episode_0050

“Tea, it’s time for some tea.”

“Thank you.”

We started sipping the tea provided by Duke Buckingham.

“I heard that you’ve been quite busy dealing with the Orange Sapphires,” the Duke said.

“That’s correct.”

I nodded in agreement with the Duke’s statement.

“I’ve heard that Orleang, the uncle of King Ange 14th of Elance, has been spreading Orange Sapphires across the continent,” the Duke continued.

“Yes, it seems quite significant, considering they’ve reached the Ruth Kingdom.”

“That’s why I’ve called upon you to help me decimate Orleang’s subordinates here in Londinium.”

I raised an eyebrow at the Duke’s request.

“Wouldn’t the forces of Britom be enough to handle this task? Why involve us?”

“Well… because you can prevent it from escalating into a diplomatic issue if you kill them discreetly,” the Duke explained.

“Why not just arrest them for their illegal activities?” Rotos questioned.

“Some of them are nobles. If Elance requests their extradition, what then?” the Duke countered.

“In that case, Britom would be left with no choice but to feed them and send them back, after a wasted meal,” the Duke added.

Rotos scratched his head at the Duke’s words.

“So, should we capture them and take them to Elance?” I asked.

“No, it’s a bit different from that,” the Duke replied.

“How so?” I inquired.

“Just kill them cleanly and neatly,” the Duke gestured by drawing a line across his throat.

“Hmm…” I pondered his words.

Capturing and killing Orleang’s subordinates wouldn’t be difficult. However, the challenge lay in locating them in Britom, where Elance’s language wasn’t understood, making it hard to interrogate and find them.

“Do you have any information on Orleang’s subordinates?” I asked.

“Of course,” the Duke replied, instructing his butler to bring a stack of documents and a map.

“These are the files I prepared before your arrival,” the Duke explained.

We carefully examined the documents provided by Duke Buckingham.

The personal information and whereabouts of Orleang’s subordinates who had infiltrated Londinium, as well as their suspicious activities…

“Oh, this is not it,” the Duke quickly snatched a drawing of a seductive woman in a revealing pose.

“Forget about that,” he said.

“Understood,” I replied.

The Duke coughed and tucked the drawing into his pocket.

“Anyway, we can use the information in these documents to proceed with our operation,” the Duke suggested.

“If we act quickly, I will reward you handsomely,” he added.

“Oh…!” Our eyes lit up at the mention of a ‘reward.’

“You may have noticed, but the current situation in Londinium is not favorable,” the Duke remarked.

“Yes, we’ve seen it. Britom’s ships on the Thames are nowhere to be seen, and the streets are deserted,” I confirmed.

“Well… I’ll provide gold or wine as a reward, so please handle this swiftly,” the Duke urged.

“Understood,” we nodded, focusing on the information provided by Duke Buckingham.

“The number of Orleang’s subordinates sent to Londinium is not that many,” I noted.

According to the documents, there were approximately 30 of Orleang’s subordinates.

“Wouldn’t it be best to eliminate them one by one?” Rotos suggested.

“Eliminating them individually… that’s a good idea, but we risk them all fleeing if we miss even one,” I pointed out.

“Yet, it seems impossible to gather them all at once,” Rotos added.

“Well…” I sighed.

“It seems like we have no choice but to kill them one by one,” Aramis concluded.

“Is that really our only option?” I exhaled deeply, contemplating our next move.

“However, what if there are Brihtum collaborators inside Londinium?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll write up a document for you.”

At Laurent’s words, Viscount Buckingham took out a piece of paper and began writing something on it.

[Document Number. 007]

“What’s this?”

The document handed to Buckingham was simply written in Brihtum language, with his seal stamped below.

“It’s a permit to kill. But unless absolutely necessary, try not to kill any Brihtumians.”

I looked at the permit to kill in my hand.

“Brihtum is quite an interesting country, isn’t it?”

“Well… if you think so, then it must be.”

Viscount Buckingham shrugged at my words.

“In case there’s an explosion or a shooting incident, is it okay?”

“Anyone selling that filthy drug in Londinium should be killed.”

‘How sincere must one be to mess with Orange Sapphire…’

In his determination to kill them all, Viscount Buckingham’s demeanor seemed to echo that of Lord Razul and Count Bacchus.

It seemed that they were not just getting along for no reason.

“Oh, but be careful not to start a fire.”

“But even if Viscount Buckingham allows it, won’t King William VII of Brihtum or other nobles object?”

“That can’t happen. My cousin, King William VII of Brihtum, has entrusted me with full authority to eradicate the Orange Sapphire, so who would dare object?”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

Listening to his words, it seemed safe to proceed without worry.

“Shall we start now?”

Aramis said, examining the map carefully.

“Yes, we should catch them before they hear of our arrival and flee.”

There was no need to delay, as he said.

“Viscount Buckingham.”

I called Viscount Buckingham as I put the permit to kill back in my pocket.

“What is it?”

“Do you happen to have any bombs or anything like that?”

…?

—

Drug dealers were like thieves, preferring to operate at night.

This also meant that they were hiding somewhere during the day.

“Shall we go in?”

We decided to attack one of the places where the henchmen of Viscount Orléans, who had taken refuge in Londinium, were hiding.

Bang!

Laurent smashed the door handle with his fist and kicked the door open.

“What… what’s this!?”

Startled by the sudden attack, Viscount Orléans’ henchmen stared at us in confusion.

Bang!

Without hesitation, I fired my gun.

“Ugh!”

One of Viscount Orléans’ henchmen, shot in the chest, staggered back, blood spilling.

“Run!”

“Where do you think you’re going!”

As Viscount Orléans’ henchmen tried to escape through the window, Laurent leaped forward, grabbing them by the collar and throwing them against the wall.

“Argh!”

“Ugh!”

The henchmen of Viscount Orléans, pinned to the wall, were each stabbed in the heart with a knife by us.

“Alright, this place is taken care of.”

Rotose looked at the dead henchmen of Viscount Orléans, clapping his hands.

“Well… this place is taken care of too.”

Begstan, the man Viscount Buckingham had vouched for, confirmed their identities.

“There shouldn’t be any Brihtumians here, right?”

“Well… no.”

After my question, Begstan carefully examined the faces of the deceased once again before nodding.

“Alright, let’s head to the next place right away.”

Yes, we had decided to boldly storm in and kill them all, without sneaking in.

The reason we chose such a noisy method… was because it was the most convenient.

We wiped the blood off our blades and headed straight for the next target.

Bang! Thud! Bang!

So the four of us fired a total of 8 gunshots with two pistols each, echoing through the building.

“Scream!!”

Citizens scattered and screamed in fear at the sound of gunfire.

“Vegstan?”

“I can’t find Britumin… anywhere!”

At my call, Vegstan slowly examined the faces of the deceased before drawing lines in his notebook.

“Everyone, gather around.”

I sheathed my knife and gathered the people.

“What’s going on?”

Laurent was the first to approach me.

“Let’s see… how many have we killed so far…?”

I counted the number of red X marks on the map to tally the total number of people we had killed.

“Oh, we’ve almost killed them all!”

“Hehehe!”

At my words, Rotus chuckled darkly.

“Now, only the last few bastards’ headquarters remain.”

Aramis wiped blood off his blade on the clothes of the deceased as he spoke.

“Laurent, the bombs?”

“Yes, they’re ready.”

We had received grenades used by Britumin soldiers from the Buckingham Duke.

With grenades in hand, we headed towards where the remaining enemies were gathered.

#

“Hmm… they’re on high alert.”

Aramis looked through the binoculars at the building where the soldiers of the Orleans Duke were gathered.

“They seem to be heavily guarded.”

Laurent observed the people guarding the building.

“There are a lot of Britumin soldiers too.”

Vegstan scratched his head as he looked at the headquarters of the Orleans Duke’s subordinates.

“It seems like it’s time to use our licenses, doesn’t it?”

“I think so too.”

I nodded in agreement with Rotus’ words.

“What should we do?”

I chuckled at Aramis’ question.

“Same as always.”

“Got it, same as always.”

Aramis chuckled along with me.

We lit the fuses of the grenades and charged towards the building.

“Throw!”

Following my command, we threw the grenades through the windows.

Crash!

The grenades shattered the glass and entered the building.

“Kill them!”

The Orleans Duke’s subordinates and collaborators drew their swords and charged at us.

Bang! Bang!

They fell under the hail of bullets we fired.

Boom!

Not long after we fired our guns, a massive explosion erupted from the building, smoke billowing out of the windows.

“Now we just have to take out the ones coming out to complete the mission.”

“Spare me! Please!”

As soon as I finished speaking, people started pouring out of the building.

Slash!

“Ah!”

I swiftly cut down the first person to emerge.

One by one, I subdued all the individuals who came out, until we had taken control of everyone.

“It feels… a bit too easy.”

“I agree.”

Aramis nodded in agreement with Rotus’ words.

Honestly, it ended so easily that it almost feels like a trap.

“It may feel empty, but who cares if it ended easily? Let’s go and collect our rewards.”

“Um… Miss? It looks like the building is on fire?”

We looked at the building where we had thrown the grenades, flames flickering from the windows.

“Ah…”

Vegstan sighed as he watched the building engulfed in flames.

“I’ll take care of it, you all go back first.”

“Thank you, we’ll leave it to you.”

Having completed our mission, we headed straight to meet with the Buckingham Duke.

#

“Phew… this is quite…”

The Buckingham Duke looked at us with a puzzled expression, breathing out a sigh of disbelief.

“Has it only been a day since arriving in Britom, and you’ve already taken care of all of Count Orleang’s subordinates…?”

“Yes, if you had been even a day late, news of our arrival would have spread, making it difficult to escape.”

“Hmm… Haha.”

As I spoke confidently, he let out a disappointed laugh.

“Calling you was quite a clever move.”

Duke Buckingham stood up from his seat and took out a box.

“Since you finished it in just one day, I suppose I’ll have to give you more rewards.”

At his words, we focused our gaze on the box in his hand.