Chapter 296

After parting with Tatsuro and the others, Nana hurriedly headed toward the upper-right area to secure Leah as quickly as possible.

However, her mistake was immediately climbing the nearest staircase.

(This is another dead end!)

It seemed that, as a countermeasure against intruders, each staircase led to different floors or rooms, and only the correct choice would take her to the intended destination.

(This castle is such a hassle!)

The nearest staircase only led to the fourth floor in the opposite direction, making it the worst choice among the options on the first floor, as it would waste the most time.

So, she quickly backtracked and headed for another route, forced to run around the castle to find the correct path.

Perhaps due to her strong Luck with Draws, after a few mistakes, she managed to avoid losing her sense of direction and reached the fourth room from the right corner on the third floor.

If Tatsuro had tried this without magic, it might have taken him hours…

(Finally made it. Honestly, if the architect were standing in front of me, I’d want to punch them!)

With her fist trembling, suppressing her aimless anger, she glared at the guard standing in front of the room and strode toward him.

Sensing an inexplicable chill, the guard shivered and tilted his head in confusion.

In that instant, Nana closed the distance and landed a punch filled with irrational anger into his abdomen. The armor bore the mark of her small fist, and the sudden impact caused him to lose consciousness as she gently laid him on the floor.

(Phew. That felt a bit refreshing. Now, all that’s left is to secure Leah inside.)

She reached for the doorknob to enter, but as expected, the door was locked.

So, she searched the unconscious guard and found a key in his pants pocket.

Nana borrowed it, inserted it into the keyhole, and turned it to the right.

A click sounded, signaling the lock had been undone.

“Pascal-san, is something wrong?”

The sound of the unlocking naturally echoed inside. However, there was no sign of the guard, who should have had the key, entering.

Suspicious, Marisa, a beastman maid, opened the door slightly to peek outside.

“…Huh? Pascal-san?”

Naturally, she expected the guard to be there, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Wondering what was going on, she stepped out of the room to look around and spotted Pascal lying face-down, hidden behind the door.

“Cyan-san! Close the door—”

“—!”

Marisa’s top priority was to prevent Leah from escaping. So, her first instinct was to instruct Cyan to close the door.

But before she could finish, Nana grabbed her head and used Life Magic to knock her out.

(Now only one remains.)

Nana had planned to take her out completely before she could say anything to those inside, but Marisa’s situational awareness was sharper than expected, alerting the other person.

Still, with only one left, Nana confidently reached for the half-open door.

But Cyan was a step faster.

The half-open door closed automatically like a sliding door, locked not by a physical key but by Locking Magic, sealing it shut again.

Though she thought it futile, Nana tried the physical key to see if it would work.

As expected, while the key could lock and unlock, the door wouldn’t budge.

Inside, Cyan, unsure of the intruder’s purpose, pushed Leah behind her. As the sound of the doorknob rattling echoed, she pointed her staff at the door, ready to unleash Lightning Magic at any moment.

“Are they your allies?”

“I don’t know, but probably.”

“It should be incredibly difficult to get here, and I wonder how they found out where we are…”

“Who knows.”

If it were Tatsuro or Cardina, they could likely search the castle’s interior without being detected by a Mage.

And if someone was coming here, it would likely be Nana or Athena, Cyan deduced.

If it was those two, the restrained Lightning Magic she was preparing wouldn’t cause any damage even if it hit.

(I’d probably just be a burden now, so maybe I’ll wait quietly in the corner.)

Feeling a bit guilty toward the tense Cyan, Leah sat on the bed with a carefree expression, deciding to stay out of the way in the corner.

(It’s like some kind of Locking Magic from Father. —In that case…)

After trying gentle methods to open the door to no avail, Nana gave up and switched to a rougher approach.

“I caught a glimpse of Leah earlier, so there’s no need to hide anymore. In that case, this is fine.”

Nana dispelled the Concealment magic she had been using at her own will, activating True Form.

An overwhelming aura radiated around her, noticeable even to Cyan inside.

Wrapping her legs in Beast Spirit Technique resembling a wolf, she braced herself by digging her left foot into the floor and kicked the door with her right—more accurately, she obliterated it.

As Cyan, stunned by the door turning to dust, reflexively fired Lightning Magic at the figure standing where the door once was, her adventurer instincts kicked in.

“Get in my way—and you’re done.”

“—What…?”

This time, she didn’t hold back, unleashing full-powered Lightning Magic. But Nana’s Scratch, imbued with Ice Magic, swatted it away like an insect.

When Nana locked eyes with Cyan, she froze like a frog stared down by a snake.

Having lost interest in engaging her, Nana ignored Cyan and let out an exasperated sigh at Leah, who was casually waving from the bed.

“Honestly… Leah, I’ve come to get you.”

“Thank you, Nana.”

Leah hopped off the bed, slipped past the petrified Cyan still holding her staff, and joined Nana, expressing her gratitude.

As Nana scanned the room, she noticed a steaming cup, likely recently used, and the luxurious, soft bed Leah had been sitting on. Realizing Leah had been kept in rather elegant confinement, Nana’s tension deflated.

“That’s enough… It took a bit, but I need to contact Father… Item Box isn’t working. Leah, what’s going on?”

“Well…”

“I see.”

Not wanting to reveal she knew the specific skill name, Leah glanced at Cyan to convey the cause.

Nana understood immediately and approached Cyan.

“—!”

The closer Nana got, the heavier the pressure, but Cyan couldn’t move a finger, no matter how hard she tried.

In the meantime, Nana stood right in front of her.

“You. If you want to stay unharmed, make Item Box usable right now.”

“—!”

“Nana, tone down the pressure a bit.”

“Pressure? Oh—how’s this?”

“—gasp!”

“It’s good. It’s tough for someone not used to it.”

The pressure, amplified by her irritation, had been 30% stronger than usual. When Nana consciously adjusted it, it became bearable, and Cyan exhaled the air trapped in her lungs.

“So, will you make it usable, or not?”

“I-I’ll make it usable right now!”

Realizing it wouldn’t change the situation either way, Cyan immediately canceled the skill, deactivating the Item Box Nullification Field.

She nodded repeatedly to signal to Nana that it was done.

Nana tested it by trying to retrieve paper from her Item Box.

Sure enough, the paper appeared in her hand.

“Good. It’s working properly. I’ll contact them now, so Leah, you should prepare to fight.”

“Got it.”

Nana placed the paper on a desk, took out a pen, and wrote a message informing Tatsuro that Leah had been secured, sending it to him before turning back to Cyan.

“It doesn’t seem like you harmed Leah, so if you escape now, I won’t do anything. But I suggest you don’t stay in the castle after escaping. You don’t want to get caught up in what’s coming.”

“Caught up… in what?”

“The all-out war between the foolish Lord and us, of course.”

“War…!? WAR!?”

Cyan’s eyes widened as she grasped the meaning of Nana’s words.

Indeed, with someone like the person before her, it could escalate to the level of a war.

Then, a memory flashed in her mind—Leah had once said, “If you make those people angry, it’s dangerous! They could easily wipe out a castle like this!”

Yes, that’s what Leah had said. Those people.

A chill ran through her body, and alarms blared in her mind to flee immediately.

But, perhaps out of curiosity or her adventurer’s nature, she wanted to know how many such extraordinary beings there were.

“Um… how many others are there besides you?”

“How many? Well, there’s Father and Mother—”

“Father and Mother!?”

There was no way this monster’s parents were ordinary. In Cyan’s mind, she pictured two ferocious, demon-like figures.

“Two older sisters and one—no, recently three younger sisters.”

“Older sisters and younger sisters… So, are you the strongest among them?”

“Hmm. If I had to say, Leah’s the weakest, but it depends on the situation. It’s hard to say who’s the strongest.”

The realization that seven more such beings were waiting hit Cyan, who muttered, “This town is done for…” before springing into action.

She stuffed as many valuable items from the room as she could into her Item Box to secure funds, then gave Nana a deep bow.

“I’ll take my husband and kids and leave this town immediately! Thank you for your mercy!”

“Mm.”

Not entirely sure what was happening, Nana nodded regally, assuming the gratitude was conveyed.

Cyan, ending her salute, turned to Leah, now fully armed.

“Leah-san, take care!”

“Yes, goodbye.”

With that, Cyan dashed out of the doorless room like the wind.

Taking everything valuable with her…

“What a character.”

“She’s got kids and the guts to serve a foolish Lord, doesn’t she? So, what’s the plan after retrieving me?”

“If negotiations had gone well and the Lord had shown willingness to return you peacefully, I was going to leave the rest to the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“But you’re already here.”

“I’m here. And I’ve informed Father you’re secured, so now we wait for instructions to either counterattack or retreat—oh, looks like they’re here.”

An announcement rang in Nana’s mind, signaling something had been added to her Item Box.

She retrieved the paper and spread it out so Leah could see.

It read: |start the attack but be careful not to cause any deaths.|

As they confirmed this and began to plan, a massive BOOM!! echoed from outside the castle, like a giant object had crashed into the ground.

“They beat us to it! Leah, for now, we’ll deal with the humans resisting inside the castle.”

“So I’m fighting too, huh?”

“Of course. First, Leah, make it loud!”

As they left the room, to signal the presence of intruders, Nana asked Leah to do something noticeable.

“Loud, huh? This might work.”

“Then let’s raise the signal for war!”

“Got it! Here goes—”

Leah set a low-power but flashy Grenade for distraction, with intense sound and light, and threw it down the corridor with a sling.

She immediately dropped to the ground, covering her ears.

Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop—BOOM! A series of small explosions was followed by a massive burst of light and sound.

As the noise outside had already raised the castle’s alert level, soldiers from all over began converging on their location.