Y/N POV
"So... the 5th ranked was hired by a noble a long time ago?"
"It seems that way." Capella agreed. She had pulled all the information out of her subordinates, and I will leave the process out. She goes into what she calls 'work mode', which is literally 'sadistic leader side', and returns to me with a smile that sends chills down my spine after witnessing her... methods of interrogation. It's just... bizarre.
"But why all the mercenaries? I feel like that Bloody Reaper guy could defend or kill anyone quite well, so why?"
"Their goods that their were transporting. That ash... it was apparently somebody else's request, an organization that goes by the name of Schlizirkel. I've never heard of it, so they might be a new organization that emerged. What do you think of it?"
Schlizirkel. The 'Closing Circle'. That name was definitely German, and that means the one who created the organization must be an Outerworlder.
I've heard the name before. I just forgot who it associates to.
Well, I'll find out soon enough, so I'm not going to waste anymore time. I have to go to sleep. My schedule's messed up, anyways...
After confirming that everyone was in their beds when I returned to the hotel with Capella, I tucked myself under the covers and fell asleep.
I woke up in a strange place. Rather, I would call it unfamiliar.
I was by myself in some kind of...cell.
Looking around the bars and my surroundings, I noticed a grass mat. Huh, typical clichéd prison stuff. Why am I in here, though?
"Yo, lad, you up?"
A croaking voice came from the cell next to me, and I swerved my head around to face an oldish man, who sat in the cell looking kind of gloomy. "Who are you?"
"The same kind of person as you, I'd wager. Someone who has seen too much and meddled in the affairs of the 'princess'."
"The princess? Who is that? As far as I know, Lugnica has no princess..."
"Nah, lad. She's just the daughter of a large noble here in Picoutatte. I just happened to stumble upon some of her hired thugs beating up one of my friends, and tried to call the knights before her mercs apprehended me and threw me in here. It's been days since they last fed me."
"Well, if you're hungry, have this." I manifested a cream puff out of thin air, one of the few recipes I've worked on myself, and handed it to him through the bars.
The inmate chewed quickly on the pastry, and his eyes lit up in joy. "How do you have this, lad? This thing tastes amazing as heck!"
"Well, it's part of my ability... of sorts. Here, you can have some more."
"You're a saint, lad!"
The man, whose name was Bryan, described his story to me in more detail once he felt better after drinking and eating. Apparently, his friend was a merchant who was transporting the goods, aka the mysterious ash back to Picoutatte, but thieves attacked his cart and some of the goods spilled right before he was rescued, so he got a look at what was inside, but didn't think much of it after repairing the bag.
The mercs hired by this 'princess' were very observant, and immediately questioned him about the repairing of the bag of goods. The poor guy didn't even have time to explain before they beat him up and locked him in an even worse cell.
And so, we began our escape.
Technically, it wasn't really an escape, but rather just busting down prison doors and trying to find Bryan's friend, whose name is Maximillian. After beating and detaining a few guards, we found him and I healed all his bones and muscles that were damaged during his interrogation and torture. The cells regenerated as Maximillian looked at his body and surprise, and thanked me for rescuing him.
There's nothing wrong with picking allies up in a prison, is there?
Nah, it was my plan all along. Hehe.
Omega, are things finished on your side?
Yes, we're entering Phase II. Audience with Count Jasfrey has been approved, and we're currently in his manor. You can come in after we finish the conversation.
No problem. I'm starting my own Phase III over here, so good luck.
See you soon, and be careful.
I cut off my communication with Echidna, and gave Bryan and Maximillian some proper clothing before I opened the door that led us to the exit, which was covered by guards and mercenaries alike.
"The prisoners have escaped! Apprehend them!"
"We need to run, L/N-san! They're going to kill us!" Maximillian said urgently, but Bryan put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, Max, Y/N-san's got this."
"I do indeed. Stand back, you two." I said as I readied my fist. "This is a good warm-up exercise, after all."
Reeling my arm back, a shadow manifested out of me as the Authority of Sloth took the shape of an elongated arm, and as I threw my punch, the invisible shadow moved as well, doing the same amount of damage that would've been done if I punched someone right in front of me. Carrying the kinetic energy, the shadow knocked back 2 guards who were charging at me. With another swing of my arm, I used the Extension as a whip to knock out a few more guards.
Maximillian and Bryan watched in awe as I defended against a fireball using Prudence's Barrier, and since the numbers were whittling down, I happily applied a tiny speck of Rage Pulse onto the remaining guards.
After they all fell, I contacted Echidna again through the link, and confirming that they have the hostage in hand. I entered the tiny room I rented just for this, and told Echidna that it was okay to commence the plan.
Sitting down in the room with four chairs, one for me, one for Bryan, and one for Max. The other is for our target, while the transporter can float...so...
About time, Chid-chan.
Yup, commencing Stage III. Sphinx has activated the teleporting spell, so you'll see her shortly.
Within moments, my pink-haired mage appeared out of thin air with our target in hand. Setting the girl down, Sphinx floated over to me and sat down in my lap, to which I sighed. I then turned to look at the culprit behind all of this: The daughter of the mayor of Picoutatte, Yvonne Jasfrey.
"So, you're the one who ordered my capture, did you now? Well, let me tell you: you have messed with the wrong person."
"Stay back! If you touch me, a noble with your filthy hands, I'll scream! No, I'll scream now, how dare you kidnap me!"
A loud screech was going to sounded, but it was cancelled as I activated a special Yang Magic of mine.
"Sansyīn."
The world became oddly silent inside of the barrier, and immediately, Yvonne realized that and started to despair. However, it seems that her nobly arrogance has not been snuffed out yet.
"I warn you now, if you touch me, nothing good will happen to you! You will be executed and your family would be dragged off to the guillotine as well."
"Before you continue your threat, I just want you to know to things: One, nobody in Lugnica right now can kill me, and two, my parents could not be threatened by you anymore, since they're not even here!"
"We'll find them and track them down in whatever country they're in! Be it Gusteko or-"
"They don't even exist in this world. Do you think you can really find them?"
"Argh, fine! Stop wasting my time if you want to interrogate me!"
"As you wish. Then what were you doing with the Schlizirkel, daughter of Mayor Jasfrey?"
"I just promised them a place to do their weird ritual thing, and they paid quite greatly for it! There's nothing wrong with that, is there? Stop getting into businesses where you shouldn't be, you jerk!"
'You jerk'. Those two words reminded me of something. Violet hair...
No way, is this girl really that bitch from...?
"You're the one who messed Otto up now, aren't you?"
"Huh? Who's this 'Otto' you speak of?"
"Hah...hahahahaha! You don't remember already? I thought he left quite the shame in you, considering that he did uncover your secret of sleeping with eight different boys and fooling all of them..."
"You...! No way, the zodda bug freak?"
"It's Otto Suwen, you dumbass. Speak that boy's name, 'princess'. He's actually quite a good friend of mine, so I think you should no why I'm a little angry now."
"Ha, I knew it! If you touch me, he can't escape a single harm from this! Just because I allowed shady people into the city, do you think you and that wimpy little bastard can get away with your acts?"
"I can definitely get away with anything I want, . Otto as well, considering he's one of the official officers of a Royal Selection Camp. Also, you speak of him being wimpy, then can you stand in front of the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony without shaking and actually fight that monster? If you can't, then don't insult him." I said that as I covered the eyes of Yvonne with a cloth, and motioned to Sphinx to activate the teleporting spell. Within a second, we arrived in Count Jasfrey's manor, where the rest of my Battalion waited.
Surprisingly, although the Count was shocked by my actions, he decided to remain quiet to uphold his end of the deal. Omega really is a smooth talker. Haha...
"So, Ms. Jasfrey, what do you have to say about my kidnapping?" I said to Yvonne, who still doesn't know that she's in the room along with her father, my Battalion members, and my two new colleagues.
"Ha! Of course I did it, and you should've stayed dead if not for your strength, for meddling in my business! So what if I slept with eight guys when I was young? Even if you told my father that I tried to kill you, do you think he'll believe you or me?"
"I think he'd believe me, because take a look around, you bastard." I said as I tore the cloth on her eyes off, and her expression stiffened as she looked at every single person in the room, from her father, and back to me and my Battalion.
"F-Father... I can explain..."
"Enough! Captain Jarvis, lock Yvonne in her room for two weeks as punishment! I'll have a very long talk with her after this..."
Count Jasfrey turned to me after the guards dragged his daughter away. "I'm so sorry for the inconvenience I've brought upon you, Liberator-san. I'll make sure she will reflect gravely one what she has done. Is there anything I can do to compensate you?"
"Don't be so courteous, Count Jasfrey. I'm afraid that people of the higher class will despise you for praising me too much, considering that I am just a commoner."
"You're much more than that, Liberator, please stop being so humble. I've heard that aside from participating and greatly aiding or forces in the recent battle of Priestella, you helped prevent the fall of Costuul a while ago. If not for you destroying the Black Serpent's poison, I'm afraid that one of our regional capitals might become a Contamination Zone."
"I see. Well, if Count Jasfrey wishes it, then... I would like 2 days of free operations within the city, considering that some dangerous people seemed to have infiltrated your city.
"That's completely fine, as you seemed to mention some criminals roaming around. Go ahead and apprehend them, Liberator, because I know that's what you do best."
I stepped into a domain of sorts as I entered the outskirts, and judging from the amount of suspicious people gathered here, it was possible that this was Schlizirkel's doing. I entered the fray, disguising myself as one of their supporters, when a familiar yet not so familiar face appeared in front of the crowd.
"Followers and fellow contributors to Schlizirkel! Today we begin our long operation that will succeed at last! We shall show the traitors and arrogant nobles that nobody in this world shall discriminate us for who we are! And to do this, we will begin Operation: Picoutatte Inferno!"
A large pile of ash was then unveiled in front of the crowd, and they gasped as the guy continued his introduction. "I swear, in the name of Schlizirkel, and I, the Sin Archbishop of Discord, OUR REVENGE WILL BE HAD!"
A loud cheer resonated through the field, but I only watched in horror as the man announced his title. "Sin Archbishop... of Discord? What the hell? How many sins are there at this point? Where does Pandora even recruit-"
Wait. This guy... he is...!
A memory flashed through my mind as I remembered Solace's last moments, and instantly I recognized this madman's voice. He is..!
When I snapped out of my thoughts, I saw that the ceremony has already begun. The ash started to piece themselves back together as the silhouette of a hydra formed, and I dashed with Al Akra activated, and swung Zeam as I severed one of the Archbishop's arms.
"Hahahaha-huh?" The Archbishop turned towards me as the thieves fled at the sight of the one who beat their superiors yesterday night, and he unsheathed a sword of his own with his remaining hand.
As he dashed towards me, he felt awfully slow. I slashed against his blade and he was blown back, but not before I realized that he activated his authority.
A large explosion shook the Earth as I saw the dirt erupt out of nowhere, and he suddenly touched my arm and my arm, just like the Earth, exploded into pieces before Dragon's Blood healed me.
What the hell? Is this some kind of rupturing ability? I've never heard of this!
The guy increased his speed before jabbing another finger at me, but I blocked it this time with Prudence's Barrier. He jumped back, but before he could escape my range, I activated Dominator's Domain, and he was pinned down to the floor as he shook at my aura seeping out.
"Why.. are you attacking me? Who are you, you bastard?"
"Huh, I never thought I'll run into you here, 16th."
"16th? Wha-" The man stopped before he realized something. "YOU! But you cannot be! I killed you that day, Wizardum Improbius!"
"Ha, you just exposed yourself, 16th. Get out of here, you fake wanna-be of a Warlock, before I decide to avenge Solace."
"So you're the 10th... I see. I shall retreat here, but if you think you can take on the entire Schlizirkel, think again." With that, he disappeared before I realized the reason of his easy retreat. Valgren's revival is almost complete.
Sensing the danger that the creature possessed, I activated Dominator's Domain before encasing us in a diamond dome, and activated my Yang Magic spell Sansyīn.
Confirming with the Witches, I pulled myself into the spiritual realm where Valgren's reviving soul dwelled.
"It's time to make you my chess piece."