This looks like the remains of a mansion.

　Odette said, looking at the battered building.
　This is a small hilltop. We are on top of a small hill, surrounded by trees and a forest.
　And we see the wreckage of the building in front of us.

　The roof has fallen down and all that's left is the walls of the rooms. It looks like it was originally a two-story building, but the upper floors are gone in spades.
　According to the records, this was once the villa of the "Gelasto royal family".
　That's why I thought it was Felippe-Gelast's hideout, so I came here....　

''He said that he had a hideout here, didn't he?''
There is no doubt about it. This is the result of my interrogation of Felipe Gerast.

　The captain of the survey team answered my question.

'He had a map of this place in his possession as well. When I showed him the map, he gave up on it and told me that he had a hideout here.
You also used interrogation magic, didn't you?
''Yes, so I don't think you're lying. However, if you go to the 'Magic Guild', you can probably search deeper...
He's going to be handed over to the royal family anyway.

　Odette took over the captain's line.

''If you get to the 'Magic Guild', you'll be able to draw out a certain amount of information. You know that, so you spoke with a sense of abandonment.
Maybe they thought we weren't going to find anything by coming here.

　Felipe-Gelast was going to attack the town and take the residents and Ofelia hostage.
　It was expected on the part of Count Torrius that he was then trying to contact the Empire and get troops from the other side.

''I'm sure he hid the 'Beast King (Lord-Of-Beast) Cavalry' here and manipulated the ogre that lived near the 'Ancient Battlefield of the Varal' to attack the town.
''But it doesn't seem like there's any place to hide the 'King's Horse'.

　Odette is shaking her head.

　In front of me is an abandoned building that is unlikely to be used as a hideout.
　I'm not going to be able to get my hands on any of them.

''I heard that this was once the villa of the 'Gelast Royal Family'.

　The captain said as he looked at the documents.

'Besides, he said. 'Only the chosen ones are allowed in our base. With a slight smile on his face.
Did he touch that file, by the way?
Yes, sir. You're supposed to have him sign the papers after the interrogation.
Okay. Come here for a minute. Garum.
"Whoa-whoa-whoa?

　I picked Garum up and put his face close to the material.

''Can you get a whiff of the guy who used the 'Beast King Rider' from here?'''
I understand.
Now, show me where the scent is still present.
"Ugh!

　Garum runs off, wagging his tail.
　He's got his nose all over the mansion, where only the foundation remains, looking for his scent.

'Does Yuki think there's a hidden room here?'
Not exactly. Odette. I think there's a 'hidden passage' here.
...a secret passage?
This used to be the villa of the 'Gerast Royal Family'. The Gelast Kingdom was destroyed after the 'War of the Eight Kings'. I don't know if it was destroyed by another royal family or by civil war, but its descendants have survived. But its descendants have survived.
I know what you're thinking.

　Odette clapped her palms together with a bang.


'Perhaps the villa was destroyed by another royal family, or by the people or soldiers. We don't know how the royal family of that time was destroyed. But their descendants used the place. So it's important enough to be part of the lore. It wouldn't be surprising if there was a hidden passage for emergencies.

　This ruin (haikyo) is located on a small hill.
　At the bottom of the hill there is a valley with a stream running through it.
　If there is a hidden passage, there should be an exit around there.

　As I said this, the captain sent the soldiers toward the creek.
　They're going to look for the exit to the hidden passage.

'Wow!　Here. The Five Peoples!'

　In a corner of what used to be the kitchen, Garum howled.
　As I got closer I saw that only some of the paving stones on the floor were not covered with dirt. If there's anything, it's here.

"Odette. Sorry about this. Can you hide him for a second?
Okay, okay. I know what I'm talking about folks!　We're going to do a magical check now!　Please don't go near it as it could be dangerous!

　Odette stood in front of the soldiers with her hands outstretched.
　I crouched down on the ground, cut my palms and dropped 'Magic Blood (Myster Blood)' on the floor.

''........Activate 'Erosion (hacking)'

　Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
　And then the stone emitted a vague light.

"─ ─ I have broken into the magic exterior. I will begin analyzing the internal magic.

　I'm going to use my 'hacking' skills to analyze the magic.

　Just as I thought. The floor stone is covered with magic.
　It's a common magical seal.

　It's probably the same type of thing that the teacher Kachel was using at home before.
　It's designed to open in response to certain people's magical powers.

"Adhesive magic confirmed--disturbing magic supply. Freeze magic supply.

When the erosion ended, the light on the floor went out.

'The lock is unlocked. It should open now.
You still have a magical lock on it.
'It was originally a royal cottage. It's not the only trap. What if it was Odette?
What?
For example, suppose the Duke of Surrey's house was attacked by enemy soldiers. Odette, having escaped, jumped into a hidden passage. So she locked the entrance.
"Mmm-hmm.
'But the chase is banging on the entrance with a bang. The enemy has a sorcerer. Maybe one day the lock will be unlocked. How would Odette handle it?
We'll use the messenger to stop his pursuers. We'll buy ourselves some distance.
What kind of errands would you like to run, by the way?
Since the main purpose is to stop the enemy soldiers, I'd prefer something with as much durability as possible and easy to catch the opponent. A magically synthesized slime would be the best choice.
Okay, I get it.

　I take out the water bag.
　I open my mouth and pour the water inside into my hand.

　The Myster Blood is still flowing from my palms.
　It mixes with the water in the bag and seeps down to the floor.
　Even though it's fading, the magical blood is still a part of me. If there's something in the back, you'll know about it, but...

That's great, Odette. Bingo.
What?

　With a click, the stone on the floor rose slightly.
　From there, a blue-purple liquid oozed out of it, and it was a blue-purple liquid creature.
　It's a blue-violet liquid creature - a slime.

Slime...?
Don't flinch. The slime has a central core. Aim there!
You must strike where the action stops!

　The soldiers went in front of me and Odette.


　Zumomo, zumomo, zumomo, zumomo - shaking.


　The size of the slime was more than the height of an adult.
　Its huge blue-purple body trembled as it came toward us.
　Inside its translucent body, there was something like a red crystalline body. That is its weak point, its central core.

''You planted a dormant slime in it......................We're all thinking the same thing.
It's not natural slime, is it? It's...
Yes. It would be magically altered. You leave it dormant, and if someone comes in, you attack them and hold them back. It's a common trap used in places like noble houses.



　Woooooooooooooooooooooooooo!


　Slowly, the slime extends towards us - like a tentacle - towards us.
　The central core can be seen moving all over the body.

If we blow them up with magic they might cause damage to the hidden passages.
I'd better take it down physically.
Yes, but... what should I do?
"Here's what we're going to do. Activate 'hacking' - don't move (...), slime (...)


...


　The blue-purple slime stiffened as it lifted its body.
　This slime was a creature that had been magically synthesized.

　On top of that, it was soaked in my "Myster Blood" that was dampened with water.
　Slime has a habit of capturing its prey with its whole body. It seems that they've drunk my blood inadvertently.

She's stopped moving... Now...!
"...──"!

　The soldiers' spears pierced the central corner of the slime.
　The slime burst with a beetle, seeped into the soil and disappeared.

'That's great Odette. Just as I expected.
'You're crazy!　Why are you praising me?
No, because Odette's knowledge saved my life.
You're the one who took care of it, aren't you? Moo!

　Odette is red-faced and pumping her fists in the air.
　I think about it for a minute and then.

By the way, what would you do afterwards if you were Odette?　What if the slime barrier was breached?
I don't think I'm capable of doing anything but thinking straight, do I?
It's good enough for me.
Well I'll tell you what.

　Odette cleared her throat and then cleared her throat.

"The most likely traps that a nobleman could use to hide in a hidden passage are poisoned arrows, falling rocks, and an oilwell with an incendiary device.
That's reasonable.
The purpose is to stop people in their tracks. We want a simple structure that doesn't take up too much space.
'All right. Well, let's just assume that's what we're dealing with then.

　I looked at the soldiers.

'We will now enter the corridor. Odette's knowledge will be your trapping strategy from here on out, and her knowledge will be your trump card. Follow her instructions whenever possible.
I get it!
"The daughter of the Duke of Surrey's house!　Lead us!
If Odette-sama and Yuki-sama are guiding us, there's no doubt about it!
"'Oh, oh, oh, oh!'

...Hey, Yuki!
Nice to meet you, Odette.
This...!

　Odette puffed up her cheeks and glared at me.
　And then, like a man ready to make his move.

'I understand!　It's a different time, but it's a hidden passage made by an ancient royal family. As a nobleman, I'll give you all the advice I can!　Let's go!
Nice to meet you.
"'Yes!　Dear Odette!

　Then we went into a hidden underground passage...

　As Odette predicted, we blocked the poisoned arrows that flew from the wall (Garm detected them by scent and Dick cut the bowstring), disarmed the falling rock trap (me, Odette, Dick, and Garm were glowing all over the place from the light magic, so we could find the rope to trigger it), neutralized the ignition device (Garm. Come to me.

　Quickly - he reached the end of a hidden passage.




So this is his lair.

　At the end of the hidden passage, there was a large room.
　It's more like a magical research facility (lab) than a hideout.

　There is a table on the bare earth with several sheets of parchment on it.
　A wooden board is propped up on the wall, and there are parchments stuck to it as well.
　Is this one ... some kind of letter? The name of a person I don't know is written on it.

　A porcelain pot lying around for the storage of drinking water.
　Perhaps this place was used as a hideout by the royal family of Gerast in the past.
　That's why there are a lot of jars lying around to store water. If so, the ditch in the floor is probably for drainage.

　There's also a passage at the back of the room.
　Considering the distance and the direction we've traveled...

'You've been walking in the dark and your sense of direction is off.... At the end of that passage, I think it's near the creek at the bottom of the hill, what do you think of Dick and Garum?
'There's no doubt about it. I'm sure of it.'
'I can smell the water getting stronger, I can tell.
''That means that the great old 'Gelast Royal Family' was hiding here after the 'War of the Eight Kings'...''
I suppose that means they escaped when it was safe to do so and fled north.

　Hearing my words, Odette shrugged. As if in disgust.

''To start a war on their own and then leave their people to run away if they fail.......it's shameful. There are people in the world who gave their own lives to protect their people. Totally.
Why are you looking at me?
It doesn't matter. I don't have to worry about it.

　Odette is laughing, holding her mouth.
　The soldiers are beginning to search the hiding place.

　In addition to the parchment, there are also yoroi and helmets too big for a human to wear.
I think this is for the Armed Ogre.
　They're too big to fit through the floor of the ruin. I wonder if this was brought in from the creek.
　And the other thing...

I'm sorry. Yuki-sama, Odette-sama. Could you take a look at it?

　The captain held out the parchment in his hand to me and Odette.
　The writing was the signature of Felipe-Gelast and - some names.





I've got it.

The first three horsemen

"The Lord of the Rings, the Phantom.
"The Lord of Beasts.
"The Lord of the Lords, the paladin.


Top two horsemen

"The Lord of Berserkers.
We are in the process of securing the aircraft.


The seal on the ancient artifacts will soon be broken with the passage of time.
　Until then, I hope that we will not act rashly.

　That is all.


I'm done.


"...Yuki, this is........

　Odette's face was pale.

　The parchment was signed by none other than Felipe-Gelast. This must have been written to him.
　I don't know if it was the Empire that wrote this or not.

　But if what's written is true...

''Of the eight 'King's Horsemen' (Lords), five of them have already been found...''
Two for us no, three for us.
The other two are in someone's possession. And the seal on the Antiquities will soon be broken...

　Dorothea-Zamuelus, who had used the 'Spirit King Rider' before, said.
The traitorous wise man sealed all the ancient artifacts. But the strongest ones were only sealed imperfectly - and....

　What if that 'imperfect seal' is soon to be broken....

''There's a possibility that the 'King's Horseman (Lord)' will attack in a perfect state. Moreover, we have secured the two lower-ranked ones over here, while the remaining lower-ranked ones and the top two, someone has already secured them or knows where they are.......

　The 'Spirit King Rider' and the 'Beast King Rider' that we finally defeated were only the lower level 'King Rider'.
　And on top of that........there's a 'Lord of Fighters' and a 'Berserker' with an unknown name....

　But.........my own 'Lord of the Black' is neither a lower nor a higher level.
　I wonder what it is. I wonder what it is.

I'm going to help with the investigation anyway. Yuki, you're on lookout. If there's anything important, please check it out!

　Odette took the parchment in her hand and ran off to the soldiers.

''Goshujin...'' ''Are you worried about me?　Wow.
I'm not so much worried about you as I am about the trouble you're in.

　The parchment says that the 'Seal of the Ancient Artifacts (.........)' will be broken.
　If that's the case, then the other Ancient Artifacts will be able to be used at full power as well.
　If.........the remnants of the Sanctuary Church brought the Ancient Artifacts to the Empire.......

''.........it's going to be troublesome to the point of death.

　I'll talk to Iris later.
　I'll talk to her, inform the Magic Guild, and then...

Let's go explore the giant dungeon 'Elysian' voluntarily.

　The Black King's Horseman can only be used by me, and if I reveal it to the public, my identity will be exposed.
　That's why there's no choice but to go into the dungeon and find a new piece of ancient artifact or ancient magic. This would be a countermeasure against the Empire.
　It's just a matter of time before a higher level of "Lord" falls.

　The only other thing we need to do is to find the 'method of sealing ancient artifacts' that Lyle found.

For now, I'll just help you search the hideout. Dick asks for a lookout. Garum, look for anything with a strong Felipe-Gelast scent.
"'There it is!

　And so I began to help search for the hiding place with the messenger demon Garum.