abcnovels
Chapter 70: Return to the Frontier
Chapter 70: Return to the Frontier
Chapter 70: Return to the Frontier
Lucion knew where Luminos’ base was, just like where he knew the Rats’.
But unlike the clumsy Rats, they were wizards.
To catch them, Lucion intended to use the Imperial family.
First of all, he pretended to be the ‘Hand of the Void’ and sent them a letter with a crow pattern to tell them where his carriage would be headed.
‘At least, Luminos won’t join the Hand of the Void because of this misunderstanding.’
Lucion walked slowly on the red carpet laid on the floor.
‘The Hand of the Void takes what lies ahead, and prevents them from doing anything in advance. Then my fate will change.’
Lucion learned them one by one.
Even if he didn’t want to, this damn fate tied him up with the villain and created a situation where they would somehow meet.
Lucion saw Heint standing by the carriage.
‘Heint is a typical example.’
That red thread was as tough as the entanglement between the protagonist and himself.
The red thread certainly didn’t break even in a situation where it should have, and Heint recklessly stayed closer to him.
Thud.
“I, Heint Tria, the 8th Knights of the Imperial family, take this opportunity to escort Saint Lucion Cronia safely to Cronia at His Majesty’s command.”
Heint greeted Lucion neatly as an Imperial Knight.
After the greeting, Heint didn’t forget to make a small comment.
“I’m more than happy to be able to escort the Saint.”
“I’m honored, too. I look forward to your kind cooperation.”
Because it was a public occasion, Lucion also greeted Heint as a nobleman.
Heint opened the carriage door.
Lucion made way for Carson to get on first.
It was only after Carson stepped inside and Lucion got on the carriage that the door closed.
“Brother.”
Lucion opened his mouth with the intention of starting the engine slowly.
[Is it starting now?]
Russell calmly clasped his hands and crossed his legs and floated around Lucion.
[What are you talking about?]
Bethel asked, wiping her helmet.
[Lucion’s fraud… No, that, uh, an attack that catches the enemy off guard.]
‘Ha!’
Lucion groaned inwardly.
Fraud, his ass.
He swore he never cheated.
He only added some seasoning to the words based on the facts.
[Ugh. Just look. You will get a sense of what it is.]
Russell whispered to Bethel, avoiding Lucion’s eyes.
Ratta licked the soles of his feet and pricked up her ears.
[I don’t know what it is, but Lord Lucion is like a ball that you won’t know where it’ll bounce, so it’s fun to watch him.]
Bethel closed her eyes softly.
Even if it wasn’t out of her will, just being close to a warlock raised her anger like hives, but Lucion was different.
He was very comfortable to be with.
[Right? But if you keep looking at him, there are a lot of times when you get nervous. Why does he keep wandering around?]
Lucion had to manage his expression even when Russell’s words pecked at him like a beak.
—Isn’t it nice that Lucion is wandering around? Ratta is happy that Ratta still has feet!
When Ratta dug into Lucion’s arms, Lucion patted Ratta and calmed his heart.
“…Is it something important?”
Carson asked, lowering his voice when Lucion called out to him and went silent.
“No, I was just wondering if I should tell you this or not because of my worry.”
Lucion shook off the eyes of Russell and Bethel, who were watching him closely.
“Worry?”
Carson’s expression hardened slightly.
It was a place where the Imperial Knights and the Knights of Cronia gathered together.
There’s no need to be worried, isn’t there?
“Are you talking about an attack?”
“Yes.”
“If they attack us now, they must be confident in pretending to charge the Imperial family and the frontier. I wonder how many people like that actually exist right now.”
‘There’s one.’
Lucion swallowed his words.
Luminos called themselves reformers, but they were exactly one of the extremists.
They argued that it was wizards with power that should become nobles and that the nobles who led the hereditary system were unjust.
There was no way to refuse this great opportunity to kill him, the Saint, and at the same time, to degrade the image of the Imperial family.
‘No, it must be done. They can take that much risk to build up their power.’
Even if this job wasn’t successful, Luminos couldn’t think of it as a big loss because they could get the title of ‘The Ones Who Attacked the Saint’.
If Luminos’ hideout was unknown.
“The world is much harder to predict than I thought.”
Lucion looked at the window for a moment and carefully opened his mouth to express his feelings.
“You may think it’s ‘impossible’, but I think there are a lot of people who want to take advantage of it.”
“What are you so nervous about?”
Carson understood Lucion’s insecurity.
In the past and now, the fact that Lucion was a good prey to the enemy hadn’t changed.
However, if neither the Imperial family nor the shield of the frontier could prevent Lucion’s anxiety, soothing that anxiety would be difficult.
“What if there’s a madman that neither the Imperial family nor Brother could predict?”
“A madman.”
Carson smoothed his chin.
Slowly his eyes widened.
“No way… Are you talking about the suicide bombing that happened a few months ago?”
“That’s right. Are we ready for that?”
Lucion replied.
It really had happened in the frontier.
There was a thick, large wall in the frontier of the Tesla Empire.
There was a time when a suicide bomber was sent from the Kingdom of Nevast to break through that wall.
The result was a failure, but this time it was different.
There was no thick wall to prevent the explosion, and it was not possible to prevent people from gathering until they left the city area.
Carson’s expression hardened.
“It’s not that I didn’t take that into account, but I think it’s very insufficient.”
The safest situation could be the most dangerous situation, so it was also the situation where it would be easiest to catch the enemy off guard.
“Wait a minute.”
Carson got off the carriage.
[Did you see that?]
Russell pointed at Carson and looked at Bethel.
Bethel nodded.
[Russel, I understand why you stopped saying it was a fraud after looking at Lord Lucion. Whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, Lord Lucion has an excellent talent for gently scratching people’s insides.]
—Lucion is not a con artist. Lucion is so nice. Ratta has never seen a man as nice as Lucion.
Ratta frowned and grabbed Lucion’s arm.
“Yes, Ratta, there’s only you for me.”
—What about Hume? Hume who thinks like Ratta?
“Yes, there’s Hume, too.”
Lucion alternately stared at Russell and Bethel.
[Excuse me. Please, don’t misunderstand, I am trying to say Lord Lucion is that special.]
Bethel opened her mouth in embarrassment.
What am I saying to my benefactor?
Bethel fiddled with the brush on her helmet with her eyes wide open.
* * *
“…What are you doing?”
Heint, who had just returned from the last inspection, asked, surprised by Carson’s sudden action.
“There are a few things that need to be reinforced.”
Carson slipped into the carriage.
“Is there something wrong with the carriage?”
“Yes, I’d like you to come and see.”
Heint pretended not to win Carson’s offer and got into the carriage.
A place where words didn’t leak out, a carriage was the best for that.
“What’s going on? We have to leave right now.”
Heint checked the time and urged Carson.
“Most of us know that we are going back to the frontier today.”
As Carson opened his mouth, Heint nodded and said.
“So when we go back to the frontier, we agreed to go around the road we announced.”
“I have a few things to reinforce before we leave.”
“Reinforce?”
Heint glanced at Lucion.
He expected Lucion to discover something again this time.
“There’s one thing we didn’t think deeply about. The enemy’s suicide bombing.”
“So, didn’t we prepare a magician for that?”
“What if the suicide bombing is not one but several? What would you do if they were determined to run out of mana and self-destruct? Can you stop it?”
Only then did Heint hit his head.
“…I can prevent it, but the damage will be enormous, right?”
The action of the wizard running out of mana was the last resort and the best means of terrorism.
It could have been a really big deal.
When he realized that he had been engrossed in the thought that no one would dare to touch the Imperial family, he was briefly dazed by the feeling of a blunt instrument hitting his head.
“Should I reinforce it again as you said, Carson?”
Only then did Hain agree with Carson.
Once the wheel rolled, Carson and Heint pulled out the necessary personnel.
More magicians, to protect Lucion and the knights from a suicide bombing.
A barrier magician, to protect the carriage
Mana-chasing hunters, etc.
‘The preparation is perfect.’
Lucion laughed to himself.
Originally, he boasted force enough to compare to a small castle, but now he had no worries as he planned to become stronger in the future.
No matter how wild Luminos running around, it was still a newly created organization.
One insignificant branch to be easily pressed before the power of the Imperial family.
Arrogant wizards who don’t know their place.
“What do you say, Lucion?”
Heint said.
“It’s really neat.”
Lucion smiled.
There were two experts in this area, and he was satisfied just hearing the stories they shared.
“How long will it take to get ready?”
Carson asked.
Heint thought, shaking his legs, and then opened his mouth.
“30 minutes. No, 25 minutes.”
“Shorten it more.”
“No. You should give the barrier magician the time to create the barrier.”
“Put them on a horse and proceed while moving. Fifteen minutes. The enemy will be watching us, so no more.”
When Carson nailed it all, Haunt couldn’t control his boiling heart and screamed.
“Y-you rotten bastard! Did you forget I’m the captain of this escort mission?”
“I’m here on behalf of Cronia. If you know that, lower your head.”
Carson twisted one corner of his mouth and pointed down with his finger.
Naturally, the representative of the family was higher in status.
“Damn it.”
Heint uttered abusive language out of habit and stammered in surprise at Lucion, who stared at him.
“…Uh, uh, no. I’m not angry.”
“You can curse when you’re angry. It’s all right.”
When Lucion smiled, Heint’s eyes shook greatly.
This is all because of you.
Heint, who glared at Carson with his eyes, smiled awkwardly at Lucion and got out of the carriage.
“See? You should sell the name Cronia, too. Most things will be solved like that.”
“Yes, it works very well.”
Lucion smiled more broadly than ever.
* * *
The carriage quickly left the city area, and even in that gap, the barrier magicians reinforced the barrier in the running horses with pale faces.
[…Ha. That’s not right. It must be difficult.]
—Why?
As Russell shook his head, Ratta, who was spinning to grab her tail, asked.
[Well, let’s see. That’s like eating and moving around while hanging upside down.]
Lucion frowned at his words.
—Really? Ratta wants to try.
Ratta tilted her head and stood on her front paws, flashing her tongue.
Carson, who was reading quietly, paid attention to Ratta’s behavior.
He couldn’t concentrate on the book at all.
“What’s wrong with your fox?”
“I don’t know either.”
Lucion just chuckled.
Russell and Bethel burst into laughter as they stood on their hands to experience it, and the carriage was filled with laughter.
For a moment, the carriage rattled.
—Ouch!
Lucion caught Ratta before she fell and touched the ground.
[It’s magic. I think it’s pursuit magic?]
As soon as Russell finished speaking, something burst was heard in the sky.
Bang!
Light spread from the sky as if the fireworks had begun.
Carson folded his book and said calmly.
“The enemy. Our movements seem to have been exposed to the enemy.”
It was Lucion who exposed the movement, so he covered his twitching lips and strenghtened his eyebrows as much as possible.