Volume 5 Chapter 61 It's Tough When You're Told to Your Face
Randy jumped over the hole in the ceiling, one, 2, and so on, following Rolf.
It hadn't been long since Rolf chased after Elliot, but what lay beyond the ceiling was already divided, with Elliot like a daruma doll, and Rolf looking down at him.
"Oh no... I'm late..."
With his shoulders slumped, Randy called out to Rolf, "Your Excellency, did he vomit anything?" as a last-ditch effort.
Rolf shook his head at Randy's words, while Elliot was already on the brink of death.
But Elliot looked at Randy, coughing up blood, and raised his voice.
"I'll tell you something good... cough..."
Elliot, spitting out blood, looked at Randy and Rolf with a sneer.
"We've already... started moving. You guys... are finished──"
With just that, Elliot stopped moving.
"I didn't quite understand that."
"Yeah."
Rolf nodded, but he continued, realizing it was good to know that they were still targeting Waldner.
If he believed in Elliot's last words, there was no doubt some action would follow.
"It's hard to believe they would challenge Waldner to a full-scale war..."
Randy sighed and looked up at the gaping hole in the roof, saying, "Let's hope for some information there."
What appeared silently from there was one of the shadows from the Marquis family.
"Thank you for your hard work. *Have you captured them*?"
At Randy's words, the shadow nodded, "They have already been taken to the castle."
"That's impressive!"
The shadow left with "Then," after Randy smiled at him, and vanished again.
"So that was Braubelg's special forces, [Dark Tide]?"
As Rolf followed the disappearing shadow with his gaze, Randy also followed with his eyes, saying, "Their skill level is amazing." At that moment, the outside of the building became noisy.
"It seems like Your Excellency is also..."
"Ah. Right on time."
Laughing, Rolf jumped out through the large hole in the roof, saying, "I'll leave the rest to the Knight."
Following Rolf, Randy leaped to another building and glanced back at the merchant guild [Veritas].
There were Knights surrounding the building.
Among the Knights pretending to investigate, a few men and women were also visible.
It seemed that the Knights arranged by Rolf had successfully captured remnants of the [Pilgrim of Truth].
Confirming their success, Randy disappeared from the rooftop, hurrying to catch up with Rolf, who was already ahead.
The midnight raid ended, and Randy and Rolf returned to the castle of the Marquis Waldner family.
Brushing snow off his body in the hall, Rolf turned back to Randy with a smile. "Still," he said,
"when you said you'd take down merchant guild Veritas, I wondered how you'd handle the follow-up... but mobilizing [Dark Tide]? That was unexpected."
Randy responded with a wry smile at Rolf's amused expression.
"It's not that I didn't trust Your Excellency's Knights, but..."
"No problem. You're an even more interesting guy."
Rolf laughed as Randy desperately tried to explain that it was thanks to Liz and Cedric that [Dark Tide] could be mobilized.
Their current conversation was about the true purpose behind the raid on merchant guild Veritas.
The raid itself was, in a way, a diversion.
They weren't fully aware of the group's size or numbers, so there was no doubt some members would escape.
And handling those escapees—that was their real objective.
When the headquarters was raided, the scattered [Pilgrim of Truth] members in the town would inevitably take action.
They'd assess the situation, investigate the attackers, and contact external allies.
To capture those fleeing members, Randy deployed [Dark Tide], a group Cedric had left as Waldner's liaison.
Meanwhile, Rolf assigned his own Knights.
Both set their traps for the rats.
Of course, it would have been ideal to directly extract information from the top members.
But both Randy and Rolf only considered that a bonus at best.
"I can't say we caught them all... but"
With a sigh, Randy heard Rolf laugh again, saying "No worries."
The lightning-fast raid they showed this time was undoubtedly a blow to the enemy.
Moreover, they also caught the remnants who took action.
"They can't move, and it's certain they'll be caught through their comrades' snitches."
If they move, the chances of being caught increase.
Even if they hide, the chances of being found have increased.
In other words, the true annihilation of those who infiltrated Waldner is only a matter of time.
"Then I'll leave the interrogation to you. I'm not experienced in that."
Just as Randy shrugged, Airen rushed in from the other side of the hall.
"Father──"
"It's noisy. Isabella and the others..."
"Mother and brother's condition are──"
Seeing Airen's happy smile, Rolf said, "Victor, sorry!" and ran off with Airen, leaving Randy behind.
As the two disappeared down the hallway, Liz peeked her face from the gate of the same corridor.
Liz, who walked a bit quickly to the hall, smiled and said, "Welcome back."
"I'm back."
Randy returned the smile and patted Liz's head, saying, "Liz and Ellie, welcome back."
"Thank you. Did everyone arrive safely?"
"Yes."
Randy lowered his hands as Liz smiled, looking a bit ticklish.
"You could have talked a bit more with Your Excellency and Lady Flora, you know?"
Randy tilted his head, and Liz shook her head with a smile, saying, "That's fine for now."
"By the way, it seems Miss Catherine did well."
Randy looked towards the corridor where Liz had appeared.
I wonder if Rolf and Airen, who ran that way, are shedding tears of joy now.
"It seems like she really tried hard. Ellie said, 'Not yet, not yet' though."
Smiling, Liz looked down the hallway, following Randy's gaze, and said, "I was doing my best."
"I see... If she showed a bit of guts, maybe making the kotatsu will go well too."
"That's right. That was the main thing, but..."
Liz smiled wryly, but Randy also found it quite a strange connection.
Thanks to Catherine bringing up something as unexpected as making a kotatsu, they got to know Waldner and prevented the first wave of a mysterious organization's plot.
Of course, since they didn't understand the opponent's goals at all, it wasn't a situation for excessive joy, but for a few hours until dawn, it was okay to indulge in this happiness.
"For now, I want to take a bath."
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