17 - unilateral mother-to-child reunion








 Prince Lias and Princess Marianne's visit to the frontier ended uneventfully, with no minor problems.



 Yes.

 Charlotte Semphis is still alive and well.



"Can you give us an excuse?"



 Gieselotte sat down on the long sofa in one of the rooms of the villa and quietly announced.

 A few meters away from her, the knight who had been the captain of the inspection team was kneeling.



The summoners have disappeared without a trace. All of them, along with the supplies of the base, without a trace.



 The knight, unable to look directly at the queen, replied in a trembling voice while staring at the floor.



"And?"



"Lord Semphis is keeping a close watch on us, and with the disappearance of our free-roaming troops, we can't do much ...... on our own."



So you're back.



"This disgrace! I will definitely rinse it off sooner or later. Please give me another chance!"



 The knight bows his head to the floor.

 Without even a glance, Gieselotte holds up a wineglass and shimmers the red liquid.



"If you say 'eventually', I have no choice but to declare you , don't you? All you have to do now is look around your empty head and find out why you failed."



"It's ......."



"Okay? Dozens of troops have disappeared. If there's no trace of them, it can't simply be because the summons failed. There's an enemy out there. Someone who has disturbed me.



 The knight hurriedly dredges up his memory.



"By the way, I heard about a strange man during our inspection. He is a man who goes around exterminating bandits and demons, a man who goes by the name of the unknown .



"Oh, my God. I'm truly astonished. If you knew all this, why did you leave it alone?



"However, he was dealing with vulnerable bandits and stray monsters of little number or strength. Even though he specialized in summoning magic, he was able to annihilate a squad of several dozen men by himself..."



 With a splash, the knight was doused with red liquid.



"Have you cooled down a bit? You really are a stupid man, aren't you? The cat you underestimated as a mouse just because you talked about it is actually bitten to death by a stray dog. You think you're a lion?



"No, I mean ......"



And how can you be sure they're alone? Did you ever think that Semphis was behind it? If the right people are involved, you can always find the tail. You could have denounced him from there.



"No face, no face. ......"



"Oh, I feel bad. Do you know how I feel when I find out that the man I cared so much about was so stupid? You deserve to be punished ............"



 The knight froze, but then looked up fearfully, suspicious of Giselotte's sudden silence.

 The queen's eyes were wide open and her face was stained with surprise. Her eyes were on the knight's back.



"Who?



 the queen cries, and the knight turns around as if he were jumping.



 

 --There was a shadow.



 

 A figure so blackened that it could be described as such. A sleek helmet and tight-fitting clothes. Both were so black that they melted in the darkness. From his physique, he was an adult male.



 A knight is allowed to wear a sword even in the queen's private chamber. It is a customary practice that the Princess Flash is confident of.

 She puts her hand on the sword at her waist and shouts as she pulls it out.



"My queen! Can you please get off-- hey ......?"



 But before he could draw his sword, his head was soundlessly severed in two. The head falls to the floor with a thud, followed by the body.



"I guess that's all of them.



 The jet-black man says. With a light wave of his arms, several heads roll to the floor.



 These are people Gieselotte knows. They were the knights under the queen's command who had accompanied her on her inspection tour of Sir Semphis' territory.



 The enemy - unmistakably this suspicious man was his own enemy.

 And the knight had mentioned, it must be the who is in the service of the Count of the Frontier.



 Giselotte judges instantly and strengthens herself without chanting. Kicking the floor lightly with one foot, she leaps behind the sofa in a sitting posture. She takes another large step backward, to the side of the fireplace.



 He grabbed a sword that was on display above the fireplace, and, sitting down on his midriff, put his hand on the hilt of the sword.



 <


(Now that I have it, there is no one who can stand against me.)



 Curse yourself for not assassinating him before he showed himself!

 But it is impossible to surprise him from behind, because his automatic defense will be activated.



 Gieselotte regains her composure and asks. 



"How did you get into this room ......? There must have been layers of protective wards, right?"



"Warding? Oh, that mess. It was so ripped open we didn't even need to break it. We had no choice but to put up a soundproofing system from above. You could scream and no one would notice."



"...... so. I'll have to give those responsible for the warding a stern talking-to later."






 It sounds like a combination of multiple voices.

 It is unbearable to listen to. In frustration, he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, and at that moment...



 Gong!

 A small magic circle glowed right next to my gripped hand.



"That's what I'd call a flash princess. You blocked it right away. You can see me (・・・・), can't you?"



 What?

 Gieselotte was in a state of confusion.



 Now the defensive magic shield was automatically activated to prevent from happening. She had no idea what it was.



"I don't have a choice. I'm going to have to go with a bad teppo strategy."



"What, ......?"



 As if to drown out the voices of the doubters, a number of magic circles burst into light around Gieselotte.

 Unidentified attacks coming from all directions.

 All of them invisible. I cannot feel them. She cannot even predict where they will come from.



(This is not good.)



 My automatic defenses can't keep up. Gieselotte does not draw her sword, and she turns all her magical power to defense.



 The attack becomes more vigorous and more intense.

 Tiny magic circles are born and disappear all around her, destroying the room as if it were a tornado.



(It's a lie, it's a lie, why would I do this ......)



 Even when I faced the Demon King, I was never in such a tight spot.

 There is no room for chanting. So I had to resort to chanting without chanting, which consumes a lot of magical power.

 Of course, they had no time to fight back, and their magic power was depleting uselessly.



(How long is this going to last? ......?)



 Having destroyed the Demon King, I am proud to say that I have the highest level of magic in this country, or even in the world. Therefore, I am sure that I have the highest level of magic in the world.

 The other party is not chanting, either.

 But the black man did not rest from his attack, but rather his momentum was increasing.



(No more! ...... magic power is ......)



 It runs out.

 At that moment, I was afraid that I, who was using my self-enhancing magic power for defense, would become a mere lump of meat. That's when it happened.



 Then, just like a storm, the attack stopped.



 At last, at last.



(Their magic power has run out. ......)



 But so is she. The magic circle that had surrounded her for a while lost its luster and disappeared.

 If they had continued their attack for a few more seconds...

 Gieselotte shakes off the bad thoughts and her eyes glaze over.



(Even if I run out of magic, I still have...)



 I still have the Holy Sword of the Light Blade.

 She was the best in the country in swordsmanship. Even if she could not strengthen herself with magic, she could overpower an unarmed opponent with the sharpness of the holy sword.



 However...

 The black man said the words that would plunge her into despair.



"I guess it's impossible to shatter it. Then let's try slashing next time...



"...... yeah?"



 You can't shatter it? What was that man talking about when he was shattering magic circles all over the place earlier? Did you just misinterpret the fact that they kept showing up shattered?



 No, it's more like ------ "next"?



 Hmph, and...

 I thought I heard the wind close by. Strange. At the same time, I felt a strange hot/cold sensation on my neck.



 My vision wavered.

 Immediately after, the world went dark.



 



 







"Oh, no! You almost killed me!"



 The little murmur did not reach her ears as her consciousness was briefly (...) interrupted.