Chapter 34

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Please do not redistribute or re-translate without permission.

Translated by Momo. Edited by Mary.

One of the guards that were stationed in front of the stairs leading to the basement came down after hearing the sudden loud noise. He called out to Cecilia, who was laying down on the floor.

"Hey! Are you okay?"

He probably thought that their important hostage had passed out. The man's voice was filled with impatience.

And the moment he tried to unlock the door, he noticed that the latch was cut in half.

"What the heck is this!?"

"Huff!!"

Cecilia’s body slammed against the door while the man was distracted by the ruined latch.

The iron door went down and crashed into the man's forehead. While the guard staggered, Cecilia aimed for his “precious parts” without a hint of hesitation.

"Ugh--!"

The man fell down on his knees while pressing against his crotch. He couldn't even utter a word.

As soon as he stopped moving, Cecilia swung down the three-legged wooden chair on his back.

"Well, not bad for a first try."

Cecilia looked down at the collapsed man heaving painfully on the floor.

She quickly undressed him, took off her nightgown, and quickly dressed like the guard.

She was afraid of the assassin’s guild, but the man she defeated didn’t look as skilled as Dante was supposed to be in the game. The image of a run of the mill group of mountain bandits fitted him better.

(If I remember correctly, Dante was treated as an elite in the game...)

A child destined to become an assassin.

That's how Dante was described.

Marleen was the first person to notice his talent. She picked up the orphaned Dante, raised him, trained him as an assassin and created Heimat.

Dante couldn't go against her, and so far he had continued to drag his feet around in the assassination business.

Cecilia dressed up as one of the thugs and went up the stairs. On the way, she found all the stuff she was carrying when she was captured stashed together.

Among them were the ‘treasure’ bracelet and her wig.

"Yay!"

Cecilia tucked her long hair into the wig with familiarity. Suddenly, there was a young man with a familiar and pretty face standing there. Though she still stood out, disguising herself like that would probably prevent others from immediately noticing she was an intruder.

Next, she wore the bracelet and touched it softly. She felt something similar to a thin transparent membrane wrap around her body.

No one could hurt her with this.

"I feel relieved."

She was grateful that she didn't have to think about the danger of being seriously hurt anymore.

Cecilia picked up a nearby cleaning brush and turned it around.

She would use this as a weapon for the time being.

She climbed the stairs. When she approached the other door, she felt the presence of people around. Leaning in to hear, it seemed that the person was alone.

Cecilia kicked the door open. The man jumped out and took out several small blades from a hidden pocket. That skill was worthy of a member of an assassins’ guild. However, none of the knives that flew out landed on Cecilia. Bounced off by a mysterious field, they got stuck into the sidewalls.

"Hey--"

Using the cleaning brush, Cecilia stroke up the chin of the man that tried to raise his voice. In a second, his head shook sideways and he passed out.

"I would have been in trouble without the 'treasure'..."

She took a deep breath.

She tied up his body, improvised a mouth gag, and let him roll down the stairs, closing the basement with the key.

With all that, it would probably take some time before they suspected something went wrong.

(It's pretty good so far, but I can't escape unless I can figure out where this is.)

The view from outside the windows was nothing but trees. This was most likely an old fortress built in the woods. A very good choice to use as a hideout.

(I really wish I had a proper weapon in order to escape safely...)

The brush already broke before she could even think about replacing it. It had reached its limit with that last strike.

Even though she wouldn't get hurt anymore, there was no way she could let her guard down either. The 'treasure' could have some weakness that Cecilia was unaware of. And Gilbert's 'treasure' was specialized in defense. If she was completely surrounded, she would certainly be caught immediately.

(Let's find the weapon arsenal for now and look for something useful.)

Cecilia jumped into the dark corridor after checking her left and right sides.

◆ ◇ ◆

"Wait, Gilbert!"

The one admonishing Gilbert was the school doctor, Mordred.

Behind him are Oscar, Jade, and a distraught Leanne.

The three just heard from Leanne, who suddenly ran into the boy's dormitory, that Cecil had been kidnapped.

Mordred calmly spoke while Gilbert had his back towards him.

"You're the legitimate heir of the Silvy family. It won't do any good if you move recklessly. We all know that you're Cecil's friend but this kind of thing should be left to be handled by the appropriate authorities."

He continued even though Gilbert didn't turn around.

"Besides that, Cecil is just a child of a Baron's household. You must not endanger your life for him. You should know how much your life is worth. Your future as the next Prime minister, how can you risk it all by yourself… Do you understand that?"

The legacy of a top-rank aristocratic family. Furthermore, the one most likely to be recommended to become the next Prime Minister. It should be obvious that he could not give up his life for a lower aristocrat. He understood that.

Their reasoning was correct. It was indeed a very sound argument.

Even if it's just like any other human life, in this aristocratic society, the value of a life is measured by their nobility rank.

But instead of nodding in agreement, Gilbert turned around.

"I'm going to rescue Cecil, it doesn't matter what anyone else says. Feel free to try and stop me, but let me warn you that I don't think it will be possible."

"Do you have any idea where Cecil is?"

"I have a guess."

His guess was aimed at Dante.

After hearing Leanne's story, Gilbert knew that this was related to Dante's event. In other words, even if he had to use some underhanded method, he could definitely make Dante spit out information about the hideout. That was what he was thinking about.

As soon as he finished speaking, Gilbert turned forward again.

"Gilbert!"

"Gilbert."

The one who shouted over Mordred was Oscar.

Oscar rushed forward and stood in front of Gilbert with a stern look.

"...Your Highness."

"It's just as Professor Mordred said," he spoke. "If you head there by yourself like that, I'm afraid your parents will receive some bad news. It's going to be complicated down the road if a family like yours seems to be favouring a single lower-ranking noble. You need to calm down."

"Do you really think I can calm myself down in this sort of situation?! You don't know anything, but Cecil is my si--."

If he could tell everyone that Cecil was actually his stepsister Cecilia, they would be moving mountains to rescue her. Cecilia was not only from a first rank Duchy family but also engaged to the Crown Prince. Her status was certainly superior to any other noble.

Gilbert knew that revealing her identity was the most secure and safe method. But that was the same as destroying all the efforts she painstakingly accumulated until this moment.

When he thought about what she would be like if she was rescued with that method, he suddenly lost the will to say anything further.

Oscar suddenly raised his voice with a hesitating tone.

"In April, a batch of new soldiers entered the royal palace."

"What are you even talking about all of a sudden..."

"Just listen to me. I believed it has been mentioned a while ago that it's time to get them to do some strategic surprise drills. I was planning a big event that also involved senior soldiers with 2 to 3 years of experience."

Gilbert stayed quiet after understanding the hidden meaning behind his words.

"So, I guess today would be a great day to launch the operation, it would be even better if we started on it immediately. What do you think?"

"I believe that decision has always been at your discretion, Your Highness."

Bowing respectfully towards Oscar, Gilbert responded calmly.

It was like their future figures of a King and his minister could be seen at this moment.

The surrounding people just stared at both of them as if they had their souls taken away by the sudden cheap play that was being acted in front of them.

"But I don't know where to send them yet. Do you know a good place? It seems you mentioned something about having a good guess before..."

"I will look into that area as soon as possible."

"I plan to take an active part in the drill, but what will you do?"

"I'll follow you as well."

"Okay. Well, then I'll write to both the royal palace and your parents. All the uproar that's about to take place is just a military exercise and I'm fully responsible for it."

As Gilbert bowed once again, Mordred spoke with a forlorn voice.

"I don't know what you are trying to cover up with that absurd excuse, but… if you're all willing to go that far, there's no way I can stop it. Do as you wish. I'll fill in the authorization forms for a temporary leave from the dormitory due to external activities."

"Thank you."

While Gilbert bowed towards Mordred, Leanne, who had been silent until then, suddenly raised her hand.

"That drill...Is it possible for me to request permission to attend it?!"

"Leanne!?"

Jade, who stood right beside her, shouted in surprise. He couldn't imagine she would say such a thing.

"It's my fault that this whole thing happened. Please let me atone for it. I think I might know where Cecil was taken to."

Oscar shook his head towards the girl filled with confidence.

"I'm sorry, but I don't intend to bring any dead weight along. I don't think you would hold up information about Cecil's whereabouts even if we refuse taking you with us, right?"

"Okay, in that case--"

Leanne turned directly to Jade. Then she held out her right hand.

"Jade, hand me your 'treasure'."

"What?"

"It doesn't seem like you have anyone else you would bestow it to so isn't it okay? I think it will be more advantageous to have extra people that can use stealth magic."

"That's right, but……"

A wide-eyed Jade was impressed by her outlandish remarks as he bestowed the 'treasure' as his friend requested.

"I didn't wish to become the Saint, and I didn't intend to collect any of these 'treasures'."

Leanne put the bracelet she received from Jade on her right wrist.

The ordinary-looking silver bracelet suddenly glowed.

"I must save him no matter what. I won't let that person die once again because of my carelessness."

Her eyes reflected the seriousness she had never shown before.

Just like that, the four of them, including Jade, began to discuss a strategy.

"The future Prime Minister to the future King. The genial son of the conglomerate that moves the country's provisions from the shadows, and the one most likely to become the next Saint... How important can he be? That youngster named Cecil Admina..."

While watching the four students talking, Mordred whispered to himself.

TL Notes:

Oh yeaaah, Leanne knows!!! xD
We're almost at the end of the 1st volume!

Thank you for reading this so far and I hope you're still enjoying it.

Let me know in the comments if there are mistakes to edit or if you have any suggestions!

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