Uninvited Guests (2)
"What are you all standing around for! Hurry up and fetch water!"
By the time Roy rounded the corner, a blast of searing heat slammed into him and furious shouts filled the air. Servants who had already arrived—and those who came sprinting late—were racing frantically back and forth.
The fire had already engulfed the entire cabin; buckets of water alone would never put it out. A mountain of well-seasoned firewood had been stacked inside, so the blaze was only natural. Sparks leapt in every direction with sharp crackles and pops.
Geren shouted,
"Lord Roy! What do you think you're doing? It's dangerous—get clear over there, now!"
"Master Geren! But we need a mage to put out that fire. If we wait any longer it'll jump to the annex!"
"This is no place for a child. Get out of here at once! That is an order from your teacher!"
Geren planted himself squarely in Roy's path and began chanting at once. As a specialist in ice magic, he had little trouble commanding water as well. Yet the inferno swelled without restraint, roaring far too fiercely for a single man—and one who was not even a full-fledged battle mage—to contain.
Crash! Hisssssss—
Geren's spell smashed into the cabin roof. The flames shrank by less than a hundredth of their size. There was simply too much dry timber inside. It was like pouring fuel straight into the fire; the magically conjured water evaporated in an instant and the blaze surged upward again.
If every last log caught, the annex beside it would go up—and the main house itself would no longer be safe.
Ana came running after Roy and shouted from behind him,
"Jerry! Take Roy inside this instant! You will protect Anna and Roy. Use whatever means necessary to keep your younger siblings safe. Do you understand?"
"Yes!"
"Mother! If I use magic—"
"Quiet, Roy! This is not a children's game. Follow your brother inside right now!"
"B-but…"
In the end Jerry seized Roy and dragged him by force into the main house. Outmatched in strength, Roy did not thrash or struggle. He only clenched his teeth until blood welled along his gums—the wounds from his earlier fight with Jerry had reopened.
This damned body.
He was superior to anyone else in the manor, yet in this child's frame he could not even protect the people around him.
"……"
Still, Roy was far from despairing. He tallied the number of mana users currently on the estate. First his mother Ana and his tutor Geren. Chief Butler Ibaldo and Deputy Butler Boodle. In pure volume of mana they all outstripped him; Roy was still too young for his capacity to have fully matured. His personal servant Marek could manage basic spells as well. A few of the administrators who handled territory affairs could use magic too, but they had all gone home before sunset.
Before the fire spreads, every one of them has to cast at once and smother the flames in a single stroke.
Then a sudden doubt struck him.
"Where are the guards right now?"
The thought had simply surfaced.
"What?"
Jerry answered.
"The soldiers who guard the manor. They can handle mana too, can't they? There's a fire inside the grounds and not one of them has shown his face."
"How should I know?"
Roy had not actually expected an answer from Jerry.
"Then go ask! Or should I go myself?"
"What are you talking about, Roy? Didn't you hear Mother tell us to stay put and keep quiet?!"
At that moment a sharp crash rang out from deeper inside the house. Both Roy and Jerry turned toward the sound.
"You heard that too?"
"Yeah."
They stood in the entrance hall of the main house. The noise had come from the right—toward the rooms the baron used as his study.
Why from there all of a sudden…?
A cold suspicion prickled through Roy. An incident from his previous life rose unbidden in his mind. He swallowed hard and spoke to Jerry in a low, commanding whisper.
"Jerry. Father gave you a sword for when you enter the Knight Academy, right? Go get it. Fast."
"What?"
"Shh… Someone may have broken into the house. Setting the cabin on fire was just to draw everyone's eyes outside."
"Is that true?"
"I don't know. But if it is, we need weapons. Anna and I can't use real swords. Aren't you confident in your swordsmanship?"
"……"
Jerry stared at him for a long moment, then scowled hard. Under ordinary circumstances he would never have listened to a five-year-old brother. But the situation was anything but ordinary—and only hours earlier he had been thoroughly humiliated by Roy's magic. He hated to admit it, yet Roy was unmistakably a genius born for the arcane. Mages were supposed to be the cleverest of men. Words from such a person could not be dismissed lightly.
"Tch…"
And, more than anything, Jerry himself had just heard that suspicious crash from the study.
"Hurry!"
"You stay right here and don't move."
Jerry finally dashed up the stairs toward the second floor. That left only Roy and Anna standing in the entrance hall.
Just as Roy had reasoned, Ana Greenhilt was already gathering every mana user she could find, determined to smother the fire with a concentrated barrage of magic. It proved far from simple. More and more timber caught, the heat growing ever more ferocious, and they had to keep dousing the annex walls without pause simply to keep the flames from leaping across.
Every single servant had been pressed into fighting the blaze. The maids and other commoners who could not use magic formed a long bucket line from the well, hauling water and passing it hand to hand. Buckets flew back and forth, yet the heat was so intense that even approaching close enough to throw the water was nearly impossible.
From inside the main house Roy could not see the scene itself—the annex blocked his view—but he could watch people sprinting with buckets as if their lives depended on it. His thoughts churned. Should he prioritize putting out the fire, or hunting the suspicious intruders?
If there really are trespassers, the first thing I have to guard against is…
He lowered his voice and spoke to Anna beside him.
"Anna. Go outside right now and find Mother or the teacher. Tell them thieves have broken into the house."
"What about you?"
"I'll wait here for Jerry and follow after."
"…Mother told me to stay right here."
"Mother doesn't know about the thieves. Go tell her, quickly!"
The one thing that absolutely had to be avoided was Anna being taken hostage. The same went for Roy himself.
But what exactly did they come to steal?
With the baron away and an incident like this erupting, it was almost certainly a planned crime. They had even gone to the trouble of starting a fire. The missing guards only confirmed it. If Roy's suspicions were correct, these were careful and dangerous men.
Hmm…
He set his priorities. Whatever the thieves wanted, the most important thing was his own safety—and that of Anna, the rest of the family, and every servant. No one must be hurt. Money, no matter the sum, could always be earned again given time. Letting the thieves take what they came for and ensuring no one died would leave far fewer regrets later.
Just then Jerry came pounding down the stairs. Roy deliberately raised his voice for any listening thieves to hear.
"Jerry! If the fire jumps inside the house it'll be too dangerous—we should get outside!"
"What?"
"Hurry! Anna already left!"
It was a signal: We're leaving, so help yourselves to whatever you want.
"Then why did you tell me to get the sword? You said there might be thieves!"
You idiot…
The moment the dense Jerry shouted those words, a black figure shot out of the baron's study like a striking snake. In a blink it slammed into Jerry midway down the stairs.
"W-waaah! W-who—"
At the same instant Jerry was attacked, Roy spun toward the front door, ready to shout for help. He knew better than anyone that charging in blind without knowing the number or skill of the intruders was a sure way to shorten one's life.
But someone in a black mask was already standing behind him.
"Mmph… mmph!"
The intruder clamped a hand over Roy's mouth at once. Dropping low so no silhouette would show against the windows, he forced Roy to the floor as well.
"Shh—keep quiet if you want to live."
Jerry, too, had been subdued and dragged roughly down the stairs. Though nearly as large as a grown man, he was helpless before the masked figure. Even the ceremonial sword he had just fetched—his gift for entering the Knight Academy—was wrenched away.
The only mercy was that the men showed no immediate intent to kill. That meant the children still had value as hostages.
"Roy! Jerry?!"
The door flew open and Ana rushed back in. Fortunately Anna had delivered the message properly.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"Tch. So we were found out after all."
"Release Roy and Jerry this instant!"
"My lady, I'm afraid that won't be possible."
The masked figures had somehow become three. The one small mercy was that Chief Butler Ibaldo, Deputy Butler Boodle, and Tutor Geren had all come pounding after Ana. Including Ana herself, the four strongest people currently in the manor now stood gathered.
And me makes five.
The stage was set. Roy's mind raced, searching for the safest way to free himself from the role of hostage.