Step. Step.
We finally arrived in front of the Marquis’s estate, but even now, I could still feel eyes watching us from behind the surrounding buildings.
I exchanged a glance with Tory-san and Sue. They both nodded.
In that case, let’s take them all down at once.
“I know you’re there. Come out!”
“““All personnel, assume combat positions!”””
Pii! Pii!
Tory-san’s commanding voice rang through the area, and both the army soldiers and the marquisate’s troops immediately took up battle positions. On top of that, the guards at the estate repeatedly blew whistles to alert everyone to the emergency.
Step. Step.
A figure dressed entirely in black emerged from behind one of the buildings. From this distance, I couldn’t even tell whether they were a man or a woman. But there was one thing I could say for certain.
“You’re part of that dark organization, aren’t you? Your clothes are exactly the same as those worn by the one we captured in the Western Margrave’s territory.”
Tory-san called out, but the figure who had stepped forward gave us no indication of what they were thinking.
Still, it was far too much of a coincidence.
Whoom! Clang!
Without a word, the battle began. Numerous figures dressed in black sprang out from hiding, thrusting knives at us without hesitation.
“Hmm. Not bad. But you still have a long way to go.”
“…!”
Tory-san casually caught the sword of an attacker who charged straight at him. He then deflected the blade and drove a devastating punch straight into the attacker’s stomach.
Hn?
The way the attacker doubled over made it obvious they were in agony, but they didn’t make a sound.
BZZZT! BZZZT! BZZZT!
“…!”
Something definitely wasn’t right. Even when they were struck by electric shocks, they didn’t so much as scream. And it didn’t seem like they were simply staying quiet to avoid making a sound.
The others who were being captured weren’t making a single sound either.
Crack! Whoosh.
“…Ugh? Ah…”
“I knew it. You’ve been using some sort of method to forcibly prevent yourselves from speaking, haven’t you?”
At that point, Sue restrained one of the attackers with Bind Magic and immediately cast healing magic on them. The attacker let out a voice, proving beyond a doubt that they had been using some sort of method to silence themselves.
“Prioritize capturing them. We’ll be using healing magic on them anyway, so a few minor injuries are acceptable.”
“““Yes, sir!”””
Tory-san determined that there would be no problem as long as the soldiers divided up the task, so they immediately began forcefully apprehending the attackers. There was still one person watching us from a distance as before, but the marquisate’s soldiers had noticed them as well and were deliberately leaving them alone.
“All right. We’ve captured them all. Can I leave the rest to you?”
“Yes, sir. Leave it to us.”
And so, with the exception of one, every attacker was captured.
The marquisate’s soldiers immediately began taking the captured attackers away, one by one, as soon as they had been restrained.
Dash. The last remaining individual had tried to slip away unnoticed, but soldiers from the Marquis’s territory had already begun tailing him.
To make sure, I checked for other accomplice. Even when I used detection magic, there is no longer any trace of hostility in the immediate area.
“Phew, they were reasonably strong. There’s no doubt they intended to kill us.”
“They specialize in ambushes, so they likely aren’t suited for one-on-one combat. They even took precautions to ensure they couldn’t make a sound if captured.”
Sue sheathed her weapon and let out a sigh of relief, though we would have to wait for the results of the interrogation to learn the finer details.With security in the area now tightened, we entered the Marquis’s estate.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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