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1062: Gray-Haired Swordsman
We heard that the prisoners of war were being held in the center of Dars.
After grabbing the fainted tamer and heading over to check it out, we saw a crowd of people sitting in the open-air plaza with shackles binding their hands. 
What were they going to do if it ever rained? Who cares about the prisoners so just let them get soaked or something?
Charlotte was among those sitting in the center of the square. She did not seem to be injured.
Charlotte!
『Hold up. The guy next to her is pretty strong.』
Mmm.
There weren’t many soldiers guarding the prisoners. Many must have gone to the harbor and got taken out by us there. Only about 30 guards in total, and they seemed pretty tense.
「W-What the hell is going on at the port!?」
「They said the enemy is rampaging there, though nothing about the details
!」
「The battle seems to be over by now, but
!」
It seems they’ve heard about the incident at the port, but didn’t have any detailed information.
However, the gray-haired swordsman beside Charlotte behaved differently. He exuded a powerful aura, and continued vigilantly watching his surroundings without the slightest hint of panic. This man was clearly on a different level than the rest.
Fran hid in the shadows while observing the situation.
Master, what should we do?
『Going in head-on is too risky.』
We’re strong enough to eliminate a bunch of soldiers in a flash. Even if they attempt to take hostages, I’m confident my surprise attacks can take them out before they get the chance to hurt anyone.
All of them aside from the swordsman standing next to Charlotte, that is.
I sensed something similar to Marle coming from that man. Perhaps he underwent body modification too, though he wore no collar of servitude. Was he following Raydoss of his own will? Either way, his combat experience and logical thinking makes him dangerous if he hasn’t been turned into a puppet.
Though we wouldn’t lose in a fight, our battle would certainly result in much collateral damage. Attacking him head on is not an option we can afford to take.
Woof!
『Oh, Urushi! You’re back!』
Perfect timing. It seems he finished evacuating the adventurers out of the town before returning. With Urushi’s assistance, our chances of saving the captives go way up.
Then our plan is 
『I see
』
Woof 
After coming up with a simple plan, we began the operation. Fran used aerial hop to silently move onto the roof of a building overlooking the square.
Then, we invoked a light spell, being careful not to leak any mana.
「Whoa!」
「What the hell is that?」
The soldiers were surprised to see a glowing ball of light suddenly appear in the sky above the plaza. No doubt they’ve guessed it has something to do with the incident at the port, but none of them knew how to respond.
In the first place, it’s just a glowing ball without any offensive power. The only purpose was to divert their attention, as well as generate dense shadows with the intense light.
「Shut up and watch the perimeter!」
『I knew that guy was going to be a pain in the ass.』
The gray-haired swordsman yelled at the soldiers starting to make a commotion. Immediately thereafter, he drew a sword from the item bag at his waist.
Even from this distance, I could feel a chilling mana coming from it. That must be a very high quality magic sword.
He immediately took up the blade and swung it. His slash turned into a projectile striking the ball of light and obliterating it
 But we were already one step ahead!
『Urushi!』
Woof!
Urushi had been building up his mana beside Fran, and invoked shadow magic before the man’s swing went through. The shadows at the soldiers’ feet turned into spears and skewered them one after another. Many were so focused on the light in the sky that they could barely react.
Only the swordsman managed to dodge it completely.
This finished off half of our enemies. Not just those in the square, but also the soldiers on the roofs of the surrounding buildings. All of them collapsed into a pool of their own blood.
Then I took care of the remaining half.
I followed up only a few seconds after Urushi’s spell. I had stretched my steel threads all over the plaza in advance, which I used to blast all of the soldiers with ice magic simultaneously. Some were aimed at the swordsman too, but I had to give up once I realized that wouldn’t work.
He had taken a few steps to close the distance between himself and Charlotte, so I could no longer attack him without worrying about getting her caught up. Frustrating, but he made the right decision.
「Gyaaaah!」
「Ugyah!」
I invoked the ice spell, Icicle Lance, since thunder and flame magic would have made it harder to avoid collateral damage. I guess land magic would have worked too, but ice magic had one advantage here.
Even if they managed to survive an ice spell, the freezing would slow them down and deprive them of their stamina.
『Nobody else moving?』
Nn. All the soldiers in the square are down.
『Only the normal soldiers though.』
The swordsman managed to avoid the combination attack from Urushi and me
 Still, this was well within expectations.
Urushi!
「Grr!」
「What
? What is a magic beast of this caliber doing here?!」
「Grrr! GRRAAH!」
「Kyah!」
「It can’t possibly be wild, can it
? But it is paying no attention to the girl
」
Urushi had shot out a spear of darkness, which left a gash on Charlotte’s skin. I feel sorry for her, but his spell was purposely aimed to graze her. We’ll apologize later, just bear with us!
Our plan involved Urushi acting like a bloodthirsty beast. The swordsman was at a loss as to Urushi’s intentions, since his attack left Charlotte lightly wounded.
This gave him a moment of hesitation, considering whether or not taking a hostage would be effective. Fran and I didn’t miss the opening.
『Now!』
「Hah!」
Fran slashed down at the man after teleporting in. However, I found myself clashing with a hard metallic object rather than the soft tearing of flesh.
The man’s magic sword. He managed to react and block us even with that timing, but this is still within the realm of our plan! Well, I kinda hoped he would make things easier by dying!
「This is
! Nrgh!」
「You come with me!」
『Urushi, stick to the plan!』
「Woof!」
Fran and I forced him into the Dimension Gate we opened at his feet. There was no way he could escape while engaged in a fierce clash with Fran. Forcing his way out would only leave him a sitting duck to Fran’s follow up.
We landed at our destination, the harbor. Fran tried to cut the man down right away, but he parried us without any sign of unbalance at the floating sensation of teleportation.
「Girl, you’re pretty good.」
「You too.」
The two looked each other in the eye and both grinned. Oh boy, the gray-haired swordsman was also a combat maniac.