“Wh-Who are you people?!” Morgan croaked after finally regaining his wits. “You bested those demons—and the Dark Lord of the North—each with a single hit!”
“Well, yeah.” I shrugged a little. “Bronco told you I was powerful, didn’t he?”
Personally, I felt I’d shown a great deal of restraint by not simply blowing up the whole fortress on sight. I guess from the point of view of the outer landers, who were pretty naive to magic, my wide variety of attack spells was extremely unusual. I mean, Gourry had actually slain way more demons than me, but my spellcasting must’ve been way flashier, because I was definitely getting the lion’s share of the attention.
Captain Morgan stared at me dumbly. “Well, to be honest, I’d taken his letter with a grain of salt... but now I see you’re even more incredible than he said!”
“Why, thanks! Now, about that information I’m after...” I shot him a wink.
And the crowd just stood there, staring at me in shock.
Richly colored tapestries. A thick, exquisitely carved wooden table. A plush sofa made from the finest leather.
“Now... let me start by officially thanking you, Mistress Lina and Master Gourry, for your aid in destroying the Dark Lord of the North the other day,” Captain Morgan said as he beckoned us to sit down.
Two days following our return to Palbathos, Gourry and I had been summoned by Captain Morgan not to the barracks in town, but to a building within the castle complex itself. The whole city was surrounded by a wall, and the castle at its heart was encircled by an even higher one. And when the soldiers came to fetch us from our inn, that was exactly where they’d taken us.
We’d passed through a gate in the castle wall, crossed a large courtyard that looked like training grounds, entered some building, and found ourselves in a chamber at the end of a not-so-long hall. It was a proper meeting room—a big step up from the virtual interrogation room they’d sat us in at the guard station.
Captain Morgan wasn’t the only one present either. In the far right corner of the room, over Morgan’s left shoulder, sat a middle-aged man in an indigo robe embroidered with gold thread. Fully armored soldiers stood on either side of him, as well as on either side of the two doors in the room.
Captain Morgan continued without introducing the robed man. “You did a marvelous job vanquishing those troublesome fiends. The Knights of the Silver Spear also spoke very highly of you.”
“Thanks,” I began with a friendly smile on my face. “But it’s a small price to pay to receive the information I asked for,” I said, taking the lead.
Here, Captain Morgan’s face stiffened slightly. “About that, actually...” His eyes dropped to the table. “I tried my best, but I’m afraid I wasn’t able to learn much. Of course, the investigation is still ongoing, but we need to check through the old scrolls, and it’s probably going to take some time to find an answer. In the meantime, I’m sure it’s inconvenient for you to stay at an inn. We’ve prepared a proper residence for you both.”
“We appreciate the gesture,” I said innocently, standing up from my seat. Gourry joined me. “But we’d hate to impose, so I think we’ll just be moving on.”
“Please!” Captain Morgan rose from his own seat in panic. “Wait a minute! Is something unsatisfactory?”
“Oh, certainly not. I was just thinking it wouldn’t be polite to burden you anymore. And I’m not sure I can afford to sit around either, so I think we’ll be on our way to continue our search. See you,” I declared, turned around, and headed back to the door we’d come in.
As I did, the two guards standing there moved to block the door.
Aha. Thought so.
I stopped and turned back around. “Captain Morgan, if you didn’t have to tell the soldiers to block our way, that means,” I said with a bright smile, “this is exactly what it looks like, isn’t it?”
The instant I spoke those words, I heard a groan followed by two thuds against the floor.
“Lina!” Gourry called.
“On it!” I turned back to the door and saw it open with the big lug standing next to two fallen soldiers. Naturally, he’d taken them out while everyone’s eyes were locked on me—just like we’d discussed in advance. It was an easy feat for a swordsman of his skill.
“What?!” Shocked voices rose up in the room around us, but...
“Later!” With that, Gourry and I dashed out!
“D-Don’t let them get away!” someone shouted from the room a moment later. I didn’t recognize the voice. Probably the man in the robe.
“Are you sure about this, Lina?!” Gourry asked as we booked it down the hall.
“Perfectly sure!” I responded. I’d expected this to happen. Not that I’d wanted it to, mind you.
Here’s the skinny on what had likely transpired. Captain Morgan—or rather, the Kingdom of Luzilte—had decided not to let me leave. He and the knights had passed on word of all the spells I’d used to vanquish the brass demon, and someone in power had decided that keeping me around to boost the nation’s magical power was a great idea. If I could teach a few hundred or a few thousand soldiers offensive spells capable of killing lesser demons, after all, it’d make for an army to be reckoned with. On the other hand, if I refused...
Fweeeeet! A piercing whistle echoed down the hall.
In response to the sound, two soldiers appeared ahead and drew their swords when they spotted us! As they did, Gourry began charging even faster. I decided to leave the soldiers to him. Meanwhile, I glanced over my shoulder and saw the guards pouring out of the meeting room in pursuit.