5. Frontal Breakthrough
A little later than Celia expected, the carriage stopped just a short distance from its destination, the royal castle. The reason was that the roads were crowded.
“The place certainly is lively.”
Celia, who let the carriage go while saying thanks politely just like when she stopped the carriage, nodded in response to my words. There was deep agreement in her action.
“With the purge of the nobility over, the city has now begun to flourish. And people are becoming more lively.”
The debauchery of the blue blood. While the effects of the overthrow have yet to be fully realized, the citizens already see signs of improvement. I commented as I observed the expressions on the faces of people passing by.
“There seems to be no sign of suffering because of tyranny. Celia’s place was also very pleasant place.”
“That’s true to an extent since this is the royal capital. However, you can also find slums just across the street from the well-maintained areas.”
“Slums? I don’t believe my ears. How can there be such a place in the vicinity of the royal castle?”
“Yes, it is sad to say.”
Having been told that with such sadness, I couldn’t find any words. Neglected for so long, the slums have been reduced to a place where people are left to rot and are the final dwellings of the victims of the royalty and nobility’s luxurious lifestyle in the royal city. A symbol of the darkness that lies behind the glittering golden life.
How is it that there has been no sign of revolution until now when the reasons for this lack of improvement are so evident? So the upper class, whose only thought was to fatten themselves like pigs, also had a hidden talent as a tyrant, being able to maintain the oppressive regime for a long period of time. Good grief.
“Nine out of ten is what I said, but what if the last tenth probability is what is actually taking place right now? I mean, whatever his objective is, what if Morow’s objective is completely in line with yours?”
“That’s…”
There was hesitation in her eyes and voice. If that was the case, should she condemn Morow for what he had done to the king and the others? Good intentions and good results do not necessarily go hand in hand. However, having to hesitate to do so is in itself a testament to Celia’s goodness─ and that is also a desirable trait for me.
It would be troubling if many dangerous individuals consider using any means necessary as common sense. Specifically.
Those that think I’m good on my own.
“Well, let’s worry about it after finding that out. Let’s go.”
“Y-Yes.”
We advance towards the main gate of the towering royal castle. Celia, who was following behind me, asked me nervously.
“Um, what is your plan to reach Morow?”
“There’s nothing more I can say.”
I answer her without hesitation.
“Of course, we’re breaking through the front door.”
◇◇◇
Celia Burndeux was in the midst of the biggest turmoil of her life.
At first, I was optimistic about our chances of getting into the royal castle. It’s a place where I worked just a few months ago, and as long as I don’t make any mistakes in the negotiations, I can at least use it as a starting point to get through to my former colleague Morow. Or possibly with Miss Primordial Witch. Maybe with some great magic that is beyond my abilities, everything could be managed somehow.
Celia now realized how far off the mark her optimism was, especially when it was based on such a terribly arbitrary interpretation.
As she said she would do a “frontal breakthrough,” which I thought was a joke, Edea boldly entered the royal castle through the front gate, and as I watched her from behind as she dealt with the swarming soldiers. The unrealistic scene that was really happening and the absurdity of Edea made Celia become dumbfounded and forget to help her.
No, she doesn’t need her help. However, Edea, who spoke as if she was counting on Celia’s help, is more than capable of single-handedly overwhelming the soldiers and incapacitating them on her own. The way she fought was nothing short of amazing. She fended off any who approached with weapons in hand, stopped the archers from firing, and knocked them down from high places with a flick of her finger.
The equipment and the skills of the soldiers in this castle are not very impressive. But the King is not negligent in protecting himself, they are not worthless individuals to be discarded as easily as dead soldiers. I wonder what happened to them, as their strategy is just attacking en masse shows the absence of a commander, but I feel a strong will to ‘eliminate the intruders at all costs’ from their appearance of getting up and charging again even when they are knocked down.
They were not being treated well for the rigorous training they were being forced to undergo─ although they were still ‘well paid’ compared to others─ they must have been dissatisfied as well. And yet, what splendid loyalty to protect the king so zealously. Just like small animals that never give up no matter how many times they are kicked around by a giant creature. Celia was so moved by the display of this struggle, that she found herself about to forget which side she belonged to and almost started to cheer on them.
“Ahh… What is this? These guys are already dead.”
With a single whisper. Edea, who was clearly fed up with the persistent soldiers looking at her back, muttered something in her mouth, and the next moment the gorgeous main corridor leading to the throne room was filled with a raging storm. Windstorm! Celia realizes for the first time that Edea’s magic, which tore soldiers apart and tossed them around as if she were controlling an invisible arm, seems to be a spell that manipulates the wind.
Even if it does not cover the entire body, it is extremely extraordinary for the wind force to be able to easily throw a large man in armor into the air. While dealing with dozens of soldiers over and over again, she also had to deal with numerous arrows that were shot at her constantly. As expected of the primordial witch, Her abilities are too great to be compared with my own.
Celia, who was limited to dual casting at best, was amazed by how sophisticated Edea’s magical skills were, but her admiration was blown far away, as if she had fallen victim to a raging wind.
The sound of the wind that pierced through her ears was just like the wailing of a ghost. A few seconds after the soldier was engulfed and swirled around, nothing was there anymore. The soldiers, the armor they were wearing, their weapons, everything. When the violent wind that had blown away even the bloody haze vanished, everything that had just filled the corridor disappeared along with it.
Except for the flabbergasted Celia and Edea who made a ‘humph’ sound through her nose
“You’ve absolutely made me waste my time… But considering it was me, things turned out pretty well. The castle is safe and intact.”
“D-Did you kill them?”
“Kill them? No, that’s not it… I broke them. Correctly speaking, that is.”
“You broke them…”
“Ah, you can’t kill those who are already dead. I would help them if they were alive, but it was a waste of effort to deal with a doll.”
Celia did not understand the meaning of her words. Dolls? Already dead? Until just now they were certainly fighting wielding weapons. With Edea, of all people.
“That’s why, they were moving corpses, were they not? By that Morow. That’s quite a wicked spell, isn’t it? But with this, the secret of the king’s change of heart was also revealed.”
“Don’t tell me, the king is already…? No, more than that, I can’t really believe that the soldier was a corpse. if they are dead, they should not be able to move.”
“There’s no way they can move. Isn’t that what magic does, overturns that kind of common sense?”
“What If… There was a spell that could freely manipulate the dead body. Doesn’t the dead body immediately start to decay?”
“Even that can be managed with magic. For example, how about freezing it solid from the top of the head to the tips of the toes? Then the corpse will always be preserved.”
“Do you mean to put them on ice? But it will not move because the frozen body is hard.”
“You’re not being flexible.”
“Of course. Magic is what makes supernatural things happen. But it is certainly not an omnipotent thing.”
“What did you say?”
Edea’s gaze, which had been on the corridor in anticipation of the arrival of reinforcements, turned to Celia. For the first time, Celia saw a genuine sense of wonder dwelling in the eyes of the ever-calm witch.
“Not omnipotent? Are you going to give up on the power of magic just because of this?”
“M-my apologies. It’s presumptuous of me to intrude on Miss Primordial Witch.”
“Call me Edea. Rather than that, I want to confirm something. How much do you know about Eidos magic?”
As the primordial witch, she must be deeply familiar with magic and have a higher belief in its power than other people. Having just witnessed her extraordinary skills with my own eyes. It wasn’t hard to imagine that she would also have a certain amount of pride to go with it, and Celia thought that she had inadvertently undermined it.
However. Based on Edea’s question, it seemed that this assumption was wrong. This time, it was Celia’s turn to be confused.
“Eidos Magic…? No, this is the first I’ve heard of it.”
“What…”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Celia apologized to the astonished girl for her lack of knowledge, but her words did not seem to reach Edea, who had her hand on her lips and was pondering something. Perhaps Celia’s reaction was so unexpected, but it seems that she has reached some sort of conclusion immediately.
“I see. It’s hard to believe, but is that really the case? No wonder they call Ardella a ‘Sage.'”
“Um, Miss Edea… Perhaps, is it possible for you? To manipulate numerous frozen bodies in such a way as to make them fight like this…”
“I wonder about that. I never thought I wanted to do something like that, so it might be tough to just tackle it head-on… If only I had time to practice.”
“─You can do it?”
“If it’s just a manipulation of this level.”
Celia felt a chill run down her spine as Edea affirmed it without a moment’s hesitation.
Having demonstrated such advanced skills in offensive magic, she was afraid of the primordial witch who claimed to be able to handle corpse manipulation, a magic she had never heard of, and she was also astounded to find out that Morow possessed the same power.
“Shall we go to the throne room? Morow should also be there.”
Whether she knew Celia’s fear or not, Edea said that in a light tone.
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