5. Front breakthrough

A little later than Celia's expected time, the carriage stopped just a stone's throw from its destination, the royal castle. The reason was that the roads were congested.

"Lively"

Celia, who politely thanked me and let the carriage go, listened to my words and nodded. There was deep agreement with the action.

"The purge of the nobility is over, and the city is on the upswing.

"Blue-blooded debauchery." The impact of the end of the act has not yet fully materialized, but at least the changes are already appearing among the citizens. I said while checking the complexion of the people who came and went.

"For some reason, you don't look like you're suffering from tyranny.

"Even if it's the royal capital, it's fine.

"A slum? Don't doubt your ears. Is there such a place at the base of the royal castle?"

"Yes. It's sad."

"I can't help but feel sad when you say that." If you ask me, the slum has been left as a dump, and it seems that it is the final residence of the victims who ate the luxury of the royal family and nobles in the royal capital. A symbol of the pitch-black darkness that lies behind a life as bright as gold.

"Even though it's obvious why it hasn't improved, there haven't been any signs of a revolution until now." Does it mean that the pig-like upper class, who only thinks about getting fat themselves, has the negative talent of a dark ruler of long-term stabilization of tyranny? Oh my goodness.

"I said 89 out of 10, but what would you do if you subtracted the 10% or 20% chance? In other words, whatever the modus operandi, Morrow's objectives were perfectly aligned with yours."

"that is..."

There was hesitation in his eyes and voice. If so, should I blame Morrow for whatever he did to the kings? Good sense and good results are not always mutually exclusive. However, it can be said that the fact that he hesitates about it speaks to Celia's goodness—and it's a desirable trait for me as well.

"It would be a problem if there were so many dangerous people who thought it was common sense not to resort to any means." In particular.

"I'm fine with just me."

"Well, let's worry about that after finding out. Let's go."

"Yes"

Walk forward to the main gate of the towering royal castle. Celia timidly followed behind her, and she asked in a timid tone.

"Um, how do you intend to get to Morrow?"

"Thank you."

"Answer without hesitation."

"It's a frontal breakthrough."

◇◇◇

Celia Bahndu was in the midst of the greatest turmoil of her life.

She was initially optimistic about the means of getting into her royal castle. She's where she used to work until just a few months ago, and if her negotiations weren't misguided, it could at least serve as a foothold for her former colleague, Morrow. Or, it's about the Primordial Witch. She may be able to manage everything with great magic that she can't match.

Celia was keenly aware of just how far off the mark her optimism based on such an arbitrary interpretation was.

She thought it was some kind of joke and watched from behind Idea, who had invaded the royal castle from the main gate without doubting her words of "breaking through the front", while she was looking at the soldiers who were rushing towards her with a bored face. . Certainly, the unrealistic scene that was happening in front of her, and the absurdity of Idea left Celia completely stunned, forgetting her support.

"No, there is no need for support." Idea, who sounded like he was relying on Celia's help, was overrunning and incapacitating the soldiers more than enough on his own. It was a word of the best part of the battle. With his weapon in his hand, he flicks away each person who approaches him, stops the archers from firing, and knocks them down from high places with a flick of his finger.

The equipment and proficiency of the soldiers in this castle aren't all that great. But the king is so intent on defending himself that he's not worthy of being cut off as his dead soldier. The lack of a commander is conspicuously apparent in the tactics of just attacking in a mass, and although I wonder what happened, from the appearance of immediately getting up and repeating the charge even if it was knocked off, ``I don't know what to do. I feel a strong will to eliminate intruders.

Despite the rigorous training they were given, the treatment was not quite right--even though they were considered "highly paid" by others--they must have had some dissatisfaction. But what a splendid loyalty to defend the king so earnestly. Small animals that never give up no matter how many times they are kicked by giant creatures. Celia couldn't help but forget which side she was in, even going so far as to cheer her on.

"Oh... what? Are they already dead?"

"One whisper." Just by looking at his back, it was clear that Idea was tired of the persistent soldiers. fulfilled. Storm! For the first time, Celia realized that Idea's magic, which had been tearing apart and throwing soldiers as if it were manipulating an invisible arm, was actually a spell that controlled the wind.

Even though it didn't cover his whole body, the wind power that easily floated a large man in armor was extraordinary. It's amazing how she dealt with dozens of people repeatedly while dealing with bows and arrows that were fired regularly. As expected of a witch of the Primordial, her capacity is too different from mine.

Celia, whose limit was double construction, was amazed at Idea's high level of magical skill, but her admiration was blown away as if she had fallen prey to the raging wind.

The sound of the wind piercing her ears was like the screams of a ghost. A few seconds after it swirled around the soldier, there was nothing there. The soldiers, the armor they wore, the weapons they wore, everything. When the gust of wind that wiped out even the haze of blood vanished, everything that had filled the hallway just now disappeared with it.

Except for Celia who was taken aback and Idea who snorted.

"Really, you've wasted my time... but for me, it went well. The castle is safe."

"Did you kill him?"

"Killed...? No, no... I broke it. To put it correctly."

"broke..."

"Oh, I can't kill dead people anymore. I was going to help them if they were still alive, but it was a waste of effort against the dolls."

Celia didn't understand the meaning of her words. doll? "Are you dead?" "Until a little while ago, they were fighting with weapons in their hands." It is none other than this idea.

"That's why you were able to move the corpse, right? Morrow. Isn't it quite a vicious magic? But with this, the secret of being able to move the king has been revealed."

"No way, the king is already――? 　More importantly, I don't think the soldier was a corpse. If he's dead, there's no way he'll move."

"There's no way it can move. Isn't magic something that overturns such common sense?"

"If… even if there was a spell that could move the corpse freely.

"We can do something about it with magic. For example, how about freezing it from the top of its head to the toes of its feet? 　In that case, even a corpse will last forever."

"Do you mean to freeze it?　However, the frozen body has hardened, and it can't move either."

"Inflexible"

"Of course. Magic is something that causes the supernatural.

"What did you say?"

Idea's gaze, which had been fixed in the hallway foreseeing the arrival of soldiers' reinforcements, then turned to Celia. For the first time, it seemed to Celia that sincere wonder resided in the eyes of a witch who was always calm.

"Isn't it an all-purpose thing? 　Are you giving up on the power of magic because of this?"

"I-I'm sorry. I'm being too intrusive to the Primordial Witch-sama."

"Call it Idea. More than that, I'd like to confirm. How much do you know about Eidos magic?"

If she were a Primordial Witch, she would be more familiar with magic than most people, and in turn, should have a higher belief in that power than most people. In fact, she has just seen her rare skill with her own eyes. It wasn't hard to imagine that she had a corresponding sense of pride, and she thought that Celia had inadvertently downplayed it.

But, but. Judging from Idea's question, her guess seemed to be wrong. This time it was Celia's turn to be perplexed.

"'Eidos magic'...?

"what..."

"I'm sorry."

Celia apologized to her, who was shocked, for her lack of study, but Idea's words didn't seem to reach Idea, who put her hand to her mouth and thought of something. That's why Celia's response was so unexpected, but she seems to have reached some sort of conclusion right away.

"Right. It's hard to believe, but is that the case? That's why Ardela is called a 'sage'."

"Umm, Idea-sama...is it possible for you? 　Manipulating several frozen corpses and making them fight like this..."

"I don't know. I've never wanted to do something like that, so it might be tough if I just hit it off... but if I could just give it some time to practice."

"──Can you do it?"

"If it's okay to operate like this..."

Celia felt chills down her spine as she affirmed the idea without saying anything.

While demonstrating such advanced attack magic skills, he was afraid of the Primordial Witch, who asserted that he could handle corpse manipulation and other magic that he was unfamiliar with and had no knowledge of, and at the same time he wore something similar to it. I can't help but salivate at the strength of Morrow, who is said to be there.

"Then let's go to the throne room. Morrow should be there too."

Knowing or ignoring her fear of her Celia, Idea said so in an extremely light tone.