Chapter 95: A tale of forced purging

Approx. 10min reading time

Chapter 95: A tale of forced purging

With my equipment completely revamped, I went back to my inn to recharge and slept soundly.

I woke up feeling invigorated.

Today’s the day I’m finally starting the escort mission of the ojou-sama.

「Fussing over the details is unlike me but I sincerely ask you to abstain from making any uproar [during] the mission. There are limits even with me covering for you.」

「I shall endeavor to the best of my ability.」

「I don’t think I’ve ever heard words with so little credibility behind it.」

「………(*´ω｀*)(blushing)」

That’s Real for ya. Calmly throwing a tsukkomi today as well.

Oopsie, she’s now clad in full body armor, her [Regulus] mode.

「C’mon, I was just trying to crack a light joke to ease the tension, y’know?」

「In your case, it would be more reassuring if you have a little more tension. You’re too relaxed.」

Excluding me and Regulus, there are two other participants heading to the Imperial Palace. Although the number is quite small at the moment, I’m told that the number of personnel will be increased a bit more later on.

Dyne aka Becht is house-sitting. While the commander is absent, he is expected to manage the Genryuu Knights. Although he’s a disagreeable guy, I can perceive that he’s shouldering a lot of hardship since this commander has a tendency to rampage at the front line. I’m sure good things will come to him, eventually.

I forgot to mention. In addition to her commander mode, Regulus is also wearing a [cloak {mantle}] depicting a crest of a dragon with a huge sword in the background, which also serves as the symbol for the Genryuu Knights.

Her subordinates are wearing identical cloaks as well, albeit with a much simpler design. I’m also similarly garbed with one bearing the crest, though the design somewhat differs.

The aforementioned cloak is a substitute for [formal wear] worn by knights when they go to the Imperial Palace or attend formal occasions.

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As for me, wearing this means that I’m a guest of the Genryuu Knights and it acts like a signboard to show that my identity is guaranteed. Without it, I would be treated as a suspicious person and removed in a heartbeat.

Entering the Imperial Palace went more smoothly than I expected. The gatekeeper guarding the main gate to the palace readily allows us passage when he confirms the appearance of Regulus.

As I pass the gate following behind Regulus, I say [pardon my intrusion] towards the gatekeeper who’s still standing in attention with a salute.Even when he checks my appearance, I couldn’t even see the slightest collapse in his salute. The cloak seems to be doing its job.

As one would expect from a building representing national prestige, its interior are gorgeously decorated from the outset.

In the entrance hall lies a grim statue of a dragon, glaring at us who entered from the front door.

「………」

「Why are you scowling at the dragon statue?」

「If I look away, I’ll lose.」

「What are you, a local delinquent?」

I got scolded by Real for staring daggers at the statue. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

The other two are wearing the expression of someone who had just witnessed a rare event. I guess it’s because our banter just now is a far cry from the usual image of Regulus.

With regards to scale, the interior of the hallway in the palace is inferior to the entrance hall but it’s not lacking at all in terms of quality.

A fluffy red carpet is laid in the middle of the path and illuminating fixtures are hung at equal intervals from the ceiling. It might have the same mechanism as the magic tool used to empower streetlights in the city but the details and extravagance poured into its workmanship is nigh incomparable.

Inside my commoner mindset, a question floats up. I wonder how many gold coins does each one cost.

「Don’t try to break it, will you? And perhaps it’s nearly twice as much as you’re thinking.」

Even while getting a nail on my lid, we’re advancing through the hallway.

Occasionally, we pass by someone well-dressed. Their reactions to Regulus are varied. Some gave a light greeting in a favorable manner while some blatantly avert their face after glaring disdainfully. In addition, some were smiling only at the surface when in fact, they are harboring a strong sense of wariness against Regulus.

It might be meddlesome of me but now that I got his face in mind, I’ll report it to her when I’m free.

We continue to proceed through the hallway and arrived in front of a door.

「Here?」

「Aa. The person to be escorted in this mission should be waiting inside.」

When Regulus knocks on the door, a female voice can be heard from the other side. It’s Kiska’s. By sharpening my senses, I can confirm the presence of Rand, Agatt and Faima inside the room.

…………Should I stage a grand and shocking entrance by kicking the door open ahead of Regulus?

…They’ll probably take it seriously and restrain me, so let’s be patient here.

Abstaining from making a flashy entry, I enter the room quietly behind Regulus.

「I extend a greeting for our first meeting. I am Regulus, commander of Phantom Dragon Knight Order affiliated to the Imperial Army. My sincere regard for our acquaintanceship, however brief it may be.」

「………Pleased to meet you. My name is Falmarias Alnabeth. On this occasion, do excuse the inconvenience imposed upon you for the sake of a count’s daughter from a foreign land.」

「So long as it is a mission, I shall exert my utmost.」

「Then, it would be an honor to be protected by the famous Knight Order of the Phantom Dragon.」

「Hearing your compliment is my pleasure.」

Ooo. The ojou-sama {Faima} is properly being an ojou-sama.

Although she has a weird stranger’s anxiety, when she needs to conduct herself, she properly does it, huh.

And even though I’m at the rear, nobody in this room notice me at all. I bet Regulus’ full body armor was too much of an impact that they didn’t pay attention to anyone else.

Faima and Rand skillfully control their facial expression but Kiska is stiff all over. As for Agatt, his surprised expression reaches the realm of being dramatic.

His reaction is worrisome because in the world of aristocrats, that kinda reaction might even be taken as an insult if he’s unlucky. Ah, he hurriedly fix his expression after being glared by Rand.

「Also, for the matter on hand, we have an external collaborator so I will introduce him.」

Regulus turns her head sideways and nod as a signal. I reciprocate the nod and steps forward.

「uh As introduced, I am known as Kanna. Best regards.」

At this point, Faima and her entourage finally notice my presence.

Not to mention Agatt, even Rand and Kiska are wide-eyed, openly revealing their surprise at my appearance.

Thank you very much for such an easy to understand reaction.

ーーーdon!

Faima breaks into a run and hugs me.

「Whoa there, ojou-sama. This conduct is unbecoming of a ladyーーー」

I reflexively spout some fashionably witty words but it got cut off in the middle. Because the ojou-sama‘s shoulder is trembling.

「So glad………you’re safe.」

With a voice that sounds like she’s about to cry, she put her hands around my back. Apparently, she was much more worried than I thought. I feel guilty and happy at the same time.

A man worth his salt in this situation would return the embrace of the damsel who’s rubbing her face against his breastplate. However, the man had to desist and came back to his senses because one named Agatt is glaring fiercely at him.

Suppose that the man has a romantic relationship with the maiden {Faima}, he would ignore the imbecile. Unfortunately, the ojou-sama is a friend.

Despite that, not doing anything would make me feel bad for Faima so I put my hand on her head and caress it.

After doing it for a while, her trembling shoulder comes to a halt.

………Or rather, a few seconds later, she became as stiff as a board. It seems that she can now objectively imagine what kind of position she’s in as a result of her compulsive behavior.

「P-Pardon me! I-I was beside myself.」

At first glance, it was a sight of woman embracing a man (or rather, that’s exactly what it looks like). Faima separates herself in a panic while being bright red.

「Well, I am happy to be embraced by a beautiful girl.」

The only complain that I have is that I couldn’t enjoy the feeling of Faima’s boobs because my breastplate was in the way. Putting that into words would make Agatt disregard our location and draw the sword on his waist, so I’ll refrain.

It’s a secret that I’m praising myself in a corner of my mind.

『I’m really glad I didn’t make a gag of breaking into the room.』

「……………Perhaps it is time for us to close the book on the touching reunion?」

「Hiu!? Eh? um………That was inexcusable of me!」

Hearing Regulus’ interjection, Faima apologizes with a strangely pitched voice. Apparently, she had temporarily forgotten the presence of the knights, including Regulus’.

If there’s an unexpected event, her prided intellect goes haywire. Same as ever, I guess.

It’s only been a few days.

Still, that took a little load off my chest.

One thing that bothers me is the cold gaze coming over from Regulus.

But why?

Although a small incident happened, Faima quickly got back on track and came back to the self introduction session.

Feeling like it’s been long overdue, I once again introduce myself as a C-rank adventurer and the external collaborator mentioned earlier.

The fact that I’m a C-rank greatly took Faima’s group by surprise. They knew I was going to register as an adventurer when we split up the day we arrived at Draknil but they didn’t expect me to be promoted to C-rank in such a short time.

I’ll omit the discussion about the escort mission by Regulus and Faima. After all, they are discussing matters down to the smallest details involving the laws of this country. Those went over my head.

I could barely tell that whenever Faima goes out of the Imperial Palace, she must always be escorted by her attendant and a personnel from the Genryuu Knights, with the exception of Regulus. And I am to accompany her without fail. That’s about it.

As the commander, Regulus doesn’t actively participate in this mission. She came in person only for the purpose of a formal discussion in their first meeting.

The rest seems to be delegated to the other two present in this room. It appears that even the peerless-type commander who likes to go to the frontline delegates her duty to a subordinate when the situation calls for it.

ーーーAfter that, I got strongly reminded not to do as I please and go beyond the scope of guarding from hereafter.

It’s a shock but I can’t deny it when I look back on my usual behavior.

While that may be true, I don’t really plan on restraining myself all that much. If ya take [that] away from me, all that’s left is someone perverted, y’know?

………………………?

「Say, commander Reaーgulus-san. My bad for butting in the middle of a talk but…」

I call out to the commander under the guise of talking naturally.

「What’s wrong, Kanna-dono. Is there anything you’re curious about in the contents so far?」

「Honestly, it’s hard to say that I understand your topic correctly, so I’d like to make a little confirmation.」

I take out an [ice sphere] from my chest pocket and fiddle around with it.

「FaiーーOjou-sama’s personal affairs {privacy} is basically respected, right?」

「………What are you trying to say?」

「Well, in the off chance of something happening in the future such as trespassing, eavesdropping and voyeurism, am I permitted to beat first, ask questions later?」

Direction, check.

Distance, ok.

Next, [filling] complete.

「If it becomes necessary in order to ensure the safety of Faima-dono, I suppose resorting to force would be unavoidable. However, it would be difficult to detain the offender on the spot unless there is a solid evidence and they were caught red-handed. It will be particularly difficult in the off chance that the other party is a noble. Without both factors at our disposal, it’s almost impossible.」

「I see. There’s no problem if the peeping and eavesdropping is currently ongoing.」

「……………………What are you really trying to say?」

「Nothing much, only this.」

bachin!!

I flick the ice bomb that I was fiddling in my hand toward the ceiling with a pose of doing a finger shot.

The crystal which accelerated close to the speed of a pistol bullet due to the spirits’ power, crash into the ceiling and unleash the cold air condensed inside all at once, causing the point of impact to be instantly [frozen].

Everyone in the room lost their words when I suddenly act without warning but I ignore them and continue to subsequently create an ice shell and punch it with the underside of my tekkou while aiming at the frozen ceiling.

A part of the ceiling that got destroyed falls down with a cacophony but it’s not just the ceiling pouring down. Surprisingly (though I noticed), a crouching person wearing a stark black outfit crashed on the floor with all four of their limbs frozen.

The black clothes {that thing} drops down on the floor with a loud noise, causing the room to become abuzz. Well, of course they would. A picture perfect appearance of a suspicious person did fell down from the ceiling in the uproar.

Black clothes is wearing a mask that covers most of their face apart from their eyes to ensure visibility and their eyes are visibly warped due to pain. On the other hand, the frozen pose with all four limbs pointing upwards is just so comical.

The cold air generated by the ice bomb spread throughout their whole body from the limbs that were in contact with the ceiling, causing their body to become rigid. This is the first field test against a human opponent and it has proven to be quite effective. It seems to be useful in hindering movement, even against an elusive opponent.

「I felt a presence wriggling around when you guys were in the middle of your talk. First things first, I caught a trespasser in the act and I’m countin’ on you for the rest.」

It felt like this guy’s presence was curbed but compared with Answerer, it’s too lukewarm.

The first person to recover from the shock is the one acquainted with me the longest, Regulus {Real}. Though she’s in armor, she’s groaning while reaching out to pinch her brow to suppress a headache.

「………If you’re going to do it, I’d like a few words of warning in advance. Your behavior at times, is bad for my heart.」

「If I go about it your way, the surprise attack will be exposed, won’t it.」

Oops, I forgot.

「Hmph!」

「gubu!?」

I manifest a one-handed ice hammer (slightly larger striking part) and strike the black clothes in the face to reap their consciousness.

「B-Bastard!? What a cowardly action against an incapacitated opponent! Yet you dare call yourself an escort of Faima-sama!?」

Agatt is furious with my action but I respond calmly.

「Look, isn’t it often told that these people commit suicide to prevent information leak when they are discovered. What would you do if this thing got some poison stashed inside the mouth. It’d be troubling if this one dies before we get any information.」

It doesn’t seem like Faima has recovered from the shock of black clothes’ debut. She’s putting a hand on her chest to suppress her palpitation while squeezing out a hoarse voice.

「I-I wonder why Kanna has that kind of knowledge. You have just reached C-rank, did you not?」

Can’t exactly say manga and light novel here so let’s just keep it vague.

「So, this one here is definitely an intelligence operative {spy}, right?」

「Far too late for a confirmation, wouldn’t you think.………It’s not a mistake though.」(rea-gulus)

Regulus calmly orders one of her subordinate to their headquarter. The leftover knight hurriedly place the black clothes {spy} in a restraint. He is to be accommodated in the jail inside the headquarter.

But before being hauled off by the Genryuu Knights, for caution’s sake, I’ll strip everything off.

Agatt once again raises his voice to protest my action.

「Are you a demon!?」

I got the name [Shiroyasha], so?

「That’s not right. I mean, what if there’s a hidden weapon underneath the clothes? Stripping him butt naked is the best way to perfectly ensure safety.」

「You are too merciless!」

By the way, the identity of the black clothes is an ordinary ossan.

Of course, I strip his underwear too.

「Let me reiterate, are you a demon!?」

「Need to properly check inside the underwear too y’know.」

「If you must, do it in another room! Ojou-sama is in this room!」

Faima is covering her face with both hands while doing her utmost to turn away from the liberated {purged} lower half of the spy ossan.

Ah, even Regulus casually shifts her line of sight to the side.

Kiska’s eyes are wide open to perfectly capture the scene in her view.

「………Normal.」

What is?

Nope, better not ask.