「All the prisoners have escaped!!」Sebastian

With Sebastian-san's sudden report, everyone in the room became silent as they took in the sudden news.

「What happened?」Fritz

「It's still under investigation, but the investigators believe that the guards during that shift colluded with the prisoners.」Sebastian

「That's impossible! Countless prisoners have already tried to bribe them but none of them succumbed to it! There's no way those guards can betray this town!」Fritz

「I don't know much about the details, but that's what the report said.」Sebastian

「That can't be...」Fritz

Fritz muttered, obviously shocked by the sudden betrayal from his soldiers.

I believe Fritz. Although I don't trust the guards as much as him, there's just no possible way that everyone on the same shift happened to planning an uprising. It's just too impossiblー

「Fritz! I think I knew what happened!」Grey

When I said those words, everyone's attention was shifted to me. Although it was just a sudden thought, my gut feeling says that what I'm thinking is correct.

「Remember when I told you that Algerio's butler had an ability called "Temptation"? He must have used it to manipulate the guards under his control.」Grey

「Then does that mean that they are all under that butler's control?」Gustav

「They should be. I don't believe Gabal will just let them off his control. But what I'm most afraid of is what they are planning to do.」Grey

Upon realizing how grave the situation was, everyone in the room became quiet once again. And Fritz in particular took the blame upon himself for what had happened.

「Ugh! I'm such an idiot! I should have told them that!」Fritz

But I can't really blame Fritz. With the mountain load of work he has, that little detail must have slipped his mind.

「Fritz, it's not your fault. No one could have seen this coming. We just had terrible luck.」Gustav

「That's right! Otou-sama is not in the wrong!」Eliza

Seeing Fritz blame himself, Liz and Gustav-san took it upon themselves to comfort him, like how members of a family should. And hearing those words, Fritz was visibly moved.

「Haah... Fritz, blaming yourself isn't going to do anything, you know. We should probably make a plan or something.」Grey

「You're right... But if we were to make a plan, we should probably learn what we can about the enemies... Sebas, gather the records about the prison from my office, and do it quick!」Fritz

「Yes!」Sebastian

Heeding Fritz's orders, Sebastian-san immediately took off to carry out his task. Moments later, he returned with a number of documents in his hands

「This is everything there is.」Sebastian

「Thank you, Sebas.」Fritz

After Fritz received the documents from Sebastian-san, he quickly flipped through it and searched for a particular document.

「Ah!」Fritz

Upon finding the document, Fritz quickly scanned it, trying to get as much detail as he can, and then relayed the information to us.

According to it, there were 84 prisoners in the prison, and every night, there should be 33 guards on duty of guarding the prison, totaling our enemy count to 117. Out of those 117, there were 56 H-rankers, 32 G-rankers, 18 F-rankers, 7 E-rankers, 3 D-rankers, and a single C-ranker.

Luckily, none of them has an ability. However, most of them are crazy psychopaths that just wants to kill.

「Hmm... If it's just that number, then we could easily beat that. With my knights alone, we already have almost thrice that number. On top of that, all my knights are at least at E-ranー」Gustav

「Grey!」Yuna

Gustav-san must have jinxed it, but just before he could finish what he was saying, a high-level fire spell,《Nova Flare》, came straight towards us.

「《Cancel》!」Grey

Thankfully, because of Yuna's warning, I was able to notice it and erect a barrier that dissolved the spell, disabling it from scorching the vicinity.

Not just that, but because of the spell, we realized what the enemy was after. It was revenge.

Having witnessed the spell, Kris-san, Aria-san, Gustav-san, Yuna, and I hurriedly went outside the mansion to help the mansion guards confront the enemies, while some soldiers and Sebastian-san made sure Liz and Fritz were safe.

Honestly, I could just release my aura to knock them all unconscious, the only problem is, it will also affect the guards and the citizens in the vicinity.

「There are prison guards among them, under a spell of some sort! Be careful to not hurt them!」Gustav

Gustav-san shouted to let the mansion guards know that some of their comrades were being used by the enemies, which in turn made the mansion guards become cautious about who they were fighting against.

「Grey, Yuna, we'll take the ones on the right. You two take those on the left. Gustav, guide the soldiers and take the middle.」Kris

「Alright.」Grey

「Un.」Yuna

「Understood...... Guards! Concentrate in the middle and defeat the enemies!」Gustav

With simple instructions from Kris-san we were able to execute the battle more efficiently, and at the same time made sure to not get in the way of each other.

「Guwaah!」

「Urkkk...」

「Aarghh!!」

Charging straight in the battle, Yuna knocked out everyone who tried to confront the pommel of her daggers. At the same time, I was also knocking out enemies here and there with a single punch.

Because the strength of the opponents varied, I ended up using『Appraisal』every time, to check opponent's strength and adjust the power behind my punches to make sure that they don't die. Yuna was also doing the same thing with the use of her 『Detection』.

「《Eruption》!」Merzin

As the battle progressed, out of nowhere, an enemy once again unleashed another high-level fire spell, but this time rather than a wave-type spell, it was an area-type spell.

「《Cancel》!」Grey

But just like before, I managed to cancel the spell before it was completed and fired, saving both my allies and enemies from harm.

Tsk! I need to find the one that casted those high-level fire spells first, but if I were to use my 『Appraisal』, I'll need to see them first. What should I dー

「Grey, I'll take care of the fire guy. Please handle the rest.」Yuna

As I was being troubled with how to find the enemy, Yuna volunteered to take care of them herself.

「Sure.」Grey

【【Yuna's Perspective】】

「Gyaa!!」

「Kuwaaakk!」

While I headed to where the fire guy was, screams originating from Grey's direction can be heard echoing throughout the whole mansion. Those screams reminded me of the practice matches yesterday.

Ah! I should probably focus on my enemy!

Realizing that my thoughts have gone off track, I lightly tapped my cheeks, and focused on finding the enemy, but when I located him...

「Guaa...」

「Tsk! What an annoying fly you are.」Merzin

... he was just about a few seconds away from crushing a guard's head.

「《Ice Lance》!」Yuna

In order to stop him from doing so, I shot a spell between them, and as the enemy noticed the incoming spell, he quickly let go of the guard and dodged backwards.

「Tsk! Another annoying fly.」Merzin

With just a single glare from him, I could easily tell that he saw me nothing more than a nuisance. Well, I also see him in the same way, so the feeling was mutual.

「Little girl, it would be better for you to not cross me. I am Merzin of the Crimson Skull. Nothing good would coー Guwakk」Merzin

「You talk too much.」Yuna

The enemy started a monologue but before he could finish, I charged straight towards him and delivered a blow on his nape, knocking him out of his senses.

After knocking him out, I then walked towards the passed out guard and casted a healing spell on him. Thankfully, the wounds he received weren't anything major so the healing magic was enough for him.

「Guards, take him to safety.」

「「Yes!」」

After hearing my orders, two of the guards nearby approached the one I just healed and brought him away from the battle.

I wanted to go back to where Grey was, but when I looked back at where he was, it seemed like my help was not needed anymore.

【【Grey's Perspective】】

「That should be the last one.」Grey

It has been a couple of minutes since the battle had started, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that we defeated all the enemies in that short amount of time.

Though, it would only be logical since the power gap between the two opposing forces was astronomical, it was like comparing an ant to an elephant.

Currently, the guards are restraining the criminals to ensure that this won't happen a second time. The prison guards had also been put back into their sense with the recovery magic,《Purify》.

But while the restraining was going on, there was a sudden commotion from the soldiers, of course I headed there to see what was happening.

「What's wrong?」Grey

「Ah, Grey-sama, it's just that the criminals are lacking 2 people.」

Two...? Don't tell me...

「And who are these two?」Grey

「It's a merchant named Algerio and his butler named Gabal.」

Dammit... Don't tell me... this attack was made for the purpose of them escaping Moterno.

「Grey, what's wrong?」Yuna

While I was getting troubled over what Algerio and Gabal was really after, Yuna, Kris-san, and Aria-san approached me after noticing the commotion.

「It looks like Algerio and Gabal has used this attack as a distraction so that they can escape Moterno.」Grey

「I see... That really is a problem.」Kris

「We want to help, but without knowing what these people looks like, our help would just be useless.」Aria

Aria-san's right. Within the four of us, only Yuna and I knows how Gabal and Algerio looks like. And since they have just been arrested just recently, we don't have sketches of them which can help Kris-san and Aria-san in identifying them.

But even if that's the case we still can't allow Algerio and Gabal to escape from their crimes. We need to recapture them no matter what.

「Alright. Let's not waste any more time and create a plan.」Grey

With only Yuna and I being the one who can recapture them, we created a plan which can guarantee the two's recapture the most.

Yuna and I will secure the four gates, with Yuna securing the eastern and southern gates while I secure the northern and western gates. While we are doing this, the guards will close the gates so that no one can pass as we are initiating the recapture.

Until the recapture is finished, Gustav-san and his knights will patrol the town for anything suspicious. While the recapture is happening, Kris-san and Aria-san will stay in the mansion to ensure everyone's safety and make sure that none of the prisoners escape.

Even though it was a simple plan, as long as nothing unexpected happens, it should work with 100% certainty.

「Alright, that's all.」Grey

「You heard him! What are you waiting for!? Start patrolling already!」Gustav

With Gustav-san's order, the knights and soldiers started with their task. The knights started their patrol while the soldiers went to the gates to inform the gate guards of what was happening.

「Well then, we'll be going now.」Grey

「Good luck,you two.」Kris

「Make sure to be careful, alright?」Aria

「Yeah.」Grey

「Un.」Yuna

Having said our goodbyes, Yuna and I headed to our respective locations to do our roles.

I first headed to the western gate by jumping on the roofs of the buildings, and while I was doing this, I made sure to appraise every person my eyes met so that I won't miss Algerio and Gabal if ever they are still in town.

But along the journey to the western gate, I did not see either of them. It was the same in the western gate itself, and so I headed to the next location, the northern gate.

I ran along the walls and continued appraising people as I headed to the northern gate, and when I arrived there, I noticed Gil-san and Hal-san escorting two people outside of town, and when I appraised them, it turned out that they were Gabal and Algerio.

I was about to hit them with a sneak attack, but before I could do so, Gabal noticed my approach.

「Stop him! Buy us time!」Gabal

Just as Gabal ordered, Gil-san and Hal-san readied their weapons and charged straight towards me.

Agh... I really hate doing this but please bear with it, Gil-san, Hal-san.

I thrusted both my fist straight towards their bodies, and without much resistance, the two of them received my fist and fell to the ground.

「Ugh, dammit!《Fire Trident》!」Gabal

Gabal also tried to attack me, but rather than dodging, I faced it directly and delivered a punch straight to his chest. But it wasn't enough to knock him out.

「G... cough... Grey-sama... it isn't... cough... too late to sw... cough... switch sides... cough... you canー」Gabal

「《Silence》.」Grey

When he was down, Gabal tried to use his『Temptation』against me once again. Too bad for him, I already prepared a counter for it.

Curse magic spell, 《Silence》, which just like the names suggest, prevents enemies from saying anything. It was the perfect spell against Gabal's『Temptation』.

A few moments later, Gabal fainted, leaving Algerio the only one left.

「D-Don't come near me. D-Don't yー Guuuk...」Algerio

Hmm... He became quiet.

With just a "light" punch from me, Algerio fainted to the ground, with his mouth frothing, and just when I finished my task, Hal-san and Gil-san started waking up.

「Ugh... What happened?」Gil

「I feel like someone punched my guts...」Hal

That's because someone (me) did punch your guts.

「Hm? Grey-sama...?」Gil

「Ah, hey guys. Can you bring these guys to the prison?」Grey

I pointed to Algerio and Gabal who were laying on the ground unconscious, and the eyes of the two followed.

「O-Of course.」Hal

「It would be a pleasure.」Gil

While Gil-san and Hal-san cuffed the unconscious Algerio and Gabal, I noticed that the sky still wasn't that high up in the sky. About 8 o'clock if I'd guess.

It was still early in the morning, yet many things had happened already.

Haah... Give me a break.

CHAPTER 40 END