The clouds had disappeared, as if swept away by a broom. The sunlight had softened considerably compared to summer. In this early autumn weather……

「GUOOOO-!」

Avoiding the claymore being swung at her with cat like suppleness, she slipped under her opponent’s guard.

A hand touched the armour of the 2m tall with a body filled with muscle.

She didn’t use any weapons and just touched the the chest of the giant knight……

「Hah-!」

With such a voice, she released her magic power.

At first glance, it didn’t seem to do anything to the knight’s armour and it didn’t seem like it had hurt the knight either.

However, the next moment, from the knight’s mouth……no, from the knight’s mouth, ears, nose, eyes, and all over his face, blood flowed out.

「Gurgh……」

A blood from his throat seemed to make breathing difficult. The knight groaned and fell to the ground painfully while choking out.

Blood flowed out from the knight’s head as he hit the ground.

The person who had created the scene shook her hand several times as if to confirm something.

「Not bad.」

With a bewitching smile, there was no doubt that those who didn’t know anything about her would have been captivated at first sight.

With a charming smile, she turned to look in another direction as she heard footsteps approaching.

「Is everything finished?」

「Yes. No problems. ……But, Vihera-sama. Isn’t it a bit ghastly?」

Shaking off the blood on the blade of his long sword in his hands, Theorem spoke with surprise as he sheathed his weapon.

The long sword he originally had was destroyed in his duel with Elk and Rei had given him a poor quality sword as a replacement, but his current sword was nowhere near as poor quality.

It was a long sword he had prepared after returning to the Bestir Empire.

Hearing Theorem’s question, Vihera shrugged her shoulders as she smiled.

At the same time, her rich twin hills swayed gently under her dancer like costume.

Theorem consciously averted his gaze as he turned to look at the knight lying on the ground.

He could tell that the knight was already dead without needing to confirm it.

「Really? Since he attacked me, it’s only natural that he be prepared to lose his life. ……So, who do you think is behind these fake bandits?」

Vihera replied as she looked at the fallen knight.

They seemed to be pretending to be bandits, but some of them probably didn’t want to use equipment they were unfamiliar with.

In addition to the knight that Vihera had killed, there were also several others who were wearing equipment that clearly marked them as knights.

They had a lot of confidence in their combat skills and seemed to think that it wouldn’t make a difference as long as they killed everyone.

Attacking with those naive thoughts and seeing Vihera had caused some of them to lose focus as Theorem and his subordinates fought back in a rage……resulting in a one sided beating.

It was fine for the attacking side to one sidedly stomp the defenders, but it was quite a rare sight for the defending side to win out so clearly.

As a result, Vihera’s opponent ended up being a test subject for a new technique she had been developing as a result of her training.

「Even so, to sublimate the technique to this level in such a short time……it’s quite amazing.」

Vihera replied with a smile when she heard Theorem’s praise.

「I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. I have a lot of magic power, but I’m not suited to using magic. Because of that, I wondered if I could make effective use of my surplus magic power. This attack doesn’t use up much.」

「And this is the result, is it?」

Vihera and Theorem looked at the knight lying on the ground with blood flowing out of his face.

What Vihera had used was a technique that used magic power to directly impact the opponent’s internal body, destroying their organs.

If Rei had seen her attack, he would have associated it with penetrating power attacks seen in anime and manga back in Japan.

In principle, it was a technique similar to Milein’s Shockwave. But, unlike Milein, who lacked magic power, Vihera had abundant magic power. The difference resulted in the attack she had made.

「Yes. It’s true that I lost to Rei. That’s why I like and love him. But even so, it’s not fun to lose. If there is a chance to fight again, I will need new attacks in order to beat him, don’t you think?」

The contents of her words were quite disturbing, but the fact that the smile on her face could only be described as a maiden in love showed Vihera’s peculiarity.

(If he got hit by that technique, I think even Rei would be fatally wounded……)

That was what Theorem thought in his mind, but he felt that if he said that out loud, he would end up being a test subject himself, so he didn’t say it out in the end.

(Considering that he is favoured by such a beauty as Her Highness Vihera, this is probably acceptable. ……I’m very sorry about this Rei.)

Theorem might have been strong enough to fight against Elk. but he had no choice but to conclude that if he were hit by Vihera’s attack, he would definitely die.

It was clear just from looking at the corpse in front of him how much power that attack held.

Vihera looked around as she left Theorem to his own thoughts.

Luckily there didn’t seem to be anyone else around, so she let out a sigh of relief that no one else had seen this fight, although it was a bit too one sided to call it a fight.

The fact that there current location wasn’t on a highway, but in a dark alleyway might also have had something to do with it.

「Even so, from how they froze up for a moment when they saw me, they probably didn’t know I was working with you, right?」

「I guess so. Were they not given the information, or do they not have the information at all to begin with?」

It had already been about half a month since Vihera and Theorem had returned to the Bestir Empire. They had been fairly active, so it wouldn’t have been a surprise for those with eyes and ears in places to find out that Vihera was working together with Theorem.

However, the people who had attacked them clearly hadn’t known.

「My vote goes to the idea that they deliberately weren’t given the information.」

Cyanus, Theorem’s adjutant, appeared as she spoke up.

She held a spear in her hands, the tip stained with blood.

「It’s one thing if it’s me and Theorem-sama, but not many people would be willing to fight in the presence of Vihera-sama. To avoid that situation, I think they didn’t give them any information to keep Vihera-sama’s presence hidden.」

「But, even so, it would be impossible to hide Vihera-sama’s presence once they actually meet her. In fact, it was because of their shock when they saw her that resulted in their demise.」

「Yes. The person who planned this might have thought it would be fine. Maybe they were thinking on gauging Vihera-sama’s strength……or they were aiming for a war of attrition.」

A war of attrition. Hearing those words, Theorem’s eyes twitched.

He took pride in the fact that the Third Prince’s faction, including himself, comprised of elites.

However, in terms of numbers, they were sorely lacking and their physical strength wasn’t infinite.

If their opponent planned to carry out a war of attrition as Cyanus mentioned, they would face a very difficult battle.

「That’s why you have us working to compensate for the weakness of having so few people. We can’t stay here forever. Let’s head to Viscount Bugle quickly. There’s a high chance he will join our side, right?」

「Well, he already knows that Vihera-sama is with us, so they’re probably waiting impatiently.」

Hearing Vihera’s words, Theorem muttered as his smile faded.

Viscount Bugle was still in his twenties and could be considered part of the same generation as Vihera and Theorem.

A few years ago, his father, who was the head of the family, had passed away from illness, and his young eldest son had succeeded him.

Above all, what was most important to Theorem was that the young Viscount was infatuated with Vihera.

If Vihera hadn’t left the Empire and had formed her own faction, there was no doubt Viscount Bugle would have been among them.

That was how infatuated he was with Vihera.

(It’s not unusual for men to fall in love with Vihera-sama’s beauty……but it’s more like he’s in love with her personality than her beauty.)

In other words, it would be more accurate to say that he had fallen in love with Vihera’s more adventurous side.

However, this also caused an element of anxiety for Theorem, as he thought about Vihera and Rei’s relationship.

(Viscount Bugle might seem to have an easy going personality, but he had a stern eye for things. Because he doesn’t show it, it’s hard for others to understand, but……with his eyes, I wonder how he will react if he finds out about Vihera-sama and Rei’s relationship……I hope things don’t end badly.)

「Anything wrong, Theorem?」

As he was deep in thought, Vihera called out to him, wondering if something had happened.

Theorem collected himself at her voice and shook his head to indicate it was nothing.

「Vihera-sama, Theorem-sama. I don’t think there’s a need to waste anymore time here.」

Hearing Cyanus’ words, the two of them gave a wry smile as they left the corpses to be dealt with by their subordinates.

 

 

「Her Highness Vihera!? Oh, it really is Her Highness Vihera!? When I heard about it from the gatekeeper, I thought he had gone crazy, but……I never thought that I, Tilleyle Bugle, would see you again. I feel like my excitement is going to burst into a song from my happiness!」

A few hours after their fight against the knights who were pretending to be bandits, Vihera, Theorem, and Cyanus were now in Viscout Bugle’s residence.

Luckily, the gatekeeper recognised Vihera’s face, which was only natural as a subordinate of Viscount Bugle, and had immediately informed Tilleyle, the family head, resulting in their current meeting……

「Viscount Bugle, you seem to be the same as ever. I’m glad to see you haven’t changed.」

「This……Your Highness……ah, no. Your Highness has changed a lot……um, how should I put it. No matter how beautiful Your Highness is, wearing such clothes that show off your beauty. It’s like poison to my eyes.」

Although he said that, there was no desire in Tilleyle’s eyes.

To Tilleyle, Vihera was an object of respect, not one of sexual desire.

In a sense, Tilleyle’s talent was his ability to make that kind of conscious distinction.

For Vihera, who understood that her appearance attracted a lot of attention, Tilleyle’s view of her made him extremely easy to get along with.

「Ahhh, to preserve Her Highness’ beauty for posterity, we need to put this scene in a painting……no, it’s too late for that, too late. Rather, we should call a bard here instead……」

With a serious expression on his face, Tilleyle considered how to pass on Vihera’s beauty to future generations.

This, this was Tilleyle, and nothing had changed since Vihera first ran away.

「Calm down. As for why I’m here……」

「Yes, I know. Since Theorem-dono is with you, you want to help His Highness Mercurio, who is under house arrest?」

「……That’s right.」

Vihera nodded in agreement to Tilleyle’s assertion.

Although his frivolous personality might deceive people, there was no doubt that he was a capable man.

Furthermore, Tilleyle had his own means of gathering information……and while it wasn’t quite his own intelligence network, he had his sources.

「I have friends in the Imperial Capital who are artists, so I can get some information from them.」

He had a deep knowledge of the arts, including bards, singers, painters, and sculptors. He was also a patron to those who had talent but had yet to develop, so even when he was not in the capital, he was able to find out various information.

Some of the nobility were also patrons of the arts, but they often didn’t have the same talent that Tilleyle had and their influence over the artists they supported was not as great.

「Besides, Her Highness Vihera is someone who cares about her family. I was sure that if she knew of the current situation, she would take some kind of action.」

「……I see, so it’s fine to take it as you’re willing to cooperate with us?」

「Yes. ……But, I will only cooperate with Her Highness Vihera, not with Theorem-dono.」

Theorem nodded with a wry smile at the sharp gaze that was directed towards him, unlike Vihera.

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