The People of Lanzeneve

At Cornelius's sharp voice, I drew my Stab.

The three prisoners charged toward us, swinging their Stabs down in unison to fire magic blasts. The power was far greater than anything I'd experienced before, but it was the same type of magic attack I'd once received from Viscount Bindewald when I was a blue Shrine Maiden Apprentice at the Temple.

There were numerous Guard Knights surrounding us, and this was probably the easiest attack to deal with among all those that had been directed at me before. I didn't feel any fear whatsoever.

"Gettilt!"

In response to Cornelius's command, Leonore and Lauenritz immediately deployed their shields, while Angelica, Matthias, and Cornelius charged forward simultaneously, swinging their swords. That alone was enough to deflect the magic orbs the prisoners had launched, sending them veering off course.

...Well, that's how it would go.

The attacks of a high-ranking noble like Viscount Bindewald, who possessed overwhelmingly superior magic power, were only effective when used by someone in an absolutely dominant position to toy with an inferior, or in a surprise attack. Even a low-ranking knight like Damuel, or someone like me during my blue Shrine Maiden Apprentice days who didn't even know how to fight, had been able to dodge them more or less. My Guard Knights could easily block them by firing back their own magic or simply raising their shields.

"Tch!"

The prisoners scowled in frustration and tried to swing their Stabs again, but by then Angelica, moving with superhuman speed from her physical enhancement, had already lunged in alongside Stiluk.

"Angelica, be careful not to get killed here!"

Leonore shouted the warning while spreading her cloak to block my view. Moments later, Angelica's slightly panicked voice called out, "Hurry with the healing!" It seemed Leonore had been a beat too slow.

"Tag out, Angelica!"

Cornelius, who had a water affinity and could perform some healing, swapped places with Angelica. After Cornelius administered the healing, Leonore lowered her cloak. The treatment had apparently been enough to keep them alive, since one of the prisoners was bound with a normal rope instead of a light ribbon and was being restrained by Cornelius.

"Hartmut, the manacles to seal their Stabs!"

At Cornelius's command, Hartmut rushed over with the prepared manacles. With these, the enemies should no longer be able to use their Stabs.

From observing the movements of the remaining two prisoners, I could tell their magic blasts were powerful and they were reasonably competent in close combat. However, their attacks from the Stab were nothing more than firing off magic — they weren't any more well-trained than the Guard Knights. Caught while sleeping, possibly still in their nightclothes, or disarmed by Dunkelfelger's forces, they had neither silver weapons nor instant-kill poison. Angelica and Matthias quickly subdued the remaining two as well.

"Clarissa, send an Ordinance to Dunkelfelger. I want them informed that the enemies possess Stabs. They probably already know, but..."

Hearing Leonore's instructions, I turned my gaze toward the building the Dunkelfelger knights had stormed. I could see windows lighting up here and there from magic blasts, and some had been blown entirely apart. I could also hear the Aub Dunkelfelger's exhilarated voice shouting, "Don't think you can block my attacks with that!"

Even as this was happening, Dunkelfelger's knights kept bringing in captured prisoners. Regarding the prisoners bound with light ribbons, Leonore instructed the Dunkelfelger knights, "The enemies possess enormous magic power and Stabs. Please treat them accordingly."

The knights, who had apparently been told these were different from the Lanzeneve soldiers who had ransacked Ahrensbach without any magic, broke their prisoners' limbs to prevent escape and bound them. Leonore, holding her Gettilt shield steady, stared intently at the groaning prisoners with a stern expression.

"...They pretended to be captured to assess the situation, then all moved at once the moment our numbers thinned. So they're not entirely untrained after all. Yet why are they launching such inefficient magic attacks? If they had enough magic to break the knights' restraints, they could do so much more..."

Hearing Leonore's puzzled remark, I turned to look at the man who had been shouting about becoming "King of Lanzeneve." His name was Leonzio, I believed. He too was in his nightclothes, his slightly long hair disheveled as he fought. Or rather, he seemed to be trying to flee and was being chased around by the knights.

Leonzio also appeared unable to do anything other than fire magic from his Stab, swinging it repeatedly while trying to escape on his riding beast. His magic supply was large, so his riding beast moved incredibly fast, but escaping from the encirclement of seven knights didn't seem to be going well — even from a distance, it was clear he was being steadily cornered. He'd be caught before long.

"Perhaps they're not used to them yet? I think they only recently obtained their Stabs."

They could use riding beasts without issue and fire magic blasts. However, they couldn't convert their Stabs into weapons for combat or raise a Ring. This was the same as I had been before entering the Noble Academy. I could create riding beasts with magic stones and use a ring to channel magic or pray, but I couldn't do anything beyond that.

"They've only just obtained them?"

"Yes. They haven't even learned to attach a Ring, which is the first thing taught at the Noble Academy. If they truly had ties to the Central Knights, the first thing they should have done was call for help."

Leonore nodded in understanding at my words. Then Lauenritz, who had been standing guard with his shield alongside Leonore, voiced his own question.

"If they want to become King of Lanzeneve, why not just do as they please? Why did that man come all the way to Yurgenschmidt — and to the Noble Academy at that? I can't understand why the people of Lanzeneve would desire a Stab, which is the mark of Yurgenschmidt's nobility."

"Perhaps they need one to become King of Lanzeneve? If that's the case, though, it seems rather problematic for this many people to obtain Stabs and claim the qualifications of kingship..."

The history of Lanzeneve and Adalgisa's detached palace wasn't something covered in Noble Academy classes, and we had come here to capture the former lord's family and their Lanzeneve collaborators who had committed the crime of inciting foreign invasion. Leonore, who didn't know the details, must have found this all very puzzling.

"It would probably be fastest to have them explain the details themselves. Look — it seems they've captured him."

I pointed at Leonzio, who had been apprehended by the Dunkelfelger and Ahrensbach knights, and at the same moment, a loud bang of an explosion rang out from the third floor of the building Ferdinand and the others had stormed.

My body flinched, and I involuntarily turned toward the sound. In an instant the air went tense, and everyone turned around just as I had. Shattered glass rained down from broken windows, striking the white stone pavement surrounding the building with sharp, cracking sounds before scattering.

"What is the meaning of this, Ferdinand!?"

Dietlinde's shrill voice pierced through the noise of breaking glass. I had hoped some other knight would capture Dietlinde, but it seemed Ferdinand had reached her room.

"No matter how desperately you cling to my love from the brink of death, barging into a lady's bedchamber at this hour is shameless beyond—!"

Dietlinde's furious, hysterical voice cut off abruptly. After that, nothing more could be heard. It was obvious she had been silenced so she couldn't say another word.

"To speak to Ferdinand like that... I just hope Eckhart hasn't lost control..."

Cornelius worriedly said he feared Eckhart might snap, given the order to capture the ringleader alive. Speaking to the person you'd been trying to kill like that — if I had been there, I might have been the one to lose it first.

"It'll be fine, Cornelius. Ferdinand will stop Brother Eckhart, and he can administer healing. Dietlinde won't be dead."

It was Ferdinand himself who had said they needed the ringleader alive. He wouldn't kill her. I trusted Ferdinand's unnecessarily rational and logical nature in that regard.

One by one, those bound by the Ahrensbach knights were brought out. Dietlinde, wrapped round and round in Justus's light ribbons and dragged along, was unconscious.

Bound and still in her nightclothes, her luxurious blonde hair was thoroughly filthy from being dragged along. A grown woman having her hair down in public like this was completely unacceptable — when Dietlinde woke up, there would undoubtedly be a huge uproar.

"Justus, she's not dead, is she?"

"She merely lost consciousness from Eckhart's attack. Regrettably, we're keeping her alive for what comes next. She did bump her head a bit from being dragged, but it won't make her any stupider than she already is, so there shouldn't be a problem."

Justus smiled faintly, but the contempt and loathing in his brown eyes as he looked down at Dietlinde were perfectly clear. He made no effort to hide them whatsoever.

But Justus wasn't the only one showing anger. The Ahrensbach knights also wore expressions of barely contained rage when looking at Dietlinde. It was only natural. Dietlinde's actions had caused numerous nobles to lose their lives, and Ahrensbach had become a territory in rebellion.

"Are the ones here from Ahrensbach's nobility?"

They kept being brought out one after another behind Dietlinde. Unable to distinguish between the people of Lanzeneve and Ahrensbach's nobles, I asked one of the Ahrensbach knights.

"Yes, Lady Rozemyne. They are Lady Dietlinde's retainers."

Dietlinde's retainers numbered ten, just as the reports had stated. More might still be brought out, but every last one of them wore a bewildered expression, as if they couldn't understand why they were bound and tossed aside like this. The reason they said nothing was because they were gagged. A few even glared defiantly at the Ahrensbach knights who had captured them.

Among Dietlinde's retainers, the only one I immediately recognized was Martina, but my rapid growth apparently meant she couldn't immediately connect the me in her memories with how I looked now. After a puzzled expression, her eyes went wide.

...Come to think of it, Lanzeneve and Ahrensbach really did seem to have completely separate buildings.

Those being brought out from the building Ferdinand had entered were exclusively Ahrensbach nobles. A woman with hair coloring very similar to Georgine's and my adoptive father's, who had an overall timid air, was rolled next to Dietlinde. Soon after, a red-haired man was brought out — still bound but not letting his imperious expression crack in the slightest. He stared at us intently with violet eyes.

"Lady Rozemyne, this is Lady Alstede and Lord Blasius."

...Ah, so these two are...

Georgine's eldest child, Dietlinde's older sister Alstede, and her husband Blasius. Blasius was the son of the second wife who had been executed after the succession conflict, and had been one of the candidates for the next Aub.

"This side is secured. How are things at Dunkelfelger?"

Ferdinand emerged as he spoke. Lauenritz quickly sent an Ordinance to check the situation. It seemed all visible enemies had been captured, and they were now checking for hidden passages and secret doors.

"...All visible enemies have been captured, you say?"

Ferdinand raised an eyebrow slightly as he surveyed the prisoners. His manner of looking around as if searching for something gave me a bad feeling.

"What's wrong, Ferdinand?"

"...Gervasio is nowhere to be seen."

"Huh?"

"The Lanzeneve people here are all young. Most were those who came as envoys for formal audiences — Gervasio is not among them."

Now that he mentioned it, Ferdinand had said Gervasio hadn't been around when he was born. In that case, wouldn't he be in his forties by now? Looking around, there was indeed no one of that age group. Neither Gervasio himself nor, presumably, his retainers.

Ferdinand removed Alstede's gag and demanded, "Where is Gervasio?" Eyes wide with terror, Alstede didn't answer Ferdinand's question — instead she screamed in a panicked, trembling voice: "Why is Ferdinand alive!? Why are Ahrensbach's knights pointing swords at me!? What is the meaning of Dunkelfelger's knights doing such—glph!"

Eckhart stomped hard on Alstede without warning. Coughing from the sudden blow, she was cut off. "Ferdinand did not ask you that. Answer quickly," he pressed. Alstede's face twisted in a grimace as she shrieked, "I don't know!"

"The Lanzeneve and Ahrensbach buildings were separate! I have no idea how Lord Gervasio spends his nights!"

A scream-like cry rang out from Alstede. The way she shook her head desperately made me think she truly didn't know. How much information she had been given was uncertain.

"Alstede, you're carrying on like some sort of victim, but it's I who wants to ask the questions. Why was it you who stained the foundation, rather than Dietlinde, who had been designated the next Aub? And despite having effectively become Aub by staining the foundation, why didn't you put a stop to Dietlinde's tyranny? Why did you bring the people of Lanzeneve into the Noble Academy, even as you endangered the entire territory by inciting foreign invasion?"

Ferdinand's cold, downward gaze accompanied his questions, and Alstede turned deathly pale.

"I-It was on Mother's orders..."

"You registered the Lanzeneve people as nobles, opened the doors in the Lanzeneve mansion to use the teleportation array, opened the innermost chambers of the Noble Academy, and foolishly gave them Stabs, didn't you? Don't tell me you don't understand the gravity of that crime."

"...M-Mother is never wrong. A-And it wasn't my decision alone. When opening the innermost chambers to give the Lanzeneve people their Stabs, it was a member of the royal family who did so!"

"What!?"

The surrounding knights cried out in shock. They had come to capture the former lord's family for inciting foreign invasion, only to be told that a member of the royal family had been collaborating with the people of Lanzeneve. Their reaction was only natural.

"As I have not received the Aub's approval, I was unable to open the final door. That is why the Commander of the Central Knights requested the royal family's assistance."

The murmuring that broke out around them only spurred Alstede on, and she kept insisting she bore no responsibility.

"Not just the Commander of the Central Knights, but the royal family is involved...?"

"Y-Yes, that's right. The royal family knows of this as well. It is you who have attacked the Noble Academy and raided the detached palace who may be charged with treason — not us. Surely you're aware of that!?"

Alstede, pale and trembling, kept desperately pressing her case. Beside her, Blasius, still gagged, looked up at Ferdinand with a mocking expression and let out a contemptuous snort. At the very least, his face suggested he shared Alstede's sentiment.

Ferdinand's brow furrowed deeper. A wave of unease ran through the Ahrensbach knights. They had been optimistic — their defenses against instant-kill poison were in place, they had an overwhelming numerical advantage, and subduing the enemy was just a matter of time — but now the atmosphere had turned ugly.

Then an Ordinance flew in from Aub Dunkelfelger.

"There appears to be an internal conflict among the Central Knights at the royal palace. A request for assistance has been sent to Dunkelfelger. We're heading there!"

The people of Lanzeneve, who had only just obtained their Stabs and couldn't use them properly...

The detached palace had been relatively easy to seize thanks to the surprise attack...

But they were shaken to learn that the people of Lanzeneve had a royal family member among their collaborators.

Next — the collaborator.