Dr. Lucy, I'm so glad you're okay.

　Lucy in the prison was bound, but she didn't seem to be injured.
　Since she had the role of being considered the Demon King's retainer, the army would not be able to handle her roughly.

　Lucy's cheeks were red and her eyes were downcast.

''You really........came.

'Dr. Lucy is my only teacher. Not going to help is not an option, not in the first place.

Thank you. You should help her first.

　I nodded to Lucy, then bent down to help Claire up.
　She was badly injured.

　Her military uniform was tattered and there were scars all over her skin from being whipped.

''Ah ... Mr. Solon,''

　Claire looked at me with empty eyes.
　It looks like it's all you can do to talk, but still Claire smiled.

''It's a pity that you didn't come to save me....

I'm here to help you with Claire, too.

'That would be ... kind of nice. Even if it's an extra for Professor Lucy.

　Although it seemed to be life-threatening, it looks pretty painful.

　I want to recover Claire as soon as possible, but I can't use my magic here.
　It's a good thing that you're not the only one.

　I gave a simple treatment and wiped Claire's skin with a cloth to clean up any traces of blood and dirt.
　In the process, I noticed that some of the fingers on Claire's left hand were unnaturally bent.

''This........''

'Haha. It's broken.

　Claire laughed like it was nothing, but it was a terrible thing to do.
　Once again, I felt my resentment towards Gapon.

'The reason Claire was being tortured you were defending me. I'm sorry.

　I'd been to the Freedom Alliance meeting and knew about Lucy's plans for the rebellion.
　But if the military found out about it, they would punish me too.

　That's why Claire didn't tell me about it, even though she was tortured.

I'm sure you don't mind. It's just that I did it out of a desire to help Solon. It's a good thing that I'm not a fan of Father Gapon's Third Department and my military intelligence agency. But...

But?

I'd like to see you say 'thank you' instead of 'I'm sorry' anyway.

I see. Yeah, of course. Thanks, Claire.

Yes. When I was little... I dreamed of being able to help Solon and fighting with him. It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for, but it's not a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for. And that makes me happy.

　Then Claire stood up.
　Even though she should be tattered all over her body, there was nothing sluggish about her movements.

　As expected of a soldier, Claire couldn't use magic, but she seemed to have a strong mental strength.

''Well, Solon-san, do you have a plan to escape?''

Of course.

　I showed them some uniforms.
　They were the ones I took from the guards I knocked out.

'If you change into these, both me and Dr. Lucy should look like Imperial soldiers. The rest of you can walk out of the Ministry of War and Navy with aplomb.

If they suspect you are passing through...

I'll have Claire, a native soldier, take care of it then.

　I said jokingly, but if such a situation actually arose, I'd have to ask for Claire's help.
　Claire chuckled and nodded.

'I suppose so. If that happens, I will have no choice but to help Professor Lucy escape. I'm sure the military intelligence officers will take care of the rest once we're out of here.

I'm counting on you.

　Me and Claire bumped our fists against each other and laughed at each other.
　It's not quite the same as it used to be, but we're working together now.

　Claire turned around to look at Lucy.
　I don't know why she was looking at us so unhappily.

'Huh?　Are you possibly jealous?　Professor Lucy?

Not true!

　Lucy said back with a bright red face.
　I walked up to Lucy and released her restraints.

'Now, sir, you can change into this military uniform too.

Here?　With Solon in there?

I'll be fine.

'Does it matter?　Besides, this is something you took from a female soldier, right?

'Uh, well, yes,'

　If you're going to get women's military uniforms, of course you have to take them away from the women.
　There was quite a bit of resistance and guilt in stunting a guard who was still about a girl and turning him into his underwear, but it was an emergency situation, so there was no choice.

''Solon's pervert........ But I get it. You can just change your clothes, right?

　With that, Lucy began to put her hands on her own crimson robe.
　I hurriedly turned back and took off my own Alemanian military uniform and changed into the Imperial military uniform as well.

　Claire was staring at me.

''Um, Claire-san?　It's hard to change clothes when you're being watched...

'Don't worry about it. You've grown up, Mr. Solon.

　Giggling, Claire laughed, and then she suddenly looked like she was in pain somewhere.

　It's true that when we used to interact in Creon's family's duke house, Claire was a little girl and I was a boy.
　But now it's different.

　Eventually I finished getting dressed.
　A little while later, it seemed that Lucy had finished dressing as well.

"Well Solon. You can look at me now. Just in case.

　When I looked at Lucy by the wall, she had indeed changed into her military uniform.
　I'm not sure if it's a good idea to have the same thing happen to you.
　The military uniform is a pale blue jacket and a dark blue skirt, so the colors are different.

　However, Lucy looked very embarrassed.

''It's like the length doesn't fit.''

It looks like...

　The original owner of this dress was somewhat petite, whereas Lucy was tall for a woman.
　So when Lucy wore it, the hem of the skirt was quite short, and the shape of the skirt was clearly visible from her chest to her waist.

''I hope you don't look at it too much, Solon.

I'm sorry.

　I hurriedly averted my gaze.
　'Hmm,' said Claire, looking at us with zit eyes.

'It's a mockery, Professor Lucy,'

'I didn't mean to!　....embarrassing.

Is that how you're treating Mr. Solon?

I'm not messing around!

　Seeing Lucy and Claire arguing with each other, I felt strange.
　In the past, Claire seemed to hate Lucy, but now she seems to be getting along rather well with her.
　Did something happen in the prison?

　At any rate, we hurried out of the prison.
　We left the dungeon passage and came to the first floor hall of the Ministry of War and Navy without being seen.
　As expected of the headquarters of the imperial army, the hall was a luxurious marble hall with chandeliers shining on the ceiling.

''It looks like a surprisingly easy escape,''

　Lucy was right, we were going pretty well.
　If we could get away from the Ministry of the Army and Navy at this point, all we had to do was get Lucy exiled to a foreign country.
　That was supposed to be the plan.

　But--

'I knew you were a traitor, Solon. I'm sorry, I'm very sorry.

　An old man stood at the entrance of the hall.
　The man with the cross on his chest was Father Gapon of the secret police.