With Alissa-san’s command, we boarded the Royal Knights Order’s carriage that was parked nearby. Alissa-san handed over the rest to the remaining Royal Knights, and she got on the driver’s seat and started the carriage.
The horses pulling the Royal Knights Order’s carriage were military horses with strong physiques, and the carriage itself was designed to be lightweight at the expense of comfort, making it faster than a normal carriage. The journey that took about an hour and a half on the way here, the carriage covered in less than an hour.
The carriage traveled along the outer wall of the Royal Capital and stopped near the Reese Cathedral. The white spire could be seen beyond the city walls. Although it was outside the outer wall, the inside of the cathedral was within Lily’s «Strategist» Skill’s effective range.
“…They’re there. Lecty and Holy Maiden Rosalie are both in the basement of the Grand Cathedral. They’re both still safe…!”
Lily’s words brought a sigh of relief in the carriage.
“…However, Cardinal Malicious is also nearby. And a few others… I’m sorry. Since I don’t know them and they don’t have any ill intent towards us, my Skill can’t tell me anything more.”
“No, that’s enough. Thanks, Lily.”
“…Hugh, please. Lecty…!”
“Yeah, leave it to me.”
Lily seems to think that Lecty’s kidnapping is her fault. She regretted many times on the way here that she should have been more suspicious when the School Nurse came to call Lecty…
However, if we were to talk about that, I went out looking for Rosalie who wasn’t even there, and Idiot was caught off guard by the School Nurse and had Lecty snatched right in front of him. It’s not just Lily’s responsibility.
“Hugh.”
Rouge called my name as I got out of the carriage. Rouge just called my name and didn’t say anything more. She just nodded quietly, and I nodded back.
“I’ll save Lecty and Rosalie and come back.”
“Yes!”
“Please take care of our students, Cicely-chan.”
“Understood, Alissa-senpai…!”
Cicely-san nodded in response, and Alissa-san whipped the horse. The carriage started moving and drove away in the direction of the city gate.
“Let’s hurry…! There’s a passage here that leads to the basement of the Grand Cathedral!”
Cicely-san led me and Idiot to the entrance of a secret passage hidden in the bushes.
I had heard about it in the carriage beforehand, but if the existence of such a thing became public, it would be a big problem. Cicely-san seems to have discovered it by chance when she was escaping. It seems highly likely that Cardinal Malicious had it built without the knowledge of the country or the church.
When Alissa-san heard about it, she was dumbfounded, saying, “That’s enough reason for the Knights Order to step in…” It seems that it may have been used for smuggling or even for kidnappings involving Greed Lecherie…
A horse that seemed to have been abandoned was wandering near the entrance of the passage. It seems that the School Nurse who kidnapped Lecty also used this passage to go to the Grand Cathedral.
“From here on, it wouldn’t be strange if we were attacked at any time. I think you two, who Alissa-senpai chose, are capable enough, but please be careful.”
“Understood…”
I replied to Cicely-san, placing my hand on the sword at my waist. I had borrowed the sword that was loaded in the carriage, but I felt a weight from the real sword that was more than its actual weight.
“You don’t have any experience killing people, do you, Hugh? There’s no need to worry. It’s the same for me.”
“Idiot, aren’t you afraid of killing people?”
“It’s to save Lady Lecty. I have to clean up my own mess. I’ll bear any kind of karma.”
“…You’re strong, aren’t you?”
Even though it’s to save Lecty and Rosalie, I don’t think I can be that resolute. I’m starting to hate my own cowardice.
“…Wait, could it be that I’ve been saddled with two students who have no practical experience…?”
Cicely-san, who had been listening to our conversation, was shocked. For now, I’ll just be careful not to be a hindrance. I’m not ready to kill anyone yet, but I should be able to provide support with my «Ninja» Skill.
Besides, when the time comes…
I made up my mind and stepped into the secret passage. The inside of the passage was dark without any lights, but thanks to my «Ninja» Skill, my vision was good. My enhanced senses could even sense the presence of people waiting ahead in the passage.
“There are three people at the end of the passage…”
“Can you tell…?”
“Yeah, well.”
As long as I know the number, an ambush isn’t that much of a threat. Idiot and Cicely-san charged ahead, and I supported them from behind with stones. The impromptu cooperation worked better than expected. Or rather, I was able to subdue most of them just with the stones.
In the darkness, the enemy’s vision was just as bad. When I threw stones with all my might from a distance that the enemy couldn’t perceive, using the «Throwing» Skill contained within my «Ninja» Skill, the stones accelerated and hit the assassins’ heads with 100% accuracy.
It was an easy job, just shooting down the assassins as they jumped out of the shadows to attack Idiot and Cicely-san.
The assassins who were knocked down by the stones to their heads were killed by Cicely-san, who stabbed their hearts with her sword. As expected of a Holy Knight, she showed no mercy to heretics.
“I never thought you had such a special skill! As expected of my rival!”
“Ah, yeah. I guess…”
No matter how you look at it, my throwing stones is beyond the scope of a special skill, but if Idiot is convinced by that, then I guess it’s fine…
Cicely-san seems to be suspicious, but she’s not touching on it now, probably because she’s prioritizing Rosalie.
The underground passage was like a maze, but by following the bloodstains left by Cicely-san, we were able to enter the basement of the Grand Cathedral in almost the shortest amount of time. All the assassins who were waiting along the way had already been subdued. Rather, I was able to proceed by relying on the presence of the waiting assassins.
“This is the basement of the Grand Cathedral…”
Contrary to the magnificent and beautiful appearance of the Grand Cathedral above ground, the basement was filled with prisons with exposed bricks and iron bars. Beyond the iron bars were reddish-black stains and some bones scattered around.
What is this place…? Just thinking about what purpose this facility was built for in the basement of the Grand Cathedral makes me feel cold.
“When the Grand Cathedral was built, the Royal Capital was said to be a region with many heretics. The construction of the Grand Cathedral was ostensibly to strengthen missionary activities in the Royal Capital, but I’ve heard that the underground facility for protecting and persuading heretics was what the church needed at the time.”
“Protection and persuasion, you say…”
It looks like confinement and interrogation to me…
Unlike the passage, the prison was lit by magic tools installed at equal intervals. We couldn’t hide in the darkness and sneak around, so some level of engagement was unavoidable.
However, the security didn’t seem as strict as in the passage. The heretics that Cardinal Malicious had prepared weren’t well-equipped, nor were they skilled in martial arts. Their Skills didn’t seem to be combat-oriented either, so they were no match for Idiot and Cicely-san.
While the two of them were fighting, I looked for Lecty and Rosalie. I looked into each of the cells, but it was a pretty large prison. I wonder how many people were imprisoned here at its peak.
Just when I was starting to lose track of how many cells I had checked, a faint light blue color came into my sight.
“Lecty!”