Chapter 179
After defeating the three Twelve Winged Generals from Grand Duke Linosart’s faction, who stood as the last obstacles to Amria’s rescue mission, we were now cleaning everything up.
We gave Galliol the minimum amount of medical treatment to prevent him from dying, and then we tied him together with the weakened Dantemon and the unconscious Eratiri, along with all the Imperial soldiers we had defeated earlier, and threw them all into the magically created, lattice-like prison.
The prison, which is made of soil that is infused with my magic power and reinforced by magic letters, is extremely strong against outside pressure, but it can be easily destroyed from the inside.
It was designed so that opposing Imperialists from the princess’s faction couldn’t easily harm them, but it would be easier for Galliol and the others to escape whenever they regain their consciousness.
If the Grand Duke finds out about us through them, they will probably be very cautious against us in the future, but at the same time, I hope that this will make them more cautious with Arkrest Kingdom, and will be more hesitant in the future.
With Amria, an extra special wildcard, in the hands of Arkrest Kingdom, it will become difficult for them to take any bold actions.
After we finished cleaning things up, I took one look at Eratiri, who was lying face down and unconscious inside the prison, and then I asked Dramina a question.
「Dramina, how deeply was Eratiri entranced by your eyes?」
There was no trace of being cut or hit anywhere on Eratiri’s body. That is because when Selina and Dramina were fighting her, Dramina had used her hypnotic eyes to make Eratiri lose consciousness to end the battle.
Upon a quick inspection, I could see that Eratiri’s body was infested with parasites that she herself had summoned, such as a variety of insects, bacteria, and germs. Normally, they seem to be able to resist hypnosis, mental interference, and external toxins applied to the host.
But against the hypnotic eyes of the Vampire Queen Dramina, the parasites, which should have functioned as a sturdy defense mechanism, were taken control of.
As expected of my Dramina. Ehehe.
「She herself won’t even remember that she looked me in the eyes. The same goes for those things in her body. I can get as much information from her as I want, when I want it」
「So you’ve sent a bug into the Grand Duke’s lion’s den, without her even being aware of it. I’ll let His Highness know about this too, just in case. Now I just hope that there isn’t anyone in the Grand Duke’s circle who is skilled enough to notice it, but I doubt it, since it’s on the level of needing clairvoyant space-time eyes」
「In addition to continuing to evade her long-distance observation, now that we’ve defeated three of the Twelve Winged Generals in battle, we’ll become the subject of a considerable amount of alarm and caution」
Since we’ve already defeated them, there wasn’t anything we could do about that. I don’t think that the Grand Duke can afford to leave us alone with his enemies, the princess and the rebels, right in front of him, so what will be, will be.
「It seems I’m already being considered as a potential successor to Merle, so I don’t care how cautious they are of me」
「On top of their greatest fighting force in their faction being defeated, the cards left in the Grand Duke’s hand have been reduced, and as for me, there’s not much I can do for a while. At least in terms of fighting force」
「I think that’s reasonable. Besides, if you return to Bern Village after you graduate, if I were the Grand Duke, I would choose to keep an eye on you, rather than try to provoke you.
I’m sure they’ll do things like hide some secret spies, but if it’s you, you would be fine just leaving them alone so long as they don’t harm the villagers or the tourists, right?」
「Yeah. If possible, I’d be grateful if they disguised themselves as merchants or something and brought rare goods from the empire. If it helps our economic activities, then I’m willing to tolerate it, to a certain extent」
At least, I hope that can happen, I said while laughing, which seemed to be the answer that Dramina was expecting from me, as she let out a bittersweet smile.
「At any rate, I’m happy we were all able to defeat the Twelve Winged Generals without a single injury. Lynette has also finished up the fight on her side, and is heading back toward us now. The two enemies put up quite a good fight against Gandoga, but Gandoga’s victory was absolute」
When I brought up Lynette, who was running toward us at a fierce speed, Diadora, who had said earlier that she was worried about Lynette, visibly relaxed her shoulders in relief.
Even though I knew that Lynette would be safe considering her abilities and her equipment, I couldn’t help but still worry about her until I knew for sure that she was safe. I guess that’s what parental love is like.
Although they aren’t actually blood related, and she’s not the parent who raised her or anything, Diadora was still emotionally attached to Lynette, just like a mother.
His Highness and the others, who noticed that we weren’t fighting anymore and were engrossed in cleaning everything up, got out of the carriage and walked over to us.
「I’m sorry I ended up making you handle everything. But still, I must say that you are all very overwhelming. I have nothing but praise for the four of you, who so easily defeated three of the Twelve Winged Generals, the pride of the Romal Empire since their founding」
His Highness told us that in a voice of genuine admiration. Even though I was fighting only up to a certain extent, was it still too overwhelming from an outsider’s perspective observing the battle?
Shald, who always maintains a position where he can act as His Highness’s shield at any time, also shrugged with a slightly wry smile. There was definitely some admiration in there, but more than that, he seemed to think that we had done something outrageous once again.
Selina accepted His Highness’s praise honestly, and she writhed around a bit in embarrassment. It made me feel a little sad to think that I’ve lost this kind of honesty myself a long time ago.
「Ehehe, I won because Dramina was with me. This person, she used summoning magic that I’ve never even seen before. There were a lot of bugs, but she possessed power suited for fighting against many opponents」
Selina could have defeated Eratiri on her own too, but it probably wouldn’t have ended so easily if she hadn’t been fighting together with Dramina.
Today, out of the three people we fought, Dantemon and Eratiri were the ones who had fighting powers suited for combat against many people. Both of them have the versatility to do assassination, reconnaissance, and just about everything.
It was definitely beneficial to be able to confirm the breadth of their powers and abilities by actually fighting with them like this, instead of just hearing about them from rumors.
In response to Selina’s words, which she said with a triumphant expression, His Highness nodded with a mysterious look on his face. If he were the one who had to face Eratiri and the others on the battlefield, he would have only done so with an army to lead behind him.
The thought of having to fight with the Twelve Winged Generals, who all have abilities like Eratiri and Dantemon, was probably giving him a headache.
If it was Eratiri, there would be the frightening threat of her sneaking tiny, poisonous bugs into the beds of resting soldiers and commanders in the middle of the night. And if it was Dantemon, she would have been assimilated into the very ground they stepped on and in the air they breathed in, so there would have been nothing they could have done.
「From what I could see from inside the carriage, all I can say is that they were all frighteningly skilled. They may have been descendants of the people who were said to have taken the unique magic and beliefs of the various different peoples conquered by the empire throughout history, and turned into a formidable force.
Even though their country is divided, they are not to be taken lightly. We’ve taken quite a big detour from our original plans, but I think it’s been a completely fruitful detour」
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