Chapter 43

Xiaoming stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

---

As cherry blossoms danced in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

---

I peeked into the guild's training ground, but it seemed the lecture was already over, and there was no sign of Yagi and the others.

I also looked around inside the guild, but since they weren't in the tavern either, they must have already gone home.

Given this, they were either out in the city or had returned to the dormitory. I thought it would be more certain to visit the dormitory around dinner time, so I decided to return to my boarding house first.

The sunset dyed the sky red, and the main street was bustling with people shopping for dinner.

While leisurely thinking about what tonight's dinner might be, Reinhardt warned me.

"Mr. Kent, you're surrounded."

"Huh..."

I hadn't noticed, but three boys were blocking my path, and when I turned around, two more boys were standing behind me.

The one in the middle, wearing well-tailored clothes, was the same boy who had glared at me this morning.

"You, lend me your face for a moment..."

"Hmm... What do you want?"

"Just come with me, hey!"

The two boys behind me, following the boy's instructions, grabbed my arms to prevent me from escaping.

They were probably the same age as Beatrice, but a year younger than me. However, in terms of height, they were about the same as me.

"Mr. Kent, should I scatter them?"

"No, it's fine for now. I know what they want, but it would be troublesome if they keep following me, so I'll just listen to what they have to say."

"I see... Well, it should be fine, but if anything happens, I'll step in."

"Thanks, but be gentle when you do..."

We were taken to an empty lot at the end of a winding alley, which seemed to be the boys' hangout spot.

It was a small lot, surrounded by buildings on three sides, with only the alley we came through as an entrance.

I was pushed to the center of the lot, and the five boys lined up to block the alley.

Looking at the five of them, they seemed to be a rich kid and his lackeys. One boy was shorter than me, one was about the same height, and the two who had their arms crossed looked taller than me.

The rich kid was about the same height as me but seemed a bit chubby.

If I were still in Japan, I wouldn't have had the confidence to win a fight with a smaller boy, but thanks to the intense training I've had since coming to Volzard, I probably wouldn't lose to any of them.

However, that's only in a one-on-one situation; I don't have the confidence to take on all five at once.

"So, what do you want from me?"

"Stay away from Beatrice!"

Of course, given the situation, he must be in love with Beatrice.

But it won't work out unless he defeats that slightly evil, stupid father.

"First, let me say that I didn't approach her."

"You... So you mean Beatrice approached you?"

"The reason we became close was because of a request I completed at the mansion, but this morning, it was Beatrice who approached me... Didn't you see it?"

"..."

Ah, he must be remembering the kiss scene. His temples are about to burst.

I'm also starting to feel embarrassed...

"So, you're not going to stay away from Beatrice?"

"I won't approach her unless I have a reason to, and Klaus is scary."

When I said that, the rich kid seemed to recall the slightly evil, stupid father and frowned.

Since he's the lord of Volzard and participates in the wall construction every week, he's a tough opponent if he becomes an enemy.

"Besides, I can't control it if Beatrice approaches me, and I don't have any reason to take orders from you."

"..."

The rich kid clenched his fists and trembled, but he didn't seem to be able to attack me himself.

Probably, the desire to hit me and the fear of being hit are conflicting in his mind.

It's like looking at a younger version of myself when I lacked confidence.

If my arms had been grabbed by his lackeys, I wouldn't have been so calm, but standing three meters away, I wasn't afraid at all.

"Do you understand the current situation?"

The small boy next to the rich kid seemed like a typical lackey.

He was thin and would probably be bullied if hit seriously.

"I'm Nazario, the successor of Orlando's store."

Yeah, his way of speaking is so annoying that I want to punch him.

"Sorry, I'm from another city, so I don't know about Orlando's store."

"Really? You're a country bumpkin."

"Katz, that's enough. Nago, Rhod, take care of him."

When Nazario, the rich kid, interrupted the lackey and gave instructions to the two larger boys, I thought, "Ugh... This is such a cliché and boring scenario. Besides, violence will only cause more trouble later, so I'll just leave."

"Hey, kid, get ready."

"I'll make sure Beatrice doesn't want to approach you."

"Sure, I'll decline."

Before their hands could reach me, I created a dark shield behind me and stepped into it.

Once I disappeared into the dark shield, they couldn't follow me.

"What! Where did he go?"

"Hey, what just happened... He's gone."

Nago and Rhod were waving their hands around where I had been and stomping the ground, but they wouldn't find me.

"Truly a disaster, Mr. Kent."

"Yeah, I need to be accepted into Volzard, so I can't afford unnecessary violence."

"That's true, but Mr. Kent, you were quite aggressive with Gerrick."

"Well, Gerrick was like a wall I had to overcome... But he self-destructed on his own..."

"I see, but is it okay? They'll probably come after you again."

"Yeah... I'll deal with it when it happens. For now, let's go back for dinner."

I left the rich kid and his friends, who were still looking around the empty lot, and quickly returned to my boarding house.

"I'm back... Mei, what are you doing?"

When I greeted Amanda and the others, Mei, with her arms crossed, glared at me with a pout.

"Mom, is this Kent really the real one?"

"Hey, Mei, there's no fake me. What's wrong?"

"Kent, is it true that you kissed Beatrice?"

"Whaaat! Where did you hear that?"

"At school, everyone was talking about it. You kissed a short, black-haired girl and called her 'Mr. Kent.'"

"Ugh... That wasn't me, it was Beatrice who..."

"Ugh... It doesn't match at all."

"Ugh... I know, I know..."

Mei's sharp words made me feel like I was about to collapse.

Beatrice is a senior and the lord's daughter, known by all the students in Volzard. She's excellent in her studies, kind to younger students, and admired by both male and female students.

The fact that she kissed an unknown boy in the middle of the main street in the morning became a huge topic.

My head started to hurt.

"Ugh... Just leave me alone..."

"Kent, are you threatening Beatrice?"

"No way, she's the lord's daughter. I'd be kicked out of Volzard."

"Hmm... Then why? Why did Beatrice kiss you?"

"I don't know, I want to know too."

For Mei, it must be hard to believe that her admired senior kissed a dull boarding house resident.

Yeah, they don't match at all.

"Mei, if you're just going to talk and not help with the store, go upstairs with Kent!"

"I'll help! Kent is in the way, go upstairs!"

"Okay, okay, I understand..."

I need to proceed with the rescue operation using sleeping pills, but it feels like it's going to be a lot of trouble.

I also need to clear up Manon's misunderstanding, and the thought of the slightly evil, stupid father joining in gives me chills.

For now, I'll have to interrupt the reconnaissance in the capital to prioritize the rescue operation.

"Sorry for being so demanding, but can you do this and that?"

"No, it's fine. The rescue of your classmates comes first."

There's something I need to confirm with Reinhardt and the others first.

"Hey, can you all directly put pills into someone's stomach like I can?"

"No problem, we are, in a sense, your familiars. We can enter any shadowy place."

"So, the four of us can split up and put the knights to sleep, right?"

"Yes, the number of knights in the garrison is not large, so we can put them to sleep in a short time by splitting up."

According to Fred's investigation, there are 117 knights in the Lastock garrison, including team leaders like Camilla.

"Wouldn't it be better to have a map of the garrison?"

"Of course, it would be easier to understand if we write down where everyone is, what's there, and where to attack on a map."

"Fred, can you do that?"

"I already have it done, as I was asked before..."

I had asked Fred to make a map when Ship Mountain died.

The large paper, pieced together, has detailed information about all the buildings in the garrison, their purposes, and the types of items stored there.

Fred, as always, is quick and accurate.

"Can you investigate the personnel and patrol routes at the drawbridge?"

"Understood, the drawbridge operation is standard, but I'll confirm it just in case."

"Also, the positions of the guards, where the knights are sleeping, and... the stables."

"Yes, we need to know where the stables are, as we can't move without horses."

Indeed, when it comes to infiltrating and rescuing, there are many things to confirm.

"If we rescue the classmates at midnight and start moving by dawn, we should be able to reach Volzard by evening, right?"

"If nothing goes wrong, it should be fine."

"In that case, two light meals should be enough for food, right?"

"Mr. Kent, you also need to consider feeding and watering the horses."

"Right, horses are living beings. They get hungry and thirsty too."

I'll ask Karl to get hay from the guard, and it should be possible for Reinhardt and the others to fetch water using shadow travel.

Securing the necessary supplies shouldn't be too difficult, but the biggest problem seems to be preparing the carriage.

None of us, including me and Yagi and the others, have experience driving a carriage.

We don't even know how to handle the reins, and we'll probably have to start by hitching the horses to the carriage on the day.

It seems like it will take a few days to learn.

"Using a carriage would be faster, but it might take time to get used to handling it."

"Yes, it will take some time to get used to the horses."

"Can we just have everyone walk as originally planned?"

"If we walk, it will be difficult to cross the Demon Forest at night, and the Riesenbourg knights will definitely catch up by morning."

If we can't move at night and have to wait for dawn, we'll be easily caught up with in the Demon Forest.

Even if we remove the slave bracelets and everyone can fight, there's a risk of injuries or even deaths in a battle.

Considering the negotiations for returning to Japan after the rescue, we should avoid armed conflict.

"If we put lights on the sides of the carriages, we can use the front carriage as a guide and move at night."

"Right, if we can gain distance at night, the chances of shaking off the pursuers will increase."

It seems better to use a carriage.

I want to start practicing handling horses as soon as possible, preferably from tomorrow.

However, we can't practice without borrowing a carriage and horses, and for that, we need to talk to Karl... or rather, Marianne.

As I start planning the rescue, I feel anxious about all the things that need to be done and the things that are lacking.

"Mr. Kent, getting anxious won't make the impossible possible."

"Yeah, I know, but I can't help it..."

As I was feeling restless, I heard footsteps running up the stairs.

"Kent, it's dinner time... Why is it so dark again?"

"Ahahaha... It's good to save the magic stones in the light magic device, right?"

"Hey, just because you can use dark magic, don't get cocky! You don't match Beatrice at all!"

"Ugh... There you go again... That's a problem for you. A group of nine people paid the exact amount for a 30 hert lunch, but Amanda asked me to give each of them a 3 hert discount. How much change should I give them?"

"Huh, huh? 30 hert for nine people... A 3 hert discount, so 30 hert minus 3 hert, divided by nine... Ugh... I'll take the tip as change!"

"Ahahaha!"

Yeah, as expected, the signboard girl gave a confusing answer and ran down the stairs.

"Mom, Kent is up to no good in the dark room again!"

"Hey, Mei, what are you saying? I'll give you a lot of math problems!"

"No, no, I hate math..."

At dinner, when I shared Mei's confusing answer with Amanda and Merline, they both laughed.

I got an elbow to the ribs from Mei, but my abs, which I've trained, ... Ugh, why did she hit so accurately?

As we enjoyed dinner together, my anxious feelings eased, but I can't just feel good myself.

I need to rescue the class president and the others quickly.

After dinner, I asked Amanda for permission to go out and used shadow travel to visit the temporary dormitory where the five were staying.

The five were gathered in the living room of the temporary dormitory, so I stepped out from the shadows.

"Good evening."

"Ahhh!"

"Hey, K