“Abel, people are watching us.”
“So they took the bait.”
“Huh? Wait, were we decoys?” Ryo asked in surprise.
“Kind of.”
“Then you should have told me that from the beginning! I need time to mentally prepare myself!”
“Is that right?” Abel shook his head, confused. Mental preparation for being a decoy? It would’ve made sense had it been anyone but Ryo, who could thrash any threat in his way. That Ryo needed to steel himself for something like this? Yeah, okay.
“Yes! I have to think about whether to counterattack with magic or fight with my sword, whether to engage in close combat or overwhelm them with firepower and show them how outclassed they are. There are all sorts of things to consider.”
“Yeah, I couldn’t care less,” Abel said before cautiously looking around. “Well? Are you jerks gonna come at us, or what?”
“Ah... Reinforcements have arrived,” Ryo reported, having sensed them with his Passive Sonar.
“So they’re attacking. Good. Now, what should we do? I hope one of them’s a captain or something. It’d make things simpler,” Abel said, almost as if he was excited for the confrontation.
They only had to wait a minute.
Three men suddenly appeared in front of them.
“Stop right there!” shouted the man in the middle.
“Huh. He looks strong,” Abel whispered.
“Yes, he certainly does,” Ryo replied. “Three in front, two behind, two on the right, two on the left. Nine in total.”
“Got it.”
“Ugh...” Ryo groaned. “More reinforcements? Another ten... They’re staying back a short distance away.”
“Nineteen in all. Things just got a little tricky.”
“Wait. I’m picking up something else...”
Ryo cocked his head as he analyzed the data from his Passive Sonar.
“Hm... I recognize someone among those ten. They’re definitely imperial soldiers.”
“Interesting. I might know who these guys are.”
“Really?”
“It’s just a hunch. Let’s see if they’ll call my bluff.”
Abel nodded.
“Adventurers, we know what you were up to!” the commander in front of them said. “What we want to know is how much of that information you’ve reported and how much your employer knows. We’d appreciate your cooperation.”
“If we tell you the truth, will you let us go?” Abel asked.
The commander nodded. “It’s not out of the question.”
Abel grinned. “Liar. The Shadow Regiment would never let us escape.”
The second those words left his mouth, their opponents’ entire attitude changed. Now, they were radiating murderous intent.
“Hm... That’s a curious detail to know.”
“Your attack on Marquess Hope failed, didn’t it? We heard about it from the adventurers who stopped you.” Abel stared intently at the commander, as if trying to recall a detail, for a moment. Then his voice shifted, becoming slower and more deliberate. “The leader was the general of the Twentieth Imperial Regiment, which makes you General Rancius, no?”
The soldiers’ sudden shock swallowed their initial bloodthirst. Most people, even many among the imperial nobility, didn’t know the name of the man who commanded the Twentieth. And that meant—
“You aren’t some ordinary adventurer,” Rancius said, expression steely.
“Naaah, I definitely am.” Abel shrugged. He tried to maintain a nonchalant demeanor, but inside, his thoughts were racing...
It’s bad enough that the Shadow Regiment is here, but the general himself? Do they want to cause trouble in Acray? Why? Besides, we’re in Heinlein’s territory. The marquess has the best counterintelligence network in the Central Provinces, so even the Shadow Regiment shouldn’t have free rein to carry out sabotage, right? Maybe that’s why they were using the wyverns... That’s so basic, though, that it’s almost dumb. Or maybe...anything goes as long as it keeps the marquess, his knights, the Bureau, or Acray’s adventurers tied up in his territory? With a bunch of wyverns on the loose, everyone’d be too busy dealing with them to send reinforcements to other parts of Knightley. In other words, they’re just preparing for something else...
“No ordinary adventurer would know that name.”
“You sure about that? ’Cuz all the adventurers in southern Knightley do.”
As soon as Abel finished speaking, he heard Ryo whisper behind him.
“When we fight them, we’ll take our time. Go slow. Make the other group waiting in reserve impatient, and we’ll lure them out that way.”
Abel didn’t understand why they’d do that. After all, the Shadow Regiment and General Rancius were formidable opponents. There was no way his plan would work...
“Then you leave us no choice but to capture you and force you to talk. More’s the pity.”
The soldiers drew their swords.
“Guess we hit a wall, Ryo. I’ll take on the general, so I’m leaving the others to you!”
Then, Abel tore his blade from the scabbard, closed the gap between him and Rancius in a flash, and struck hard and fast.
“Great. Yet again, I have to do all the legwork. Sheesh. Ice Bahn.”
Ryo had been momentarily taken aback by Abel’s request, but he quickly recovered and paved a sheet of ice over the ground beneath the other eight soldiers.
Unsurprisingly, some noticed the change in the terrain. Four soldiers leaped backward, and Ryo followed, creating a larger buffer between Abel and General Rancius and the other soldiers. As always, Ryo was the pinnacle of thoughtfulness.
His movement also drew the enemies away. He unsheathed Murasame, ready to take on the first four by himself. He had to take his time with them—had to engineer a scenario that made the ten in reserve impatient enough to join the fray.
“Hm... Better to have all eight of them here,” Ryo muttered, dismissing the carpet of ice that the other four soldiers were still slipping on.
Their general’s duel with Abel was anything but ordinary, so the remaining soldiers picked themselves up and joined their comrades in circling Ryo. Finally, the water magician had the eight-on-one fight he wanted.