Chapter 35
“Scatter!”
Slash!
An aura blade that looked to be at least five meters long swept sharply across the terrace. Forced down to the floor, the intruders looked up—only to see a middle-aged man suddenly appear atop the terrace railing, less than half of it still intact.
“To think you’d let a pack of wolves run loose just because the master stepped away. Tsk, tsk.”
The pressure he radiated was something no ordinary old man could ever possess. Swallowing hard, the leader spoke to his men.
“……Be careful. He’s an Aura Master.”
“Heh, well now.”
Count Gavin smacked his lips as he looked at the men, none of whom had suffered serious injuries.
Looks like I really am getting old.
He’d expected to take at least an arm or a leg—but the one who seemed to be the leader sensed the danger instantly and avoided it. At a glance, he was far from average.
“Attack!”
Dark crimson demonic energy shot toward Count Gavin like arrows. Instead of retreating, he hurled himself forward and swung his sword in a dazzling arc.
Clang! Clang!
Deflecting every single projectile, Count Gavin reignited his aura. Even while fighting four men at once, he was pushing them back.
Where did this insane old man come from?!
In Letis, weren’t the strongest knights supposed to be only the Grand Duke himself and the commander of the Tigel Knights? The assassins’ eyes filled with confusion as they desperately blocked the raging aura.
“You even have time to get distracted.”
“Ghk!”
The sword had clearly been swung diagonally—but the aura flickering at its tip twisted like a whip, slicing backward. An assassin who had been aiming for Count Gavin’s shoulder was pierced through the chest and collapsed.
“Withdraw!”
Realizing there was no chance of victory, the leader retreated.
Count Gavin was a step above the Aura Masters commonly known to the world. Someone—anyone—had to escape the Grand Duke’s estate and report this to their superiors.
“Just when things were getting interesting. How tasteless.”
“Aaaargh!”
Without mercy, Count Gavin severed one assassin’s leg, then hurled his sword in the opposite direction.
Whoooosh!
“Guhhh…!”
Another man had his side ripped open by aura and died, blood pouring out.
All of his comrades were down, yet the last remaining man didn’t even look back as he fled. He was the one issuing orders—the leader.
“Is it all right to let him go like that?”
“It’s fine. I don’t plan on letting him off nicely.”
Ailesia had appeared beside Count Gavin at some point and surveyed the area. Two assassins with chest and side wounds were dead on the spot. Only the one with his leg severed remained alive, unconscious.
“The ones we captured last time—weren’t they all dead?”
“Yes. They committed suicide by unknown means.”
“It was probably black magic.”
“Black magic? The forbidden sorcery?”
“More accurately, I think it’s a curse that activates under certain conditions and takes their lives. We won’t know for sure without investigating.”
After a moment of thought, Ailesia raised her mana and lightly tapped the still-breathing assassin with her staff.
“Stop the bleeding and lock him up. It’d be best to interrogate him after reporting to Thermion.”
“Won’t he commit suicide like last time?”
“I completely froze his body’s time. Unless I undo it, he’ll stay a vegetable forever.”
Ailesia smiled softly and started walking—toward the direction the last assassin had fled.
“Please capture the traitor within the order, Chairman. I can leave that to you, right?”
“You mean the insolent bastard hiding among the knights. And you?”
“If a subordinate causes trouble, you hold the one at the top responsible.”
She was waiting for the moment the fleeing man contacted his superiors. That was why she’d deliberately let him escape.
Let’s hear your voice, you damn black mage.
* * *
“Huff… huff…”
The lone survivor sprinted wildly through the garden. Normally, this much running wouldn’t tire him—but the weight of failure and the shock of Count Gavin’s monstrous skill dragged heavily at his legs.
“Damn it… This place is ridiculously huge.”
He scowled as he slipped into a small forest on the outskirts.
Facing them head-on had been impossible—but when it came to escape, he was confident. Leaping between thick trees, he found a suitable spot and hid.
“Ruben, reporting.”
[What happened?]
A voice flowed from the pendant hanging at his neck. It was so hoarse and distorted that its gender was impossible to tell.
“Mission failed. The Grand Duke’s daughter wasn’t in her room. Three are dead—all except me.”
Ruben was certain his subordinates were dead. Not only Count Gavin, but the woman in the princess’s room had been anything but ordinary.
[Was there someone of that caliber still in the Grand Duke’s estate?]
“Count Gavin is an Aura Master. And that woman is no ordinary mage.”
[The private tutor?]
“She deflected demonic energy head-on. I estimate at least upper-tier mage.”
[She may have used a special artifact. Don’t jump to conclusions. How do you plan to escape?]
“I’ll leave the estate and use a spatial movement scroll.”
[Good luck.]
Ending the transmission, Ruben finally steadied his breathing. His pounding heart gradually returned to normal.
“Whew… still a long way to go.”
“Where are you off to? Busy?”
The voice was sweet, like a lover inviting him on a date. Clear enough to make him want to answer without thinking—
But the moment it brushed his ear, Ruben swung his sword with all his strength.
Clang!
Floating in midair, Ailesia casually blocked the attack with her staff. Startled, Ruben tried to swing again—but his body wouldn’t move.
“You really have zero manners. They say etiquette isn’t about character, it’s about intelligence.”
“Ghk…! What did you do to my body?!”
“Would you tell me, if it were you?”
She twitched her empty left hand. With a snap, as if a string had been cut, the pendant around Ruben’s neck flew into her grasp.
“This is a communication magic tool, right? Pretty good craftsmanship.”
Ailesia examined the pendant as if Ruben didn’t even exist. Feeling his body slowly regaining movement, Ruben instantly drew up his demonic energy.
That smell again.
Catching the acrid scent of burning, Ailesia frowned slightly. Just like the previous intruder—this stench seemed to be a hallmark of black magic.
“Hah!”
Kicking off a tree, Ruben leapt into the air and poured all his power into his sword. Dark red demonic energy flared along the blade like a knight’s aura.
“Stupid—and clueless.”
With an annoyed look, Ailesia lightly waved her staff.
Earth-Binding Subjugation
『Restrictive Gravitation』
Boom!
A heavy impact shook the ground, dust billowing where Ruben crashed down. Slowly descending, Ailesia poked his body with the tip of her staff.
“He’s not dead, right?”
His pulse was irregular and his breathing shallow, but he was alive. His arms and legs were bent at grotesque angles—but well, that was his own doing.
She injected mana into the pendant, thoroughly scanning its internal structure to determine the receiving location.
Long-distance communication tools usually have one fixed coordinate.
Two-way movable communication consumed enormous mana and failed beyond a certain distance. After confirming the location, Ailesia activated the pendant and spoke.
“This is urgent.”
[What is it?]
“I learned something important. Apparently, the Grand Duke’s daughter listens very well to her teacher. Isn’t that admirable?”
[…Who are you? The private tutor?]
Despite the provocation, the person on the other end remained calm. The voice had even been deliberately altered to sound like an adult male—his composure was impressive.
“Who knows? I have nothing to say to you. Get me your superior.”
[You’re getting cocky over a bit of magic. Leave the Grand Duke’s estate while I’m being polite. Keep your mouth shut, and I promise you won’t be harmed.]
Does he seriously not understand who’s being “polite” to whom right now? No wonder his subordinates were idiots.
Ailesia sneered.
“Having fun barking while hiding in the imperial palace like a rat? Who do you think you are? Is the emperor sitting next to you or something?”
Silence followed for several seconds. Then—
The pendant suddenly heated up, emitting an intense light.
KABOOOM!
“…Haah.”
Ailesia’s hollow sigh drifted through the thick smoke.
A massive crater about five meters wide gaped open—but at its center stood Ailesia, completely unharmed. Only her hair was slightly disheveled from the blast.
“Well, would you look at that?”
They’d even planted a self-destruct spell in a communication tool—vicious to the core. The assassin she’d worked so hard to capture vanished without leaving even a corpse.
Lowering her blazing gaze, she looked at her palm. All that remained was the charred fragment of the pendant.
“So this is how you want to play it?”
