I joined everyone outside and captured the fallen knights.
　They took away their armor and tied them up with ropes so that they couldn't move.

　With this, we were able to round up the knights connected to the lords.
　The first step of the plan was a success.

"Rain!

　When I walked out of the warehouse, Stella, who had been giving her subordinates orders for this and that, came back.
　As it is, she bowed her head with a bow.

Thank you. Thanks to Rain and the others, I was able to get rid of the pus in the knight's group. Thanks to the fact that they were able to neutralize them, we can easily conduct a background check on them. There will be plenty of evidence that they are connected to the Lords. We'll have plenty of proof of our legitimacy. Thank you so much.
'It's too early to thank them. I've got to do something about the lords, you know.

　We got rid of the corrupt knights, but...
　The lords, the original culprits, are still intact.
　If we leave them in place, the same thing will happen again.

　I was able to return the Order to normal.
　Then what should we do next?
　It's to raid the lords' mansion and seize the evidence of wrongdoing.

　Now that the Knights are back to what they should be, they won't do anything to let the lords off the hook.
　They can even help those who have been taken to the mansion.

　To add to that, it seems that the lords are also involved in many other evil things.
　By seizing those evidences and handing them over to the inspector of the royal capital, we can put a stop to the lords until they are finished.

　However, we can't take too much time.
　If we spend too much time, the lords might destroy the evidence.
　I'm also worried about the safety of the people who were taken away.
　We're racing against the clock from here on out.
　We must move quickly.

　Stella seems to understand that and quickly makes a stern expression.

''The lords' ability to gather information is something that cannot be underestimated. Our actions will soon be exposed, too.''
Then we'll have to hurry up more and more.
''Mm. If I could, I'd like to continue raiding the lord's mansion at this point if I could...

　Stella glanced at the warehouse.
　Inside the warehouse, the captured former knights are locked up.

''We can't leave those guys unattended.............it would be unfashionable if they escaped. What is to be done?
That's not a problem.
What do you mean?
It's not so easy to get rid of a butterfly poison. They won't be able to move for a night.
But it's a risk. Do you need to keep an eye on him?
Let them do their job and come on!

　Calling in several wild dogs, Tame.
　I told them to watch the perimeter of the warehouse and scattered them.

'I've instructed the dogs to watch the warehouse. Now they won't have to worry about it.
....
What's up, Snap out of it?
'No ... is Rain really a Beast Tamer?　The butterflies from earlier, and the dog from this time..............................seem very different from the Beast Tamer I know.
How can you be with Lane if you're this surprised?
Yeah, yeah. You should just accept that this is how it is.

　Kanade and Tania interrupted the conversation from the side and said something like that.

'Is that so?　Could it be that Rain has even more power in her?
Meow, that's right!
I'm not surprised they're hiding abilities that we don't even know about.
Don't make people sound like curious animals.

　I digress.
　Let's get back on track.

'Anyway now we don't have to worry about those former knights. We'll deal with the formal punishment later, but for now, let's do what we need to do.
'Hmm, yes. We can't take any more time. Let's just raid the lord's house.
"Kuhn, your arm is about to snap. It's time to show what I can do.
Let's make them sorry they tried to mess with Sola and the others.

　The sisters Sola and Luna were very motivated.
　The two of them were directly targeted by the lord's son, so....
　I guess he's more resentful and angry than most people.

'The problem is that they might resist.
...against the Order?
That's what you get for dealing with the Order, isn't it?
I see.

　I understood some of what Stella was trying to say.
　However, Kanade and the others don't seem to understand it well and have a question mark floating above their heads.

''Hey hey, what do you mean?''
'The Order has the power to audit, doesn't it?　It's not like you're saying you're guilty of refusing to do that. And yet you're resisting it?
The thing is...

　Until now, the lords had accepted the audit of the Knights because they were connected behind the scenes.
　I had accepted it because I knew that even if there was evidence, they would have missed it all.

　But now that the Order has been normalized, it's different.
　They would never overlook any evidence of injustice or wrongdoing.
　The Lords would understand that correctly.
　If they accept an audit or anything else, then it will all be over.
　Because they understand, they will refuse the audit and resist it, even by force.

'Resist ... and what happens?　What are you going to do after that?
Once you've successfully eliminated us, the rest is easy. "Once you've successfully eliminated us, the rest is easy. Everything will be the same as before. Well, the details might be different, but the gist of it will be something like this.
I see........so the outcome of the battle after this one will directly lead to victory or defeat.
''Therefore, we can never be defeated, but according to our preliminary research, the lords have hired private soldiers in the name of security.
How many?
''I don't know, but I'm guessing it's something like a few dozen people. I haven't been able to confirm it, but there are rumors that they employ mercenaries comparable to B-ranked adventurers.

　A B-ranked adventurer is said to have the strength of dozens of people alone.
　A mercenary comparable to that........
　If it's true, it's tricky.

''Can't we use the butterfly from earlier?
'It's difficult ... if we have to force our way in, first of all, we'll be resisted before the gate, won't we?　Butterflies' scales are easily blown around by the wind, so they're not very effective outdoors. Also, in a melee, it could involve your allies.
Yeah, well... mmm.

　The reason they were able to easily capture the former knights who were involved in the injustice was because they were able to trap them in a good way.
　However, this time it's not going to be the same.
　You can't set a trap because you have to get into the opponent's position.
　It would be a simple clash of numbers and numbers, force and power.

　However, I'm not too worried about that.

　If it comes down to it, we can just tame the beasts in the city and make them attack us...
　We don't need to do that, we all have people on this side.
　Their strength is an unknown quantity, but........
　Unless it's really out of calculation, Kanade alone will be able to make the change.

　Kanade seems to understand that, and is motivated by shuffling and shaking his fists.

''No matter how many opponents there are, I'm going to kick them all to the curb!
Can we rely on...?
I got it!
Thank you.

　Stella may have mixed feelings about this.
　Unable to right the city on their own, they have to enlist the help of others.
　Maybe she's conflicted.

　Still, Stella didn't refuse our cooperation, but rather, welcomed it.
　She put righting the city before pride.
　Surely, Stella would make a good knight commander.
　I felt like I could see that future.

'Once again, thank you. It's really helpful that Rain and the others are helping us.
I hope you don't mind. It's not like we don't have anything to do with it.
'On top of that I'm very sorry, but there's one more thing I'd like to discuss with you.
What's that?
''I hear there are city people in the lord's mansion who have been taken away. If they were to be taken hostage or something...
Hostages...

　Would the lords commit such an outrage as to use the people of the city as a shield?
　It's like taking more risks.
　Would we choose such folly?

It's possible.

　You never know what a cornered person will do.
　Few people are capable of acting intelligently at all times.
　As long as there's even a 1% chance of that happening, we'll have to be vigilant.

'Then let's split up into two groups: one to storm the pavilion and the other to rescue the trapped person.
Hmm. That's appropriate.
I'll be in charge of the rescue. Also Sora and Luna, will you come with me?
I understand.
Yes, you can leave it to me.

　When I nominate two people, the remaining two complain about it.

'Err, what about me?　Hey, hey, Rain. Can't you take me away?
Shouldn't I come with you?　It's not that I'm worried about Rain, you know.
'Sora and Luna can do a lot of magic. I think they're good at infiltration. Kanade I don't think he's good for infiltration because he seems to solve everything with physics. Tania.........doesn't want to be burned for a lot of things.
Nyanka, terrible perception!
What do you think of me?

　I want you both to think back to what you say and do on a daily basis.

'Nya but I guess I can't help it.
'Don't get me wrong, Stella's backup is an important part of it. I can't just leave it to a random person. It's because of Kanade and Tania that I can trust them to do this. You may have a lot on your mind, but will you bend over and ask me to do that for you?
'Well well if you're going to say that much, I don't blame you. I'll leave you to it.
Nya, I'm on it!

　And now we are going to fight the lords of the city.
　This is an unprecedented operation.
　If you fail, you're going to be thrown in jail for treason.
　If you're not careful, you might get rid of them.
　Even so, I was still strangely not worried or afraid.

''Nya?　What's going on, Lane?

　I was looking at everyone when Kanade noticed the gaze and looked at me curiously.

'No, it's nothing,'
Meow?

　I'm not alone now.
　Kanade, Tania, Sora, Luna...I have friends.
　So I felt like I could do anything.
　I felt like I could overcome any challenge.