Use cardboard

“They must be Diaz-san’s wife and son, right?”

It was a somewhat dangerous neighborhood in the city.

On the third floor of an ordinary, office-like building, there suddenly existed a room with iron bars that looked like a prison cell.

A frightened-looking parent and child looked back at Iris (René), who peeked in, as they embraced each other.

“Um, you are…”

“I’m sorry I’m late. I’m just a passing ninja. Nin-nin.”

Iris (René) had slipped out of bed in the middle of the night and was once again a ninja.

As usual, her style covered all but her eyes. She hides her body shape by putting on a few layers of clothes, and also uses an improvised magic item to change her voice into a masculine one.

Although her short stature cannot be helped, it can be somewhat disguised by her thick-soled shoes.

Well, as long as it’s “inexplicable” without being René-esque, that was all that was needed.

Lawrence would not think that René is helping hostages of a criminal organization in ninja attire… Iris (René) decided not to think too much about it, as it seemed ridiculous even to herself when she looked at it from a calm, third-party perspective…

“I have nothing to do with you, but I will help you.”

Saying so, Iris (René) chanted for a longer time and reapplied the spell «Shadowless Infiltration» which she had used for the intrusion up to this point, making it a ranged spell.

“≪Field Stealth≫ x ≪Silence≫ x ≪Field Sneak≫.

　Assembled Spell……≪Shadowless Group Infiltration≫”

A wave of magical power enveloped Iris (René) like a bubble.

With this, people in a certain range around Iris (René) are not seen, not heard, and not felt outside of the spell’s area of effect.

With such a fragile security setup where not even a magician could be stationed to watch over them, it was unlikely that they would be discovered even if they entered deep into the interior.

“Come on, come on. They can’t hear your footsteps and they can’t see you. You can walk out now.”

“Are you sure? What’s going on?”

“A little ninjutsu.”

The two hostages stood up and followed Iris (René), puzzled, as she opened the cell with the key that was hanging on the wall.

In the moonlit corridor, a few magic lamps were hung up, and a man with a boisterous look in his eyes, who appeared to be a guard, was tending to a long sword.

“Hi…”

“It’s all right. As long as you don’t touch him, he won’t even notice if you fall down in front of him.”

Iris (René) gently soothed the wife, who choked back a scream.

–If I could kill the guard and everyone else involved, that would be quicker, but I’m worried that if I get too violent, the country will realize I’m here. Ah, so annoying.

She blurted out in her mind.

No matter how mysterious she was in her ninja outfit, she couldn’t afford to get too carried away.

Even though it was the middle of the night, there were a good number of people in the building.

And none of them noticed Iris (René) and the other two.

They went through the hallway, passed a man who came up the wide staircase, and went outside.

As they exited the building, the hostages’ expressions were overtly more relaxed.

However, there was still no relief in sight.

The street was lined with unfamiliar general stores and suspicious bars. Even though it was the middle of the night, about half of them were quietly open for business. Everywhere was definitely under the influence of the Night Pythons. Even if they were not hostages who escaped, it was not a place where women and children could walk normally.

Keeping up the magic, the three of them snuck through the streets. Iris (René) walked on the cobblestones as much as possible so as not to leave footprints on the melted snow.

“Well, it’s all right from here.”

When they finally reached the main street, Iris (René) broke the spell.

The wind was blowing cold and the streets were deserted. A cold wind blew through the air and the hostages shivered as they clutched their arms. The moon shone brightly in the frozen night sky.

“Where are we? Are we in Eltaref?”

“In Kolga, a town neighboring Eltaref.”

“Oh, is that so?”

It seemed that they had been abducted in Eltaref and transported to the next town.

Diaz-san’s wife looked rather ‘relieved to be closer than expected’.

Considering that Iris (René) had easily located them with magic, the Night Pythons seemed careless, but just moving them to a neighboring town would have considerably reduced the chance of them being discovered with magic. Not everyone had access to wide-area search at their fingertips.

“There is a guardhouse over there, so you might want to seek protection there. Just tell the lord the location of the hideout, and he’ll smash the rest of it up good.”

“Thank you so much for everything.”

“Ah, Onii-chan, thank you…”

The wife bowed with a force that could have caused her to throw herself into the air, and her son thanked her awkwardly, although he still looked nervous.

It seemed that thanks to the magical voice change and the fact that she hid her figure, her son thought she was a man.

“Thanks for your help, you saved us, but … who are you?”

“I already said that, didn’t I? I’m just a passing ninja. My hobby is playing with the Night Python guys and helping hostages when I find any.”

The wife asked curiously after all this time, and Iris (René) suitably smoked her out.

“I can’t thank you enough for your help…”

“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t save you for your gratitude.”

“What a man you are… I’m sure God must have sent you.”

The wife probably meant it as a compliment, but Iris (René) was not at peace with it.

–Wow. It’s disgusting because it’s not malicious… If that God includes the Evil God, then it’s a great answer.

At any rate, the guy who calls himself God was an irreconcilable enemy.

Iris’s (René’s) target for revenge was first and foremost the people who had caused her death, but she was not about to let the Great God who had tricked her into this situation get off scot-free either.

Well, if the opponent is a god, it would be a big adventure to go and give him a good beating, so shelved it for the time being. The first thing even a hero does is to fight slimes. First, she would destroy the kingdom of Ciel-Terra.

“Come on, hurry up. Before you catch a cold.”

“Yes, thank you.”

The wife thanked her again, not imagining in her wildest dreams that the ninja in front of her was an apostle of the Evil God who was plotting to overthrow the nation, and the two hostages walked away with a quickened pace.

Iris (René) watched their backs as she performed a quick, gutsy pose.

–Okay…, the location of the hideout is now known to the Earl. It was all the work of a mysterious ninja!

There was no way Iris (René) could say, ‘I slipped out of the castle in the middle of the night, went for a walk, and found the Night Pythons’ hideout.’

Someone other than Iris (René) would have to naturally inform the Earl and get him to fight (even though there would be a drastically unnatural “mysterious ninja” in the story).

With this, the Earl would get information about the hideout. Even if he already knew the location, the outcome of the battle would be different without someone who could get involved (or be used as a shield on the spot) when it came time to fight.

“Well, it’s not dawn yet, but it’s not guaranteed that someone won’t come to my room… Let’s hurry back.”

Iris (René) recited a spell as she hid herself behind a building.

“≪Stealth≫ x ≪Fly≫.

　Assembled spell……≪Cloud Diver≫”

Her figure disappeared like melting from her fingertips, and at the same time, her body was released from the yoke of gravity.

Iris (René) became an invisible wind dancing in the night sky.

There were magic spells that, once cast, did not need to be controlled and remained effective for a long time, but most of them required the use of more than one spell at the same time.

The magic is then combined by first completing the chanting for the two spells and then using them as if they were a single spell.

The technique was called assembled spells. Because of the long chanting time, it is not suitable for melee battles, and the magical power consumption does not necessarily add up, but neither of those was a factor in this case.

Incidentally, the name of the spell when synthesized is not particularly fixed, and the magician often decides on the name as desired.
(TLN: I have some freedom. Thank the gods.)

The city of Kolga, sinking into darkness, spread out below.

It seemed that few people would go out of their way to work in the middle of the night using lights, and all she could see was the unevenness of the buildings illuminated by the moonlight.

The unevenness was surrounded by walls, outside of which stretched a desolate snowy field. There was a vague moonlight-illuminated glare of snow.

She expanded her sense of emotional perception and traced the two hostages.

Iris (René) was concerned that even the guards were in on it with the Night Pythons, but judging from the emotional reactions of the hostages, there seemed to be no need to worry, and Iris (René) began her flight directly to Eltaref.

A cold wind came blowing and Iris (René) cut off her body’s senses. Since her body was only a spirit in possession, she could block out the cold and pain if she wanted to.

However, this did not prevent the cold from having an adverse effect on the body. But if she didn’t get back to the castle soon and take care of her health with healing magic, she’d be sure to catch a cold.

“I don’t think I’ll have much time to sleep today either…”

She looked at the moon and muttered to herself.

It was probably around 1:00 a.m. It seemed doubtful that she would be able to sleep before her wake-up time.

Even if she didn’t sleep, she could cheat fatigue with magic, but if she didn’t sleep properly, she wouldn’t be able to regain the magic power needed to use that magic.

Iris (René), whose main body was an Undead that did not require sleep, was less likely to be affected by insomnia during possession, but even so, there was a limit.

The lack of sleep wasn’t because she’s working on her ninja act like this in the middle of the night. It wasn’t because she slipped out of bed every night, but simply because Iris (René) didn’t want to go to sleep.

If she slept, she would always have nightmares. That’s why she didn’t want to sleep if she could. And, she was also afraid of ‘fatal mistakes’.

Therefore, she often stayed in bed at night, thinking.

–But it’s hard indeed to stay up for several nights… No wonder, I’ll sleep properly tomorrow.

I wonder if there is any magic that can prevent me from having nightmares? Even if there is, would it work on an Undead?

　　　Also, in any case, fire magic can be used to dry the sheets… no, even if they’re dry, that doesn’t mean they’re clean. Damn, isn’t there any magic for laundry?

Iris (René) was seriously thinking about such things as she flew, and found herself seriously afraid of sleeping for just one night, and she smiled.

–I think I’d rather sleep soundly for a night than rescue hostages from a crime syndicate’s hideout, how’s that for feeling like a great adventure…?

The blackened walls of the city of Eltaref were beginning to come into view as she travelled on.

＊ ＊ ＊

A mother and her child suddenly appeared at the town guard station in Kolga in the middle of the night and asked for help.

They claimed to be the family of a servant who worked for the Earl of Keely.

Upon receiving the news, the Earl immediately checked the information and discovered that one of the servants had his family taken hostage by the Night Pythons and was leaking information about the Earl’s personal affairs.

The Earl was surprised, but the information from the mother and son revealed one of the Night Python’s bases, and he raided it the next morning. The members of the Night Pythons were killed or captured, and their documents, goods, and other items were seized.

The seized items included drugs and other commodities, a small amount of weapons, and magic items such as charms and potions for use in combat that appeared to be intended for members of the group.

The base was equipped with facilities for hostage confinement and interrogation of captives, and also served as a logistics center for the surrounding area. It seems that hostages and goods were the same to Night Python in the sense that they were put on the logistics line.

“I knew there was a logistics hub somewhere, but it was right next door …? Absolutely.”

The evening of that day, after the captured members had been taken away.

In his office at the castle, Oswald was looking at the report and making a sullen face.

However, there was nothing serious in his voice. It was because, fortunately, they had discovered and destroyed an important base.

“It’s a great achievement. As expected of Earl-sama.”

Benedict had come to the office.

The Earl waved his hand toward Benedict, who praised him freely.

“Not by my power. Something I don’t understand is behind it.”

The plan, which had been accelerated due to the coup d’état, had been beset with problems here and there due to a lack of preparation. It was only natural that they had given up on the plan where more investigation and groundwork should have been done.

However, thanks to a strange coincidence and the help of a mysterious third party, the operation was going unexpectedly well.

“It may be my fault that the Night Pythons were at liberty in Kolga. I left Kolga in the hands of the knights under his command for a long time.”

“Rietz-sama?”

“You know him. The captain of Kolga’s guard has reported to me that he has not been cooperative in the investigation of the Night Pythons. Just when I was about to make inquiries, here we are. The bastard disappeared from Kolga this afternoon, even leaving his family behind.”

“What…”

In other words, the knight in charge of the city was most likely bought off by the Night Pythons.

And he was protecting the town’s Night Pythons.

“But who was this hostage rescuer, I wonder?”

Benedict inquired with a twitch of his triangular ears.

Although this allowed them to destroy the Night Python’s logistics base and gain the upper hand in the fight, they had no idea why the mother and child, who were supposed to have been hostages, had escaped. Even the Earl suspected at first that it was some kind of a trap.

They told him that they had been saved by a mysterious ninja.

“He disappeared with magic and they escaped. I still think it was a magician. Could he be the same as the ones who attacked the base in Eltaref…?”

The Earl had no clue about this either.

He could not express his gratitude. It was an uncertainty that had suddenly appeared on his strategic map.

“I don’t mean to put it this way, but I doubt if there is anyone in this country besides me who would be interested in fighting Night Pythons right now.”

“Night Pythons are probably resented by all the good people in the country. I suspect that these people have started to move in response to Earl-sama.”

“If that were the case, they would have come to me.”

“But everyone has their own circumstances.”

Benedict licked his nose and then said, as if reciting a poem.

“In this country, justice is not dead. That’s what this means, doesn’t it?”

The Earl’s face broke at these words, and both of them laughed nonsensically.

Somewhere between resignation and the expectation that “there is no such a thing as a miracle”.