Volume 2 / Chapter 15 / Approach of Climax

Now that he thought about it, he actually didn't know where he was heading.

Motoyasu was aware that the king and the pope were settled down in their little meeting together, but they could have been behind any of the subsequent doors they were heading to. He didn't receive any information regarding its location, so he stopped on his heel and turned around. It caused Naofumi and his party members to slow down behind him.

"What's wrong?" Naofumi asked with a trembling voice. "Having second thoughts?"

"Huh? No, I was just—"

"I knew it. We should have helped out Itsuki instead of running the other way. I know Itsuki told us he would handle it, but I can't help myself! They could both seriously injure each other if they're not careful! If Ren isn't holding back, I don't think Itsuki would either! We have to—!"

"Master Naofumi. Please calm down." The tanuki-eared girl came up to his friend, almost soothing the worries over with a blanket. "You already let Mister Itsuki fight this battle by himself. We have to focus on our own objective here, whatever it may be."

"Yeah, uhm, about that. I was about to talk about that." Motoyasu awkwardly chuckled, conversely greatly with the tension around them. "I got swept up in the atmosphere back in the throne room and I automatically ran out. Turns out, I have no idea where I'm going!"

"S-Seriously?" The tanuki-eared girl widened her eyes. "You could have fooled me with how confident you were going with that speed."

"You could have convinced me as well," the strawberry-blonde haired woman nodded. "You were certainly heading the right way, if there was to be a meeting with the king anywhere. Luck might have guided you, but I would have fixed your pathing if you were going the wrong way as well."

"You know the way? Then it would be helpful if you were the one who led it."

Putting up questions, mainly concerning her aforementioned knowledge, wouldn't have done anything except for wasting more time. He was patient enough to be able to wait until everything was all finished up to ask about that specific detail.

"If the king is to have a private meeting with anyone, it would have to take place in the conference room. If Lord Aldrecht is the one we need to meet, then he'll be right there, by the king's side. However, I do have some concerns."

"Are you thinking about that prison break?" the tanuki-eared girl asked. "From what it looks like, it's been sending everyone here in disarray."

"Indeed. My thoughts exactly. If the knights were to learn of this prison break, which they evidently must have with their responses, there is no doubt that they would have already moved the king, and to that extent of Lord Aldrecht, to a secure location."

Motoyasu had to double-take what he heard.

What was this about a prison break!? Despite the curiosity crawling to the tip of his tongue, he bit down on his lips to prevent that temptation. Though, it didn't take much for him to assume that this was what Zellus must have been talking about when he said he was preparing a distraction. Needless to say, it was probably unlikely that Naofumi knew where Zellus was, but if they did come across him…

Maybe he would have more concerns to address to that knight rather than the king's retainer. It was another question as to his desire to even confront him at this point. Perhaps it's because he simply didn't want to accept that Zellus turned his back against him and told Aldrecht of the issue at hand. His body trembled at the mere thought, but he shook his head.

"We'll focus on reaching that conference room first," Motoyasu suggested, quelling those internal ideas.

"Weren't you paying attention?" Naofumi asked. "Aldrecht might not be there anymore."

"We got nothing to lose by heading there first. If Aldrecht is still there, it plays perfectly to my goal. If not, we'll at least have a place where we can have breathing room away from the knights. They probably won't be returning to the conference room if everyone's been evacuated."

"And at that point, we can discuss our next course of action?" the tanuki-eared girl asked.

"Absolutely right, my dear." He gave a little wink to her and she flinched, probably not expecting such a response. He could see Naofumi groaning in the corner of his eyes, but if it got his mind off his worries for a moment, Motoyasu didn't mind that reaction. "Anyways, we should get going. We don't want to get caught."

"Alright. I'll lead the way," the strawberry-blonde haired woman said, taking charge almost immediately. "Though, I would ask that we would use non-lethal force on the chance that we do encounter any knights."

"I suppose that they don't know any better," Naofumi grimaced. "They're only doing their jobs to protect this castle and with all the chaos that's going on here, it's not hard to assume that they might link the problems to my unexpected appearance here."

"Then all we have to do is not get caught. Isn't that right, Naofumi?"

It was easier said than done, but the lightness to his statement made Naofumi smile a little. "Right. I guess you're right." A deep breath escaped his chest. "All we have to do is be careful about crossing paths with anyone. Hopefully, we won't need to stay around these parts for much longer."

"Fate is a fickle mistress," Motoyasu shrugged. "Let's just hope that nothing else goes wrong here."

"I'll try and pay attention to any footsteps," the tanuki-eared girl offered, beckoning attention to her ears. "If there's anyone coming down, we can probably run into a nearby room and hide there until they pass."

"Sounds good, Raphtalia."

"So her name's Raphtalia?" He couldn't help himself. "Beautiful name and quite fitting for her."

Motoyasu quickly turned around, just as the tanuki girl brought a fluster on her face. Her nervous eyes glanced over to Naofumi from a sense of confusion, but Motoyasu continued without regard.

"I would love to have some proper introductions when everything's settled down. All I need to know is that you're on our side and if you've been helping out my friend here, then that's all the reason I need to trust you with my back."

"Y-Yes, of course. You can leave it to me."

With the group heading down the hall, they kept their sights on the upper floors. Luckily for them, there weren't many knights that they came across. Those they did pass had all been in a rush and as such, they could tuck themselves in one of the adjacent hallways and let them run off to wherever they needed to go. The prison break revelation still wasn't discussed for Motoyasu, but whatever was happening, it was leaving part of the castle heavily unattended. Naofumi did seem to have known what was happening, so he was going to trust him on the details of that.

In any regards, it was allowing them to access the third floor conference room without much interruption. The strawberry-blonde haired woman came through the closed doors, bringing everyone in before closing it behind them. An audible click locked the room for themselves.

Much to expectations, the conference room was left empty. There were signs that people had been present here. With some chairs hastily moved out of the way and paperwork left behind, the sense of urgency certainly alluded the area. Motoyasu could even smell a dim scent of herbal tea, reminding him of the same kind he experienced before falling asleep by Aldrecht's hand.

He couldn't help himself to pick up one of the two half-empty teacups on the round conference table, making sure it was the same type. Figuring it to be one of the same, it was guaranteed that Aldrecht had once been here, thinking that the old man would give the same refreshments to the king and the pope; though, it likely wasn't drugged like his own.

"I can't read any of this…" Naofumi's muttering brought his eyes over, seeing his friend had the nosey sense to inspect the paperwork. "It's all scribbles to me."

"It makes sense," Motoyasu nodded, placing the cup down. "The weapons only translate speech as far as I can tell. When it comes down to text, we're left on our own. I've been wanting to figure out the language here for quite some time, but I've been kinda procrastinating on that a bit." He gave a half-hearted chuckle, scratching the back of his head.

"Raphtalia? Can you read this?"

"Let me see…"

"Is this really something we should be looking at?" Motoyasu asked, taking a look at the papers himself. As aligned with Naofumi, it was all random writing to him as well. "The pope and the king might have brought in information that was supposed to be kept as secrets."

"If it was kept confidential, would they have simply left it lying about?" Raphtalia responded with another question, tilting her head. "It wouldn't have taken much time to take these papers with them if they were important, would it?"

"Even so…"

Naofumi shook his head, as if preemptively expecting Motoyasu's answer. "Maybe their meeting has to do something with us. The pope hates the Shield Hero, based on religious beliefs, and he probably has a bone to pick with Ren, considering what he believes to be the truth. That being, that he was the one to destroy the Church's library."

Motoyasu did remember that he suspected that the meeting was about the fundings for the church and its repairs. Now that he thought about it, something regarding that topic shouldn't have been taking so long. He could reasonably expect it to take an hour at maximum if many adjustments and decisions have to be made about budgeting, but if it was supposed to span over the entire evening, there surely had to be more to it than what he originally assumed.

"In any other conditions, I would advise you to not look through those confidential papers," the strawberry-blonde haired woman said, "but if there is suspicion that there's more to this meeting than expected, perhaps there is some validity in looking into it. I would doubt that there's anything of value there, if it was truly left behind."

Raphtalia moved over next to Naofumi, dipping her head next to Naofumi's shoulder as he lifted it up for her to see. In the meanwhile, Motoyasu noticed the other woman looking around the room, trying to find something.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked, approaching her as she inspected one of the paintings.

"I suggested that the king may have been evacuated to a safe location, but that would imply the use of a secret passageway. There hasn't been many times in the past where such methods must be used, but I'm certain that this situation would justify the occasion."

"Then what's the matter here?"

"Ashamed as I am to say it, but I haven't studied the number of secret passageways that exist within the castle's perimeters. My training came first, so I am unaware of where Lord Aldrecht and the king may have gone. I believe there's one somewhere here."

"So it's only a matter of finding it. We do that and afterwards, we can follow the trail over to Aldrecht and get some explanations from him," Motoyasu sighed. He didn't know why Aldrecht would backstab him like that and frankly, he would have liked him to talk more about what the apparent issues were, but he supposed it would be rather hypocritical of himself to say that.

"What is it that Lord Aldrecht did?"

"Why are you calling Aldrecht by that title?"

Motoyasu didn't mean to derail her question with his own question, but he noted that she kept calling him by Lord Aldrecht. Surely, her perspective of the old retainer was good and being such, he didn't want to completely crush her vision of the man. Even if Aldrecht pulled such a scheme over him, there was something that made it seem like he was forced into such decisions.

The apologetic nature was evident.

"Apologies, I haven't introduced myself." She gave a swift bow, being rather formal in her stance. "My name is Eclair Seaetto. I'm a former knight of Melromarc. Lord Aldrecht, regardless of my current position, is still a man of worthwhile respect."

Being pleasantly surprised, Motoyasu raised his eyebrows.

"Do not worry, I have my intentions for helping the Shield Hero in his endeavours here. I, as well, need some answers for myself for what is going on in my absence."

"I wasn't worried at all," Motoyasu said, casually leaning his hand on a hip. "If you're coming clean about your former position with me, you've probably done the same with Naofumi already. If he's alright with it, I have no further complaints."

A soft smile escaped Eclair's serious expression. A compliment almost slipped out from his mouth, distracted by the rose that hid underneath all that stern posturing and heavy guard.

"My name's Motoyasu. I'll save the rest of the introductions later." Eclair nodded, agreeing with his decision to keep things short. He turned back to the prior question that was sent his way. "Anyways, Aldrecht… made everything into a slight mess. Although I don't think he's the one to blame for the root of this problem, it would be nice to understand on his side of the situation."

"But to think Lord Aldrecht has entangled himself in such details," Eclair muttered, just loud enough for him to hear. "He always struck me as a man who was rather passive compared to the stories of his youth. It wouldn't be difficult to imagine that Lord Aldrecht would be living a quiet life, if it weren't for the fact that his close friend had become the king."

"Well, we can think more about that once we reach Aldrecht." Motoyasu started to inspect the painting as well, but all he was really doing was rubbing his chin mindlessly. "So uh, what are we supposed to look for exactly? Secret button or what?"

"The castle is filled with many different mechanisms that would open up the passageways. Without a clear memory, it's difficult to say what would open up a specific one." Eclair moved from the painting to a nearby statue, feeling its base. "Perhaps I'm even mistaken and there isn't one in the conference room."

"No fault in trying. I'll help out."

"Thank you, Sir Motoyasu."

He did his best to look for anything that could be considered out of the ordinary within the room, but all of his answers came unresolved. He was even using some of the strategies that Emerald Online would keep for some of its puzzles, but nothing turned up with that foreknowledge.

Eclair was having no luck either, but she was much more persistent in finding it. After a few minutes, he changed courses to grab a breather and turned over to Naofumi and Raphtalia to check how they were doing.

"Did you find anything interesting yet?"

"I'm not sure, but there is something relating to the heroes," Naofumi answered.

"The vocabulary and terminology here is a bit complex, but I can understand the basic details," Raphtalia followed. She was about to give Motoyasu the paper in question, only to remember that he couldn't read it either. She shyly brought it back to herself, trying to cover up her fluster.

Naofumi took attention as she recovered. "There's a few papers concerning some type of budget discussions," as Motoyasu expected, "but there seems to be some sort of discussion concerning our summoning in particular. Apparently, something went wrong."

"The summoning itself? You're talking about the ritual that brought us here, right?" Motoyasu tilted his head. Everyone looked like they made it to this world safely; it was just the events that occurred within this world that shifted it to a problem. He couldn't guess what it was that they determined to be the error.

"Yeah, but some of the details are a bit too much to understand at a glance. It goes into some theoretical analysis apparently and Raphtalia couldn't really understand any of it."

"I'm sorry about that," she said, drooping her ears a bit.

"Nothing to worry about. I bet if we understood the language, we wouldn't have any better chances either," Motoyasu chuckled, cheering her up before bringing back a serious tone. "Though, is there anything that could suggest an explanation as to why they believe there's been an error?"

"Let me see…" Raphtalia took up another paper, furrowing her eyebrows as she tried to make sense of what she was reading. "I think… they believe that the summoning ritual isn't finished yet. It's still active, as we speak."

"You mean to tell me that there are still more heroes?" Motoyasu asked. "Weren't there supposed to be only four?"

"That is why they believe there's been some type of problem."

"Hopefully, this doesn't affect how they see us," Naofumi groaned. "With all the issues that they think we're making, it's not difficult to imagine that they'll pull a correlation between the ritual's oddity and our apparent behavior."

"Maybe we should keep some of these papers?" Motoyasu suggested. Naofumi frowned immediately and so did Raphtalia, causing him to explain himself. "Look, I'm not supporting theft here, but we still don't have a grasp of what's going on here. Maybe it could serve as a good clue later down the line."

"I would suggest that you don't steal regardless," Eclair said, approaching the group. "If they figure out that the heroes stole confidential documents, you'll be further down the hole of crimes that they can list you for. Even as a former knight, I can't condone these actions."

"Hey! Look over there!"

Motoyasu pointed to the open window, trying to distract Eclair. The plan was to sink the papers into his inventory and pretend that they put it down, but given how obvious his exclamation was, Eclair merely crossed her arms with a disapproving glare. He could hear Naofumi facepalm behind him.

"Guess that was a longshot. Whatever." Motoyasu, regardless of the knight's watchful duty, grabbed the papers out of Raphtalia's hands and proceeded to still stick them into the inventory. Eclair was shocked at either the existence of the inventory or the gall of his actions, but Motoyasu merely shrugged. "Sorry, but I still personally think that we have the right to know. I'll return them once everything is sorted out."

Eclair merely sighed, shaking her head. It wasn't as if she could force him to cough them back up anymore, but considering she broke off her objective, Motoyasu changed the topic.

"So then, did you find the secret passageway?"

"Not yet. I want to check the surrounding hallway area."

"Alright, stay careful. I'll keep looking in here. Naofumi, Raphtalia? Want to help out?"

"Sure," Naofumi nodded. "I think we exhausted the important parts of the paperwork we can decipher, unless Eclair knows a bit about magic theory."

"I unfortunately do not."

Motoyasu, Naofumi, and Raphtalia broke off from the table to search the walls for anything suspicious as Eclair walked over to the locked door, taking the time to pay attention to the outside noises before heading off. Motoyasu didn't think there would be any trouble, seeing the former knight reach for the lock.

However, Raphtalia's ears twitched as the audible click returned.

She turned to her immediately, widening her eyes.

"Miss Eclair! Watch out!"

Heeding the call instantly, she leapt back just in time for the door to be slammed down by a brutal force. She backed up with a perfect landing, regrouping with the others as everyone drew their weapons. They watched the hinges fall slowly off the door, leaving it to slam onto the ground. Behind it, knights in armor suits walked in with weapons and animosities of their own.

"We've been found out!?" Motoyasu spat. "Damn it!"

"One, two, three…" He could hear Naofumi counting the heads. "Nine knights. What are they doing here!? This doesn't seem like they randomly stumbled upon us!"

"You would be correct, Shield Demon."

Motoyasu definitely recognized that voice.

From the depths of the knights, they parted out the middle to allow their leader to walk in for them. Motoyasu stiffened, having his spear's tip falter downwards. Putting himself in her perspective, this probably reflected badly onto him.

"Myne! Didn't I tell you to stay with your father for safety!?"

"That's… Myne…? What is she doing here…?"

Naofumi's body shook. Motoyasu couldn't blame him for trembling, considering what happened between them. They likely haven't crossed paths ever since the trial. His face twisted, not knowing how to feel about the woman that took the center stage before him, but Motoyasu tried to take charge, stepping forwards.

Raphtalia came to Naofumi's side, trying to figure out what was happening as he did.

"That is why I brought some knights along with me," Myne announced. "Seeing the Sword Hero being within the castle's perimeters made me quite suspicious, but I never expected to find the Spear Hero alongside the Shield Demon. From the looks of it, it appears that you tried to bring the monstrous Shield Demon to my father."

"Wait! Let me explain! I think you're assuming the wrong things here!"

"Then why are you here, inside the place my father was once staying within?"

"The situation's not as clear as it seems here! Listen to me, Myne!" Motoyasu begged, seeing how the knights were prepared for a fight. "We need to come meet Aldrecht and we assume that he's with the king right now! That's all! There's a problem that we need to be cleared up right now and some questions we need him to answer for us!"

"And so?" Myne frowned, as if that wasn't a satisfactory answer. "What does that have to do with the Shield Demon being here? I can't allow him to roam freely if he's trespassing within the castle perimeters. Considering the chaos within the prisons that's happening, I'd say that that was simply his way of distracting us."

"You're mistaken, Princess!" Eclair shouted across the room. "One of the knights, Sir Zellus Clarent, was the one to release the prisoners and start that breakthrough! Sir Naofumi was not the one to do so!"

"Do you think we'll believe the words of a traitorous knight?" The words stung Eclair deeply, causing her to back up a bit. It was a bit ironic, since the knight she spoke of was probably the true traitor to the ranks from what he did. "Your words mean nothing. I'm speaking to the Spear Hero right now."

"W-Wait… Eclair?" Naofumi broke off his little trance, turning to the former knight. "What did you just call Myne?"

"If you're speaking about the woman before us, her name isn't Myne. She's Princess Malty, the first daughter to King Aultcray." Motoyasu nodded in agreement to Eclair's words. He supposed the secret was out, but it wasn't as if he was trying to hide that fact from his friend.

"She's… the princess…? Then that would mean… what Itsuki heard from that day…"

Motoyasu wasn't sure what Naofumi was thinking, but it looked as if gears were turning around in his head. For him right now, it can't be important to address. He had to worry about talking their way out of this mess before things turned for the worse. Knowing Myne, he believed that there was the chance to convince her, so he fully lowered his spear to offer no hostility to her or her knight.

"All I'm asking is for us to meet with Aldrecht here. You can come escort us if it's really needed."

"Even if I took you up on that offer, we don't know where Uncle Aldrecht is." Motoyasu widened his eyes as she continued. "He ran off the moment things within the castle turned south, saying that he needed to deal with some matters of his own."

"Lord Aldrecht isn't with the king in a time like this?" Eclair thought aloud. "I wouldn't have expected such a decision from him. What would be so important that he would separate himself?"

"Not that it matters," Myne defiantly smirked. "Uncle is a capable mage and any old prisoner that crosses his path must be prepared for their end. Just as the Shield Demon will meet his fate here."

The knights raised their weapons, arrays of swords and spears, only for Motoyasu to scream at them to stop at once. They weren't heeding his command, so he tried once more with the princess.

"Myne, please stop this!"

"Are you protecting the Shield Demon, Sir Motoyasu? Do you not remember that he was the one that tried to rape me during our first night together?"

"T-That is…!"

Motoyasu found himself stumped for words, sweating in order to desperately figure a way to diffuse her hostility without throwing Naofumi underneath the bus. He still didn't believe that Naofumi was the one to do it; he thought that Myne was somehow mistaken for another person during her trauma.

"You don't believe me, Sir Motoyasu?" Her hand held over her mouth as sorrow started turning her expression over. With tears welling up, the act of being betrayed by two heroes in a row might have not been a good thought for her. "All this time, you were believing this monstrous excuse of a hero?"

"N-No, that's not it!" he instinctively responded. He didn't dare turn around to see Naofumi's reaction to that. "I-I mean, I'm trying to say that there's something bigger going on here, Myne! If you would trust me and give me a chance here—!"

"If it's important, then you can go off and talk to Uncle Aldrecht for yourself. If you can find him, that is."

"Huh?"

Wiping her tears during Motoyasu's suspension of disbelief, her voice was still trembling. Despite that, he could hear her words clearly.

"I thought about how the Sword Hero could do such violent things against the capital, but I realized that it was all somewhat relating to the Shield Demon. It only made sense that the Sword Hero wasn't doing these things because he wanted to, but it's because he was brainwashed into the Shield Demon's bidding."

"H-Hold on…" Motoyasu shook his head nervously, thinking the entire thing made no sense. The knights thought otherwise, agreeing with one another as if it was perfectly sane to believe in such fiction. "T-That's not… Naofumi doesn't have…"

Feeling the cold sweat dripping down his forehead, he looked over his shoulder, seeing that Naofumi was watching the entire conversation unfold. He started shaking his head profusely, outright rejecting any notion that he had anything relating to a brainwashing device on him.

It wasn't as if Motoyasu didn't believe him, but it was another matter of trying to explain against such an outlandish concept. He found himself biting his bottom lip and rolling his fingers up in distress.

"I don't know what type of words he used to convince you, but you must move out of there immediately, Sir Motoyasu! If we can deal with the Shield Demon quickly, perhaps I can guide you to Uncle Aldrecht as you wanted!"

Motoyasu froze, feeling a shiver on his spine.

"Myne?" he stammered. "W-What are you suggesting?"

"Turn your spear against the Shield Demon! He's the true enemy, after all!"

Was this supposed to be some sick joke?

This decision was exactly like what he was given back at the trial, but unlike then, there were immediate consequences to what he chose. When the two sides he wanted to support turned against each other, Motoyasu hated being in the center of it all. He wanted both sides to be happy, looking for that possible third option. He supposed that what he wanted to believe in, back then at the trial—

—and even back with those two girls. Despite it all, he was already informed that being stubborn and selfish with believing in such an imaginary decision, both sides may fall deeper until it crumbled into the real third option. It was the option where everyone, including him, would lose.

That's why he couldn't run anymore and excuse himself as someone trying to seek out the best result for everyone. In some regard, he should be thankful for another chance at this decision because without it, he wouldn't have been able to figure out what he really wanted.

"Sorry about this."

Motoyasu's spear loosened up as he started walking over to Myne's side.

Raphtalia and Eclair stiffened, seeing the Spear Hero abandon them and once he approached her, he turned around and drew his spear at them. All the knights chuckled, seeing that the Shield Hero was deserted. He brought their weapons down, following the Spear Hero's lead.

"You can't be serious, Sir Motoyasu!" Eclair exclaimed. "I was under the assumption you were on good terms with Sir Naofumi!"

"This is something I have to do," Motoyasu said. "Don't hate me for this."

"Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia turned to the silent hero, likely bewildered into submission from this. "Please do something about this! I thought you said the Spear Hero was your friend!"

She must have expected Naofumi to be broken up a bit, but Naofumi contrasted her expectations. In response to their worries and in the face of the knights' cockiness, the Shield Hero laughed.

"Pulling a page from Itsuki, aren't you?"

Immediately as Naofumi said that, Motoyasu's spear wrapped around Myne's neck. It surprised all of the knights, forcing them to turn around and hold their breaths in their own troubles. Myne, in particular, was thrown off her guard when he turned against her.

"S-Sir Motoyasu!? What are you doing!?"

Motoyasu winced, regretting what he was doing, but it was needed regardless. He couldn't figure out another way to resolve this in a cleaner fashion. He ignored the princess and spoke to the knights.

"Weapons down. Or else."

The knights muttered among each other as they slowly placed their weapons down. He wanted this to be the moment where the other three could take down the knights, now without a weapon to defend themselves. He was going to respect Eclair's request to leave this with a non-lethal approach, though he was already planning to make it so anyways.

However—

—that simple regret must have prevented him from being tight with his capture, as Myne was able to throw him off back towards the door. He caught himself on his right foot, leering up to the princess. She must have been able to sense that he was holding back and moved out, knowing her life wasn't in real danger. She fell over to the knights dramatically as they brought up their weapons again.

One of the knights preemptively leapt over to Motoyasu, slamming their sword into his blocking spear.

The force was great enough to push him out of the room and into the hallway.

"Grah! Damn it!" he swore under his breath. He quickly recovered, looking back into the conference room. "R-Really should have seen that… coming…!"

"Oh no! I see what's happening now!" Myne pleaded with the knights, starting to cry for the hero's sake. "The Shield Demon must have finished brainwashing the poor Spear Hero as well! We were too late! We have to kill the Shield Demon to free him!"

"W-Whoa, wait a minute here!" Motoyasu straightened his foot stance, reaching out to Myne reactively. "I'm not brainwashed! I'm doing what I have to do here! I'll apologize as much as I need to when all of this is over!"

"Capture them all!"

In some ways, he supposed Myne was looking at a third option as well, choosing to believe whatever she wanted to believe if it saved her mentality. There was no way he could blame her for that, but there wasn't any way he could hold himself back either.

Seeing two knights run out to the hallway, both brandishing their swords at Motoyasu, he had to regretfully prepare for a skirmish. He could see through the doorframe that Naofumi and the others were getting themselves ready to deal with the other seven, but his focus was pulled away when a blade soared to his chest.

He jumped out of the way, down the hall. He stabbed his spear into the floor, using it as a pole to propel himself to a further distance to get a handle of the spacing. Readying his weapon, the knights watched him carefully, but he heard a cry coming from the room.

"Motoyasu!" Naofumi screamed out as he heard the clanking of metal from within. "We'll get to you quickly! Hold tight!"

"Don't worry about me!" he shouted back. "I'll handle myself just fine! Look after yourself and take care of the guys inside the room first!"

He couldn't hear a response in time; the knights were already using the moment to close in on him. The first thrusted roared, narrowly scraping Motoyasu in his sidestepping dodge, while the second sword swung from the other side. He was pinched between the two swords among their teamwork, forcing Motoyasu to pull up his spear and angle it to block both at the same time.

It wouldn't hold for long though, causing Motoyasu to jump backwards with cold sweat.

Their chase was relentless, giving Motoyasu a reason to stay on his toes. The blades flew at him in turns, giving him no space to move from his defense. Even with perfect blocking, Motoyasu could still feel the power behind it. They must have been at a higher level than him, making things look even worse.

"Can we chill for a moment!?" he spat in the middle of the dance. "I'm willing to talk things out!"

A skill activated from one of the knights as he slammed it down onto the floor. Considering that it left a crack there, Motoyasu didn't want to think about what would happen if he didn't move away in time.

"I could have simply taken 'no' for an answer!"

Bouncing back from a deft evasion, Motoyasu swapped spears and watched as one of the knights ran up with a wide swing. Charging up the electricity inside of the tip, he struck outwards with a quick lunge.

"[Lightning Thrust]!"

It was a clean hit on the chestplate, sending the knight flying backwards. His work wasn't finished yet and without even seeing how far they were blasted away, the second knight wasted no time in taking his opening.

Motoyasu swung his forearm, noticing it was an overhead slash, and slammed it against the knight's hand to buy him a few seconds to recover. By the time he was overpowered and his forearm was pushed away, his spear already took position for a careful defense. Using the struggle, he tried to communicate with the knights again.

"Alright, maybe that was a bad move from me to take the princess hostage for a few seconds! I admit it, but there wasn't any other way to get us out of there! C'mon, you can understand right? Hello!?"

The knight immediately pushed the spear's pole upwards using the hilt, staggering Motoyasu back a few steps. A fist followed the ascension of the weapons, dealing a heavy blow right into the hero's chest. His body flew over to the wall with a hard whiplash to his head.

"O-Okay, none of them are going to listen," Motoyasu muttered, wincing in his pain. "I guess it was a long shot to begin with."

His eyes opened back up to see the knight bringing down his sword. In a panic, Motoyasu threw himself to his right with the best attempt he could pull to get back on his feet. However, a faulty footing allowed the knight to close in for quick pressure, landing an attack that made Motoyasu roll down the hall.

Grinding to a halt using his spear, he stood back up, hearing the footsteps behind him. The first knight had gotten on his feet again and pointed his sword right to his back. A quick twirl managed to allow the hero to pass right by him and before the knight could stop, Motoyasu swung his spear like a bat, sending him into his comrade.

Unfortunately, the second knight seemed much more experienced, dodging his ally's collapse. His eyes glanced over to the groaning mess, making sure that he wasn't dead before silently observing the hero for any sudden movements.

Motoyasu should have expected that there were knights of different skills in this world. It wasn't like a game, where all the differences between the enemy knight units were their levels. He didn't think of such things when coming into Melromarc, but it was another story to finally realize that reality for himself.

"[Air Strike Spear]!"

The transparent red spear flew at the knight, missing it completely as he narrowly moved past it. His approach sword slashes came violently, but the knight seemed to be wary of the counterstrike that Motoyasu could make, spacing him appropriately to give that breathing room of evasion.

One of the attacks narrowly hit, scraping his cheek and opening a cut. The disorientation broke his guard as the blade collided right into shoulder. It definitely stung a bit, but the fight with Ren hurt much more than whatever the knight could throw at him.

Biting through the pain, he struck with a left hook, staggering the knight for a bit. By the looks of his bewilderment, Motoyasu spun his spear to point the tip at the opponent and lunged. He hoped that this only knocked him out.

"[Hundred—]!"

"[Faust Wing Blow]!"

Feeling like someone shoved his back, his skill stopped and he staggered forwards. It gave the knight enough time to recover to grab Motoyasu and pushed his head onto the ground. Getting a face filled with floor isn't exactly the most comfortable thing to experience, but wanting to figure what happened, his eyes panned over to the direction the attack came from.

Myne was standing out down the hall with two knights at her side, but her palm was facing towards him. She looked like she was making an escape, moving away from the conference room, only to see that she could lend some assistance with her magic.

"Don't worry, Sir Motoyasu. We'll save you from the clutches of the Shield Demon."

"I don't need—Gah!" His head was pushed down a bit, as if the knight was trying to muffle his voice. "I don't need saving! I need you to listen to me!"

"Empty words from a brainwashed hero. We have to keep him away from that natsy Shield Demon!" Her eyes narrowed into one of the knights, who nodded in response, to quickly approached and constrain the Spear Hero. "Quickly, take him to one of the prison cells before—!"

As the knight blindly ran past the opened door, Naofumi suddenly came flying out with his shield in front of him, slamming the victim into the wall. His head turned to Myne and then Motoyasu, immediately deciding which was more important.

He ran over to the pinned hero and threw out his shield, knocking the knight off Motoyasu.

Extending a hand, Naofumi managed to get his friend back onto his feet not before long.

"Handling yourself just fine, huh?"

Motoyasu wryly chuckled. "I… may have slightly overestimated my capabilities."

Eclair came out of the room to knock out the nearby knight for good, before turning over to the princess. Raphtalia was quick to follow up with the former knight, keeping vigilance on the remaining enemies. The knight that Motoyasu was fighting got back up, but upon seeing how his comrades were all wiped out, he started retreating in the other direction.

"You guys already finished wrapping up?"

"Eclair is really strong. Even if she was imprisoned for a month, she was still able to disarm and take down almost everyone in the room."

"Consider ourselves lucky that she's on our side."

Motoyasu shook himself back to share and after drinking a potion from his inventory, he felt like his energy was returning. Not all of it came back as his body was still sluggish, even at a decent regenerating rate. There must have been quite the consistency problem if multiple potions are drunk, one after the other. Not to mention his stomach didn't really appreciate all of it.

"Myne!" he shouted out from the back to the grunting princess. "All I want to do here to get everything cleared up and fix all of this mess! No one's being brainwashed here! You have to trust me on that!"

"You put a spear to her neck," Naofumi muttered, staring at his friend in disbelief. "I don't think anyone can trust you after that."

"Okay, in hindsight, that might have been a bad move. W-What else would you suggest?"

"Do not think you will succeed with your nefarious plans, Shield Demon!"

"Hold on! Myne! Damn it!"

The princess and her remaining knight escaped down the hall, figuring that they were in a terrible position to face off against them. If they weren't going after them, it was likely that back-up would quickly come after them, so there was no time to spare in giving chase. In order to limit their troubles, they definitely needed to stop them, but Motoyasu took only a few steps after her until he stopped.

The others seemed to have similar plans, but only faltered because of Motoyasu.

"What's wrong? We need to stop her!" Raphtalia said. "If that woman gets away, we may be facing more knights before we're able to leave here!"

"Of course I'm worried about her and what she might do," Motoyasu grimaced, "but I can't exactly ignore the fact that Aldrecht isn't where we thought he was."

"I concur with that unusuality," Eclair nodded. "Very rarely, would I expect something of that to occur. I wonder what Lord Aldrecht is doing, if even the princess does not know of his whereabouts."

"Maybe it was a bluff?" Raphtalia suggested.

Motoyasu disagreed. Besides the fact that he didn't think Myne would lie like that, Aldrecht did sound like he had his own agenda to fulfill. He recalled that Aldrecht said that he didn't tell anyone of their upcoming appearances, but as he relapsed further into his memory, he realized he had forgotten the exact thing Aldrecht told him before he fell asleep. Fighting Ren made him forget about that whole thing temporarily. Too much was stirring up in his mind, causing that fog to hover for some time, but he had only hoped it wasn't too late.

"We… We have to head back to Itsuki and Ren right now!"

Turning around without explaining anything, Motoyasu started running, retracing their steps back to the throne room. The other three were forced to follow in confusion.

"What's going on!? Hey, Motoyasu!"

"It's Aldrecht! I take back what I said about leaving those guys to themselves! You were right to worry, but for the wrong reason! Aldrecht is looking for Ren to deal with the issue himself! And I don't think I like the implications of what he meant!"

"Then they're in danger!?"

"Yeah! We have to get to them quickly before Aldrecht does!"

"Damn it! Please hold on, you two!"

Heading down the flights of stairs, they came over to the throne room as fast as they could. The difference was that they didn't care much about crossing with any knights along the way; the heroes' minds were merely concerned on one matter alone. Luck would have them not see any other knights in the path downwards, but it stroked a folly when they arrived.

The place looked wrecked.

Some of the columns were broken apart, as the ground and walls were filled with marks of fighting. The ceiling above a part of the room had been collapsing on itself, crumbling to a pile of rubble below it. If Motoyasu needed any proof that Itsuki and Ren didn't hold the definition of holding back in their books, this would be the defining case for it.

Naofumi's face was pale as he looked over to Motoyasu.

"You don't think… Aldrecht has already…!"

"No, they would probably put up a better fight than that! Surely!"

"But what if they were both exhausted after fighting each other? All Aldrecht would need to do is swoop in to capture both of them!"

Naofumi's scenario was possible, but Motoyasu wanted to have some hope for their younger friends. He turned around and started going past the throne room's door. There had to be some clues, signaling where they were now. Any second they wasted could translate to being a second too late to help them out.

Down the hall, he noticed a few knights laying down on the ground. Eclair noticed it as well, quickly coming to check on them. It didn't take long to notice the fatal wound on their chest, stricken across like they were merely in the way. It was too late to save them, much to the former knight's grief, but the melted metal of their armour told him the story he needed to know.

"Ren came down this way. Their fight moved from the throne room to somewhere else!"

"Then there's still the chance!" Raphtalia gasped.

"Then what are we waiting for!? Let's go!" Naofumi shouted, being the first to follow the trail. Motoyasu picked up his pace, running right behind his friend.

There were evident marks in which skills seemed to have flown across, burnt with a charred and damaged surface. A few of the novelties and decorations were broken or pushed down on the path and as they got closer to their destination, the air started feeling colder.

Motoyasu turned to the next exit, being the garden space that they came to on the first day. The contrasted scenery shook him down, changing from the beautiful flower beds and fountain to wilted plants and a flooding monument. Right in the middle of it all—

—Ren, partially trapped in ice, and Itsuki down for the count.

All while Aldrecht was preparing a spell to the fallen friend. He looked so weak that any magic thrown his way would seem lethal, but the old man didn't hesitate as if he already knew that.

"Just in time! We must be cashing in all of our luck today!"

As if the two able-bodied heroes were sharing the same mind, they both lunged at the scene without any moment left to be spared. Their footsteps were surely heard. if not for Motoyasu's preemptive shout, as Aldrecht's eyes caught them with a subtle turn of his head. The magic he was casting transitioned from Itsuki to them.

"[Zweite Icicle Needle]."

His staff aimed as the magic circle unleashed a storm of hailing ice shards at them, but Naofumi was prepared. He held out his shield, taking a stand before it.

"[Air Strike Shield]!"

The transparent green shield appeared before them and all the ice was made into dust as they collided. It gave Motoyasu the perfect opportunity to run over, standing in between Aldrecht and Itsuki. He knew there wasn't any time for the mage to cast another spell, so he swung his spear at him, trying to scare him off into retreating back.

However, Aldrecht stood still.

"[Faust Ice Layer]."

Just as Naofumi was able to manifest a shield, Aldrecht casted out a reflective mirror constructed out of ice. The spear collided with it and almost instantly, the shards exploded outwards and sent him flying backwards over his friend. It didn't do much damage, looking to serve as a spacing tool if anyone got close.

Naofumi picked up where Motoyasu left off, jumping into Aldrecht to push him away with the shield. For that time, Aldrecht moved out of the way. It allowed Naofumi to land on his two feet before acting as a wall for his friends. He looked behind to check on Ren and Itsuki, both still thankfully breathing and alive.

Raphtalia and Eclair finally caught up, moving up to support Naofumi in facing off against the retainer, but given the circumstance, Motoyasu forced himself onto his feet and looked at Aldrecht in the eyes. The old man didn't look like he was in a conservationist's mood, solely based on the atmosphere.

Even so, Motoyasu glared at him with burning eyes. If they were able to get the full story and convince Aldrecht to assist them instead of to hinder them, the end would be in sight. However, the difficulty was only rising up from here as his tone couldn't control itself from its anger.

"So, Aldrecht," he growled. "I would say that it's nice to see you again, but you're trying to kill my friends."

"I thought this would be much easier for me, even taking into account what would make the end less painful for you all." Sighing, Aldrecht held his cane against the ground as he stroked his beard. "It goes to show that I am no tactician like the king. Even if I'm being strung along for the course, there's already a commitment that was made."

Aldrecht returned a stare, merely filled with a chilled animosity. "No matter. With the heroes being seen as criminals and Melromarc in high danger because of the wrath of the other countries, I must persist for the peace my friend once envisioned."

Motoyasu had no idea what type of crazy logic Aldrecht was holding in his bosom, but regardless of his plans, he wasn't going to fail this time. Letting his own heart react for himself, he was already mindful that he was going to do his best with his tired body and fight, if that was what it took to keep his friends safe. It was painful to believe that it took this long to align himself properly on their side and although he held reservations about their enemies, he didn't have the luxury of holding back.

Motoyasu did what he should have done a long time ago.

Accept reality, pick a side, and stay firm with it.

Wasn't that the essence of loyalty in the end?

"Allow me to kill the Cardinal Heroes without resistance."

"How about you tell us what's going on!? Either that, or leave us the fuck alone!"

"So that is your answer. Very well. It was not unexpected."

Aldrecht lifted his staff, pointing it at the heroes. If it was a fight Aldrecht wanted, he could adapt. They'll just grab the answers as the old man is pinned down, but something tells him that this isn't going to be easy. Motoyasu gripped onto his spear tightly in preparation.