Chapter 100

Lambert advanced down the corridor of Viscount Lagar's mansion.

The security grew stronger the deeper he went, leading him to believe without a doubt that Viscount Lagar was ahead.

Even if there were hidden passages, he was confident that tracking would be easy.

Lambert had learned from his information gathering in the slums that Viscount Lagar was obese and could not run properly.

Moreover, he was originally lazy and rarely left the mansion, and recently, his obesity had worsened to the point where he hardly went outside at all.

(Judging from the appearance of the mansion... it should be around here.)

Lambert's magic-imbued roundhouse kick easily shattered the door.

Behind the scattered wood fragments, a masked girl and a thin man dressed in noble attire faced each other.

The man, though dressed lavishly, had a tired and anxious face, with deeply sunken cheeks and dark circles under his eyes, appearing rather meager to Lambert.

Around the man stood the subordinates of Viscount Lagar, whom Lambert had encountered on his way.

The masked girl sat improperly on the backrest of a chair, dangling her feet where she should have been sitting, looking down at the thin man.

The private soldiers gasped in shock at the sight of Lambert.

"An intruder...!?"

"Impossible, I suspected something was happening downstairs, but I never thought you would come this far! This is a full-blown emergency...!"

The masked girl shrugged and kicked her feet.

"Totally useless, Viscount Lagar's private soldiers! How about sending the useless ones to Tetmberg?"

"Please, Lady Luluk...! We, we can no longer assist you! My, my territory cannot tolerate such, such terrible things...! I, I didn't know! I, I didn't...! I will never leak any information...! So, so please, leave! I beg you!"

The thin man, trembling in fear, placed his hands on his head, shaking even more.

"What? You want to withdraw when the auditors come and pretend nothing happened? You know, that's just too convenient, don't you? Are you stupid? Do you think we're fools? You can't back down now, Viscount Lagar, don't you understand?"

"Please, please! Leave! Leave!"

Lambert observed the scene and grasped the situation.

The thin man was indeed Viscount Lagar.

He was rumored to be obese, but he had not been seen outside for a long time.

Lambert assumed that during this period, his involvement with the "Pied Piper Demon" had drained his spirit, leading to his emaciated state.

"Well, but, first things first, we need to deal with the intruder. It's fine, I'll take care of it this time. In the meantime, think about what happens if you betray us."

The girl jumped up and landed in front of Lambert.

She crouched slightly, one hand on the ground, glaring up at him.

"Welcome, intruder, for coming to this shabby, boring place. Though, it's not my mansion or anything! Ahaha!"

"You, are you the 'Pied Piper Demon'...?"

"Hahaha, that's right, but I'm more than that. I am one of the Eight Sages of the 'Pied Piper Demon,' Luluk Luluk. Bad luck for you to sneak in while I'm here!"

The masked girl, Luluk, extended her hand on the ground, levitating her body, and delivered a sharp kick to Lambert.

Lambert blocked it with his greatsword.

Three sharp metallic sounds rang out in an instant.

However, Lambert did not budge from his spot.

"Tch!"

Luluk struck Lambert's greatsword with the red metal staff in her hand and simultaneously kicked off the ground to retreat from Lambert's range.

"Your small stature and that kick. You've been modified, haven't you?"

"..."

Luluk glared at Lambert in silence.

Luluk had a past as an experimental subject of an alchemist group that secretly conducted biological experiments for the royal family.

As a result, she was small but had terrifying physical abilities.

However, due to the continuous modifications, her bodily functions had deteriorated, and her growth had completely stopped.

Despite being far past the age of a girl, she still maintained a youthful appearance due to this.

The alchemist group had been burned to the ground by the church's Inquisition, and their evil hands had reached Luluk, one of their victims. However, she managed to escape and accumulated merits with the "Pied Piper Demon," becoming one of the Eight Sages.

"Aha, you're better than I thought, but if you think you can win with just that, you're seriously mistaken."

As she spoke, Luluk raised her crimson staff and swung it in a circular motion.

"Answer my voice, come forth from the material world, the dancing guillotine, Portasizer."

A magic circle unfolded.

A giant pair of scissors with three eyes on each blade floated in the air.

"Summoning magic, how troublesome."

"Aha, since you're so tough and strong, let's get a bit serious, shall we? Though, I'm not one to back down in terms of toughness!"

"I don't want to fight a child..."

The Portasizer, rotating and moving swiftly, circled around Lambert.

Few could survive and counter both the freely flying Portasizer and Luluk's superhuman martial arts.

However, Luluk cautiously kept the Portasizer flying outside Lambert's range.

She had a bad feeling about Lambert from the moment he easily blocked her triple kick.

"When should I attack... one, two, three, and four!"

Luluk crouched and moved sideways around Lambert, positioning herself and the Portasizer to completely surround him.

At this moment, the Portasizer was in a blind spot.

(Got him...!)

The moment she thought that, the Portasizer was crushed and shattered by the pressure of the greatsword, the fragments flying and the Portasizer disappearing in a flash of light.

(No way, it was in a blind spot...!)

Luluk realized it was bad and jumped back.

But Lambert, who had immediately moved forward, swung his greatsword at her.

She continued to jump back, sticking to the wall to avoid Lambert's attack.

"Aha, that was a shock. But I'm unharmed..."

The next moment, a vertical crack appeared in Luluk's mask.

She traced the crack with her finger.

(If he had been any closer, I wouldn't have been able to avoid it and would have been cut... Even among the Eight Sages, I, Luluk Luluk, who specializes in close combat...!)

"I don't want to, but if you are one of the Eight Sages, I will dispose of you here."