Legend

Vosk and Elena headed for the Marschel residence with most of the people that could still move, leaving just enough behind to defend the Silva family’s residence.

However, unexpectedly to them, they were not attacked a single time on the way to the Marschel residence and the mansion itself didn’t seem to be well defended either.

There were only the two gatekeepers and even they seemed drowsy under the head of the midsummer night as they fought back their yawns.

Could it be a trap to lure them in? Many of the adventurers thought that, but when Vosk and Elena led the way……the gatekeepers froze before speaking as they saw the force from the Silva family approach.

「V-Vosk-sama!? And you, you came to the mansion before……」

After recognising Vosk, one of the three leaders of Exil, as well as Elena, who had visited the mansion before, the two gatekeepers were taken aback as they lowered their spears.

Putting Vosk aside, the fact that they had remembered Elena, who had only visited once before, was probably due to her appearance.

In any case, the gatekeepers gently withdrew their weapons back to their initial position before asking nervously……having seen the group of nearly 30 people behind Vosk.

The other gatekeeper, who had frozen momentarily as well, spoke up.

「Um, Vosk-sama. What business do you have at this time of the night? Besides that, the people behind you seem to be adventurers……」

Vosk was at a loss on how to respond to the gatekeeper’s question.

Just like the conflict with the Levisor family, he had always thought that when they got close, the other side would come out swinging as well.

However, there were only the two gatekeepers at the gate, and even they didn’t seem to understand what was going on between the Marschel and Silva families.

There was no doubt that it was a confusing situation.

Even so, as expected of the head of the Silva family, Vosk immediately regained his composure as he replied.

「You might not be aware, but the Marschel and Silva families are currently fighting. There was even an attack on the Silva family residence.」

To be precise, it was an attack by members of the Church of Holy Light, but Vosk decided that if he said that now, it would only further confuse the two gatekeepers. So, for now, he placed the blame of the attack on the Marschel family.

In fact, as long as the Marschel family remained allied to the Church of Holy Light, it wasn’t really a lie.

「No wait……hey, did you know anything about this?」

「No, not at all.」

The two gatekeepers exchanged words, but they both let out a sigh of relief when they learned that the other knew nothing about the matter.

That said, if they had known, they probably wouldn’t have been the only gatekeepers out here, fighting off their drowsiness.

The two of them hesitated over what to do as they felt the sweat build up on their foreheads and backs, which wasn’t caused by the summer night heat.

Should they stop Vosk and Elena here? First of all, that was impossible. If they had the ability to take on adventurers, they would have been adventurers to begin with, as that would have earned them more money than being a gatekeeper.

The two had aimed to become adventurers, but they had lacked the talent for it and given up.

In that case, what could they do? One of them would stay behind to hear out what was going on while the other went inside the mansion to let people know.

They settled on that course of action. That’s when they suddenly noticed two shadows in front of them.

One belonged to a beautiful woman, whose appearance caught their attention at first glance. The other was a man with a rough appearance and a large build.

Immediately after, both guards lost consciousness.

The cause of their unconsciousness was the same, but there was a huge difference in what they both saw before they were knocked out.

「Well then, let’s go inside right away.」

「I agree. Fortunately, as far as I can see from the outside, it doesn’t look like there’s been any commotion inside the mansion yet……Set, can you sense anything?」

「Gururu~」

Replying to Elena’s question, Set appeared, as if emerging from the darkness, and shook his head.

A 2m large Griffon stood out greatly, so Elena had asked Set to hide behind the other adventurers.

At first, the other adventurers were confused by her request, but they accepted it as they knew how Set was like.

「That’s Set’s guarantee. ……In that case, let’s go. Vosk, can I leave handling the Marschel family’s combat forces to you? I will join the search for Rei.」

「If we had Set and your strength as well, it would be a lot easy for us.」

「Kyu!」

Don’t forget about me! Yellow gave a cry from Set’s back. However, Vosk either didn’t notice or ignored Yellow as he nodded at Elena’s words.

「Well, it can’t be helped. It’s true that you don’t really have any ties to the Silva family. I understand, do what you want. I have to lead the attack on the Marschel residence as well.」

Telling each other their plans and making sure both sides were fine with it, they exchanged a small nod before splitting up.

And, as Elena took a step forward.

「Wait! Take me with you as well!」

A voice rang out from among the adventurers.

Both Elena and Vosk knew who’s voice it was without needing to think.

Because of that, Vosk immediately decided that they didn’t have the time to question or give a long answer.

「Okay, let’s go.」

「Thank you very much!」

Essetus gave a deep bow towards Elena, Set, and Yellow.

Seeing them off, Vosk led the remaining people as they approached the Marschel family mansion.

He didn’t seem to notice the presence of the doll watching him.

「Guru, Gurururu~!」

I can smell Rei from here! Set seemed to say with a cry.

Unlike Rei, Elena wasn’t able to fully communicated with Set. However, she was able to understand what Set wanted to say this time.

「I see, so they entered from here. ……It looks like you can also enter Set. As expected of the Marschel family’s mansion.」

Because it was a huge mansion, the doors and windows were also equally large.

「Here……is it? If there’s still no commotion though, doesn’t that mean Nakuto and the others haven’t found Tivia yet?」

「Well, I wouldn’t know. It might not look like there’s anything happening inside the mansion, but……this is Rei we’re talking about. It wouldn’t be strange for him to have already taken control of the mansion.」

「……Ah, right. Of course……」

Essetus seemed to have realised that Elena was being serious and gave the only response he could muster up.

With Essetus like that, Elena entered the mansion from the place Set told her.

As a matter of course, Set and Yellow followed after her.

Entering the mansion, Set took the lead as he used his skill Sense Enhancement: Smell to trace Rei’s location.

It didn’t take them long to find results. Even though there was nothing inside the room next to the place they had entered through, there was a set of stairs leading down to the basement.

「I see. Since Nakuto and Byune are with them, it wouldn’t be hard for them to find a set of hidden stairs.」

Elena nodded at the sight of Set sticking his head down the stairway while giving a cry.

Luckily, the stairway was large enough that even Set could manage to get through.

Elena didn’t know, but these stairs were set up for the purpose of kidnapping people who stayed over at the Marschel residence.

Of course, the person couldn’t be someone publicly staying there, but someone who no one would notice if they went missing.

The size of the stairway was naturally necessary to carry them down, in addition to any belonging they might have had with them.

「Guru~?」

Let’s go! Set seemed to say with a cry. Elena nodded back in response.

Elean couldn’t understand Set’s exact intentions, but she could still vaguely tell what Set was trying to communicate.

「Let’s go.」

「I understand.」

Essetus immediately nodded at Elena’s words.

Just like Set and Elena, Essetus’ goal was to rescue Tivia.

After handing over the members of the Church of Holy Light to the Silva family, as requested by Rei, he had brought back the strength of the Silva family. Having gone this far, Essetus no longer hesitated.

Just like that, the two of them went down the stairs……reaching a large room. They had surprised expressions on their faces when they saw the numerous doors lined up against the walls.

It was only natural as the doors were all lined up in the direction they had just come from.

There were tables and chairs in the corner of the room, but since there didn’t seem to be anything of interest, like documents, they headed straight for the remaining door.

「……Tivia, Nakuto……」

Elena opened the door while listening to Essetus’ murmurs.

However, there was only a single passageway ahead.

Many doors were lined up on either side of the passageway with an additional door at the very end.

「Gurururu~!」

Seeing that, Set went straight for the door at the end.

「Let’s go.」

「I know!」

The two of them followed after and reached the door, however……

「Gururururu~」

Seeing the door in front of him, Set gave an irritated cry as he tried to slam his front claws against the door.

However, just before he hit the door, the air itself seemed to catch his claws as it deflected his attack.

「Guru!?」

It must have been a very unexpected outcome. Set gave a bewildered cry.

Seeing that, Elena and Essetus were also surprised.

「What-!? ……Set, move aside. I’ll try.」

「Guru~」

Even if the passage was wide enough for Set to walk though, it was a bit hard for another person to pass by.

Essetus didn’t think he would be able to do anything to the door either, considering Set’s attack hadn’t worked.

However……Nakuto was probably behind this door and, more importantly, Tivia as well.

In Essetus’ mind, he hadn’t considered that his two companions would be behind the many doors along this passageway. He understood Nakuto’s calmness and knew that he would still together with Rei and Vihera and wouldn’t act alone.

Or, even if they were in one of the rooms for some reason, they would have come out if they knew they were here.

「UOOOOOH-!」

Raising his spear, Essetus thrust it out with a loud shout.

He attacked with all his strength……but, just like Set’s attack, he was unable to break through the wall of wind.

「Damn it……even though Nakuto and Tivia could be behind this door.」

Essetus whispered in frustration, but Elena gently stretched her hand over his shoulder.

「Switch with me. Prepare yourself to fight after we get through.」

「Elena……」

At Elena’s words, Essetus turned to look at her, as if pleading.

He had a straightforward personality and Elena was able to feel his affection and sincerity for his friends.

「Leave it to me. I also have a title you now?」

「……Please.」

Saying that, he quietly stepped back and gave Elena space to move freely.

Seeing Essetus move out of the way, Elena pulled her sword whip out from its sheath as she chanelled her magic power into it.

Magic power that was impossible for a normal human. Elena, who had inherited the magic stone of an Ancient Dragon, was able to pour a massive amount of magic power into her sword whip.

「HAH-!」

Her sword whip, swung down with fiery spirit, cut through the wind that covered the door as well as the door itself.

The moment the door fell to the floor, the room on the other side became clear.

Rei was fighting an opponent, Nakuto was lying on the ground, Tivia was also lying on the ground a short distance away, Byune was trying to close the distance to Pree to no avail, and Vihera was being surrounded by small doll-like figures.

Elena immeidately saw who was in the most danger and swung her still empowered sword whip out.

In an instant, the sword whip flew through the air like a snake attacking its prey, instantly slicing several dolls in half, which had been trying to approach Vihera from behind.

「Elena!」

Hearing Vihera’s voice, Elena entered the room with a small smile on her face.

Like that, Elena and Rei’s two groups succeeded in joining back together.