While enjoying the reward of the sensation of her very bouncy boobs, Sharlo mercilessly sent Lorelei flying off like a cannonball.
Thud. Lorelei crashed into a wall with her back. The strong impact to her head caused her eyes to roll back. Slowly, she slid to the ground, completely unconscious.
(We... beat her......? Me, a mere Iron...... and her, a Platinum......?) Sharlo blanked out for a second, but then quickly came to a start and roared, “Why did you come back?!”
“Wh-What is with that tone of yours! You would have been done in if I didn’t lend a hand!”
“Hah! Even if you stayed out of it, I would have been able to win somehow!”
“You sure about that? Aren’t you already injured all over? In my eyes, you look like a ragged dust cloth shot through as magic target practice!”
“Say that again!”
“Say what, huh!”
As the two glared at each other heatedly, an exasperated voice cut in. “All right, all right. This isn’t the time to be arguing together on good terms. Let’s run away already,” said Hanna.
Upon regaining their composure, the two averted their eyes awkwardly.
“W-Well, I’ll just say thanks, for what it’s worth. Th-Thanks......” murmured Sharlo.
“S-Sure......” Unsure how best to answer, Yuliana could only wriggle about bashfully.
Hanna ground her teeth, recognizing this to be a highly undesirable situation. This was clearly the cliché romantic scene of two people at each other’s throats who actually acknowledged the other but just couldn’t be honest about it. (God, please do something about this!) Perhaps this cry in her heart had indeed reached the heavens.
“Ane-ue!” A young man rushed over to Lorelei. At his waist were two swords, and on his back were two spears. It took them no time at all to realize the identity of this man who called Lorelei “big sister.”
“““Cain Ketora!”””
In contrast to the older sister who had climbed up to Platinum rank by her magic prowess, this younger brother was a master in the martial arts. In addition, he could use magic too, which made him an even more troublesome opponent than his sister. There was absolutely no other choice but to run. Sharlo grabbed the hands of the two others, and was about to call on the wind and make a quick exit. However, he found a huge wall in his way.
“Unfortunately, it seems we were a step too late.”
Sharlo recognized this deep voice. What he had thought to be a wall turned out to be a man so large that he had to look up at him. It was Shouzou.
“Cain-kun, apologies. It seems some great misunderstanding has happened here.”
Upon being addressed by Shouzou, Cain instead responded in an even more apologetic tone. “I believe I’m the one who should apologize. I am almost certain that this was Ane-ue’s fault for not explaining the situation properly, thinking it too troublesome to do so. From what I can see, her life is in no danger. Please allow me to offer my deepest apologies instead.” Sharlo and the others could not wrap their minds around the sight of Cain deeply lowering his head.
Upon sensing this reaction of theirs, Cain informed everyone present, “Us siblings have accepted a quest to protect Your Imperial Highness, Princess Yuliana.”
✦ ✦ ✦
★
The Ketora brother—Cain—was holding his sister, whose eyes were still whirling, in his arms. “I’ve already taken care of all the agents that the empire sent, including their commander. There’s a lot to discuss. Shall we move to a place where we can settle down?” As the spell that Lorelei had cast to keep people away was soon to lose effect, Cain was worried about the city guards arriving soon.
Shouzou and the others nodded at each other, then left the location behind. The group gradually made their way up onto the city walls.
After carefully laying his sister on the ground, Cain turned toward everyone else and deeply lowered his head once again. “Allow me to properly introduce myself once again. I am Cain Ketora, and I am here because my sister and I have accepted a quest from a certain person to protect Princess Yuliana. I sincerely apologize for all the acts of discourtesy performed by my sister.”
“Who is that certain person?” asked Yuliana.
“Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to say. I cannot betray my client’s confidentiality. I ask for your kind understanding.”
In Yuliana’s mind, several rather powerful individuals in the anti-emperor faction came to mind. However, now was not the time to be occupied with that.
“Is the attack this time really ordered by, um, the imperial emperor?”
“We have found no proof. However, we are also quite certain that is indeed the case.”
“What is he thinking...... if he just wants to finish me off, then why purposely target me when I’m in Alsbeit?”
“I cannot claim to be well-versed in politics, but according to my client, it is likely meant as a threat and also a pretext for war.”
By successfully killing the princess, the anti-emperor faction inside the empire would receive a huge blow. At the same time, this was an act of intimidation to alert the kingdom to the fact that the empire had successfully managed to control magic beasts. And lastly, to the rest of the world, a case could be made about how the princess was murdered in the kingdom, which would serve as a pretext to declare war.
“It’s an absurd idea to arrange the assassination themselves and yet lay the blame on the kingdom. No one would believe such a nonsensical claim! In the first place, making enemies of the entire world to prosper as a solitary country is impossible......” Yuliana was beside herself with indignation, but Shouzou thought differently.
Without concrete evidence, the attention of the other countries would become focused solely on the fact that the princess had indeed been killed inside Alsbeit Kingdom. Although they would surely also suspect the empire, it would not be strange for them to also think that the kingdom was partly at fault for allowing this to happen within their borders. And, though this was not yet publicized, the proceeding marriage talks would also play against the kingdom. The princess went to visit the country she was about to marry into but then died there. Regardless of whether it was by accident or by assassination, the kingdom would surely be bombarded with censure. The choice to use a magic beast unit for this was also a display of confidence. True, there were no human casualties this time, but from this moment on, the kingdom would have to be on its guard against being ambushed by magic beasts.
On the other hand, surely the empire had gained more confidence in their magic beast unit from this incident. Although the attempt ultimately ended in failure, the fact that they had successfully sneaked magic beasts into the fortress city was huge.
(It seems that in order to avoid this war, we really do need to crush that confidence of theirs.) There were cards he could play. However, in the current powder keg situation, the options that could actually prove helpful were limited. In addition, due to still not having sufficient information, it was hard to be certain about anything.
There were two conditions that he needed to clear. Now that the empire had already made a move, it would be best to resolve everything within the very same night. “Princess Yuliana, how much do you know about the magic beast unit?”
“I tried looking into it, but I had yet to gain any information beyond the realm of mere rumor. They have everything under very close watch...... I’m sorry I can’t be of much help.”
“Does that mean you also have no idea how it is that they are controlling the magic beasts? Specifically, what techniques or tools they are using?”
“I’m afraid I have nothing better than mere conjecture. If I get to see the magic beast unit carrying out their training, then I might be able to make more accurate deductions, but tonight was my first time seeing them actually in action......”
Hmm, thought Shouzou. Although they still wouldn’t have sound information, if they could at least gain relatively reliable deductions—
“Princess Yuliana, there’s something I wish to show you.” It seemed like there would be great meaning in showing her the footage of the unit’s training. “Would you mind accompanying me to my house right now?”
As everyone present tilted their heads in confusion—
“However, the hour is late. Please remain quiet, so that my daughters are not roused from their sleep.” Shouzou placed a large finger to his lips, then grinned—