Here we are again. We continue the story of previous chapter where we left off, so at the moment, when Lelei faces death. Will she make it? Well, you all know, probably. But hey, let me fool around, will ya?
Okay, due to the fact that I have nothing interesting to say, let's start.
Chapter 38
,,An attempt"
September 15, 2151
14:54
Rondel
His finger started pulling the trigger…
"Lelei!"Ester exclaimed.
Dora tried to take off the riffle she constantly carried with her on a harness, but everyone knew, that it will be too late. Before the bullet will fly and smell of powder will fill the air, the quarrel would already make itself comfortable inside Lelei's skull.
The quarrel shined in the sun…
Suddenly, the man shook. His eyes opened wide and he started gurgling. His hand loosened and crossbow fell out of it. Blood started sipping from his mouth and his eyes rolled inside his head. Next, his body fell on the ground, lifeless.
Grey just watched the dead body, with his extendable wrist-blade dripping blood. People around started murmuring, both confused and scared.
"Grey Co Aldo."Rory said."Can you explain, why an official duel ordered by Rory Mercury was interrupted?"
Shandy already appeared and approached the man on the ground. She grabbed his head and turned it, then immediately looked away.
Grey knelt and used the man's cloth to clean his wrist-blade. Next, it simply hid in it's place.
"I suggest to leave this place first."he said."We killed one assassin, but we're still not safe."
"An assassin?"Ester asked.
The group left the place few seconds later.
By the noon, a woman with two children stood in front of the destroyed buildings and looked at it, confused.
"Mom, where is our house?"
Woman let go a bowl with apples she was holding and looked down. There, she saw a basket with some fruits, standing next to one surviving part of the wall, with a single word written on it: 'Sorry'.
15:52
Sea of Books
"We came here by the order of colonel Pina"Grey explained"to bring you back to Fort Terhis."
"It's because we noticed sudden activity among known mercenaries and assassins."Shandy said."All were approaching Rondel."
Ester and Lelei looked at each other.
"Any ideas who hired them?"White Squadron leader asked.
"We might have the main suspect…"elder knight said."But…"
"Miss Lelei is the main subject everyone speaks of."Shandy continued."Since the news of Elecdraco's death reached Sadera. Seems like the person responsible for this wasn't happy because of that."
"But that was a year ago."Dora noticed."Why now?"
Arpeggio frowned.
"What do you mean by 'death of Elecdraco'?"she asked."What does it have in common with Lelei?"
"You really didn't heard by this year?"Grey asked."Your sister, alongside all present here, killed the beast."
"You're kidding, right?"Arpeggio tried to downplay it."Although my sister is a cute genius, it's impossible…This can't be…"
When she again looked at members of White Squadron, Tuka, Rory and Yao, they all had wide grins on their faces.
"It's true?!"she hollered at top of her lungs.
"Dark Elves got most of it, they had to spread the news further."Ester explained.
"That's the result of their doings."Grey summed up.
"So, why is Lelei the only one famous?"Liz asked.
"Because she was the only Imperial citizen in the group."Shandy replied.
Everyone risen their eyebrows.
"I'm part of Rurudo Clan."Lelei protested."I never wanted to become an Imperial citizen."
"People don't care. Your origin made you even more famous."
Dora narrowed her eyes.
"So, someone is just jealous?"she guessed.
"Seems like it."Shandy just threw up her arms.
"But…why wait for a year to get her?"Tuka asked.
"Simple. By this time, she was living around Fort Terhis."Grey answered."Only someone stupid would want to try and sneak into a base with highest possible security."
"Right. Turrets, cameras, thermal detectors…"Ester counted."Yeah, actually you're right."
"Not to mention, that Pied Piper is also after her."Shandy sighed.
"Who?"Liz asked.
"Yes, one of the assassins."Grey nodded."The two of us is no match for him, even with your weapons."
"It's obvious someone like that was hired for a person, which killed the Elecdraco."Rory agreed.
"That's why we want you to help."Shandy turned to Ester.
White Squadron leader sighed and stood up.
"Sure. We basically came here for that very reason."she stated.
"That's what I expected from Coalition."elder knight smirked."What's your plan?"
Ester started rubbing her chin, as she was thinking. Finally, a thought appeared in her head.
"We're gonna do this…"
22:10
Room number two
Nigh has fallen over Rondel, with only source of light being the lamps on the streets. Entire room was covered in darkness, as all candles were extinguished. But the bulges on four beds were still very well visible.
Silence of the night was interrupted by sound of light footsteps behind the door.
"Listen, Shandy."Ester whispered.
She was sitting inside the wardrobe with Shandy. The latter was covering her eyes.
"Whatever happens, don't open your eyes."
"Sure!"Shandy replied.
"Absolutely not. If you do, something bad will happen."
"Y-Yes…"
Right then, they both heard the sound of slowly opened door. Ester opened the wardrobe door a little and saw three figures entering the room. They stood in the middle of the room and not long after, Ester heard characteristic sound of blades leaving their sheaths.
Suddenly, the three shapes jumped and fell on the beds, piercing them with three daggers.
"Woo! We did it!"they cheered.
"Unfortunately…"Ester said, pulling the cotter."…not so much."
Saying that, she let a flashbang roll on the floor. Before the three could react, their ears where hit by super loud noise and their eyes were blinded by sudden flash of light. Shandy, which just looked over Ester's shoulder, unfortunately also got hit with it. After that, Rory jumped from her hiding and hit the three in the heads with flat part of her axe.
She gracefully landed on the floor and everyone else also exited their hiding.
"My eyes…"Shandy whimpered.
"I warned you."Ester said.
Grey took a piece of rope and came up to the three culprits, which as it turned out, were the three goblins, which took their luggage when they came here.
"You little shits…"Dora said through gritted teeth.
"Eek!"the three exclaimed.
"It's clear."Tuka said, after looking out of the room at the corridor."Nobody else is coming."
Ester approached the three goblins and knelt in front of them. Tears started appearing in their eyes and their noses were leaking.
"Why?"Ester whispered.
Few minutes later…
After incapacitating the culprits, Liz went to get the innkeeper. The man appeared not long after and after he was presented the situation, room fell into silence. Everyone looked at the three, not saying anything.
"We were tricked!"one of the goblins finally exclaimed.
"Tell me what happened."innkeeper ordered.
"A person we met at the bar told us, that they are scammers!"second said.
"They were supposed to be ruthless killers, lurking for the merchants staying at the inn!"third said.
"We heard that they're bandits, with rewards for their heads!"
"And you believed that?"innkeeper asked.
"They showed us an warrant and promised to share the reward!"
"And that was enough for you to sneak into their rooms?"
"We didn't do nothing!"
"Although we did nothing, we were caught!"
All three erupted in tears.
"You stabbed the beds."Liz pointed out.
"We're sorry!"the three whined.
Ester and Grey looked at each other.
"This is Pied Piper's standard operation way."elder knight explained."He's so difficult as an enemy, because he's a master of manipulation. He can change girl that wouldn't kill a fly, or old men unable to walk, into trained assassins."
"So it's the type, that doesn't like to get his hands dirty."Ester stated.
"Until we won't defeat him, assassins will keep coming."
"So they were only his puppets?"Rory asked.
"They're so sorry!"innkeeper exclaimed.
Everyone looked in his direction and saw him bowing, Japanese-style, with head touching the floor.
"Your Holiness and the others."he said."What they did was bad, but they only wanted to…They only wanted to protect the inn and it's clients! Sea of Books could have failed you, but please, forgive these promising young men!"
"Hamel!"the three exclaimed.
"Forgive only them!"innkeeper continued.
"You're forgiven."Rory said."But as the owner of the inn, you have to train them well, so it wouldn't happen again."
"Thank you very much!"innkeeper shouted.
"If you say so, Rory."Ester said.
Innkeeper needed few minutes to regain his composure and again stood in front of them.
"I'll talk to friendly innkeeper, if you can move there."he said.
"There is no need."Lelei said."The one who was already scammed, will be more careful the second time. So it's gonna be safer here."
"That means…"
"We want to stay here."
"If you want this, Lelei, then okay."Liz said.
"Un-Understood…"innkeeper replied."We'll do our best to repay you."
Grey used his wrist-blade to cut the rope and let the three go. They quickly ran out of the room, followed by innkeeper, which constantly bowed, walking back towards the door. When the door closed, Ester looked at Lelei.
"You sure about them?"White Squadron leader asked.
"It's hard to break a tabu, which is a murder."Lelei replied."The Pied Piper is a master in searching for people, in which he can easily break this reluctance."
"So he's good at searching for people, which ideals and way of thinking allow easy manipulation."Ester stated.
"Someone, who can be scammed, will be scammed all the time."young mage continued."Staying in this inn, we can narrow the suspects down. And I'm sure Pied Piper will contact them."
"So that's why forgiven them?"Dora asked."You turned them into a bait, so we could prepare an ambush for Pied Piper?"
"But how are we gonna watch them?"Liz asked."They know our faces."
"About that, Elizabeth…"Grey said.
"Fortunately, there is one person, which face they didn't see, because that person rolled on the floor."Lelei said.
Saying that, young mage turned around, grabbed wardrobe's door and opened them. Inside, they saw Shandy, with her knees under her chin.
"It was so bright…"she whimpered.
Then she looked up and saw everyone, except Grey, Lelei and Tuka, grinning.
"Eh?"
The next morning…
07:34
Ester opened the door, walked out of the room, followed by Dora and Liz, and slowly walked down the stairs, yawning. However, as they stood at the bottom of the stairs, they saw a peculiar sight. An innkeeper, trying to hold off a crowd of people of different races, from entering the building.
"What the hell?"Dora asked.
"Today, they repaired a bridge."Grey, which awaited them with the others, said."And a messenger with information, that you three killed the Elecdraco, arrived. Information spread like a wildfire."
"And stories of what I did at Alnus were also spread around."Yao said with red cheeks."I want to fall underground."
"I'm also ashamed."Tuka said."They spoke of what was happening, while I was insane."
"I don't like them saying I played one of main roles in defeating the dragon, while I wasn't even there."Rory said.
"And stories became really deformed."Lelei summed up.
"Deformed?"Liz asked.
"They say it was Lelei, who finished the beast."Rory finished.
All three risen they eyebrows.
"The desire for a Human hero is very strong in the Empire."Grey explained.
"I understand."Ester said."Some see Lelei as a hero, while some want to take her life?"
"Is something wrong, Ester/"elder knight asked.
White Squadron leader narrowed her eyes.
"But wait…You already knew about us and Elecdraco when you came here."
"But in this city, they learned about it just now."Liz said.
"Because bridge was repaired just now."Dora finished."Is there only one bridge on a river, leading to Rondel?"
"No, there are at least three. More, if you count the smaller ones."Grey counted.
Suddenly, everyone had the same thought as Ester and the others.
"Someone destroyed them."Ester said."Which means…"
"Something is happening and they don't want the rest of the country to know it."elder knight summed up.
"No news from Fort Terhis?"Rory asked.
"ICTA is probably still investigating this."Dora said.
"But we're gonna try to contact them."Liz promised.
"For now, stay low and try not to get ahead of the events."Ester ordered."By the way, where's Shandy?"
"She went to that bar, where the three met Pied Piper."Yao replied.
Later, night…
Shandy was sitting at the counter, drinking from a mug. She looked to the side, at three inn workers, which ate breakfast at nearby table. For now, nothing unusual was happening, but she knew, that it was only a matter of time.
And she was right, when female Dar approached their table.
"Hey, you."she said to the three."Are you from Sea of Books?"
This immediately sparked Shandy's attention.
"She came."Shandy thought.
Ester said, that she's the only one they won't recognize. She just hoped she was right about that, or otherwise…Shandy just shuddered at the thought.
Dar sat down with the three.
"Listen, I'm gonna pretend to be under Pied Piper's control."she said."I'm gonna attack Lelei at her presentation day. Tell her about it and also tell her to wear armor under her robe."
"Then what?"one of the three asked.
"Lelei will pretend to be dead. And Pied Piper will come to see, if she's really dead."
"I get it! And then we get him!"second worker sheered.
"You remember how he looks like, right?"
"Of course!"
"We will never forget!"
Dar smiled.
"So? This is your chance to regain your honor. You agree?"
"Sure we do!"
Shandy just lowered her head and grabbed it with her hands. She shuddered.
"They were tricked again…"she murmured.
Dar stood up and started walking away.
"Alright, stick to the plan."she said on leaving.
"Bye, bye!"the three said to her.
Shandy waited until the Dar left and quickly stood up. She ran out of the bar and noticed her turning into a dark alley, so she quickly followed her. Determined to get this thing done, she ran after the Dar.
Four days later…
September 21
08:54
Ester stood up in front of the room occupied by the rest and knocked.
"You ready?"she asked.
"Yes!"the voice from inside answered.
White Squadron leader opened the door and saw Lelei, dressed in the robe similar to the one from few days ago, with Tuka behind her, while Rory and Yao were sitting on the beds.
"New Master's outfit?"Ester asked.
"Stains made by Arpeggio didn't wanted to get off."Tuka explained.
"Hm. This one fits too."Ester stated.
Then, they heard a knock and turned around. Grey stood in the doorway, with arms crossed on his chest.
"Sorry for interruption."he said."Shandy disappeared four days ago. I think it's still too soon to give up. I would want to look around one more time."
After he said that, they heard someone running up the stairs and soon, the person in question stood in the room.
"Sorry for being late!"Shandy exclaimed.
Everyone just stood there, dumbfounded, Grey and Yao with their weapons almost drawn and Tuka keeping Lelei close to protect her. Shandy just continued to breath quickly after running.
"Shandy?"Rory finally said.
"W-Water…"she said weakly.
Few minutes later, Dora and Liz joined them, with the latter bringing some water for Shandy. Girl sat down on one of the beds and started drinking.
"I'm sorry."she said."I followed a woman named Norra and this is why I was gone for so long."
"Couldn't you at least send a message?"Yao asked.
"There was no time for that!"Shandy countered."So, inn workers said something about the ambush?"
"Yes."Tuka confirmed."They wanted Lelei to wear armor."
Shandy nodded.
"You probably noticed, that Norra is Pied Piper's puppet."she continued.
"I knew."Rory said.
"Armor won't help."Shandy stated."She'll probably strike at the neck. If she shows up, we would need to stop her, before she gets close to Lelei."
Ester crossed her arms.
"True."she agreed.
"So, Shandy, did you get to the Pied Piper?"Dora asked.
"Yes."Shandy confirmed."As the workers said, he was a man, dressed as a bounty hunter. I followed him all the way to Pairan, but he vanished, when I looked away for a second."
"It's two days away from here. She also followed him by herself."Grey said."I'm not surprised."
"Honestly, it would be enough, if you only found out, who contacted the boys."Liz said, scratching back of her head.
Shandy immediately looked at her, with widened eyes.
"What?! You're saying I just wasted four days?!"
"N-No, it's no like that…"Liz tried to defend herself.
"It's good that you were able to confirm, how Pied Piper looks like."Dora came to her aid."Thanks."
"You didn't eat anything yet, right?"Ester asked."Go and take a bite."
"Okay!"Shandy said.
She stood up and ran out of the room.
"Are we gonna tell the boys about it?"Grey asked.
"No, let them stay manipulated."Ester replied."Thanks to that, they will work more."
White Squadron leader turned to the rest.
"Rest goes according to plan. We're gonna get the Pied Piper, when he shows up at the presentation."
Two hours later…
After making themselves look at least decent, everyone went to the presentation. On the way, Dora and Liz constantly scanned the area around their group, searching for any possible danger. Fortunately, there was none
"Good luck."Ester said to Lelei, as they approached the R&D building.
"I'm starting to get nervous."Lelei admitted.
"There are a lot of people."Liz noticed.
"There can be other people tricked by the Pied Piper."Tuka stated.
"We need to be careful."Yao said.
"Oh, I'm always careful."Dora stated.
She took her AR4 from her arm and checked the ammunition inside the magazine.
"They're finally here!"familiar voice said."Here! Here!"
Everyone looked in that direction and saw Arpeggio and Mimosa standing among the crowd. They quickly came up to them.
"You're late, Lelei!"the older sister scolded Lelei.
"I'm not late."Lelei protested."They should still sign people up."
"Humph! As always, no charm."Arpeggio pouted.
Right then, she noticed what Lelei was wearing.
"Huh, they managed with the outfit."
"Arpeggio~"Mimosa said.
Sudden fear appeared on Arpeggio's face, as she started turning towards the Grand Master.
"W-What is it, Grand Master?"she asked with shaking voice.
"My, my…You were working on your robe whole night, so if needed, she could wear it."Mimosa said with smile."Seems like you didn't have to!"
"Grand Master!"Arpeggio exclaimed."It was supposed to be a secret!"
"I'm sorry!"Mimosa said cheerfully.
Ester sighed and smiled.
"What is it?"Rory asked.
"Nothing. I just remembered how Penny was letting me dress in her clothes. Fun times…"Ester answered."Let's get inside."
"Yeah, let's."Liz said.
The group went inside the building, where they saw another large group of people. They seemed to converge on one place.
"People trying for the title of Master, please come here!"
Lelei stood in the queue, while others just stood on the side, with Dora being the most vigilant and constantly holding her riffle in her hands.
"Arpeggio."Ester said.
"Hm?"
"Is there some kind of limit of how many can pass?"
"No. Sometimes, everyone pass, sometimes no one does. Why you asking?"
"Maybe Pied Piper managed to get someone to kill a person being an obstacle for him."
"That's impossible. All are students, trying to become doctors or Masters. All of them are outstanding people."
Ester nodded, but then, something caught her eye. More precisely, a man with long, gray beard and pointed hat. He looked around, as if he was looking for something, someone, or…
"And what will happen, is someone stole research results, over which someone worked for years? Moreover, what if thief wants to show them as his?"
Arpeggio risen her eyebrow.
"And also, that person stands right in front of you, as if nothing happened?"
"I would take that thief and…"
Ester noticed a glimmer of light on the dagger, which the man started pulling out from under his robe. White Squadron leader reacted immediately and pulled out her sidearm.
"Stay where you are!"she exclaimed.
Dora quickly pointed her riffle at the man, while Rory readied her axe. Everyone turned in the direction of sudden confusion, as both parties continued with the standoff. But finally, ti was man who gave up, dropping the dagger onto the floor.
"It's not my fault!"he exclaimed. He pointed at Lelei."It's this girl, who stole results of my research!"
Lelei quickly approached Ester and stood behind her and Dora.
"Besides, how can she even try to get the title of Master? It's clear, that she stole someone's research!"
"You could talk about it somewhere else."Dora said, changing firing mode to single shot.
"Seems like he was tricked too."Liz stated.
"I'll explain it to him."Grey said."Come with me for a minute…"
Group watched as Grey took the man and walked away with him, talking to him all the time.
"You saved me."Lelei said to Ester.
Ester looked at the young mage and saw a small smile on her face.
"Thank you."
"Sure. I said we're here to protect you, so don't worry."Ester said and patted her on the head, making Lelei blush."Good luck with your presentation."
Lelei nodded.
Few minutes later…
Master title's board of Examiners
"Well, so, then, ekhm…"the current presenter said."Following this diagram, we c-can explain explain the pattern of planets' movement…"
"Fool!"someone shouted.
Seconds later, the presenter received a hit with a jar of ink on his face.
"What hole did you crawl out of?!"someone else exclaimed.
"This hypothesis is already known!"
"Mokuri's Heliocentric Theory makes more sense!"
"Exactly! You moron!"
"Get out!"
"Failure! Failure!"
Literal bombardment of ink jars began, as the man quickly ran out of the room, screaming in fear.
"Mama!"he cried, passing by Ester and the rest.
"Well, that was unlucky."Dora stated.
"Now I get it…"Ester said to Lelei."That's why white robes are needed there."
Lelei gulped.
"I'm gonna pass the exam."she stated.
"That's it, saying it out loud helps in gaining confidence."Liz showed her two thumbs up.
Few more minutes passed…
"If we will be able to understand the reason behind those distortions, maybe we'll be able to discover the secrets of creation of the world."another presenter said."That's my opinion."
This time, entire room erupted in cheers and started clapping, while the man that first threw the ink before nodded his head.
"Not bad."he said.
Presenter started bowing and after few minutes of listening to clapping, he left the podium and the room.
"Finally your turn, Lelei."Ester said.
"Yes."Lelei replied.
She started walking towards the podium, while everyone else looked around, searching for any form of abnormalities. Young mage stood at the podium and looked at the people gathered and awaiting, what she will have to say.
As Ester started thinking that everything will go smoothly, she saw a hooded figure standing up. Figure turned around and started walking.
"At least she could wait for the end of presentation."Ester mumbled.
Hooded figure took off the hood, revealing a female feline. She narrowed her eyes and remember something.
"She's on our side."she remembered the inn workers saying."So this is Norra, huh?"
Her sidearm quickly landed in her hands.
Dagger flashed in Norra's hand and she threw up her cloak. She jumped over the shocked spectators, and then, jumped towards Lelei with weapon drawn. Paralyzed by fear, young mage could not move.
Ester quickly pointed at her and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened.
"What the…?"she asked.
She pulled out the mag and saw, that there are no bullets inside.
"Dora?"
"Same."White Squadron's 2IC showed empty mag.
"FUCK!"
Norra was about to hit Lelei and Ester could only watch.
But then, something unexpected happened. Several colorful balls of energy appeared in the air and flew towards Norra. Before the assassin orientated, she was hit by all of them, what caused a giant explosion.
When the dust settled, everyone saw unconscious assassin laying on the ground. Grey approached her and tied her up.
"Why so many magical projectiles at one time?"Ester asked.
"Um…"Tuka said, having yellow ball of energy in her hand."Entire city was gossiping about possible attempt on Lelei's life."
"Everyone just waited for occasion."Rory added.
They looked towards the spectators, from which many had balls of energy in their hands and were smiling.
"Shame that we don't have magic in UNSA…"Liz said.
"But I guess it's already safe now."Dora turned to Lelei."I guess you can continue with your presentation."
"And what about empty mags?"Yao asked.
"We're gonna find out what happened later."Ester said."Okay guys, let's go and eat something. We're gonna give her to local authorities on the way."She pointed at Norra held by Grey.
Everyone turned around and started walking away, while Lelei wanted to go and start her presentation. But when she turned around, she faced Shandy, standing right behind her.
Sound of staff hitting the ground sounded like a bomb.
Ester was the first to turn around, only to see Shandy with a dagger, pointing it at Lelei. Before she could react, the dagger swung down, connecting with Lelei's chest. Ester watched it unfold in shock. Lelei fell on the ground.
"Lelei!"White Squadron leader exclaimed.
Grey immediately dropped Norra on the ground like a bag of potatoes and approached Shandy with speed of a lighting, grabbing her arms and keeping them behind her back. Meanwhile, Ester came up to Lelei and grabbed her in her arms.
"Lelei? Lelei, are you alright?"she asked.
In response, Lelei slowly opened her eyes and looked at her. Shandy widened her eyes.
"How?"she asked.
Then, she looked at hole made by her dagger and saw something shining under it.
"Wh-Why are you wearing an armor?!"
Because the place was too exposed, Grey decided to go to more secluded place, while Lelei does her presentation. When they found pretty isolated corner, Grey placed Shandy against the wall and everyone else awaited what she will tell him.
"How did it go?"Grey asked, when he saw others coming.
"They were impressed by her achievements."Liz replied."But she can't become a Master before this case is resolved…"
"Sorry to hear that."elder knight sighed."Any signs of the Pied Piper?"
"You gonna like this."Ester smiled."Turns out, that the lade we caught, is the Pied Piper."
Grey risen his eyebrow.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Dora used her interrogation tactics to force her to admit it. Rory helped her."
Saying that, the two looked at Dora, playing with her bayonet, and Rory just standing there.
"I believe they were very persuasive."he smirked.
"Oh, they were."Ester smiled and looked at Shandy.
Girl looked around and saw, that everybody was looking at her with reproach.
"It's not fair!"she exclaimed."If she had to wear armor, you could tell me!"
"You was the first to hear that she will wear it."Dora pointed out.
Shandy looked away, remembering what she heard in the bar.
"I'm glad the stupid person was tricked."Rory said."I thought it's clear, that we will take all security measures when her life is in danger."
"Better safe than sorry, right?"Yao asked.
"You screwed that up by not aiming at the neck."Tuka added.
"And I guess you were the one, who emptied Dora's and Ester's mags."Liz stated.
"Crap…"Shandy whined.
"So? Why did you do it?"Ester asked.
Shandy wandered with her eyes around, before sighing.
"I was promised endless riches."she replied.
"Really? That's all?"Liz asked.
"And also, that I will become a duchess or something…"
"Well. Seems like material needs are always the first things people want."Liz sighed.
For a few seconds, silence hung in the air.
"Prince Zorzal wanted Lelei's death."Shandy finally said.
This immediately turned everyone's attention again.
"What? Why?"Ester asked.
"He thought, that because Lelei is so known among the people of the Empire, killing her and blaming you will be the best idea. That this will finally force you to retreat, because people would start to distrust you."
"Well, for once, this idea ain't stupid as shit."Dora admitted."But there was only one, main flaw in it."
"What?"Shandy risen her eyebrow.
"All assassins turned out to be idiots."
Everyone started laughing, while tears appeared in Shandy's eyes.
"Don't laugh at me!"
Grey, which few seconds ago walked away a bit, because he got a call through his communicator, returned to them.
"I have good news and bad news."he said.
"Good news?"Ester asked.
"There is no more threat. All assassins and mercenaries coming to the city were either captured or eliminated by Coalition's liquidation squads."
"Ha! Suckers!"Dora exclaimed.
"And the bad news?"Liz asked.
Elder knight's face immediately darkened.
"Emperor and Crown Prince ordered Oprichnina to go to action. We have to immediately go back to Fort Terhis."
XXX
And on that positive note, we come to an end of our adventure in Rondel. Now, as you probably expect now, we're gonna once more time visit Sadera, this time, for a rescue operation. Either way, this is gonna be again a bit different that the show, so stay tuned.
Until the next time!