Just as Hiro was about to reach the garden, a string snapped in his mind, indicating his room had been intruded on. Without delay, he cloaked his body in an illusion spell to hide himself, and sprinted full tilt towards his room. When he got there, the act had already been finished, but the tracer was still planted on the person who had intruded.

Chasing them down, he came across one of the maids at a balcony overseeing the drop off the plateau. Anything dropped from there would be lost. Luckily, this was a corridor that was rarely used. It meant the maid could tear up the letter and dispose of it without being caught, but at the same time.

~Snap~

No one could see if something were to happen to her. Just as she was about to tear the letter, the sound of fingers snapping could be heard, and her body stopped moving. No matter what she did, she couldn’t move her body at all. With a fearful look, she turned to the side to see a man in his forties with long black hair and a stoic face which had seen battle.

With each one of his steps ringing in her ear, she knew she had been caught in the act, and the thoughts of what may now happen were spinning through her head over and over. As the figure came to a stop right in front of her, they took the letter silently and read it.

In the letter, from Max it seemed, it stated that he was being threatened with a hostage, and he had gone to the house of someone by the name of Lord Landgrave. Understanding the situation, the figure let out a breath on the parchment.

As he did so, the parchment started to turn to dust, blowing away in the wind on the balcony. With it being essentially a straight drop down, quite a bit of wind was blown up the cliff face.

Turning back to the maid, she seemed to be in her mid twenties. Her looks were above average, which was probably expected of those working in the castle. Not only that, she had a trace of arrogance, so she was probably not a commoner earning their keep, but a noble-born with no claim to the family inheritance, sent of as a maid in the castle for bridal training and to gain connections.

With her immobilized, the man placed a hand to her to her face, his fingers brushing against her face. At that moment, she felt an overwhelming power enter her, suppressing her as she felt like her entire soul was laid bare before him. After a few moments, or at least what felt like hours for her, he withdrew his hand.

“I see. So that’s what’s going on. Then, you are equally guilty…” (???)

The unknown man, having seen evidence of the maid’s evil in her memories, made a barrier of earth in the corridor so that no one would come by while he was doing the next part, while also preventing the maid’s escape.

Holding out his hands, mana started to compress into a greyish black form, molding itself into rope, chains, and a few other things. For starters, he immediately used a ball gag on the maid, preventing her from biting her tongue while also letting her breathe. Next, using a small blade made of mana, he cut her clothes off bit by bit while she watched, shouting for help. Unfortunately for her, a soundproof barrier had been placed.

After all of her clothes had been stripped off and she was fully exposed, he began to use the mana rope to tie her up using a particular tortoise shell binding. With it digging into her skin deep enough to leave a mark but without fully cutting off her blood flow, he observed the body that had the breasts perked out, and the rope digging into the honeypot.

Having been manipulating everything with mana, the man could just stand to the side and watch everything. Now that her body had been tied up, the chains snaked their way and attached to the maid’s hands and feet, embedding themselves in the wall over and over, allowing her no means of escape, and having been made with his mana, they would most likely be unbreakable for quite some time.

This whole time, the maid had been screaming to the point of crying, and yet still, her lower parts were leaking some fluid, of the lewd kind. Though being chained there, she would eventually have to let her waste out.

Letting the walls down, the man vanished into thin air as if he was a ghost, leaving the maid there to be found by other castle staff later on.

……

………

……

As Hiro walked towards the training hall, he contemplated over the information he had just learned. First, Max had been drawn away, which meant that if something were to happen such as an assassination, there would be no stopping it if they had enough people.

Max himself wouldn’t have been drawn away if they couldn’t guarantee to delay him, or possibly even hold him entirely, which meant he was also at risk alongside whoever he had gone to save.

And for the Maid, it turned out that they had been running errands for quite some time for Rodrick, who turns out to be the yellow-caped bastard who wouldn’t stop eyeing him. He had only seen him that one time at the feast, so he shouldn’t have had much reason to go after Hiro, so it was probably for precaution since he was acquainted with the Magus.

The other things in the maid’s memory were the deeds she had done. Spying for the most part, but it seems she wasn’t above causing trouble and bullying when it came to those of “dirty blood”. Well, she had been punished well enough. And he enjoyed himself doing that.

Now… what to do about the upcoming problems? He could ignore them all, but he knew doing such a thing would come back to bite him in the future. And if he acted himself, he knew he would be put in the spotlight.

Reaching the training hall, he entered to find both the mage girl and the princess together in the middle of the hall, hair in ponytails and wearing training outfits. The mage girl was giving a lecture on what appeared to be the use of magic, chanting elven words and sending an attack at the princess, who tried to defend it with one hand for magic so that she could still hold the sword.

After they stopped and started talking about the things they were doing, the mage girl caught sight of him, and seemed a bit brighter now that he had shown up. Probably anticipating the upcoming information rather than Hiro himself.

Noticing the red haired mage’s eyesight, the princess also turned to face the newcomer, surprised to see the person who had been singing the other day. At the same moment, she got suspicious of his appearance here. Before she could speak though, her sparring partner spoke up.

“Hiro, you’ve arrived. Sorry, I’m still in the middle of giving a lecture at the moment. If it’s alright with you, Eileen, he could stick around until we’re finished?” (Lily)

“Greetings, Princess Eileen, Lily.” (Hiro)

With a light bow, Hiro approached to a more comfortable talking distance to the two, waiting for Eileen’s response.

“What is he here for?” (Eileen)

“We’ve agreed to exchange knowledge about magic. He was taught a little by the Great Magus, so I couldn’t help being intrigued…” (Lily)

While the princess was suspicious and defensive against the unknown male, it seemed her long time friend was more open to him, probably because the topic was magic. Though, maybe there might be more? Neither of them would know, as both of them were inexperienced when it came to romance.

“Fine… As long as he doesn’t get in the way.” (Eileen)

With a nod from the two of them, the two girls began practicing again while Hiro sat near the entrance, creating a few small balls of water, having them spin around above his palm, and fly through an aerial course he made with rings of fire.

Eventually, the two girls noticed his odd magic, and ended up being too curious about it.

“What is that magic?” (Eileen)

“It’s an exercise to improve my control of mana. With my difference in culture, I see magic as more of a means of entertainment, like this.” (Hiro)

Just as Eileen was about to make a comment, both Hiro and Lily suddenly jolted up straight, Hiro being the first to run outside.

“Something’s wrong. Wait, don’t go out there, Hiro!” (Lily)

At that moment that he left the training hall, he turned to the side and had just enough time to raise his arms in front of his face as he was blasted sideways by a flash of lightning, leaving the two girls stunned.

Lily tried to go running to check on him, but was held back by Eileen who had more experience with real combat. After calming down, the mage girl began casting defensive magic, and then preparing her specialty fire magic, aimed at the doorway. Eileen also took a stance to her side, ready to run out at any moment.

Just as they wondered whether they would need to go outside, the wall behind them was blasted apart by magic, causing them to spin around to face it. As a figure appeared, Lily let loose her magic, aiming to fight off the attacker, only to be blocked by a magic shield like her own.

At the same time, Eileen realized it was a pincer as she saw a figure ready a spell at the doorway, aiming at Lily. She wouldn’t be able to block it in time. As she slowly saw things start to occur, she was left dumbfounded as the lightning went past her, but didn’t hit Lily. Standing between the two, was a man who looked to be in his forties, wearing odd clothes and with long black hair.

With a slate gray colored chain wrapped around his arm, he had somehow attracted the lightning, not taking any damage from it. Around his other arm was the same kind of chain. But because it was glowing a pale light, it was hard to tell if it was magic or an actual chain.

For an instant, everyone froze in confusion. And the man didn’t let this chance go. Throwing both arms out either side, the two chains shot out rapidly, splitting until there was four heading in each direction. Trying to ready a spell in time, both hostile mages resorted to strengthening their magic shields, only to be stunned as the chains punched straight through, causing their defenses to shatter.

The chains wrapped around the two mages, binding them tightly before one chain each stabbed through their wrists and ankles, and then digging into the ground, pinning them where they were.

With doubt, the two girls kept their defenses up against the man, who opened his mouth to speak.

“My name is Murakumo. I’ve come at the request of my friend, Maximillian Eisenwald. Tend to the young man outside. I need to head to the King.” (Murakumo)

Like that, the figure started walking at a leisurely pace, or at least it seemed like it. Instead, as if melting into the wind, he vanished from sight. Looking at each other, the two girls decided to focus on the present. While Eileen checked that the two enemies were still down, Lily went outside to check on Hiro.

Once she got out, she saw the body of the young man thrown several meters away, burn marks across his nobles attire, but nothing serious on his actual body, as if he had put up a defensive magic just before impact. With a sigh of relief, Lily heard a thud as a body was dropped next to the boy. Another mage with a black cloak on like the previous two, wrapped in chains. Looking at the figure who dropped it, she saw Murakumo from earlier.

“This one was hiding nearby. Keep your guard up, there may be more.” (Murakumo)

“Y-Yes, sir…” (Lily)

While she didn’t intend to address him highly, she couldn’t help it. He gave off this indomitable aura that she couldn’t go against. As he vanished again, she checked Hiro’s condition and found that he wa still breathing, but he was sweating and unconscious. At this time, EIleen came outside.

“Another one? You alright?” (Eileen)

“Yeah. What about the other two?” (Lily)

“I tried moving them, but those chains won’t let them budge from where they are.” (Eileen)

“I see. I’m going to try heal his wounds. There may be more, so please keep an eye out for me.” (Lily)

With a nod, the princess kept an eye on the surroundings as Lily spoke some elven words, a blue light leaking from her hands and illuminating the wounds on Hiro. What she was using was a water type magic meant for first aid. It was better than nothing, and would at least help recovery in the future.

…

……

…

Speeding down the hallways of the castle towards the King’s Study, Murakumo made haste to protect the rest of the royal family.

Well, it hurt, but at least taking that hit let me pretend to be unconscious. Now I can move about freely like this. (Hiro)

Murakumo was actually Hiro. Murakumo was not a physical body, but a mana clone. A manifestation of his consciousness through his magic. By separating off a third of his massive amount of mana, he compressed it into this form and then used illusion magic to create a human figure.

All of his weapons were made of compressed mana, and his high speed movement was simply him dispersing his illusion while his mana spread out and moved on. The wonders of the imagination and what they could achieve. This was actually what he had tried teaching Max, but he hadn’t shown this form to him.

As he arrived at the King’s Study, he saw six figures. Two cloaked, the King and Queen, the Prince unconscious on the ground, and Bhalrom. One cloaked figure was standing over Kasius, and the other had a knife to the Queen’s neck, having taken her hostage close to the door.

They seemed to be talking about kidnapping the princess, killing the Queen, Hanna, and other such things while the King could only stare with eyes full of anger. But Hiro could care less.

Bhalrom was the first to realize and notice it. The figure of a man appearing behind the hostage taker, as the other cloaked figure couldn’t see behind him at his ally. Without warning, Murakumo thrust a chain through the head of the hostage taker, sending blood splattering over the wall and door to the side, while another chain shot past the Queen and pierced through the heart of the other man from behind.

As the Queen started to fall, the dead man’s arms still around her, Murakumo kicked the body away and held Hanna up until she steadied herself. While the King wanted to run to her, Bhalrom stopped him, suspicious of the newcomer. Seeing the look in Bhalrom’s eyes, he spoke up.

“It’s alright. Maximillian sent me to help. Seems that they laid a trap for him, so I*’ll be going to help my friend soon. There are three more that have been restrained at the training hall---” (Murakumo)

“My daughter… Eileen! Is Eileen safe?!” (Queen Hana)

“Not to worry. She and Lily are safe. They should be keeping an eye on the assassins.” (Murakumo)

Seeing that the Queen had steadied herself, Murakumo let her go and took a couple of steps back.

“My name is Murakumo. I will leave this pendant with you. Have you need of me, simply shatter it, and I will arrive shortly. Now, I must be going. Max is in danger.” (Murakumo)

Leaving a small fragile looking glass pendant in the Queen’s hands, Murakumo’s figure became blurry as he disappeared, as if melting into the wind once more. However, what those around couldn’t see, was that all the mana that made up the being known as Murakumo, had compressed itself into the pendant, while Hiro’s consciousness went back to his own body, where he pretended to sleep for the meantime.

As his mana would naturally recover anyway, by using a complex spell on what he had separated and making that pendant, he had essentially created a temporary doppelganger made of only magic, not flesh. If it was shattered, then he could send his consciousness, gather his scattered mana, and form Murakumo once more.

Knowing that things in the future may get more hectic and involve him one way or another, it was best to make assurances. Besides, even if he hadn’t acted, the people of Argos would eventually ruin any kind of comfortable daily life he tried to make.