340 - - 11-42 The Kingdom of Leonard
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Reiko discussed the plan with the old man and Ann.
"Since we know where he is, let's fly to Leonard's Kingdom at night by Pegasus 1 and capture Lardus.
Since Jin has given us permission, we will use the fastest aircraft on Horai Island. <<
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<
This way, there will be no loss of time.
"Lady, please take someone with you, not just one person. Of course, I know you are strong. But it may not be just one person, just in case, just in case.
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Anne said. Reiko obediently heeds her advice. She does not feel that she can lose to any opponent, but there is a possibility that she may be stranded or otherwise prevented from returning home. At such times, it is reassuring to have a companion.
Soleil and Luna belong directly to Reiko, and Lando is the strongest golem in Horai Island except for Reiko.
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"Let's do that. And, <
As expected, the Magi Cannon is difficult to use against an individual, and I judged that it would be overkill.
The <
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"For defense, there is ...... this."
A pendant that Jin had given her before. Reiko patted it lovingly as she put it around her neck.
It took about an hour for all the preparations. The current time is 5:00 p.m. Horai Island time.
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"How about the target, old man?"
The old man, who was checking the magi radar in real time, answered immediately to Reiko's question.
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Lardus, the target, has not moved. That means he is at his base.
Reiko, Soleil, Luna, and Land 1 and 2 boarded Pegasus 1 and departed.
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Jin was absent because he had returned to the village of Kaina to consult with Licia and the others. However, even if Jin is not there, Reiko's heart...... control core is still burned with the words from Jin, "Only you can take care of this, take care of it.
"I'm going, Father."
Reiko mutters in a voice so small that only she can hear it, and gets into Pegasus 1.
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* * * *
The distance between Leonard Kingdom and Horai Island is about 600 kilometers, and the time difference is less than two hours.
At the speed of Pegasus 1, it would take less than an hour to get there. However, since it is still light in the sky, we have to make a slight detour to avoid the possibility of being discovered.
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"...... Is there <
It was still dusk when Reiko observed the world below from 500 meters above and was somewhat taken aback by the unexpected view.
"No way, there is no kingdom."
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Yes, as far as she could see from the sky, there was no place that could be called a country.
It is not that there are no human inhabitants, but there are only a few small settlements, and they are not towns in any sense of the word.
This was not the case when the map was made.
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"You don't mean to say that there was an illusionary boundary ......?"
When the map was drawn, the observation was made from an altitude of approximately 5,000 meters and 2,000 meters above the ground. I observed the area from about 5,000 meters and 2,000 meters above the ground.
At that time, no anomalies were found.
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"It seems that there was a boundary around 800 meters."
As we lowered the altitude, the view that we had been able to see changed completely.
It was a warding that had fooled even the golem of Horai Island and Reiko's eyes, let alone ordinary people.
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"......That is secondary now, isn't it? But let's keep a record of this phenomenon.
Reiko orders her golem, Luna, to record the characteristics and strength of the wards, while she focuses all her energy on her goal of finding Lardus.
"...... discovery".
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After a short search, the detailed location of Lardus is found. It is about 12 km south of where Reiko is now. Pegasus 1 would only take a few minutes.
However, since Pegasus 1 is the only one who can create a mysterious boundary, we decided to land two kilometers ahead of the target.
The Pegasus 1, a VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) aircraft, can land anywhere as long as there is level ground, but Reiko dares to jump off the plane without landing it, taking precautions.
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"...... Stay in the vicinity until further notice. I'll keep the mana telecam connected at all times.
"Yes, sister."
Soleil replied on behalf of the others. This time, she had set up the mana telecam to be linked to Reiko's eyes and ears.
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In other words, everything Reiko sees and hears will be sent to the old man. This was a precautionary measure for the worst case scenario.
Reiko jumps down from a height of 10 meters and lands almost soundlessly. She runs toward her destination. Her stealth had already been deployed.
"But that means that Deneb 30 has been detected as well..."
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Reiko reminded herself not to trust too much in the stealth.
The area around the site, which was apparently a former city, had been uninhabited for more than a few decades, and the buildings were in disrepair and the grass and bushes had begun to grow.
There was no shortage of places to hide. Reiko spent about 10 minutes approaching her destination.
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"...... looks like that building."
Reiko's detector was responding. It's a pretty big magical reaction.
"...... considering that they are demons, it's no wonder they don't have any lights on, since I don't need lights either."
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The building is made of stone. It may have originally been a three-story house, but the third floor is crumbling, and it seems to function only as a two-story building.
There was a magical reaction on the second floor.
"There seems to be only one."
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She had feared that there were others, but so far she could not detect any significant magic within a ten-kilometer radius around her, which was within Reiko's range of detection.
"Then all we have to do now is to accomplish our goal."
Reiko stepped into the entrance of the building, being careful not to make any noise. As far as she could see, there seemed to be no traps.
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"What?
At that moment, flames erupted from under Reiko's feet.
However, Reiko was not beaten by that much. In an instant, she jumped down and escaped from the flames.
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Reiko was safe, but her opponent must have noticed her completely.
"Is this a trap that even I can't see through ......?
She guesses that it is probably a method peculiar to the demon tribe. Then, realizing that further stealth would be futile, he turned off his stealth and put his hand on Momoka.
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At that moment, he heard a voice from the second floor window.
"Ha-ha-ha, it seems you have a guest. ......Wow, is that a little lady?"
Her appearance was the same as I had heard from Deneb30. Tall, thin, muscular.
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"What can I do for you?"
The smirk on her face would have been physiologically repulsive if Jin had seen it.
"Are you sure that you are the humorous Lardus?"
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Reiko asked him directly. The man's face contorted.
"What? Where did you get that?"
But Reiko did not answer him.
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"I want you to tell me about the disease you spread to the kingdom of Klein.
Lardus seemed surprised at this.
"Oh, you know about that? Don't tell me you are one of the automata of the daytime?"
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Lardus' face becomes severe.
"I didn't feel that I was being followed. Am I slowing down too?"
Then he jumps out of the second story window. He landed softly, without a sound, without a cloud of dust, just like a feather landing. Reiko became alarmed by this physically impossible scene.
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"So you're an automaton, too. What do you want?
I've come to ask you about the details of the disease you've spread throughout the Klein Kingdom. And what to do about it.
Oh, so you've noticed already. Not all of you are fools.
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I'm not here to question you. Answer me.
Reiko demands in a firm tone. But Lardus only smiles coldly.
"Humans are weak. A lot of people would have died even at that level.
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That's not what I'm asking.
That's what that idiot Walther wanted, remember? I just gave him a little help with what he wanted.
Lardus, perhaps trying to keep Reiko on her toes, does not touch on the core of the matter, but evades the question.
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"Count Walter is dead. You killed him.
"Well, I was wrong to believe that the disease I wanted was harmless to me."
Reiko decided to shake him up.
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"I don't know what the demons are planning to do here, but do you want to die from an "ether stampede"?"
As expected, this seemed to have a bit of an effect.
"What? I'm a demon?
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Lardus was surprised for a moment, but quickly realized that he had been tricked.
"Hmmm...hmmm...hmmm... I hear you're a smart guy, too. Indeed, it seems that there are some very skilled magecraftsmen in the world today, just like you and that guy from the daytime.
"I'm tired of hearing your nonsense. Are you going to tell us about your illness or not?
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Reiko's words could be seen as an ultimatum, to which Lardus responded happily.
"If you want to hear it, try to beat me.
With these words, he pulled out the sword hidden in his back.
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The sword glowed dully in the darkness with a bluish-white light.