Chapter 15 -
SIDE: Yuishia
I passed my days uneasy after Chise-san and Teto-san had a dispute with Olbert-sama, the apparent heir of the Suzurland who later also sent assassins to deal with us, but the days that followed were as calm as the surface of an unbothered lake that it all felt so anticlimactic.
"It seems the members of the knight order are monitoring the court sorcerers of the Suzurland faction, so leave it to them."
"That's indeed correct, still......"
"Anyway, Teto has an even more important thing to think about: what are we going to eat today?"
<meow~></meow~>
I was so driven by uneasiness, yet Chise-san and Teto-san were as poised as ever.
I was tense after knowing that both of them were A-rank adventurers, or that Kuro-san was a Cat-Sith, that my communication with them become awkward, but Chise-san and Teto-san continued to treat me the same as ever that I felt like an idiot for even being nervous about it all.
And just like this, one month passed by------
"Chise-san! Teto-san! It's finally here! The floating Island is here!"
"Finally. Now we can help Kuro go back home."
"But, we need to prepare before we get on it!"
<meow~></meow~>
Chise-san and Teto-san, who were gazing at the rocky floating island which looked as tiny as a speck of dust visible from the house's window, said so.
"Soon, it'll be time to part with Kuro-san."
<meow~></meow~>
Kuro-san rubbed his body against me like a spoiled child as I caressed his back out of loneliness. Kuro-san was occasionally strict, but I felt blissful whenever he acted so sweet to me.
Then, after sending me off, Chise-san and Teto-san apparently left for somewhere, probably to make arrangements for the floating island trip.
So, I also left to deliver some potions to Adventurer's Guild, avoiding the location where the Suzurland Clan's institute was, and I had just begun to look for potential requests when I heard the other adventurers calling out to me.
"Yuishia-chan, what do you think about forming a party with us?"
"Ah, you sneak! I was about to ask her to join our party!"
"Ahaha, I'm sorry. Maybe next time------"
After the scandalous event of the Suzurland Clan, Zerrich-sama passed the order to the guild to stop acting as a mediator between the adventurers and the pupils of the Suzurland Clan as punishment for them.
Due to that, the pupils, who had been so arrogant until now, could no longer easily dive into the dungeons and were now struggling to level up or collect research materials for their research.
Except me. As I was polite to everyone so far, adventurers often asked me to form a party with them despite my status as one of the Suzurland Clan's pupils.
Rejecting the invitation of the adventurers I was acquainted with who spoke as frankly as ever, my gaze scanned the request bulletin board when someone called out to me from behind.
"You're Yuishia from the Suzurland Clan, aren't you?"
"Ee!? Ah, knight order."
I turned around sensing someone's presence, and I saw a man wearing the armor of the knight order standing behind me.
I felt a bit disappointed in myself for not noticing him when he was so close, even after learning and self-defense art for close combat from Teto-san.
"I'm here to ask about the attack towards the A-rank adventurers and the attempted assassination in detail."
"Yes, I understand."
I boarded the carriage that he had arranged near the adventurer guild, thinking it was heading to the office of knight order, but then I noticed the carriage had taken a different route after looking at the flowing scenery from the window and I realized it was instead heading towards the noble district.
"Excuse me...... aren't we going to the knight order's office......?"
"............"
However, the man, donning the armor of the knight order, crossed his arms and maintained his silence at my question.
I finally noticed the oddity at that point. The place that the carriage reached was the main residence of Count Suzurland.
"T, This is......"
"Don't stop, move."
Prompted by the man in knight armor who thrusts a knife against my back, I enter the mansion. In the reception room I was led to, Olbert, who was supposed to be under the surveillance of the knights and under house arrest, was there.
"Olbert-sama......"
"I was waiting for you, Yuishia. Take a seat."
The man in knight armor soundlessly moved to stand behind Olbert. I reluctantly took a seat. And then, he began to talk about something unbelievable.
"You seem to be quite close with those adventurers, huh?"
"Y, Yes. I have been under their care."
As I replied with a quivering voice, Olbert pulled a creepy smile.
"That's even better. Alright, take this medicine, shackles, and collar, and render them powerless!"
"Whaa!?"
Olbert pushed an unknown medicine and the collar and shackles that were used against criminals towards me.
"This is a potent sleeping drug. Just mix it in their meal, and they will not open their eyes for the rest of the day. And these are shackles to seal their mana and slave collar. It would be a problem if A-rank adventurers went into a rampage, so make sure to bind them properly."
"W, Why are you asking me to do such things to them!?"
I didn't get what was going on. However, Olbert continues to demand from me.
"That adventurer, Chise was it, has the skill. The King has passed the decree to search for the 'secret of immortality' hiding in their bodies. It's necessary to chain them up first to search their body."
King's decree...... I finally understood the uncanny peaceful days 'til now wasn't because Suzurland's influence had been suppressed or something, it was simply to turn the King into an ally and to make preparations to capture Chise-san and Teto-san.
"What? I'm not asking you to do it for free. Your dream was to be a court sorcerer I think, wasn't it? I will put in good words for you with the court sorcerers once you accomplish this task."
He spoke in a coercive voice to lure me into accepting the task.
"But remember, you will be expelled from the Suzurland Clan if you turn down my offer. You will wash your hands of any chance of becoming a court sorcerer if you were to be expelled from the magician clan hereafter......"
I would become a Court Sorcerer if I betray Chise-san.
But if I refused his request, I would be expelled and I may not be able to become a court sorcerer in this lifetime.
I looked at my feet, clenched my hands into fists, and squeezed out my voice.
"I refuse......"
"Huh? Capturing them is the King's decree, you know?"
"Even so, I am not going to betray Chise-san, Teto-san, and Kuro-san!"
A shade of red crept on Olbert's face when I refused him in a strong voice.
"Have you forgotten your benefactor who picked you up from that dirty orphanage after your parents' death!?"
"Szurland had only taken me out of the orphanage! I was still hungry every day! You never taught me magic! All you did was keep pushing chores onto me! The only ones who taught me and helped me become a magician were them!"
As if responding to my emotional outburst that I let out while crying out, mana began to overflow from my body.
"Tsk, change of plan! Capture her, we will use her as a hostage against those adventurers!"
Men donning knight armor --- the assassins that Chise-san had caught before and the magician under Olbert --- swarmed inside the room from all over the mansion.
"I will absolutely not lose against you!!"
Feeling a sense of omnipotence from the mana bubbling up from the core of my body, I began the battle inside the mansion.
Everything that Chise-san and Teto-san taught me came naturally to me.
Even as I faced multiple opponents in the room, the end result was that I knocked all the opponents senseless.
And on that day, the main residence of the Suzurland Clan was pulverized.
