Chapter 100: (After) Second Day of Evening Party(1/2)
The inside of the hall became noisy due to the sudden visit from unwelcomed visitors.
「THEY’RE HERE!」
「THEY’RE HERE TOO!」
The two groups of burglars appeared from two passages.
One group came from the door, and the other group from the window, and then with quick movements they invaded the inside of the hall.
They wore black garments on their bodies and white masks to hide their faces.
「UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」
In the blink of an eye, the nobles in the surroundings panicked.
The wave like chaos kept spreading wider.
「DON’T COME!」
「RUN!」
The inside of the hall had fallen into a mess as everyone tried to be the first to escape.
「CALM DOWN!」
「PLEASE LET US TO PASS! WE’RE GOING TO REPEL THOSE BURGLARS! 」
Even the guard knights patrolling inside the hall couldn’t move very well since they were being pushed back by the crowd.
Though those knights had undergone training in preparation for emergency cases, it’s not the same for the many nobles in the venue.
Of course amongst them were some who had received combat training, some of them were even recognized for their military service, but those were the minority.
Obviously, because of the group causing the panic being so irrational, it was inevitable that they would lose the initiative to deal with the emergency.
In the first place it’s already abnormal for such a group to be able to bypass the defenses of the castle and to march into the venue without anyone noticing it before hand.
Since it seems they have taken measures against abnormal situations due to the strict defense outside of the venue.
The attendance was strictly controlled, so they deployed a minimum number of knights inside the hall for the sake of appearance.
When it comes to that, it’s natural to think that there are collaborators of those burglars amongst the invited guest.
But, now was not the time to find the culprit.
「Move as planned before. Now spread! 」
The person who seemed like the leader of the group gave an order, the burglars then spread into groups of two people.
It seems they’re trying to do some kind of outrageous crime.
Their nimble movements indicate that they’ve trained for this beforehand.
Therefore, no hesitation could be felt from their actions.
They just pushed through the momentary gaps that were created due to the chaos――
They needed to act quick, it was just a matter of time before the guarding knights in the venue regain their freedom of movement and then turn around to intercept the burglars.
Every second counts for these burglars and might be the difference between victory or defeat.
The burglars ran straight through the inside of the hall with more nimble movements and superior strength than normal people would have.
「HYIIIIIII!」
The crowd of nobles was neatly separated which helped the movement of the burglars.
The knights pushed through the wave of nobles while the burglars kept advancing smoothly through the path made ready for them.
There were some knights trying to disturb the burglars hiding amongst the crowd of people but,
「GA!」
They fell to the ground due to burglars stabbing their chest with a knife.
Though there were knights trying to move by their own discretion, it was useless since the burglars individual combat ability was high. That’s how catastrophic the current situation was.
The knights were overwhelmed since the two groups of burglars could perfectly coordinate against single knights.
Moreover the one-on-one combat ability of the burglars and the knights was more or less equal.
Although several knights had already fallen to the ground, the burglars would advance unhindered if left as it is.
By the way, everyone, excluding the venue guards of the Galwark kingdom, were prohibited from taking along their weapon to the hall.
Even the weapons carried by the defense knights are only a club and a knife. That’s because they keep in mind that they only need to arrest the criminal. So it’s all in the premise of not causing casualties, because in the middle of a crowd something that’s too long would be hard to swing and would most likely hurt those around.
Against the burglars who had received plenty enough training to pierce their way through the crowds, the defensive side was obviously in an extremely disadvantageous position.
The burglars made the best use of the little time they had, till the knights could cope with their movements, to run towards their target with all of their power.
They were heading towards――,
「O-OY, They are heading towards us!」
Hiroaki shouted in a shrill voice.
That’s right, the burglars were gathering where Rio and the others were.
（Is it because the one they’re aiming for is amongst us?）
Rio guessed their intention in that moment.
Nevertheless, the list of people who could be their target was too large.
It could be the royalties of these powerful countries, or the hero, Hiroaki, or maybe the CEO of Rikka firm and the daughter of a powerful noble, Liselotte.
Maybe because he was always secretly monitoring other people’s tendencies, he could pinpoint the target without any hestitation.
「W-What is this? What are the defense knights doing? 」
Michael said that with a voice that carried a hint of hysteria.
「O-Onii-sama」
Charlotte, frightened, cuddled Michael.
The burglars drew near from every direction as far as the eye could see.
「Kuh! They’re coming from all directions! Form a circle! 」
Five knights hiding in the vicinities who were acting as the secret bodyguards of the royalties formed a circle.
Even with a glance one could tell that the number of burglars were easily more than 10 people.
The number of the intercepting side was obviously lacking.
The color of impatience rose on the faces of the knights.
「Everyone, please gather here behind our circle! You must not by any means move from there! 」
One of the knights said so and urged everyone to take shelter behind their encirclement.
Lilyana, who had a conversation with Hiroaki, didn’t notice that the three noble daughters of Saint Stellar kingdom were getting closer.
「This way, Lilyana-sama」
「Y-Yes」
The noble daughters of Saint Stellar kingdom called her with a calm voice and then brought Lilyana to the center of the knights’ encirclement.
The four of Michael, Charlotte, Liselotte, and Rio were already there.
「I-It’s a joke right! How can this happened. So many of them are coming at once! 」
On the other side, Hiroaki was standing still with a pale face while shouting.
The approaching burglars were clearly moving with ill intents.
Hiroaki never had any true combat training since coming to this world, only mock battles, and sometimes, things can be different from mock battles where one can be as moody as they want.
It’s not like he was practising some sort of martial art back in Japan, nor was he ever attacked by hoodlums.
So it can be said, this is the first real combat for him.
It might be strange if he were to not experience any fear, even though he gained these special powers as a hero, considering all the approaching opponents were holding edged weapons.
「Hi-Hiroaki-sama. Don’t hinder the knights by standing still. Please, quickly, take shelter behind their backs」
Hiroaki kept standing still despite Flora calling his name in panic.
His head spinned and his legs trembled in fear.
There’s no way he could hear Flora’s words.
「Liselotte-sama, please go behind the knights along with the other royalties. I’ll go help the knights」
Rio told Liselotte, stepping out while saying those words with a calm voice.
Though he didn’t feel like protecting the royalties was the right thing to do in this situation, he didn’t know what he would say to them later if he ran away alone right now.
Moreover if those burglars ever breached the line of defense set by the knights, Rio would still have to fight against them.
So, if they successfully breach the line of defense the situation developing into free-for-all combat would be inevitable.
In that case the situation might be better if he willingly goes to the front line.
That was his judgement.
「G-Godspeed!」
Liselotte told behind Rio.
For her, who had basically witnessed Rio’s fighting power, him joining the line of defence was extremely reassuring.
「Let us use 『Barrier Magic of Magical Power(Magic Barrier)』 for you」
The noble daughters of Saint Stellar kingdom said so.
「Let me help you too」
Liselotte announces her intentions without hestitation.
『Barrier Magic of Magical Power(Magic Barrier)』 as its name suggests is magic that will protect one from external attack by enclosing the target in a barrier of magical power.
It’s defensive ability depends on the covered area and the amount of loaded magical power, the consumption of magical power for continuous use was large, thus it was hard to use any other magic.
But she only needed to hold off until additional knights came as reinforcement, so this magic was the most appropriate one for the current situation.
When spreading the barrier vast and thin, it’ll become a simple barricade.
「HIROAKI-SAMA! PRINCESS FLORA! COME HERE QUICKLY! 」
Liselotte shouted at them seeing that they were late to react.
Hiroaki’s body was trembling.
When he glanced behind him, he saw people clustering together to take shelter,
「R-RUN, RUN!」
Hiroaki turned around and started to run while shouting loudly.
「KYAAAAA!」
Hiroaki ran into Flora, who then lost her balance.
Meanwhile, a fight had already started right by her side――
☆★☆★☆★
「I have come to assist. Since coordinating would be hard, I’ll attack who ever I can」
Rio said that briefly after slipping into an open spot between the knights forming a circle protecting the royalties.
Thanks to Rio joining the formation they can now cover more area than before.
「T-Thank you!」
Both knights next to Rio are showing delighted expressions on their faces.
「I’ll take care the two coming at me」
Right after saying that, Rio steps forward and closes the distance between him and the two burglars.
Of course he doesn’t forget to secretly raise his physical abilities with spirit arts.
「Bow!」 [TLC: The weapon you use in archery]
One of the two burglars running in that group shouts.
They have no equipment anywhere close to resembling a bow.
（They’re faking it? Or have they prepared a weapon? No――）
The next moment, the two burglars are forming a front-back line formation――,
「Fuh!」
The burglar in the front is lunging his knife with his right hand.
But, Rio calmly brushes that lunge away with his left hand.
And just like that, with a flowing-like movement, he drives in a strong blow towards the abdomen of his opponent with his right hand.
「GA................. KAH」
A unintentional shriek leaks out from the man’s mouth before his body falls down.
At the same time, the next burglar is making his appearance from the back of the first one, and rushes to attack.
He might be acting as a backup to be certain that Rio dies. [TLC: Gets killed/ dies.. same thing]
Perhaps the so called 「Bow」 was an order that was already decided beforehand as some sort of a signal.
The other man rushing from the back of the fallen man sends another surprise attack at Rio.
He lunges from Rio’s blindspot firmly holding his knife while aiming at his heart.
If that hit lands, it would mean instant death for Rio, there would be no escape from it.
But, Rio’s swiftly steps to the side.
The lung sent by the burglar just barely grazes his clothes.
「WHA!」
Under the mask, a surprised voice leaked out.
Rio, now standing next to the burglar, quickly grabs the burglars arm, leaving no room to break free.
And just like that Rio pulls the burglar forward, gaining control over their entire body, and then finishes it by suddenly overturning the burglar body.
Following it by elbow striking the burglar still rotating in the air,
「GAH...............」
The burglar landed on the floor like a sack of potatoes, and he then lost his consciousness.
It’s only been few seconds since Rio started fighting.
After giving a glance to confirm that his opponent lost their consciousness, Rio pay close attention to the knight still fighting near him.
It seems that some reinforcements have already come but, there are still people who are fighting the burglars alone.
The knight to Rio’s left was also one of them.
Though it seems that he somehow can face against two burglars alone, there’s a knife lodged into his right arm.
（I should cover for him huh）
After thinking about it for a moment, Rio decided to help him, but the moment he decided so,
「Kyaa」
Behind the knight whose right hand is stabbed, Flora falls down due to Hiroaki running into her.
Hiroaki failed to notice that he bumped into Flora and kept going toward the last line of defence where Liselotte and the noble girls of Saint Stellar kingdom were gathering.
「Kuh, I’m at my limit! Make a protective wall. 『Barrier Magic of Magical Power(Magic Barrier)』」
Right after Hiroaki has come in, the noble girls of Saint Stellar and Liselotte activated the 『Barrier Magic of Magical Power(Magic Barrier)』 .
The barrier of magical power is expanding as if to protect Hiroaki and the royalties who are taking shelter.
「CEH」
Clicking their lips, the burglars who have managed to bypass the first line of defence, the knights, were just one step away from the nobels.
Though the barrier is not so hard to break considering how big it is, it’ll still take some time.
The pursuing knights are sure to come at them during that time.
On the other hand, at that time,
「GUH」
Behind them, Flora’s scream could be heard for just a moment, and then the consciousness of the injured knight was snatched away.
Making use of that opportunity, the burglar threw away the wounded knight.
「KYAA」
The knight bumps onto Flora and both of them fall to the floor.
Even the three burglars who were stopping right before the 『Barrier Magic of Magical Power(Magic Barrier)』 were turning around and heading toward Flora.
（Could it be that they’re narrowing down their target to her for now）
It’s even including the burglars who were pushing down the the injured knight, the four burglars are for sure getting closer to defenseless Flora.
The one closest to her was the knight who was pushed down by the burglar.
Rio runs towards that burglar in only a moment after strengthening his legs with spirit arts.
「!!!!!」
Being hindered by Rio when he was just one step away, the male burglar was gulping in shock.
historical
Rio’s destroying the posture of the man by seizing his clothes at that moment.
And then flinging the burglar with all his might, aiming at a burglar who was behind and to the right of him.
The man is blown away with unexpected force, and magnificently hits the body of the approaching burglar.
「GUH」
Being unable to stop the unexpected impact, the two burglars crash into the magical barrier Liselotte and the others are casting.
Rio quickly turns around and then faces toward the two burglars who are attacking Flora from her left side.
Stomping hard on the ground, he instantly enters the gap between Flora and those two burglars.
「WE’RE NOT HIS OPPONENT」
When one person says that, the burglars were separating to cover Rio on both sides.
It’s their strategy. Whichever Rio fought first, the other will get Flora while he’s busy fighting.
「I’LL BECOME HER SHIELD! DON’T WORRY ABOUT HER. PLEASE BEAT ONE OF THEM FOR THE TIME BEING! 」
The knight who fall along with Flora is shouting so.
Maybe he’s literally planning to put up his body to stop one of the burglar.
It’s an admirable chivalric soul.
Though Rio didn’t have such a soul in his heart, he was admiring him.
He believes so even while thinking that he didn’t want to die at the same time.
「....」
Though Liselotte’s feeling troubled whether she should use attack magic, thus cancelling the『Barrier Magic of Magical Power(Magic barrier)』, if she misses her shot others might get involved too.
The probability to miss is high since the opponent is fast.
And the bandits would be rushing at them right away if Liselotte leaves an opening for them.
「Liselotte-sama, please keep your 『Barrier Magic of Magical Power(Magic Barrier)』 up」
After shouting that, Rio rushed towards one of the burglars.
The worries then vanished from Liselotte face.
「Fu~h」
Maybe because he feels like Flora’s guard has resigned already, the burglar who’s aiming for her makes a nasal sound as if celebrating his success.
But, the next moment,
「WHA?」
Rio vanishes from the burglar’s field of vision, which shocked him.
The truth is, Rio is moving so fast that he only barely touches the ground. To the negligent burglar it seems as if Rios figure has vanished.
In that moment, Rio grabs the burglar from his leg with powerful force.
And just like that, the burglar can’t help but be flung towards another burglar by spirit arts using Rio
「HAH」
Maybe because he had already seen how other burglars were tossed around, the targeted burglar easily avoided the collision with his comrade.
But, that delayed his approach towards Flora.
During that, Rio already reached the burglar to stop his plans.
「CEH」
When the decentralization plan to aiming at Flora got foiled, the burglar clicked his tongue.
The two of them are now facing each other at several steps distance.
「It seems your plan has failed. It seems more than half of your comrades are arrested too, how about surrendering yourself now? 」
Rio’s asking with bone chilling tone.
「WHAT HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR US WHEN WE FAILED IN OUR DUTY IS DEATH!」
The burglar charged toward Rio as he shouted those words.
He’s without doubt ready for his honorable death.
Three stab of knife is coming non-stop at him.
Chest, arm, stomach.
It’s piercing the air while letting out “hyuu” sound.
Rio’s hand is dancing so fast and brilliantly parrying all those strikes.
「KUH」
A voice of pain is leaking out from the man’s mouth.
Despite him using every bit of his strength for the attack just now, he can feel that Rio still has some leeway for parrying it.
But, for a moment, Rio’s line of sight moves when he surveys the surroundings.
（Still young huh! You’re too careless boy!）
The burglar won’t miss that opprotunity.
In that moment, he closes their distance and then stabs Rio’s chest. [TL : Liselotte’s gasping at this time]
But.
It’s as if Rio has been expecting an attack to come from behind all this time, and he strikes the fist of the man grasping the knife.
「WHA!」
The man is left dumbfounded by the situation.
And just like that, Rio grabs and twists the man’s arm which forces him to release his knife.
Rio goes to, somehow, take control over his opponent and then, in the next moment, topples him over to the floor.
Rio keeps holding down his opponent,
「This is the end」
And told him about the end of the combat.
「BULLSHIT」
Nevertheless, the burglar is still struggling around.
But he is immediately put into sleep after Rio chops the back of his neck.
Rio stands slowly.
（.......... Next is, it seems it’s alright）
Judging from the surroundings, Rio came to conclusion that he already doesn’t have a stage to come out on.
The reinforcement knights are gathering, most of the burglars in their surroundings have fallen to the floor.
After all this, none of the royalties were injured.
The only thing left is for this country to get some information from the captured burglars.
「GAH................ AAah!」
All of a sudden, the burglar who Rio put to sleep was in pain.
「Oy. Are you okay? 」
Though he called the burglar in panic, the burglar is just pinning his chest, soon after that his body convulses bit by bit, and then completely stops moving.
Rio’s checking the man but, his breathing has stopped, his pupils already void, even his heart is no longer beating.
It’s just a possibilities but, they’re dead.
Why?
He already made sure that his attack won’t cause a fatal wound.
When it comes to that, it just natural for him to think that it might have been caused by some sort of a internal or external factor.
Rio quickly tears the clothes of the man with a knife that was on the floor.
Thereupon, he discovered there was a complicated magic equation carved on the area around that man chest.
「Is this................ A magic formula...........?」
Magic formula―― Though there are some which are unknown even amongst them, it’s a magic of which even the research made brands ones as a felony, a forbidden magic, either way, it’s effect is way too malicious.
He doesn’t even know whether the magic equation carved on the man’s chest is truly a magic formula.
But, even if this effect is designated as magic formula, it wouldn’t be strange for it to be dangerous magic.
By the way, though the user who carved magic equation on their body can voluntarily invoke magic, the magic equation is carved inside their flesh.
In cases where one invokes magic by carving the magic equation on the surface of the skins as a tattoo, it can’t be categorized as magic.
「........」
After giving a sever glance at the corpse of the burglar, Rio looks at his surroundings while letting out a small sigh.
It seems that somehow the other burglars are also suffering, the battle has ended.
The knights are staring dumbfoundedly at the sudden death of the burglars.
「Uhm, are you okay? Are you injured? 」
Rio hears Flora’s voice right beside him
It seems she used 『Recovery Magic(Heal)』 on the injured knight.
Before he knew, Liselotte has already come next to him, being vigilance of the surroundings as if to protect the defenseless Flora.
「Yes, if it’s this degree of injury........」
The knight replied respectfully.
He never thought that he would personally receive healing magic performed by a royalty.
So it’s natural that he felt nervous.
「I’m already alright. Thank you very much」
The male knight staggeringly stands and then tells his gratitude with tense expression.
「I’m glad then....」
Flora’s sighing in relief.
After confirming the recovering of the knight has ended, Liselotte immediately rushes to Rio.
「Haruto-sama. Are you alright? 」
She already knows that he was safe by seeing the combat but, Liselotte can’t help but ask about his condition.
「Yeah, I’m uninjured as you see」
Rio’s shrugging his shoulders as he replys to her.
「I’m glad then. The burglar over there is............? 」
「Yes, he’s dead. He has a magic equation carved directly onto his chest. Maybe some type of a spell」
So Rio conveyed the result of his own investigation.
「Is that so....」
Liselotte’s showing a distressed face.
Following that, her expression changed to a serious one and,
「You saved me, Haruto-sama. If you were not here it might have not just been Flora-sama, but maybe even Michele-sama, Charlotte-sama, and Lilyana-sama would have also been wounded by them 」
She deeply bows to Rio.
「It’s nothing to feel gratitude towards. I’m just fulfilling my duty as a guard and a man to protect my partner, right? 」
Rio cheeks slowly loosened as he said so.
Liselotte looks at him with slightly perplexed expression and,
「I’m truly glad that Haruto-sama is my partner」
Said that as a reply with delighted expression.
「U-Uhm, my apologies! You got into trouble because of me..............」
Flora’s standing slowly and then bowing to apologize to her.
「Such thing is――」
Just when Rio’s about to reply to her.
「Are you okay, Flora?」
Hiroaki already came and suddenly grabbed Flora’s shoulder.
Flora body is trembles with a “twitch”.
「Y-Yes. Because Haruto-sama and knight-sama protected me.......」
「Rather than that, how did you fell? I’m worried, you know? 」
Hiroaki said that as if scolding her.
「M-My apologies. I’ve, always been a klutz.........」
Maybe because she thought that it’s a critism, Flora felt despondent.
「A~h, well........ I’m glad that you’re okay」
Hiroaki’s saying so with a slightly awkward tone.
Maybe because he’s at least aware of the fact that he ran away after losing himself.
During their little skit, Rio already went to confirm the death of the other burglars.
「AH....」
Flora who failed to say her gratitude is letting out vanished-like voice.
「I will help too」
Rio also joining the work by mixing along with the knights who are gathering the surrendered burglars to one place.
The number of the burglars beaten by Rio is six, the injured knight beat one, and it seems there are seven others totaling to 14 arrested burglars.
「You too, Liselotte, come here. There might be another burglars aro-->>