Chapter 29

Now, now, everyone, please quiet down . ”

This is the branch of The Double Winged Sword that is situated in the Royal Capital of Rulan Kingdom .

On the first-floor hall of the said guild, most of the available guild members were now gathered .

Standing on the improvised stage in front of the hall, was a beautiful woman with flaxen hair and chestnut-colored eyes called Elaine Hughner, who also goes by the second name, The Smiling Gun Princess .

In response, not even one voice was raised . Seemingly satisfied that everyone had quieted down, Elaine nodded and went to the back, while a man rose to the stage .

Golden eyes peeked from under the fine, brown hair . The name of the slightly hunched man was Kamina Roulans .

This person was also one of the Two-Name Holders, The Ingenious General .

“Yesterday, there was a notice from Jin-sama . Five infantry, three cavalries, two militia, two magic specialization units, one central security unit, two supply units… A total of fifteen units . Nine units other than the Central Military Guard, Cavalry, and Supply Units are assigned to me . ”

“The member assignments will be the same as before . As for the commanders of each group, please confirm your roles again until Rulan Kingdom comes to meet us . ”

“Aside from that, be prepared to head out with Elaine . Good luck!”

“I think it’s fine, but just to be sure, I will now confirm the flow of the plan . First, those who will be going to help Rulan Kingdom with Jin-sama, and proceed to Rideiran Kingdom, please raise your hands . ”

Half of the people present raised their hands at Elaine’s instruction .

“Yes, that’s good . As I said earlier, those who have raised their hands now will join Jin-sama and the army of Rulan Kingdom and fight to capture Rideiran Kingdom . Each of the 9 units will be divided into 4 to 5 members each . I will inform you of your assignments later . Member requests will go here, so after you have been divided into each unit, please prepare for the final stage of the operation according to the instructions of your commanders . ”

“By the way, my team, the 2nd Strike Force . If something happens, report it to me, okay?”

Those who raised their hands earlier nod to Kamina, who raised his small hand and waved .

“As for the remaining people, until the time comes, you and I will be on standby with the Master on the Shield’s Perch ship . ”

“Lady Sylti and the others will let the Saintess finish the purification of the tainted lands . By that time, Rulan Kingdom will have already taken control of Rideiran Kingdom . ”

A young man wearing glasses who possessed rust-colored hair and similarly colored eyes announced that he would be going on the stage after briefly bowing .

“Illusa-sama . You arrived late yesterday, so I was wondering if you would be resting today . ”

“Master is still resting, but I’m fine if I can sleep for 3 hours . ”

“Don’t force yourself, okay?”

“Don’t worry . Now then, shall I give you a progress report of the plan?”

With a thud, the stack of papers in Illusa’s hand made a loud noise .

“Lady Sylti and Alhart have joined up with Yuto-dono, and are now heading to the 3rd purification site . The lands requiring purification are down to 3 places, and, if it goes smoothly, the journey to purify the tainted lands will end in less than 4 months . Their last destination is Manrinia as originally planned . From there, they are scheduled to join up with Miss Clarina and make preparations for the last time . ”

Everyone nodded in unison and listened as Illusa read the contents of the report from the stack of papers on his hand .

The papers were dropped to the floor after their contents were read aloud, while a type of magic that produced a small, crackling fire on the side burned the dropped documents .

“Next are Miss Clarina and Rain who went to Rideiran Kingdom to prevent the spread of damages caused by the demons . As scheduled, they have gone to Manrinia to finish the demon subjugation first . Miss Clarina’s familiar, Myra-sama, had also erected a barrier that would suppress the progression of the taint and the reappearance of demons . Miss Clarina is also going around other towns and villages to put up barriers, so it is safe to assume that demons will rarely appear except for the tainted lands . Rain is on standby near Manrinia, and is waiting for the allies inside Rideiran Kingdom to assemble . ”

After seeing the last piece of paper burn with a crackle, Illusa surveyed the room .

“Everything up to this point is going extremely well…… but, what’s important right now is what’s going to happen from now on . Has everyone memorized the plan by heart?”

A variety of answers to Illusa’s question sprung up from the members .

Illusa nodded, once again brought a fresh stack of papers out of nowhere, and started reading .

“I will confirm just in case . Miss Elaine has mentioned this earlier, but those who will be working with Jin-sama and Kamina in cooperation with Rulan Kingdom’s army, please work properly with Rulan Kingdom as allies until Rideiran Kingdom is captured . Please standby and wait for Jin-sama’s instructions after gaining control of the Kingdom . When instructed, please immediately disable Rulan Kingdom’s soldiers according to your unit commanders . The rest of you who will go with Miss Elaine, Master, and I, will stay on standby in The Shield’s Perch Headquarter Ship for a while . We will also move as soon as Jin-sama’s instructions are received .

First, all 4 members assigned to each unit must head for the dismounted cavalry troops and supply units and take control . I think that the members of those units will be communicating in advance, so be vigilant . Jin-sama will keep the Central Guard unit silent for a while, so please complete the subjugation during that time .

All unit commanders have been handed magic circles for Magic Vision, so as soon as each unit completes the capture, please report to Jin-sama immediately . This will serve as a signal to Jin-sama and Lady Syltina to make the finishing touches . ”

With a loud rustle, the stack of papers were thrown carelessly, shredded, and fluttered throughout the hall .

“For the remaining group on standby, please control the allies who have joined, along with Manrinia . That said, I don’t think it’s a big deal since there are no residents in Manrinia as it is a tainted land . ”

With a snap of his fingers, the fluttering pieces of paper suddenly burned up and disappeared .

“Some of our allies will still be in Rideiran Kingdom until the final stage, so please be careful not to accidentally attack them . ”

Just as Illusa was about to conclude his report, a small piece of paper suddenly leaps out in front of him .

The paper, which contained drawn geometric patterns, faced image side up and ran parallel to the floor as it floated by Illusa’s feet .

_______________________________________

(( )) —> the double parentheses in Syltina’s dialogue depict her talking to Elaine and the others through Magic Vision .

__________________________________

((Ah, great! It connected properly!))

A life-sized Syltina appeared above the shining pattern and sighed with relief .

It was as if the person herself appeared out of nowhere, but Syltina’s background was see-through so it was evident that it was not the real thing .

This was called Magic Vision, produced by image transmission magic .

“Syltina-sama, what happened to you? You used to write letters up until now . ”

((Elaine! Long time no see . No, Al completely forgot all about the magic circle used for Magic Vision . ))

“That person, really……”

“So that’s why you’ve been writing letters, right? I was wondering why you couldn’t use Magic Vision . Syltina-sama went there shortly after the previous mission, so I was not able to hand the magic circle over in time and handed it to Alhart-sama instead . Looks like I chose the wrong person, huh?”

((Yeah . I heard that the periodic reports were going to be done with Magic Vision, and I thought it was strange, but Al said nothing either, so I wondered if it was only us who sent the reports through letters . I’m glad that Yuto taught me . If I had done it poorly, then, we would’ve been stuck with writing letters until the end . Since, neither Al nor I can draw Magic Circles……))

“So you were just confirming if you properly activated the Magic Circle?”

((Yes . Additionally, please think of this as a report as well . Ummm…tomorrow, we will be arriving at the next destination for the purification . If it finishes without a hitch tomorrow, we will have only 2 places left . Manrinia will go last, so we will be heading to another location, but it’s a bit far……from our destination tomorrow to the next area, it will take about close to a month, and from there, it will take 2 months to reach Manrinia . Yeah, well, I’ve written it on my letter as well, but I think we will be finished in 4 months . ))

“I see . ”

((It seems Rulan Kingdom hasn’t informed their citizens about raising an army yet . It looks like the Kingdom has laid out a gag order . Well, I think that the people wouldn’t keep silent if they were invaded by demons and by other countries, but now it’s not a problem that can be managed by diplomacy anymore, and sooner or later they will find out…… There is a world of difference between being informed beforehand and being informed after the act, but I wonder if you can understand that? Well, it doesn’t really matter . Anyway, if things go public, we’ll make sure it doesn’t reach the Saintess’ ears . If it’s executed poorly, I don’t really want to deal with strange volunteers and weird demonstrations, you know?))

“Please do . Miss Clarina wants to talk to the Saintess, so I will be troubled if she dies in the middle of it . ”

((Well, if that’s the case, then Yuto is doing a good job of making the Saintess move . Looks like they’re back . Things are going smoothly from this side though, so I’m leaving that side to you . ))

“Understood . Be careful . ”

((You, too!))

The paper with the magic circle dropped to the floor the same time as Syltina’s image vanished .

“Now, everyone, please go ahead and make your preparations . This branch will also be destroyed after we leave, so please don’t forget anything . Commanders from each unit, please remain in the hall . ”

The people gathered at the hall started moving at Elaine’s words .

“Well then . It’s showtime . ”

“Yes . ”

Illusa and Kamina talked next to Elaine, who gave instructions to the commander who remained .

“Do you think this plan of taking over two countries will work?”

“Can . If not, no meaning . ”

“That’s right . ”

“Jin-sama made it, it’s fine . If not, we don’t, get on . ”

“Right? We’re not stupid enough to lend our power to things that aren’t guaranteed to work . That Jin-sama is really serious, and we, who are the Two-Name Holders, are fully cooperating . We’ll make the impossible, possible as they say . ”

“Yes . ”

3 days after that, a messenger from Rulan Kingdom visited the branch with a message that they would be joining with the Royal Army, and 5 days later, the mercenary guild, The Double Winged Sword’s branch in the Royal Capital of Rulan Kingdom, disappeared without a trace .