“Albert, we’re about to storm the enemy base. Do you understand what that means?”
We were hunched in the shadows with the storehouse in sight, ironing out the final details in our plan. Drawing up a basic plan and nailing down each other’s patterns of movement so it ran smoothly was the very basic of strategy. And we were at the final stage of comparing notes. Once I saw that Albert had nodded in understanding to my question, I continued.
“If I’m being honest, I don’t think that shit brain of yours can fully grasp the finer details of our operation. It’s partly because you’re just a fledgling, but in a perfect world, a rescue mission like this wouldn’t even be in the cards for your lousy ass. All that means is I’m making a big mistake bringing you with me, but I’ll let that go for now.”
Now that I stopped to think about it, bringing a royal along on a mission to rescue a princess was the most absurd thing I could imagine. But this guy was stubborn in the weirdest, stupidest ways. And in spite of that, he still insisted on calling himself my devoted servant—the prince was full of contradictions.
I knew that mulling it over was a royal waste of time. So I forced myself to think instead about the task that lay ahead of us.
“Now, because you’re so pathetic, I have only two rules for you. The first is that you don’t do anything reckless. These people don’t care that you’re a prince—if it’s you or them, they’ll choose their own lives over yours every single time. The more desperate ya make them, the less secure your own survival will be. Your life ain’t to be taken for granted, and it’s about time ya learn that.”
“Yes, my lady… And if my actions here cause a war, it will result in the loss of even more lives.”
“That’s right. Glad that’s clear. Well, I only told ya that just to make sure. The most important stipulation is rule number two.”
Now that I was sure he understood the first part, I held up two fingers. Albert’s face filled with tension. And as he held his breath, not wanting to miss a single syllable of a single word, I said, “The first five seconds after we storm the storehouse…cover your eyes and ears.”
Cover your eyes and ears. I elaborated no further than that.
“Yes, my lady! Er…huh?!”
Albert was either startled by the simplicity of the command or the vagueness of it. It was probably both. For all the pompous airs I’d put on, the plan was incredibly simple, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that the act of covering your eyes and ears in enemy territory was both inappropriate and dangerous.
“If ya wanna know my reasons, I don’t have the time or the need to explain them in detail. I’m gonna use magic when we storm the storehouse. It’s a spell that’ll hurt everyone—friend and foe alike. You protect yourself from its effects by covering your ears and eyes; that’s all.”
“Oh… I get it? Well, I don’t really get it, but I’ve received your order loud and clear. I shall do as you have commanded, my lady!”
At times like these, I really was grateful for how much of a trusting sycophant this guy was. Blindly obeying me would be more than enough.
I stared at the entrance to the storehouse. At a glance, there was only one way in or out. There wasn’t even a single window, perhaps on purpose. We had to use that door, whether we wanted to or not, so I would need to devise a strategy for a forceful entry from the front.
I signaled to Albert as I sneaked up to the entrance. Once I got close enough to break through in a single motion, I charged up my magic. A little orb of light appeared in my hand, and Albert stared eagerly in rapt awe.
“Why, that’s Light magic!”
“Yeah, apparently, this is the element I’m best suited for.”
Every magic user had an elemental proclivity. This element took them comparatively less energy to cast.
And my proclivity was Light. I could generate illusions, inflict damage with feverish energy—at the moment, there wasn’t a single tangible thing about it, but my powers worked in a variety of ways.
“That’s my Mylene! I can think of no other person worthier of God’s choosing than you…!”
Albert’s eyes sparkled when he heard my special element was Light. This was probably because the Lord Eltania Himself was believed to govern the power of Light. But even Albert seemed to understand that we didn’t have time to drag out the conversation. He said nothing more on the matter after that.
“I’m gonna count from three to zero, then we storm in. As soon as the door is open, cover your eyes and ears and count to five.”
After a quick recap of the plan, Albert nodded in agreement. He still didn’t have a clue about what I was trying to do, but he wasn’t that stupid. When the time came, he’d understand everything he needed to.
“Here we go. Three…two…one…zero!”
On my signal, I ran forward, yanking the iron door open. I took a quick look inside the storehouse. The area was wide open. There were four hooded cartel members and Colette—she was tied up but alive!
That made my task quite simple: Translate my thoughts into violence. Beat the shit out of these fuckers and rescue Colette. That was all.
“Hey, boys. You took my princess—and I’m here to take her back!”
That was my own special way of firing the first shot—and it was battle time!
With a smirk, I smashed the orb of magic light to the ground. At the same moment, I set up my magic defenses. I closed my eyes and erected magic shields—or plugs, rather—around my ears.
My magic energy smashed into the ground, generating a powerful flash of light and a crackle that defied reality.
Once my attack landed, I waited a beat before releasing my ears and opening my eyes.
“Wha…what’s happen—? I can’t hear anything?!”
“My eyes… I can’t see!”
Two of the men had been rendered unable to see or hear. Another was dumbstruck. The last man was quietly taking stock of the situation.
That guy’s good…
All the while, I expanded my magic energy outside my body, readying my next attack.
I know my next course of action. Smash the lackeys.
I rushed at the two men who were blindly flailing their swords and sunk my blade deeply into the tendons by their ankles.
“O-owww!”
“Wh-what’s happening?!”
Now that the muscles they needed to move had been cut, the two collapsed and howled in agony.
“Gah!”
“Ack!”
I drop-kicked them in the chins, robbing them of the ability to scream or remain conscious.
I wasn’t killing anybody yet.
I turned to the next lackey and hit him in his stomach with the hilt of my rapier.
“Ke-HACK?!”
I interrupted his violent coughing fit with a swift fist to the chin. His consciousness slipped away.
Now the three goons were neutralized. Whittling down your opponent’s numbers was Fighting 101 stuff. I only had one guy left. The fact that he’d been able to remain calm in the face of losing his sight and hearing was impressive.