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[Breakthrough Unit]
“Shit! Vigo was just bluffing, after all!” (Frick)
“That bastard Vigo, he probably made the remaining Abyss Walker glowed pale just to stall us.” (Al)
“Kh! That means Vigo had us fought according to his tune all along, huh.” (Cinzia)
As Cinzia said, we couldn’t possibly just leave the glowing pale Abyss Walker alone and chase after Vigo who had become invisible and ran away.
He used the Abyss Walker as a decoy and successfully made his escape.
“Dammit!!” (Frick)
Without being able to control my frustration at myself for being unable to protect Noelia, I kick the ground hard.
“Frick-san…” (Al)
“Frick.” (Cinzia)
The two Genociders and twenty Abyss Walkers that attacked Youg Hannotes have all been defeated.
And none of the white-robed people, members of Vigo’s organization, survived, including those that had been taken prisoners.
Thanks to the combined efforts of us and the knights, although the walls were destroyed, there was almost no damage to the inhabitants.
However, many of the knights appear to have suffered a not-so-slight injuries in the battle with the Abyss Walkers and white-robed people.
I managed to protect the city, but not Noelia.
At that time, had I immediately rushed and tried to save Noelia, the result might not have been like this.
“Frick-dono! Please don’t belittle Noelia-sama! She is the daughter of the hero Lloyd, and is a mage who has made it to the platinum-rank adventurer; there is no way she would let herself got kidnapped without resistance, is there?”
The one who calls out to me is Meiss, who is in charge of commanding the defense.
In his hands, I can see a small animal; a squirrel.
When the squirrel sees me, it immediately climbs on my hands.
“Meiss-dono, this squirrel is?” (Frick)
“As you can see, it indeed looks like a normal squirrel, but——” (Meiss)
Meiss hands the squirrel a quill, and the squirrel, having received it, starts writing letters on my hand.
“‘I am safe, Vigo, to the Demon Forest’. Wait, employment magic!? Is this squirrel an animal that Noelia control with employment magic!?” (Frick)
“Indeed. In view of her position as acting lord, Noelia-sama left this squirrel to me so that she could promptly delegate authority to me in case something happens to her before she took part in the battle. For her getting kidnapped was surely out of expectation, but we somehow made do thanks her prearrangement.” (Meiss)
So, Noelia fully understood the meaning of her title, and had made prior arrangement accordingly, huh.
I knew it, Noelia sure is amazing.
I gently pat the head of the squirrel, that is looking at my face, on my hand.
“I’m glad you’re safe. I’m glad…” (Frick)
“Thank goodness Noelia-sama is really safe…” (Al)
“That child, so she was fighting while controlling this animal the whole time. I should say, that’s my disciple for you.” (Cinzia)
“No~e~li~a~. Even though you’ve become tiny, I still allow you to have skinship with me, you know.” (Gawain)
“Gawain-sama, that will disturb her concentration in maintaining the magic, so I prohibit you from having skinship with her!” (Frick)
Gawain tries to hug the squirrel Noelia in my hand, so I put up a Wind Barrier and politely reject him.
“Don’t be so stingy—. I just want to have some skinship with Noelia who has become such a fluffy squirrel—!” (Gawain)
Gawain, who is still struggling despite being blocked by the Wind Barrier, gets mercilessly grabbed by Cinzia’s golem and taken away.
“Let’s leave the idiot Gawain alone for now. Since the squirrel and Noelia’s consciousnesses are still connected, that means she’s alive. But, the opponent is Vigo, so it’s better if we go save her as soon as possible.” (Cinzia)
“Since he is heading to the Demon Forest, that must mean that Vigo’s destination is undoubtedly the Abyss Hole.” (Meiss)
If we want to save Noelia, we have to come to the facility in the Abyss Hole without the knights… was what Vigo said when he left.
“The Abyss Hole… is there any chance that Vigo was lying when he said he wanted to make a deal?” (Frick)
“I don’t think it’s a trap to lure Frick-dono, who is the biggest obstacle to the execution of their plan, however… Because if that’s their aim, they wouldn’t have to go out of their way to attack Youg Hannotes to force out Noelia-sama who came as reinforcement and kidnap her.” (Meiss)
“Who cares about Vigo’s purpose. One thing I know is that we have to save Noelia. If Frick isn’t going, then I’ll go to the Abyss Hole alone and save her.” (Cinzia)
Cinzia creates a new golem, climbs on its shoulder, and has it to begin running.
“Cinzia-sama, you don’t know where the Demon Forest is, do you! I’ve been to the facility in the Abyss Hole that Vigo mentioned before, so I’ll show you the way. Noelia-sama is a precious friend of mine, so I’ll save her even if I have to risk my life!” (Al)
“Al-kyuuun, if you’re going to that facility, I’ll come with! I mean, you need a specialist too, right~!” (Meila)
“Meila!? We’re not going there to play, you know!” (Al)
“Since she’s Al’s friend, we definitely have to save her. Don’t worry, I’ve asked Maribel-chan to bring over some horses.” (Sophie)
“Even Sophie!? You’ve seen the strength of the Abyss Walkers in the battle earlier, haven’t you? There is no guarantee that you will be able to return alive if you come along.” (Al)
“When we left the royal capital, I decided that I would never leave Al alone ever again, so if Al goes, I will go too.” (Sophie)
“Al-oniichan, you can count on Maribel to guide you in that facility! Father also told Maribel that if Al-oniichan goes, Maribel should go, too!” (Maribel)
“Maribel too!? I’m telling you, there is no guarantee that you can go back alive…” (Al)
Al and co are trying to march into the enemy’s base to save the kidnapped Noelia without considering the danger to their lives.
“Friiiick! My precious Noelia is in danger! We have to go to Abyss Hole right away and save my kidnapped disciple! Whether you’re going or not, make up your mind already!” (Gawain)
Gawain, having pulverized the golem, thrusts his index finger before my chest.
The answer is obvious, isn’t it!
No matter what traps Vigo sets, I will definitely save Noelia!
And I will destroy Vigo’s ambition and protect the kingdom while I’m at it.
“I’ll go save her! I’ll definitely save Noelia, crush Vigo’s plan, protect the kingdom, and bring everyone back safely!” (Frick)
“Alright, it’s decided, then! That guy from before said only ‘knights’ that can’t come, anyway. Since I’m just a blacksmith, Al and co are just adventurers, and Cinzia is just a golem-user mage, there’ll be no problem even if we go to the Abyss Hole. We leave Meiss to clean up here.” (Gawain)
I don’t know if that’s what Vigo meant by what he said earlier, but since he said that the hostages will lose their lives if the knights move, we can only go there with a select few.
“Meiss-dono, in case we don’t come back, can you take care of the rest?” (Frick)
If we rush to the Abyss Hole and get annihilated by Vigo’s trap, it is very likely that a second major invasion will occur.
Before that happens, I want the knights to occupy the Abyss Hole.
“If Frick-dono and the others go, I won’t bother thinking about the rest. Because if it’s the Crimson Magic Swordsman Frick-dono that I know, he will definitely save Noelia-sama, thwart Vigo’s plan, and come back.” (Meiss)
He means to say, don’t die easily, huh.
If he expects that much from me, then I will have to make it back alive even if I have to drag my body.
“I understand. Please forget what I said earlier. I’ll definitely save Noelia, crush Vigo’s plan, and return.” (Frick)
I put the squirrel Noelia controls on my shoulder and whistle to call Dimol and Diedur.
Soon after, we set off to the Abyss Hole where Vigo’s waiting.