Chapter 96

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“Protect the young ladies!”

The knights of House Astoria hastily drew their swords.

If the young ladies were even slightly harmed, it would cause a major blow to the prestige of House Astoria.

This was because Sebastian, the heir to House Astoria, had arranged the tea party.

However, the situation was dire.

There were many young ladies to protect, and the number of masked assailants was also high.

Moreover, some of the masked assailants had already approached the young ladies.

“Kyaa!”

One young lady screamed.

A masked figure had grabbed her by the hair.

The masked figure drew a dagger and held it close to the young lady’s neck.

 Then, he spoke to the approaching knights of House Astoria.

“If you move, this young lady’s life is forfeit. Heh heh.”

“…!”

The knights had no choice but to stop in their tracks.

In the meantime, other masked figures each seized a young lady.

The young ladies were frozen with fear, and some burst into tears.

“Hng, hng…”

Estelle and Ellie were also captured by masked figures.

Estelle looked at Ellie, on the verge of tears.

“E-Ellie…”

“D-Don’t worry, Estelle…”

Ellie tried to be brave as she spoke.

“B-Because Lucy’s here…”

“Quiet! Unless you want to die.”

The masked figure yanked Ellie’s hair hard.

Ellie winced in pain but didn’t scream or cry.

There was no point in provoking the masked figure.

It wasn’t the first time Ellie had experienced something like this.

She had been in even scarier and more serious situations before, and Lucy had saved her then.

“Open the path now!”

One masked figure shouted at the knights of House Astoria.

“If you don’t open the path, many young ladies here will splatter blood and die. Surely, you don’t want that, do you?”

“…”

The knights hesitated for a moment but eventually opened the path.

If all the young ladies here died, it would be a terrible disaster.

Even if House Astoria was a grand ducal family, it wouldn’t be unscathed.

As the knights opened the path, the masked figures each grabbed a young lady and began to move.

It seemed they intended to leave the ballroom.

“D-Damn it…”

The knights’ faces darkened.

It was a problem if the young ladies died here, but it was also a problem if they were taken away like this.

Either way, the situation didn’t seem good.

◈

‘Heh heh, it’s a success.’

Magnus, the leader of the masked figures, smiled.

Everything was going according to plan.

He recalled his conversation with the person who had instigated this.

―The signal will be the explosion of the ballroom’s ceiling. At that moment, go straight into the ballroom and seize the young ladies.

―But the young ladies have escort knights, don’t they? It’s impossible for us to fight knights with our skills. We’re just a mercenary group.

―There are no escort knights. Well, there will be knights from House Astoria guarding the ballroom, but you don’t have to worry. Just grab the young ladies and threaten them. They are all precious young ladies from noble families. As long as you’re holding the young ladies, no knight will be able to move recklessly.

―What should we do next? Once we lay a hand on the young ladies, it seems difficult to escape safely.

―I’ll have a carriage waiting outside the mansion. Once you lead the young ladies out of the mansion, get on that carriage. Then you’ll arrive at a villa I’ve prepared. Keep the young ladies there and wait. I’ll send separate instructions.

―Understood. I hope you keep your promise.

―Of course. If this succeeds, I’ll become the heir to House Astoria. Then I’ll appoint you as my direct knight order.

Recalling the conversation, Magnus began to lead the young ladies out of the mansion as instructed.

Indeed, the knights couldn’t move recklessly once they grabbed the young ladies, and it seemed like there would be no problem if they left the mansion and got on the carriage.

They could receive a huge reward and become the direct knight order of the grand ducal family.

‘My mercenary life is over, heh heh.’

This was a rare opportunity in Magnus’s life.

If he seized this opportunity well, he could rise to prominence.

Thud.

“?”

Magnus tilted his head.

“What is it?”

A silver-haired girl was blocking the entrance to the ballroom.

She was wearing a maid’s uniform.

She seemed to be a young maid who took care of the family’s chores.

‘Hmm.’

Magnus quietly scanned the girl’s face.

‘Quite cute.’

Normally, he would have shouted, “Get lost!” or kicked her.

After all, he was doing something very important right now.

However, seeing the girl’s outstanding beauty, desire began to boil within him.

“You, you come with me too!”

Magnus liked young girls.

But it seemed difficult to touch the young ladies he had captured now.

They were hostages whose ransom he had to collect.

Well, he wondered if one of them would be okay, but it seemed more comfortable to have a maid of such insignificant status.

Above all, the girl’s beauty was far superior to the young ladies.

It made his mouth water.

“Yes.”

Fortunately, the girl followed Magnus obediently.

If the girl hadn’t come willingly, he was planning to threaten the young ladies’ lives again, but it felt like things were working out well.

“Heh heh. What’s your name?”

“Lucy.”

“That’s a pretty name. Let’s go quickly.”

“Yes.”

Magnus left the mansion and walked through the garden.

Lucy was walking alongside him.

Looking around, his subordinates were following well, each holding a young lady.

“Heh heh, boss, are we becoming a knight order now?”

One subordinate asked with a smirk.

Magnus nodded.

“That’s right. We can now become a knight order. And we can become rich too. The ransom for these young ladies could buy an entire city.”

Had things ever gone so well in his life?

If he had known it would be like this, he would have kidnapped and sold nobles a long time ago.

‘I’ve been overthinking it all along. It’s actually quite easy once you do it.’

Of course, that was a delusion.

Magnus was able to capture the young ladies because there were no escort knights.

If the young ladies had escort knights, their necks would have been snapped before they could even approach the young ladies with their skills as mere mercenaries.

‘Hmm. But is the garden usually this big?’

Magnus thought as he walked.

It felt like it had been quite a while since he left the mansion and walked through the garden, but he still hadn’t managed to leave the mansion.

But well, it was the mansion of a grand ducal family.

It wouldn’t be strange if the garden was a little big.

‘No, but…’

Something was still strange.

Just a moment ago, the sun was shining brightly, but now the surroundings were dark.

Magnus turned his gaze to look beside him.

Lucy was walking next to him.

To dispel his unease, Magnus reached out to Lucy.

“Hm?”

Lucy’s body part, which should have been very soft, felt hard.

Magnus blinked and looked at Lucy again, and at that moment, he was shocked.

“H-Huh!”

The one walking next to him wasn’t Lucy.

It was a skeleton.

Even the young lady he was holding was the same.

Magnus quickly turned around.

His subordinates were following him, each holding a dagger to the neck of a skeleton.

One subordinate asked with a smirk.

“Heh heh, boss, are we becoming a knight order now?”

◈

The incident at the ballroom was fortunately resolved.

In fact, the situation was not good when the masked figures captured the young ladies, but suddenly something strange happened.

The masked figures lost focus in their eyes and suddenly sat down on the floor.

The masked figures were muttering to themselves or laughing, like people addicted to drugs.

As they were in that state, the young ladies were able to escape safely, and the masked figures were immediately arrested by the knights.

Even as they were being arrested, they couldn’t come to their senses.

“That’s right… we can now become a knight order… we can become rich too… the ransom for these young ladies could buy an entire city… hehehe….”

A knight frowned as he watched one masked figure muttering like that.

“What is this bastard saying?”

“Leave him be. He must be having a good dream.”

The masked figures, with their bodies bound, began to be dragged out one by one.

And Lucy was standing in one corner of the ballroom, watching the scene silently.

“Those people… why did they suddenly become like that?”

Ellie opened her mouth.

“Everyone became strange all at once, did Lucy do it?”

“Yeah.”

Lucy nodded nonchalantly.

At the moment when Magnus was grabbing the young ladies and trying to leave the ballroom, Lucy blocked his path and cast a skill.

[Hall of Illusions]

A curse skill that invades the target’s mind and makes them fall into hallucinations.

The cursed target immediately falls into a state of combat inability and experiences their own hallucinations.

The hallucinations start with something positive and gradually turn negative.

At first, the world looks beautiful and everything is hopeful, but gradually they realize that it was an illusion and experience extreme anxiety and fear.

Lucy cast that skill on all the masked figures at the same time.

The effect was amazing.

The masked figures dropped their daggers and sat down on the floor, giggling.

Thanks to that, the young ladies were safe, but the situation was not over yet.

Lucy asked Sebastian, who was looking at her with a flushed face.

“By the way, that person from before.”

“H-Huh? Who?”

“The person who tried to kill you.”

“Ah, yeah.”

Lucy grabbed Sebastian’s chin and stretched it as she asked.

“Isn’t he your family’s butler?”

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
What?!?!

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Ignoring that totally not awful plan of theirs that has 0 flaws.

Yet another dumb noob who fell into the temptation of ‘too good to be true’.

It wouldn’t hurt to be suspicious of rewards or at least know if your stupid employee will keep you alive, you noob.

Smh, but it can’t be helped. If they could learn, these idiots would be experiencing a tragedy, not what we call a ‘natural selection’. 

Just like Kat!