Arc-4 Ch-07

“I should have killed them when I had the chance.”

The words slipped out on a sigh the moment Deidere-san finished speaking.

I don’t usually wish death on anyone, but I’m not saintly enough to keep extending mercy to the bastards responsible for all this.

The reception room was crowded—ten people crammed inside: me, Father, big-bro, Colin, His Highness Julius with his companions, and Deidere-san, who had somehow survived. A heavy silence pressed down on us. No one spoke. But time wasn’t going to wait while we sat here.

If we didn’t act quickly, we’d be too late.

“I thought they’d been dead for years. I never imagined they’d pull something like this.”

“When was the last time you saw them?”

“Before Angelica came along—so about five years ago. Back then, I pointed a gun at them, and they bolted before I could finish the job.”

“If Rutart’s alive, then Zora and Merce are probably alive too. Good people die easily, but scum like them are absurdly hard to kill. It’s infuriating.”

The four of us muttered bitterly, letting our resentment spill out.

It probably wasn’t the sort of conversation to have in front of the prince, but our family suffered more than anyone from those bastards. We were entitled to vent a little.

“Those men… were they connected to the Bartfort family?”

“On paper, they were Father’s children until a few years ago—though there was no blood relation—and now they’ve lost their noble status and even their household registry.”

As I answered Deidere-san’s question, Father shot me a nasty glare. I didn’t want to air our family’s dirty laundry in front of outsiders, but what choice did I have? It was simply the truth.

Rutart had been considered Father’s eldest son, and if not for the war, that scum would have inherited the barony. The only good thing the war with the Fanoss Principality ever brought us was the exile of those three pieces of trash.

Since then, we’d heard nothing. I assumed they’d either died in a ditch or gone to ground somewhere, living quietly. I never imagined they’d orchestrate something this insane. Clearly, laws and common sense mean nothing to scum who’ve fallen that far.

“…Rutart was born to my former wife, Zora, but he was never my son. They admitted as much during the war. The children didn’t look like me, and I always had my suspicions. But without proof—and with their status protecting them—I couldn’t do anything.”

“How did it ever come to this?”

“The Bartfort family was only a quasi-baronetcy in my father’s time. Then the capital decreed we be elevated to a full barony. Even the lowest noble title is still a title, and there’s an unwritten rule that a noble heir must marry a noblewoman.”

“In other words,” I said, my voice sharper than I intended, “the capital forced an unwanted title on us just to squeeze out more taxes and labor. Because of that, Father and Mother, who were already promised to each other, were treated like a concubine arrangement.”

“Leon—watch your tone,” big-bro scolded me.

But I didn’t care. While we were at it, everyone here deserved to understand the harsh reality rural nobles faced. Maybe my anger was partly misdirected, but the kingdom had never shown any consideration for the lower nobility. And with the Holfort Kingdom weakened by war, it was hardly rare for lords in the provinces to turn their backs on the royal family—declaring independence or secretly allying with foreign powers.

“I don’t have much room to talk, but Father never received a proper noble’s education. To maintain the family’s status, he was pressured into marrying a noblewoman. That’s where Zora came in.”

“She had a terrible reputation and no prospects for a match in the capital. For a newly minted noble with no experience, she probably saw Father as an easy mark. They forced the engagement, and she became the Bartfort family’s official wife.”

“But Zora always kept lovers—human and demi-human—both before and after marrying. There was constant doubt about whether Merce, her eldest daughter, and Rutart were really Father’s children.”

“Wasn’t it ever investigated?”

“Our appeals were summarily dismissed. At that time, lower nobles were treated like garbage.”

For Father, the thought of someone like Rutart—whose paternity was uncertain—inheriting the Bartfort estate must have been unbearable. Even though we were practically commoners, our family’s modest land income was nearly stolen. Mother, whom Father had always intended to marry, was treated like a concubine, and we children were regarded as serfs. No matter how hard we fought, our petitions went nowhere, and rebellion wasn’t an option. Father endured that life for years.

I might work him to the bone now, but deep down, I only want him to enjoy a peaceful retirement.

“They tried to sell me to some noble in the capital. That’s why I ran away. That’s what started my rise, in the end.”

“The woman they tried to marry you to was over fifty, wasn’t she? They called it a marriage meeting, but it was basically human trafficking.”

“…That woman was likely affiliated with the Ladies of the Forest. It’s one of their typical tactics.”

“So Zora was involved with a criminal organization from the start?”

“The Ladies of the Forest is a network of noblewomen in Holfort. They target lower nobles, marry into their families, and then force them into dangerous work or poison them outright. It’s systematic.”

“Having their own children inherit is actually one of their more benign crimes. They’ve collaborated with sky pirates to ambush husbands or arrange for them to die in battle—then play the grieving widow to claim the inheritance or pensions.”

“If the husband already had children from a previous marriage, they’d kidnap them or make them disappear to sell into human trafficking. Investigations uncovered more than a hundred victims, but no one knows the full scale of their crimes.”

I never realized that Zora’s attempts to force me into a marriage or sell me off were part of something so dark. But thinking back on everything she did, it all fit together with chilling clarity. That fifty-year-old noblewoman who tried to marry me was almost certainly one of them. They couldn’t have arranged to sell me without ties to traffickers. Zora must have married Father intending to exploit the Bartfort family from the very beginning. The realization made me sick with rage.

“The turning point came when Leon left home—right as the war with the principality began. Those bastards, who usually stayed in the capital, suddenly showed up on Bartfort land. They were panicking, demanding money so they could escape.”

“Escape? From what?”

“Rutart was recognized as the heir, so when the war broke out, noble sons were obligated to serve. With the kingdom losing, they fled the capital to save their skins.”

“I wasn’t there, but didn’t you try to stop them, Father?”

“I did. I told them to fight to defend the territory, and they flatly refused.”

“They even called us ‘barbarians.’ Rutart sneered, ‘There’s no way a lowlife, unrelated scum like you could be my father.’”

From Father and big-bro’s expressions, it wasn’t hard to picture. Those bastards would absolutely say and do exactly that. There’s a twisted certainty in knowing precisely how they’d act. In the end, the Bartfort family was exploited by strangers all along. Despite treating us like concubine-born rabble, they posed as Father’s children to take over the barony. Rutart was a fool to say it aloud, and Zora was an even bigger fool for letting him.

“Even after admitting everything, they still tried to steal our money. They claimed the Bartfort wealth belonged to them by marriage. Zora declared she had no intention of fulfilling her duties as a wife but still had every right to the estate.”

“When I killed a few of their lovers and retainers, they panicked and fled. If they’d had any courage, they might have stayed and fought alongside Father.”

“Why didn’t you go after them?”

“It was wartime. Protecting the territory took priority over chasing them down.”

“You should have killed them outright.”

“That was my mistake.”

His Highness and Deidere-san looked visibly unsettled, but life on the frontier is harsher than anything in the capital. Sky pirates raid whenever the kingdom’s grip slips. The unexplored lands swarm with monsters. Bad harvests trigger famine, and disease wipes out villages. Neighboring powers constantly stir up border trouble. To the capital’s elite, commoners’ lives are cheap—but in the frontier, everyone’s life is equally cheap. Noble or commoner, human or demi-human, rich or poor—when disaster strikes, everyone dies without distinction. The only god who shows true impartiality is death itself.

And yet, for some reason, the grim reaper seems to hate me—because no matter how close I come, I never die.

“Our family didn’t suffer too badly in the war, but we weren’t unscathed, either.”

“Afterwards, the money ran dry, and the territory was falling apart. Just as we were wondering what to do, word arrived from the capital that Leon had become a noble. I never imagined he’d surpass me and earn a viscount’s title.”

“I could hardly believe it myself. So I gathered the family and our loyal retainers and moved everyone to this floating island to start over.”

“…And that’s how you ended up connected to these kidnappers?”

“No, there’s more.”

Everyone who wasn’t part of the Bartfort family looked as if they’d swallowed something sour. I couldn’t blame them. I didn’t want to think or talk about those scum any more than they did. But if I didn’t explain, no one would ever grasp what kind of people we were dealing with.

“About a month after I received my title and settled here, Zora and her followers appeared again.”

“They stood outside the mansion, shrieking. When I looked out the window, there they were, dressed in gaudy clothes and dripping with rings, cursing us at the top of their lungs. No idea what they’d been up to in the meantime.”

“All their exclusive servants were gone or had abandoned them. They must have realized there was no profit left in staying.”

“They shouted, ‘It’s your fault we’re suffering! Hand over the territory now!’”

“Wait—hadn’t Father formally divorced Zora by then?”

“Yes. Plenty of people had witnessed her infidelity—and heard her claim that Lutoart and I weren’t related. Between that, their desertion, and the attempted robbery, the backlash against nobles who refused to fight was fierce. So our appeal finally succeeded.”

“Zora and her lot were stripped of their titles and erased from the registries. The ones who had treated us like commoners or worse ended up below even that.”

“So the Bartfort family is blameless, then. Why do they still hate you?”

“Who knows what goes on in a lunatic’s head?”

“They genuinely believe they were framed—and that they are the rightful rulers of the Bartfort territory.”

“And now that they have no registries, killing them wouldn’t even count as a crime. When I pulled out a gun, they ran off again.”

“You shouldn’t have shown them any mercy.”

“We should have finished them off properly.”

“All right, all right—that’s enough.”

Everyone was clutching their temples or rubbing their eyes in pain. But trying to understand the logic of scum is pointless. They will always believe they’re righteous and noble, and that every misfortune is someone else’s fault. They don’t negotiate or reason—they just demand obedience and tribute. That’s the epitome of the worst sort of nobility—and that’s exactly who they are.

“That’s why we haven’t seen Zora and her lot for over five years—and we have no idea what they’ve been doing since. Don’t you know more about it, Your Highness?”

“Indeed, we probably do,” His Highness replied. “The activities of the Ladies of the Forest have been under our investigation.”

“It began with the sky pirates we defeated back in our student days. Apparently, those pirates had been collaborating with nobles to raid surrounding territories for quite some time.”

“The kingdom’s inquiry confirmed that high-ranking nobles were secretly orchestrating these raids. The most influential faction among them was the Ladies of the Forest.”

“It’s not exactly uncommon for sky pirates to work with nobles,” I muttered. “The court aristocrats in the capital have been covering up that obvious fact for ages.”

There are roughly three categories of people who become sky pirates.

First are the commoners driven to piracy by sheer desperation—farmers who, unable to pay taxes, turned to crime during years of famine or disease outbreaks. From a lord’s perspective, their existence represents the failure of governance, and annihilating them outright risks depopulating entire regions. Whenever possible, we try to resolve things without bloodshed.

The second type are fallen nobles or knights. In this kingdom, only nobles are permitted to own airships or suits of armor. When such individuals lose their status through scandal or failure, they often use their remaining assets to prey on merchant vessels.

Lastly, there are adventurers who cross the line into piracy. These are people already accustomed to raiding dungeons and the wilds; switching to plundering other humans is simply a change of target.

When sky pirates join forces, they can amass military power rivaling that of legitimate nobles: multiple airships, stockpiles of armor, and hardened men willing to rob or kill without hesitation. If attempting to subdue them would lead to catastrophic losses, many nobles quietly pay them off, hire them as mercenaries, or entrust them with illicit work. Everyone understands this tacit arrangement—nobles and sky pirates often have a mutually beneficial relationship.

That’s why the royal military was always eager to crack down on pirates who disrupted public order. And since they were constantly short on manpower, even a teenager like me could enlist.

“All the capital cares about is squeezing out more taxes,” I said. “They probably see rural nobles and commoners as nothing but insects.”

I hate nobles and adventurers alike. They’re plunderers—people who steal from others, produce nothing themselves, and think it’s their right to seize whatever they want through force. That’s why, when I ran away from home, I chose to become a soldier rather than an adventurer. I didn’t want to be like them.

When they made me a noble for my war merits, I sincerely wanted to refuse. My contempt for the nobility runs that deep. But they thrust a title and an undeveloped floating island on me, commanding me to play at being a lord. It was infuriating. If Angie hadn’t become my wife, I would have died—or vanished—long ago. The greatest stroke of fortune in my life, much like Father’s and Grandfather’s, was that a woman as refined as Angie married me. Even now, if it weren’t for Angie and the children, I wouldn’t still be playing noble.

“Watch your mouth, Bartfort,” one of them warned. “The kingdom doesn’t deliberately neglect the lower nobility.”

“Those who distinguish themselves are rewarded properly.”

“They’re handing out money, titles, and land because the war with the principality killed so many,” I said. “They’re desperate to fill the vacancies—it’s not much different from any other crisis.”

“You became a lord because your achievements were fairly acknowledged.”

“Can you really say that,” I asked, “after seeing how the kingdom has treated Lady Olivia?”

“………”

My words struck a nerve. All five of them fell silent.

I was only a half-noble before the war, yet they elevated me for my service. But the kingdom has given almost nothing to Lady Olivia—the Saintess herself. Yes, they threw a few parties in her honor and made plans to build statues, but her status remains that of a commoner.

This is the woman who singlehandedly stopped the Fanoss Principality’s invasion, led efforts to assist the Alzer Republic, served as a diplomatic envoy, performed countless charitable works, and played a decisive role in defeating the principality. Without her, the Holfort Kingdom would have collapsed long ago.

Everyone—nobles and commoners alike—knows it. Yet the so-called rewards the kingdom has offered her are so insultingly inadequate that it defies belief. They cover only the minimum expenses she incurs as the Saintess. They have granted her neither rank nor wealth.

You could gather every noble lady in the capital and still not match the value of Olivia’s life.

These days, her popularity eclipses even that of the royal family. Children who can’t name the king know the Saintess.

Thanks to her, merely having Olivia attend a memorial ceremony in Bartfort territory drew tourists by the thousands and helped offset our war debts. The resentment among overlooked lower nobles and commoners has simmered for years, but the war finally brought it to a boil.

Many nobles—chief among them Angie’s father, Duke Redgrave—are prepared to rally behind Olivia, sever ties with the kingdom, and exact revenge on the capital’s elites who’ve sneered at the frontier for generations.

To me, it’s just a power struggle among the rich. If the kingdom falls, they’ll be reaping what they sowed. I’d rather the Bartfort family stay far away from it all.

“Ease up, Leon,” Colin urged.

“You’re going too far,” added another.

…Yes, I’d overstepped. I was on edge because Angie and the others had been kidnapped. Still, I shouldn’t have angered the kingdom so openly in front of His Highness.

“Sorry,” I said. “I got carried away.”

“No, it’s all right,” His Highness replied. “Not many people speak to us with such candor.”

“Let’s return to the matter at hand,” one of them continued. “With Marquis Frampton’s fall, the court underwent a complete purge. Many corrupt nobles were removed, and the Ladies of the Forest began to decline.”

“I imagine it was a headache for them,” I said. “Our efforts to restore order after the war—cracking down on the sky pirates with Olivia—must have weakened their influence further.”

“So that’s what you were really doing?” I asked. “I thought you were just bored and bullying sky pirates.”

“Hey!”

“At first, we thought our postwar raids on pirate dens were little more than clean-up. Only recently did we realize their true significance.”

“The Ladies of the Forest started to regroup while we were aiding the Alzer Republic,” His Highness explained.

“Why?”

“Because the Holfort Kingdom secured priority rights to magic stone exports. Other nations would naturally try to prevent the kingdom from growing stronger.”

“Not all of Marquis Frampton’s allies were punished. Some retained ties to the Fanoss Principality.”

“Disaffected nobles, hostile foreign powers, and sky pirates whose profits had shrunk—those interests converged. The Ladies of the Forest resumed their activities in the shadows. Their goal is nothing less than the kingdom’s collapse.”

Wonderful, I thought. This was spiraling far beyond anything I’d imagined. As an upstart noble from the frontier, I could barely wrap my head around it. At the same time, something about the scale of all this—and Zora’s involvement—felt off.

“Wait,” I said. “I can’t believe Zora and her lot are leading the Ladies of the Forest. They’re the kind to extort taxes from peasants, but they’re neither clever nor capable enough to orchestrate a scheme to topple the entire nation.”

“You’re right,” His Highness replied. “We’ve already captured the main leaders. For the past two weeks, we’ve been hunting down the remnants.”

“We used every possible method to extract information, crushed most of their bases, and arrested their members. Those who resisted were turned to ash in the skies.”

“Zora, Merce, and Rutart are members, but they were never leaders. The organization treated them as nuisances and dumped them in a frontier base because they were worthless.”

“Their names only surfaced because captured members—either to avoid torture or out of spite—revealed they had slipped away.”

“When the lord of the floating island housing their outpost moved in to seize it, they had already fled. It appears they vanished the moment they learned their headquarters had fallen.”

“Still only good at running away,” Father muttered.

He frowned, but to be fair, knowing when to retreat is a vital skill. I’d done the same in the war—cutting my losses and regrouping after a strategic withdrawal. Though there’s a world of difference between retreating after a losing battle and fleeing without lifting a finger.

“The real problem,” His Highness continued, “is that the combat unit of the Ladies of the Forest escaped and joined them. They now have a combat airship, over ten suits of armor, and skilled knights piloting them.”

“That must have been who attacked our airship. Even with superior armor, killing a knight from House Roseblade is no mere task.”

“The discrepancies between our intelligence and Lady Deidere’s account suggest they’ve either recruited local pirates or coordinated with ones they already knew.”

“We came to Bartfort territory to capture or eliminate these remnants,” His Highness said. “That is why we’re requesting your assistance, Viscount Bartfalt.”

Every gaze in the room fixed on me.

I understood the situation clearly. Now I had to choose. What was the surest way to protect my family? What was the right decision? My palms were clammy as I clenched them tight. I scoured my not-very-brilliant mind for an answer.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

“Your Highness, I understand what you’re asking.”

“Good,” he said. “Then you’ll help us?”

“I can’t cooperate.”

“Brother, think carefully,” Colin urged.

“I am thinking, Colin. And I have a very solid reason for refusing.”

Until just moments ago, I’d been so overwhelmed by the fact that everyone had been kidnapped that I couldn’t think straight.

At first, I’d assumed this was simply Zora and her gang of sky pirate thugs. But if they really have more than ten people capable of piloting armor, the situation is far more serious than I imagined.

As I racked my brain, desperately trying to figure out how to rescue Angie and the others, I realized that cooperating with His Highness and his group would only restrict our options.

“…What’s your reason?”

“Your Highness and I have fundamentally different objectives. You’re focused on crushing the remaining members of the Ladies of the Forest, aren’t you?”

“That’s correct.”

“Are you intending to capture them alive?”

“Our preference is to apprehend the key figures. But if they resist, we won’t hesitate to eliminate them.”

“Our top priority is rescuing our family. Honestly, if ensuring their safety meant letting those scum escape, I’d do it without a second thought.”

“Hold on—we would never abandon the hostages.”

“It’s not about that. It’s about priorities. When no one can predict how things will unfold, teaming up with people whose goals don’t align is asking for disaster.”

If the remnants were taken out but all the hostages were killed in the process, it would be the worst possible outcome—and one I could never accept. If we fail, I’d rather we fail on our own terms than hand over responsibility for my family’s lives to someone else. I can’t stand the idea of entrusting this crisis to outsiders.

“Then there’s the matter of command. Who would lead this operation?”

“That would be me.”

“And what forces do you currently have in Bartfort territory?”

“One state-of-the-art combat airship, ten suits of armor, and about thirty personnel, including us.”

“If Your Highness is in command, your authority outranks the Bartfort military. But we’re the ones who know this airspace better than anyone. That’s inevitably going to create friction over tactics—and that kind of tension can be fatal in a rescue.”

“…”

Out here in the frontier, far beyond the capital’s firm control, loyalty to the royal family and the court is thin, and there’s a strong streak of independence. His Highness’s forces were certainly formidable, but they’d be operating without local knowledge. I couldn’t believe they’d function at full effectiveness here. If we were forced to follow their orders, resentment among my men would be unavoidable, and morale would break down fast. In an emergency like this, expecting Bartfort soldiers and the royal army to mesh perfectly was simply unrealistic. Even skilled troops are useless if they can’t be deployed effectively—better not to use them at all.

“Besides, if we start out leaning on the kingdom’s help, it’ll only damage the Bartfort territory’s reputation. People already see us as upstart brutes who clawed our way up on brute force alone. If word gets out that my wife was kidnapped and I couldn’t lift a finger without the royal army, I won’t be able to govern this place properly.”

“So you’re refusing to cooperate?”

“If your men were willing to follow our lead, I’d gladly join forces. But that’s not an option, is it?”

Titles, rank, pride—what a pointless burden. All I ever wanted was to be a knight who could gallantly rescue the woman I loved. But reality is less romantic. I’m just an ordinary man, forced to scrape together what little cunning I have, muster half-baked strength, and summon a shred of courage to fight as dirty as I must. I’ve earned the nickname “Fiendish Knight” from everyone who hates me, and frankly, it suits me just fine.

“Thank you for sharing your information. We’ll begin our own rescue operation at once. Please pursue them separately, Your Highness.”

“Do you have any leads?”

“We’ll start by scouting the nearby airspace. With luck, we might turn up something.”

“You’d have better results working with us. My airship is equipped with the latest detection systems.”

“That’s no guarantee your tech would find them.”

“Hey—can I say something?”

“What is it, big-bro?”

“I might know where they are.”

My brother’s casual remark stopped me cold. He calmly unbuttoned his jacket and produced a blue pendant. I was almost certain it was the one Dorothea-san had given him.

“That pendant has a transmitter hidden in the base. My location can be tracked.”

“Why on earth do you have something like that?”

“Dorothea-san gave it to me. She has a matching one and a receiver as well.”

“…Wait—are you saying—”

“It’s likely we can pinpoint my sister’s location. And if we’re lucky, the other three are with her.”

Everyone stared at the pendant as if it were some mythical treasure. Honestly, I couldn’t blame them—who gives gifts like that? But in this nightmare, that little ornament was a sliver of salvation. Hope finally broke through the darkness, and everything seemed to brighten.

“Hell yeah!!”

I couldn’t stop myself from shouting. I’d resigned myself to searching tirelessly until Zora and her vermin sent a ransom demand, but now we had a real chance. Dorothea-san, I swear—I’ll wholeheartedly support your marriage to big-bro in gratitude.

“Let’s track the signal with the receiver—now! Get the troops to the airfield. We move out as soon as we’re ready!”

“Got it!”

“Open the armory and start prepping the armor!”

“On it!”

“And bring doctors. We’ll need medics on hand just in case!”

“Okay!”

The three of them bolted from the reception room, their voices echoing down the hall. That decisiveness was the Bartfalt family’s hallmark. “A fool’s thoughts are as good as rest,” the saying goes—and right now, I’d have happily tossed aside my noble status to run after them myself.

“…Looks like things are finally looking up. Your Highness, please conduct your pursuit separately.”

“So you truly don’t need our assistance?”

“If we waste any more time, the situation will only deteriorate. Please—let us handle this ourselves.”

The path forward was finally clear. All that remained was to do my utmost. I had to confirm everyone’s safety and make sure the sky pirates hadn’t harmed them. With a deep bow, I turned to leave.

“Wait, Lord Bartfalt.”

“…What is it now, Marmoria?”

Turning around, I saw a man with long green hair watching me intently.

Jilk Fia Marmoria—one of the so-called five heroes. Honestly, I can’t stand this guy. He’d secretly helped break off Angie’s engagement, and just a few months ago, he organized a tailing operation on me in the capital. He probably thinks he’s clever, but the truth is, we’ve never been able to get along. If I had any choice in the matter, I’d avoid speaking to him—or even seeing his face—altogether.

“I believe I mentioned that our airship is equipped with state-of-the-art detection devices. No offense, but are you certain your brother’s receiver is superior to our equipment?”

“…How should I know? Either way, it’s a hundred times better than searching blind with no leads at all.”

“Using our detection systems would be the more reliable option. You know as well as I do that when it comes to saving your wife, you should take the most effective course of action.”

“So you’re suggesting I join forces with the kingdom’s military—and submit to your chain of command?”

“Not subordination—cooperation. Consider this scenario: While we were hunting the remnants of the Ladies of the Forest, we happened to cross paths with you pursuing sky pirates.”

“Happened to, huh?”

“Yes—happened to. We joined forces to subdue the sky pirates, only to discover they were the same remnants committing acts of plunder. Thus, we fulfilled our duty, and Lord Bartfort rescued his family. Wouldn’t that be a beautiful report?”

Jilk’s smooth, theatrical persuasion grated on my nerves. It was shady—so incredibly shady I wanted to yell at him to cut it out already.

“What’s your real objective?”

“We want to participate in the rescue and extract any remaining intelligence from the remnants. That’s all we ask. We’d prefer to take their leaders alive if possible.”

“I’m not handing Zora and her lot over. We’ll deal with them ourselves.”

“Do as you please. We’ve already captured the key figures and secured the information we needed.”

“I’m taking command. If you won’t follow my lead, you’re not coming along.”

“Naturally. We’re fighting for the Holfort Kingdom. I hope you’ll understand that.”

“…Honestly, I don’t like any of you. There’s too much bad blood between us to pretend otherwise.”

“What a coincidence—I feel exactly the same. Probably all of us do.”

“But whether we like it or not, we respect your abilities. As much as it frustrates us, this is the most effective approach.”

“Understood?”

I wanted to curse him out on the spot, but I swallowed it. Right now, what mattered most was having the power to save my family—and these bastards had it.

Taking a steadying breath, I straightened my clothes and knelt before His Highness Julius, as protocol required of a vassal. If it meant bringing my family home alive, I would bow to the devil himself.

“Your Highness Julius, please lend me your strength. Grant me the power to rescue my wife, my sister, my little sister, and my sister-in-law.”

“Raise your head, Lord Bartfort. I shall reward your loyalty and devotion.”

“Yes, sir.”

As I stood, Greg clapped a heavy hand on my shoulder with his usual brute force. Chris and Brad were watching me with these oddly warm, almost brotherly expressions.

“All right! Let’s go save the commander’s wife!”

“What’s with the sudden camaraderie?”

“You’re our commanding officer for this operation. We’re counting on you.”

“Let’s get ready on our end as well.”

“Why are you all so fired up about this?”

“We’ve already traded punches, haven’t we? Some bonds are forged through conflict.”

“I nearly got killed by this guy.”

“That’s your own fault, Jilk.”

“Let’s go, Bartfort. We’re bringing Angelica home.”

“Your Highness, don’t try to take over!”

Somehow, I was already getting swept along by the momentum of these five idiots. I glanced over at Deidere-san, hoping for at least a little sympathy, but she looked away, ignoring me entirely.

What was going to happen to me now? Could I really pull this off and save Ange and the others? The operation hadn’t even begun, and I was already regretting it.

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Authors Note

┻━⁠━━━━⁠━━⁠━━━⁠┻

This chapter marks the beginning of Leon and the Five Idiots joining forces. In the original story, the rescue of Ange and the sky pirate hunt didn’t involve all five of them acting together, so this is how it turned out here. In this work, Leon has low physical stats but high intelligence and tactical abilities. As an ordinary man without Luxion, he constantly struggles with the limits of his own strength, and that frustration will continue to be explored.

I had a hard time figuring out how Jilk could plausibly—and sleazily—convince Leon. The sheer shadiness of a character voiced by Kousuke Toriumi is really something.

Addendum: At the client’s request, Drone-sama drew a New Year’s illustration. Thank you so much!

Drone-sama: Pixiv

I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback—it helps fuel my motivation for future chapters!