Two o'clock in the morning.
　The night is deepening and the castle is quieting down.

　A lone patrolling knight with a lamp in his hand was walking around the castle.
　Ever since the huge amount of magic power was consumed in summoning the brave, the lights have been turned off in the castle at night due to frugality.
　The only thing that illuminates the darkness inside the castle is the light from the magic item that he holds in his hand.

''No abnormalities in the castle: ...... and. Huh, that's a pain in the ass.

　The knight blurts out, acbing loudly.
　The patrols that come around on a duty basis are a job that everyone hates.
　It's nerve-wracking to patrol the castle in darkness, and most importantly, it cuts into your bedtime.

　In the past, the castle used to be illuminated by magic items, even at night.
　That's why patrolling was easier than it is now, but due to the summoning of the brave men, there are no lights at night.

It's a good thing that the heroes who are summoned for that are useless and can't even use magic, so that's just the way it is.
　It's not possible to kill him quickly, collect his magic power and summon another hero.
　I can kill that little wimpy kid even if it's me.

　Since this one is being inconvenienced, he should be of some use.
　While letting out a murmur that saw the brave man as nothing more than a tool, the knight continued on his patrol route.

　He paced for a while, and was just passing by the vicinity of the brave man's room, where he was dissatisfied.

　Suddenly, the sound of something falling with a knocking sound came from behind him.

''Huh.''

　The knight turns around with a bang, reaching for the sword at his waist.
　The light he holds in one hand illuminates it, and there's no one there.

'...... stone?'

　As I proceeded with caution, I found a single stone lying on the floor.
　It's such an unremarkable stone, just like the one in the castle garden.
　The moment the knight bent down, wondering why it was lying here--.

"?

　A dull thud on the back of his head and sparks fly in his brain.
　The reason I didn't lose consciousness is probably because the armor I'm wearing has protective magic on it.
　Holding back the consciousness that was about to fly, the knight quickly drew his sword and swung it down behind him.

''!''

　The one who was standing behind him ducked it with a slippery motion.
　On the contrary, like a magic trick, the sword he swung down was entangled in an instant.

''Da--''

　The moment he opened his mouth to call for help, the hilt of the stolen sword was slammed into the knight's face.
　Where his body collapses in pain, it is followed by a shock to the back of his head.
Sparks fly in the back of my brain and my vision darkens.

''Ah.''
　
　In the midst of his fading consciousness, the knight looked at the face of his attacker and muttered involuntarily.

　He muttered earlier, "Even I could kill him," a useless hero who couldn't even use magic.
　Iori Amatsuki Iori was there.

　Confirming the appearance of the boy with a cold look that sent chills down his spine, the knight lost consciousness completely.


◆


Wind.

　I let out a small breath as I pushed the unconscious knight into my room.

'What a colossal blunder. ......

　The knight's armor was covered with a protective sorcery, albeit of a lower grade.
　He still stepped on it to be able to get it done with a single blow, but his strength seemed to be lower than he thought it would be.
　The training wooden sword didn't even come close to knocking him unconscious.

'...... good.'

　He reflected on his lack of foresight and quickly changed his mind.
　I was able to take the weapons from the patrolling knights.
　This cleared the first step.

　I swung it with the sword I took to see how comfortable it was to use.
　Although it is a mass-produced product, it is filled with magical power and is reasonably easy to use.
　It's much more useful than the wooden sword from earlier.
　The armor is likely to get in the way instead, so I didn't touch it.

　More than two weeks have passed since I arrived here.
　I have all the information I can get my hands on from the archives in my head.
　I have a complete grasp of the structure of the castle, the patrol route of the knights, and the number of people in the castle.
　Pretending to be an obedient hero and playing the role of a completely helpless and useless one, their vigilance towards us has been lowered considerably.

　With the weapons in hand, the situation was set up.

''Finally.''

　Finally, we can get to Liuzas.
　I've already researched where that guy is at this time of day.

　I suppressed my hanging lips and left the room.
　I'm heading to Liuzas's magic workshop.
　That's where we'll find him.

"Wait for me, Liuzas.


You're not going to be able to do that.


...... tch.

　In his own magic workshop, Ryuzas Gilburn clicked his tongue in frustration.
　The cause of his irritation was the brave man he had summoned, Amagatsuki Iori.

　On the first day of his summoning, that man had beaten him until he passed out.
　The wounds that Iori had beaten him with had already healed with healing magic.
　However, Ryuzas' anger doesn't subside.

　It was severely irritating to be defied by an existence that had called out to him just to use him.

　Soon after that day, Ryuzas advised the king.
　Iori Amatsuki Iori is dangerous, she should be enslaved by "slavery magic".

　Slavery magic, it is a magic mainly used by slaves.
　It restricts a subject's behavior and forces them to do as they wish.
　I'm sure that if you take the time to prepare for it, you'll be confident that you'll be able to enslave them.

　But the king did not shake his head.
　He said we should still wait and see.
　Nearly twenty days have passed since then and still no permission has been granted.

　That frustrates Liuzas.

　One of the reasons for his irritation is that the brave man who beat him up has no magic power.
　Even if you want to use it up, it's as if it's useless.

　The brave man he summoned beat me, and furthermore the brave man he himself summoned is useless.
　Any more of this would be detrimental to the reputation of Ryuzas.

I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get it for you.
　If you cut off his arm and take his testimony, you can get a huge amount of magical power.

　--just like that fool.

　Even if you take away a brave man's testimony, it doesn't mean you'll get the full power of a brave man.
　It's only because he can grow rapidly and use his testimony completely that he can be brave enough to be brave.
　However, with the vast amount of magic power available, there are plenty of ways to do it without that brave man.

　I've been working on a plan to deprive the testimonial of all the magical power.
　No permission has been given by the king.
　But that is not a problem as long as it produces results.

　You'll be able to use the power of a brave man and make yourself a hero.
　That was when I imagined that future and gloated.

''......!''

　Suddenly, the door of the workshop opened and a boy walked in.
　Seeing this, Ryuzas couldn't help but widen his eyes.

　Amagatsuki Iori.
　Because there was a brave figure there, thinking of taking away his power.

''...... What do you mean by that, Brave Lord?
　This is a magic workshop, you can't enter it without permission. I want you to leave immediately.

　He glared at her intimidatingly and warned her to get out.
　But where he was intimidated, Iori laughed mockingly.

'I can't help but laugh when you're using a respectful language.
''What is ......?''

　The words that could only be described as contempt brought a blue streak to Liuzas' forehead.
　Not only did he enter the workshop without permission, but this attitude of mockery.
　You can't forgive yourself for making a fool of yourself as a court magician on the part of a brave man like a trash who can't even use magic.

　--I'm not going to be able to get the testimony right now.

　I've already successfully stripped a testimony of its power once.
　In the ensuing years, I've developed a more effective strategy.
　We're almost ready for it, and we're testing it to see if it can be improved upon.

　All that's left is to take away the proof.
　Since the magic workshop is soundproofed, no sound can leak outside.
　Right now, it's late at night, and there's no need to worry about interruptions.

''If you won't leave the workshop, then we have an idea.

　He hides his arms out of sight from Iori and concentrates his magic power.
　What I use is magic for capture.

　Although his strength has dropped significantly compared to when he was fighting with Amatsu, capturing a single brat who is only a brave man is equivalent to twisting a baby's neck.

　That's when Liuzas's lips twisted into a smile as he immediately regretted hearing a lick in his mouth.

'The idea is: ......

　Iori sat back down with a giggle.

"Are you saying you're going to kill me, just like you killed Amatsu?
''What--?''

　A shock like being struck with a blunt instrument ran through Liuzas.
　The information that the brave man in front of him couldn't possibly know.
　The fact that he told me a fact that he hadn't revealed to anyone, delayed the activation of his magic.

　Immediately after, Iori moved.
　She kicks the floor and begins to run as if she were halfway through a leap.
　At that speed like a beast, Liuzas' thoughts returned to his thoughts.

''Kook--!

　To Iori, who was closing the distance at a terrifying speed, Liuzas hurriedly released his magic.
　It's the magic of lightning that paralyzes the target and blocks its movements.
　It's a good idea to be able to have a good time with your friends.

　However.

''What?!''

　Iori dodged the lightning, which was slightly deflected by the upset, with a slippery motion.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find it in the same way.
　I'm not going to be able to get a good idea of what I'm talking about.

　The moment captivity disappeared from my mind and I was about to unleash a killing spell.

''Ah!?''

　Iori's arm seemed to shake, and blood sprayed out of Luzus' arm as he tried to release his magic.
　Before I knew it, the knight's sword was held in Iori's arm.

''Ahhhh!''

　Following that, the blade was thrust into the opposite shoulder as well.
　Although she wears a robe that has a protective effect, it cannot completely nullify the damage.
　The flesh of his shoulder was gouged out by the blade.

　Even if he screamed, no screams leaked out from the soundproofed workshop.

　Pulling the sword out of the wound, Iori thrusts the sword at Liuzas' neck.

''Looks like you still haven't recovered from the flaw of losing your aim when you're upset.
Oh, man, what the f*ck?
Don't you get it yet?

　The voice was cold, chilling.
　The piercing look in his eyes gave Liuzas a sense of déjà vu.

"Seriously, it's .......
Yeah.

　Iori said, with a look of his former companion - a look that had the look of a former companion.

''--I'm Amatsu, Liuzas.