Ch.288Revolutionary Princess NPC. (3)

“William! It’s an emergency!! The Marquis has deployed troops in the alleyways…!!”

“I know, stop shouting. Everyone outside will hear you.”

The revolutionary group’s secret hideout. Located not in a back alley but beneath the largest tavern in the city district, it was currently in a state of chaos.

“Where on earth did the information leak from?!”

“Damn it! We need to issue evacuation orders to our comrades quickly…!!!”

“No, wouldn’t it be better to attack the Marquis’s castle with whoever can move right now?! At this moment, we might be able to subdue the empty castle and the Marquis without bloodshed…!!”

“Don’t talk nonsense!! Are you suggesting we abandon our revolutionary comrades waiting in the back alleys?!!”

“We have no chance of winning in a direct confrontation!! The surprise attack only had meaning before they could prepare, but if we move now to rescue them, we’ll all just die together!!”

“What, you bastard!! Don’t tell me you were the one who leaked the information?!!”

“What kind of bullshit is that?!!! I haven’t left this place for four days?!! You were with me the whole time, how could you say such nonsense…!!!”

“Anyway, attacking the Marquis’s castle now would be a bad decision. If they knew we were planning to act today, they might have set traps there too and are waiting for us…”

“…Haah.”

From the beginning, they were a group without trained soldiers, let alone combat-proficient adventurers, hunters, or even foresters. One enemy surprise attack had thrown them all into suspicion and paralysis. William, the leader of the revolutionary group, could only sigh deeply.

‘…Damn, it’s because I spilled all the information when I met the princess yesterday, isn’t it?’

The blue-haired woman with red eyes he had met the previous day at another tavern in the back alleys. With an incredible figure and beauty that seemed born to destroy men, he had met her as an executive rather than the leader, and challenged her to a drinking contest. He had been completely demolished. He couldn’t even remember what he had done or said that night, his memories completely wiped out.

“…Everyone calm down, first we need to rescue our comrades. Since the knights entered through the city district, let’s establish an escape route before they completely surround the back alleys. Those capable of fighting should just slow down the knights. I’m entrusting the command to you.”

“What? Then what about you, William?”

“…Haah. I…”

I need to take responsibility for this situation. Swallowing those words, William continued.

“I’ll attack the Marquis’s mansion alone. I’m the strongest among us, and even if the Marquis has set a trap, I can escape on my own. If not, the Marquis’s forces will withdraw to defend the castle in response to my attack.”

He didn’t think this alone would atone for his mistake, but it was his responsibility as their leader. Without saying that much, William headed outside the tavern with his comrades and began to move…

“Huff! Huff!! B-Boss!!”

“Not boss, leader. No, what is it now?”

When he addressed the commoner boy who called him boss, the boy identified himself as a member who had escaped from the back alleys and continued urgently.

“R-Right now. The back alleys are in chaos!!”

“I know that. We’re about to resolve that…”

“No, that’s not it!!!”

The boy cut off William’s words and immediately continued.

“Right now!! The knights and soldiers who appeared in the back alleys!!! Th-they’re all being slaughtered by the ‘Revolutionary Group’ people!!!”

“…What?”

Upon hearing that a blue storm of blood was raging in the back alleys of Marquis Hurk’s territory as darkness fell, William headed toward the back alleys instead of the Marquis’s mansion.

*

“AAAAARGH?!!”

“Kuhak!!”

“P-please spare m…?!!”

“Bring down the hammer on the corrupt Marquis Hurk!!!”

“Retribution to the knights who oppress the people in the territory and send them to the battlefield!!!”

“Surrender your weapons and you’ll be spared!! Otherwise, you’ll disappear as dew of the revolution!!! Marquis’s forces, surrender!!!”

“Revolutionary Group!! Eliminate the corrupt nobles’ pawns!!!”

“””OOOOOHHH!!!”””

The knight captain leading the Marquis’s forces felt as if what was happening just one step ahead of him was occurring somewhere far away. With this thought, he was swinging his sword purely on instinct.

-CLANG!!!

“How can a knight who should protect the people and subjects point their sword at the citizens!!!”

The voice of the man facing him, as well as his elegant and precise swordsmanship, felt like someone else’s business happening far away.

“Kuk!! Captain!! Pull yourself together!!! At this rate, our soldiers will die like dogs!! We completely misjudged the enemy’s strength!! We need to retreat…!! Kek?!!”

“…L-Lieutenant?”

“Can’t even focus on your enemy? Losing your mind over such a minor defeat, what a pathetic commander!”

-Swish!! CLANG!!

“Kuk?!!”

A sharp thrust followed by a swift strike aimed at his neck. The knight captain barely blocked the sword before his eyes through instinct and reflexes, glanced at his fallen lieutenant behind him, and readjusted his grip on his sword.

‘Defeat? Us? The Marquis’s regular knights and soldiers, defeated? By mere vagrants, beggars, and ordinary citizens?’

After entering the back alleys, they had easily captured everyone at the entrance. But the situation began to change strangely when they entered collapsing huts or dirt buildings without entrances.

[Captain. The men who went to subdue those huts and buildings ahead haven’t come out. Perhaps…]

There might be an enemy ambush. I had listened to my lieutenant’s words. Yes, the Revolutionary Group. I thought that enemies planning treason could at least match our movements to that extent. That’s why I neither let my guard down nor held back, and yet.

[Heheh. Hello, everyone from the Marquis’s forces? My name is Ragni Bluemoon. I am a member of the Imperial family that you serve. Perhaps some of you don’t know my name?]

I froze momentarily at the words of the blue-haired woman who appeared from inside the building. But I didn’t judge her as ‘this country’s princess’ just because her hair was blue and her eyes were red, and so I was planning to execute her immediately for impersonation.

[-BANG!!]

An enormous explosive sound. After it rang out, people from our forces began to fall, bleeding. Simultaneously, incredible fighters who could not possibly be ordinary citizens began pouring out from the alleyways that had definitely been empty before. And then…

[Th-the criminals we captured…!!]

[Kuhak?!!]

The vagrants we had easily captured and hadn’t executed, people who definitely didn’t have any weapons, began wielding and throwing daggers like first-class assassins, ravaging our soldiers. Where, where did it all go wrong, where from…?

“Wondering where you made the wrong choice? Is that what you’re thinking about?”

-CLANG!!!

“Kuk?!!”

A high female voice unsuited for the battlefield. A voice that would make men turn their heads at least once if heard at a soirée or social gathering. I looked at the woman leisurely walking out from a completely different direction than the swordsman who had pushed me back.

“…W-who are you?”

“Who am I. Where did I lure you from, when did I prepare such an operation. Am I really a member of this country’s imperial family. If so, why am I doing this. Whose intentions are behind this. And…”

-BANG!!

“ARGH?!!”

“What is this weapon, and did I really have to kill you all like this. Is that what you’re curious about?”

Another explosive sound rang out, and my shoulder was pierced by an attack faster and heavier than an arrow. Yet, the questions preceded the pain. As if she was reading my mind completely…

“Even if the Marquis was tyrannical, was he such an evil person that he deserved to be punished ‘by the imperial family’ in this way. Even if we turned a blind eye to it, were we sinners who deserved to die like this. Is that the expression you’re making? Well, to give you the answer to everything you want to know, yes. He is a criminal who deserves to be punished by the imperial family in this way. And so are you all.”

-Click, click, click.

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t make any sound except for groans. But this woman. This ‘princess’ with blue hair that could turn even moonlight blue…

“You all, who were in positions to protect the people and give loyal counsel when your lord went astray, are equally guilty. After all, isn’t that right? Is a lord who selects 20 new servants and maids each year, discarding women one after another, a normal lord?”

“W-when. When did you start planning this? E-even if it was an imperial order. If you had time to prepare like this, you could have given us a chance…!!!”

“Ah, I’m sorry about that. Unfortunately, I only learned about the Marquis’s tyranny three days ago. And I came up with this operation just this morning.”

The princess tilted her head as if truly apologetic and even shrugged her shoulders, causing my mind to freeze. It’s impossible. She claims she only thought of this operation today, an operation that completely annihilated our knight order, the Marquis’s forces, even if it was just half of us, in these back alleys? Then, when did she prepare these forces…

“Don’t you recognize these people’s faces from somewhere?”

“Th-these guys are…?”

Once again, though I said nothing, she spoke as if she already knew my question, causing me to turn my head involuntarily. And now I begin to see the faces of the puppets who have already killed and subdued all the soldiers and knights, illuminated by the moonlight.

Not all, but here and there I recognize faces. Yes, these are all members of the imperial covert operations unit sent by the Prime Minister. They were definitely supposed to be rooting out those who opposed conscription and so-called revolutionary groups, and searching for something…? Huh?

“I’m glad you understand. The covert operatives and assassins that the Prime Minister, who controls the current imperial family, sent here to find me. I simply ‘personally persuaded them’ to become my forces.”

“…Ha, haha. I-I see. So, the traitors are…”

“Yes.”

The Prime Minister and the pro-war faction that supports his words. In other words, you people. That alone makes you deserving of summary execution, doesn’t it?

The princess, who seemed to enjoy explaining why we deserved to die, concluded her story by placing some kind of pipe tube against my head.