Ch.289Chapter 289 – The Resistance Mountain Fortress (2)

After a short while, Gigas and I entered a building within the mountain fortress.

“You didn’t need to escort us inside.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be appropriate to have a conversation at the place where you knocked down members of the resistance, would it?”

After saying that, Domestica showed us a teapot.

I immediately raised my hand to stop her.

“I’ll pass on the tea.”

“…And I brewed it so nicely. What a shame.”

Domestica spoke carefully, as if gauging my reaction.

Then Gigas, standing beside me, grinned and said:

“Let me warn you in advance, poison or anything like that won’t work on us, so keep that in mind.”

“Hey.”

I immediately stopped Gigas, thinking his words were too harsh.

But Gigas just shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t see the problem.

“I’m just giving her a heads-up. What’s wrong with that?”

“You need some lessons in manners.”

Gigas’s words gave me a slight headache.

It seemed our ways of thinking were quite different.

“Saying the exact same thing as the Demon Lord…”

While Gigas was muttering under his breath, Domestica looked at me and said:

“You seem to be treating me rather casually as well.”

“If I must explain, I simply distinguish between those who deserve courtesy and those who don’t.”

After clarifying that point, I looked back at Domestica and continued:

“Since we plan to keep this visit brief, let’s move quickly. Where is Beatrice?”

“Before that, would you mind explaining how you found your way here?”

“Beatrice comes first.”

Domestica and I fell silent for a moment.

We just stared at each other quietly.

A silent battle of wills had begun—who would yield first.

The outcome was determined rather quickly.

“Fine. I see you’re not willing to compromise.”

Domestica said this, then slightly averted her gaze as she continued:

“Beatrice isn’t here right now.”

“She’s not here?”

“Yes. A few days ago, she left with some resistance fighters on a mission, saying she would earn our trust.”

“…Is that true?”

Domestica nodded.

As I was about to press further, a voice came from behind.

“Miss Domestica has never lied. Even I saw that woman leading soldiers out myself.”

It was the archer who had fought with us earlier.

Domestica promptly pointed to him and said:

“This is Lord Archery, who used to be a royal guard knight of the Firenchena Kingdom.”

“A royal guard knight.”

Now I understood why he had suddenly attacked us.

From the perspective of a royal guard who had been loyal to the former king, I must have looked like a threat when I suddenly appeared calling for the princess.

Even now, I could clearly see he still considered me dangerous and was ready to grab his weapon if necessary.

“Just call me the helmeted one, will you?”

Archery looked down at me with a completely unfriendly expression.

“Honestly. We have important resistance officials like Count Rizolkobu here, and then two strangers suddenly attack us. It damages our reputation.”

“Important officials?”

“Yes. Though I wish he would just drop dead.”

The archer seemed to have many grievances as he continued grumbling.

After watching him for a moment, I turned back to Domestica and asked:

“So she really left?”

“Yes… I don’t know what was discussed at the military meeting, so I’m not aware of what the mission was.”

“It was a reconnaissance mission. To the border area between the royal army and the Emiris Order, where local skirmishes still break out frequently.”

After saying this, the archer looked at me again and continued:

“Your friend volunteered for the reconnaissance mission there. So she’s not here.”

“When will she return?”

“Don’t know.”

It seemed she had indeed left.

I glanced slightly at Gigas.

Fortunately, he seemed to catch on quickly and said in a low voice:

“It’s hard to believe Vanilla made a mistake.”

We had definitely tracked Beatrice’s magical energy to this place.

Yet Beatrice had already left.

Perhaps our directions happened to coincide, or else…

“Come to think of it, the morning before she left, Beatrice was writing a letter in the center of this place.”

“A letter?”

“Yes. Not just any letter—she was infusing magical energy into the paper. She was also using some magical reagents that I’m not familiar with.”

Domestica looked at me quietly as she spoke:

“She said if someone was tracking her, and if that person was friendly to her, to show them the letter.”

After saying this, Domestica continued to observe me quietly:

“…That’s why I asked how you tracked her first, because I thought she might be tracked somehow.”

“I see.”

From the resistance’s perspective, anyone being tracked would be considered dangerous, so they would want to respond quickly.

But I felt that if I told them everything straightforwardly, we might lose track of Beatrice.

Besides, I had no obligation to tell them anyway.

“May I see the letter first?”

“Here it is.”

Domestica handed over the letter without hesitation.

I immediately broke the seal and checked the contents.

And I was left speechless by what was written there:

“Please read this letter first before taking action. I’ve already noticed that my magical energy is being tracked and have made preparations, so don’t waste your efforts. Do not tell anyone else in the resistance about this. Important. And don’t look for me—return to your journey as quickly as possible. Absolutely do not get involved with me or try to find me. Remember that nothing is more precious than your life.”

‘She noticed.’

It seemed Beatrice had anticipated that her magical energy would be tracked.

I don’t know how she figured it out.

But Beatrice had already made preparations and even created a decoy to lead us here.

More importantly, considering her mentions of “journey” and valuing life…

‘Did she realize I would be tracking her?’

After thinking about this briefly, I soon realized that wasn’t entirely the case.

Given that she told Domestica to give the letter to “someone friendly to her,” she must have considered that the tracker might be someone other than me.

It seemed she hadn’t figured out exactly who was tracking her.

“Hey, let me see too.”

I quietly handed the letter to Gigas who was pestering me from the side.

Then I looked at Domestica and said quietly:

“…It seems she knew I was coming. There’s a message for me in here.”

“I see. Then it appears your group has some unique tracking ability.”

Despite my vague explanation, Domestica drew this conclusion and sighed.

“I’ll have to warn her not to leave traces that others can track.”

“…Knowing her, she might have forgotten about that.”

Honestly, I didn’t care whether Beatrice deliberately left traces or not.

After all, the trace was just magical energy.

Suddenly something struck me.

‘…She deliberately left traces here?’

I reconsidered my earlier thought.

Logically, it was strange.

If she had already realized she was being tracked and wanted to create a decoy, there was no need to do it inside the base.

‘Let’s think about this from another angle.’

There must have been a reason why she specifically left traces—magical energy traces—within the base.

‘The letter mentioned something about friendly people.’

She couldn’t identify exactly who it was, as the content seemed applicable to people other than me.

She had asked Domestica to give the letter to friendly people who fit that description.

‘Friendly people, huh.’

Looking at it from another angle:

The fact that she specifically mentioned giving it to friendly people implies she also considered unfriendly people.

Did she think unfriendly people would come too?

“That girl, could it be…”

Just as I began to suspect something, a loud explosion was heard.

“What’s happening?!”

“Checking now, sir!”

As soon as Archery shouted, a soldier outside yelled back.

Then a well-built man entered, leading several soldiers.

I sensed a strangely familiar magical energy from this man.

‘Could it be…’

As I quickly concentrated to identify the magical energy, the man shouted:

“Damn it, Lord Archery! The Order’s holy knights are here! What are you doing in here?!”

“…I was in a meeting. Besides, Count Rizolkobu, why are you bringing soldiers in here? Shouldn’t you be out there fighting?”

“You have a problem with me having my guards? Get out there and fight!”

“Those are elite soldiers! How can you have them holding back instead of fighting?!”

“Not my problem!”

With just those words, the man quickly left.

His hurried manner made it look like he was running away.

Archery gritted his teeth as he watched him leave, then quickly turned to Domestica and shouted:

“Miss Domestica, please stay in a safe place with these two!”

“But I—!”

“Just hide! If anything happens to you, I couldn’t face Princess Gabriella!”

With those final words, Archery grabbed his bow and quickly left the tent.

During this exchange, Gigas quietly asked me:

“Were we being tracked?”

“No.”

There had been no sign of that on our way here.

Instead, I had coincidentally realized the cause of this attack.

“I suspect this attack might have been deliberately provoked.”

“Provoked?”

I withheld my answer to Gigas’s question.

Soon, the sound of clashing weapons began outside. When Domestica and I peered out, we could see holy knights from the Emiris Order climbing over the collapsed palisade from the direction opposite to where we had come from.

As I observed Archery shooting his bow nearby, Gigas gently pulled at my arm.

“What?”

“Are we joining the fight? Or are we getting out of here?”

Looking at his eyes asking me to decide how to act, I quietly considered our options.

Then, seeing Domestica looking at us as if pleading for help, I quietly made my decision.

“Let’s help them.”

“We don’t have any reason to get involved.”

“We do, so let’s go help.”

I changed my weapon to a halberd and charged in.

‘Beatrice, what are you plotting?’

The magical energy I sensed from that man earlier…

When I concentrated and sent out my own magic to identify it, it was Beatrice’s magical energy.

I strongly suspected that she had somehow intended this attack.

‘I’ll definitely question her when we meet again.’

I was determined to make her explain everything.

Though part of me hoped to hear that the outcome was different from what she had intended.

I thrust my halberd toward a holy knight of the Emiris Order who was charging at us.

+

By now, it should be time.

Beatrice thought as she smoked a cigarette while on reconnaissance.

“Excuse me, Miss Mage?”

“What?”

“How much longer do we need to continue reconnaissance?”

A resistance fighter hiding beside her cautiously asked.

Beatrice quietly answered:

“We can return soon.”

“Why is that?”

“Remember how we confirmed that the Emiris Order diverted some troops a few days ago?”

Beatrice said with a slight smile.

The resistance fighter beside her blushed slightly, cleared his throat, and spoke again:

“Yes. You confirmed it yourself, Miss Mage.”

“I enhanced my vision with magic. Using magic directly for reconnaissance could get us detected.”

Both the royal army and the Emiris Order were wary of magic in the current situation.

So instead of directly using magic to scout, Beatrice had used the primitive method of enhancing her own eyesight.

This magic wouldn’t be interfered with, and since it targeted herself, there was less risk of detection.

Of course, since it only enhanced vision, it still had limitations like normal sight, but it was the best option for staying cautious.

‘Well, with a bit more preparation, I could probably detect things without being discovered.’

But Beatrice didn’t want to waste that much effort on this reconnaissance mission.

“But what about those troops?”

“Since they haven’t returned yet, I think they weren’t just scouting but went to attack somewhere.”

“The royal army?”

“If we’re unlucky, it might be us.”

At Beatrice’s words, the resistance fighter’s face turned pale.

He quietly asked:

“Sh-shouldn’t we go back then?”

“It’s fine. We have more than one base. Besides, no dangerous individuals have been confirmed.”

“By dangerous individuals, you mean…”

“For the royal army, I’d need to review the information again… For the Emiris Order, maybe General Hakan by now.”

Honestly, that man was a small fry to her.

But he was still too strong for ordinary soldiers to handle.

Indeed, the resistance fighter beside her trembled slightly at the name, showing his reputation was real.

“Do you think General Hakan is here?”

“If the Emiris Order values the Firenchena Kingdom, the regent would mobilize someone of his caliber.”

Beatrice then added, as if just remembering:

“Oh, but since his hand got cut off, maybe he won’t come?”

“His wrist?”

“I heard he lost it facing the helmeted knight… Hakan was utterly defeated without being able to do anything.”

Beatrice had inadvertently used her nickname for Kay.

“…Anyway, the Dragon Slayer won’t come here. At most, it would be Hakan. We’re fine.”

After saying this, Beatrice took another drag of her cigarette and continued:

“And there’s no need to worry about an attack. Princess Gabriella will be with the elite troops for a meeting, and Archery is protecting Domestica. Minor threats won’t cause major problems.”

“Minor threats…”

The resistance fighter trembled slightly, unable to believe Beatrice would refer to holy knights that way.

Watching him, Beatrice muttered quietly:

“…Though I’m not so sure about Count Rizolkobu.”

She doubted whether Archery would use all his strength to protect someone as self-serving and authoritarian as the Count.

After all, if it were Count Rizolkobu, he would have already diverted the remaining elite soldiers to serve as his personal guards.

In that case, the knight who was loyal to the princess would judge the Count as sufficiently protected and prioritize Domestica, who was also a longtime friend of the princess.

“…Goddess of India, please guide our path…”

The resistance fighter beside her quietly prayed, perhaps a former sailor.

Meanwhile, Beatrice thought of one of her enemies.

‘He’ll definitely get involved.’

While making sure her cigarette’s glow wouldn’t be detected, Beatrice quietly sank into thought.

‘If it’s Somnus, he’ll definitely target the helmeted one.’

Beatrice thought he would target Kay’s group rather than the resistance.

The probability of him targeting Kay’s group, especially Seraphina, was much higher than targeting the resistance.

‘…He’ll probably try to track my magical energy to locate our group.’

If he was tracking magical energy itself, it would be difficult to interfere with that.

Magic always leaves traces, and erasing them isn’t easy.

So Beatrice, anticipating that her enemy would follow her, had prepared countermeasures and created a decoy.

‘…I hate this.’

There had been no peace even after joining the resistance.

Meeting the princess again was good.

Getting a chance to cut ties with past delusions was good.

But in exchange, she had many people to deal with, including the royal army and the Emiris Order.

‘…Would the helmeted one have helped me?’

She couldn’t help thinking about her companion.

He would probably scold her endlessly, asking why she was making more enemies.

She agreed with that sentiment.

She was already involved in enough dangerous situations without dragging him into another one because of her.

‘But still…’

Still, if she asked for help.

If she honestly revealed everything and asked for help, wouldn’t he help her?

Beatrice immediately stopped that train of thought.

‘I don’t want to burden him with this.’

This was her responsibility.

She had to shoulder it and finish it herself.

Thinking this, Beatrice tapped the ash from her cigarette.

“Miss Mage?”

“Sorry. I got lost in thought.”

As she casually answered the resistance fighter beside her, at that moment,

there was a change in the enemy camp.

“…Warp.”

As expected, a big shot was coming over.

Thinking that reinforcements would likely accompany them, Beatrice enhanced her vision further.

She needed to identify exactly who was coming.

And then.

Platinum blonde hair appeared between the warp gates.

It was the Dragon Slayer, Idea.

‘Impossible.’

She hadn’t expected her to appear here.

But Beatrice couldn’t mistake that hair color.

“Everyone, we’re returning immediately.”

“What?”

“It’s dangerous. Retreat now.”

The earlier composure was gone.

Beatrice urgently ordered a retreat.

‘Why would the Dragon Slayer…’

No matter what, she hadn’t expected the Dragon Slayer Idea to be mobilized.

She soon gritted her teeth.

‘So this magic stone is something Somnus desperately needs, by any means necessary.’

She had miscalculated.

She had considered the possibility of Somnus himself coming, but not the Dragon Slayer.

She had assumed there wouldn’t be a reason for the Dragon Slayer to get involved in Firenchena Kingdom affairs.

‘If that’s the case, there’s only one answer.’

What the Dragon Slayer was after.

The real target was probably…

‘Please don’t get involved. Please leave this country quickly.’

Beatrice found herself praying for the safety of Kay’s group as she retreated.