Ossan Saikyō Chapter 14 Part 21
Now, normally I would have gone straight to look for King Giselpha, but first I headed for the underground level of the castle.
Along the way, I encountered ordinary guards and sentries, but when they saw the mace and shield I carried, they went weak in the knees and fled.
There should have been civil officials around as well, but according to【Presence Detection】, they were huddled together in the corners of their rooms.
Following the route the Marquis had told me about, I eventually reached a staircase leading underground. At the bottom was a corridor. The passage continued about 20 meters ahead, with several metal doors lining both sides.
Each door had a long, horizontal viewing slit, and light was spilling through some of them. Apparently, this was a place used to temporarily imprison high-ranking people when circumstances required it.
I noticed that the door at the very end was open, and voices were coming from inside.
“Lady Durack, you will be coming with your son.”
“Has something happened to my husband?”
“The General has rebelled against His Majesty the King. I am told he is on his way here now.”
“So His Majesty intends to use us as hostages to threaten my husband.”
“I do not know about that. In any case, you must come with me.”
There was a young man’s voice and a woman’s voice. From the conversation, there was no doubt that the woman was General Durack’s wife. Either way, I couldn’t ignore them, so I headed toward the voices.
“Hm? Who goes there!?”
At the shout demanding my identity, a black-haired young man clad in fine armor emerged from the room. He was probably one of the former A-Rank Royal Guard knights General Durack had mentioned.
“I am an adventurer allied with Marquis Raghantz. The Royal Castle has already been completely surrounded by the forces of Marquis Raghantz and General Durack. Lord Ryūsha is also here, so I believe further resistance is meaningless. Please surrender.”
“What...? No, even if that is true, I serve His Majesty the King. I will carry out His Majesty’s orders to the very end. You are the one who should step aside. If you do not, I will cut you down.”
The young knight drew the sword at his waist and held it in both hands. He looked extremely serious, with the sort of inflexible air that suggested he was not good at adapting to circumstances.
“I understand. Then, excuse me.”
I charged forward with《Indomitable Bastion》held in front of me. It was a rather terrible way of doing things, but it completely blocked the corridor.
The young knight seemed to unleash some tremendous attack from the other side of my orichalcum shield. It might have been the first time this shield had vibrated even slightly.
But almost simultaneously, there was a loud “Gah!” followed by the sound of something crashing into the wall at the far end.
Looking over, I saw the young knight lying limp at the base of the wall. After confirming that he was still alive, I took his sword and stored it in my【Item Box】.
Looking to the side, I saw an adult woman and a boy of around 10 embracing each other and staring at me from inside the open room.
“I am employed under the House of Marquis Raghantz. Are you General Durack’s family?”
“Y-Yes... We are.”
The woman, Lady Durack, answered in a trembling voice.
“General Durack is waiting outside. Please come with me.”
“Um, is it really true that my husband has rebelled against His Majesty the King?”
“It is true. At present, the Royal Capital is almost entirely under the control of the Marquis’ and the General’s forces.”
“I see. So it has come to this... I-Is that man all right? I believe he is one of the Royal Guards.”
“He is still alive, so please do not worry. He is an important asset to this country. There is no reason to let him die in a battle like this.”
When I said that, Lady Durack stepped out of the room with a relieved expression. She was holding her son’s hand tightly.
While leading them along, I looked into another room with light spilling from inside. There were two people there as well, apparently a mother and child, staring at me anxiously. They seemed to be hostages too.
“I am an adventurer employed by Marquis Raghantz. I’m sorry, but may I ask who you are?”
“We are members of Guildmaster Dünken’s family.”
“Ah, I see. Understood. Please wait a moment.”
I understood what was going on. I borrowed the young knight’s key ring and unlocked the door.
(E/N: Should have just broken the bars… but I guess that's a criminal act and unnecessary property damage… Nice one, Ossan!)
“Please follow me. I shall take you back to Guildmaster Dünken.”
“Th-Thank you very much.”
I led the 2 pairs, 4 people in total, up from the underground level to the upper floors.
By then, numerous soldiers and adventurers from the Marquis’ army had already entered the Royal Castle and begun securing it. When I returned to the entrance hall, Marquis Raghantz, General Durack, young Ryūsha, and the others were all there.
“Oh, my dear...!”
“Father...!”
Lady Durack and her son ran toward the General. He looked surprised for a moment, then embraced the two of them while trying to maintain as calm an expression as possible.
At least that should have lifted the weight from the General’s heart.
I also asked the Marquis to have Dünken’s wife and child escorted to the Adventurer Guild, so the Guild should be able to return to normal operations for the time being.
Dünken had made remarks suggesting that he intended to take responsibility, but that was something the Guild itself would have to decide, so I couldn’t get involved any further.
As I watched the two mothers and their children being escorted outside the castle by soldiers, the Marquis approached me in her armor.
“Soushi, we are about to enter the throne room. However, there is no guarantee that King Giselpha does not still have some hidden trump card. Will you come with us?”
“Understood. Also, one of the Royal Guard knights is lying unconscious underground. He is still alive, so please have someone tend to him.”
“Understood. It seems even the Royal Guard is no obstacle to you.”
“So it seems.”
After that, with Arslin and me at the front, we formed a formation with the Marquis, young Ryūsha, General Durack, and a group of elite soldiers, and headed toward the throne room.
The doors to the throne room were enormous, at least 5 meters high. Even so, compared to those of the Vermilion Kingdom, they were more than a little smaller in scale.
Soldiers surrounded the area, and some were holding a battering ram. They were poised to charge in as soon as they received the order.
“Soushi, would you take the lead?”
“No problem.”
At the Marquis’s request, I stood before the doors. As far as I could tell with【Presence Detection】, there was no ambush waiting for us.
I pushed firmly against the doors, and once again there was a loud cracking sound as they swung open with ease.
“Not only do we not need a battering ram, you broke the bar with nothing more than a light push.”
With the Marquis’ impressed voice coming from behind me, I stepped into the throne room.
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E/N:
Hostage rescue, retaining the national strength and infiltration, everything is smooth as butter! Now, it's the last leg!
Stay tuned!
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