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It is soon going to be midnight. The place is a plaza in the city. There’s already no people around and the ones living in the area are already inside their dreams. 

The illumination stones that were shining brighter than the evening sun were trying to use all the mana that they saved in the day. Even so, their faint light was enough to illuminate the shape of the plaza even in the darkness.

That said, there’s no way I would be able to tell if there’s someone hidden even if I were to look around though…

There’s 3 people in front of the statue of the Taizu king at the center of the plaza: Ilias, Wolfe, and the instigator this time around.

It is okay to just completely read the move of the opponent, but it is not like I have that much foresight and this is not that soft of a world.

However, I have narrowed down the options they can take and they haven’t shown any signs of movement until now. Now all that’s left is what Rakura will do…

“She is here.” (Ilias)

I reacted to the voice of Ilias and looked at where she was gazing at. 

There was Rakura walking here, holding what looked like a lantern with an illumination stone inside. Just in time. What a punctual girl. 

I took out the book from the back before Rakura said anything. 

“This is the book. Can you see the title?” 

“…Yes.” (Rakura)

I open the page that’s bookmarked while at it. It is the page that has the illustrations connected to the basics of necromancy. I show that to Rakura. 

“No doubts about the contents either, right? It would be troubling if you were to say later that it is something else.” 

“…True. I think there’s no mistake.” (Rakura)

“Well then, let’s hear your answer.” 

“The response of Ukka-sama was no. He rejected your proposal and told me to get the book back…” (Rakura)

“I see, it can’t be helped then. We shall return it.” 

“—! …Why?” (Rakura)

Rakura’s expression is grim. It is not her usual gentle self. 

“I don’t understand the point of your question.” 

“I can tell that the proposal of Counselor-sama and returning the book were said truthfully. Despite showing emotions towards the danger of the book, how can you return the book without any hesitation?” (Rakura)

There are times when Rakura would ask sharp questions. It is not because she doesn’t read the atmosphere, but because she is asking while reading it.

Even if she is normally airheaded, she must have an outstanding intuition she honed through practice. She has the ability to detect the essence of things. That’s the cleric in front of me. 

The reason why she can’t reach the conclusion that we have already finished deciphering the book despite that must be due to the kindness of the person herself.

“Because Taizu has no intention of worsening their relationship with Mejis or the Yugura Church by clinging onto that.” 

“…”

I heard the sound of something from afar. The one who reacted the fastest was Ilias.

“I heard something. I am going to go check it out for a bit.” (Ilias)

“Yeah, please do.” 

Ilias headed in the direction where the sound was made. I walk towards Rakura who has the book.

“I myself have a lot of things in mind. But it is not like everything will go as one wishes, Rakura.” 

“That’s true, but…” (Rakura)

“Don’t worry too much about it. Isn’t your priority to accomplish what you have been ordered to by your superiors?” 

Saying this, I tried to give Rakura the book. But the book slipped from my hand and fell on the ground.

“Uwa, sorry.” 

“Ah, no, it is okay.” (Rakura)

Rakura reacted to this and crouched to pick it up.

And that’s when things began.

———

We were hiding since before they gathered at the plaza. There’s 4 in total with me and the other Anbus that move as my pawns. 

(Now then, it is fine to kill them, but the bodyguard is an issue.)

There’s a merciless one that would move on their own and kill a homeless person, but they will obey the bare minimum orders. They would attack with just a single signal without pointless movements in their coordination.

But the bodyguard of that guy is way too troublesome. Ilias Ratzel, one of the top 5 knights in Taizu.

Most of all, she is the woman who defeated that Dokora, so she is someone who we must be wary of no matter what. 

Even if he only had one arm now, I doubt Dokora would fall behind a normal person. I would like to avoid attacking her upfront. 

The other female black wolfkin isn’t that much of an issue. I have seen her movements once, but she is basically a rookie with just high mana. 

She is fast as a demi-human, but all the Anbus here can deal with her. 

We wouldn’t lose in a one-on-one, and we would win instantly with several. A wolf should have a good nose, but the equipment of an Anbu can deceive even the senses of a beast. 

As for the man…he is on the level of a civilian. We would be able to kill him by just passing by him.

(Should I get a preemptive strike on the knight-sama and aim for the man and Rakura at the same time?)

I would be able to get the man with that, but I don’t know about Rakura.

Rakura Salf is…well, a woman that’s rumored to be airheaded on a lot of fronts. However, that’s not the case in actual combat. She is the real deal. 

There’s devils which are outstandingly dangerous within the monsters, and she has managed to completely defeat a high ranked one.

There are times when you will have to fight monsters as an Anbu, and there was an instance when I had to fight a devil. 

More than half of the members in my squad died at that time. If you can defeat a high rank version of that on your own, I’ve got to be wary even if she is an airhead.

If Ilias Ratzel and Rakura Salf join forces, we might even need to consider retreat. 

(In that case, we should be aiming for Rakura first.) 

I silently raised my hand and sent several signs with my fingers.

Anbus have been trained to distinguish their comrades accurately even within the darkness. It goes without saying that they also have night vision techniques too. 

‘After the signal, One and Two will keep Ilias at bay, the remaining ones will finish Rakura’.

That should do it. Rakura showed up while I was doing that. 

I am grateful that one hand of hers is occupied by the lantern. If she holds the book, both hands will be occupied.

The man and Rakura begin talking. I can see the book in question too. I aim for the timing when she receives the book. I signal everyone to get ready. 

But that’s when a strange noise rang. The sound came from somewhere slightly behind him. It is not from us. It is the sound of something falling and bouncing. 

I check for the source of the sound, but I can’t see anything suspicious in the plaza. No, there’s movement. 

Ilias Ratzel noticed that sound. She looked in that direction, and then moved away from the place. This is an opportunity.

Sign change: ‘After the signal, One keeps Ilias at bay and the remaining will finish Rakura’.

With distance between us, she shouldn’t be able to deal with a sudden ambush. Even if she were to be careful, the only one she would be able to protect with a quick reaction would be the man. 

I will aim for the moment when the man gives her the book. Now, give it to her! 

The man presents the book to Rakura. But that’s when the book slipped out from the man’s hand.

(What are you doing…?!) 

Rakura bent down in order to pick up the book.

Her gaze moved to the ground. Her attention was directed completely at the book too. We are extremely lucky here.

Last sign change: ‘After the signal, everyone go kill Rakura’.

And then, Rakura’s finger touched the book.

(—Now!) 

After the signal, several shadows jump out from the darkness of the night. Two of them throw projectiles at mid-range, and the remaining one including me advance with certainty. 

I close the distance to Rakura in an instant. The ones who managed to react to this…only the black wolfkin woman! The important Rakura still hasn’t noticed. Yes!

I closed the distance to weapon range and swung it. The girl in front of me—isn’t Rakura?! 

The one in my vision isn’t Rakura but Ilias Ratzel who has already unsheathed her weapon and swung it. 

———

I honestly couldn’t follow with my eyes what was happening.

“Shishou!” (Wolfe)

The first one to raise her voice was Wolfe, but things were already over by then. 

Something was sent flying with a thunderous sound and the surroundings shook with the impact and a gale raged. 

Rakura then hurriedly confirmed the surroundings, wondering what happened. A certain someone too.

I understand the current situation now. We are already surrounded. There’s around 4 knives on the ground. It is the same as the ones Dokora used.

There were 5 in total, and 3 were coming at us. One of them avoided the attack of Ilias in an instant and took distance.

But one of them had their body bisected by Ilias’s sword. Another one had their blade destroyed by the shockwave, was sent flying around 100 meters away, and was smashed onto a wall. 

They are most likely dead. She really shows no mercy. 

“W-What’s going on?!” (Rakura)

Rakura raised her voice, flustered. Of course she would be if there’s a corpse in front of you when you raise your head and there’s a bunch of weird people around. I pull Rakura towards me before I explain.

“C-Counselor-sama?!” (Rakura)

“Rakura, deploy a barrier. Quick!” 

“O-Okay!” (Rakura)

A barrier that covers the two of us up was deployed. Something bounced off from the barrier at the same time as this happened; an extra knife.

It seems like the guy further away threw it towards Rakura. That’s dangerous! But now we will be able to secure the safety of a certain someone that could die in one hit. 

“Seriously? I can’t believe this, oi!” 

The man that avoided the attack began to laugh. Of course, no one here has lowered their caution.

“You can stop an ambush from 5 people at the same time at that distance? You are a monster.” 

“If it were an ambush. But there’s no issue if I know when you will be coming and your aim.” (Ilias)

That’s including the throwing knives they each have though.

She deflected all four knives, sent one of them flying, and sliced another in half. I may be repeating what the other guy said, but she is a monster.

Move Ilias away from the place and have Rakura direct her attention to the book. Even if they were to steal the book and try to kill us, there would be no tastier moment than this one. 

It is not like there’s no chance they will attack at a later date, but we are talking about the guy giving orders to these bunch. They must have considered the possibility that Rakura might be persuaded and accept the deciphering of the book. If that were to happen, the only moment they can attack us is this one. 

If they didn’t come, I would have persuaded Rakura and destroyed the position of the Mastermind-san though.

“Everything just now was an act? Moreover, you put all your chips into protecting Rakura only. You had no intention of protecting your comrades?” 

“We are talking about the man that you could kill at any time and Rakura who you would have trouble with if she were to move to the defensive. It was a decision made after judging you would take the certain route of everyone aiming for Rakura.” (Ilias)

You were not the one who said that though. That’s why you don’t have to make a smug face, you know. 

“Now, want to fight with your remaining 3?” (Ilias)

“3? No, no, there’s no way.” 

The man that was smashed onto the wall began to move. Seriously, he can still move? 

“That was an impressive technique, but it can be dealt with if it is just a physical shockwave.” 

“It wasn’t a technique. I simply kicked you away because you were in the way.” (Ilias)

You shouldn’t kick someone one hundred meters away for a reason like that.

“As for the one there…he obviously died, huh. I would like necromancy just like Dokora.” 

The name of Dokora came out. It doesn’t seem like there’s any mistake judging from the looks and weapon he is using. 

“So these guys really are the Anbus of Mejis.” 

“W-Wait a moment please! Why are the Anbus of Mejis trying to kill m—” (Rakura)

“Obviously because they were ordered to -by the guy that is aiming to retrieve the book.” 

“Ukka-sama wouldn’t do something like—” (Rakura)

“It is not Archbishop Ukka. Someone else is making a move.” 

“Who would…?” (Rakura)

After the man sent flying confirmed his footing, he came here with wobbly movements. 

“Can you move?” 

“My ribs broke, but there’s no issue.” 

There’s an issue, you idiot.

“Too shallow, huh.” (Ilias)

There’s no shallow or deep in a kick, you gorilla.

“Right, just in case, you kill that demi-human. The rest will go for the knight-sama.” 

The guy that looks like the leader directs his blade at Rakura. 

“Maintain that barrier all you want. Once it is gone, that man will die instantly.” 

Even a complete novice like me can tell from his bloodlust that he is not lying. I lack on every physical front, so even if Rakura could protect herself, I can’t protect myself.

The battle is 4 vs 2; we are at a numbers disadvantage. That they still decided to place the wounded one on Wolfe must mean that he judged he would still be able to deal with her by doing that. In other words, all the people here are at least stronger than Wolfe. 

“Do you think you can stop me with just 3?” (Ilias)

“It may be impossible upfront, but it is night right now.” 

The shadow of the Anbus crawled onto their bodies. That swallowed the Anbus, and they hid in the darkness. 

A voice rang from somewhere after that.

“I wanted to avoid the use of magic as much as possible, but it can’t be helped. Get minced by an invisible blade and perish.” 

Ilias suddenly took a defensive stance and sparks flew from her sword.

I couldn’t see the attack of the enemy at all. Rather than calling this disappearing into the shadows, it is more like…

“Concealing magic!” (Ilias)

“I thought I had erased my killing intent too. I am impressed you managed to block that. But that blade can increase by 3, you know?” 

The battle begins. 

Ilias swung her sword, but it doesn’t seem like she has cut anything. And then, without being able to catch her breath, attacks assail Ilias. 

Wolfe has already begun fighting too. Wolfe can’t fight back. She would simply create openings if she swung her fists blindly. 

Wolfe suddenly jumped as if reacting to something. And then, the faint sound of slicing wind rang at the place she was standing on. 

It seems like she can barely manage to avoid the attacks if she concentrates fully. I was relieved for now. But I can’t relax here. 

I check the knife that’s on the ground. The tip of the blade is wet. There’s some sort of liquid smeared on it. 

It should be safe to assume it is a poison with immediate effect, or a paralyzing poison to assure the job is done. 

There’s no doubt defeat would be certain if you were to get hit once. 

“Counselor-sama, at this rate…!” (Rakura)

“…No, this is fine.” 

“But isn’t this one-sided?!” (Rakura)

“It is okay, don’t worry.” 

“Why can you speak truthfully with a face like that?!” (Rakura)

Aah, so that’s why Rakura was wary of me. It seems like I have a habit of making an evil face when my thought process is twisted. 

What a weak point. I really can’t do bad things on the regular. 

I take a deep breath for now and calm down my heart. And then, I face Rakura and speak.

“Rakura, the battle will be settled soon. Believe in me.” 

I don’t know just how effective those words are. But Rakura should be able to tell since she can see through lies. I am speaking from the heart here.

The balance between the battles of Ilias and Wolfe were beginning to crumble. The fastest one was Wolfe. 

Wolfe was concentrating on evading, but she began fighting back despite her small build.

———

“There’s no way an attack like that will hit.” 

I evade without issues. But I internally think how it is praiseworthy that she has the ability to grasp the location of an enemy she can’t see with such precision.

The mana imbued in the fist of the girl may be crude, but its aggregate amount surpasses the mana I have in every aspect. I wouldn’t come out fine if it were to hit me directly. 

But her lack of experience and lack of technique is pitiful. No matter what kind of luck took her side, she wouldn’t be able to hit me. 

That said, it is difficult to attack her. You could say we both are in a situation where we would die instantly if an attack hits. 

But the mental burden must be completely different between me who can see her movements, and her who can’t see them. The reality is that the sweat flying from her was speaking fluently about her fatigue. 

There’s no need to get impatient. I shall corner her slowly. My wounds should be able to heal in that time. The one who will benefit from taking their time is me.

“Uuh, I am not hitting… No good.” 

“I can put you out of your misery if you give up.” 

“Yeah, I give up.” 

“What, you are an obedient wolf.” 

“No. It would be impossible for the current Wolfe to hit you normally. I am giving up on that.” 

Just what in the world is she saying? -is what I thought as I grew wary at the change in the state of the girl. 

The white hair was shining in the darkness of the night. That light comes from mana. She is most likely knitting a massive amount of mana. 

Then, a big technique is coming, or is she going to use magic? But that’s not a big deal. If I feel the formation of magic, I just have to take distance. 

She misses even with her small fists. If she is going to rely on a big attack, she will be done for if I hit her in that opening.

“Alright.” 

The method the girl took was to accumulate even more mana on her fist. 

I don’t feel a single shred of a spell being formed. She is accumulating mana single-mindedly. I could tell clearly already. Her fist was shining to an abnormal degree. 

I can only be amazed at how high her talent is. If I had that much mana in me, I wouldn’t have ended up working below Hayde. 

“You are going to rely on a big attack, huh. So shallow.” 

“I will show you the technique Shishou taught me!” 

The girl once again charged towards me who had slipped into the darkness. She must be heading here because I ended up speaking. 

She obviously can’t see me. The shine of her mana won’t break my concealing magic.

The fist of the girl was stretching accurately towards me. But if I move a little to the side from the light, it won’t hit me. 

What will you do next? Her left shoulder moved. A punch with her left fist this time, huh.

Strength entered the hand that’s holding the knife. If an opening presents itself, I will finish her off with my blade.

I look at the left hand of the girl. Her hand is open. Is it a palm strike, or does she plan on shooting mana? It is possible to avoid and counterattack after ascertaining which one it is. 

Her left hand is stretched to the front. I should avoid the direction where she is stretching out just in case. 

I move around towards her left. It was an even larger swing than I thought. It will be the end the moment she finishes her swing. 

“—?” 

The next instant, I noticed that her left hand was advancing towards a direction where no one was in.

But what I saw there was her right hand that’s still stretched out. —Crap, her aim was her right hand?! 

The left hand of the girl clashed onto her stretched right hand. 

Both hands have mana that can’t be scoffed at, and they clash. 

A flash dazzled my vision and a blow assailed my body. 

———

The technique Wolfe used is honestly not a technique. 

It is just a plain handclap. However, it is a handclap that has a ridiculous amount of mana. 

Wolfe’s mana is not just simply massive. It is extremely clear, and it has the quality of easily resonating with other people. 

This all stemmed from the time when Maya-san was giving us a lecture about mana emission. 

Wolfe learned how to gather mana in both hands and accumulated a ridiculous amount of mana on both. 

It would be bad to release it all at once, so we had her emit it slowly. But a tragedy happened. A mosquito flew in front of Wolfe. 

Wolfe reflexively defeated the mosquito with both hands. This technique was born from that. 

If I were to compare it to something, it would be like readying a water balloon on the verge of bursting, and clapping your hands together with all you had. 

It will obviously make the accumulated mana discharge and spread into the surroundings. Wolfe has a massive amount of mana inside of her, so there isn’t much of an effect on her. 

But the 3rd parties that are close to her are a different story. Yes, victim here. The result is as you see. 

“Agah…” 

The concealing spell of the Anbu is gone. That’s not all. A huge amount of mana suddenly assailed his whole body. 

Every organ in his body is reacting. There’s no harm, but your whole body will be in a state of shock.

It is a shock that can even seal the movements of someone with as much mana as Ilias for an instant. The Anbu in front of her probably won’t be able to move for a while just like a certain someone. 

The eyes of Wolfe were directed at the Anbu. Her left leg moved to the front. Her left leg spun in an axis and her right leg was raised high in the sky. 

There’s already a massive amount of mana in her leg. Aah, how pitiful. The heel of Wolfe was swung down onto the head of the Anbu without mercy. 

“Wolfe wins!” (Wolfe)

She looked down at the Anbu that was smashed onto the ground and stopped moving, and then Wolfe raised a cry of victory. 

———

A flash entered my vision.

And then, I was shown the defeat of my comrade and ended up clicking my tongue. 

“You are losing against a weakling like that?” 

I understand the trick behind that unrefined technique. There’s no need to fear it. In the first place, if she were to join here and use that technique, she would also open the knight for an attack.

If one of us takes distance and throws a knife, it would be the end. The two I am coordinating with have at least that much knowledge and technique. 

“You are calling Wolfe a weakling, huh. She is certainly rough around the edges, but she is a girl that has barely learned how to fight in less than a month.” (Ilias)

“I am scared of the future then. The future, that is!” 

I threw a knife together with my words. It was obviously blocked. 

If we managed to seal the movements of the black wolfkin girl or use her as a hostage, we could have shaken her mentally though…

“I am getting bored of this already. I am going in for the kill.” (Ilias)

“—?!” 

My eyes made contact with hers suddenly. These eyes that should be invisible. I take distance with everything I had with my survival instinct kicking in. At the same time, the concealing spell of one of them was gone. 

A headless body falls onto the ground. The reason why the concealing spell is gone is simple. You wouldn’t be able to maintain the spell if you die. 

But she was completely aware of our location despite not being able to see us. She hasn’t used detection magic. Did she read our presence with the wind or something? 

“Tch, are you telling me you weren’t serious until now?” 

“My attention was taken away by Wolfe and the others after all. It is also in part because I was being wary about any other intruder.” (Ilias)

This is bad. This is not in a realm where we can compete on who is superior. From the next move onwards, a death will happen at each attempt at an attack.

Or more like, the guy that got his head severed was defending with his knife. She sliced it right off with knife and all?! 

“Man, we can’t win like this.” 

“I have already gauged your skills. You are inferior to Dokora.” (Ilias)

“He was a level above others after all. He is trash on the point that he betrayed the nation though.” 

But she really got me there. I had no intention of defeating Ilias Ratzel from the very beginning. Prioritize the man and then Rakura, and we could have killed the black wolfkin girl as an extra…

Due to the barrier of Rakura, we can’t target the man or Rakura. We have failed with the black wolfkin that could have been our key. 

Can’t be helped. We should aim for the black wolfkin with us two. The knight-sama shouldn’t be able to move with a hostage. I send the signal, and then, take a stance.

“Let’s prepare ourselves then!” 

I throw a knife. It obviously got deflected. But my real aim was the hidden knife. The blade isn’t metal but magic stone. 

If she provides even a tiny bit of force…boom! 

An explosion occurred. This would normally be a win for us, but it most likely didn’t work on her. 

I have my one other aim that is the black wolfkin. I go for the book. Fortunately, they haven’t picked up the book.

The knight-sama has read our presence, but it must be impossible for the others. 

I picked up the book. Alright. I check my comrade. He is going for the black wolfkin woman. 

She still hasn’t been able to react due to the explosion.

This should turn the tides of—

“—Huh?” 

I feel pain in one arm. And then, my comrade was torn in two all of a sudden.

———

The concealing spell of the Anbu in front of me was undone. Looks like he retrieved the book. 

The remaining other attacked Wolfe. They most likely wanted to take her as a hostage.

“You got greedy.” 

“…So it was your doing.” 

The Anbu in front of me was holding his shoulder while carrying the book. It must hurt, his arm was blown off after all.

What was once the arm of the Anbu is on the ground, and there’s also a familiar spear pierced. 

The spear that has magic seal stone in it; the spear of Cara-jii.

I directed my gaze at the roof outside of the plaza and I faintly saw Cara-jii waving his hand. 

And there’s Lord Ragudo at the side of Wolfe with sword in hand. 

“Salvet Ragudo… You even prepared the strongest knight of Taizu?” 

“Effective as a pawn for an ambush, right?” 

“Don’t joke around. We wouldn’t have challenged you in the first place if you had brought him out from the very beginning.” 

“That’s why I didn’t. I edged it enough so that you wouldn’t drop out the option of fighting.” 

We had Cara-jii and Lord Ragudo hide themselves in a decently detached place from the plaza beforehand. 

That’s because they might end up running into the Anbus if they were to hide in the plaza or be found by them. 

This is basically how it went. After Rakura went to the plaza, Cara-jii will be throwing a projectile after a certain period of time. 

The aim is a bit further back from the statue at the plaza. For Cara-jii who is called the God Spear, it must have been boring with the plaza being such a broad target. 

After that, we baited the Anbus, and had Wolfe and Ilias do battle. 

I had Ilias concentrate on avoiding fatal attacks, and take her time to make it look like she is having a tough battle. 

Cara-jii will use that time to move to a point where he is within range. I also left him the job to check whether there’s any other Anbus hiding. I had Lord Ragudo approach the entrance of the plaza and had him on standby. 

The key this time around will be Wolfe. If we take Dokora as the base of the Anbus of Mejis, Wolfe is the one who they won’t be wary of. 

Ilias would end up having to fight alone if Wolfe wasn’t present. But they are dealing with Ilias who defeated Dokora. If they had seen that their chances of winning were low, they would have judged whether to retrieve the book or not, and would have retreated.

But with Wolfe present, I left them the choice for battle. ‘We might be able to defeat Wolfe; if we seal her movements, we might be able to use her to threaten them; if we do, the chances we can deal with Ilias will be higher’.

The result is that they took the option of keeping Ilias at bay while aiming for Wolfe. Rakura -an actual combatant- not being able to move in order to protect a civilian gave them motivation to act too.

“The miscalculation was that the first guy Wolfe fought lost.” 

“So you calculated that your comrade would lose? It is not like it was certain we would go for the hostage option. What did you plan on doing if we killed her?” 

“You wouldn’t. You would kill her after you made use of her. It is because you thought you had a chance for victory that you faced Ilias without running away. That’s ‘the kind of thought process’ you have been etched, right?” 

Well, we had the strongest insurance called Lord Ragudo keeping an eye on her the whole time though.

He managed to keep an eye on the invisible Anbus from the entrance of the plaza, and kill them. Even if the timing was set, that wasn’t something a normal human could pull off. Looks like it wasn’t a lie that he is stronger than Ilias.

I had Cara-jii aim for the book. Told him to throw the spear the moment the book moves. Cara-jii’s performance might fall short when compared to Ilias and Lord Ragudo, but as a person living in modern Japan, this high precision sniping power is easier to integrate in a plan. 

“Heh, it seems like you really wanted to slaughter us all.” 

“You killed a homeless man, right? This is payback.” 

“Seriously? For something like that?” 

“Yeah, you guys will be dying ‘for something like that’. By the way, who was the one that killed him?” 

“The one who lost pathetically. ‘Serves you right’, then?” 

“I see, so you were the guy that added an extra something to the corpse?” 

“…You’ve got some scary eyes. Why is someone like you on the surface?” 

“Don’t lump me in with you. I have not killed a person once. Not once.” 

“You are. That makes you nastier, you know?” 

Ilias was at some point by my side with sword ready. The others were gathering here too. 

“Please tell me. Who was the one that told you to aim for my life…?” (Rakura)

“As if we would tell you, you stupid woman. Don’t look down on the Anbu.” 

“Figures. You wouldn’t spit it out even if threatened with necromancy.” 

“And they wouldn’t talk leisurely like this!” 

The man jumped and disappeared into the darkness again.

“As if I will let you!” (Ilias)

The sword of Ilias sliced the air. Blood flew at the same time.

“Too shallow?!” (Ilias)

“Not dead! But my body is still there. My body is lighter with one arm less after all!” 

The Anbu retreated just like that. It is an invisible man. It is hard to cut him without being able to set the timing. 

“Detection magic…no good. Magic seal stones have been scattered around the plaza.” (Ilias)

“Fumu, got away, huh.” (Ragudo)

Lord Ragudo sighed and returned his sword to its scabbard. Rakura shouted at that moment.

“Ah, the book! It has been taken away!” (Rakura)

“Right, that’s troubling.” 

“…That’s a lie.” (Rakura)

“Wow, you really can see through lies.” 

“C-Counselor-sama, you are making an incredibly evil face.” (Rakura)

———

I have succeeded in my escape. Now all that’s left is escaping the country. I have come to the outer walls to do exactly that. 

The chances are high that they have gotten ahead of me and cut off my path at the gates. My bleeding has stopped, but moving a fatigued body really is burdensome. I would like to avoid any further battles.

“Having only one arm is rough. Dokora was escaping in this state?” 

I retrieved the book, but I couldn’t kill the man or Rakura. But it is not like it is over yet. 

I still have methods to take advantage of openings. I can just poison their food. I could manipulate people around and have them push the blade on their necks for me instead.

Even if we couldn’t fulfill the order of killing them on the spot, there’s still many ways to kill them. I have to regain my bearings first in order to accomplish this. 

“The first one will be the black wolfkin woman. That man would make a nice face if I killed that one after all. I will kill the people around him next. Once your defenses are thinned, it will be your turn. You better remember this…!” 

When I approached the outer wall to a certain degree, I felt a mana wave happen. 

I know this reaction. It is when a specific mana has been detected by a barrier. 

I see, it is this book. Rakura had set up barriers in order to search for this book.

I knew she set them up around the outer walls, but there’s no issue even if I did get caught in it. 

Rakura will detect it and the knights will come running, but I am confident I can climb over it by that time. 

I will already be outside the city by the time they arrive. Let’s hurry and climb it. 

“Good grief, I would like to be given a bit of a break. —That said, with Ilias Ratzel as my enemy, I won’t have much time. It is gonna be rough, but I have to hurry.” 

I can still climb fast even with one arm. With this—ah?

———

Found the miserable corpse of the Anbu at the outer side of the walls. Of course you would end up like that if you were to be hit by such an attack.

Soon after we enacted the plan, we had Ilias head to where Maya-san was.

It is in order to have her tell us about ‘the frequency of the mana wave that is released upon the book being detected by a barrier’.

Maya-san also knows about Taizu helping out in searching for the book. This was a ‘difficult job’ for Ilias, but it is outstanding of her that she somehow managed to do it. 

The Anbus must know that Taizu is covered in barriers. They would avoid the gates and choose the outer walls. That’s why I chose the plaza which is in the center of the city.

Cause the distance to everywhere would be the same. Ilias can detect that the book is inside the barrier through the mana wave emitted from it. In other words, she can tell where the Anbu is. 

We finished him with a projectile. Cara-jii may be precise, but due to the distance, it was a rough one to perform. And so, we utilized Ilias who boasted that she can reach.

Of course, the accuracy of Ilias is far below that of Cara-jii. And so, I had her throw it with everything she had. 

“She really is a muscle-brain gorilla.” 

The result is that there’s now a giant hole on the outer wall that the Anbu was climbing. It is not an attack that passes a needle in a hole. She blew up the whole area where she discovered the enemy was. 

Man, Marito is so open-hearted to allow such a plan, huh. I will leave the clean up to him~.

The book was a bait just like Wolfe. I had Cara-jii aim at it, and I also had countermeasures for the case when it got snatched away. 

The book is…alright. Yup. 

I asked Lord Ragudo to cast hardening magic on it, but I am glad it is okay. 

I thought he would undo it thinking it was unnecessary, but it was fine. Ah, but the cover was torn a bit. 

I checked the book together with the belongings of the Anbu, and I found a crystal. It is an item that allows you to contact people at long range through a secret technique of the Yugura Church. The Anbu-kun that works as the bodyguard of Marito told me that. 

It seems like they casted defensive magic on it, so it is okay. 

After that, Cara-jii and the Ragudo Division gathered at the outer wall and began to clean things up. Sorry, everyone, even though it is so late at night…

And so, I head to the castle with crystal and book in hand. There’s still the finishing touches left after all.

“Excuse me, Counselor-sama… Why are you sitting there and watching that crystal?” (Rakura)

“Well, you will get it if you wait.” 

Ilias, Marito, Lord Ragudo, and Rakura were all gathered in a room and having a staring contest with the crystal. By the way, Wolfe is sleeping in the neighboring room due to exhaustion. 

No matter what the Anbu prioritized, they put escaping above everything else. In that case, they shouldn’t have contacted them yet. 

But it should be a good time to. They should be getting impatient here. 

The crystal began to shine after a while. And then, a voice rang.

“Hayde, report.” 

“So that Anbu’s name was Hayde, huh.” 

“…Who could you be?” 

“The man you ordered to be killed. Nice to meet you, Mastermind-san.” 

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