Chapter 2-21 : Leading The Rats Into The Trap (part 3)
ーAt the front gate of the Kushaq Family’s mansion, at the same time as Izack and the others won the fight against the banditsー
*Back to Kako’s perspective*
「Welcome home-nya.」(Nyat)
「Nyaaat~ I’m home!」(Kako)
As soon as I got off the stagecoach, I immediately jumped and buried my face in Nyat’s fluffy belly.
「How was your mission going?」(Kako)
「No need to ask-nya. It went as smoothly and as fluffy as my fur-nya.」(Nyat)
「That’s great! How’s Sheila-san?」(Kako)
「She’s safe-nya. I sent her back to her inn-nya.」(Nyat)
「I knew I could rely on you!」(Kako)
While I was attending the party with my family, Nyat and Sheila-san were doing a different mission, which was finding the stolen goods.
Seems like they completed their mission without any trouble. That’s good to hear.
「Thank you for your hard work, Nyat-dono.」(Elvent)
「I’m glad to help-nya.」(Nyat)
「I hope that guy can accomplish his mission smoothly too… If Maitena didn’t ask me, I wouldn’t have hired him… Hahh…」(Elvent)
While folding his hands, Father sighed.
He was talking about Izack-san.
That’s right. Izack-san and the others were in this too. Their mission was to capture the fleeing bandits and their leader.
「Oh, come on, Father. He’s not a bad guy. He’s a fine man.」(Maitena)
「I know he’s not a bad man, but…」(Elvent)
「Fufu. Your father still doesn’t want to give his beloved daughter to a man, it seems~」(Folia)
「Ha, Haaahh!? Th, that’s not true!」(Elvent)
Uhh… I didn’t know Father could be a tsundere sometimes…
「Hahh… Whatever… If everything goes smoothly, they should be heading to the headquarters by now. I’m going to see him.」(Maitena)
「Hold up! Do you think I will let my daughter go see her boyfriend at night?」(Elvent)
「Father, I’m not a child anymore! Besides, it’s not that we’re going on a date. It’s not the time for that.」(Maitena)
「My Dear, did you forget you sometimes went to see me at night when we were young? Let her be the person she loves.」(Folia)
「That’s… Tsk. Fine. I need you to check the situation anyway, but you should change into your armor first just in case. You can’t fight in a dress like that.」(Elvent)
「Thank you, Father, Mother!」(Maitena)
「Umm, Maitena onee-sama, can I go with you?」(Kako)
I had nothing to do if I stayed in my room. Besides, I haven’t contributed much aside from making the magic swords, so I was thinking if there would be something else I could do.
「You want to go too?」(Maitena)
「Un. Well… You see… I haven’t seen Palfi-san for a while, so…」(Kako)
「Ah, that reminds me. You like Palfi a lot.」(Maitena)
Palfi-san, I’m sorry for using your name as an excuse!
「Th, that’s right! Father, Mother, can I go with her?」(Kako)
「But…」(Elvent)
「I will go too-nya. She will be fine-nya.」(Nyat)
Nyat~! You’re truly my hero!
「Hmm… Alright, but don’t be home too late at night.」(Elvent)
「Please go straight home after you’re done, okay?」(Folia)
「Un!」(Kako)
Just like that, after Maitena onee-sama changed into her gear, the three of us got back in the stagecoach and headed to the knight’s headquarters.
◆◆◆
When we got to the headquarters, a guard took us to the basement where Izack and the others were.
「Hi, guys.」(Maitena)
「Good evening, everyone.」(Kako)
「Oh? Maitena? Kako and Mr. Catto are here too.」(Izack)
「Yahoo~」(Palfi)
As soon as we entered a room in the basement, Izack and the others welcomed us.
Izack looked surprised, Palfi greeted us with a big smile on her face, and Martz, who was as cool as always, silently nodded at us while leaning his back against a wall.
「Kako-chan, it’s been a while~!」(Palfi)
「Un, Palfi-san! Did you beat the bandits?」(Kako)
「Of course! I might look like this but I can fight too, you know~? I beat the biggest guy in the group!」(Palfi)
「Wow! Not only are you kind and gentle, but you’re also strong.」(Kako)
「Hehe~ And you’re cute as always~」(Palfi)
Saying that, Palfi-san stroked my head.
I hate it when people treat me like a child, but as always, I strangely feel good when Palfi-san is the one doing it to me.
While I was enjoying Palfi-san’s gentle stroke, Izack-san talked to me.
「Kako ojou-chan, your impression of her might change if you saw her in a fight.」(Izack)
「Hm? What do you mean?」(Kako)
「Oh, Izack, would you please be quiet!? Kako-chan, you shouldn’t mind him.」(Palfi)
「Uhh… Okay…」(Kako)
I didn’t know what Izack-san meant, but Palfi-san glanced at Izack-san with a somewhat intimidating expression for a split second. She really didn’t seem to want me to know, so I don’t think I should ask further.
For some reason, Izack-san flinched in fear when Palfi-san glanced at him. He then quickly shifted his gaze to Maitena onee-sama.
「Ma-Maitena, why did you come here? I thought you would stay in your mansion after returning from the party.」(Izack)
「Well… I felt restless staying at home, so…」(Maitena)
She looked shy. She glanced away from Izack-san and awkwardly scratched her cheek with her index finger.
As her little sister, I think I should push her back here.
「Maitena onee-sama said she wanted to see you.」(Kako)
「KaーKako!」(Maitena)
「Hyu~ Hyuu~ We got a lovey dovey couple over here~」(Palfi)
「…..」(Maitena)
「…..」(Izack)
With Palfi-san further teasing them, they both looked away awkwardly with their faces turning a bit red.
「…Ahem! …So… Izack, did you capture their leader?」(Maitena)
「O-Of course, I did. Did you even need to ask that?」(Izack)
They both then started talking seriously as if they wanted to get rid of the awkward atmosphere quickly.
「The guy’s back there, by the way.」(Izack)
Izack pointed to the back of the room with his thumb.
When we stepped further into the room and looked in the direction he pointed at, we saw a man chained in a steel cage.
He seemed to be the bandit leader. His leg was injured, and judging by the wound, it was apparently hit by an arrow.
Martz must have shot his leg so that he couldn’t escape. After all, these bandits are good at escaping, especially their leader.
He looked exhausted for some reason as if he had just run around a football field a hundred times. I could see purple eye bags under his eyes and drops of sweat constantly rolling down his face.
「So, he’s the leader, huh? Did you beat him in a fight?」(Maitena)
「Yeah, he’s quite a fighter. Moreover, he used a magic sword to fight me. However, he’s nothing compared to the monster who cut off my arm.」(Izack)
「I see… Hahh… I worried for nothing then.」(Maitena)
「Oh~? Maitena, you were worrying about Izack~? Phu phu!」(Palfi)
「Oh, Palfi, stop teasing me!」(Maitena)
So, Izack-san beat a fighter who used a magic sword? Knowing how powerful magic swords are, I’m quite impressed.
Not just him, Palfi-san and Martz-san also beat some bandits too.
「As expected from The Wings of Steel! You guys are awesome!」(Kako)
「Of course!」(Izack)
「The Wings of Steel Brigade at your service~!」(Palfi)
When I praised them, Izack-san and Palfi-san raised a thumb-up and grinned, while Martz-san silently smirked while folding his arms.
「Yeah, and it’s all thanks to my father’s subordinates giving them information. Of course, they could catch these thieves.」(Maitena)
「Maitena, you can praise us more sincerely, you know? Aa, don’t tell me, you’re kinda frustrated because you couldn’t join the fight?」(Palfi)
「Yeah, kinda. Aa-ahh… I wish I could beat some bad guys with Kako’s magic sword.」(Maitena)
「Oh? Is Kako ojou-sama’s magic sword really that powerful?」(Izack)
Izack-san looked interested in my magic sword.
「You will be surprised when you see it. Anyway, now the Keemariq Bandit Group is done for. We successfully captured them all. However, there’s still one more thing that should be done.」(Maitena)
「Capturing the main villain.」(Izack)
That’s right. We might have captured the bandits, but we still have to deal with the person behind all this. The main villain who hired these evil bandits… Count Oglan.
「Exactly. And to get to that person, first we need the bandit leader to spit out everything he knows.」(Maitena)
「Actually, we are about to interrogate this guy. Well, by ‘we’, I mean Martz. Palfi and I are planning to just watch him ‘working’.」(Izack)
「I see. Martz, sorry, but can I take over? I feel like I haven’t done much this time and it irritates me somehow. I want to vent it on this guy.」(Maitena)
「Honestly, I’m tired and want to get some rest, so be my guest.」(Martz)
「Thanks.」(Maitena)
After replying to Martz-san, Maitena onee-sama approached the worn-out wooden drawer by the wall, opened it, and took something out from it.
What she took out were pliers, but they were much bigger than ordinary pliers and had a head that resembled a crocodile’s mouth.
I didn’t even need to ask what she was going to do with that.
「This will do. I’ll finish it quickly.」(Maitena)
When Maitena onee-sama approached the cage, Palfi-san gently pulled my shoulder, distracting me from the cage.
「Kako-chan, while your Onee-sama is ‘working’, why don’t we have some fun? We can eat some food at the kitchen~!」(Palfi)
「Food? Umm, but I’m full now. I ate a lot at the party.」(Kako)
「Is that so?」(Palfi)
「Speaking of food, I haven’t eaten dinner yet-nya. I’m hungry-nya.」(Nyat)
「Oh! Then we can make food for Catto-chan!」(Palfi)
「Great idea-nya. Kako, you promised to make me some food-nya.」(Nyat)
「Oh, right. Alright then.」(Kako)
「Nice! Let’s go to the kitchen~!」(Palfi)
「Let’s go-nya~」(Nyat)
「Un…」(Kako)
I kinda want to see the interrogation, but I guess that’s not something appropriate for a child to watch… No, I’m not a child!
Following Palfi-san and Nyat, I got out of the room. As soon as we closed the door, I could hear a man’s voice from inside that seemed to be the bandit leader’s.
「No… What are you gonna do to me…? No, stop! Stay away! No! Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!」(bandit leader)
The scream of the bandit leader echoed throughout the basement as we walked away from the interrogation room.
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