"Huh, that Eptimus guy is dead... He's useless. He's down to one little girl...

　The man was poisoned by a thoughtless summoner. As he stepped out onto the castle's balcony, he could see the city standing between the rugged mountains with a cold breeze. Shembala, the royal capital of the Nokia Kingdom, was a heavenly fortress surrounded by mountainous terrain. The flag of the long yellow triangle fluttered everywhere in the castle town.
　The man was a warlord who had been appointed as the commander-in-chief of all the armies of the country. He wore a long robe of black and a jeweled robe made of gold, silver coral, and agate around his neck to signify his position.
　He was in his mid-twenties. He was red-haired and tall, with no beard but a moustache. His droopy eyes, looking down on the castle, were filled with a stagnant light.
　The door is opened with a clatter and a man enters the room. The man was a small man with a crooked back and wore a blue robe. This represents the status of a military officer. In other words, he is a subordinate of the man who is a military officer.

''You wanted to see me, Kanaza-sama...''
'Eptimus is down. It looks like Paphira has won Brunhild over to her side. He's an abomination. Why didn't you just give up and become my puppet?
"Brunhild is not to be feared. You are not even close to the heir to the Elks' fortune, Lord Kanaza.
Hmm, of course.

　The little man in the blue robe uttered a voice without moving his lips at all. The voice that uttered was not the voice of this man. It was the voice of the evil spirit possessed by Kanaza, the Spectre.
　The little man was already unconscious and had become a puppet of Kanaza, the possessor.

'Zebeta. "Zebeta, you are to take over the work of Eptimus. Go get the Paphira. If you can't, kill him.
"Will.
'And get rid of the woman in the bed. Go sell them to the slavers as usual.

　The little man who was glancingly called Zebeta looks over at the naked woman who is passed out on the bed with white eyes. This woman is the Countess the daughter who was..... At the hands of Kanaza, this girl's father, the Count, took on a huge debt and committed suicide.
　As I recall, the Count obtained the daughter to cover the debt.

'Are you ready now?　You must have had a hard time getting your hands on it.
I don't need a dutiful woman. One night is enough.

　Kanaza tells her that she is no longer interested and leaves the room.
　Zebeta, left in the room, takes a closer look at the woman's body and sees marks here and there that look like she was whipped with a whip. She probably resisted quite a bit.
　Kanaza's possession techniques do not work on strong-minded people. This girl probably didn't have a broken heart even though she was in debt to her father.
　Hence, this daughter was the end result of Kanaza's reckless attempts to break her heart.

You are as bad at exploiting the gaps in human hearts as ever. If only you could learn the art of corrupting people's minds a little more, you could become a rare possessor.

　As he spoke his master's criticism, Zebeta lifted the woman lying on the bed into the air. Her entire body was covered in scars. Even though she was a former countess, she sighed, this was going to be a cheap buy.


　　　　　　　　　　◇ ◇ ◇


Hmmm. This is the capital of the Nokia Kingdom, that it is.

　Scurrying around, Yae looked around curiously.
　Shembala, the royal capital of Nokia, resembled the royal capital of Mismid, Berge, in terms of atmosphere. However, the buildings were not made of sun-dried bricks, but wooden pillars and stucco, making it seem more like Yisheng. Various houses lined the streets, with long triangular yellow flags fluttering here and there.
　With the transference technique of the time-space god Tokie, Yumina, Lou, Else, Linse, Yae, Hilda, Su, Lean, and Sakura, the nine fiancées of Winter Night, Princess Pafia, her maidservant Lysia, and a stuffed bear, stepped into the royal capital of Nokia.
　Princess Paphia is being pursued, so her appearance is hidden by a hooded cloak. The others have the same appearance, though.
　Since Nokia is almost an isolated country, there aren't many other ethnic groups in the country. Therefore, they stand out from the rest of the population in terms of their clothing. First of all, they had to get the clothes of this country.
　Princess Paphia also had only two or three pieces of Nokia's national clothes and they didn't fit, so she decided to buy them locally.

'Let's go in there,'

　Everyone entered the clothing store designated by the princess's handmaiden, Lysia, in a lump. The store is quite large, with a variety of colorful costumes lined up on shelves and hangers. Not only clothes, but also hats, collars and accessories were available.

Nokia's clothes are so colorful, aren't they?
Yes, yes. It's more fashionable to wear a variety of colors rather than a single color, as I've seen in the town.

　Lou murmured as he picked up the array of clothes, and Linse replied with a small nod. Of course, it would be a question of taste in color combinations. It shouldn't just be about wearing a lot of colors.

There are a lot of accessories to go with your clothes. I don't like wearing a lot of jingling," he said.

　Sue frowned as she looked at the many necklaces hanging from the bars on the wall.

'Each one has a meaning depending on the gemstone or stones you wear. For example, for men and women, agate represents a bachelor and jade represents a married person. For example, for men and women, agate represents a single man, jade represents a married man, and for men and women, tiger's eye stone represents the eldest son, and purple crystal represents the eldest daughter, and so on.
I see. So you can get some idea of the man's character at a glance?

　Yumina nodded in admiration at Lycia's explanation. However, since there was no need to stupidly and honestly talk about her profile in enemy territory, Princess Paphira decided to combine the accessories appropriately.
　She enjoyed coordinating with this color for the obi and this one for the hat in a lively manner. If Fuyu Yoru was here, he would have been frustrated by the long wait.
　After quickly deciding on his own outfit, Tokie was helping Suu, who was having a hard time getting dressed.

'Yes, this will do.'
Thank you, Grandma!

　Su hugged Tokie with a smile. Suu has become completely attached to Tokie. She has always had the temperament of a grandma's boy, so she fell in love with the kind and refined Tokie all at once. She's thinking of taking up the knitting skills that Linze and Mel are learning.
　Everyone else seemed to have finished changing their clothes for the most part. By the way, Princess Paphia and Lysia are still wearing their hooded robes.
　Underneath it, they are wearing similar outfits, but it would be a bad idea if they were exposed as princesses. Because I don't know where Kanaza's eyes are shining. Lysia doesn't necessarily know anyone else either, so she wears a hood just in case.
　If Fuyuya is there, she's about to change her appearance with the [Mirage] of non-attribute magic. If only Paphira and the others disappeared with the 【Invisible】 of light magic, they would not be recognizable from us, so that would also be troublesome. Besides, 【Invisible】 doesn't go well with densely populated places.
　When everyone finished changing, Yumina and the others paid the price and left the shop. Even on the busy street, there was a sense of being seen as a somewhat eccentric group of people, but they didn't draw any particular attention.

''Well, here's the thing,''

　As Else straightened the collar of the clothes she had just bought, she turned her attention to the Nokia Royal Castle in the distance.
　The Nokia Royal Castle is a chalk palace that rises on top of a small mountain with even higher white walls. Rather than being built on top of a mountain, it looked as if the mountain itself was a palace.
　Originally, Nokia's palace was built on the site of an ancient ruin, and according to Princess Paphira, several dungeons still exist underneath the palace. The synthetic magic she used was also learned from the magic books found in those dungeons.

''First, I have to contact my father and sister somehow...''
But there's a mastermind in the palace, this Kanaza, a warlord, isn't there?
Even those who have been turned into his puppets, that they are. The palace has become a veritable cave of witchcraft, that it has.

　Hilda and Yae replied to Princess Paphia's words.
　There are many people who know Princess Paphia in the royal palace. The risk of being discovered by Kanaza is that much greater, and if you raise the alarm too high, there may be some unrelated victims. It's not that the people controlled by Kanaza are bad people at all.

''If Fuyao-san is here, I might be able to get her to use her transference magic and sneak in, but...''

　When Linze glanced at Tokie, who was controlling the same transition magic, the kind old woman opened her mouth with a smirk on her face.

''It's true that I can send everyone into that castle, but are you guys okay with that?　After telling Fuyao-kun that we were on our own so much, isn't it a bit uncool to immediately ask for my help?
Well it's certainly a bit pathetic, isn't it?
''That's right. Let's do this without Tokie-sama's help. I'm sure we can do it.

　Everyone gave a small nod at Lou's words. In the midst of them, Sakura raised her hand with a bishoujo.

''I might be able to enter the castle with [Teleportation]. Because unlike [Gate], [Teleport] is less likely to be inhibited.''
''It's true that [Teleportation] isn't like [Gate] where you can only transfer once you've been there, but you, can you jump with more than one person like Darling?''
...Mm. One or two at a time, we can manage.
We don't know where it's going to transfer to, so the worst that could happen is that it could transfer right in front of that Kanaza, right?
Wipe...

　Teleportation] is a magic that transitions by setting the direction and distance. The setting depends largely on the sense of the magician. If it is compared to an analogy, it is similar to the act of throwing an empty can into a distant trash can.
　If it goes in by luck, it is good, but if it misses, it does not go in the aimed place. Of course, with practice you will be able to throw it in with pinpoint accuracy, but not knowing the transfer point is like being blindfolded by this.
　The reason why 【Teleport】 is not suitable for long-distance transfer is because of that kind of sensory dependence. Of course, if you don't care about the deviation to that extent within the range of visibility, it goes without saying that it's a pretty useful magic.

''It's probably best to avoid shifting poorly and being found and increasing your vigilance.
"For now, all you have to do is get in touch with them, so how about Sister Yumina or Sakura summoning a summoner to go to the royal palace?
''I can't because the magic power of the ring the king gave me is directly linked to Nyantarrow, and if I call on anyone other than Nyantarrow, I might not be able to hold my own magic power. And Nyantaro is not suited for covert action. ........You're a cat.
''I haven't signed up for a summoner for covert action either. Newly, then, I'm not sure if the girl I'm aiming for will come...
''Oh, I see. I must have misunderstood because Fuyuya did it so easily...''
''Summoned beasts aren't really known for what they summon, you know. Fuyao-san summons them at will, though.
Mm-hmm. What should we do?
Oh, um...

　Princess Paphira's hand was raised hesitantly from outside where they were discussing the matter like a well session, and everyone's eyes were drawn to it.

''Well, there's a secret passage that only the royal family knows about. If you use it, you might be able to sneak into the royal palace without anyone knowing........ I'm sorry, I couldn't find the right time to say something...!

　Paphira becomes small in the face of nine stares and silence, just to say first.

''........kohon. And what is that secret passage?''

　With one cough, Lou asked.

'It's an escape route if the enemy attacks us all the way into the castle. It's hardly ... or rather never been used at all, so I don't know much about it either.'

　Since its foundation, the Kingdom of Nokia has been almost completely isolated from the rest of the world as a fortress of the Heavenly Fortress. In the long history of the kingdom, it has been attacked many times by Euron, but never once has it been attacked as far as the royal capital. It's no wonder that the escape routes are unused.......or rather, most of them are used at the end of the country, so it would be the same in most countries.
　In order for royalty and others to escape from the royal palace, emergency escape routes and the like are always made. The castle in the Kingdom of Belfast also had one, and Brunhild's castle, which was modeled after the Belfast castle, also has one.
　Princess Paphia's proposal was to use this escape route as a reverse to sneak into the royal palace.

It's the king's escape route, that it is. Does that mean you can talk to us?
'Because it's no longer that way. Besides, this passage was originally built on part of the dungeon, so it's not suitable for an escape route. I'll rebuild it once everything is taken care of.

　It would have been right to consult with his father, the king, first. But the situation is similar to the one in which the country has already been taken over. Paphia decided that she couldn't move if she was obsessed with such trivial matters. In any case, Nokia would fall into Kanaza's hands if it continued like this. There was no way they could get the order wrong. We must first secure the safety of the father-king and sister who are lying on the floor.

"So where is the way out of here, sir?
There's a royal mine north of King's Landing. In it.
I see. All right!　Then we're off to it!
Wait, Sue. You said it was royal, right?　There should be a good amount of security in place. We'd better wait until nightfall here.
Indeed. If there are this many people hanging around such a place in the daytime, it would be a huge explosion of suspiciousness. Besides, the royal palace is probably less crowded at night.

　Yumina and Lou stop Suu from jumping out of the room with a lot of energy. Although disgruntled, Suu agreed, so she silently obeyed.

''Then what do we do for the night?''
I'll get a place to stay and sleep for the night.

　Sakura answered Else's words immediately. In a way, it was the right answer. Preserving physical strength is basic.

'But first, why don't we make a meal of it?　Since we're here, I'd love to taste some Nokia food!
'All right!　You can't fight on an empty stomach. You have to be hungry first, that you can't fight.

　Yae immediately agreed with Lou's suggestion. When it comes to food, these two have an outstanding combination.
　Yae has by far the most opportunities to eat Lou's food, which was also prepared on a trial basis at the castle. Lou would like to try a lot of trial and error, but he still hesitates to waste the ingredients.
　However, with a gluttonous Yae, no food is wasted. It is because Yae is willing to eat any dish as long as it is not an obvious failure. Besides, he would properly give his opinion on the taste, which I was grateful for as a roux.
　It was only natural that such two people would want Nokia's food.
　Everyone else had no complaints about having a meal either, so no hands were raised in opposition.

'Then how about lamb, for example? Then how about lamb, for example, which is made with sliced lamb and fresh vegetables stir-fried with sweet and spicy spices, or lamb mixed with wheat skin and wrapped in a cloth...

　Lysia, Princess Paphia's handmaiden, still wearing her hood, opens her mouth. Even though Pafia was born and lived in the royal capital, she had never been in any of the restaurants or eating places there. On the other hand, Lysia had eaten out in the royal capital several times when she was a student, so she was somewhat brighter. However, she's also from a nobleman's background, so it's still on a better level.
　Anyway, since it was decided that we would all have dinner together, we decided to move on. After that, we decided on a place to stay and spend the night in hymns.
　The decision is tonight. The long night begins.