As Rei and Noiz were conversing in the stadium’s waiting room, a group of people were riding through the Imperial Capital on horses.
At the front was a beautiful woman in thin, semi-translucent, clothes, Vihera.
She was followed by Tilleyle, Theorem, Cyanus, Keuken, and the rest of the knights.
Mercurio was at the center of the group, being protected.
At first glance, Mercurio appeared to have a quiet personality, but as a member of the royal family, he wasn’t bad at riding horses.
No, contrary to how he looked, he was competent at both horse riding and martial arts.
That much was obvious, looking at Vihera, who was born to the same mother.
Their group of nearly 30 people on horseback rushed through the Imperial Capital as they headed straight for the main gate.
They had walked to the castle, so where had they gotten horses? The answer was extremely simple, they had taken them from the castle stables without permission.
At the same time, they had also taken horses they couldn’t ride themselves out of the stables, a little trick to delay pursuers as much as possible.
……That said, there were more than one or two stables in the castle. When the actions of Vihera and the others were discovered, the pursuit team would immediately go to the other stables for horses.
In addition, the horses were only removed from the stables and not killed, so they would quickly be recaptured to join the pursuit.
That was why their group, with Vihera in the lead, rushed straight through the Imperial Capital.
Fortunately, the audience in the stadium had yet to leave. Thanks to that, there weren’t that many residents on the road and, when they saw Vihera charging through on a horse with great speed, they immediately moved to the side of the road to get out of the way and avoid getting run over.
「It’s a good thing we decided to save Mercurio on the finals day. If this had been any other day, we’d be running over residents.」
Vihera muttered as she watched the city’s residents hurriedly clearing the road, but Mercurio couldn’t help but sigh when he heard those words.
「If that were to happen, it would probably be impossible to receive the support of the people in the future.」
Since he only murmured those words softly, his voice disappeared into the air without being heard by anyone.
The fact was, if innocent people had been injured, it would have been easy for the First Prince’s faction, who they believed had organised this entire setup, to gleefully spread the word to damage Mercurio’s reputation.
(Actually, even if no one was actually injured, they’ll probably say there was. From their point of view, the lower my reputation is, the better.)
Although Mercurio narrowed his eye in pleasure at the sensation of riding through the wind for the first time in a long while, he didn’t stop thinking.
It was a habit of his to not stop thinking.
However, when viewed from the outside, he only appeared to be smiling in melancholy.
In fact, Keuken was distracted by Mercurio’s appearance.
……On that note, the reason why Keuken had remained with the group was because many people had seen her acting together with Theorem and the others.
Not just the knights who were guarding Mercurio’s room, where he had been kept under house arrest, but many other people, including the maids who had seen her guiding Theorem and the others around the castle.
If she had remained in the castle in that situation, she would definitely have been captured by the First Prince’s faction and tortured for information.
In addition to Keuken, there were others who had sneaked into the castle as maids, servants, and soldiers, so they decided to escape together as staying any longer in the castle would only have done them more harm and no good.
The city’s residents looked on in shock as they watched the group of riders run majestically through the Imperial Capital.
「……Hey, wasn’t that Her Highness Vihera at the front?」
「I saw that as well……but wasn’t there a rumor that she had run away?」
「You’re behind on information. It seems she’s come back for the tournament with her prospective husband. As proof, I also heard that Her Highness Vihera was seen heading for the castle a little while ago.」
「……Prospective husband? That aside, why were they rushing through the city like that?」
「Maybe……her prospective husband is in that group?」
「From what I saw, it looked like there was someone who could be a noble, but I wonder if Her Highness Vihera would choose a noble as her husband.」
「Ah……I know. That noble like person is someone who is truly in love with Her Highness Vihera. I have a relative who is a soldier in the Imperial Army who heard about it.」
「……Really? But then Vihera-sama……why is she riding through the city dressed like that?」
「Who knows? Maybe it’s her hobby or something?」
Just like that, rumours spread about Vihera that would have caused her to go up to the person who started them with a terrifying smile if she found out, but she never did.
……However, later on, after hearing about the rumours, Vihera worried like a maiden over what to do if Rei were to misunderstand her, which was seen by several people……including Mercurio, Tilleyle, and Theorem.
In any case, the horses ran at full speed through the city and they were at the main gate before they knew it.
Normally, there would be guards at the main gate and in a situation like this they would naturally close the gate. However, there was no sign of the gate closing as Vihera and the others approached.
On the contrary, they could see several knights, also on horseback, waving their hands loudly at them telling them to hurry.
「It looks like they’ve captured the gate as planned.」
Vihera smiled with satisfaction.
Yes, in this case, even if Mercurio were to be rescued from the castle, they would still have to pass through one of the Imperial Capital’s gates to escape. That was why they had planned in advance to gather Theorem’s most skilled subordinates to take control of the main gate at the same time.
……That said, choosing the main gate, the one with the strictest security, was completely Vihera’s decision, or rather suggestion.
At first, Theorem had suggested it would be better to escape through a less guarded gate, no one would normally break through the main gate this way. But that also mean that they could catch everyone by surprise by going to the main gate. Even Theorem had no choice but to nod in agreement. In addition, the road to the main gate was naturally wide, so even if they rode their horses at full speed down the road, there was minimal danger of hitting anyone.
Also, it would be much more convenient for them to head for the location where the forces of the Third Prince had gathered under Vihera’s call.
Pushing forward, they joined up with the knights waiting for them and broke through the main gate, their biggest obstacle in escaping the Imperial Capital.
「Thank you, that was a great help.」
Vihera said that to the knights who joined up with them. Hearing that, they nodded slightly as they shifted their gaze to Mercurio, who was at the center of the group with Theorem.
「Your Highness, I’m glad you’re safe.」
「Yeah. It’s been hard on all of you.」
It was just a short exchange. But with just those words, the knights who spoke to Mercurio were satisfied and re-energised as they felt strength rising up from deep within their bodies.
That was because they recognised Mercurio, the Third Prince, as their master.
It was Tilleyle who looked at the knights with a slightly dissatisfied expression.
He hadn’t been satisfied with the way they had responded even though Vihera had spoken to them.
It seemed this was the difference between the Third Prince’s faction, who served Mercurio, and Tilleyle, who was infatuated with Vihera.
「Your Highness Mercurio, if we continue down this road, we will be able to meet up with those working with us.」
Mercurio nodded at Theorem’s words and spoke up.
「So, where should we make our temporary base? We can’t just camp out forever, right?」
「Yes. We are planning to head to the territory of Count Obrisin, who answered Vihera-sama’s call.」
「Count Obrisin, huh? His territory is in that direction……ah, I see. That would be good.」
Mercurio agreed without finishing his sentence.
Count Obrisin was a man famously known as a warrior.
He was confident in his own strength and took great pride in his military prowess.
For that reason, he was also quite troublesome to deal with, demanding the same from those he interacted with.
Count Obrisin had been in contact with Vihera even before she had left the country.
It was only natural that they got along with each other, as people seeking strength.
And, the biggest thing of note was that Vihera and Count Obrisin had fought before, with Vihera being the victor.
As a result, Coutn Obrisin had joined the Second Princess’s faction.
……In the end though, Vihera had run away from the Bestir Empire and the Second Princess’s faction was disbanded.
If Tilleyle controlled the administrative side of the Second Princess’s faction, then it could be said that Count Obrisin controlled the military side of the faction.
That said, Count Obrisin was someone who specialised entirely in combat as an individual and wasn’t that good at commanding troops.
He could only rush forward to inspire the soldiers he led with his bravery. He was a man who could only fight in such a way.
Still, his personal strength was high and, since Vihera’s depature, he had been invited by several other nobles to join their faction, although he turned them all down.
If they wanted him to join them, they had to show their strength.
In that respect, he could be said to be quite similar to Vihera, who has said she would only offer her body to a man stronger than herself.
「Is Count Obrisin still the same?」
Mercurio asked, remembering the stern, bearded face that passed through his mind. Theorem nodded with a wry smile.
「Yes. Although he has a lot of quirks, he still came to Vihera-sama’s side at her request immediately.」
「……I would like you to remember that I was the one who responded to Vihera-sama’s request the quickest.」
Mercurio nodded naturally as Tilleyle told him not to forget.
「Of course I know. It’s because of you that my sister was able to gather an army so quickly.」
His words may have sounded like he was trying to stir things up, but Tilleyle’s negotiation skills had actually brought together a large number of nobles, so that hadn’t been his intention.
Tilleyle understood that Mercurio thought the same way. He nodded back in satisfaction without saying anything else.
「Count Obrisin……um?」
At the back of the group, Keuken asked a colleague from the Third Prince’s faction, who was riding beside her.
Keuken had played the role of messenger and spy, but she had never seen Count Obrisin in person.
However, she had heard a bit from the rumours and her cheeks were twitching slightly.
「Yeah. He has a close relationship with Vihera-sama and, as a warrior, he is strong himself……well, he is more of an individual fighter though, so he’s not good at commanding soldiers.」
「……Normally, in such cases, wouldn’t you have an adjutant who is good at commanding soldiers?」
It was a natural question for Keuken to have, but it was a question that could only be expected from an ordinary soldier or noble.
Her fellow knight, who wasn’t currently wearing any armour, replied with a wry smile.
「I don’t know why, but it seems like that kind of talent doesn’t gather under Count Obrisin. Well, considering Count Obrisin’s personality, I guess similar people gather together under him.」
「Similar people? That’s scary in so many ways.」
Keuken couldn’t help but frown as she imagined a large group of muscular men charging at them.
Furthermore, unlike a normal military, they weren’t unified and charged forward as individuals.
They were unable to coordinate their units but instead would continue to fight even under circumstances that would normally cause their units to retreat, as long as it didn’t affect their own combat.
Fighting against an enemy, they would suffer loses that shouldn’t have occured in the first place and, as allies, it was difficult to control them.
It was true that their individual prowess might be high, but if they couldn’t control it, it would only harm their allies. That was what Keuken thought, but the knight riding alongside her seemed to think otherwise.
「Well, any kind of military power depends on how you use it. In fact, considering that Count Obrisin’s name has been mentioned as a powerful ally of Vihera-sama, you can guess as much, can’t you?」
「……Well, I guess that’s true.」
What would happen if she unexpectedly ended up commanding that unit? The moment she thought about it, Keuken’s mind flashed to a scene of herself pacing back and forth as her troops charged into the enemy without listening to her orders.