I want to see Viro-san’s good side.
“……It’s cold today.”
The season is past spring, but the nights can still be chilly. Looking up at the sky of the Magic Academy, which had begun to darken past twilight, a man wearing janitor’s overalls in a slovenly manner opened the lid of a copper water bottle and poured a mouthful of the liquid inside down his throat.
The contents of the water bottle were alcohol distilled from fruit wine. It might seem insincere to bring such a thing while on duty, but distilled alcohol can be used to disinfect wounds, as a stimulant, and in small amounts like this, it can also regulate body temperature, making it an essential item for an Adventurer who acts alone.
“……Should I stop?”
He wanted to take another sip to ward off the unseasonal chill, but Viro restrained himself, grimacing, as any more would interfere with his work.
Viro of the Rainbow Sword, one of the most prominent Adventurer parties in this country, had infiltrated the academy as a janitor to serve as a bodyguard for the princess, who had become a student.
Within the Rainbow Sword, only Viro, who could blend in anywhere naturally, and Aria, who wouldn’t seem out of place within the academy, were assigned to this mission. Aria, being the same gender and age as the princess, would protect her from the side, while Viro would be responsible for perimeter security and information gathering. Even so, when the princess returned to her residence, the Royal Knights would take over the guard duty, but with Aria away from the academy to subjugate Grave this time, Viro was subtly maintaining vigilance around the area at night as well.
If it were just attackers hired by a mid-level noble, the Royal Knights alone would suffice. In the first place, an attack at the academy near the Royal Capital would involve political risks for the attackers, so it was unlikely to happen.
Even so, there were cases where those who couldn’t read the situation or those with a grudge would send skilled assassins they had trained, but they would never reach Aria, who was guarding the princess, and would be dealt with by Viro and the Shadow Unit.
(……Something’s off.)
Viro put the copper water bottle in his pocket, and instead touched his mithril dagger with his finger, muttering to himself in his mind. This chill wasn’t just because of the temperature. Viro’s intuition, cultivated in the line of death for many years, sensed a stagnant unease in the atmosphere, and switched his consciousness from vigilance to battle.
The number of personnel from the Shadow Unit had increased due to the Second Knight Order’s rebellion that had occurred before. It was still just Viro’s vague intuition, but in preparation for something really happening, Viro left instructions to raise the alert in the Shadow Unit’s communication network and rushed alone to the residence where the princess was.
＊＊＊
“……What’s wrong?”
Near the forest on the north side of the academy, one of the academy knights who was patrolling there on horseback with a partner, turned to his colleague who had stopped his horse.
“No, something……”
The deep forest surrounding the academy as if rejecting people, especially the north side, was dark even during the day due to the dense trees. Wolves and wild dogs that had strayed from there would occasionally appear, and the academy knights patrolled frequently, but the knight who stopped his horse felt a chill coming from deep within the forest.
The moment he turned to his colleague who had called out to him to convey that unease, that colleague was attacked by a black shadow that jumped out of the forest.
“What!?”
In front of the astonished knight, his colleague was bitten in the neck without being able to make a sound, and collapsed like a withered tree in an instant. The attacking black shadow revealed its true form by showing its bright red eyes and blood-soaked fangs in the dim light, and the moment he identified it, he was bitten by two shadows that jumped out of the dark forest again and lost his life in an instant.
“Let’s go.”
When one of them called out, the two who were greedily sucking blood raised their blood-covered faces.
They knew where their target was. They had even postponed sucking blood until now, but now that they had come this far, there should be no one who could stop them. The vampires, convinced of this, began to move through the academy, which had become dark as night had completely fallen, like specters.
“Gyah!?”
The Evil Race vampires, Gostola and his group, killed the academy knights they encountered along the way without hiding, as they passed by.
Even if their strength had diminished somewhat due to this forced march, they were no match for knights of Rank 2 or so. More than that, the information obtained from their new collaborator, the ‘Noble Lady,’ included information about the academy’s security, which helped to shorten their travel time.
In the short time they spent running through the academy, the Evil Race, who had sunk their fangs into six academy knights and several unlucky students with bad behavior who were out at this hour, finally reached the mansion where the princess was.
The princess’s guards consisted of ten Royal Knights, one squad, and several soldiers who served as attendants to the knights. And only the Shadow Unit’s guard maid and the old butler who were by the princess’s side. It was less than half the number compared to the Crown Prince, but that was probably because there were many who saw the princess as a danger and there were few they could trust.
But the number that was only for show was meaningless. The girl called the ‘Ash-Covered Princess,’ who was considered the most troublesome in the academy, as well as the princess’s guards, was not here now.
At this hour, only two Royal Knights and two soldiers were guarding the outside of the mansion. Since crossing the wall surrounding the mansion would take time due to the magical defenses, Gostola and his group decided to use their abilities to force their way through.
“Goh!?”
A chakram released by the middle-aged Evil Race split the forehead of one of the soldiers, killing him instantly.
“What?”
“An attack!”
The remaining soldier ran to the mansion to call his comrades, and the Royal Knights immediately raised their shields and deflected the chakram that was released at the soldier’s back.
“You guys!”
“Could it be the Evil Race!?”
Gostola bared his fangs as if laughing at the knights’ challenge.
“I won’t tell you to get out of the way. You guys should protect the princess and go to the afterlife first.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I won’t let you go to Her Highness!”
“Wait!”
The young Royal Knight raised his shield and sword and ran towards Gostola, and before the other knight could stop him, a female Evil Race wielding two kukri-like knives slipped through the shield and slashed the young knight’s side.
“Guah.”
“A sweet smell……It’s a pity I can’t suck your blood because there’s no time.”
“A Vampire!?”
The Evil Race here were chosen from the Vampire Clan. All of them had strength close to Rank 4 even before becoming vampires, and their combat power had doubled as a result of becoming vampires.
“Now, die. We’ll all go there eventually.”
The knights felt an extraordinary resolve in the female Evil Race’s voice and words. Just as the kukri knife was raised before the other knight could even approach, Gostola suddenly moved and swung his one-armed sword.
Clang!!
The deflected throwing knife pierced the ground, and a man appeared from the darkness beyond it.
“Are you safe!?”
“Sir Viro!”
Hope lit up the knights’ faces at the appearance of Viro, a high-ranking Adventurer. At the same time, several knights appeared from the mansion, and the female Evil Race clicked her tongue openly as the situation changed drastically.
“Gostola-sama, Garii. Leave this to me and go ahead.”
“……I’m counting on you.”
Gostola called out to the female Evil Race, and the middle-aged Evil Race called Garii nodded deeply, and the two headed towards the mansion as if jumping over the heads of the knights who had rushed over.
“What is that physical ability!?”
“They’re Vampires!”
“Tch.”
Clang!
The female Evil Race’s kukri stopped Viro, who heard that and tried to chase after them, and Viro’s dagger deflected it.
“I was entrusted with this. There’s no way I’ll let you go.”
“Damn it, you guys chase after those guys! Don’t let them get close to Her Highness!”
When Viro scolded the knights who were momentarily bewildered by the inhuman physical abilities, the knight captain, who quickly regained his senses, bowed to Viro.
“Sorry, Sir Viro, I’m leaving this to you!”
“Yeah!”
“I won’t let you go either–”
This time, Viro’s throwing knife stopped the female Evil Race from throwing her kukri knife at those knights.
“There’s no way I’ll let you go.”
“You human rabble……”
“【Light】!”
The other knight, who had dragged the knight who had been slashed in the side away, used 【Light】.
It wouldn’t be a problem if it was just Viro, but if the opponent was a vampire who lived in the darkness, it was meaningless for humans to fight in the dark. But the knights gasped at the figure of the female Evil Race illuminated by that light, and Viro spat out the words as if sighing.
“Tch, to think my opponent would be such a beauty, my luck’s run out. I’m not good with women.”
“…Even in this state?”
A young woman with black skin and silver hair. But her skin, which must have been beautiful, was burned and ravaged, a miserable sight that even a vampire couldn’t regenerate.
Probably the aftereffects of moving during the day. She had chosen to move through the dark forest, but even a sliver of sunlight could mercilessly bring ruin to a vampire. Still, she had managed to reach this point thanks to her regeneration as a high-level vampire, and her determination that overcame even the pain of her body.
Even with such a battered body, her Rank 4 skills and physical abilities hadn’t disappeared. Even though she was clearly at a disadvantage if they fought head-on, Viro grinned as if to encourage himself.
“True beauty can’t be hidden by scars, you know?”
“…An interesting man.”
The Evil Race woman smiled faintly with just her lips, then faced Viro, wielding two kukri knives.
“My name is Restes. I’ll give you a serious fight from now on.”
“Don’t let them get to Her Highness!”
The Royal Knights desperately tried to stop the two Evil Race members heading for Princess Elena.
If a normal assailant were to invade the mansion, they would try to hold them off while the Royal Family escaped, but if it was night and the opponents were vampires, the standard practice was to hole up in the depths of the mansion.
“Gah!”
Gostola’s longsword deflected a knight’s shield, and Garii’s chakram slashed through the soldiers.
Some were dead, others still breathing. But Gostola and the others prioritized securing the Princess over finishing off those who had fallen.
“You shall not pass!”
“Then show your loyalty by displaying your corpses.”
The only knights still standing on their own two feet in this place were the six who had once gone to the Dungeon to protect Elena. Having experienced fighting a Rank 5 Minotaur Brute, they were enduring Gostola’s fierce attacks, who possessed equivalent combat abilities, but it seemed only a matter of time before their wall would crumble.
“Uoooooh!”
“Haaaaah!”
The shield of the Knight Captain and Gostola’s sword collided and clashed. The knights had a combat power of nearly 500, which was high for Rank 3, but they couldn’t withstand Gostola’s attacks, who had a combat power of nearly 2000 with just one arm, and were blown away along with the knights behind them.
“…Guh.”
“Gostola-sama!”
But Gostola, who had overexerted himself on the journey so far, also knelt down, letting out a groan of pain, and Garii, who had defeated the soldiers, rushed to his side.
“…I’m fine. Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
“…Wa, wait.”
The Knight Captain, still breathing, reached out his hand as he lay fallen, and Garii kicked it away. When he opened the door to the last, most secure room, Elena was in the back of the room, holding a small knife, with her old butler and bodyguard maid standing in front of her, wielding swords as if to protect her.
Elena held the knife to commit suicide as a last resort. As a member of the Royal Family, she had been educated to choose death rather than have her body used.
“…Hoh.”
Gostola couldn’t help but let out a voice of admiration at Elena, who was still not dead.
The strength in her eyes was the strength of her will. The strength of her heart to resist until the very last moment convinced him that their plan to take her would lead to the weakening of this country, and that their life-risking plan was not wrong.
It wasn’t just the old butler and bodyguard maid who were protecting Elena. Even the ordinary maids, who clearly had no combat training, were trembling but surrounding her of their own volition to protect the Princess.
“Princess. If you obediently fall into my hands, I will spare the lives of those people.”
“Nonsense. I will not allow you to mock the resolve of these people.”
“…My apologies.”
Gostola, narrowing his eyes as if looking at something dazzling, readied his sword, and Garii silently took out his chakram, causing the ordinary maids who saw it to let out stifled screams.
Elena recalled a certain girl who had once promised ‘not to give up’…, and suddenly, she felt something and turned her face towards the window.
Outside the window, there was a black beast running through the darkness. Cutting through the wind, slashing through the darkness, the black beast ran like an arrow, and when it braked as if gouging the earth, the figure clinging to its tail was thrown off by the recoil, breaking through the large window on the second floor and jumping into the room.
Crash!
Amidst the scattering fragments, pinkish-gold hair fluttered. Elena called out the name of the girl who had thrown a knife from within her fluttering skirt to check Gostola and the others.
“Aria!”
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Elena.”
After all, the royal road is good.
Next time, will Viro be able to survive? What is the fate of Aria and Elena?