Looking up at the clear blue winter sky, Iris (René) sighed.
Three times in the past few days, Iris (René) had slipped out of bed in the middle of the night and turned into a ninja as usual, saving soldiers’ families from imminent attacks.
A strange group of hostile individuals were moving through the castle, and she caught them with her emotional detection.
She had prevented the Night Pythons from making a move, but it didn’t help clear her mind.
–If they were attacking someone in the same town, I could still notice and go help them, but if not, there is nothing I can do about it. Damn.
The effective range of emotion detection didn’t even cover the entire city of Eltaref. If someone was to be attacked in a neighboring village or in a remote town, she wouldn’t be able to detect it.
–If the Earl’s pieces are reduced at this point, the battle could end without a fight… That’s a problem…
Of course, the Earl thought so too, and that’s why he was moving to determine the outcome of the battle.
They were finally going to capture the boss who was in charge of the territory.
However, Iris’s (René’s) goal was to destroy the Night Pythons itself. It would be a dream come true for her and the Earl, who is satisfied if he can get rid of the boss from the territory.
At the moment, Iris (René’s) plan was a bit sketchy, based on the hopeful assumption that a top executive in charge of the territory would know the whereabouts of the big boss, so she decided to secure the territory boss’s whereabouts for the time being and then think about it.
Unfortunately, the Earl had asked her to stay behind, but there was no need to pretend to be “Iris” at this stage of the game. All that was left to do was to preemptively raid the boss’s hideout, which the Earl had discovered.
–…Worst case scenario, that would be fine, but I have a feeling that if I resolve this by force, it will definitely create a commotion that will leak out. There is also talk that the Night Pythons and the coup group may be connected, so what’s to be done?
If there was a commotion during the capture of the territorial boss and the big boss escaped, it would be a disaster.
If not, if possible, she would prefer to do it secretly. After achieving the goal, it will be much easier to prepare for a fight or escape if the country is unaware of her presence.
–But how exactly do I do that? For instance, I can’t … get to the point where I can take the Night Python and the Earl into an all-out war and defeat the big boss. … No, I can’t do that. It would be beyond the Earl’s ability to handle. Hmmm… I wonder if I should force my way through this…
Thinking about it, Iris (René) walked on the castle wall.
A cool breeze blew through the air and seemed to cool her head.
The Earl of Keely’s castle, though relatively small in proportion to the size of his territory, was a battle fortress built on top of a small hill with walls. The top of the walls offered a good vantage point from which to view the houses of the castle town.
When the soldier standing at the guard post noticed Iris (René), he saluted her reverently, as though he were addressing the Lord. She was now dressed as a normal adventurer, but he was probably paying his respects in this way because he knew what Iris (René) was doing to protect Catherine.
–Hmmm, I can’t come up with any ideas. Let’s explore the emotions of the castle town a little bit for now.
Iris (René) expanded the range of her emotional search to the maximum and walked on the castle walls.
The reason she chose to walk on the castle walls was to see if anyone was watching the castle. The other day, she had exterminated two hired freelance attackers, and it would not be surprising if another one was on the way.
She thought that if anyone was watching this place, they would react to her presence, who of all people had the important role of being the double of the young lady, and that would move them emotionally.
The response came surprisingly easily.
–Whoa oh? That’s a building in a position to see the castle. Is that ‘surprise’? And the cold ‘hostility’ characteristic of workers…
As she walked, Iris (René) took out a crystal ball just in the blind spot of the watcher.
“≪Crystal Eye≫”
The reverse detection succeeded brilliantly.
In the crystal ball, there were two men looking out of the window with magic binoculars in a deserted room.
In the room, there was a mess of what looked like portable food and weapons, as well as some other disturbing items.
–Oh my goodness, a rope and a bag that could hold one person. They’re trying to kidnap someone, aren’t they? …No, wait, who?
One of the men took his eyes off the binoculars for a moment and looked at the kidnap kit.
Iris (René) didn’t miss that gesture.
–I’m …Me? Why?
Iris (René) was thinking about the usefulness of her kidnapping for a while.
The Night Pythons would want to do something about the “Dragon’s Throat” just like they do with the raiding parties and their families.
Considering why they want to come and kidnap her and not killing her…
–I see, there is no one on the inside anymore! They don’t know that the “Dragon’s Throat” won’t be in the final battle, and they’re trying to take “countermeasures”!
Killing the family members of the raid party members was an effective attack. There were even some defectors who didn’t want their families to be killed.
But if they killed a member of the Dragon’s Throat, it would be a warning to stay out of the way, right?
No, it would not. Rather, they would fight with all their might as a battle of revenge and mourning.
What would happen if they took a hostage?
Probably, those three would not be able to move if Iris was taken hostage.
–But how are they going to kidnap me? I don’t plan on leaving the castle anyway, and trying to kidnap me in double mode would be practically the same level of difficulty as kidnapping the young lady, wouldn’t it? If it’s that bad, wouldn’t it be easier to deal with the four members of “Dragon’s Throat” than it would be to kidnap me?
“Iris! There you are!”
Suddenly, someone called out her name from somewhere below.
“Benedict!”
Benedict was inside the walls, in the courtyard, waving at her.
Iris (René) casually pushed down the skirt of her robe, knowing full well that Benedict had no desire to do that. If the wind blew it out a bit now…
–Does that mean I just did something normal and girly? I’ve been living as … René for 10 years, so it’s not surprising that I have that habit.
It was a little complicated for “Chojiro”, but Benedict didn’t seem to notice such complicated and twisted gender concerns.
“Take this. It’s addressed to you.”
Benedict threw up a large card-like object.
It flew through the air in a spinning motion, and Iris (René) caught it in front of her.
It was an envelope stamped with the Adventurers’ Guild’s seal.
–From the Adventurers’ Guild?
“Thank you, Benedict.”
Benedict waved his hand as he left, and Iris (René) opened the envelope.
Inside was a summons from the guild.
The content of the letter was long and overly ornate, but if she could summarize the seven lines of text into one line, it said, “We found a flaw in your previous request report, so come and correct it.”
As an adventurer and as the Guild, this was a part of business that should not be taken lightly.
It was too suspicious.
Or rather, the timing was too good.
Iris (René) thought something was wrong, and it hit her immediately.
–Oh…! The Night Pythons had an informant in the Adventurers’ Guild! He was a spy for the town Night Pythons, but the territorial Night Pythons must have re-contacted him. I left it alone, thinking there was nothing more I could do anyway, and no natural way to tell them about the inside man’s presence … They’re using him now…
She was not sure if it was a fake document that a Guild insider had submitted on his own, or if he had the branch manager write it down after blowing the whistle on something, but she was sure that he was involved in it.
And since it was the job of the “Dragon’s Throat” to protect the Earl, it was unlikely that they would all leave the castle together. Especially now, right after the attempted assassination on the Earl.
Inevitably, Iris (René) would have to go out on her own, or at least with another person.
99% chance, it was a trap to lure Iris (René) out.
–Good, good, then let’s take advantage of it. I’ll let the ducks go out with the leeks on their backs. Poison ducks and leeks, though! If you eat them, you’ll get a bad stomach ache!
Her mood is more like fishing. The fish came to her from the other side. All she has to do now is to spread the bait.
–Well, well… I’d better not consult … with everyone in the party. They might stop me. Let’s just go with it.
“≪Fly≫”
Iris (René) jumped off the wall out of the watchful eyes of the guards.
The men on watch seemed to panic at this, and began to move in a flurry of surprise and panic.
Following their movements, Iris (René) softly swooped down into the air and descended into the town.
Iris (René) landed on a street that ran along the side of the castle and began walking down the shortest path to the Adventurers’ Guild.
It was the shortest way to the adventurers’ guild, a path that wound through the houses and alleys between buildings. In short, a perfect place to attack.
Two men with hostile intentions were rapidly approaching.
She no longer needed to use her emotional detection powers, but could feel their presence so intensely that she could almost touch them if she reached out her hand.
Although they may have been trying to mask their presence, “reading a presence” meant detecting the faint flow of magical power. And Iris’s (René’s) body was an Undead who perceived the world through magic power. She was very good at reading presences.
The men approach, their footsteps silent.
They closed the gap between them and Iris (René) who was walking slowly. And then.
“Ahhhh-h!?”
When they came some distance closer, Iris (René) was jumped on at once and held from behind, and furthermore, her mouth and nose were blocked with a damp cloth.
The air, tinged with magic, invaded her body. As a courtesy, Iris (René) screamed and flailed about.
–Induced Sleep Potion…This would work and last about three hours… Build up resistance… shortening… sleep…
As if cut off abruptly, Iris’s (René’s) consciousness was interrupted.
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