Sichif's Treachery at First Sight
At that moment, the signs of the mana cannons preparing to fire became visible. The cannons, with their immense power capable of shredding the roofs of tens of thousands of houses with sheer wind pressure alone, came hurtling toward Dragonai's body in a furious barrage!!
No matter how many layers of barriers Dragonai erected—two, even three—no matter how much mana he poured out over nearly a century to cast the highest-tier protective magic, taking a direct hit from those cannons would leave him with little chance of survival. He had already expended most of his mana and stamina in the battle against the Black Dragon, and even after sustaining severe injuries from those mana cannons while fighting fiercely from the skies, he had pressed on. Or so the novel had described it.
“Hmm...”
I stared at the scene before me, my vision tinged red, and fell into thought. ‘Still, I could probably single-handedly crush the Empire or two, right...?’
Ah, but there was a problem. Dawn was gradually breaking. If that happened, I would have to find a way to keep Dragonai's body from forcibly falling asleep. ‘Hah, looks like I’ll have to pull an all-nighter...’
Pulling an all-nighter meant I could use Dragonai’s body a little longer. Even so, during the daytime, Seira’s body would start moving. She wouldn’t just lie there sleeping peacefully. But if I didn’t control Seira myself... her mental age would regress to that of an infant!
‘Damn it, I can’t let her get dragged off by some shady bastards...’
I was a bit worried about Seira’s safety, but that only made me more determined to locate her first. ‘She was being taken somewhere... somewhere...’
Suddenly, a flash of light streaked across my vision at lightning speed.
Kugugugugugugu— Kwa-kakakakakaka—!!
‘First priority—barriers!!’
Blocking the dragon-slaying cannons right in front of me was the most urgent task!
* * *
Meanwhile, Crown Prince Dakus was being rescued by his subordinate knights who had secretly followed the troops after they had been disbanded in front of the Black Fortress due to the Black Dragon.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince! Your Highness! Are you safe?”
“I’m fine. More importantly, where is Seira? Where did Seira’s carriage go?!”
“We already had tails on her.”
“Is that true?!”
“Your Highness—!”
“Be... Bakers!!”
In Crown Prince Dakus’s eyes, Bakers was more reliable than anyone. He had once been his teacher and was now the Commander of the Imperial Knights—the Empire’s Second Sword Saint! Was he not?
Seeing Bakers, Dakus’s eyes grew hot with emotion. Now, a hundred elite knights selected from the Imperial Knights had joined them completely! They were brimming with confidence, as if they could defeat anyone.
Mujata led Seira along with over a hundred intermediate knights toward a shabby tavern in the city that served as one of the entry points to the Safety House. Since the Safety House was the Grand Duke’s ultimate secret base, its entrances and exits were completely hidden. However, Mujata and the ten commanders of the Black Fortress Knights were among the few who knew its location.
Mujata helped Seira down from her horse. She was so breathtakingly beautiful that even the title of the planet’s greatest beauty seemed inadequate. This was the second time Mujata had seen Seira’s face, and a subtle stir arose in his heart. But remembering that the Grand Duke would provide him with countless beauties anyway, he resolved to suppress the boiling lust for the sake of his own safety.
“Uung? Where ish thish?”
Seira spoke with an innocent face, gazing at the unfamiliar buildings of the city she was seeing for the first time. Because Dragonai had decided to stay up all night, Seira’s mind had become pure! With her already peerless beauty now combined with extreme cuteness, a tsunami of lamentation began to surge in the hearts of the men around her.
‘How wonderful it would be if that girl were my wife?! *Sniff*...’
But right now, Seira was surrounded by the elite of the elite—the Black Fortress Knights.
“Seira— even if you enter a bear’s den, you’ll live as long as you keep your wits about you! Just hold Mommy’s hand tight and come down, okay?”
“Uung!”
Seira followed Puyor’s guidance and entered the old tavern. The moment the many people inside saw Seira, the place fell silent as if time itself had stopped.
Thud—
Those who had been sitting disguised as ordinary tavern patrons were actually secret operatives of the Grand Duke guarding the entrance to the Safety House.
“Why are you bringing Seira into such a shady tavern?”
Puyor asked anxiously, glancing around the dark, musty-smelling tavern with uneasy eyes.
“Just wait a moment.”
Mujata showed the bartender an identification plaque and then followed him down to the wine cellar with Seira and Puyor. The bartender who had guided them walked to the leftmost row of wine racks and removed all the bottles there. Suddenly, mechanical devices clicked and rumbled into motion. Finally, a long underground passage leading to the Safety House appeared.
The bartender handed Mujata a torch.
“Have a safe trip.”
“Thank you.”
“Oh, by the way—”
Just as Mujata turned around with the torch, the bartender suddenly drew a hidden dagger and, imbuing it with weapon aura, slashed through the chainmail around Mujata’s neck before stabbing him in the throat.
“Kuhk! Kek! Krgh—!”
Mujata collapsed without even letting out a final scream, his face filled with resentment as he regretted his carelessness in not wearing a full helm even in a safe zone.
“Kyaaaaah—! Someone’s dead! Help!”
“Kyaaaaah—!! Ummmaaah~!”
Watching Puyor scream shrilly while clinging to Seira, the bartender approached with a sly grin.
“You’d better stay quiet. Auntie, and pretty little Miss Seira? If you don’t want the sound of wind whistling through your necks like reeds...”
The bartender began licking the bloodstained tip of his very sharp-looking dagger with his long tongue. The mother and daughter, trembling with fear, could only stare at the bartender as he approached with a sinister smile, like a snake slithering toward its prey.
*
“D-don’t come any closer—!”
Puyor drew the silver dagger she always carried and threatened him. But to her dismay, the moment she merely made a threatening motion with her wrist, the bartender swiftly grabbed her wrist with his right hand. Still, Puyor twisted her wrist to reverse her grip on the dagger and tried to slash at him. However, he yanked her captured wrist and pressed it diagonally toward her own neck. As a result, the blade of the silver dagger she held was now aimed directly at her own throat.
She could no longer move.
“You rotten bastard—!!”
Seira suddenly began smashing her fists against his back. The man grabbed Seira’s wrist with his remaining left hand as she tried to strike him again and flung her onto the floor. The frail Seira collapsed with a thud.
“Uwaaaah—!”
“Heh, how cute.”
“W-what are you going to do to us?”
“Ah, well... the human heart is truly unknowable... The moment I saw you two, I just... couldn’t control my emotions.”
Puyor asked in shock.
“Y-you’re also a subordinate who receives the Grand Duke’s pay, aren’t you?! D-don’t you know how long His Grace the Grand Duke has been waiting for Seira?!”
Then the Thieves’ Guild Master, Sichif, chuckled.
“Well, I didn’t expect to feel this way either... But now, my life? That doesn’t matter anymore!!”
Sichif’s eyes gleamed as he slowly approached Seira.
* * *
The Thieves’ Guild had originally been a group that remained thoroughly loyal to the Grand Duke, faithfully carrying out only the tasks assigned to them in the underworld. In return, the Grand Duke had given them vast amounts of gold coins and privately assisted their activities by mobilizing various security and public safety forces to keep them secret.
Now, their relationship had gone beyond symbiosis—they had completely fallen under the Grand Duke’s command. Over 90% of their high-level requests came from the Grand Duke. Some of them even received salaries and small fiefdoms from him.
“Master, why did you suddenly make this decision...?!”
Even though he had faithfully served the Grand Duke’s household for over twenty years as the Thieves’ Guild Master, ‘Sichif’ himself had never dreamed he would betray them so suddenly. His subordinates felt the same.