When I returned to the city of Ivalice, which was my domain, I called for Jiron, the orc's chief of staff.

　Jiron, the little orc man who comes hurriedly to me.

　He comes into my office and says, "Yes, sir? I rubbed my hands.

'It was one of those White Rose Knights the other day--'

　And then I start talking.

　In summary, what I wanted to know was what the leader of the White Rose Order was doing right now.

''Well, I'm not sure. I made sure he escaped alive, but I defeated him a lot. Maybe they're being punished and put in jail.

Yeah, that's possible.

　I blurt this out and ordered Jiron to find out what the guy was doing now.

　Giron said yes, and when he said yes.
What's the urgency?
　I continue.

'As soon as possible. "You have to be generous with money, people, everything. Money, manpower, anything to spare.

　Giron seemed to realize the gravity of the matter at the sound of my serious voice.
　He walked out of the office at a smaller pace than when he came.

　Now, it seemed that we would know the location of the Commander of the White Rose Order, which was solid 'evidence', but the question was whether or not he would be in a place that was easy to 'secure'.

　If the other day's defeat is forgiven and the war is sent to other fronts, it will be difficult to locate, let alone secure, them.

　The best thing to do is to be held accountable for the defeat and be under house arrest or imprisoned somewhere - if possible.




　A few days later, Jiron discovers the whereabouts of Alistair, the leader of the White Rose Order.

"Alistair of the White Rose Order seems to be currently imprisoned in a prison on the outskirts of the royal capital.

Prison. That's a tough one for you, isn't it?

　Was he held responsible for the defeat?
　I ask for details.

''No, it seems that they weren't held responsible for the defeat. If that was the case, most of the Knights who participated in the recent reversal offensive would have been held responsible.''

Oh, I see, you have another reason.

'Yes, he has persuaded the King to send his entire army to Ivalice. Insistently, repeatedly in the Imperial Council. It seems to have provoked the king's anger, so he was imprisoned.

You want the whole army here in Ivalice?　I guess that's how disappointed you were that you lost to me.
Or maybe he thought he'd be in big trouble if he didn't destroy my brigade.

　Giron laughs jokingly.

　Well, I don't know the details, but either way, it seems certain that he is imprisoned.

　In a way, it was a thankless situation for us.

　I called up Lilith the Succubus, one of the brigade's most skilled subordinates, and headed with her to the place where the leader of the White Rose Order was imprisoned.


　　　†　


Master Ike, I'm alone with you.

　That was the first thing Lilith said to me when we left the city of Ivalice.

'I'm a bit tired,'

　She said this abruptly.

Why don't we take a break in the woods over there?　An hour or so. No, if you wish, Master Ike, we can muddle through for a full day or two.

　And tugs on my arm.


　I look down at Lilith through my mask with a "grin".

　Lilith blurts out, "Ouch," and gives up.

'But, Master Ike, you are going to rescue the enemy commander imprisoned in the tower, right?　Will it be okay with just the two of us?　Oh, no, of course, with Master Ike, an army of ten thousand wouldn't be too much to fear.

Ten thousand is a lot to ask for, even for me.
Okay, then.
I can't do that either.
Okay, Hundred.
Then we might be able to work something out, depending on the conditions.

　It may be overconfidence, but I'm confident that an average soldier can take on that much at the same time.

''Then I guess this mission will be manageable.

　Lilith was relieved to hear that.

'I'd rather not be alarmed than have to move a large army.

　I assure you.

　Alistair, the leader of the White Rose Order, is imprisoned in a tower on the outskirts of the King's capital, Leasas. It's not a place where prisoners are imprisoned, but a tower for nobles only.

　As a nobleman, you are less likely to worry about escaping, and you don't even think about being attacked.

　Perhaps, but it's safe to assume that the security is minimal.

　If I'm right, there are 10 guards and maybe 10 people to take care of your personal affairs, or something like that.

　I'm sure you're not expecting to be attacked, so even if I'm alone, I'm a force to be reckoned with.

　To be honest, as light as I am, I wanted to go alone, but I'm still the commander of the brigade. I had to be prepared just in case.

''Ah, Ike-sama, the tower is in sight.

　Lilith seems to have found the tower.
　As expected of a demon tribe, I guess.
　I can't see it yet, as a human.

　However, it would be troublesome if they detected it, so I used the magic of "Hawk-Eye" to confirm it.

　I can certainly see the tower.

　Although it is a drab tower, it is the tower where criminals are imprisoned. I guess there is no need to make it look spectacular.

''The number of guards is two at the gate, huh...''

　I blurt out.

Shall we do it quickly?　From the looks of it, the number of guards is very small.

　Lilith seems to want to settle this like a demon.
　I'm going to win it.

"Not all blood is good enough.

But it's more difficult to go easy on them, I think if you slaughter two or three of them, the rest will be spooked and run away.

..........

　I answer by silence.

　Because Lilith's suggestion was the right way to think, both as a demon race and as a human general.
　What's standing in the way here is my memories of my previous life.

　He wanted to avoid bloodshed if he could avoid it.

''Well no, sometimes it's fun to solve things without shedding blood. It's also good practice for when we infiltrate enemy territory and get information out of them.

　When I reminded them not to kill as many humans as possible, I cast the Invisible spell on Lilith and myself.

　This magic makes the wizard invisible for a while.

　However, it doesn't have any effect on those with strong magical powers, and if you make a large movement, it will be cancelled.

　However, I don't think the gatekeeper over there is a sorcerer, and I don't think he's a strong enough enemy to need a second attack.

　The gatekeepers will be able to defeat them without any problems.
　The problem is the soldiers packed inside........

　I'm going to let out a breath.

　I ordered them to go easy on me, but that's because the whore beside me isn't handy enough to follow that order.

　No matter how hard I try, there will be casualties in this one.
　I headed to the tower with that in mind.