Chapter 2: Reiss’s Intentions in Rodania
Meanwhile, several hours after Christina and Flora were originally sent to the forest in Paladia Kingdom...
Rodania, the capital of Marquess Rodan’s domain, was home to the headquarters of the Restoration. The Restoration’s central office was located in the guest house, which Celia was visiting. Normally, the leading nobles of the Restoration and their secretaries would be working hard at their duties, but no one answered the door when she knocked.
“Excuse me...” Celia opened the door hesitantly.
There was no sign of anyone else inside the silent office.
That’s weird... Did everyone go out to meet Princess Christina and Princess Flora?
Celia was visiting the central office on the day Christina and Flora were scheduled to return to Rodania from the Galarc Kingdom. She cocked her head in wonder, but it wouldn’t be too strange for everyone to go and greet the two princesses if they had returned already.
That was what she thought, when Aishia suddenly materialized beside her.
“H-Hey, Aishia! You can’t materialize here, even if there’s no one in the room,” Celia scolded her in a fluster. She didn’t think the room would be left empty for long, which meant that someone could come back at any time.
“Step back. There’s a strange presence,” Aishia said, staring at the corner of the room.
“Huh...?” Celia followed her gaze.
The distance between them was a few meters.
“I suppose there was no hiding after coming this close. And as I expected, the one guarding Celia Claire in spirit form was you... I had my hopes up, but it seems I’ve been completely outwitted by that man. What a bother...”
The Proxia Empire ambassador, Reiss, stood there quietly. How long had he been there for? It was as though he had appeared out of nowhere.
“Why do you know about Aishia’s spirit form...?” Celia mumbled with a dumbfounded look.
“I wonder why indeed...” he chuckled smugly.
“What do you want?” Aishia stared at Reiss as she asked him directly.
“Do you think I’d answer that? That’s what I’d like to say, but my purpose isn’t to confront you here—I’m not that rash. I had business with a particular member of the Restoration. Unfortunately, my timing wasn’t the best... It seems everyone in this room has headed for the harbor already.” Reiss shrugged and looked out the window as though to change the topic.
“Business? Who are you after?” Aishia asked in her flat tone, but her gaze was slightly sharper than normal.
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that much.”
“If it’s Celia you’re after...” Aishia stood before Celia as though to protect her from Reiss. He had already made his hostility clear on their journey from Cleia to Rodania—if he was after Celia, then there was even less of a reason for her to show him any mercy.
“Just to be clear, the reason why I confronted your contract holder on the journey from Cleia to Rodania was merely because of Princess Christina. Well, my plans were foiled and the princess safely reached Rodania in the end, but... As long as you don’t get in my way, I won’t have reason to harm you either.” Reiss raised both his hands to show he had no hostile intentions.
“Why are you after Princess Christina and Princess Flora?” Celia asked with bated breath.
“I’m afraid I can’t answer that either.”
“Is there a spy amongst the Restoration leaders? Is that why you’re here?”
“Who knows?” Reiss evaded Celia’s probing questions with vague answers.
“You said you were outwitted before.” Celia picked up a part of Reiss’s earlier statement to probe him further.
“Let’s leave the unnecessary chatter at that. This situation is extremely unexpected for me, so I’d like to leave as soon as possible.” Reiss ended the conversation there and made to leave.
“Your words cannot be trusted. Therefore, I’m not letting you get away,” Aishia stated quietly.
“Oh? You wish to fight me? In such a restricted space like this? It would be one thing if you let me retreat quietly, but if you’re going to fight, then I will resist.” The room would inevitably be destroyed if they fought, Reiss was implying. “I doubt even you would be able to suppress me easily. Much less while protecting Celia Claire as you fight.”
Reiss looked at Celia.
“I-I can fight a little myself. Did you think we would let you walk away peacefully after you snuck all the way into our innermost office? Even if I set aside the matter of Princess Christina and Princess Flora, you’re still related to Haruto’s enemy.” Despite the nervous look on her face, Celia refuted him without cowardice.
“I haven’t snuck in, though. Since you’ve found me like this and all. And what if I was invited here as a diplomat?” Reiss chuckled while evading the point. As he said that, he approached the balcony of the office.
“If you want to leave the estate, you can leave through the front door and not the balcony,” Aishia said, raising her right hand up at the ceiling. She had already prepared her magic essence for combat, but she instantly increased that essence further. Then, without any visually obvious phenomenon occurring, a screeching ultrasonic sound rang through the air.
“A powerful resonance between ode and mana...?”
While Celia couldn’t use spirit arts as a sorcerer who handled magic, she had lived in the stone house for a long time. Thanks to her training under Rio and the spirit folk girls, she was able to see the light of ode and detect mana. Thus, she understood precisely what Aishia had tried to do. That is, she had forced a powerful resonance between the ode and mana across the entirety of Rodania, creating a signal that could only be noticed by those who could sense it. Sara and the others would soon realize something had happened.
“I see, so you’re going with that... I shall take my leave now, then.”
Reiss immediately guessed that their allies were hiding nearby. If they all joined up together, Aishia would be able to focus on pursuing him alone—something which would be extremely problematic. With an annoyed sigh, Reiss took a great leap onto the balcony and flew into the air with spirit arts.
At the same time, Aishia picked Celia up in a bridal carry. “We’re going to chase that man. Hold on tight to me.”
“Huh...?!” Celia let out a hysterical noise at abruptly being picked up. Aishia accelerated suddenly and flew outside from the balcony.
“W-Wait! Hold on!” Celia screamed.
“Don’t open your mouth while we’re accelerating. You might bite your tongue,” Aishia advised calmly. Flight using spirit arts involved setting up a wind barrier against the surroundings, so that the air resistance was eliminated while flying at high speeds. As a result, one could converse while flying, but the faster the flight, the more recoil would be felt from the acceleration. Aishia could control even that recoil with her spirit arts, but her control wasn’t as accurate with the considerable burden of carrying Celia in her arms.
“G-Gosh, don’t surprise me like that. Though I guess it was an emergency, so it makes sense... But what do we do now?”
Once the recoil of Aishia’s acceleration finally calmed down, Celia pouted her lips cutely. However, she soon put those feelings behind her and focused on chasing Reiss. She could see him fleeing through the air ahead of them, and when she looked down, she could see the city of Rodania below.
“We’ll lead Reiss to the stone house. I’ll attack him from the sides, so use your magic to stop him from moving upwards. You don’t need to hold back. You can use intermediate attack magic spells.”
“A-All right. I’ll give it a go.” Celia gulped and nodded at Aishia’s orders.
“Here we go, then.” Aishia created countless balls of light at her side, each roughly one meter in diameter. The next moment, they all fired outwards and curved in Reiss’s direction.
“As expected of a humanoid spirit. What wonderful control.” Reiss glanced back and evaded the light spheres that curved irregularly.
“I’m not as good as you, but I’ll go all-out on magic essence until Sara and the others arrive as backup! Quintet Magician Magicae Displodo!” She wasn’t about to be a burden like she had been on the journey from Cleia to Rodania. Celia focused all of her mental energy on reciting her spell. Seven magic circles appeared around her; she took a mere three seconds to take aim and fired at just a hair’s breadth above Reiss’s head.
Whoa! Seven intermediate attack spells at once, you say? Her spell deployment is also quick. I didn’t think I was underestimating her, but I see why she’s called the genius sorcerer now. It would be one matter if I was facing her alone, but having a sorcerer of this level as a support is quite troublesome indeed...
Reiss avoided Celia’s light missiles by slightly lowering his altitude, when the next barrage came at him without delay. There were as many bullets as there were spell circles, and as soon as he dodged one, the next would come flying. On top of that, it wasn’t only Celia’s attacks coming at him.
When he tried to raise his altitude, Celia’s magic would snipe at him, and Aishia’s spirit arts freely changed direction to fly at him from the sides.
I’ve been completely blocked from above and to the sides. I can’t accelerate like I want like this. We’ve already left the skies of Rodania, so perhaps it would be better for me to just hide myself in the forest.
Thinking that, Reiss lowered his gaze to the forest.
“Guh...”
Suddenly, an ice, fire, and light bullet came shooting up from the ground. Orphia came flying out of the forest.
This is...a rather unlucky situation. No, I suppose I was led here on purpose. Reiss made a contemplative face at the difficult situation he was in. Just then, Aishia swooped down and approached Orphia.
“Lady Aishia!”
“Orphia, take Celia. Protect the house with everyone else,” Aishia said, tossing Celia in Orphia’s direction.
“Huh? Whaaa?!”
Celia screamed at the sudden floating sensation. However, they were racing against time right now. Reiss had already taken the chance to speed up and retreat.
“I’ll be off now,” Aishia said once Orphia caught Celia, who was still in a fluster. Aishia accelerated upwards once again, flying after Reiss.
It doesn’t look like she’ll be giving up. Honestly, what an unlucky day. Reiss had a rare look of pain on his face. Just how did things end up like this? He recalled the events leading up to this moment...
Shortly before Rio left for the Proxia Empire...
On the upper balcony of the Proxia Castle stood Lucius, Emperor Nidoll, and Ambassador Reiss. Lucius had barged in on them.
“The bastard is my prey,” he said about Rio, then left, leaving Nidoll and Reiss behind on the balcony.
“Now...shall I explain the plan to kill Haruto Amakawa—the boy also known as Rio and the Black Knight?” Reiss brought up cheerfully.
“You’re killing him? Was the brat not capable of reaching the transcendent ones?” Nidoll asked frankly.
“Well, part of the reason why the transcendent ones were brought up as an example was to control Lucius. Though it seems it had no effect at all.” Reiss shrugged in annoyance. “However, it’s true that the Black Knight’s combat power exceeds those of the great hero class from the time of the Divine War. While I don’t know if he’s capable of wide-ranged attacks like the awakened heroes, it would be wise to consider his individual combat ability just as threatening as theirs. He does have a contract with a humanoid spirit, after all. Their threat when combined would be...”
“Something that would surpass an awakened hero?” Nidoll’s expression twisted with a grin.
“You seem rather pleased. This isn’t good news for me, though.” Reiss sighed wearily.
I’m sure their combined power cannot reach that of the transcendent ones, but the fact they’re equal to the awakened heroes means they’ll be equal to us when unbound... Which would be extremely problematic if true, Reiss thought.
“And so you plan on splitting them up and crushing them individually. Indeed, that is one of the fundamentals of war.” Nidoll correctly guessed the general plan Reiss was thinking of.
“Yes. He should be utterly convinced that Lucius is connected to me, being that I am the ambassador of the Proxia Empire. If his resentment for Lucius is strong, he shouldn’t be able to overlook this country. It won’t be long before he comes here—to this very castle. We should use that chance carefully.”
“And that is when you want me to pass a message on to the Black Knight?”
Reiss nodded in satisfaction. “I’m glad you’re quick on the uptake. However, his arrival will be unpredictable, and if he comes across Lucius, we’ll end up involved in a destructive head-on collision between them. This situation will need to be avoided.”
“That seems interesting as well.”
“It’s not interesting for me. That is why there will be a need to prepare a different location for the showdown and make Lucius avoid the castle for the time being. I shall take on that role myself.”
“In which case, my role will be to guide the Black Knight.”
“Indeed. If his target is merely Lucius, then he wouldn’t want to fight more people for no reason. Use that to your advantage and have him follow Lucius.”
“Will it really go that smoothly?”
“That will depend on your capabilities, and a little bit of luck. If he decides that this castle isn’t worth his time for a visit, then the plan would be ruined.”
“It would.”
“However, in that case, we can just guide him in another way to the battlefield I shall prepare. But I do believe he will stop by this castle. Not even he should be able to slip past the castle’s barrier undetected, so it’ll be your time to shine once he’s snuck in.”
“Naturally, I should treat him as an intruder. Is that correct?” Nidoll asked with a slight bounce to his voice.
“As long as you guide him to the location of the battlefield, I leave the rest to you. However, you absolutely must clarify that your relationship with Lucius is as mercenary and employer, and you must hint that Lucius is in the Paladia Kingdom. That is what I request of you.”
“The battlefield shall be Paladia, you say. It is a shame I cannot go there myself... I will have to make do with enjoying the opening act. It has been some time since I last faced a powerful opponent. It makes my heart leap.” Nidoll spoke brightly as he imagined his confrontation with Rio here.
“Keep things in moderation... Even if he does sneak in, he won’t fight with the intent to kill, as his goal is to obtain information. If the battle gets too heated and intense, the worst may come to pass.” Reiss narrowed his eyes as he emphasized his point.
“Surely that mustn’t be the sound of concern for my defeat that I am hearing. And from you, no less.”
“If it comes down to an all-out battle, then even you will be in an unfavorable position in your current state. It may not be what you want to hear, but have some restraint in your fun.”
“Fine.”
“Good. During that time, I’ll drag Lucius around and work on securing our victory.”
“What do you intend on doing?” Nidoll asked in interest.
“My first idea is to bring at least one of the heroes onto our side as a pawn. At worst, we can stimulate their awakening and throw them against the Black Knight.”
“Hmm. Speaking of heroes, there was a report that a certain church has made a move.”
“You mean the saint of the Church of the End? I was planning on leaving that case until after the Black Knight had been dealt with. In terms of a threat, he is far above them.”
“Which hero do you intend on luring to this side, then?”
“There’s one hero without any affiliation to a kingdom or organization, masquerading as an adventurer. There’s been various activity around the Rubia Kingdom’s princess regarding that, so I am considering using this opportunity to take the hero in. If things go according to plan, this should act as a distraction for Lucius as well.”
“How overly protective of you.”
“There is no better candidate at present than Lucius, after all... I’d like to avoid losing him at all costs. That is why I’m bending over backwards trying to keep him pleased.” Reiss shook his head tiredly, while Nidoll smirked in agreement.
“I’m sure it’s beyond my imagination. So, what will be the core of your plan for victory over the Black Knight?”
“It’s simple. We just have to take hostages. Rio may be strong, but he’s susceptible to what will happen if we take hostages. It’ll merely be a matter of taking someone precious to him from his home base while he’s away. We’ll be making a total enemy of him if we mess up, but, well... This method will suit Lucius’s tastes much more, so it will be easier to gain his cooperation,” Reiss said with a cold laugh. Defeating an enemy by aiming for their weakness was a normal tactic in battle.
“I see,” Nidoll hummed with meaning.
“Does something worry you?”
“You are indeed a cunning man. You excel in making people do things for you. However, perhaps there’s something that you’re forgetting?”
“Which would be...?”
“That Lucius is also a cunning beast. He moves on instinct, preying on others. He isn’t of the caliber to be kept as a pet.”
“I do believe I am aware.”
“I don’t know how you’ve calculated your victory, but... No matter how much Lucius is forced into working with you in order to locate the Black Knight, as long as you hide the important things from him, he won’t obey you,” Nidoll warned.
“Fine. I shall find the occasion to tell him everything other than the fact his beloved boy is coming to the castle,” Reiss said, raising both shoulders.
“I see. I’ve given my warning.”
“Indeed. Now, it’s about time I take my leave.”
With the essential matters discussed, Reiss turned his back to Nidoll and walked off.
“Now, what to do from here...” Nidoll’s muttering was delightfully animated.
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