Chapter 25: Hat Girl

With the Brave house protecting Finne, we were able to make our move with peace of mind.

It has been two days. Zandra continues to pull away all of the supporters that we expected to turncoat. However, on the second night, Zandra finally springs her trap.

Enemy huh.

So theyre finally here.

Sebas muttered while we are driving on the carriage.

Even if I already expected them, I end up heaving a sigh. Blood really rushed to her head huh. To think that she would do it here of all places. it is like opening the gap in her defense for Eric and Gordon herself. I have Sebas on my side and even if she did assassinate me, her power will be decreased.

Despite having to deal with attacks from two different factions, she must really want to make an example out of me huh.

Shes a short-sighted woman isnt she.

In a way, you could say that shes really formidable. She must have quite an eye to target you first.

Why thank you. But her attack is welcome still.

Yes. Her Highness Zandras supporters must really want some work to do arent they.

Zandras influence came from the mages who support her.

Of course, some of her supporters are not a mage but all of the excellent civil and military officers already joined Eric or Gordons camp. As a result, there are only a few of Zandra supporters that possess strong political sense. Thats why despite having many powerful mages on her side, she still cant win against Gordon and Eric.

It would be totally different if Zandra has a competent advisor on her side though.

I will clean this up.

Got it. I will head to the castle.

Please be careful. There might be an ambush waiting for you on the way.

I will deal with it when the time comes.

After having such a conversation, Sebas jumps out of the moving carriage.

Well, 8 or 9 out of ten, there would be some soldiers waiting to ambush me. On the other hand, I only have the carriage driver with me. From the enemys point of view, it must look like they were able to successfully lured Sebas away from me. If thats the case, there should be some assassins who know about their inside information with them again this time.

Lets take this opportunity to collect some information again, shall we?

When I was planning my evil deed, the carriage driver let out a scream.

Hiiii!!?? Y, Your Highness! Theres a person in front of us!?

Dont worry about it, keep driving.

N, No way!? I, I dont want to die!

As expected, the assassins are already lying in wait in front of us.

The young driver stopped the carriage and immediately ran away, leaving me behind.

I let out a sigh inside the carriage. I knew this would happen and it is certainly easier to deal with the assassin like this but I still sighed at how low my popularity is. If the person riding in this carriage was Leo instead then the driver would never escape by himself.

Get down from there. If you wont, I will drag you down myself.

You just want to confirm my face arent you.

While muttering a reply to the assassin, I obediently get off the carriage.

In front of the carriage was a middle-aged man with swept up brown hair. His face brimming with dignity signify that he is a man with long military service. Apparently, Zandra is quite serious this time. Even among Zandras men, he is probably in her top five.

At a glance, I think that he should have the power equivalent to an A-rank adventurer.

The fact that he can pull off a surprise attack like this means that he is quite a skilled assassin. Even the same A-rank adventurer could easily be killed if you have a person of equal ability suddenly appearing behind you. Assassins are different from adventurers because they are a pro at killing people after all.

For your servant to run off by himself, you are quite pitiful arent you.

Its not like Im popular from the beginning though.

I see. So you dont care about something like that huh. Is it because you have that much trust in your butler?

Yeah. Sebas will immediately come over to end you anyway.

Thats a beautiful relationship between master and servant but he will not be able to save you this time. No matter how skilled a butler he is, it will take time for him to rush here while dealing with twelve assassins after all.

Guess well see about that.

I didnt break my carefree attitude.

Perhaps, he thinks that it was a bluff, the man approached me with a bitter smile on his face.

Then he creates a dagger with fire magic in his hand.

The order was to assassinate you but I wont take your life. I will render you helpless and have you come to meet my Lord.

I dont really want to visit my torture-loving sister though.

He is quite a thoughtful subordinate.

Rather than an assassination, abducting me is better in this case. If Ive gone missing, they can do whatever they want with me. Eric and Gordon wouldnt put in that much effort to rescue me and in a best-case scenario, they can even become my substitute for Leos aide as well.

For the time being, they can just take me outside the capital before the search begins and torture me there. If my heart breaks, Zandra can do whatever she wants with me. Even if Im rescued, a person that was broken by Zandras torture will never talk about her being involved. She can even break my mind and make me a cripple too. That way, they would be able to do more damage to us and it has a lot less risk than an assassination as well.

Thats a shame. If you want to hate someone then you can hate your own excellent little brother for this.

Saying so, he threw the flame dagger at me.

But I have a defensive barrier erected around me. He cant break through it with that level of magic.

I was acting carefree because of that but that flame dagger was suddenly deflected away by a sword that appeared from the side.

!?

Who are you?

A passing adventurer.

Surprised, I turn to look at the intruder.

A girl with brown hair in a ponytail was there. However, the fact that she is wearing a hat combining with her rough appearance made her look like a boy.

I remembered seeing this girl before.

She was one of the A-rank adventurers that came to defeat the Mother Slime at Duke Kleinerts territory.

If you are an adventurer then back off. Its not like you received a request to protect him arent you?

Yes, I didnt receive such a request. Of course, I dont know who is standing behind me or why he was being attacked. I have no duty or obligation to help him.

Then-

But seeing a person get killed in front of me will leave a bad aftertaste. Moreover, he was abandoned by his servant as well. If I dont help him now he would be too pitiful isnt he?

You bastard.to be his ally means that you are willing to turn a person of great power into your enemy you know? Are you willing to do that?

Rather than regretting abandoning him, it would be better if I start regretting after I saved him.

Upon hearing her answer, the man completely judged the girl as his enemy.

He takes out daggers in both hands and starts throwing them at the girl. Unlike before, his daggers were not created by magic.

The girl parries them with her sword but there were daggers made of ice follow immediately behind the first attack. If she dodges, those daggers will hit me who is standing behind her.

She counters such unusual move with an even more unusual one.

She turned her sword into a shield and block the ice daggers.

A magic sword that can change its shape huh, you sure carrying some odd thing around..

I got it at a certain ruin. It can even do something like this you know.

Saying so, the girl turned her sword into a spear. She swings it around a little and slowly approaches the man.

At first glance, it seems like a simple spear but soon he discovered how peculiar it is.

Kuh.!?

As expected, you didnt immediately go to sleep huh. The sound emitted by this can even send a powerful monster to sleep though.

Sound huh..!

So it emitting sound that lulls the target to sleep huh. I dont know how it sounds from where Im standing but it seems the man is hearing some kind of lullaby over there.

What a troublesome ability. Its not funny to fall asleep in a serious fight. Even if you could endure the drowsiness, no one would be able to fight well in that condition.

The man must understand that as well.

He immediately took distance from the girl. He clicked his tongue as he glanced at me and retreated.

Shortly after, Sebas arrives at the scene.

So, what did I get myself into?

You rescued me from a tight spot. Thank you, you saved me.

No, I cant just stand by while seeing people getting killed after all. By the way, judging from the carriage you must be some kind of important person correct?

Yeah, sorry. Im Arnold Lakes Adler, the seventh prince of the Empire.

Seventh prince? I see, so its the rumored succession war after all. I just tried to help people but it seems Im able to make a big step toward my goal huh.

The girl takes her hat off and kneels on the ground.

I can see her slightly gender-neutral and well-featured face. Her age is probably the same as mine.

Your Highness. My name is Lynfia. You could say that I am collecting on the debt of saving your life but would you please listen to my request?

No, no, I dont remember asking for your help though. And I lost the chance to catch an enemys assassin too.

Even if thats what I wanted to say, she doesnt know that Im Silver. And as Arnold, I cant possibly refuse her request as she just saved my life. If I refuse her then there will be no one who will be willing to help me or Leo in the future.

But, I can tell from experience.

This will definitely be troublesome.

However,

Lets continue this at the castle. Help yourself into the carriage. I dont know whether I can grant your request with my power or not though.

With the last precautionary line, I invite Lynfia into the carriage.

Seriously, one after another, troubles really dont go away that easily huh.

Letting out a small sigh, I can only lament at my misfortune.

TLN: Yes, the author said that shes the new heroine.

This is her picture by the way..

Lynfia

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