Isn't That Right, Viscount?

The Viscount of San Miguel's face froze.

Antonio's squad erupted, throwing their arms around each other and howling with delight.

Even the vice-leader's men looked thoroughly worked up.

"What just happened?"

"The little teacher was a decoy. A disinformation play."

Antonio grinned as he said it, and the vice-leader's subordinate sucked in a breath.

"That's incredible... But how did she even catch up to Miss Marina?"

"She didn't catch up. She was waiting."

The vice-leader spoke. While everyone else had been watching Marina, he had been watching Yustea — because her route had been strange.

She traveled by river.

She'd gotten hold of a small boat upstream and shot straight down to the lower reaches. The current was fast enough that she'd outpaced any horse. But why would a search party looking for kidnapped girls take the river?

He'd still been watching that suspicious movement when Marina set out toward Beechwood Mountain. That was when it clicked. Yustea's destination had been the mountain's entrance, downriver — and she'd climbed a tree and waited before Marina even arrived.

Marina, apparently concluding that things had gone wrong and the viscount had moved the girls, had rushed off in a panic. After they were gone, Yustea had crawled down the tree and hopped to the ground. Her squad members, who'd been hiding and holding their breath all around, came running.

"How did you know they'd come here?"

"Yeah. When we got on that little boat, I thought the little teacher had given up on the exam."

Yustea spoke as if it were nothing.

"If you're going to pin a kidnapping on someone, a slash-and-burn village is the perfect scapegoat, isn't it?"

"Huh?"

"What?"

Yustea folded her fingers one by one as she explained.

"You can't drag in an outside force — that might start a territorial war. And San Miguel's biggest asset is the mines, so they wouldn't want to touch the miners' village. Which leaves the slash-and-burn settlement."

"...!"

"...!!"

Antonio's squad members' jaws dropped. The vice-leader's men clicked their tongues in amazement.

Hadn't one of the retainers said something like, "Seeing this, one ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠realizes how broad Lady Marina's perspective on the situation truly is"?

But the one with the truly wide field of vision was someone else entirely.

The Viscount of San Miguel's face had gone white. His retainers glanced at him and let out uneasy murmurs.

And the vice-leader...

"Vice-leader?"

He couldn't take his eyes off Yustea in the magic mirror.

Antonio snorted.

"Starting to regret it now, are you?"

"Who said she wasn't a waste."

The one who'd been weighed on the same scale as that child was Antonio — a comrade who'd walked the thin line between life and death together with him. Of course he'd prioritize Antonio over some outsider. Even if he could turn back time, he would have chosen Antonio.

But that didn't mean she wasn't a loss.

"All right, let's go."

"To the slash-and-burn village?"

"No. The dry stream below it."

"Why the dry stream?"

"If the slash-and-burn villagers spotted young ladies who clearly look expensive, they'd snatch them on the spot and demand a ransom. They'd need to keep the girls in one piece until the exam is over, so the dry stream is a better hiding place."

How could a kid like that not be a waste?

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

The search party and I headed for the dry stream of Beechwood Mountain.

We had to hurry.

If Marina's search party comes back this way, we might end up in a fight.

Of course we'd win. No matter how impressive the soldiers the Viscount of San Miguel had assigned to Marina, we had actual Irregular members on our side — and not just any members. Antonio's squad, the roughest in the guild.

But that's assuming a seven-on-seven fight.

The original kidnappers would still be nearby. They couldn't join in openly, but they might secretly back Marina's team.

So we have to keep the kidnappers from linking up with Marina's search party.

We climbed the mountain without a moment's rest. And when we arrived at the dry stream...

"Little teacher, over there!"

A large carriage sat there, all by itself. Truly all by itself. Not a single guard in sight.

They just left a carriage sitting there and walked off?

It was some distance from the slash-and-burn village, but what if someone stumbled across it by accident?

This feels wrong.

I hesitated, thinking it over — and in that instant, the squad members started running toward the carriage.

It hit me.

No way.

"Wait, everyone."

The moment I pulled the searchers back—

KABOOM—!

An explosion roared. The searchers I'd grabbed, still wearing puzzled expressions, flinched and stumbled backward. Fortunately, I'd stopped them just in time. No one got caught in the blast.

I kept the searchers back and picked up a nearby stone. Then I flung it—

BOOM!

"...!"

The searchers' faces went rigid. I shot a dirty look at the relay magic tool hovering near our unit.

"How cheap..."

The Viscount of San Miguel had made a move, because it looked like I'd reach the girls before Marina. He'd planted items around the carriage. And having played this game, I knew exactly what those items were.

Algani Bird buried-type traps. They explode at the slightest contact.

As an early-game item, the blast wasn't that powerful. But one wrong move and the whole cluster of Algani Birds would go off at once. The carriage itself could get blown apart.

"Damn it. What do we do?"

The searchers looked at me, tense. We had to rescue the girls, but with those Algani Birds there, we couldn't get close. At this rate, we'd still be disarming them by the time Marina's unit arrived.

I let out a long sigh.

"Guess we don't have a choice."

"Yeah, it'll take forever, but we'll just have to disarm the mines one by one as we—"

"We'll just blow them all up."

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Excuse me?"

The searchers stared at me like they hadn't heard right. I plopped down cheerfully and started picking up stones.

"...?"

"...??"

They just stared at me in bewilderment. But I really did scoop up an armful of stones and stand. Then I threw a stone at the carriage.

Or rather, I was about to — if masked men hadn't come bursting out from above the dry stream in a panic.

"W-wait!"

"Hold it!"

The kidnappers appeared, faces drained of color. Afraid I'd blow all the Algani Birds and kill the girls.

They couldn't kill them, of course.

The Viscount of San Miguel would have told them they absolutely must not. What would happen if they wiped out that many noble young ladies? The capital would step in and investigate — meaning the viscount would be in a situation he couldn't possibly cover up.

Just as I'd expected, the kidnappers came scrambling out, shouting.

"Are you trying to kill the girls?!"

"You heartless bastards!"

The masked men were actually scolding us. The searchers wore expressions of utter disbelief.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Yustea's searchers in the magic mirror let out hollow laughs. The people watching the relay were just as speechless.

One of the vice-leader's men said, "The kidnappers are lecturing... whom, exactly...?"

And then Yustea shouted.

"If you don't come down, I'll blow them!"

And the kidnappers...

"C-calm down!"

"...."

The vice-leader's men looked at each other. So... the masked men were the kidnappers, right?

The masked men dithered. Should they actually go down? The ones who looked like subordinates glanced at the leader in the center. The moment they were about to ask what to do, Yustea was faster.

BOOM!

She'd thrown a stone and actually detonated one of the Algani Birds.

"We're coming down now."

BOOM!

"I said we're coming down!"

The vice-leader's men watching the relay remained silent. The ones who looked heartless weren't the kidnappers — it was the ones who'd gone to rescue the kidnapped girls. How the tables had turned was anyone's guess.

The masked men leaped down from the cliff. They landed on the dry stream bed with a ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thud, weapons in hand. A pair of swords as big as a person. A flail. A crossbow loaded with bolts that looked more like long iron spikes than arrows.

One of the vice-leader's men flinched at the sight of the weapons.

"Isn't that the Fangs of the Mist?"

Antonio answered. "You should've recognized them from the jump. That dog-eyed bastard's still alive, huh."

The vice-leader's man went rigid.

The Fangs of the Mist. A mercenary company that had once been infamous — skilled fighters composed of criminals who'd escaped from the northern grand prison. And there looked to be well over thirty of them. Could seven squad members win against that?

"The girls might be fine, but Lady Yustea is in danger," the vice-leader's man said. "She's not a noble, so the capital won't intervene. And more than that..."

He glanced at the Viscount of San Miguel. The viscount's expression as he watched the magic mirror was one of satisfaction.

If she happens to die during the exam, Marina wins by default.

Antonio stood up. A sword was in his hand.

The vice-leader asked, "Planning to go to Beechwood Mountain?"

"The little teacher entered this exam for me and Charlie."

"And?"

"If she's still alive by the time I get there, I'll bring her back alive. If she's dead, I'll slaughter those bastards and the Viscount of San Miguel to repay the debt."

Antonio looked at the vice-leader with a chilling expression, and bit out, "Unlike a certain someone who only knows how to work an abacus, I actually understand gratitude."

"You're an idiot."

"That's enough."

Killing intent flared in Antonio's eyes. The vice-leader's men quickly put their hands on their weapons. Then Antonio's squad members shot to their feet. Those watching the ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠magic mirror together froze at the sudden commotion.

"What..."

"What's going on?"

As the atmosphere between the two groups turned ugly, the Viscount of San Miguel let out a small snort of laughter. If the two squads grew hostile, he was the one who'd benefit. And if the Fangs of the Mist just took care of that damned girl, everything he wanted would fall into his hands.

Then the vice-leader spoke again.

"I mean sit down. You don't need to go."

"...What?"

Antonio frowned, not understanding, and the vice-leader nodded toward the magic mirror. Everyone's eyes turned back to it.

And in the magic mirror...

"Wh-what?"

KABOOOOOM—!

"Aaagh!"

The Fangs of the Mist were dropping like flies.

"That way. Herd them."

The instant Yustea gave the order, a burly searcher shoved the Fangs of the Mist three or four at a time.

"Two meters northwest. Throw it."

Another searcher hurled a rock in the direction Yustea indicated.

KA-BOOM—!

"Th-this is...!"

"What in the world...!"

Yustea seemed to know the exact location of every explosive. The searchers shoved them; Yustea detonated the charges. The Fangs of the Mist went down several at a time. And she was setting off the explosions in such precise spots that the carriage wasn't caught in any of them.

Antonio looked stunned.

"What's going on?"

"Those explosive items are probably Algani Birds."

"They're like landmines. Buried in the ground and covered with dirt. How would she know where they are...?"

"She must know how to search for Algani Birds."

"Search method...?"

The basic method of searching for Algani Birds was to use the magnetism inside them. And the sand of the dry stream contained a large amount of iron powder. What happens when a magnet meets sand containing iron powder? The iron powder gets pulled, and the sand dips slightly.

But it's a minuscule difference.

The impressive part is having the eyes to see it. Plus the knowledge of items like Algani Birds in the first place.

After the explanation, Antonio and the other members let out incredulous laughs.

"What even is the little teacher?"

The vice-leader smirked and crossed his legs.

"Who knows. We can ask her when she gets back."

Having that child enter this exam had been an unexpected stroke of luck.

The Viscount of San Miguel's face was growing paler by the second.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

I dusted off my hands as I looked at the Fangs of the Mist sprawled across the ground.

Good. They're all out of the fight.

Which means now... I approached the one-eyed man who looked like the leader and rummaged through his clothes without ceremony.

"Wh-what are you...!"

Even downed, he still had enough strength to yell. I guess that's a leader for you. I ignored him and checked his inner pocket.

"Found it."

The Algani Bird deactivation key. They'd planted this many buried traps, so of course they'd prepared a key for later deactivation.

I pressed it. Then I threw a stone at a spot where the ground dipped slightly.

Yep. Nothing.

All the Algani Birds had been deactivated.

A searcher who'd been tying up the Fangs of the Mist with rope asked, "All done?"

"Yes. Let's go to the carriage."

We left them fully restrained and headed for the carriage. I nodded, and one of the searchers opened the door.

And what we saw...

"Mmph..."

"Nngh. Nngh."

Girls with gags in their mouths. They looked at us with glistening eyes. These were the noble girls who'd been scheduled to participate in the exam.

I quickly untied their gags.

"Are ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you all right?"

The girls glanced at each other. The searchers spoke with sympathetic expressions.

"Looks like they don't trust us either. Fair enough, after being kidnapped."

"Please rest easy. We're from the castle. See here? The crest of San Miguel."

But the girls remained stiff, not knowing what to do. I untied the remaining gags one by one, then knelt down.

"Hello, Miss Nicola."

The red-haired girl flinched. I smiled.

"You don't know me, but I know you."

I know her very well.

In the original game story, she was the one who passed the exam and became the guild leader's adopted daughter.

I looked at Nicola's hands. They were clenched tight.

"Someone like you, why would you..."

I muttered, and Nicola whipped her head around.

"Getting caught up in a crime is like a natural disaster. Interrogating a victim about why they weren't more careful is just stupid."

"That's right. If you were really the victims."

The searchers looked puzzled at my words.

"What?"

"What are you talking about, little teacher?"

Unlike the bewildered searchers, the girls' expressions had gone rigidly stiff. I said quietly,

"You weren't kidnapped. You followed the kidnappers of your own accord."

Then I glared at the relay magic tool floating in the air. No — I glared at the Viscount of San Miguel on the other side of it.