custody of the soldiers.
“Good grief, they’re all just like these people.”
Greg walks out of the store with his rifle, and when he gets outside, he meets Chris in his armor in front of the tavern.
“Chris, have you finished?”
When he called out, Chris, who was in his armor, was fed up.
“It’s done here, but Brad’s orders are to move on again soon. He’s rough with people, too.”
The people Chris had been dealing with were mercenaries and criminals that the tavern had been sheltering.
They were provided with weapons, some of which were armor.
A group of armored men led by Chris is subduing their opponents who are pillaging the surrounding area.
“You got a hard job, too”
“And you, too, when we’re done here, we’ll move on, right?”
“That’s right. He wants us to head back to the next hideout after we hand over the culprit.”
Then armors gathered around Chris.
The armors flying in the sky let Chris know that the cleanup was finished.
“Arkwright-sama, we have completed the transfer of the mercenaries.”
Chris’s armor floated up and he waved lightly at Greg.
“All right, then, let’s move on”
Greg saw a group of armor flying away and he shouldered his rifle.
“Guess I’ll be moving on”
.
Part 12
The area where the buildings of the royal capital are densely packed.
The narrow alleys between the buildings were filled with women carrying their luggage in their hands.
The representatives and executives of the forest of ladies are fleeing in droves.
Behind them, the members of the forest of ladies and their families with their large luggage followed.
The heavy luggage was all expensive items.
They were the belongings of the representatives and executives, and they were strictly ordered not to throw them away.
The representative is running away desperately, staining her dress.
“Hurry up and get out of here! Good grief, what’s with ‘leave it to us’. That Rachel guy is really unreliable.”
The representative was angry with Gabino for breaking his promise and running away so quickly.
A fellow member of another organization who also hated the current kingdom found themselves in a critical situation when they came to the forest of ladies for help.
“I didn’t hear about this, that the kingdom is raiding the hideouts of our people all over the place! Who is it? Who betrayed us!”
Not wanting to be caught, they hurriedly packed their things and ran away.
The executive woman running behind speaks to the representative about the friends she has abandoned.
“Are you sure? Zora and the others that we entrusted the job to don’t even know that we abandoned the hideout?”
Unfortunately, Zora and the others were not at the hideout when the situation got worse and they made the decision to run away.
They were out on the orders of the representative, and that’s why they were late running away.
“I don’t care! It’s because of their family that we’re in this mess. I hope they get caught.”
Forest of ladies fleeing down an alley.
The women try to escape from the royal capital at all costs, but as they exit the alley, they are hit by a beam of light.
“W-Why――”
When the exhausted representative collapsed to her knees on the spot, she was surrounded by soldiers on air bikes.
When they turned around and looked at the road they had come from, they saw the air bike soldiers blocking the narrow alley. They had the muzzle of their guns pointed at them, and there was no way to escape.
As her shoulders slumped, one of the air bikes came down to the ground.
When the soldier took off his helmet, the former noblewoman, whom the representative also knew, smiled at him.
“Jilk――sama”
When his name is called, Zilk is slightly surprised.
“Oya, you know me. But I’m afraid I don’t remember you.”
The representative pleaded to Zilk, as the last hope.
“I’ve seen you from afar before and have always been your fan. Please. Could you please let us pass this time?”
Hearing that, Jilk tells her with a smile.
“Unfortunately, I can’t do that. It’s hard for me to lose fans too, but I’d be a criminal too if I covered for you guys who caused a disturbance in the royal capital. That’s not what my fans would want, is it? So I’m going to arrest you. ―― Catch them all. “
.
Part 13
As Jilk instructed the surrounding area to capture the representatives, air bikes descended one by one.
However, they had a cold attitude toward Jilk.
“What do you mean, “catch them”?”
“Bastard guy”
“The scumbag who abandoned Claris-ojousama”
The air bikers, who verbally cursed Jilk, obeyed the orders in dissatisfaction.
One of them was a man who was one of Claris’s close followers.
He is a talented man who was the runner-up in an air bike race, beaten by Leon, and is now working as an air bike rider.
Even he was not happy with Jilk’s orders, but he followed his order.
“Dan-senpai, thank you for your help.”
When Jilk gave a fishy smile, senpai ―― Dan felt his guts churning.
“――I’m only following orders because Bernard-sama and Marquis-sama are asking me to. In fact, nobody’s going to follow your orders”
The people around him nodded deeply, as if they felt the same way, and restrained the forest of ladies.
The air bikers that Minister Bernard had assembled were still holding on to the fact that Jilk had broken off his engagement to Claris. They were only following orders because they were given in an emergency.
Originally, their common thought was that they wanted to shoot him to death with the weapons they had.
However, Jilk smiles knowing that.
“In other words, you’ll obey my orders, which you hate, because the two of them ordered you to. I’ve heard good things about that. I will be able to use you as much as I want.”
The fact that he said this after understanding everything made the people around him even more irritated.
Dan was annoyed at the thought of Jilk, so he decided to focus on his mission.
“Even so, your predictions are correct. To be able to drive those who are running away from the scene into a precise corner, despite your personality, you’re certainly competent. Only the ability.”
Dan dislikes but still values Jilk, who is very capable for nothing.
It seemed that the people around him were the same way, and the reason they complained and obeyed was because Jilk was capable.
They felt that if someone was capable and if Bernard and Leon asked them to do something, they would have no choice but to do it.
“I’ll forgive you for the offending remark this time. Then again, this is the kind of work I’m good at. I can usually predict where these people will run to and how they will think. I’m terrified of my talent.”
Jilk is proud of himself, and Dan gives him a heartbreaking look of disgust.
“Isn’t that just because you’re the same garbage, you can predict their mindset?”
The people around him nodded deeply, agreeing with Dan’s opinion.