Episode 75: Mimic
“Lady Arianna, please refrain from moving without permission. Claffy too.”
“Hmph, I suppose I have no choice.”
“I’ll at least make sure you’re both able to defend yourselves.”
Our current location is inside a violently shaking carriage, speeding along at a breakneck pace.
On the way back from the academy, the coachman of our carriage was targeted. The Knights guarding us were apparently separated from us.
Currently, inside the carriage are Ellie-san, my bodyguard, Young Lady, and myself.
“To target Lady Arianna in this situation…”
“Even though she has more than double the usual number of guards…”
Normally, there’s one Knight in the carriage and one or two on horseback around it, but lately, security has been extremely tight. We have six Knights guarding us: two in front of the carriage, two behind, and one on each side.
Furthermore, the academy has multiple Knights responsible for its defense, patrolling the grounds. And since it’s located in the Noble District, there are many other Knights and soldiers coming and going.
Despite all this, we’ve been attacked. This makes me think that her younger brothers in the domain might be in danger as well.
“Where are they taking us…?”
“They’re driving the carriage at this speed within the Royal Capital. It’s going to attract a lot of attention, you know?”
“Indeed. Or rather, it’s just plain dangerous.”
There haven’t been any impacts or collisions so far, but I hope we haven’t run over anyone.
“It seems they’re heading towards the warehouse district.”
“The warehouse district?”
“They’re probably going to hide the carriage there. What do you suggest?”
“Of course, we fight.”
Young Lady reaches for the Saber at her waist.
“I know I can’t stop you…”
“Hey, try to persuade her with me!”
Ellie-san is giving up!
“But Lady Arianna is stronger than me these days.”
“That’s right!”
“It’s not about strength, you know!?”
She used to be an Adventurer, so she’s susceptible to the idea of strength determining everything!
“However, they’ve gathered quite a few people. It’s bound to be conspicuous.”
“Indeed. The carriage is already surrounded.”
It’s a runaway carriage. Although we’re moving fast, the guys on horseback around us are faster.
It seems all our Knights have been separated. Looking out the carriage window, I see many of them grinning lewdly at us.
“…I suppose I should reduce their numbers.”
“Eh?”
“It’s not like I prepared this for times like these, but…”
She takes out a bow and arrow from her Magic Bag.
“Here goes.”
She aims for the legs of the horses closest to the front through the window! The arrow pierces the base of the horse’s leg, and it collapses, neighing.
“Huh!?”
“Hey! Don’t push it this way!”
“That’s dangerous!”
“Don’t stop!”
She aims the arrow at the horse on the opposite side in the same way. The thugs’ expressions twist in fear, but it’s too late.
“Hmph!”
That horse also falls, dragging the horses behind it down with it. The horses around the carriage neigh and shake, causing the surrounding horses to collide with each other. It’s complete chaos.
“While we’re at it, the carriage too… Ellie-san, can you handle a carriage?”
“I might be able to make it walk slowly, but I don’t know the detailed signals.”
“I see. Same here.”
Using telekinesis, I slowly pull the carriage back. I’d like to eliminate the coachman, but the horse is already running wild. Completely losing control would be bad.
I don’t do it too strongly, as it would put too much strain on the horse. It’s our horse, after all.
“Has the speed decreased a bit?”
“The number of people around us has decreased too.”
“Let’s jump out. There’s no need to go all the way to where the enemy is waiting.”
“Mm.”
“Understood.”
Just in case, I attach a Transmitter to the carriage.
“Synchronize with me!”
“Mm!”
We synchronize and jump out of the carriage together. I catch Young Lady in mid-air and hold her in a princess carry. Creating footholds with Barriers, we jump over the heads of the surrounding thugs.
We land on the roof of a nearby building, out of reach of the horses.
“““Damn it!”””
While the thugs are distracted by us, Ellie-san escapes. She looked surprised when she saw us, but immediately ran off in a different direction. She has a high sense of danger.
I put Young Lady down and look towards the Noble District.
“Let’s move.”
“Aren’t you going to fight?”
“It’s probably pointless. Let’s return to the Noble District for now. Please go ahead.”
Even if we fought here, the mastermind wouldn’t be among them. The only possibility is the coachman, perhaps?
“Wait!”
“Don’t move!”
Even in the chaos, some are calmly watching us. They might dismount and chase us, but we have the advantage in mobility since we can create footholds with Barriers.
We move from building to building. Where there are wide gaps, we create footholds with Barriers, never touching the ground as we make our way to the Noble District.
“Lady Arianna!”
“Worgen!”
Knights Order Commander Worgen, leading a cavalry unit, had just arrived on the main street, having heard of the emergency.
“Cladfield! Well done! Young Lady, please get on the horse!”
“Mm.”
“You men, chase after the thugs! Capture as many as possible! Cladfield, run back here!”
“Understood. The thugs are heading in that direction, towards the warehouse district.”
“Did you hear that!? Go!”
“““Yes, sir!”””
Knights Order Commander Worgen secures Young Lady and rides off.
I also returned to the mansion as quickly as possible. Ellie-san also returned safely.
It seems the only injuries were to the escort Knights who were with us from the start, and the coachman. Fortunately, there were no fatalities.
Some of the thugs who were injured in the horse accident and left behind were captured, but… I wonder if they’ll lead us to the mastermind.
“The carriage came back, huh.”
It was the carriage that I had attached the Transmitter to, but it was abandoned on the road. It was quite a chaotic situation, but I couldn’t attach it to a person because I didn’t know who the leader was.
The captured thugs were all residents of the slum or Adventurer dropouts. It seems they were gathered because they could ride horses.
Right now, they’re investigating the origin of the horses.
Gathering that many horses is quite difficult. The only places in the Royal Capital with that many horses are the Knights Order and the military headquarters.
The nobles each keep horses at their mansions, but not in such large numbers. Since they brought in so many horses, it’s highly likely that they came into the Royal Capital from outside.
“Does that mean it was a planned crime?”
It’s not surprising that our guards were eliminated. There aren’t any exceptionally skilled people among them, and they’re not constantly training in mounted combat.
The bigger problem is that the patrolling Knights and soldiers were suppressed. Under normal circumstances, they would be on the same patrol route, but now, at our request, the number of patrols has increased more than usual.
Even so, the fact that they were aware of it means that someone in a position to know the patrol routes of the Knights and soldiers is involved.
It’s all very troublesome.
“Your Majesty, if necessary, we can call for reinforcements from the Village?”
“How much fighting power are you planning to bring in…? Absolutely not.”
“At least the Onmitsu.”
“No!”
I’m sure we could resolve the situation quickly by bringing in the Onmitsu from the Village, but that would be problematic. Ryuga seems to still have some common sense, but if the other members went on a rampage where I couldn’t reach them, there would be no one to stop them.
Only Asahi and the children below her haven’t undergone physical enhancement.
“Ugh, this is a pain. It’s a drag to think about it and resolve it… Besides, it’s not like I need to resolve it. As long as Young Lady is safe, anything is fine.”
“You’re being reckless.”
“Shut up.”
I throw a piece of candy at Ryuga while licking one I recently made. He catches it and puts it in his mouth.
He seems to have a secret sweet tooth.
“We will deal with anything that exceeds our acceptable range.”
“I know.”
Ryuga is my bodyguard. After many twists and turns, I decided to accept it.
The reason is simple: I lack the ability to separate him from me.
He usually lurks in my shadow. He has something called a shadow space, which is similar to my Hakoniwa. He can bring things into it, so I gave him a container house and a Support Drone.
By the way, he was surprised that something so big could fit inside. I was surprised too.
There’s no end to the charging equipment and other things I could give him, so I just provided him with a comfortable living environment. Only he can enter it, so I don’t know how he uses it inside, but he hasn’t asked for any additional food, so I guess he’s making good use of it.
“Then shall we go now?”
“I’ll get a win today for sure.”
“I look forward to it.”
Another reason I’m tolerating Ryuga is that he’s become my training partner.
The village chief was able to continue living in the Black Forest, even in its shallower parts. He’s also the leader of the Onmitsu, the combat group there, and the most powerful among them.
His strength, enhanced by both physical augmentation and magical power, rivals Barbatos-san. In a straight-up Mock Battle, Barbatos-san has the edge, but in a fight to the death, I’d bet on Ryuga-san.
I opened my Hakoniwa and moved inside.
Switching the SB Lance to Mock Battle mode, we both took our stances.
“Hmph!”
There’s no signal to start. My attack is the signal for the battle to begin.
I released the Weight Magic and slashed! He’ll engage in a sword fight, but if I make a wrong move, I’ll be rolled, countered, and thrown around mercilessly.
Training with someone stronger is a constant stream of realizations. Like Dad and Aniki, and Barbatos-san, he uses a Sword, but this guy changes the length of his SB Lance during the fight, so I can never get used to it.
Yeah. I got thoroughly thrashed again today. I’ll take a bath and go to bed.
“I heard about what happened yesterday. Is it really alright for you to come to the academy under such circumstances?”
“Yes. I heard you went through quite the ordeal.”
“I thought I was going to collapse when I heard the story.”
“Yeah, well. I’m fine. Sorry for making you worry.”
The Young Lady, looking annoyed by the entourage that has been growing lately, walks through the academy’s corridors with them in tow.
The connection isn’t that deep, but they were originally classmates, so she can’t treat them coldly.
Though some daughters of marquises and their close aides are mixed in.
“But you’re putting on a brave face, aren’t you? Are you really alright?”
“Master was originally planning to have Young Lady take a day off today, but it seems the upper echelons of the Kingdom Knights Order got involved. An escort came to pick her up.”
“An escort?”
“It’s a fact that Young Lady was almost kidnapped in the heart of the Kingdom Knights Order.”
A normal noble’s daughter would probably choose to stay home from the academy, feeling uneasy. But our Young Lady is a fighting Young Lady. She’s the kind of person who, upon seeing the knights who came to escort her, would say she wants to spar with them.
Since there were knights who actually heard those words, the option of letting her rest disappeared.
Besides, Master judged that with this level of security, it was safer than the mansion.
In fact, the security getting to and from the academy is literally impenetrable. It’s at the level of protecting royalty.
I felt a little out of place, though.
“So that procession was from the Cybarossa House.”
“That’s right. I thought it was pointless to use a carriage when it’s like that.”
Even though it’s a carriage ride, it’s surrounded by heavily armed knights. Furthermore, the number of people has increased, so the travel speed is slow.
I almost thought it would be faster to walk.
“…Young Lady, no. Ladies, please all step back. Each guard should protect their respective master, and if possible, please leave the classroom.”
As I entered the classroom and approached the table that the Young Lady always uses, I noticed something was wrong.
“Cladfield?”
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen a Mimic-type.”
“““Mimic!?”””
“Yes. A Monster that imitates objects.”
I stepped in front of the Young Lady and drew the Nata from my waist.
“Is that the kind that pretends to be treasure chests in Dungeons?”
“This is a Mimic from the natural world. The ones in the natural world can transform into anything.”
Mimics in Dungeons are famous for taking the form of treasure chests. It’s unknown where they copy that shape from, but there are many Mimics that actually look like treasure chests.
In contrast, there are also Mimics that exist normally in the natural world. They transform into rocks, trees, and even mud or puddles. Since the size of the main body is fixed, even if they mimic something of the exact same shape, the size is often different. If there are two things of different sizes next to each other, one of them is a Mimic.
By the way, if you observe carefully, you can tell by the fact that they are breathing.
“Hiss!”
“Gyaaa!”
Since everyone around had moved away, I slashed down with the Nata in one go. The three-seater table split in two. And the Mimic spurted blood, screamed, and lost its color.
“It can be cut normally, huh.”
“There’s usually a Magic Stone in the center, so it’s good to avoid attacking there. They can transform into hard things, so they tend to be thought of as hard, but they’re actually quite soft.”
They transform to look exactly like the real thing, but when you touch them, the material is obviously different. Also, perhaps because they’re living things, they’re lukewarm.
“I see. I wanted to try it out.”
“Well, maybe next time… They’re not that strong of a Monster, so as long as you’re not caught off guard, they’re not much of a threat.”
“I see. But it’s good that there was no damage.”
“That’s true. But how did it get in? Normally, it would bite anyone who got close.”
I wonder if Mimics can be tamed like Mounts?
“Kalinka, please call the teacher who should be arriving soon. Also, report that there was a Monster inside the academy.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Ah, that’s helpful.
“More importantly, Cladfield, there’s something I want to ask you.”
“Yes? What is it?”
“Can this be eaten?”
“…Well, there are some types that can be eaten.”
I don’t know if this one is an edible type. And it’s evidence, so I won’t let you eat it.
After that, the academy was naturally closed. Well, it can’t be helped in a situation where Monsters are placed inside the academy.
By the way, I was also suspected. That I discovered the Monster too quickly, that it was suspicious that I knew just by looking at it.
I ended up waiting for the Kingdom Knights Order to pick me up, just like in the morning, so I received various criticisms during that time.
Thanks to that, the Young Lady is in a very bad mood.
Certainly, Mimics are good at erasing their presence, but they don’t disappear completely like Ryuga-san. In the first place, a table that breathes and has a heartbeat is strange, there’s no way I wouldn’t notice.
It might be hard to notice in normal life, but I’m at the academy as the Young Lady’s guard. There’s no way I wouldn’t notice that level of discomfort.
I was asked by the knight stationed at the academy about how to identify Mimics, so I honestly told them. It seems they have to investigate the entire academy after this. Good luck with that.