But I’d expected this much too. As soon as Gourry and I had hit the hall, I’d begun chanting a spell, and it was just about ready! I placed my right hand on the wall and incanted the words of power! “Van Layl!” Vines of ice sprouted from my hand, slithering along the floor and the ceiling! And the moment they reached the soldiers chasing after us...
Zing! The men froze right over with an audible sound, stopping them in their tracks and blocking off the hall. Given that they were wearing armor, they’d probably pull through alive, if a bit frostbitten.
After making sure that was taken care of, I turned my gaze back to the hall ahead and found that Gourry had already defeated the other two soldiers. Since I hadn’t been looking, I couldn’t say exactly what he’d done, but given that there was no blood, the men were probably still alive.
We kept on running straight outside.
“Too bad for you.” Waiting for us on the training grounds between the building and the wall was a band of armored soldiers. I recognized the man in the middle who called out to us—he was the commander of the Knights of the Silver Spear. “If you’d only agreed to help our kingdom, we could have been tremendous allies. But Mistress Lina... you are simply too strong. If your power were to fall into the hands of another land, it would threaten ours. I must prevent that at any cost.”
Yup, there it was. The kingdom had decided that if they couldn’t have me and my fancy magic power, no one could.
Now, in truth, I’d anticipated as much and worked out a rough plan with Gourry ahead of time. Of course, I’d held out hope that they would keep their word, give me the information I wanted, and let me go on my merry way... But the second we’d entered that meeting room, I’d realized it was a pipe dream. It was clear they’d resolved to a capture-or-kill stratagem.
See, those guys in the meeting... they didn’t seem exactly hostile, but there was a certain crackling tension around them. There was a chance I was just being overly cautious, however, so I’d decided to hear them out. And big ol’ yellow flags like “we don’t know how long it’ll take” and “we’ve prepared you a house” turned red when the guards blocked our way out without needing to be told to do so.
That meant they’d gotten their orders in advance: Don’t let them escape, no matter what.
No way was I giving up on getting home to settle down in this country as their pawn instead. If I did, they’d eventually split me and Gourry up to disincentivize me leaving, and we’d lose touch with each other. And even if I did help teach the kingdom magic, once I’d done my part, they might still kill me just to guarantee I’d never turn on them. If whoever was orchestrating this was clever enough, my fate was as good as sealed. In other words, my only chance at freedom was to flee now.
The knights’ commander drew his sword with a cold metallic sound.
“I really am sorry... Forgive me.” His blade glinted in the sunlight, silver with a tinge of green. “I’ve seen your powers, Mistress Lina. I know there’s nothing you can do if I get too close. So behold... my family heirloom, the magical sword Huelgwilem!”
Um, okaaay... I swallowed down a reflexive groan and began chanting a spell.
“Now...” The knight readied himself. “Don’t underestimate me, child!” he howled as he ran at us, the sword in his hand flashing!
At the same time, Gourry stepped forward unceremoniously and drew his sword. Then, soundlessly... the knight’s sword was sundered near the hilt. The blade went flying through the air and hit the ground with a clink.
Gourry hadn’t broken it. He’d cut clean through it.
“What?!”
And as the commander stared in shock—Thunk!—Gourry struck him in the back of the neck with the butt of his sword. The blow, aimed right in the gap between his helm and armor, knocked the commander out.
Yeah... Shoulda seen that coming.
It wasn’t that the commander sucked or anything. His swordsmanship was pretty cool, in fact. But... dude didn’t stand a chance against an ultra-talented swordsman like Gourry. Skill aside, Gourry wielded the legendary Blast Sword, which absorbed nearby magic power to increase its own sharpness. It could even slay pure demons.
And if the commander had been telling the truth, his sword was magical too. In other words, the moment their blades clashed, the commander’s sword had only fed the Blast Sword’s enchantment. The result was a foregone conclusion. The only way the commander could have come out victorious was to take Gourry out before they ever crossed blades. But given Gourry’s skill, that scenario was highly unlikely.
We’d lucked out in that we hadn’t been asked to hand over our weapons upon entering the castle complex. They’d probably decided it wouldn’t do much good against a spellcaster like me, and that they’d be okay if they just stayed on guard. Of course, if they had asked us to disarm, we would’ve left on the spot.
Seeing their captain defeated in the blink of an eye sent a wave of hesitation through the gathered soldiers. They didn’t actually run away, though. They just concentrated their numbers around the gate.
Meanwhile, I sallied over to a part of the wall the soldiers weren’t guarding with Gourry in tow. Obviously there was no door there, but I placed my hands against it and... “Blast Wave!”
Crash! The wall around my hands blew outward with a big ol’ boom! Blast Wave was a spell that pulverized anything I touched with both hands. The exact results depended on the material, but I could open a human-sized hole in even castle walls if the conditions were right.
From there, Gourry and I exited into the city.