Characters in this chapter:
Sapphiras Perfectio, former 2nd son of the Earl of Aldridge
Percival Belisario, 3rd son of Margrave of Vanderwall on the Eastern Frontier
Veritas Perfectio, 1st son of the Earl of Aldridge, Sapphiras’ former older brother
I look down at the ground from the roof of the tallest spire in the centre of the castle, which I had in my field of vision before entering enemy territory.
The garden plants are all too short for thieves to hide in, and aside from me, the larger Cu Sith couldn’t hide. The roof gives you no place to hide, so you’re in full view, but up there is a blind spot.
However, it might be a little bit difficult to trace the scent from such a high place, but Cu Sith has an excellent nose, so it’s not a problem.
“How is it? Can you find Percival’s scent?”
Cu Sith twitches his nose a few times and then starts nimbly running on the roof. As usual, it’s a smooth, gliding ride. With me on board, he leaps over the steep roof without a hitch and comes to a halt when he reaches the edge of the castle. Beyond that, you can see the north wall tower.
“……That one?”
The tower has a small lighted window through which the inside can be slightly seen. Transfer is possible through that window, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t soldiers guarding it.
Even if there were hundreds of soldiers, it wouldn’t make sense to defeat them, but if I caused a commotion, there is a possibility that Percival, who doesn’t know where he is, would be in danger. Even if I do go on a rampage, I’ll only do it after I’ve rescued Percival.
“Cu Sith, Percival is in that tower, right?
When I checked again, Cu Sith wagged his tail grandly as if to say yes.
“Yoshi, I got it. Thank you.”
I give Cu Sith some magic power to thank him and ask him to return to the phantom realm for now. Cu Sith has an excellent nose, but he’s a bit too conspicuous to work with.
As long as I know he’s in that tower, the rest is just up or down. And people you don’t want to let escape, or the ones you don’t want the outside world to know about, are usually hidden underground.
……Even then. The clothes they put on me are really depressing, glittering and clattering every time I move. I tear off all the ornaments around my wrists, ankles and waist because they hinder my movement, and then throw them away. There were a lot of expensive-looking stones attached to them, but I don’t know what they’re worth, so I don’t care. In addition, I also pop off the collar.
The shattered collar is also decorated with very elaborate workmanship, but no matter how sparkly it is, it’s a slave collar. It’s really in bad taste.
The rest is this half-transparent dress……but under this shimmering thing is a pair of disreputable underwear. I wish I could just take them off, because this stomach-chilling underwear is not my thing. I’m sure the world would not tolerate someone who wanders around naked in the daytime. No, if you think about it calmly, even if it’s the middle of the night, people who wander around naked are not allowed. If I were to bump into someone wandering around naked, I would tie him up and send him off to the police without question.
However. I’m not so sure that these flimsy clothes and underwear that don’t look much different from being completely naked in terms of pervertedness. Still, at least I know that it’s important in the eyes of the world that it’s at least concealed, so I guess I’ll just have to endure this humiliation until I can find Percival and get out of here, even though it’s very unpleasant.
“Yoshi! Let’s quickly rescue Percival and say goodbye to this country!”
There’s no need to go back to the academy after all this. I didn’t find out anything about the beast whistle or the beast slaves, but I did find out that Veritas and Fargerson-kyou are in this country and that they are going to do something terrible in collusion with the royal family.
With renewed determination, I face the northern tower.
Looking down, there are naturally soldiers standing at the entrance to the tower and a good number of guards. It would be better to enter through the window of the tower. Even if there are soldiers, I can manage in the narrow tower. I just have to take them all out before they alert the people downstairs.
I transferred towards the inside of the tower that I could see through the small window, and as I was about to head straight for the underground, I couldn’t help but raise my voice.
“Geh, they’ve already found me.”
What bad luck. I didn’t expect to be transferred right in front of the soldiers. I was right in front of the soldiers who were surprised by my sudden appearance, but there were only two of them. If that’s the extent of it, there’s no reason for me to be surprised. The right hand that tried to pull out the wand as soon as possible slips down without being able to grab anything.
“Tch! That right……”
Now I am a magician without a wand. The soldier who came to his senses put his hand on his sword, but my magic was faster. I covered the soldiers’ mouths with ivy and wrapped them all around. I’ve at least been merciful and made the ivy thornless, so it won’t hurt them. I’m so kind.
Leaving the soldier who rolled around like a caterpillar, moaning and groaning, I carefully descend the spiral staircase.
Fortunately, I make it to the bottom without meeting any other soldiers, and I stick myself to the wall and quietly peek beyond. On the ground floor of the tower, there is a blackened, gaping entrance that seems to lead to the basement. In front of the barred door blocking the entrance, one guard soldier stands on either side of it.
“It’s definitely there.”
As I was about to make the transfer to the other side of the bars, the door to the entrance of the tower opened, so I pulled back behind the staircase to see what was going on. Someone who entered is telling the soldier on guard duty to open the bars, but that voice is Veritas’.
I was curious, so I quietly peeked in and saw that Veritas was going down to the basement with two knights, whether as guards or lookouts. And, brazenly, he has my wand at his waist. From the looks of it, he probably has my proof of sworn friendship on his finger too.
Come to think of it, Veritas said he was going to get Percival, but what was he going to do? Surely he’s not in love with Percival, right? Certainly, Percival is a nice guy no matter how you look at him. It wouldn’t be strange if Veritas fell in love with him.
Veritas still seems to want to put me to shame, and he probably doesn’t like the fact that I, whom he wants to despise, am by the side of the talented Percival. He really is small hearted. But maybe that’s only natural since the Earl must have diligently trained him as his successor.
There were times when I was locked away, I almost died, but now that I think about it, I’m thankful he left me alone. I absolutely refuse to become someone like the Earl.
I suppressed my desire to follow immediately and waited until Veritas was completely out of sight before transferring to the stairs leading to the basement. The soldiers on guard are completely unaware that I’ve headed for the basement.
“Fufun, thanks for the hard work, guards.”
I carefully descend the dimly lit staircase, which is illuminated by a feeble lamp. Unlike the dry dungeon I was in, the damp and the wet stones are uncomfortable on my bare feet. And, as usual, there is a fair amount of magic essence in the air here as well.
“What on earth is going on in this castle? There can’t be an abyss inside the castle, right?……”
I rubbed my arms, which were covered in goosebumps as I continued on and I eventually reached what seemed to be the lowest level. It was deeper and wider than I had expected. Veritas, who had just gone down, was talking to someone in front of the prison, and I could hear bits and pieces about my knight and me, who is excellent. He was as bossy as ever, but he suddenly became furious over what had happened.
“Don’t regret it!”
He shouted, kicked the bars as hard as he could and came back towards me.
Oops, this can’t be good.
I temporarily retreated to the roof of the spire I had just been in and waited for Veritas to emerge from the north tower. The two knights are snugly attached to Veritas, those are completely lookouts.
After confirming that they have completely disappeared from sight, I return to the basement.
“Percival!”
“Sapphiras!”
Inside the prison, I see Percival crucified against a stone wall, his hands and feet bound with chains. I immediately transferred inside and break the chains on his hands and feet. He must have been subjected to quite a bit. The costume that matched mine was pretty dirty and sloppy, and the edges of his mouth were cut and blood was coming out.
“You’re cut…….”
I gently touch the wound around his mouth. His handsome face is ruined. Above all else, Percival was in such a state of disrepair……when I thought of that, I felt an indescribable regret welling up in my eyes and burst into tears.
It’s my fault. Even though I was so guarded, they gave me something to drink. And if I’d been a little more patient then, if I’d at least stayed conscious until I transferred, I wouldn’t have put Percival through this.
“Shit……they did this to Percival.”
“I’m fine, I don’t have a soft body that can’t handle something of this degree. More than that, Sapphiras……that appearance…….”
“Oh, this? I kind of found myself dressed like this.”
Percival quickly took off the jacket he was wearing and put it on me, who was almost completely naked. His expression is so severe that I can see it even in the dim light. Or rather, it’s scary……
Well, dressed in such a tasteless outfit, that’s the kind of face one would make…… Remembering my outfit, the tears that had been blotted out were withdrawn at once. To think that Percival could see me in such a ridiculous way…maybe it would have been better if I was completely naked after all.
“An-anyway, let’s get out of here.”
I couldn’t bear to stay anymore, so I transferred to Vanderwall’s castle with Percival.
melon: 4 more chapters before we catch up with the raws!
