Volu 4, Chapter 35 The Princess’ Stratagem
Translator: Skythewood
Editors: Darkdhaos, Ruzenor
Delvincourt— The city that used to be the capital of Kuscheperca Kingdom was now the central governance house set up by the ?aloudek Kingdom in its Kuscheperca province. They kept the castle, and used it as the residence for the ?aloudek royals.
There were two ?aloudek royals in the castle. One was the commander-in-chief of the invasion army, Second Prince Cristóbal, and the other was his Chief of Administration, the First Princess Catalina.
Catalina was seated in a corner of the forr royal castle while enjoying a fragrant cup of tea elegantly. It wasn’t really a tea party, but she got to spend this ti at her own leisure. After a while, she asked the only other participant:
“Would you like a cup too? This is imported from our ho nation. The tea here is nice too, but this familiar fragrance is more calming.”
“No need, there’s no aning in making a fuss over soone like .”
A woman appeared on the opposite side of the table suddenly, she was Kerhild Hietakangas — Knight Commander of the Copper Fang Knights. She turned down the Princess’ suggestion, and sat down without asking for permission. Catalina paid no heed to her insolence and continued sipping her tea. After putting down her tea cup with a clink, Catalina got to the point as if she was just chatting idly:
“The Eastern territories… You should know about what is happening in eastern Kuscheperca, correct?"
“Yes, I know a little. Collating intel is our mission after all.”
As if she had guessed where the conversation was going with just that sentence, Kerhild answered with an overt attitude of impatience. Maybe she already knew what Catalina was going to ask the mont she was summoned here.
"The remnants of the Kuscheperca committed a new model of Silhouette Knights, which stalled the progress of the unit pursuing the royals. This is unpleasant news, but the bigger problem is the lack of intel from the east. Terrorists were running havoc there earlier, and probably caused a lot of damage.”
Catalina’s smile locked on to the unmoving and quiet Kerhild, who was like a statue playing the role of a perfect listener.
"……Silver Phoenix rchants, that’s what they call themselves."
"I know."
“Is that so? That’s good. They claim to be rchants, but who knows where their allegiance lies. I heard that they gave the Kuscheperca remnants the new Silhouette Knights, and are actually the terrorists."
The uprising of the nobles caused the eastern ?aloudek army to fall into chaos, and their intel reports were greatly hindered. Only by consolidating bits and pieces of intel that leaked out, Catalina could finally grasp the general situation in the eastern territories.
“We can’t ignore them, but even if we make a move, the enemy’s new model would be rather difficult to deal with. And if this dragged on, Crist won’t be able to endure it, and might charge there with his troops."
“Yes… That is really a headache, I know how you feel.”
Catalina made a show of sighing, and Kerhild replied half-heartedly.
“And so, I would like to request the Copper Fang Knights to take action by locating the base of the Silver Phoenix rchants and destroy them. This is just the right job for the Copper Fang Knights correct?”
Kerhild started weighing the potential threat of the enemy and the combat prowess of the Copper Fang Knights, and concluded that this was extrely dangerous.
Well then, even though she didn’t give a direct order, this is still a request by a royal. How should I skirt away from this...
No matter how troubled she was, she couldn’t just keep quiet. When she was about to speak, Catalina cut her off with a soft voice:
“If you succeed in this mission… I will give so of Kuscheperca’s land as a reward. And of course, It will be complented with the adequate noble peerage.”
Kerhild grit her teeth audibly, stiffened her body and her expression beca twisted. Her dark gaze wasn’t sothing she should be showing to a royal.
“Are you… serious? Can you guarantee this…?”
“Fufu, are you doubting ? That’s only natural. I am generous in rewarding those who et my expectations, and your eagerness in invading Kuscheperca didn’t stem from winning war rits, but for the sake of winning your own territory… In order to restore the fallen Hietakangas family, am I right?”
Kerhild didn’t answer, and only made a show of straightening her posture.
“Leave it to , Your Highness Catalina. We the Copper Fang Knights will do all we can to accomplish this task."
“That’s wonderful. I expect good results…”
Catalina said with satisfaction, but Kerhild was gone in the brief mont when she shifted her gaze
“... She’s good. Maybe the fangs of the copper snake will catch the prey. Wars aren’t fought only on the surface, I wish Crist can learn a little about this.”
Catalina called for soone to clear away the cold tea. She had much to do, as the ss in the east had shaken the governance system in the Kuscheperca territory. She would need to suppress the chaos, and wished that her brother would take more interest in statesmanship.
***
In the old Kuscheperca Kingdom, when they spoke of Silhouette Knights built in a workshop, that usually ant the mass produced model, Resvants. However, what was being built inside the workshop in Missillier city was a completely different machine.
The giant structure on the maintenance platform— the part of the Inner Skeleton that corresponds to the ribs of a human was wide open to accommodate the cockpit, while the heart of the machine — its Ether Reactor and Magius engine was installed into its abdon. Countless silver cables — Silver Nerves extended out from the exposed heart, and into the grey fiber all over its body— in its Crystal Tissue.
Among these half finished products were so that were almost done. These had the visage of a Resvant, but its body was one size larger and laid bare was its powerful build. From its design that focused on close quarters combat, it was easy to see that it was created to stand against the Black Knights.
In the vicinity of the half finished giants, Knightsmiths in Silhouette Gears bustled around. Using Silhouette Gears that were much more powerful than humans, they carried the heavy spare parts swiftly with ease, proceeding with their work at abnormal speed. With the support of the Silver Phoenix rchants, the mass produced model of the old Kuscheperca Kingdom had been completely overhauled. Even though the plan was put together hastily, the production line had been going on smoothly. Designing a brand new machine should be tedious process, but as they could use Karrdatolle for reference, the design was completed in a very short amount of ti. And of course, Eru’s enthusiastic participation played a part too.
Strictly speaking, the biggest obstacle of the production was that the Kuscheperca knightsmiths weren’t used to the controls. After all, they had to learn skills very different from what they knew to craft the new machine designed by Fremvira, and they needed ti to familiarize themselves with the Silhouette Gear, which was a revolutionary tool. That might be so, but these problems would be resolved after they had gotten used to it. In order to be ready for the mont to fight back, they unite as one and work together on the production.
Further in from the new machine crafting zone, there was another group crafting sothing different. It was Eru, Boss and Batson— mbers of the Silver Phoenix Knights. The Boss controlled the four ard Silhouette Gear ‘Mobile Workshop’ and deftly assembled the giant parts it was holding. Batson who was besides him was working hard like an assistant, performing modifications to all sorts of parts.
“Ugh, it is a little big but there aren’t any complicated chanism. It’s easy for us to craft this, however, the ones using it will have a hard ti. It will be more difficult than using Back Weapons.”
“That’s true, the pilots probably aren’t used to this—"
The Dwarves were assembling a strange contraption that had several rails. It was too big for even Silhouette Knights to wield it by hand.
“Hmm, as expected, that’s the problem. The only thing we can change… is the addition of assist function to the Magius Engine. I understand, I will handle that part.”
Eru looked at the device. It was a modification of an existing technology, but to accomplish so much in such a short notice made it clear how skilled the Boss was. The Boss was top classed as a knightsmith, but in the realms of constructing scripts in the Magius Engine, Eru was the best. The efforts of these two played a large hand in all the special equipnt created by the Silver Phoenix Knights.
“When you finished the prototype, let test it for you… Watching the anti-air device being completed day by day, I really feel like having a go with the Levitate Ships. It would be nice if a vessel just happen to fly by for us to test it?”
“... It’s fine if just the Silver Phoenix Knights are around, but the locals will go insane if they heard you.”
The Boss manipulated ‘Mobile Workshop’ nimbly with a look of resignation. Considering the fact that Levitate Ships ravaged this nation badly, this wasn’t sothing to joke about. Eru lift his index finger to his lips, showing a mischievous smile as he gestured for the others to keep it a secret.
As they continued their work, a guest visited them. It was Ady who was holding a basket of light snacks.
“Thank you for your hard work everyone— are you hungry? Have so snacks!”
“Oh, I want.”
“Sorry for the trouble, I was just feeling a tad hungry. I will help myself then.”
The Boss got down from Mobile Workshop and stretched his shoulders with a crack. Eru who was groaning with his head over the design plans also put down his pen. In the anti, Batson deftly tidied up the table, allowing Ady to lay out the dishes. The Boss eagerly reached for the food that had been cut into easy to eat portions, then said after taking a bite:
"… This is surprisingly good."
"Big— Boss— Why is it a surprise!? I learned cooking properly from Mom and Aunt Tina! I won’t make sothing strange!!”
Ady who used this chance to slip into the seat besides Eru turned mad, and the Boss raised his hands in surrender in a hurry:
“Alright alright, that’s my bad. Who is Aunt Tina?”
“That’s my mother. Hmm, you are getting better at cooking, this is nice.”
Eru complinted her as if he was trying to ease the mood, and Ady hugged him with a brilliant smile. Eru just continued eating nonchalantly. The Boss shifted his gaze back and forth between them, and sighed as if to say ‘I don’t get you two at all’.
“... The boy’s mother huh. I have nothing to say if that is fine with you.”
“Nobody loses out anyway, so it’s fine right?”
After seeing Batson took large bites without a care in the world, the Boss shrugs and continued enjoying his al.
The workshops street of Missillier operated throughout the night. Maybe they were pressed by the operational needs of the workshop, or this was their usual way of working, the trio never stopped working. Deep into the night, Eru suddenly raised his hands and cheered:
“Alright, the script is basically done! Next would be implenting it with the physical object, and adjust it after tests… Wah!”
A pair of hands reached from behind him, and grabbed his arms that were raised high. It goes without saying that they belonged to Eru’s aide, Ady.
“Hey~ Eru, let’s call it a day. I know you are hardworking, but it isn’t good to tire yourself out. This is a good place to stop right?”
“Hmm… That’s true. Let’s rest for today, and start again tomorrow morning.”
Be it fighting battles or crafting equipnt, if Eru was left alone, he would be too engrossed in it and will keep working nonstop. Stopping the Knight Commander who didn’t know how to restrain himself had gradually beco the job of Ady, the Commander’s aide. Eru was aware of that, so he agreed obediently as he scratched his cheek.
“Oh, we are stopping now for today too? Let’s pack up then.”
"Okay— Thank you for your hard work Boss."
At the sa ti, their conversation also beca a signal for the Boss and the others to stop for the day, the scene that repeated itself day after day. After a simple clean up, they headed towards the mansion they were using as a dormitory. The Silver Phoenix rchants which had the roles of being the most powerful combat unit and equipnt developers had more than adequate anities. The Knight Commander Eru was even assigned a personal room.
Ady followed Eru who was heading to his room as if this was the most natural thing in the world, then entered his quarters, and followed him onto his bed. Eru could only hold his head exasperatedly and said:
"……Ady. I think I am saying the sa thing every day. You also got your own room, so go back there to sleep.”
“That might be so! But listen, Eru. Even though this is an allied nation, we can’t leave an important person like you alone! As a mber of the Silver Phoenix Knights, and the Commander’s aide, I am volunteering to be your bodyguard! … So let’s sleep together.”
“I don’t get how you arrived at that conclusion…”
Eru was dumbfounded, but didn’t pursue the matter. This happens too often, and reminding Ady about it was useless too. Ady got between the sheets, snuggled next to Eru and gently embraced him in her arms.
“Hufufu, hugging Eru is so comfortable. This is so healing… and soothing, I can sleep tight tonight~”
Ady hugged him tight and brushed his hair. Eru said with a sigh:
“This kid is really… Did I pamper you too much? You never grow out of your habit of acting spoiled. And don’t think I will be your hug pillow forever, I might have a growth spurt in the future.”
"Hmm—? Let’s talk about it when you are taller than ."
"… anie."
Eru turned away and pretended to sleep out of spite. Ady didn’t mind as she patted his head happily, and closed her eyes after bidding him good night. A short while later, the sound of steady breathing ca from their bed.
***
Even later into the night. The moving clouds covered the faint moonlight, making the night even darker. Inside the forest where even the vegetation seed to be sleeping, giant figures sprinted by. They were painted a shade of black that rges into the night, and the figures were a head taller than the trees around them. Moving almost silently, they grazed past the forest like the wind. The huge shadows finally made it out of the vegetation, and could see the light from the city in front of them. It would be quite so ti before the bustling city fall into deep slumber. A giant hid in the forest, and pointed to the front with very slight movents.
Acting under its command, nurous figures appeared, as if they materialized from the very forest. Dressed in attire that lded into the darkness and silent movents, the human figures that were as difficult to spot as the giants advanced quietly.
No matter how lively Missillier was, it would still fall into slumber deep into the night. There were still activities ongoing in the city, which was a testant to the bustling city. The dark figures avoided the bright areas, and dashed from shadows to shadows, such as the roofs of houses and deserted alleyways as their checkpoint. Their goal was the center of the city, the mansion where the Kuscheperca royal and the Silver Phoenix Knights were based.
Deep into the night when almost everyone was asleep, intruders appeared in the building with the ice cold air of the night. Sentries were posted everywhere, but that was aningless for the shadows who had completely covered their tracks. The mansion wasn’t built for defence in the first place, so the shadows tread quietly across the silent corridors. After signalling each other with hand gestures, they split up.
An intruder clad entirely in black and moved like the darkness itself ran soundlessly inside the mansion, and reached a certain room very quickly. He opened the door quietly and peeked inside. There were two rooms inside, light and several maids could be seen in the room closer to the entrance. They were maids, and also bodyguards for the person in the room further in. This room must belong to soone with very high status. The shadow smirked under the scarf wrapped around his face.
He drew his dagger silently. Potent poison was applied to the blade, just a grazing wound was enough to kill. He then slid into the room from that gap— He didn’t make any sound, but the slight air movent was enough for the maids to detect the intruder. The intruder threw his daggers, aiming at the maids who were about to scream— Even though he threw several daggers at one go, they still flew in an accurate arc, piercing the throats of the maids.
The poison on the daggers reaped the lives of the maids quickly. The intruder was afraid that the sound of the maids collapsing would wake the mistress of the room, but that worry was unnecessary.
He picked up a lamp and walked deeper in, drawing near the bed to confirm the identity of the person sleeping there. There was no mistake, she was Princess Eleonora of the old Kuscheperca Kingdom.
After ascertaining that, the intruder took out a cloth and bottle. He then pressed the cloth that had been stained by the fluids from the bottle onto Eleonora’s mouth. She resisted for a while, and stopped abruptly. The bottle contained powerful anesthetics, so even if he was a bit rough during the abduction process, she wouldn’t wake up.
The orders of the shadows intruding the mansion was to capture the Princess on sight if possible, and to kill her if that wasn’t an option. If he could whisk her away, the mission would be a success. The shadow’s smile deepened under the scarf around his face. As he was preparing to leave the room— he encountered sothing unexpected.
Suddenly, a loud crack of thunder shook every corner of the mansion like thunder. The thunder stopped moving guardedly, focusing on his ears and trying to grasp the situation. It was a little cloudy, but the weather was stable and unlikely for thunder to suddenly crack. The abnormal situation that happened suddenly was signs of a ‘magical phenonon. When he thought this far, he imdiately charged towards the entrance of the room to escape—
Soone kicked open the door at this mont, and barged into the room to block his way. It was Chid. When he saw the person the figure was carrying on his shoulder, he let loose a feral growl:
“Hey, who do you think you are taking away?”
The figure didn’t answer, and threw a dagger without a second glance. Chid wielded his Bayonet Staff calmly in response to this sudden attack. The magic script ‘Spark Dart’ he already compiled spread into several weak purple lightning that shot down the daggers. It also stunned the figure before he could move and immobilize him. All these attacks avoided the princess, and hit their targets accurately.
Even though the black figure was a trained veteran, he couldn’t withstand the lightning attacks for too long. As his body spasm in a strange dance, the princess on his shoulders fell off. The mont he saw that, Chid moved at full speed, using the imnse strength from physical boost to kick the black figure. The figure flew away in the shape of a ‘
Reviews
All reviews (0)