"Second Prince, Your Highness Ghislain..."
"No, I am the King now. Please call me Your Majesty or Ghislan-sama."
"…………"
It's just hard to deal with people you felt sorry for.
But maybe we had no choice but to proceed as planned...
"You murdered your father, the king, and then attempted to murder your brother in an attempt to usurp the throne. Furthermore, you broke the treaty and attempted to unilaterally invade our friendly kingdom of Balmore in order to divert public attention from your act of usurpation. Why did you do this?" (Kaoru)
The second prince, Ghislain, looked confused at what I said.
"What’s the big deal now? My brother, Fernand, has been disrespectful to Angel-dono and has been hostile towards her. Therefore, it is only natural that he should be dethroned, and I should take the throne."
Hmm, so you don't deny murdering your father or attempting to murder your brother...
And Fernand called me "Angel-sama", but is this guy called me "Angel-dono"?
Well, I didn't know if my internal translator was able to accurately convey the nuances of Japanese, but I could somehow tell that he considered himself to be superior to Angel-dono.
Well, in the first place, it was "As a reward, I will take you as my wife!" How much value did he think he had... To me, that's just a punishment game...
"However, although the First Prince has certainly made me unhappy, you have also declared war on the Balmore Kingdom where I am staying, unilaterally breaking the treaty. This is a declaration of war against me, and an act of hostility against the Goddess, which makes the First Prince's unpleasant words and actions seem like an injustice to you." (Kaoru)
"Eh……"
The second prince had a puzzled look on his face. ...No, he's not a prince now.
But calling him the King would be annoying, so just "Ghislain" would be fine.
"Kaoru-dono has abandoned the Balmore Kingdom and fled..."
Ah, so that's what you thought after all.
"No, I was just traveling for a little while. A trip around the country for my own enjoyment.
I still own my own house in the Balmore Kingdom. …Maybe someone tricked you?" (Kaoru)
"Huh!"
Ghislain's eyes widened in shock, and he turned around and faced the priests waiting behind him.
"That's not what we said! You guys..."
Yes, they were the remnants of Rueda, the mastermind behind this.
…Well, I knew it the moment I stepped into this room.
However, something was strange. Even though they should have been cornered, the priests seemed strangely calm...
Indeed, there were many guards between us, Ghislain, and the priests. Since their job was to protect the royal family, they were naturally all skilled. In contrast, there were only six of us, including me, who had almost no physical fighting ability.
But I couldn't imagine not knowing.
The Fearsome-Fran and the four royal guards who were bestowed with the sacred sword, the "Four Walls."
And about my "Non-physical fighting power"...
Francette and the others changed formation, switching from an open formation to one that was meant to denounce me, to one that surrounded me. Of course, their number one priority was to protect me from enemy attacks.
Also, I didn't have to go out of my way to the enemy, if they're in front of me they'd come to me, so there's no need to chase them and it's more efficient.
We were arranged like a turtle's head and limbs, and of course Francette was at the head, which meant the front of the formation. I was in the center of the shell. With this, we could mow down any approaching enemies, and once we'd cleared out all the enemy soldiers, we'd capture Ghislain and the priests and tied them up. With these five people holding sacred swords, we should be able to do that without any trouble.
They needed space to swing their swords, so there's a fair amount of space between them. But they're not the kind of people who would let anyone get through and harm me, so I was not worried.
Then, I followed Francette, walking along the carpet that was laid out in a straight line, and approached Ghislain.
Oh no!
...I fell.
"Ouch!" (Kaoru)
Suddenly the floor gave way and I fell about four metres down.
I fell on my feet at first, but then I fell on my butt and hit my tailbone really hard, damn it!
That was a classic pitfall, hey!
If there was nothing wrong when Francette walked through it, perhaps a safety device or some kind of support rod was released after Francette passed by...
But with a trap like this, you're only going to sprain your ankle at most. If you were serious about killing someone, you'd plant a poisoned stake in the bottom, right?
There was a little water pooled inside, and some dead tree branches with leaves still on, straw, and hay were spread out, which seemed to act as a cushion.
Is this to prevent anyone from getting hurt?
...While I was thinking about this...
Boom!
"Aaaaaaaaah! Ah, it's hot, it's so hot!!!" (Kaoru)
Suddenly, I was engulfed in flames!
What's accumulating at the bottom wasn't water, it's oil!
Tree branches, straw, dead grass, and other things were not just cushions, but combustible materials that would make the oil burst into flames quickly!
"Fire extinguishing..." (Kaoru)
As I frantically tried to create a fire extinguisher, a shadow fell over the surroundings.
Reflexively, I looked up...
"Ah" (Kaoru)
I saw what appeared to be a large, round rock falling towards me, exactly the size of the hole.
If I had time.
If I had just a few seconds, I might have come up with a good idea.
A sturdy, cage-shaped potion container made from super alloy that could hold up to rocks.
There was a possibility that some other ideas had come up.
However, it took less than a second for the rock to fall a height of just over four meters.
It was a sudden event and it took less than a second for my attention to be focused on putting out the fire.
It was far too short a time to think of something and create a potion vessel.
And…….
"I did it! I finally crushed the divine enemy! Literally, I turned her into a complete mess!"
"Huahahaha! It seems that when one of our comrades attacked four and a half years ago, the blade of the knife didn't go through and it failed, but if you were burned by the flames, your chest was burned from the inside by inhaling hot air, and you were crushed by a huge rock, there's nothing you can do no matter how much blade-resistant clothing you're wearing! And you can't breathe in the flames! Burn down to your bones and turn to ash!!"
The priests, who had been keeping a low profile up until now, were now shouting in excitement.
"I drilled an air hole properly, so the flames won't go out until the oil has burned out. Well, by the time the rock fell, she'd probably already be dead. Hahahaha!"
"Eh……"
Francette and the Four Walls are astonished.
...But there was nothing they could do.
A round rock that fit snugly into a square hole. There were small gaps in each corner, but it's not big enough for a person to fit in, and even if someone climbed down into the hole, there's no way they'd be able to pull the huge rock out. And there's flames rising from below...
"Hahaha, there are markings on the wall of the hole, right? If we calculate from those marks, the gap under the rock is only a few centimeters wide, just big enough to fit a piece of wood or straw in. ...In other words, your precious 'Angel-sama', the devil's minion, is completely flat. We, servants of the true goddess, have been punished by God because we have behaved foolishly. Too bad for those rebels who tried to take control of the country by bringing up the first prince! Hahaha!"
"..."
"......" (x2)
"………………" (x5)
Grr
Grrrr
Grrrrrrrrrrrr
Francette and the four men gritted their teeth so hard that blood came out.
"Y-you bastards..."
Their eyes had completely lost their senses.
"I'll kill you... I'll kill you... Dieeeeeeeeeee!!"
Crash!
Just before Francette raised his sword and charged in, the priests jumped into the hidden passage behind them, and as if they had done something, a thick iron grate fell from above into the entrance to the passage. The tip of the grate then bit into the floor, making a clanging sound as if it had locked.
"It's a steel bar. It's completely fixed in place, so it won't come out. Securing an escape route is the basis of military strategy, isn't it? Well, maybe a knight doesn't want to be lectured about military strategy by a priest. Well then, farewell! Ha ha ha, waaa ha ha!!"
They didn't know where this loophole led.
And then, these guys who had been hiding their faces with their hoods since earlier would change into civilian clothes somewhere and run away.
They had probably already taken their assets, so they would likely just leisurely head off to another country...
...However, that was the case if the person here was an ordinary knight.
Clang!
Thump
The steel bar was easily severed.
Of course. What did they thought the beloved sword Francette was carrying?
Divine sword.
It was by no means a fabricated story spread to gain public support, nor was it a rumor that had been exaggerated and expanded.
The sacred sword actually existed.
Here, now...