He held a knife to the sleeping Meltze and threatened Reiko.

It made no sense at all.

"You shouldn't say what you can't do.　If you kill the hostage, it is you who will be in trouble.

Shut up!　Don't move!

What if he moves?

What if he moves?　..................?　What the hell?　My hand, my hand, my hand is stuck!

Reiko had used her <> to hold the kidnapper's arms immobile.

Reiko slowly approaches the kidnapper, snatches the knife from his hand, and holds it in front of his eyes.

"Stop!　What are you doing?

"Here's what I'm going to do."

Reiko crushed the knife.

It seems to be a well-seared knife. It shatters without bending.

"Hi-hii-hi!"

The kidnapper's eyes widened and he turned pale.

"<>"

"Ow!"

Even with the robe's magical protection, the kidnapper would have been stunned beyond recognition if he had been hit from a distance of zero.

Reiko rummages through the kidnappers' luggage, finds a rope, and uses it to tie them up.

About five minutes have passed so far. Jin has not arrived yet.

She examines Merze.

There were no external injuries, and it appeared that she was merely put to sleep. For the time being, he is relieved.

"Let's have Elsa take a closer look at her.

He looks outside the abandoned factory.

The shadow of a small was visible in the western sky. At this point, seven minutes have passed.

"You're early. That's your father."

Eight minutes after the start of the mission, the Hurricane lands on the outskirts of Banyu.

Reiko, thank you.

"Yes, father."

There is no exchange about whether it went well or not. It was self-evident.

"Ms. Mertze seems to have been put to sleep by . Elsa, please examine her.

"Yes, I'll take care of it."

The first thing that was done after Merce was brought into the was to examine him.

"<>......, I'm fine. I'm just a little hungry and my blood sugar is low.

"I'll give him some Persica juice when he wakes up."

"Hmm, that's good."

And Reinhardt was checking on the kidnappers.

"Two kidnappers. And three golems. Two of them look familiar. ......"

Shoro's imperial style, the all-purpose type favored by the nobility for its enhanced combat capabilities. However, it is an old type.

The other was a general-purpose type of the Kingdom of Celluloid.

"Let's cut its power and carry this one as evidence.

The unconscious and bound criminal is also placed in the .

Unfortunately, the dagger of evidence is nowhere to be found.

Since there is no time to waste, Jin decides to give priority to bringing back Mertze first.

Since the abandoned factory did not seem to be under anyone's control, he asked to take care of the rest, including the dagger, and Jin and the others decided to return to Leuthart by .

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"I think it would be better to wake him up after we get to Loisart," he said.

"Well, yeah."

Everyone agreed with Erza's decision that it would be better for Merce to be in a calm environment since they would be there in only 5 minutes.

About 20 minutes into the blitz, the <> returned to Reuthert's compound and Merce was tucked into a clean bed.

Daikie went to Miyagi in the <> piloted by Hope to report the safe rescue, so we can expect some sort of instructions from the Emperor in return.

Both for Mertze and for the kidnappers.

In any case, the <> has ended like this ......, or so it seemed.

"But there is one more issue that needs to be clarified."

Reinhardt says.

"Who informed the kidnappers about Mertze?"

"Jin is right. It would be better to question them after Daikki comes back from Miyagi.

"I guess so."

Worst case scenario, we can use transinfo to check his memory.

"Then, I'll do a thorough examination again."

"Please, Elsa."

"<><>......, it's okay. Same as the first diagnosis. Blood sugar is low and there is a slight tendency toward dehydration."

"I've already prepared your Persica juice."

And you might want to have ...... Cocona come in."

Oh, yeah.

Waking up in the middle of all these strangers would be startling and possibly frightening.

"But does this girl know what Cocona looks like?"

"Oh, ...... she might not."

"Then ...... it's either Viscount Yohia, his wife, or the head chamberlain ...... ah, Miss Jenny. Shall I go get Miss Jenny?"

"Yes, that's a good idea. It's not too late to wake her up.

Okay.

"Okay, but I'm going to make myself lightly acclimatized.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

An hour later, a messenger from the palace and Viscount Jocheir and his party arrived back and forth.

"Jin-dono, is Merce-sama safe?

Viscount Yohia was accompanied by his chief chamberlain Yenny.

"Master Jin, I heard that Miss Merce has been found!

From Miyagi comes the first secretary to the emperor, Hillman Diehl von Aeseth. He's a childhood friend of the Emperor.

"Yes. Elsa's examination shows that there is nothing wrong with you. She's just been put to sleep by the magic of ."

"Oh, that's wonderful.

"When I woke up, I thought it would be good to see a familiar face, so I waited for Jenny to come to me."

Oh, I see.

"Well, it seems that everyone who should have come is here, so I will lift Miss Mertze's <> state. ......<>"

Elsa's healing magic. Anesthesia (narcosis), waking up from sleep (shlaf).

"......"

Mertze's eyes, which had been asleep, slowly open.

"Is this ......?"

"M?rze, do you recognize me?"

"Jenny, you ...... know me ......, I've been kidnapped ........."

It's all right, it's all right. You're in Count Nido's house.

Yenny patted Merce's head to reassure him.

After that, she held her hand and smiled weakly, as if she was reassuring Merce.

"Melze, you must be hungry, aren't you?"

"Oh, yes. ......"

"Please drink this."

"Oh, thank you."

Yenny helped her to sit up.

In this state, Merce gulps down the contents of the cup handed to her by Erza. Of course, it is Persica juice made in Houraishima. It is warmed to human body temperature so that it will not be too hard on her stomach.

"It's delicious ......"

"If you can drink it, I'd like another glass.

"Yes, I'll have another."

After drinking two glasses of Persian juice, Merce let out a small sigh of relief.

Her complexion had improved somewhat.