Chapter 168 – We took back the crown!

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To the north of the royal capital, there was a town called Rodeshia. It was close enough that you could see it from the walls of the capital.

The farmers on the northside of the capital would sell their produce to Rodeshia, and buy various goods from them in return. And so for that reason, there were many residents, and it developed into a large town with its own walls.

Iria and I followed the northern road from the capital, and headed towards Rodeshia.

“Iria. Aren’t you cold?”
“No, I’m… Ah, now that I think about it…”

Iria raised her voice as if she had forgotten something.

She had gone into a clothes store during the day. Perhaps she had bought some warm clothing and then forgotten about it.

“Here, you can wrap this around your neck.”

I handed Iria a scarf made of Mope wool.

“This…looks very warm. Thank you.”

Iria muttered happily as she wrapped the scarf around her neck.

“It’s so warm… I feel like this place gets colder than any night in Fendel.”
“Indeed. Human countries get colder, the farther up north you travel. Apparently, the north coasts are covered in ice.”
“That must be terribly chilly… But I would like to see it one day. With you, Sir Joshua.”
“I am quite interested in it as well. Of course, I doubt that we’ll want to stay there very long.”

One would probably not want to be there for more than ten minutes. And it would be cold just getting there as well.

Iria answered with a laugh.

“Once Fendel is more safe, I would like to travel to many different places with you.”
“Me too… Instead of involving ourselves in such dangers as this. It would be nice to just relax and go where we wish.”

We had found the plans for an airship in the Ymirdia underground. If we could build that, we would be able to travel anywhere freely.

“We shall do that, one day… But first, we must overcome this current problem.”
“Yes. The people in the throne room looked terribly anxious about it. We should try and finish this quickly.”
“Aye. No one thought that the kind would return so quickly.”

This was like an ambush.
But the king hadn’t meant it as one. He just wanted to return to the capital as soon as possible.
Currently, the soldiers were probably exhausted and complaining in Rodeshia.

“Iria. Try and avoid killing any soldiers. Just make them unconscious.”
“Understood. After all, we only mean to sneak in this time.”
“Aye. All we need is the crown. And then the king will have to make a fake crown that does not shine, or he will have to enter the city without one.”

If it was the former, Ylis only had to ride to Rodeshia with her men. If she appeared in front of Count Torlin’s soldiers, wearing a crown with light, then their morale would drop considerably.

It would cause chaos among the nobles who had sided with the old king. And the disappearance of the crown would make them suspicious of their being traitors in their camp. And some might abandon the cause, as who would follow a king who cannot protect his own crown?

That being said, Iria seemed to not understand.

“Could one crown…really make such a difference? Aside from this light… Does it have the ability to attack?”
“Indeed. It has no power to defeat the undead. It is merely for decoration.”

Iria thought it was strange that humans would put so much importance into such a thing.

“I have learned so much since arriving in this country… Ah, that is Rodeshia, isn’t it?”

The glimmering area came into view.
Outside of the walls, there were numerous tents. It must be where all of the soldiers were staying.

And so I cast Hide around us, and then we made our way forward.

“Hah… I’m so tired.”
“The skin on my feet is sore…”
“Me too… Besides, we humans shouldn’t be fighting during a time like this…”

As I expected, the soldiers seemed to be dissatisfied with the situation.
They must have been tired, as many were lying on the ground.

Eventually, we reached the gates, and saw that there were many guards.
However, they also looked tired, and were standing with their eyes closed.

No one noticed us. A seasoned spy would probably be able to go right through them without even using Hide.

“That was easy.”
“Aye. I did not expect it to be so simple. Well, let’s go to the center of the town then.”

In the center, there was a mansion for the knights who protected the city. That should be where the king was staying.

The streets were filled with sitting soldiers. Apparently, there were not enough tents, and they were using civilian houses and inns as well. And yet some soldiers still had to sleep outside.

Iria muttered.

“They all seem so cold…”
“And they should be tired. They will not want to fight.”

We arrived at the plaza in front of the mansion, without anyone detecting us.

And around the mansion, I could see the royal guards who had tried to take our boat previously. Unlike the other soldiers, they were strictly on their guard.

That being said, none looked in our direction.

I didn’t detect any magic energy near the gate, and there was no visible contraption that would alert them to intruders. The soldiers were just relying on their eyes.

And so we boldly entered from the front door, stepping in right when one of the servants opened it.

While there were also a lot of soldiers inside of the mansion, none of them noticed us, because we were using Hide.

And so we made our way to the upper floor and found an area where security was especially tight.

They were guarding a large door. I suppose the king was on the other side.

“Sir Joshua. What should we do? It would look unnatural if the door were to open on its own.”
“If he is asleep, then no one is likely to go in or out until the morning… We should head downstairs for now.”
“Downstairs?”
“Aye. We will enter the room from below.”

And so we went down to the second floor.

On the second floor, there was just a guard by the stairs, and another patrolling the floor. But there was no one in the room that was directly beneath the king’s room.

And so we passed the guards and headed to that room.
I detected no magic in the room, and it was empty.

“It looks good. Let’s go in then.”

I made sure that no one was watching, and then opened the door.
And then we went inside, and I quickly closed the door behind us.

It seemed to be an unused guest room.

“Good. Things are going well.”
“Brilliant. The rest should be very easy for you, Sir Joshua.”

Iria had realized that my plan was to use production magic to make a hole in the ceiling, and invade the room from there.

“…That might not be the case.”

When I checked for magic energy above us, I saw that there were three figures lying down. The king, queen, and perhaps a servant.

As the crown had magic in it, I could detect it as well. It appeared to be placed on a shelf near the others.

So it was close to where they were sleeping. And if there were three of them, there was no guarantee that we wouldn’ be noticed.

“…If we do get caught, strike them down with the back of your sword.”
“Certainly.”

Iria said with a nod.

And then I used wood material to build stairs up to the ceiling.

Then I put my hand on the wooden ceiling, and stored it and the floor into magic workshop.

And just like that, a hole opened up.

I stuck my head out from the hole, and looked at the three occupants.

“They’re asleep.”

None of them moved a muscle. And their eyes were closed.

I walked towards the crown, but thanks to Hide, no one had noticed me.

I made sure that all three of them were still closing their eyes, and then I touched the crown on the table, absorbing it into magic workshop.

Then I quickly went back through the hole, and sealed it up again. Lastly, I retrieved the staircase, and everything was back to normal.

“Good. We were able to take it without anyone noticing… Still, this Hide spell… It is incredible magic.”
“But even with it, we would not have been able to get in through the front. It was all because of your production magic, Sir Joshua.”
“Thank you… But we can’t let our guard down until we are safely back. We should hurry up and leave now.”
“Yes! The others will be waiting for us!”

I then looked through the small hole in the door and checked the hallway.

And once we knew it was empty, I opened the door, and we made our way out of the mansion.

However, just then, I suddenly felt a great amount of magic energy coming from above… Or, I thought I did.

“What…?”
“Sir Joshua? What is the matter?”
“I… It disappeared. In any case, let’s get out of here.”

And so we continued on our way back to the royal capital.

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Seisan Mahoushi no Rakuraku Henkyou Kaitaku - Saikyou no Ajintachi to Howaito Kokka wo Kizukimasu!