3 bar menu

Volume 8 Chapter 3 Part 1

Translator: Kell

“Sir Eld! You’re all right!”

A few hours later.

I had safely descended the mountain and returned to Count Meigis’ troops, also known as the Royal Interim Knights.

“Yeah, I’m good. Any change in the situation while I was gone?”

“There was a huge explosion at the mountaintop. I think you had something to do with it, but it was even bigger than the Steam Explosion.”

“It was probably the Steam Explosion I used when I killed the enemy. It should be just as powerful as the ones I’ve used before. I just used the same spell.”

I’ve told a few people about the Skill Level Limiter, including Sachylis. Anyone who had seen me unleash a level 5 Steam Explosion before would have an idea even if they haven’t heard about it.

But I haven’t told anyone about Ether Hack. And unless it’s necessary, I don’t intend to. Ether Hack is a Skill that has a variety of uses other than coming up with strategies. Its effectiveness will increase dramatically the lesser info there is about it.

It’s not that I don’t trust the members of the Count’s army, but considering the possibility of interrogation by the enemy, it’s best to keep it secret. If the enemy were to use the same Skill, I would need to tell them about it so they could counter it, but for now, they know nothing about it.

“So it was a Steam Explosion,” Sachylis said. “Search Enemy stopped detecting the enemy at the same time as the explosion, so I knew you took them down. But you took hours to return, so we were getting a little worried.”

“Only a little, huh?”

“If it were anyone else, I would’ve been really worried, but I don’t think you would die from your own spell. I assumed you were waiting for your mana to recover, or you found other enemies and went to take care of them.”

“The first one. I can’t just move when I’m almost at zero mana. That would be reckless. It would have been nice to bring a comms officer with me, but it’s hard to protect them against Ether Cannon.”

I studied everyone’s faces. All members that came with me here were present. No casualties in this fight, it seems.

“Do you sense anything with your Search Enemy in the surrounding area?”

“Negative. At least there shouldn’t be any enemies around that know me and you.”

“All right. Send a report through the comms network. We’ve taken down the main enemy force and are headed back.”

“Yes, sir!”

A few days later, I came to the capital with Sachylis at the request of the king.

We’ve already submitted a report on the battle at the volcano in Raijis, but apparently he wants to discuss the reward. The reason I was called instead of Count Meigis was because this operation was officially conducted by the Royal Interim Special Knights, not the Count Meigis’ Army. I guessed the commander had to be present. Since its members were troops from Count Meigis’s army anyway, it would’ve been easier if the Count came too. I could let him deal with all the complicated matters.

I stopped in front of the royal palace. Anyway, I’m here as requested, but where’s the reception desk?

It’s the first time I’ve ever been to the royal palace in times of peace. The last time I came here, the palace was completely taken over by hostiles.

“Sachylis, has anyone told you how to get into the palace?”

“No… I haven’t had a chance to come in the first place.”

Now, what? The king’s letter specified accommodations (a rather expensive-looking inn in the middle of the capital), but it didn’t say anything else.

Well anyway, if I showed the king’s invitation to some guards, maybe they would tell us what to do. As I was looking around at the knights on guard, some of them stared at me and began talking among themselves.

“Any response?” I asked Sachylis, watching the knights.

By response, I meant one from Search Enemy.

The biggest reason why I chose Sachylis to accompany me to the royal capital was because of Search Enemy. A Skill useful in battle, it’s also extremely handy in situations like this. It can also be used to counter hostile takeovers, and detect imposters.

“Nothing from the knights,” Sachylis replied. “As for inside the palace… there’s about fifty of them.”

“Fifty people, huh? Are they all gathered in one spot?”

“No. They’re scattered all over the place. They don’t seem to be in any particular battle formation.”

I see. There are hundreds of people in the palace, so if there are only fifty of them, it doesn’t seem like a takeover.

People who don’t think well of me for being an adventurer and suddenly becoming a commander—although only provisional—seem to be common. There are also a number of other reasons why people might hold a grudge against me, such as when I defeated Cardinal Georgis, and our gaining rights to produce the healing medicine. Search Enemy can also detect those kinds of people, so hostility doesn’t necessarily mean an attack.

Nevertheless, it’s always better to be cautious.

“If you see someone approaching, or if several of them are trying to surround me, give me a heads-up.”

“Affirmative.”

This should help us avoid any surprise attacks for the time being.

While we were discussing things, the knights seemed to have reached a decision. They marched in step toward me.

“E-Excuse me! Are you Lord Eld, Commander of the Royal Interim Special Knights?”

Apparently, they knew me. It’s not like we were acquaintances. I wonder how they knew?

“Yeah. I was summoned here by the king, but I didn’t know where to go.”

“M-My apologies, sir!”

“…Why are you apologizing?”

“We were supposed to come pick you up.”

I see. It’s not that the meeting place was not written on the letter, but that the inn was the meeting place. In that case, they could’ve just written it down. Maybe it was common knowledge for people who were invited by the king and they didn’t need it spelled out for them or anything.

“Should we head to the inn first?” I asked. “If you got procedure to follow, I can go along with it.”

“No, we don’t want to cause you any more trouble. We’ll arrange for a carriage immediately!”

And so we ended up riding in a carriage for the distance of less than fifty meters to the royal palace. We could’ve just walked in.