Chapter 424 – Scheming and Pursuit

The aristocratic siblings who had emerged from the theater appeared to be boarding a carriage with their servants and leaving the square behind.

They seemed to have escorts, but not in large numbers. Since the carriage bore no family crest, they might be moving incognito.

Even traveling by carriage, they couldn’t move very fast within the city. It was a speed that could be followed on foot. The men, unaware of Caduceus lurking at their feet, maintained a certain distance as they pursued the carriage.

“…Go.”

Caduceus slipped into the shadows once more, his form dissolving like water into the cracks between cobblestones as he tailed the men.

For now, I should have everyone move to the Adventurer Guild. We’ll maintain a state of readiness there so we can move immediately.

“…This doesn’t look peaceful. Do they intend to attack in broad daylight like this?”

When I explained the situation, Claudia frowned with displeasure.

“…We don’t know their objective yet. If it’s something dangerous, it could be assassination or kidnapping… or on the lighter side, surveillance or intimidation.”

“Just intimidation?”

Grace looked skeptical.

“Right. In cases of intimidation, just having the fact that an attack occurred is enough. They could send threatening letters later to force compliance with their demands. For example, ‘if you don’t want to be targeted again, don’t do such and such.'”

“In that case… it wouldn’t be too serious. From the perpetrators’ perspective, actually harming nobles or major merchants would be quite risky.”

Exactly. That’s one advantage of sticking to intimidation alone. But at this point, it’s still hard to say.

I tried creating busts of the siblings using Earth Magic… but I’m not very confident. If I’d had more time to see their faces head-on, I could have made more accurate ones.

Caduceus is currently tailing the men. The siblings are inside the carriage. The carriage windows are closed from the inside. It would be somewhat difficult to try identifying their features in this situation.

Well, I’ve got a pretty accurate grasp of the faces of the men sticking close and following them. I’ll make busts of these ones too – they might prove useful later.

“Do any of you recognize these two? Or the men? I couldn’t observe the siblings’ faces closely enough, so it would only be useful as a reference, like ‘they look similar.'”

“Hmm… I feel like I’ve seen the siblings somewhere before. But the men, I don’t recognize them.”

Rosemary rested her chin in her hand, deep in thought.

If Rosemary had seen them directly, it might have been different… but by the time I informed everyone who had been shopping and gathered them, they had already boarded the carriage.

At the very least, they’re someone Rosemary recognizes. The conditions aren’t great, so narrowing it down at this stage might be difficult.

I focused my attention on the men through the Five Senses Link.

“Listen up. Let me confirm once more… don’t injure the siblings, even if you set up the mechanism. Whether the kidnapping succeeds or fails is fine, but don’t take custody of the sister.”

“Even if we use the sister as a hostage against the escorts, the idea is to use that as bait to secure the brother instead, correct?”

“Exactly. Above all, prioritize not getting caught. If the escorts put up resistance, retreat immediately.”

“Understood.”

The men on foot who weren’t in the carriage were exchanging such words in lowered tones.

No injuries. Kidnapping the sister is prohibited.

Considering what they were discussing, intimidation does seem to be the goal. Or perhaps even if the kidnapping succeeds, they plan to release them at an appropriate time.

At the very least, even if it is kidnapping, it doesn’t seem like simple ransom anymore. They probably know the siblings’ identities and are acting with some specific agenda in mind.

Even if they don’t intend to directly harm the siblings, that doesn’t mean we can let our guard down. They haven’t mentioned a word about the safety of the servants or escorts.

After all, even without intent to harm, accidents can happen when wielding weapons.

The carriage carrying the siblings… was moving through the central district, heading toward the western district while overlooking Ceorem.

The western district, huh… If it’s for sightseeing, the places nobles would visit there would be the harbor or shipyard, I suppose? Perhaps they’re going to see the Sirius docked there.

Assuming the siblings go to see the shipyard… and the incident occurs there with their escape.

Considering the alleys in this area and escape routes from the western district, the western district with its maze-like alleys, heavy foot traffic, and general disorderliness would be ideal for staging an attack. The difficulty would increase if they had to escape with all members.

In that regard, the western district has places where they could escape into the sewers, making pursuit difficult.

However, if they planned this by taking advantage of the shipyard visit… that would be equivalent to picking a fight with me too.

If there were no shipyard, the aristocratic siblings probably wouldn’t have had reason to visit the western district.

I absolutely did not build the shipyard to be used in such a ridiculous manner.

“I’ve figured out where they plan to set up their mechanism. The western district. They must have caught wind of the shipyard visit.”

“What will you do?”

“I’ll rush there with Balor. If they actually move, I’ll crush them.”

If no problems arose, I could have let them swim freely, but now that signs of an imminent attack are strong, I’ll need to intervene. I’ll expose them in the act and crush them.

“Be careful, Theodore.”

As I stood up, Claudia spoke. Marlene also stared intently at my face. I smiled back at them.

“I’ll contact you via the Communication Device about the situation. I should probably notify the Knight Order too.”

“We’ll maintain readiness to coordinate with the Guild members at any time.”

“If necessary, we can go to Isabella’s place.”

So said Grace and Sheila.

Isabella’s place… meaning they’re suggesting we seek cooperation from the Thieves Guild too. Even if we allow them to escape and they go into hiding, we could track their movements day and night.

“Take care.”

“Good luck.”

Before leaving the Adventurer Guild, Forset and Sion also saw me off together.

“Right, I’m off.”

I nodded to everyone and left the Adventurer Guild. Entering an alley, I kicked off from building walls to leap high above the city in one go.

After gaining sufficient altitude to remain undetected by the targets, I mounted Balor, infused with Magical Power, and flew toward the western district.

As for the aristocratic siblings… they had moved by carriage to a hill in the western district near the harbor… disembarked there to view the shipyard, and were making impressed sounds.

“Just as I heard, the view is splendid. That must be the Otherworld Ambassador’s Sirius.”

“What a beautiful white ship. This will make for good souvenir stories.”

While the siblings exchanged cheerful words from behind – the men had deployed in the shadows of buildings.

All of them wore hoods covering everything but their eyes. …Are they planning to act here? A man who had lightly climbed onto a roof nocked an arrow to a small bow.

His target – the coachman. So they plan to disable their means of escape first. He’ll probably fire the arrow and then everyone will launch the attack.

The moment he aimed the arrow at the coachman, drew the bowstring, and released – a whip-like black shadow flashed from the building’s shadow. Caduceus, who had circled around to the other side of the building to act as the siblings’ guard, deflected the fired arrow and altered its trajectory.

The marksman widened his eyes beneath his hood, but didn’t seem to understand what had interfered.

The arrow, its trajectory greatly altered and momentum lost, fell onto the cobblestones with a clatter. Following the sound with their eyes, the escorts finally showed expressions of shock.

“He missed from this distance…!? No, just now…?”

“Tch! Charge!”

As the men began moving hastily, the escorts responded by spreading their arms to shield the siblings from the arrows, drawing their swords and shouting.

“W-we’re being targeted with bows and arrows! Please be careful!”

“You two! Please hide behind the carriage! I shall serve as your shield, so please board the carriage when you see an opportunity!”

The elderly servant, apparently unable to tell where the arrow had come from, spread both arms wide to become their shield while looking around and trying to get them to take shelter behind the carriage.

“Old man! Don’t…!”

“Are you going to be our shield!? That’s -!”

“This is no time for discussion! Quickly!”

The escorts faced the men emerging from both sides of the buildings with drawn swords.

Their response is quick, but they’re outnumbered. The man on the roof, having collected himself, nocked another arrow to his bow. This time his target was the elderly servant.

Now it’s clear. Even if these guys intend to leave the siblings unharmed, they want to cause injuries. So what’s their purpose? To incite fear or hatred?

But – I won’t allow a second shot.

“You’re in the way!”

Having reached directly above the scene at Balor’s maximum speed, I dove down. I showered the marksman, who was trying to hide by lying prone on the roof, with a hail of Ice Shotgun pellets.

“Guh-!?”

The marksman’s scream was drowned out by the roar of the Ice Shotgun pellets striking the roof. Changing Balor’s trajectory, trailing a tail of light, to a right angle just above the ground, I charged toward the men from the side at high speed.

I won’t give them time to understand the situation or think -!

The moment I made contact, I used Ouroboros to scoop them up and send them flying into the air. Firing an ice chunk at the man tossed into the air, I charged toward the next man without reducing speed.

At the moment of impact, I brought down the Dragon Staff I had swung upward.

Shattering both the sword he tried to block with and his collarbone, I crushed him into the ground, then bounced upward toward the next man exchanging blows with an escort.

Driving my knee into his temple from the side, I had Nemea and Capella kick off shields to rebound in the opposite direction. Simultaneously, I launched Balor in another direction as if kicking a ball. With Ouroboros’ Strike and Balor’s Charge, two men were mowed down almost simultaneously. One more -!

The man who had been watching his companions collapse one after another from a distance opened his eyes wide, screamed, and tried to turn away. He seemed intent on escaping into the alleys. But I won’t let him escape.

“Go!”

Balor, which had remained in the air, transformed into a Light Bullet and pursued the man. Caduceus, having taken bird form and soared overhead, grasped the man’s escape route. Balor pursued him accurately from alley to alley.

“U, uoooooh!?”

There’s no way he could outrun it by running. The Light Bullet caught up and touched the side of the man who was trying to turn a corner. Rather than piercing through, it accelerated his movement as if pushing him, mercilessly slamming him into a stone wall.

“Gah!?”

Crushed between the stone wall and Balor, the man with broken ribs let out an agonized cry as he rolled onto the ground.