Kays Translations

Chapter 84: Plan and Execution

Two hours later. Gerhard, Claudia, and Lutz, who had not been invited, gathered in the audience room. Maximilian and the butler, the five of them began the meeting.

"So what are their demands?"

Gerhardt glared at the butler and said,

"Eh?"

The butler was still confused and it took him a while to realize that he was being spoken to.

"Eh, I don't think so. Weren’t you guys released to convey their request?"

All the knights were killed and the princess was kidnapped. It is hard to believe that the servants escaped on their own. It is reasonable to assume that they were released for some purpose.

"I don't know if I'd call it a request, it's just so ridiculous. ......"

"Just say it and get on with it!"

Maximilian bangs on the desk. The butler looked pale with nervousness and despair, as if he were about to vomit.

"Let him see His Majesty the King, he wants to speak to him in person. ......"

A question mark appears in everyone's head.

In any case, there is no way you can put the king in danger at the request of the thieves.

It is much better to be asked for money and goods. It would have been better to give the money and get the princess back and then carefully pursue the criminal.

"How do I get in touch with them?"

“At the scene of the attack, they told me to raise the smoke signal.”

"Well, in any case, if we cannot comply with their demands, we have no choice but to exterminate them. Either we send out several hundred men to surround them, or we sneak in with a few and rescue the princess."

It is not an exaggeration to prepare several hundred men against thirty bandits. The enemy was so formidable that they had already killed ten of their best knights. If we were to attack the hideout where they were waiting for us and not let a single one of them escape, we would need at least that many men.

'Wait a minute! What will happen to the princess if you surround them with soldiers ......!?"

Gerhard shook his head at the butler's scream-like question.

"If you accept the surrender recommendation, or..."

I couldn't believe it when I said it myself. A tragic death is already confirmed at the time of laying hands on the royal family, so who would surrender?

"Gerhard, I'm begging you too. Please save Listille-sama safely."

"Your Honor……"

Once Maximilian said so, Gerhard had no choice but to back down. If anything happened to Listille, Count Zander's family would be ruined. It was not a question of whether he could or could not do it, but he had no choice but to do it.

“Then let's go with the elite few."

Claudia spoke so lightly that I became uneasy as to whether this girl was really listening.

"It's okay, I’m sane. There are human resources here who can act as a decoy alone."

If surrounded by soldiers, the enemy might become desperate and harm the princess. But if there is only one, they will try to handle it appropriately. Just drag them into a quagmire-like battle.

"While he is attracting the enemy, a detachment unit invades and rescues the princess. It's simple, but that's why it's effective."

"I see, but the only thing that worries me is the heavy burden of being a decoy."

Maximilian said with a furrowed brow.

"We are going to conduct a rescue operation against 30 elite soldiers. We will have to be a little reckless. Of course, if we succeed, we will have to reward them.”

Claudia held up three fingers and showed them.

"Thirty pieces...?"

"Three hundred."

"To adventurers?"

"To the hero."

Maximilian's head was in his hands. Just a few days ago, he had made plans for the expansion of the citadel. The money was flying out again, and the necessary construction would be postponed.

There are so many things we want to do, so many things we have to do. But money is involved in all of them, and it is hard to know where to start. That is politics.

Even so, it is a minor problem compared to the loss of the Count's territory itself.

"... Okay, let's do something about the money here."

Do I have to make excuses for this and that again, which I don't want to do?

One copper coin is one drop of blood. Claudia, who knows the hardships of money, nodded slightly in respect.

Gerhard looked around the room and then said.

"It's a shame to have time to discuss, let's go with a small group. The participants are Ricardo, me and Josel... about the same?"

I was feeling a little nervous, when Lutz, who had remained silent until then, raised his hand.

"I'll go with you."

"... can you do it?"

"Well, I guess I'm more useful than those bad knights in the count's territory."

"That's good enough."

Seeing the exchange, Claudia interjected with a look that said, "I didn't hear you."

"Wait wait, Lutz-kun doesn't need to go. You're a blacksmith, you're not here to fight."

“For the time being, I have received the title of knight.”

"If you start saying that, Patrick-san will be like that too. Are you going to take that Pell-mell Fiend with you?"

"No, that's..."

Claudia exhaled heavily and said in a sad voice.

"I didn't set out to do this or that to put you in danger."

"I'm just trying to increase the success rate of that operation as much as possible."

"Why should you go to such lengths?"

"I'm a boy."

It can't be helped, Lutz laughs, shrugging his shoulders. Claudia touched Lutz's cheek, cupping it with both hands.

"When a man talks about romance, don't expect the waiting woman to see the same thing."

"...... sorry for the hassle."

"Even if you lose your limbs, come back alive. I will take care of you for the rest of your life."

"Oh. I'll come back without dying, I promise you that."

Lutz nodded strongly.

Thus the fourth person was confirmed. Gerhard was grateful for the increase in strength, but he had a rather complicated expression on his face.

"Isn’t the treatment too different from the rest of us?"

"I don't care if the warmongers die on their own."

"I'm also an enchanter by profession..."

"I don't give a damn."

It was only Lutz first for Claudia.

Once the story was decided, the action was quick. He summoned the hero Ricardo and the high-ranking knight Jocel and immediately got into the carriage.

The members are Gerhard, Lutz, Jocel and Ricardo. And Claudia and the butler man were also on board.

"It was around here that we were attacked."

The butler points to a map he has unfolded.

"It would be too conspicuous to walk around with Her Highness the Princess. I suspect their hideout is not far away."

"Is there a cave in the nearby mountains?"

Jocel responded to Gerhard's opinion while holding the reins.

"Anyway, let's go to the site of the attack. The traces of the thirty people coming and going can't be hidden. If we follow the trail, it won't be hard to find the hideout."

Everyone nodded at Gerhard's suggestion. Ricardo was the only one who seemed reluctant.

“When we get there, Claudia-san and the butler should go back to the village they just passed and wait for us. We can't afford to have the carriage destroyed.”

“I understand. …… Lutz-kun is just lending it, so please return it.”

"Okay, okay, I won't do anything unreasonable."

Gerhard was a little taken aback by Claudia's glare.

"Don’t die, Lutz. I will be killed by Claudia-san."

“You should also ask the enemy to take it easy on us."

Everyone laughed at each other.

Only the butler had a strange look on his face. He wondered what they were laughing at when they were about to go on a rescue mission for the princess and a killing spree with the bandits.

He alone was sane in his sensibilities. Whether or not it is right to be sane on the battlefield is another matter.

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