Chapter 98

The royal castle had fallen.

It wasn't a mistake like the old White Tiger Corps, where the surroundings were on fire; the huge castle gates were open, and the inside of the walls was burning.

Moreover, the most striking thing was that the imperial flag, embroidered with a red cloth and a golden lion with wings, a creature called Charbeisha, was stuck at the top of the royal castle.

Doing that at the royal castle means, in this world, that the king has been captured and the country is now ours.

"Are you serious...?"

Falling in two days is really impressive.

Well, I don't know, but what do we do now?

Thinking this, I looked at Father.

"Tsk!"

After clicking his tongue,

"Let's go!"

he gave the order and advanced the army.

What? Where to?

Seriously, are we going to retake it?

That's impossible.

First, the ladders we brought don't reach the top of the castle walls.

Lumion's royal castle looks higher than Pornesia's royal castle walls.

It's probably about twenty meters high.

If the castle gates are closed, there's nothing we can do.

But, we can't just say, "We arrived, and Lumion's royal castle had already fallen."

So, what does that mean...

"Marshal, are you going to rescue the captured royal family?"

If they were taken out of the city two days ago, we might still be in time.

"No, they're not just a bunch of people, and they've probably already been executed."

"Executed...?"

Father said calmly in response to my straightforward question.

I had expected it, but it's disappointing to hear it clearly.

"Yeah, there's no reason to take them."

What a bummer. So, was this a wasted trip?

"Then, are we retreating?"

Well, it was a wasted trip, but my personal goal wasn't to rescue the royal family.

If we can return quickly, that's better.

Feeling a bit relieved, I asked Father,

"Well, yeah. We don't have any siege weapons, after all."

I see...

As I slumped, Father added,

"There's a secret passage in the castle for situations like this. Only a few members of the Lumion royal family and the knight commander know about it on the Lumion side."

"Oh!"

Of course there is! A secret passage to get out of the castle in an emergency. It's cliché, but it makes sense.

Then, with the burning royal castle in the background, we advanced the army to the east.

The road wasn't very wide, and there was a dense forest on the side. We stopped the army and called me, Lisa, Captain Rand, Baud, and Shoune.

Once everyone gathered, Father took out a piece of paper from his pocket and showed it to everyone.

There was a map, and a cross mark on one point.

It was probably the exit of the secret passage where one of the royal family members was.

"Those present should understand the task. Time is precious, so I'll skip the details.

Rand, take Baud and Shoune, Rain, Lisa, and a few others to the location marked with the cross and bring back the royal family member there."

"Hai! I understand the order!

I will definitely bring back the royal family."

Captain Rand declared forcefully.

Then, including me, about ten of us headed for the destination, pushing through the mountains.

The formation was two subordinates in the lead, Baud, Lisa, me, Captain Rand, Shoune, and three subordinates in the rear.

I also activated my Divine Eye and remained vigilant.

"This is quite dense. There's no path, and I wonder if the royal family is really here."

I heard Shoune say this while we were walking.

I thought the same thing.

But, it's probably designated as a meeting place, so there are almost no monsters.

They probably do regular, secret monster hunts. We only occasionally see goblins.

It seems possible.

But, the people in the lead are moving so quickly. How can they navigate this forest so easily?

Looking at the people in the lead, I realized they had the skill of direction.

Moreover, they weren't originally from Pornesia.

Their affiliation was listed as Lumion.

So, that's how it is.

After about thirty minutes of walking, a cabin appeared within the range of my Divine Eye's effect.

There were indeed people in the cabin.

A five-year-old girl and a three-year-old girl.

And a woman who looked like a lady-in-waiting.

She was young, 28 years old, and a trio with three magical talents, and she had the skill of shortened incantation, a lower-level version of non-verbal casting.

She was quite a talented individual.

"They are indeed there."

I said this in a voice only Lisa and Captain Rand could hear.

Captain Rand approached and asked in a low voice,

"How many are there?"

"There are two girls, five and three years old.

And one lady-in-waiting."

"Two... only. Understood. Thank you."

He concluded and returned to his original position.

When we were about a hundred meters from the cabin, the lady-in-waiting inside seemed to notice us.

She quickly stood up, moved the two girls back, and readied her sword, starting to cast a spell.

Before I knew it, the hardening spell was complete, adding to the lady-in-waiting's VIT.

It took less than half the time I knew it should.

She emitted a terrifying aura and continued to layer support spells.

She's scary.