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1103: The Lord of Alessa's Mansion
Fran and Urushi ran through the empty streets of Alessa. Everyone had hidden themselves in their houses, and all the stores were closed.
Back in Gordicia, there were actually crowds of people walking around even in towns under attack. I guess antidemon raids were so common that they lost their sense of danger. Hiding inside is probably the normal reaction.
There were some patrolling soldiers, but none of them tried to question Fran. She was way too fast to be an enemy undead, so they probably assumed she was an adventurer on a messenger job.
Of course, they stopped us before we could enter the lord’s mansion, though they immediately let us through after a flash of her adventurer card. It seems Fran was way more famous in Alessa than I thought.
I didn’t expect her adventurer card to grant us entry without the slightest question.
An emergency command center had been prepared on the first floor of the mansion, with many important people gathered. The guildmaster Klint, the Alessa’s Knight Captain Urth, and a simple-looking man in the back.
Apparently, the simple-looking man was Alessa’s lord. He didn’t have much of an aura, nor a sharp gaze, looking like an ordinary, well-dressed man.
Looks pretty unreliable, but is he good at his job? Maybe he was like Izario, seemingly useless, then becoming amazing when the need arises.
「Fran-san… Looks like I have no choice but to welcome you.」
「Nn. I’m here.」
「The Black Lightning Princess! To think the girl from back then has become so famous!」
Klimt looked somewhat reluctant, though Urth was in a very welcoming mood. I’m guessing Klimt hated the idea of getting Fran, or rather, any child involved in the war.
However, they needed anyone they could get in this situation where the enemy’s numbers were still uncertain. The interests of Alessa and Kranzel took precedence over Klimt’s personal feelings.
Thus, Klimt had no choice but to welcome us as the guildmaster even if he didn’t want to.
「Klimt, I want to talk later.」
「Talk?」
「Nn, about spirit magic.」
「Well, fine… but can it wait until this incident is solved?」
「Nn.」
Even Fran knew we didn’t have the time right now.
「So you are the Black Lightning Princess? I am Zenos Amkranze, technically the lord of this town.」
「Technically?」
「Since I’m more of a figurehead than anything. Don’t mind me, I’ll just be sitting here.」
Seemed pretty easygoing for a noble. Is this guy really a lord? Well, Alessa’s a relatively small town, so he might be a low-ranking noble.
Or so I thought, but it seems I was wrong.
「Fran. He may not look the part, but this man is royalty. Mind your manners around him even if he has no majesty.」
「Urth, aren’t you being quite rude yourself?」
「Huh? Is that so?」
Wait, what? What did he just say?
「Royalty?」
「From a branch family. My blood is only worth as much as the frontier town they forced on me.」
「Hmm.」
No, what?! Royalty is royalty! Don’t just hmm him like you don’t care!
「Honestly, don’t mind me. I’m not even allowed to use the family name of Kranzel. Someone like you with the power to fight is more important right now.」
So it seems he really is just a figurehead.
Seeing as how Klimt and Urth were on friendly terms with him, he’s probably a decent guy though.
That said, he may not be very competent if he was unable to stop the tyranny of nobles like Auguste and Count Olmes. In a sense, you could say he was the type who entrusted anything he couldn’t do to other people.
「We the Adventurers Guild are cooperating with the knights to defend the town. I would like to ask for your help as well, Fran-san.」
「Nn!」
「Our priority is to eliminate the current undead threat.」
「Indeed, us knights always have trouble dealing with undead.」
「Really?」
「They are quite resilient to non-magical attacks.」
Undead can continue moving after taking a couple hits from a sword or spear, so the knights’ lack of mages does sound troublesome.
The highest ranking adventurers having already been deployed to the border probably didn’t help.
「Depending on a child makes me feel rather pathetic, but please clean up the undead. Can you handle it?」
「Easily.」
「Sigh. I’ve heard the reports from Gordicia, but it seems you still rush into things no matter where you go.」
「Heh.」
「I didn’t mean that as a compliment.」
Klimt wore a wry smile. He probably wanted to tell Fran not to rush to her death, but her impatience is what ended up benefiting the town. Thus, he pretty much lost the right to scold her outright.
As far as I’m concerned, anyone telling Fran to slow down is a rarity. Please do it as many times as it takes.
Well, I guess a guildmaster can’t just say “don’t work so hard” to an adventurer doing their job.
「But first, we need to deal with the undead that has infiltrated town.」
「The fast one?」
「Yes, it seems this undead is still scurrying around, boasting such stealth capabilities that even my spirits are unable to catch up. Managing to detect their entrance into the city in the first place may be considered a miracle.」
An undead capable of outrunning spirits sounds really nasty. Might be even more troublesome than the undead outside.
「Okay.」
「Please be careful not to cause any damage to the town.」
Klimt! You know Fran so well!
「After taking care of that, move on to support our forces on the walls if possible.」
「Are there any adventurers outside the walls?」
「There should be no one fighting outside town, since my orders as knight captain were to lure the undead in before taking them out at range!」
「So, it’s okay if I go all out?」
「No problem.」
Fran can’t be held responsible if anyone gets caught up in her attack, since anyone outside of town is disobeying orders. Well, of course Fran doesn’t want to accidentally kill anyone. Guess me and Urushi can take a quick look beforehand.
『Urushi, let me know if you sense anyone outside the walls.』
（Woof!）
In addition to adventurers or knights disobeying orders, there could even be Raydoss scouts. Though unlikely, it’s also possible adventurers from other cities came to Alessa’s rescue and got stuck fighting off the horde.
Either way, let’s deal with the internal issue first.
「Okay, heading out!」
「Please do.」
「You can ask the knights if you need anything! Here, take this with you.」
「Thank you.」
Urth tossed the emblem of his knight order to us. I guess this acts as a substitute for his seal of approval.
「Black Lightning Princess, we leave Alessa’s fate in your hands.」
「Nn!」
Zenos bowed his head, while Klimt still looked as sullen as ever. With everyone seeing us off, Fran dashed out of the room.