laulau20
patreon
Chapter 88: Demon
🕑 Added 2024-09-06 17:35:53 +0000 UTCI sat quietly as Claire explained the situation. They couldn't find Gustav in his mansion. Claire planned to search his villa in other cities, but the chances of finding him were slim. Gustav had been missing ever since Elderan's failed invasion of Althemer.
"Please find him. I need to ask why he killed my mom and grandfather."
"Very well. I shall—" "Lady Eli!!!" Suddenly, a familiar soft pillow-like sensation enveloped my head from behind. This softness, this warmth, this bounciness—
"Alicia!?" I turned around, my cheeks brushing against her soft flesh as I recoiled in surprise. I confirmed with my eyes that it was indeed Alicia. Guilt immediately washed over me, and I looked down in embarrassment. She was my maid, my friend, and I had betrayed her. Because of me, she had lost her position—life must be hard for her in Althemer now.
"Yes, Lady Eli, it's me, Alicia."
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine! I know everything—Princess Claire told me all about why you killed Dregorn at the banquet. Dregorn was evil; he tried to kill Princess Claire, right? If only I had known your circumstances… I'm the one who's sorry, Lady Eli. I couldn't even support you during those difficult times. It must have been so hard making such a decision to protect our kingdom." Alicia hugged me again, this time from the front. The suffocating bliss choked me. Alicia was such a kind friend.
"Yeah, you should've told us about Dregorn's plot," a man's voice chimed in. "It's embarrassing to learn about your true intentions through Claire, who's only known you for half a year. I thought we were closer than that." My vision was still blocked by Alicia's embrace, but I recognized the voice.
"Alicia, Eli is your lord. Please don't treat her like a child." Alicia finally released me, and as my vision cleared, I saw Ludwin standing nearby.
"My apologies," she said softly.
"Never mind. So, now that we're here, what are your plans, Princess Claire? The castle was more welcoming than I expected, which proves that Dregorn didn't act alone. He had support from within the court."
"We're currently addressing that problem, thanks to Lady Eli, of course. Her necromancy magic gave us a list of names, and I plan to retire them." Claire replied.
"Hm? Necromancy requires the person to be dead. Are you sure you're willing to go this far?" Ludwin frowned, glancing at the corpses. "Won't this affect your reputation?"
"It only strengthens our faith in Princess Claire, Lord Ludwin! Justice must prevail! With Lady Claire, we shall root out all evil!" The soldiers behind Claire, including the four punks, chanted in unison. Claire nodded in approval.
"This isn't our country. As long as the peace treaty succeeds, it doesn't matter," Ludwin sighed. He couldn't complain, considering our country had its flaws as well.
"Eli, you should rest. When you're ready, I need you to interrogate these people." Claire handed me a list of names. One was a duke, and the others were his servants. Apparently, Claire suspected them of being the masterminds behind the nationalist faction. Of course, by 'interrogate,' she meant I had to kill them and use necromancy on them.
"Should I help? I'm a dark mage, too," Ludwin muttered.
"I suggest you don't. Necromancy is a very taxing task, and I need you to prepare for the peace treaty. We have to go to the Ministry of External Affairs so the documents can be reviewed and signed."
"Damn it... you're right. I'm sorry, Eli. At the very least, I'll leave you some feystones." Ludwin cursed under his breath as he walked back to his room. Did he live here too? Are we going to share a house in Elderan?
I did as I was told, and we obtained a few more names. However, news of Claire's witchhunt spread quickly. Those people had fled the royal capital and were now in the port town of Sand Pearl. Claire, busy with the peace treaty, asked me and the four punks to sneak in and either capture or kill them.
"Yes! Princess Claire, let us eliminate these corrupt officials for you! I promise to be your knight of justice!" Hellhound gave a military salute.
"I am glad to have such loyal citizens. I shall await the good news."
"Let's go, Princess Eli! We shall vanquish all evil!" Hellhound exclaimed with high spirits.
"You're just happy to have a legal excuse to kill these nobles, aren't you? And don't call me princess." I sighed.
"These nobles are pirates in disguise! They're nobles in title only, but their hearts are as dark and vile as rotten fruit!"
"Yeah! You're right, boss! I don't even need any payment if I can land a punch on these vile creatures." The group was ecstatic at the chance to fight against the nobles. I swear, when I let them kill the duke we captured, their faces were even more intimidating than mine. Those smirks of bloodlust, they enjoyed every moment of it. It was like the deep-seated grudge they held against the nobles was finally being satisfied.
We then traveled to the Port city of Sand Pearl. Althemer was landlocked, so I had never seen a beach or the sea before, even on Earth before I was reincarnated. It was less impressive than I had imagined. Sand Pearl was a port town, so the sea wasn't blue; the water was more of a brownish-black color due to all the rubbish they dumped in it. Still, it wasn't all bad—the ships anchoring in the city were quite majestic.
The guard was surprised to see Claire's name on our permit. After checking to see if the seal was genuine, he let us pass with the utmost respect. Claire was hated by the nobles, but she was popular with the common people. When Hellhound quietly whispered our mission to the guards, they even pointed us to the baron's mansion. They didn't know what was going on, but they informed us of some strange happening: people with hoods were getting inside the mansion.
"Let's raid this place! We are justice! We will prevail!" Hellhound declared as we stormed the mansion in broad daylight. Before the mansion, they announced loudly, "By order of Princess Claire, we are tasked with bringing Baron Judas into custody!"
Of course, no one listened. The mansion's guards were hired by the baron himself. But a few thugs were no match for seasoned mercenaries like Hellknight, Hell Archer, and Hellbiter. Along with Hellhound, who is a skill holder, all the goons went down quickly.
Or so we thought. A blast from the door sent Hellknight flying. Then, a man with a horn on his forehead stepped forward.
"Hm?" I tilted my head. The Assassinated Princess: Returning Back in Time to Live a Happy Life didn't have demi-humans, as far as I remember.
"Who are you? Are you with Baron Judas?" Hellhound shouted. Then, another man emerged from the building.
"These are Claire's henchmen. You must kill them. They pose a threat to your cause," the shrewd-looking man whispered to the demon.
"Is that so, Gustav? I guess we have to kill them then. Die." Fireballs shot toward us. I immediately dodged to the side while Hellhound teleported right beside the demon and decapitated him.
"Are you Droner Gustav?"
"Hieek! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" The man ran away like a frightened chicken. Hellhound chased after him, but he suddenly teleported back outside the door. The reason became clear when several ice and stone spears hurtled toward his previous position.
"Watch out! There are so many mages. High-level too. They must be over level 3!" Hellhound muttered. "How could a mere baron recruit so many mages?"
"Why do they have horns?" Hellbiter asked as several more demons poured out of the house.
"Ask later. They're our enemies now!"
"Retreat! They're all mages! We can't win," Hell Archer shouted, and we bolted toward the gate. Using my dark bullets, I managed to deflect some of their spells. Level 3, my ass! These guys with horns were as fast as Alicia or Safira. They must be at least level 6!
"Retreat! Eli and I will cover the rear!"
"Hey! What's— AAAAAHH!!" An innocent guard came after hearing the commotion, only to be burned to a crisp. Their scream resounded through the city. Around twenty demons sprawled out from the house and attacked them.
"Die!" One of the demons lunged at me with a sword resembling a katana. I parried with my dagger, and at such close range, I cast an illusion. It was dispelled in seconds since he was a mage, but that two-second window was all I needed to slit his throat.
"Use this!" I threw my gun to Hell Archer. After his arrows were shot down by their magic, he shot one of the demons in the head and tossed the gun back to me. Explosions echoed through the port town as the fire mage bombed nearby houses to chase after us.
"R25B! There's a reaper near Claire, right? Tell him there are people with horns resisting our capture. At this rate, the entire port town will go up in flames. There are about thirty demons here, all of them mages, at least level 6 or 7!"
"Huh? Alright, I'll spare you the cost this time. Hold on for a few seconds…"
"Claire says you must retreat. She'll personally lead an army here in an instant. She also says to keep her updated. Was there a ship with a flag that resembled a red horn over a green crown?" R25B responded. It only took a few seconds. How close was the reaper to Claire? Was it her maid or one of her soldiers?
"I don't know! I didn't get a good look at the port," I replied.
"Very well, stay safe then. Did you kill any of the demons?"
"Yes. We managed to kill about five of them. Hell Archer and I took down one, while Hellhound got three!"
"Claire says you can't run because they'll chase you without regard for their own lives. You'll need to find a way to wipe out that squad."
"Huh? Has she dealt with these demonfolk before? She seems pretty knowledgeable about them."
"I don't know, I'm just the messenger here."
"Damn it, they're chasing us!" Hell Archer cursed. "Biter, take Hellknight and get inside one of the houses. We need to make a stand here! Go to the stone houses—their fire magic will be less effective there!"
"Roger!" Hellbiter obeyed, but Hellknight, who was injured by a fireball earlier, groaned in protest.
"Ugh! I can still fight!"
"The opponents are mages. You can't do anything if you can't get close! One spell and you're dead!"
"Archer, you need to escape with the others. Hellhound and I will draw their attention."
"Huh?" Archer looked at me, baffled.
"I can hide." I demonstrated my camouflage skill to them. They nodded as I lunged forward.
I snuck around and killed another one of the demons. Then, I deflected several more fireballs that were haphazardly shot at me. Unlike Alicia, their spells focused more on speed than power.
"Why are you attacking us? We don't have any issues with you. We're just apprehending traitors to the country!"
"You shall bow to our Great Lord Rausha. You are a kinslayer, you must die!" the demon declared. Thankfully, I'm level 8, so I was able to parry all of his magic. Another one down.
"Hellhound, are you okay?"
"Just tired!" I could see Hellhound gasping for air in the corner. His skill seemed to drain a lot of his stamina.
"They're retreating…" I muttered.
"Good! We should do the same!"
We couldn't leave the city. The demons had taken over the walls and gates. Since they were all mages, if I used magic to scale the wall, they would notice.
How many of them were there? And how could all of them use magic?
These questions kept repeating in our minds throughout the night.
