Volume 5, Chapter 6 – Reunion with Andrea

After hearing Edith’s instructions, Yisi and Camilla began to wander through the Royal Castle. However, the two had barely stepped out of the grand hall when Camilla stopped, a somewhat unwell look on her face.

“Onee-sama, I have some business to attend to.”

Probably picking flowers.

Pressing for details would be tactless, so Yisi waved her hand in understanding.

“Well, go on. I’ll just look around here.”

“My sincerest apologies.”

Leaving the grand hall by herself, Yisi came to a place that resembled a garden.

A castle is not a structure that is sealed on all four sides. From the [Omniscient Map], she could see that the entire castle occupied an extremely vast area; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a small island. A large number of rooms and open-air gardens were essential. There were even watchtowers in inconspicuous corners. The magnificent and classical architectural style, combined with the excellent lighting and open-air courtyards, along with the servants and soldiers moving through them, showcased both the solemnity and splendor a royal castle should possess.

Before entering the castle, Yisi hadn’t had a real sense of it. Now, standing alone in this city-within-a-city, she finally felt that she was truly in the Royal Castle.

“I’m being watched…”

Feeling a gaze from her right, Yisi did not look back—it was likely the eyes of a hidden sentry.

“That’s to be expected. The Queen lives in this castle, after all. If they don’t keep a close watch on everyone, all the guards will be punished if something happens to her.”

Perhaps because they saw the wings that symbolized her pureblood status, the gaze was quickly withdrawn. Yisi yawned and began to admire the ancient yet vibrant architecture as she walked along the courtyard.

“This kind of flower… I remember it can be sold for two gold coins a stalk in human cities. To think that in the Royal Castle, it’s merely used as a decorative accent for other flowers. The royal family is truly extravagant.”

“And the number of purebloods is much higher than in other places.”

Yisi nodded to herself as she moved through the castle. Because she was a pureblood, whenever soldiers and servants passed by, they would all stop, bow their heads to her in a salute, and only continue with their business after she had passed.

So this is what they call noble etiquette.

Before, Yisi couldn’t understand it. Now, having experienced it firsthand, she felt that for those of high status, this kind of etiquette was a complete indulgence.

“No wonder nobles emphasize etiquette so much.”

Because the Royal Castle was full of novelties, by the time Yisi came to her senses, she found that she had walked a great distance. There were hardly any servants or soldiers to be seen, and it was so quiet that she felt as though she had entered a restricted area.

The [Omniscient Map] showed that Andrea’s bedchambers were ahead, and Andrea herself was in a garden about a hundred meters away. However, because the two gardens were separated by a high wall fitted with magical traps, the only way to get to Andrea was to take a long detour.

Of course, the map showed that there was a secret door hidden under a sculpture in this garden, which led directly to Andrea’s bedchambers. But that was clearly something like an escape route; using it without permission would only get her branded as someone with ill intentions.

It wouldn’t be good to make Camilla worry. I should go back for now and come find Andrea during the day.

Yisi turned around, just as a squad of soldiers was passing by.

Hmm?

She sensed something was slightly different.

Although these soldiers also wore silver armor and had stern expressions, Yisi just perceived a hint of strangeness. After a moment’s thought, she realized the reason: this group of soldiers had not saluted her when they passed.

A special unit, perhaps?

Even the royal family’s personal guard corps would salute her on sight. The cold demeanor of this group of soldiers was truly intriguing.

With the intention of giving a kind reminder, Yisi called out to the soldiers.

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“Hey, are you new here? There’s no path that way.”

“…”

In unison, the squad of soldiers that had been hailed stopped in their tracks. After a moment of silence, the male soldier in the lead approached Yisi with a smile.

“Ah, my apologies. We are a patrol team that has just reported for duty at the Royal Castle, so we are not yet very familiar with the area.”

“It’s no problem. This place is indeed very complex. Where are you headed?”

“Er…” The soldier paused, a hint of nervousness in his expression. “The Number Two Spire. Milady, could you please tell us which way to go for the Number Two Spire where the weapons are stored?”

“You’re going in the complete opposite direction. The Number Two Spire is to the west.”

“Thank you very much.”

After saluting Yisi, the captain immediately led the other soldiers out of the garden.

Watching the soldiers leave, Yisi frowned slightly.

They were lying through their teeth.

Based on her observations so far, the soldiers guarding the Royal Castle were usually between Level 10 and 15. Among the ten soldiers just now, the lowest level was 20, and the captain was over Level 30. There was no way they were rookies.

That’s why she had initially thought they were a special unit.

“And the Number Two Spire, which stores weapons, should be to the south. Even new soldiers shouldn’t collectively misremember such an important location.”

She had deliberately told them it was to the west, yet they had raised no objection. Combining this with their lie about their experience and their strange behavior of not saluting her, Yisi dismissed the idea of turning back. Instead, she ducked into a corner and used the invisibility spell, “[Concealment]”.

She then went to inform Camilla, asking her to wait a little longer, before returning to the garden.

About five minutes later.

The same squad of soldiers reappeared in the garden. This time, however, they peeked in furtively before entering.

“Mm… just as I thought. There’s a problem.”

Their identity was crystal clear. If she still hadn’t figured it out, she’d be no different from a three-year-old child.

They were not soldiers of this castle, but a group of outsiders disguised as soldiers with an unknown purpose.

To steal treasures? To eavesdrop on intelligence? Or assassination?

If she had a noble title, she could go up and question them directly. But she was merely a commoner. If they were to question her identity in return, she would be at a disadvantage in a formal argument. Yisi decided to wait until they made a concrete move before intervening.

Consider it a greeting gift for Andrea.

Confirming that the courtyard was empty, the men disguised as soldiers first sent out two of their own to guard the main entrance connecting to the garden. The remaining eight then spread out in the courtyard, ducked into the flower bushes, and began carefully searching the ground for something.

Perhaps because they had already confirmed the location beforehand, they quickly found their target—the secret door Yisi had seen on the [Omniscient Map], which led directly to Andrea’s bedchambers.

Silently, all ten impostors slipped into the secret door and disappeared from the garden.

Yisi, who had witnessed it all, shook her head.

“Good grief…”

All ten of them were assassins.

Looks like the castle guards were going to get a pay cut.

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Should I change my identity?

Using [Third Form Awakening] could also help Andrea, but there was a problem. Timing-wise, the reason Andrea wasn’t attending court was very likely because she had been frightened by the incident where Yisi stole her necklace. Although in most cases, saving someone from bad guys can win their favor, using it here would only give Andrea the feeling of having just escaped the tiger’s den only to enter the wolf’s.

It would be terrible if she frightened Andrea so much that she completely stopped attending court in the future. Andrea was still just a girl who had not yet come of age.

Without switching her identity, Yisi first applied a layer of the [Low-Rank Magic Nullification] skill to herself. Then, pushing off with her feet and using her hands to grip the high wall, she climbed over to the other garden.

Her field of vision immediately opened up.

Unlike the previous courtyard, which was filled with towering structures, the view here was excellent. The open garden had no obstructions, and the air was filled with the fragrance of grass. It felt less like the bedchambers of a royal and more like some noble’s manor.

“I thought she was canceling the meetings to do something more important, but it turns out she was just sleeping here. Even with a Hydra guarding her, she’s far too careless.”

Yisi couldn’t help but sigh.

In the nocturnal garden, a young queen with pink hair styled in pigtails over her shoulders and wearing a night-colored formal dress was lying peacefully on the lawn with her eyes closed, taking a nap. Beside her, a strange serpent with nine heads was coiled, its nine heads scanning the surroundings as if to protect its master, not allowing any threat to approach the queen lying beside it.

“She should at least have some trusted aides by her side.”

As she walked straight toward Andrea, the Hydra immediately noticed Yisi. It writhed its body, silently moving to block the path between Yisi and Andrea.

The [Concealment] spell only made her invisible; the sounds she made and the scent she carried could still be detected.

Yisi simply dispelled the [Concealment] spell.

“I have no ill will toward your master. Now, move.”

Ignoring Yisi’s words, the Hydra raised the upper half of its body high, as if in warning.

I was a fool to try and communicate with livestock.

Without any fear, Yisi took a step directly toward Andrea. The Hydra immediately lunged, but to Yisi’s eyes, any movement was as sluggish as a slow-motion shot in a movie. Yisi leaned slightly to the side, dodging the Hydra’s lunge. Then, with a speed the Hydra couldn’t react to, she grabbed its tail and its nine heads, tied them into a living knot, and tossed it aside.

The Hydra was originally a magical monster; each of its heads could use a different type of elemental magic. For its first reaction to seeing an enemy to be a melee attack instead of a magical bombardment, it could only be said that Andrea’s training methods were flawed.

After reaching Andrea’s side, Yisi knelt down, preparing to nudge the half-gasping Andrea awake, but her outstretched hand suddenly stopped midway.

When she had drawn her blood before, she didn’t know Andrea was the queen. Now that she knew her identity, was it really alright to treat her so rudely?

“Well, there’s no other more suitable way to wake her.”

Yisi pinched one of Andrea’s wings. Compared to places like her shoulder or cheek, her wings shouldn’t be a cause for complaint.

The sensation was completely different from touching her own wings; a soft and warm feeling spread through her palm.

Without any warning, as if she had touched something scalding hot, Andrea’s entire body shot up from the lawn.

Bang.

“Eek!”

Their heads collided.

Although Yisi was fine, a visible bump appeared on Andrea’s forehead. The pain made Andrea clutch her head, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Uuuu…”

“N-No… I didn’t do it on purpose…”

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“Uuu—eh?” Hearing a second person’s voice, Andrea’s eyes widened. She turned her head. “Wh-Who are you? Did I fall asleep outside again? Please don’t tell Boris about this! Please!”

Completely lacking any queenly dignity, Andrea looked up with teary golden eyes, kneeling on the ground, begging Yisi not to tell anyone.

The bizarre and off-the-wall development left Yisi at a loss for words.

“…Rather than telling on someone, are you really Alvier VII?”

“Of course! I am Andrea Fred Alvier ¹ I think the author really shortened it… , and also the current Queen of the Blood Clan—”

Halfway through her sentence, as if remembering something, Andrea’s expression gradually froze. After a moment of stunned silence, a sense of dignity began to appear on her face.

She patted her clothes, stood up from the grass, and looked down at Yisi.

“Only those with permission from the royal family may enter this place. Who are you?”

“Yisi.”

Very obviously, the sense of dignity vanished in the blink of an eye. Andrea widened her cute golden eyes, bent down slightly, and carefully examined Yisi.

“…The hair color is wrong, and she doesn’t have that cold feeling… but the only people who know about this are me and her. Even Boris doesn’t know…”

Muttering to herself, Andrea then stared into Yisi’s eyes with an exceptionally serious expression.

“Where did we first meet?”

She’s trying to confirm my identity. Yisi sighed helplessly.

“On the outskirts of Celtic City. I was in a blood frenzy and drank your—Her Majesty the Queen’s—blood. Later, Her Majesty also drank my blood. We are friends who have exchanged blood.”

“Oh! It really is you! I knew I wasn’t mistaken.” Andrea clapped Yisi firmly on the shoulder, making no attempt to hide her happiness. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

Actually, you already have.

Yisi secretly glanced at Andrea’s fair neck. The spot where the necklace should have been was now bare.

A trace of guilt rose in her heart.

Like a small child, Andrea, who was slightly shorter than Yisi, looked up, her golden eyes full of expectation.

“By the way, why are you here, Yisi? Did you come to see me?”

“…I almost forgot about the important matter. If you trust me, you need to leave this place quickly and find that guard named Boris. It’s about to get dangerous.”

“Dangerous?” Andrea tilted her head cutely, her pink pigtails drooping to the side.

The sound of an arrow cutting through the air reached her ears.

“No, there’s no time. Pardon the intrusion.”

Before Andrea could react, Yisi pulled her into an embrace. Then, with her free right hand, she reached out and caught the incoming arrow.

The metal arrowhead reflected a dark green glint under the moonlight, and a foul, fishy stench immediately assailed her nostrils.

It went without saying that it was coated with a potent poison, the kind with no antidote.

The first shot having failed, it was followed by eight more poison arrows in quick succession. But even if the number were multiplied by ten, it couldn’t harm her. Yisi caught them with the same method and tossed them aside.

If they were ordinary arrows, she could have thrown them back to neutralize the assassins. But poisoned arrows would kill them, making it impossible to trace their origin.

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“Y-Yisi, what’s happening?”

Because her back was to the direction of the arrows and her face was buried in Yisi’s chest, Andrea tried to break free from Yisi’s hold to see what was happening behind her.

Then she was held even tighter by Yisi’s single arm.

“Don’t talk. [Tracer Bullet], [Stun Bullet].”

The former was to light up the sky and alert the guards outside, while the latter was to deal with the assassins hiding in the shadows. A total of five [Stun Bullets] flew from Yisi’s right hand. After disappearing into the bushes, the five assassins within quickly lost consciousness.

Next were the other four assassins who were lunging forward.

To be precise, there was also the captain, who was over Level 30, attempting a sneak attack from behind.

A short sword struck at Yisi’s back.

“Hmph.”

Yisi turned to the side, the short blade just barely scraping the spot where she had been standing. Immediately after, the blade, having missed its mark, changed from a thrust to a horizontal slash. Because she was carrying Andrea, she couldn’t use [Blink]. Yisi could only endure the blow with her body.

If she came out unscathed, it would seem strange to Andrea, so Yisi intentionally lowered the defense on her arm.

Puff.

The short blade cut into her skin.

The pain made Yisi frown slightly. For an ordinary person, that blow should have severed the entire arm, but her skin had merely been pierced.

Using the moment of stiffness after the enemy’s successful hit, Yisi leaned her back against the assassin and struck backward with her elbow, aiming for his chest cavity.

The unpleasant sound of cracking bones.

However, the assassin did not lose his ability to fight. In a desperate, all-or-nothing move, he drew another short blade and reached around Yisi, slashing directly at Andrea in her arms.

At the same time, the previous four assassins also swung their swords from the front, aiming for Andrea in Yisi’s arms.

“Tch.”

It wasn’t that she couldn’t handle it, but her current posture was just too poor.

Holding Andrea restricted her movements, and because Andrea was present, it was inconvenient for her to use skills that didn’t belong to this world’s magic system.

Yisi first used her left hand to parry the short blade coming from behind, which was aimed at Andrea. Then, she forcibly turned around with Andrea, using her back to block the slashes of the four assassins.

She had lowered her defense again.

What came next was very simple.

Even Yisi felt a bit of impatience. She took out a replica of [Gungnir] from her storage, first using the shaft to send the captain flying, then sweeping the spear backward horizontally, sending the other four assassins into the air as well.

[Stun Bullet].

With no way to gain support, the four assassins in the air all became living targets.

Although the remaining assassin captain tried to escape, Yisi, having noticed, directly threw Gungnir, piercing the captain’s shoulder and pinning him to the ground.

“Your Majesty!”

Only after Yisi had finished dealing with everything did the voice of a middle-aged man finally ring out in the courtyard.