Chapter 64
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: The Queen's Coronation (4)
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Shadows kept lunging at them from the darkness.
But their assaults meant nothing against Roin and Helond.
Dozens of shadow monsters vanished with a single strike from Roin as he unleashed his Aura.
Helond used his own Aura to target the monsters in Roin's blind spots.
Thanks to the duo's teamwork, the number of shadow monsters began plummeting rapidly.
It's just a war of attrition.
Roin reined in his Aura.
Then, he snapped the longsword he was holding clean in half with a crisp crack!
Having destroyed his own weapon, Roin hurled one of the blade fragments toward the left pillar.
The Aura-infused shard embedded itself precisely in the pillar.
The structure, which had looked like nothing more than a pillar, began to waver dramatically.
It was an imitation conjured from a lump of mana.
Nothing but a fake.
As the mirage faded, the being hiding inside slowly revealed itself.
The sword shard Roin had thrown was lodged squarely in its chest.
Guh...!
The man spat blood from his mouth and collapsed right there.
As he fell, the shadow monsters vanished in an instant.
Roin approached the fallen man.
He closely examined the clothing of the man, who was already dead.
I knew it.
The man's outfit bore a familiar emblem.
Helond knew all too well what that emblem represented.
Followers of Latio, huh. Is this what you saw, Lord Roin?
Half right, half wrong.
Roin channeled Aura into the broken sword once more.
A blade of blue Aura took the place of the halved edge.
What I saw wasn't just one of them.
You mean there are multiple followers of Latio?
Yeah. At least... fifteen of them.
Helond swallowed hard.
Fifteen.
No small number.
They must have some clear objective to deploy so many followers.
What are they after?
Obvious, isn't it?
Roin pointed toward the royal palace, where light was streaming out brightly.
The future queen, of course.
Tomorrow was the day of the queen's coronation.
Latio was plotting something against Veronica Wilden before then.
Roin had no idea what exactly that plot entailed.
But one thing was certain.
Now that I've spotted Latio's goons, I can't just let them be.
It wasn't about protecting the queen.
There might be a connection between Latio and the forbidden mage.
When transporting Jerka and Oupf, the mercenaries who attacked them had targeted the shards of the Demon God held by Den and the knights.
The one who hired them was the forbidden mage.
Latio was one of the organizations collecting shards of the Demon God.
Which meant...
The odds are high that the forbidden mage is affiliated with Latio.
The surest way to confirm that was simple.
Capture their followers and torture themthey'll spill everything themselves.
That's why Roin planned to hunt down Latio's followers.
Helond asked Roin cautiously.
Should we alert the palace?
No. They might scrap the plan and pull out entirely.
Wouldn't that put Lady Veronica's safety at risk?
It's fine. She's in the palace right now, isn't she? Kern's there too. With all those skilled nobles gathered, Latio won't dare make a move lightly.
While they hesitated, Roin intended to round up every last one of Latio's followers.
But Roin was wrong about one thing.
His assumption that Veronica was in the palace.
Riding through the streets ablaze with light all night, Veronica's eyes sparkled.
She had hardly ever left the palacecould count the times on one hand.
Ever since her father, Parvo Wilden, was assassinated, leaving the palace had been strictly forbidden.
For the first time since that tragic day, everything outside felt wondrous to her.
Mion! What's that they're eating over there?
People slurping at blue, round beads skewered on sticks.
That had caught Veronica's eye.
It was food she'd never seen before.
Mion satisfied her curiosity directly.
It's called volkba, a kind of snack. Think of it like a type of lollipop.
Can I eat one?
Veronica was so eager that refusing wasn't an option.
Reluctantly, Mion dismounted with her.
With her face half-covered by a robe, Mion approached the vendor.
Can I buy just one volkba?
Yes, of course!
Then one, please.
Even with their faces hidden, their noble bearing was obvious, so the vendor bowed low.
And so Veronica clutched a single volkba.
Thanks, Mion. Dig in.
The moment she went to taste it,
Whoosh!
A strong gust suddenly swept through the area.
A junior mage had cast a wind spell to liven up the crowd.
Balloons and flags lifted upward, then drifted back down.
In the process, Veronica and Mion's faces were briefly exposed.
Lady Veronica...!
Mion quickly reached out and covered Veronica's face with the robe again.
She then hid her own face as well.
Mion scanned the surroundings swiftly.
Fortunately, no one seems to have seen us.
Yeah. That was close.
Veronica might get a pass since she'd been cooped up in the palace.
But everyone knew Mion's face.
Fearing recognition, Mion pulled her robe up to cover half her face again.
She even pinned it in place to secure it.
She did the same for Veronica.
This way, even if something like that happens again, our faces won't show.
As expected of you, Mion.
This is nothing. Now, let's go.
To blend into the festival, they started walking again.
However.
Mion had overlooked something.
Two men in black robes were staring piercingly at her and Veronica.
To think we'd spot the target in a place like this.
Indeed. Demon God Inkra must be watching over us.
The men's lips curled upward into sinister grins.
Latio's followers had sneaked into the festival site in Endla.
Having confirmed this with his own eyes, Roin headed back out into the streets.
Helond.
At Roin's call, Helond nodded slightly.
He had just donned the robe worn by the Latio follower they'd taken down, flipped inside out.
Roin had planned to wear it, but their height difference made it impossible, so he handed it to Helond.
If you walk around in that, the Latio goons will think you're one of them and approach on their own. I'll follow close behind. Signal me the moment they say anything.
Understood.
They'd chosen a crowded spot deliberately to bait them.
Roin trailed Helond at a suitable distance.
Ten minutes passed.
Twenty.
Thirty.
No sign of anything.
At this rate, I won't even have time to raid Catherine's place.
Roin wanted to snag Latio's followers quick and wrap things up early.
But they weren't biting.
Is the bait too weak?
Or maybe the other followers had already spotted them.
Time to rethink the plan.
Just as he moved to rejoin Helond.
Helond suddenly signaled with his hand.
He'd spotted what seemed to be Latio followers.
Direction?
Forward, relative to where Roin and Helond stood.
Roin nodded and pushed through the crowd ahead at speed.
Charging forward.
But midway, a snag.
What the hell.
There were two groups wearing flipped robes like Helond.
Which one?
He couldn't ask Helond yethe was still way back.
Delaying to check meant possibly losing them.
Maybe both are them!
While others reveled openly, those two groups were desperately hiding their identities.
They screamed suspicious.
Right.
Or left.
Damn, both sides have pairs.
Tricky call.
In times like these...
Trust my gut!
Roin went left.
He charged toward them.
At that instant,
The taller one noticed his approach and swiftly drew a rapier.
Drew and swung at Roin.
As if!
Roin dropped low and deflected the woman's strike effortlessly.
Her companion hadn't even reacted to what was happening.
Better take this one out first!
Roin reached out and yanked back the shorter one's robe roughly.
Her face finally revealed.
Roin's pupils shook violently.
Beautiful silver hair scattered everywhere.
Silver hair was the hallmark of the Wilden family.
And she was someone Roin knew.
Veronica Wilden...!
He never expected to see the next queen here.
He'd charged in to grab Latio followers.
But Veronica Wilden popping up left Roin dumbfounded.
Veronica was just as stunned.
The boy and girl stared blankly at each other.
Then Mion swung her sword again.
Stay away from Lady Veronica!
Rage laced her blade.
Her shock was brief.
Roin instinctively dodged her strike once more.
Creating distance, he sized up the pair again.
Veronica... and the captain of her guard?
An utterly absurd duo.
Mion quickly assumed a stance.
A boy she'd never seen.
Yet he'd dodged her attacks twice, casually.
Not some amateurMion knew that already.
Her grip on the sword tightened with resolve.
Lady Veronica. Behind me.
O-okay.
The sudden commotion.
But the crowd just assumed Roin, Mion, and Veronica had launched into some festival street performance.
Cool!
Who's the troupe leader? Love the setupsuper fresh!
......
......
Roin and Mion clamped their mouths shut at the reactions.
But their standoff couldn't last.
Seize Veronicanow!
Latio's followers had surrounded them in a flash.