Translator: Blushy
Editor: Sam
Nii-sama continued speaking. He would normally listen to what I had to say first, but I guess he already heard what had happened from Nico.
âThe academy is right next to the castle. The castle is located in the centre of the capital, so the academy is surrounded by a bustling city. I know itâs not allowed, but sometimes the upperclassmen sneak out of the dormitory and go into town to play. Gill knows which hedge and which paths theyâd take when they do that.â
âGiww ish a bad boy?â
âI think itâs best not to pursue that.â
Nii-sama smiled wryly and dodged my question.
âThe neighbourhood where we slipped out of the academy was noisier than usual, but it didnât seem overrun by the army. There werenât any soldiers wandering around either. We quickly slipped into Gillâs favourite cafe while trying to keep our eyes down so people wonât notice us, even though we were wearing our uniforms.â
âSo, Giww ish a bad boy.â
âBut him being one helped us.â
Nii-sama is a capable person, but there is a limit to what a 12 year old can do. Gill, who was as tall as an adult, must have been reliable.
âThe place we went to is a café thatâs popular among the academy students. Iâve heard the food is cheap and the servings are big. The students are still growing, so sometimes the food in the dorm isnât enough.â
He was telling me that it wasnât a bad shop.
âThe owner looked as if he wanted to ask us what was wrong as soon as we walked in, but he swallowed his question down and quickly hid us inside the café.â
That was completely different to Nico and I hiding under the bed and eating emergency rations. They had an adventure.
âGill told the owner that the academy had been attacked by Easter soldiers and that they were probably targeting us because we were the Four Marquisesâ children. Then, the owner told us that a large number of Rug Dragons and soldiers in unfamiliar clothes suddenly ran down the main street to the castle. They didnât look around town and went straight to the castle. But there were no movements from them afterwards.â
âAi.â
âThe Albans mansion is far away, so we asked him to deliver a message to Gillâs mansion since itâs near the castle. Luckily, they hadnât made a move on the Four Marquisesâ mansions, so we went straight to Gillâs mansion. We sent a message to all the Four Marquisesâ mansions starting with the Albansâ, then while we were gathering our army, we received a message from the convoy.â
I didnât know they had done so much.
âWell, I said convoy, but it was Hans. Graces had already left the capital with Stan-ojisama.â
âHansh, alwight?â
âOf course, he is. But the soldiers who were surrounding the Princeâs quarters were quite disappointed that they let Cyrus and his entourage slip pass them.ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âThey shwipped pashsh...â
He could have chosen not to tell me what had happened and said that was the end of it, but Nii-sama told me everything.
âThe Easter soldiers invaded the castle on Rug Dragons and took the royal family hostage while the castle soldiers were confused. Then, they barricaded themselves in the barrier room and the Princeâs castle. There was nothing the soldiers could do even if there was a big difference in strength since the Easter soldiers were holding the royal family hostage. Having said that, Easter didnât make any demands. Something strange happened for the first time on the second night of the stalemate.â
âThe barrier magic shthonesh.â
âYou knew about it too.â
Nii-sama hugged me.
âAi. I ushed thhe magic shthone in my bag.â
âI knew you were carrying something dangerous around, but I didnât think it would be useful.â
Nii-sama laughed a little.
âEveryone in Kingdom has some magic, so I think nearly everyone noticed something strange when the barrier went down. But we were shocked since we knew that the barrier had gone down.
âHowwowsh ath nighth.â
âThatâs right. You never know where in the capital the Hollows might gush out from. Itâs not like we have any hunters around, and even if we want the citizens to stay inside at night, the citizens donât know that the castle has been occupied. On the third day when we were prepared to put up a barrier ourselves just like you had, the barrier activated. I was surprised.â
I was surprised to hear that Nii-sama also thought about activating his barrier. It was also a bit of a let down to know that we didnât have to work as hard as we did.
âThe Molesey people gathered at the Lisburn mansion, which was closest to the castle, and we were holed up tightly under the protection of the guards, so we didnât have to worry about anything. However, as expected, the barrier swayed on the second day, and on the third day, a plan was made to rescue the royal family. However, the royal family might be harmed if we try to rescue them by force. I didnât care about the royal family, but if something had happened to you...â
Thatâs disrespectful, Nii-sama. But he sounded so much like Otou-sama.
âWe frantically searched to see if there was any way into the castle and to find where the royal family was kept. Thatâs when we received a report saying that you and Prince Nico had been spotted at a window.â
âWe were peewing outh thhe window.â
âIâm glad you did. You were on the third floor, but Hans was adamant that he can get in somehow.â
âHansh, did he shave Lam-ojisyama two?â
âHahaha.â
Why are you laughing?
âHans was in charge of the castle defence as well as the special forces when he was in charge of the convoy, so he was in charge of gathering the cowardly guards to come up with a plan to rescue the royal family. But heâs Leiâs guard now, so he had the soldiers rescue the royal family. Probably.â
âHansh...â
Heâs a bit of a disappointment, but thatâs why heâs someone I can trust.
âOn the same day, Gill and I went to an unoccupied part of the castle. We werenât involved in the rescue mission, but we wanted to be able to rush to you as soon as you were rescued. However, we were too busy releasing our barriers that we couldnât rush towards you or be of any use to you.â
âNii-syama, you were nexth tho me. Lei wash rewieved.â
âI see. So, you knew where I was because the barriers resonated against each other... Youâre really smart and cute Lei.â
I donât think that what I said could be anything other than smart.
âThe barrier mechanism in the barrier room is broken, and itâll take some time to fix. But they have a spare for when it breaks in the first place, so we only had to keep up our barriers for a day.â
Everything was over before I knew it, so I finally relaxed.
âBut he...â
âPrince Cyrus...? There shouldnât have been anywhere for him to slip out from, but we couldnât find him anywhere in the castle.â
Where on earth did he go?