How did Lucy's rescue go?

　When asked by Filia, I shook my head.
　In the end, my single infiltration rescue mission ended in failure.

　Because of Father Gapon's use of the Demon King's power to interfere, if not for that, it would have gone well, but a failure is a failure.

　The rescue of Lucy will have to be re-planned.

　But for now, there's one thing that's bothering me.

　Before we left for Lucy's rescue, I told Filia and the others to wait for me at the mansion.
　It was my plan to use my special skill of speaking the Alemanian language to infiltrate the house on my own.

　And yet, for some reason Filia is in the Freedom Alliance's hideout.

''Why is Filia-sama here?''

　Letitia answered my question.

''I brought you here. If you're not here, there will be people who will want to take the Crown Princess into custody.'

　That's what I was thinking about too.
　However, Filia is also accompanied by Sophia, and I even asked Lascaros and the other people from the old St. Sophia Knights Imperial City branch to guard her.

　On the other hand, although Letitia is Lucy's companion, I don't completely trust her.
　If anything, Filia's presence in this place is more dangerous, isn't it?

''I'm sorry for slipping out of the mansion without permission, Solon. But I was told that it was necessary to help Lucy.

To help Dr. Lucy?

　In other words, it seems that Letitia is trying to use Filia to rescue Lucy.
　I don't know what form that will take.

'Oops, Solon. Don't look at me with such a scary look on your face. You and I must have something in common in that we both want to save Lucy.

'That's true, but I don't agree with the idea of putting Lady Filia in danger.

Are you sure about that?

What do you mean?

The grimoire Lucy left behind. Only His Highness Filia can use the great magic enclosed in it. I'm going to use that great magic to rescue Lucy. I'm sure you've been thinking about it too. Isn't that right?

　I stared at Letitia in surprise.
　Of course I had kept it a secret about Lucy's grimoire and the fact that Filia might be able to use that grimoire.
　So how could Leticia know that?

　He looked at Filia and shook his head with a shake of his head, "I didn't speak.
　If that's the case.

　We walked down the corridor of the hiding place and eventually came to a damp hall.
　There were seven or eight people there.
　Most of them were members we had seen once at a Free Alliance meeting.
　But there were two familiar faces among them.

　One was my fellow saint Sophia.
　The other was Lucy's niece, my sister's apprentice, Lucille.

　Sophia looked at me with tear-stained eyes and then immediately hugged me.

'So, Sophia!

'Mr. Solon!　I'm glad you're safe....

I mean, everyone's looking at you, so...

　That said, Sophia didn't leave me for a while.

　I didn't know what to do as the softness of Sophia's breasts pressed against me as she hugged me from the front, and I didn't know what to do.

　I noticed that I was blushing, and Sofia pulled away from me, probably embarrassed, too.
　Then Sophia began to explain how she was here.

　After I went to rescue Lucy, Leticia visited the mansion.
　So Leticia was wanted as a senior member of the Free Alliance and was missing, but then she suddenly showed up.

　Although Sofia was wary of her at first, Leticia was also Lucy's companion, and Sofia also worked with Leticia during the attack on the Necropolis.

　In order to rescue Lucy, and by extension, ensure my personal safety, Leticia seems to have persuaded Sophia to promise her cooperation.

　Among the residents of the mansion, only Sophia is the only one with sufficient strength to fight, so she came here to also serve as Filia's escort.

　Then what about Lucille?

　I walked over to Lucille glossily and bent down to make eye contact with the petite Lucille.
　Lucille stared at me expressionlessly.

''I wonder if Lucille told Leticia-san about the grimoire?

Bad?

I can't say it's a bad idea.

　Originally, Lucille was a collaborator of the Free Alliance and probably knew Leticia as well.
　Anyway, the situation was understood.

　The other members of the mansion are being protected by Laskarus and the others as planned.
　I turned to Letitia and then looked at the other Free Alliance members.

'I thank you for your help. However, do you have a plan to help Dr. Lucy?

　As long as I believe Creon's words, the implementation of the ritual to make Lucy a dependency of the Demon King is imminent.
　That's why I was forced to rescue Lucy.
　If that's the case, if Leticia really intends to save Lucy, she needs to take action tomorrow or she won't be able to make it in time.

　In the worst case scenario, Leticia could abandon Lucy, I thought.
　If it's just to protect yourself, you can run away to a foreign country without helping Lucy.
　I think the reason why they haven't done so at this point is because they need Lucy for the purpose of the Free Alliance.
　But even so, it's a mystery how serious Leticia is about rescuing Lucy.

　Letitia brushed back her beautiful brown hair and smiled.

'Don't worry. We'll decide to rescue Lucy the day after tomorrow. On that day, Lucy will be transported to the Savior's Cathedral in the Imperial City.''

The cathedral...?

''To begin with, Father Gapon belongs to the Emperor's Secretariat, not the military. That's why we're going to perform the Demon King's resurrection ceremony under the Imperial Church, not the Army and Navy Ministry, which is the military's knee. That's where the gap will arise, so we'll storm the cathedral ourselves.

'But even the Church should be under tight security. The Church's Temple Order is an elite group, and there are people from the Third Department of the Government Office.

So that's where Princess Filia and Saint Sophia come in.

　I pondered the meaning of Letitia's words and huffed.
　It's true that with the order of the princess and the request of the saint chosen by the church, it's possible to get inside without bothering to defeat the guards of the cathedral.

　But in the end, recapturing Lucy would have to be a use of force.
　If Filia and Sofia reveal their identities like that and then force a rescue, the two of them will also be treated as traitors.

　One of the reasons I originally tried to infiltrate and take Lucy out alone was because I didn't want to put Filia and Sophia in danger.

　When I told Leticia I disagreed with her, she laughed in amusement.

''So you're abandoning Lucy?''

It's...

　I shut up.
　There's nothing else we can do.
　But.....

　Suddenly, Sofia gently grabbed my hand.
　When I looked at her in surprise, her cheeks blushed.

"Thank you, Solon, for being so worried about me. But I want to help you, Solon, and I want you to use me. That's why I want you to use me.

But we can't involve Sophia in this...

Don't get involved, okay?　I decided of my own volition that I would always be next to you, Solon.

　Sophia looked me up and down with her beautiful jade-colored eyes.
　I hesitated a bit, then squeezed Sophia's hand back and said, "Thank you.

　Sofia blushed more and more and slumped down.

　I looked back at Filia.
　I had to confirm Filia's intentions as well.

　Filia smiled as she said, "Of course I'll help Solon," but for some reason her face was a little cloudy and lacked her usual cheerfulness.