Ch.86Kanpf’s Raid #3

“What in the world……”

To kidnap someone, one needs to meticulously plan their movements. Based on that decision, several elves who had been selected in advance infiltrated the Krauser territory to scout the surrounding geography.

Entry points. Escape routes. The overall structure of the city. The spies carefully assessed all these elements with great caution. Though the mission was important, it wasn’t so urgent as to require haste down to the minute or second. Thus, they focused on increasing the success rate rather than speed.

Since elven features were conspicuous, they wore light disguises and dressed inconspicuously to avoid suspicion. Although their attire didn’t differ greatly from the locals, minimizing any sense of incongruity, they still felt the pressure of moving within enemy territory.

And that pressure was only growing as they witnessed the scene unfolding in the distance.

“What? What’s happening?”

“Focus your sight in that direction.”

An elf who had climbed onto a high rooftop with his companion pointed to a specific location. At the end of his finger was the backyard of the Krauser mansion. Thanks to their naturally superior eyesight and professional training, they could see things that ordinary people would find too distant to observe.

What could it be? One elf looked in the direction the man was pointing with curiosity, and soon displayed the same dumbfounded expression.

“My goodness, can she fly with the wind?”

“Even if it’s just a fragment of her power, it’s truly chilling.”

Flight magic itself wasn’t particularly rare, and any mage with some experience could use it. However, Ellen was flying using nothing but the wind, which was indeed impressive. To freely lift something like a human being required considerable power, which typically made the process quite turbulent.

Yet the wind enveloping Ellen was merely a gentle breeze, showing no signs of being fierce. The elves were astonished at the sight, and they swallowed dry saliva as they watched her continuously attack as if there were no limits to her power.

“The concentration and speed of her attacks vary greatly. We definitely couldn’t win in a direct confrontation.”

“Hmm. Our best bet would be to use magic to slow her down.”

“Indeed. I knew there was a big difference between those with Legacy and those without, but…”

They say one of the most entertaining things in the world is watching a fight. As if to prove that saying has no exceptions, the elves’ eyes sparkled intensely as they observed the battle between Ellen and Helena. It was clear they were concentrating far beyond mere situation assessment.

“Huh!”

“I didn’t think there was any way to handle her, but I never expected that approach. Is that a Sword Master?”

When Helena leaped into the air as if running through it and delivered a large slash to Ellen’s body, the elves involuntarily gasped.

It was chilling to see the woman who supposedly protected the Grand Duke of the Krauser family attacking the Duke himself as if to kill him, and equally disturbing to see the Duke swinging his sword at Ellen as if to kill her.

“Oh, she fell! But tell me, were relations between those two women always this bad?”

In the midst of enjoyably watching the fight, the man who had been looking toward the Krauser mansion asked belatedly. It was a question timed to take advantage of the gap created as the two women who had fallen to the ground hurriedly regained their composure. After all, interrupting at the most interesting part would only invite irritation.

“Hmm? I’m not sure. I’ve never heard they were on bad terms. I’ve only heard that the dirty one is hopelessly infatuated with a human man and can’t think straight.”

“From the Duke’s perspective… couldn’t the dark one just be an obstacle?”

“Even so, it can’t be that extreme. Would anyone let go of someone with a Legacy who came rolling in on their own? That’s nonsense. According to reports, the Duke seems to be aware that the dark one has obtained a Legacy, so put aside such idle thoughts.”

“Hmm…”

Of course, his words were correct. They clearly understood the tremendous strategic and tactical value of someone with a Legacy.

From Ellen’s perspective, there would be no reason to lie either. So the Duke must also have some knowledge about Legacies.

However, one elf tilted his head in concern, noting that their continued fighting even after landing on the ground seemed rather ominous.

◎◎◎

“Enough!”

When fighting, the atmosphere can become heated due to various factors. I had experienced it firsthand myself, though I was weak, so I could fully understand the feeling. Except for what happened before my death, that is.

But the actions of these two women had already gone too far. Ellen’s shoulder had been pierced by the Aura Blade, leaving a knife wound, and numerous fine lines covered Helena’s entire body as if caressing her.

Ellen had been able to minimize damage by creating a thick wall of wind, and Helena, who had fallen to the ground with her, had ended up in that state after being hit by Ellen’s wind. It was the result of minimizing what would have been unavoidable damage due to her lack of freedom in the sky.

“Haa… haa…!”

“Phew——.”

The two who had been growling at each other from a distance withdrew their sharp gazes and calmly regulated their breathing as if nothing had happened. Though the atmosphere remained tense as they watched for each other’s openings, it was no longer threatening.

I dusted off my backside, stood up, and quickly led the two women into the mansion.

“Huh, huh?! My Lord! What is this…!”

“Now, please calm down and bring medicine and disinfectants to my office. The sparring got a bit intense, but there’s no danger to their lives. So please act calmly.”

Some people were understandably shocked at Helena’s condition, but I somehow managed to soothe them and have them bring what was needed. In the past, I would have gone to get these things myself, but power certainly had its advantages.

“Yes, yes! I understand! I’ll bring them right away!”

“Thank you. I’ll go up first then.”

As soon as I entered the office with the two women, I heard thumping sounds from downstairs. Normally, making such noise would earn a reprimand from the butler and others. However, given the situation, they seemed to be overlooking it. They might even be encouraging it.

Anyway, thanks to that, I was able to quickly receive a package containing the necessary items for treatment.

“Now. Ellen first.”

Ellen’s injuries were more severe. Although she had somehow blocked Helena’s blade with magic, her shoulder had been cut quite deeply. So I needed to disinfect and stitch Ellen’s wound first.

“Both of you, you’ve done nothing good today, so stay still.”

“Ugh…!”

Before disinfecting Ellen’s wound, I made it clear that they shouldn’t raise their voices unnecessarily. The two competing to determine priority could seem cute, and I didn’t feel particularly bad about it. It felt almost luxurious.

However, fighting to this extent was clearly wrong, so I pointed that out to prevent them from expressing dissatisfaction. If I hadn’t stopped them at that point, one of them might have truly ended up dead.

“Now, this will hurt, so bear with it.”

“Yes. I underst… mmm!”

Perhaps because she was a woman who had been wounded many times while traversing battlefields, she seemed to endure it quite well. Each step of disinfecting the wound and applying medicine must have been painful.

If only there had been anesthesia, it might have been better. What a shame.

“There, all done.”

Fortunately, having become accustomed to stitching things, I was able to suture the wound quite neatly. With the bandage also applied cleanly, all that remained was to trust Ellen’s recovery ability and wait for the wound to heal.

“Next is Helena? The wounds aren’t that deep, so there’s no need to stitch them.”

At first glance, her skin appeared to be cut in various places, suggesting serious injuries, but the cuts were shallow. To exaggerate slightly, they were just scratches here and there. Disinfecting and applying medicine should be sufficient. However, since she was injured all over her body, it seemed like she would need quite a lot of bandages.

◎◎◎

“I’m sorry. I went too far. Blinded by the prize…”

After the treatment was finished, once Jion left the office saying he would go make dinner, Ellen sighed as if she had been waiting for this moment. It was because of Jion’s warning before he left that they should behave until their wounds healed completely.

Meanwhile, Helena, who had been lovingly caressing the bandages Jion had wrapped around her, suddenly came to her senses and calmed herself down.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m reflecting on my actions too.”

Although she had reason to resent Ellen, Helena’s lips only uttered self-blame. It was the result of her believing that the situation—where they had tried to enjoy a more stimulating night but ended up with no stimulation at all—was entirely her fault.

“If only I hadn’t made that bet, we could have had a happy ending. I’m… so ashamed.”

“I’m… truly sorry.”

“It’s not just your fault… there’s no one to blame.”

Ordinary people, especially two women crazy about the same man, would have been cursing each other by now. Yet they were apologizing and bowing their heads. It showed that the fundamental character of both women wasn’t bad at all. It also proved that they were quite normal as long as their so-called “trigger button” wasn’t pushed.

“Jion… was very angry.”

“Yes. Although he was too lenient toward me, a grave criminal who injured the Duke despite having permission, he was very angry.”

Ellen hung her head low, reflecting on her past actions when she had attacked with the intention to kill in the heat of the moment. It was fortunate that she had maintained the boundary of not completely devastating the surroundings; if she had crossed that line as well, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

It was truly horrifying just to think about it. While Ellen was shuddering with self-loathing, Helena tapped the table with a cold, calm gaze. It meant to stop looking at the floor and look at her instead.

Ellen seemed to understand her meaning and raised her head with curiosity, and Helena spoke with a profoundly serious expression.

“By the way, why did I feel someone watching? I don’t think I owe anyone anything.”

The gaze they hadn’t noticed when they were glaring at each other as if to kill, but felt when they came to their senses after hearing a man’s shout. It might have been an illusion, but it was a gaze that seemed to be spying from quite far away from the mansion. Helena, with her superhuman intuition, had been able to sense it.

Moreover, Ellen, who had senses no less keen than Helena’s, had also been able to feel the gaze that Helena mentioned.

“That’s right. As far as I know, there shouldn’t be anyone who needs to monitor the Duke. Besides, the risk would be too great.”

“Right? Then is it your side?”

“That possibility is much higher, I suppose. Being a mercenary involves many jobs, so I could be resented, ambushed, or backstabbed.”

Ellen nodded, saying it was entirely possible. It was more convincing that there would be more people targeting her than Helena.

At least, these two women were in agreement on that point.

“But they were too far away. I felt the gaze, but they were at a distance I couldn’t pinpoint with my intuition.”

“Maybe they used an item for long-distance viewing?”

“Ah. There was something called a telescope. But that’s too expensive. If we assume they used that to monitor us, they would need to be quite wealthy. Are there mercenaries like that? Well, there might be, but do you have such a relationship with them?”

“…Probably not.”

There were no people entangled in such bitter relationships that would warrant surveillance, and even if there were, as Helena said, people with such wealth were rare.

For those who lived day to day, accumulating that much money was virtually impossible.

Also, even if that were the case, they couldn’t ignore the possibility that something had gone wrong somewhere without their knowledge… but that line of thinking led nowhere.

As Ellen crossed her arms and sighed at the increasingly convoluted thoughts, Helena sighed and said:

“Seeing that you can’t come up with an answer either, I think we need to observe the situation for now. I’ll discreetly send people to naturally survey the territory, so just stay alert.”