A group of twelve people, only women, slithered down the road at night, holding their breath.
　Fortunately or unfortunately, there is moonlight tonight and it's not so dark. Nevertheless, if we didn't proceed carefully, there was a chance that we would be trapped.
　We were able to sneak into the royal family-owned mine north of the Nokia Royal Capital without difficulty. The mine was almost completely exhausted of all the valuable ore and was almost completely unused.

This way. There's an entrance this way that leads to the ruins underneath the palace.

　Following Princess Paphia's guidance, we saw what looked like a tunnel that had been hardened with earth magic through the rocks in one corner of the mine.
　The tunnel was about three meters high and extended down into the basement. Naturally, the back of the tunnel was completely dark and nothing could be seen.

''Light, come, little light, light.''

　Linse produces a small ball of light in the palm of her hand. Using that light, we descended a bumpy but gentle descent and came to a slightly wider tunnel.
　The path is a junction, with paths leading to the left and right. Just at the intersection, Paphira's feet stopped.

''This place........ should be here. There should be an underground passage ahead. It looks like it's not allowed to be entered from this side.''
Is there a pathway down there?　It looks like an ordinary rock wall, that it is...

　Yae mumbles as she touches the rock wall incessantly. In the same way, Lean is also touching and tapping the rock wall with a conk.

''It doesn't seem like they're using illusions to create the illusion of a rock wall like [Mirage]. I wonder if they're going to crush it and proceed normally.
''There's a magic stone in the passage over there that reacts to the magic of the royalty, and that's the key that opens the door here...''
'Oh, I see. So you're using earth magic.

　Lean nodded a small nod of approval. Since ancient times, traps and gimmicks caused by earth magic have been common in these underground ruins and dungeons. This must be one of them.

''What do we do now?　Crumble?
Blow it up with Explosions, right?

　The older sister, Else, clenches her fist, and the younger sister, Linse, tries to activate her magic. Is it because they are twins that their thoughts are similar in some way or another?

''It might not be a good idea to break this place. And it will leave traces that someone has broken in.

　As Yumina replies with a wry smile at the twins' actions, Sakura picks up a stone at her feet and begins to pound on the rock wall. With a quizzical look on her face, Sue calls out to her.

'What are you doing here?'
It's hitting rocks.
No, that's obvious when you see it, but...
'There is a difference in the sound that resonates. It's not fifty centimeters thick. This one can 'jump'. [Teleportation]

　The cherry blossoms disappear in a huff.

''Ah!''

　While everyone except Tokie was surprised, a few seconds later, Sakura reappeared in her original place.

''It's okay. There's a dungeon passage ahead. There doesn't seem to be any demonic beasts around, so we can jump with two of them at a time.''
'What?　Oops, Sakura-dono!
Sakura-san?
[Teleportation]

　With a shuffle, the cherry blossoms that Yae and Hilda had withdrawn from their hands disappear again. They were the first to choose these girls in case something happened to them in the transition.
　When Sakura came back, she next shook Leanne and Lou's hands and transitioned again.
　Paphia and Lisia, Yumina and Sue, Else and Linse, and then Sakura transitioned everyone to the other side of the wall, one after another. Tokie transitioned by herself, though.

''I'm.......tired.''

　Sakura looks not too tired for that. In fact, I'm not that tired.
　The magic power consumed by 【Teleport】 is determined by its distance. It also depends on the number of people you jump with, but everyone knew that an instantaneous movement with a distance of less than one meter would not consume that much magic power. Sakura's 'tired' comment was probably a mental fatigue from the control of detailed coordinates.

''Hmm. It certainly feels like a dungeon of ruins.

　Su scurried around the area and gave his impressions. The wall at the dead end had an earth attribute magic stone embedded in it. I'm sure the rock wall will open up when the magic power is poured into it.
　The underground passage looked exactly like the dungeon on the remote island owned by Brunhild. The walls and floor made of stone, clearly an artifact made of earth magic. Even without being illuminated by Linze's [Light], a bone-dry light was generated from the stone.

''Could it be that the light magic was synthesized when the stone was made with earth magic...?''
Synthetic magic. I think it's an ancient magical civilization in its time.

　Linse and Lean consider this as they touch the stone wall. The underground passageway stretched straight and turned to the right.
　With Yae and Hilda leading the way, they steadily advanced through the stone passage. The passageway was about four meters wide and four meters high, and it wasn't too narrow to wield a weapon.
　Youmina asks Princess Paphia, who is walking ahead of her.

''This underground passage was originally a dungeon of ruins, right?
'It's part of the dungeon, to be exact. There's an entryway into the dungeon of the ruins from underneath the palace.
'The dungeon and the palace are connected...?　Is he okay?　Demons and other things entering the palace...
Don't worry. There are multiple wards on the side of the palace to keep the demons out. Demons do appear in this passage, but they are all weak demons like slime.

　That's a relief, right?　As Paphira smiled at them, Yumina, Else, Linse, and Yae stopped in a jittery manner.

''Let's crush the slime as soon as we find it...''
Well. Thoroughly....
Every last one of them, sir.
A killer to watch, that it is.

　The eyes of the four mumbling people were completely set.
　In the past, the four of them had experienced a terrible experience with slime and have hated slime ever since.
　Princess Paphira, who didn't know such a situation, gave a drawn-out smile at the four who had suddenly changed their mood and backed off a bit.

''Ah, it's the slime,''
"[Ice pierce, freeze needle, ice needle]

　As soon as Sue found the green slime in front of her, an ice needle was released from Linze. The slime, which instantly turned into a hedgehog, was nuked on the spot and easily survived.

''It's scary...''
Green slime is the enemy of women, sir. He's with Kanaza.
A woman?
'Green slimes like to eat fibers from clothing and other things. They are the natural enemy of female adventurers.

　Leanne explained to Suu, who twisted her head. Sue nodded as if she was convinced and ran to everyone walking ahead.
　Then, although there were some stairs to climb and some forks in the road, Yumina and the others continued on the road to the royal palace almost without hesitation.
　One of the reasons for this was that Princess Paphira had remembered this path well.
　I'm sure you've been thinking about this possibility for some time now, and my sister, Leffia, has made me repeat it. Although she never would have thought that it would be an invasion route to defeat Kanaza instead of an escape route.

'A fork in the road...'
Uh ... left. Over there.

　The delay in answering Hilda, who is leading the way, is due to the reverse of the directions we learned. Following Paphira's instructions, they all turn to the left corridor.

'It's quite a long way, you know. I think we've already made quite a bit of progress, but...''
We're almost there. They should have reached the basement of the palace by now.
'I see..... Then it's best to proceed carefully from here on out, right?

　Linse, who had relatively little strength, regained her spirits after hearing Paphia's answer. It's true that no slime or other demons have appeared at all since just now. The influence of the wards put up in the royal palace must have already appeared.
　After a while, Yae and Hilda, who were leading the way, stopped.

''What's going on?''

　Lou, who was behind him, looked forward with a hint of a smile over his eighteenth shoulder. There was a single staircase stretching out in front of them, but it had disappeared, hitting the ceiling in the middle.

'The end point, that is?'

　Climbing up the stairs, Yae tapped on the ceiling.

'It sounds different. That ceiling is probably thin.'

　A voice from the cherry blossoms caused Yae to examine the ceiling closely and found a slight seam in the square. Paphira, who was behind her, opened her mouth.

'The top of it must lead to the now unused royal palace room.
I see. Then all you have to do is to lift it up, that is.　

　When Yae reached up to the ceiling and put her hands on the ceiling and put some effort into it, the square stone shifted slightly and lifted upwards. But even if it's thin, a stone is a stone. It seems to be quite heavy, and Yae's face turned red as she tried to lift it, but it was difficult to lift it.

''Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!
Hello, Yae?　Your face is getting a little hard to see!
Buh-ha!

　Yae breaks her knees at the sound of Hilda's voice, exhausting her strength. Seeing this, Else stepped forward, waving her arms in the air.

I'm going to be able to leave this kind of thing to me. I'll lift you up in one shot.
Nuh. It's a shame...

　Batting lightly with Else, Yae descended the stairs.
　Like Yae, she put her hand on the stone on the ceiling and Else let out a single breath.

''[Boost]!

　Gagogo!　And then there was the sound of a stone shifting, and at once the stone above Else's head was lifted.
　What Else saw as she lifted the stone and stood up was a dimly lit room.
　Else lowered the lifted stone to the front and crawled out of the hole. It was only when she turned around that she realized she had crawled out of the fireplace.
　It certainly seemed to be an unused room, and there was little in the way of furnishings. The inside of the fireplace was empty, too.
　He carefully examined the area and made sure there was no one around.

It seems to be okay. Come on up.
[wind thwarted, silence coming, mute]

　Lean magic was released from the basement as Else's voice was answered. With this, the noise in the room could not be heard outside.
　It was a wind magic that had an effect similar to the unattributed magic [Silence] used by Fuyuyoru found in Babylon's 'Library'.
　One by one, everyone crawled out of the fireplace. Although only Sakura and Tokie were able to transition.

''We've managed to break in, right?''
What's next?
I will tell your father and sister Leffia what happened and ask them to take refuge somewhere. And then I'll take Kanaza by my own hand...!

　Gulp, Paphia clasped her hands. The flames of anger swirled in her eyes.

''So, where is His Majesty the King's room?''
The bedroom is on the third floor, at the far end of the room. Uh.....

　Paphira runs through the dimly lit room, answering Else, and makes her way to the window. She opens the closed curtains slightly.

'See, I can see it from here. It's the farthest room on that third floor.''

　The courtyard spread out in the moonlight in the front window where Paphia stood, and Paphia pointed to the building diagonally to the left.

'That's surprisingly close,'
"As far as I can see, I can jump [teleport].

　Sakura peers through the window at the king's sleeping quarters and checks the distance. Unlike 【Gate】, 【Teleport】 doesn't interfere with the destination of the transition, so it won't be inhibited by protection and so on. The question is whether there is someone other than the king at the destination of the jump.......

''It's probably okay. Even the people in my father's belly and the maids were not allowed to approach us because of Kanaza's orders. The only people who were allowed to enter were us sisters and our doctor. Of course, our doctor was Kanaza's puppet, but...

　The fact that his doctor is a puppet means that he can kill the king at any time. Or he could continue in such a desperate situation and wait for the king's heart to weaken.

''Then Sakura-san and transitioning will be Paphia-san and.......Lean-san. When you transition, you'll have to [Mute] just like in the room here.
Yeah. I get it.

　Sakura takes Paphia and Leanne's hands. Paula, by the way, also clings tightly to Leanne's leg. I firmly check the king's sleeping quarters that can be seen from the window.

''[Teleportation]'

　In an instant, the three of us transition to another room. It was just as dimly lit as the room before. They seemed to have transitioned to the edge of the room, with a wall behind them and a large canopied bed in front of them.

''[Wind thwarted, silence coming, mute.

　Without a moment's hesitation, Lean activates the blocking magic. The person who reacted to that action was not Sakura or Paphia, but someone else.

''Who!''

　With a slamming sound, the person who seemed to be beside the bed stood up and turned to me and said who or what it was.
　It's not the king. It's a woman's voice. It seems that a different person was in the room than the king who was asleep on the bed. Before Lean could unleash her magic to neutralize the opponent, Paphira ran out beside her.

''Sister Leffia-sama!
"Paphia...?　You're a Paphia!　Ah, well, you're safe...!

　From Leanne's place, she looked only thinly boned, but it seemed to be Paphia's sister's first princess, Lefia.
　Leffia hugged Paphia tightly as she jumped into her chest. It was the first time in three months that they had met.
　Three months ago, Kanaza had made up a fake corpse and told her that Paphia was dead, but Leffia hadn't been the least bit disturbed. She would never mistake her sister for anyone else, no matter how much they looked alike. She had always believed that the absence of her own body meant that her sister was still alive.
　I hug the precious treasure in my heart that my sister was alive after all.
　In the moonlight, Leffia, the first princess of the Kingdom of Nokia, looks a lot like Paphia in her face.
　She was over twenty years old in the year 2000, dressed in white Nokia's traditional dress, and had the same long chestnut-colored hair as Paphia's, which grew to her waist. Her eyes were not as sharp as Paphia's, but she seemed to be a strong woman to the core.

''Apparently it's all right. Leave it to me to bring everyone here.''
"Hm.

　Sakura gave a small nod at Linse's words and she alone disappeared from the room.
　In less than thirty seconds, this time Sakura with Else and Linse reappeared, and only the person himself disappeared again. Seeing the strangers appearing in the king's bedchamber one after another, Lefia rolled her eyes.

''Paphia.......who are these people?''
These are my collaborators, the betrothed of His Majesty King Brunhild.
'What?　Even that old man!
Oh, no, that's His Majesty's grandmother...

　Paphia hurriedly corrects Lefia's wide-eyed look at Tokie, who had transitioned on her own before she knew it. Maybe it's natural.
　Leffia looks at the total of nine fiancées, excluding Tokie and Paphia's maidservant, Lisia, and is almost speechless at the number of them.
　Since the destruction of Yuron, glimpses of information from the outside world had begun to come in, but the most talked about topic was still the Duchy of Brunhild, which had (supposedly) destroyed the hated Heavenly Empire of Euron. There are countless anecdotes about the duke.
　He single-handedly defeated a huge demon, led a small army to defeat a group of dragons, kidnapped a princess from the Demon Kingdom, crushed a military power in the New World, and so on.
　However, the most common story I hear among them is the rumor that "the king is an unparalleled lover of women". It's said that he 'loves heroics,' but partly because of Kanaza, Leffia didn't have a very good image of King Brunhild.
　Unlike Kanaza, though, I only appreciated the fact that in the case of the Lord King, he seemed to have expressed his intention to properly welcome her as his wife and treat her with great care.

''It's Lefia-sama, isn't it?''
Oh, yes.
"Your Highness, Warlord Kanaza has used a summoned beast to target His Majesty's betrothed in our country. Therefore, it is a truism that the Warlord Kanaza will be rewarded for his actions. Lady Paphira seemed to be in trouble, so I came to assist you.

　Yumina spoke to Leffia in a somewhat mischievous tone. When Leffia heard Yumina's words, she bowed her head deeply. It was a declaration of Kanaza's defeat after knowing all about the Nokia situation. There is no ally as powerful as this.

''Thank you........!　As Princess of Nokia, I thank you and Brunhild for your support...!
"Brunhild.... You can't interrupt Kanaza-sama........ I won't forgive you......... I can't forgive you........

　Suddenly, a voice that seems to resonate from the depths of the earth echoes in the area. The room is [muted]. In other words, the voice is originating from inside, the room.

''There it is!''

　A white blur rose from the king's mouth as he lay on the bed, to which Yumina pointed.
　The blur gradually grew larger and larger, and within it floated what looked like two glowing golden eyes. The figure had the same shape as the dead spirit "Spectre" that rampaged in Brunhild.