Chapter 176
The guards who had fallen on their backsides when I entered the fortress moved to restrain me.
They had probably remembered their duty as soldiers.
However, once they stood, they staggered again after only a few steps and came to a halt.
"You'd better not push yourselves. I'm increasing the concentration of magic power. It's so dense that anyone unaccustomed to it won't be able to endure it."
Everyone possesses at least a little magic power. It's just that few people can release it outside their bodies or apply it to magic.
Those few become magicians, outstanding adventurers, or knights, but ordinary people have no experience being exposed to large quantities of magic power.
The concentration of magic power I was spreading around me was even denser than that of places considered rich in magic power. Anyone with magical training might manage, but ordinary people would find it difficult even to remain standing.
"W-wait... S-Silver..."
One of the guards crawled toward me and tried to grab my leg.
He had impressive guts. But I couldn't stop to hear him out.
I started walking before he could seize my foot.
I passed through the gate and entered an open area. Ahead of me, soldiers stood in a long line with bows drawn.
"Halt! Silver!"
"Quite well trained."
Had dozens assembled with bows ready within minutes of the alarm?
A man who appeared to be the unit commander had one arm raised high. Once he brought it down, arrows would rain down on me.
But I didn't stop walking.
"Guh! Halt! Silver! This is a fortress of the Imperial Army! You can't throw your weight around here, even if you're an SS-rank adventurer!"
"If you won't tolerate such high-handedness, then try stopping me. Don't worry. I won't fight back."
"Why, you insolent...! You dare look down on us?! Fire!! An SS-rank adventurer won't die from it!!"
With that, he gave the order to fire.
Dozens of arrows filled my field of vision. But I continued walking without paying them any attention.
The arrows closed in on me, but once they reached a certain distance, they lost their momentum and fell to the ground.
Arrows tumbled down one after another right in front of me. Watching them, I said,
"You've underestimated me. Did you really think a few arrows could stop an SS-rank adventurer?"
"Tch! Magic, is it?! Surround him! Can it cover every direction?!"
As he said this, the unit commander gave orders to the reinforcements arriving one after another.
The reinforcements took up positions around me and, at the unit commander's signal, fired arrows from every direction.
But the result was unchanged. The arrows lost speed at a certain distance and fell to the ground.
In the meantime, bathed in my dense magic power, the soldiers dropped their bows and fell to their knees.
"I wouldn't call something this feeble magic."
"Ah... ah..."
I walked up to the unit commander and patted him on the shoulder. I hadn't even hit him hard, but the unit commander crumpled on the spot.
I tried to press farther into the fortress, but a large soldier appeared at my side. A squad of about ten stood behind him.
They held unfamiliar weapons in their hands.
They looked like crossbows. But they weren't ordinary crossbows.
A cylindrical drum was attached to the underside of each crossbow, with a small jewel embedded in its center.
A prototype weapon of the Imperial Army?
"Don't move, Silver! You may be able to defend against ordinary bows, but you won't be able to stop this!"
"I can't say for certain since I don't know what the weapon is, but I doubt I can stop it."
"Hmph! Learn the power of this Prototype Rotary Magic Repeating Crossbow, which performed brilliantly even against the monsters during the southern demon incident!"
At the large man's order, the soldier behind him pulled the trigger on the repeating crossbow.
Then, powered by the magic stored in the jewel, it began firing arrows continuously as long as the trigger was held down.
The cylindrical drum attached to its underside rotated as it supplied arrows, enabling rapid fire.
Arrows fired at an inconceivable rate rushed toward me, but the result was no different from before. They lost momentum and fell to the ground. The only difference was that, because they fell faster, they kicked up clouds of dust.
Even amid the dust clouds, they didn't stop firing.
What a waste. Weapons like that burn through their jewels. They must have decided I was the perfect test subject, but that was reckless.
"Did we get him?!"
"You clearly haven't studied enough, so let me teach you. I don't know how proud you are of that weapon, but it wasn't an army using it that defeated the demons in the south. It was me."
"Y-you're unhurt?!"
"Even a child knows which is stronger, a monster or a demon. And I'm stronger than demons. Did you honestly think you could so much as scratch me?"
"Eeeeeek!!??"
When I started walking toward them, they all threw their repeating crossbows aside and backed away.
I suppose those weapons had been their source of confidence. But they were far too weak to rely on.
As I was thinking that, I heard the sound of several horses approaching.
"Everyone, fall back!! We'll handle this!!"
"Cavalry! Take him down!!"
The squad leader shouted as though he'd just been rescued.
Five mounted cavalrymen charged at me with spears.
But the moment I merely glanced at them, the horses came to an abrupt stop.
The sudden halt sent the cavalrymen flying through the air.
I didn't want them getting hurt, so I casually waved my right hand and trapped them in a barrier.
"If ranged weapons don't work, charging in isn't much of a plan. Animals are more sensitive than humans. They wouldn't charge an opponent they had no chance of beating without an extremely strong bond of trust."
I lowered the cavalrymen I had caught in midair to the ground.
By then, more than a hundred soldiers had gathered around me.
They had swords, so it seemed they intended to force me into close combat.
"Stop him at all costs! It would be a disgrace to our fortress if a single man broke through!"
A sword-wielding commander rallied the soldiers.
But the soldiers' morale was low. Their faces practically said they had no chance of winning. They were right. They were the smarter ones.
However, soldiers had to obey their superior's orders.
An order for a reckless charge was issued.
"Charge!!"
The soldiers charged despite their reluctance.
Dealing with them would be easy. But it would be pitiful to make them suffer for it.
So I concentrated magic power in my legs and moved in front of the commander in an instant.
My sudden appearance stopped the commander in his tracks.
"Wha—?!"
"What happened? Aren't you going to charge?"
I peered intently into the commander's eyes from behind my mask.
The commander was unable to move, as if he had been stared down by a demon, and simply froze in place.
"You're quick to give reckless orders from your lofty position. Why don't you set an example?"
"A-ah... p-please forgive me..."
"I have no intention of eating you or anything. I'm only advising you to think before giving orders. A reckless charge will only get your men killed. Keep that in mind."
With that, I walked past the commander and headed deeper inside.
There were no soldiers left to obstruct me. They all watched me from a distance.
They understood as well. If I were serious, I could destroy this fortress.
The fact that I wasn't doing so meant I bore them no hostility. I only wanted to meet Gordon.
After proceeding deeper into the fortress for a while, I reached the castle at its center. It was probably the fortress commander's residence. Gordon must be here too.
As I was thinking that, a large man leaped down from a window of the castle.
"Uooooooooooh!!"
With a fierce roar, the man swung a greatsword.
The sword came at me from overhead at a tremendous speed, aided by the momentum of its descent. But, just like the arrows, it lost speed and stopped right in front of me.
As I gently moved the sword to the side, I addressed the man.
"Quite a meek welcome, wouldn't you say, Prince Gordon?"
"Some mere adventurer...!"
"I should thank you for coming all this way to welcome this mere adventurer. I would have come to you even without a welcoming party, though."
I addressed Gordon with deliberately polite insolence.
Perhaps displeased by that, Gordon frowned.
"You call this a visit? You're breaking in."
"You could call it that. But refusing my visit was your mistake. You're not stupid; couldn't you have predicted that I might do this? I'm a man who can even enter Imperial Sword Castle, you know."
Implying that only an idiot would fail to predict this, I shifted my gaze from Gordon and bowed to the portly old man who had appeared behind him.
"Sorry for causing such a commotion, Fortress Commander."
"Not at all. It made for good training. It should put the soldiers on their guard as well."
He was the commander of this fortress and the general in charge of the Northern Border Defense Army.
His name was Rohos. He was known as a gentle man, and had been entrusted with the northern border because that quality was valued. It was precisely because he was such a man of character that Gordon could be placed in his care.
"You said you had business with General Gordon. I'll have a room prepared."
"Thank you."
"Fortress Commander!!"
"You made your own bed. Now lie in it, General Gordon."
"I haven't done anything!!"
"Tell that to Silver."
With that, Rohos invited me inside.
Gordon wore a bitter expression, but he had no choice but to follow me into the castle.
■■■
In a room in the castle, Gordon and I faced each other.
Gordon kept his mouth shut, as if to say he had no intention of speaking.
"Do you know why I've come?"
"...No."
"I see. Then I'll tell you. During the battle to subdue the Spirit Turtle, two children wandered onto the battlefield. Erna von Amusberg shielded them, which temporarily put us at a disadvantage."
"And you blame me for that?"
"According to the children, they encountered a military unit on their way there, and that unit told them to go into the forest."
"...They're children."
"Then tell that to the Emperor."
As if to say the conversation was over if that was his attitude, I opened a teleportation gate.
The battle to subdue the Spirit Turtle had been a major incident for the Empire. Actions that interfered with it could not be tolerated. Gordon would lose the Emperor's trust and would probably be barred from participating in the upcoming ceremony.
In other words, he would continue to be sidelined in the north. That didn't mean he would be eliminated from the struggle for the throne, however.
But he would fall far behind.
That was why Gordon rose to stop me.
"Wait!"
"I thought we were done talking."
"...I have something to say. I want you to hear me out."
"All right."
I had finished saying my piece.
Gordon pulled me back to my seat, his face filled with frustration.
Being sent to the north had already been humiliating for Gordon; he clearly couldn't allow it to drag on.
"...What do you want?"
"Nothing. I merely reported that two children had ended up intruding on the battlefield on the military's orders."
"...They were with the reconnaissance unit I led. It's true that I told the children to seek help from the unit in the forest."
"Oh? Without assigning them an escort?"
"...As a soldier, I simply prioritized reporting to the main force."
"You could have sent a messenger. The Emperor is going to press you hard on that, you know."
"...Don't tell Father about this."
Gordon quietly bowed his head.
I couldn't see his face, but I could imagine the expression he was making.
His voice was trembling too. It must have been terribly humiliating.
But the sin of treating the lives of civilians lightly couldn't be forgiven that easily.
"I won't do it for free."
"I'm bowing my head here, damn it!"
"How much do you think your head is worth?"
I hurled the mocking words at Gordon, and he rose as if unable to bear it any longer, reaching for the sword propped up nearby.
But I remained unmoved.
There was an absolute difference in power between Gordon and me. If he intended to settle things with brute force, I welcomed it.
"You solve every problem with force when you're in trouble. That's how you've lived, and that's why you've fallen behind in the struggle for the throne. Have you already forgotten that the man standing before you is an SS-rank adventurer?"
"Guh...!!"
"If you take hold of that sword, I'll consider the negotiations broken off. Well?"
Gordon's arm, stretched toward the sword, trembled violently.
He tried several times to take the sword, but clenched his teeth, withdrew his arm, and lowered himself back into his seat.
Seeing that, I finally began negotiations.
"Then let me state my demands. Release Sonia's foster parent and swear that you won't interfere with her."
"...What is the relationship between Sonia and you?"
"It's not about me. Elder Egor has taken a liking to her. I'm freeing her to make Egor owe me a favor."
After hearing my demand, Gordon thought for a moment, then gave me a sly grin.
He picked up a nearby sheet of paper and wrote something on it.
"This is where Sonia's foster parent is. She was just a military strategist who had outlived her usefulness. Do as you please."
"I see."
I took the paper and stood up.
It contained a detailed location. That must be where she was.
Having reached that conclusion, I created another teleportation gate and was about to step through it when I stopped.
And then.
"Oh, and one more thing. Don't forget that you're dealing with two SS-rank adventurers. Think carefully about what will happen if this is a lie."
"W-what are you talking about...?"
"Don't entertain the foolish idea that you can outwit me and use Sonia as a hostage to manipulate Elder Egor. Elder Egor is even more unreasonable than I am."
Gordon fell silent and began sweating profusely.
So he had been considering something that foolish after all.
Well, that was just like Gordon. With him as her master, Sonia's strategic talent would be wasted.
Gordon ground his teeth, then took out another sheet of paper and wrote down a new place-name.
"...Her foster parent's family is at the first location. The foster parent herself is here."
"You held them separately. Well, of course you would spread out the risk. Still, it's a good thing you changed your mind. You literally saved your life. You nearly started a war with two SS-rank adventurers. Even if you love war, it seems you wanted to avoid this one."
Gordon said nothing and simply stared at the desk.
I snorted at him and stepped through the teleportation gate, leaving the room behind.