The Assault (3)
"Jenas. I hear our Rascal is living in a house without hot water…"
'Our Rascal?'
Iris Ancard, who had exchanged numbers with an Orc dispatched from Orc Delivery before, had been smiling more often lately.
Yet the story she told with such a grave expression was this.
"Help him move to our territory."
"Uh… well."
"Don't make it obvious that I helped. Still, it would be nice if you could get him to offer at least a small thank-you…"
"Y-yes… Understood."
'Shit…'
She was a demanding lady of the house.
But he had no choice but to obey.
It was simply the duty of a branch family member.
Besides, he respected Iris in his own way.
Despite her high-handed demeanor, she lowered taxes in her territory, used surplus funds for various welfare programs, and even provided simple jobs for the poor.
It was no wonder so many people moved to her lands.
So he had come to find Rascal a good house…
*
"Huff… huff…."
His heart felt ready to burst.
He no longer wanted to move his legs and run.
"Kyaaooo-!!"
'Damn it…'
But the sound from behind forced him to keep running.
A B-Class monster, a Drake.
It was far too strong for Jenas Ancard, who had only learned swordsmanship and magic as noble etiquette.
Why was this happening to him just because he listened to Lady Iris?
Jenas felt utterly wronged.
Recalling that moment, Jenas suddenly realized the city guards still hadn't appeared and asked Lena, who was running beside him.
"Why haven't the city guards shown up even though a gate appeared?!"
"Why would they send guards to a slum like this?"
Jenas was speechless at the exchange that revealed their differing common sense.
Lena spoke as if it were completely natural.
'The lord here is human…'
Jenas quickly understood the problem.
A mere baron lord wouldn't have powerful knights or mages capable of handling a B-Class Drake.
Of course, dispatching troops to save people would be a loss.
Even hiring what were once called mercenaries and now known as hunters required significant expense…
From the lord's perspective, it was more profitable to hold out in the shelter and wait for the Empress's support.
If an Elf ruled this territory, they wouldn't have neglected it like this.
Even for the poor, protecting them was a noble's duty.
An Elf lord who abandoned even that minimum duty would find it nearly impossible to meet an Orc.
Orcs were a race that understood honor, were diligent, and didn't know how to deceive people.
If a lord abandoned their duty toward the poor, they wouldn't be openly condemned, but they would be seen as trash not even worth speaking to.
At the very least, they should have shown the sincerity of sending a rescue team.
'I need to call Lady Iris.'
As Jenas kept running, he concluded that summoning Duke Iris was the fastest way to resolve this situation.
'Agh…!!'
Even while running, Jenas used a bit of magic to send the messages, then clicked his tongue in irritation.
Duke Iris wasn't even reading his texts, busy looking at something else.
'No choice then.'
Jenas decided to ask Rascal instead.
With the twin Elf sisters around, Rascal wouldn't die, but if he got even a single wound…
Shiver…!
Jenas trembled without realizing it.
There was no being more terrifying than an enraged Duke Iris.
"Please send a message to the lady!!"
"Me?"
"Yes!!"
"No, couldn't you do it, Lord Jenas?"
'If she read my messages, would we be in this mess…?!'
"Huff huff!! C-can't you just do it…? They're going to catch up at this rate!!"
Jenas swallowed the curses that nearly escaped and shouted.
Only then, seeing Rascal finally start sending a message, could Jenas feel relief.
"Kyaaooo-!!"
"Huff! Huff huff!!"
'I should've brought Elf guards…!!!'
He regretted not bringing guards, knowing he was going to meet Rascal.
*
"Currently, the places where gates have appeared in the Empire are here and here."
A meeting was underway in the imperial palace.
Gates opening was a common occurrence, so they usually didn't hold meetings to brief the Empress.
That alone showed how abnormal the situation was.
Over thirty gates had appeared worldwide…
"The largest gate right now is…"
Vrrr vrrr!!
'That bastard Jenas…'
Iris frowned at her phone vibrating repeatedly during the meeting.
—Sender: Rascal—
'Huh?'
But the moment she saw the name on the screen, Iris's eyes widened.
A message from Rascal right now…
"Please excuse me for a moment."
Iris stood up immediately.
Such behavior at a meeting attended even by the Empress was extremely rude.
Her political rivals might use this as an excuse to attack.
But what did that matter?
'I'm coming!'
Right now, our Rascal was in danger!!
*
"This way!!"
"Huff huff…"
"No, are you really from the Ancard ducal house? Why are you panting so much!!"
Lena scolded Jenas, whose face was gradually turning purple from the effort of simply keeping up with her and Leni.
'Hmm. Lena isn't an idiot. No need to worry about her falling for that blond.'
Fortunately for me, neither Lena nor Leni showed any intention of helping Jenas despite his state.
"Huff huff… I only trained a little… as etiquette… C-could you help me like you help Rascal…? Hah… huff…"
Even the unpleasant blond looked no different from an ordinary person when exhausted.
"I don't want to."
"Absolutely not."
"U-understood. I'll… keep running…"
The twins immediately rejected Jenas's request.
Their icy refusal, even toward a handsome man like Jenas, sent a chill down my spine.
"Lena, Leni. If you can help, wouldn't it be better to do so?"
"Okay!!"
"Fine."
I didn't particularly like Jenas, but I couldn't let someone die right in front of me.
When I carefully asked Lena and Leni, they nodded.
Whoosh~!!
Jenas began floating in the air just like me.
"Th-thank you. Whew…"
"Haha. No problem."
At this point, the unpleasant blond must have clearly understood whose females my little sisters were.
Anyway, with Lena and Leni's help, we were desperately fleeing the suddenly appearing monsters, but how long would we have to keep this up?
"By the way, how long do we have to run?"
"I don't know… Until the knights or hunters come to close the gate?"
"I see."
"Ah-!! There's the shelter!!"
We finally crossed the slums and reached an ordinary street, quickly arriving at the shelter.
"Please open the door!!"
"What? Slum rats? There's no door we'll open for you lot! Go back!!"
Discrimination even here?
The soldiers guarding the door kept it tightly shut and began driving us away.
"I am Jenas Ancard of the Ancard ducal house. Shelters are supposed to open their doors to anyone who arrives, aren't they?"
"The Ancard ducal house!!"
"Wh-what do we do?"
"I'll ask the baron first."
"Kyaaooo-!!"
Jenas tried to force the door open by invoking his status, but the Drake had already caught up right behind us.
"Ugh… Oppa. Thanks for making these last memories with me."
"Yeah. It felt good, Oppa."
Lena and Leni set me down and began radiating heat haze around their bodies, as if preparing to fight.
They even left me final words, like heroes heading into battle.
Crack-!!
But Lena and Leni never got the chance to act.
A single streak of flame descending from the sky pierced straight through the Drake.
Iris descended from the sky, looking furious.
Her entire body wreathed in flames, her usually red hair now a crimson hue, her eyes looking down…
'This pisses me off?'
Even though she saved me, my first thought was displeasure at a female looking down on me.
Despite how she squirted and moaned whenever I touched her a few times…!!
But I didn't voice it.
"It's been a while, Rascal."
"Ah, yes. Two days, was it?"
I felt like she'd explode if I provoked her right now.
Crack-!!
"Who was it that didn't open the door for our… refugees? Imperial law states shelters must open their doors to everyone except criminals, doesn't it?"
"W-well…"
Iris smashed through the shelter door and immediately began berating the soldier standing in front.
When it happened to me it felt shitty, but watching someone else get chewed out was quite entertaining.
"Tsk. Who is the noble ruling this territory?"
"Baron Langcon, my lady!"
"Bring him to me. Immediately."
"Y-yes, understood."
One soldier quickly began contacting someone.
"Ahem. Ahem! Ahem ahem!"
What… Iris was clearing her throat as if something was bothering her.
"Ah! Lord Rascal. You can't keep living in a place like that. Let's move you. I'll find you a really good house. Somewhere without incidents like this. I swear on my name and my family's honor."
"Should we do that?"
"Oppa!!"
"No…"
Lena and Leni were still opposing it, though I wasn't sure why.
For some reason, they were glaring at Iris.
Smirk~
At that gaze, Iris smiled brightly for some reason.
'Is she a lesbian?'
"Huff! Duke Iris, to think you'd come to such a shabby place. Thank you."
While I was thinking that, a flash of light appeared and someone who looked like Baron Langcon arrived in front of Iris, panting heavily.
He used magic to get here, then ran this short distance and was already out of breath?
Well… seeing his body that looked about 150 kilograms, I could understand.
"Baron Langcon. Do you… want to die?"
"Pardon?"
"Pardon, my ass, you bastard!!"
Crunch-!!
"Mmph!! Mmmph!!"
Iris suddenly grabbed Baron Langcon's round head and lifted him up.
How did she have that kind of strength with that slender body?
'Ah… I want to touch her breasts.'
Seeing Iris's breasts slightly distorted from her outstretched arm made me want to touch them.
Damn Orc instincts!!
Thud-!!
"Ouch…!"
"Be more careful next time. Understood?"
"Y-yes…!!"
Seeing Iris warning Baron Langcon after discarding her usual noble arrogance was satisfying.
That bastard collected fifty percent of income in taxes without providing any welfare.
"Lord Rascal. Let's move you today. If you have any remaining belongings, I'll cover the costs with my own funds."
"Really?"
"Yes. It's the landlord's duty. And it would be better for your sisters to live in a safer, nicer place too. I won't charge rent for a while. After all, you just saved my life."
Jenas… I judged him based on his blond hair alone, but he turned out to be a good guy!!