Chapter 216
In her fading consciousness, Leticia thought she heard Leo's voice.
At first, she thought it was a hallucination. But it was too clear for a hallucination, and sounded as though he was talking with Auguste.
She opened her eyes, which had been closed.
Through her distorted vision, she saw Leo and Auguste.
Leo closed in on Auguste.
"Wait! I'll give back the Saint!"
"No need! If she belongs to you, then, true to the Adler name—I'll simply plunder her from you!"
With that, Leo stabbed Auguste.
Auguste crumbled into dust with a death cry, and Leo turned toward Leticia.
Their eyes met, and Leo gave her a gentle smile.
Only then could Leticia finally be certain it was really him. That smile was one only he could make.
The moment she realized that, her consciousness began to recede.
The relief had severed the thread of tension holding her together.
"Le...o..."
"It's all right now, Leticia."
Leo entered the cell, cut through the chains binding Leticia's hands, and caught her in his arms.
The warmth of his body deepened Leticia's relief.
Even so, Leticia somehow managed to hold on to consciousness.
She felt she had to say something. But she couldn't organize what she wanted to say; her mind was not working at all.
So she said what came to mind.
"...I thank... the miracle... I wanted... to see you..."
"Me too. I wanted to see you. From the bottom of my heart."
"I thought... I had to give you an answer..."
"Don't worry about it. I'm in no hurry. I'll wait forever. If someone steals you away in the meantime, I'll simply steal you back."
"...Heh... You can be forceful sometimes..."
"Didn't you know? Then remember this. The Adler family never lets its chosen prey escape."
"...Oh my, how frightening..."
With a soft chuckle, Leticia slowly exhaled.
Then her consciousness began to fade rapidly.
This time, she did not resist it.
And so, feeling Leo's warmth, Leticia slowly closed her eyes.
"Leticia..."
Seeing Leticia unconscious, Leo's face twisted.
She had no external injuries, but there was no doubt that something had been done to her.
Considering that the man before him had been a necromancer, he could imagine that it was related to that.
Leo glared at the ashes of Auguste behind him and clicked his tongue at the unpleasant sensation welling up inside.
In his life, Leo had clicked his tongue only a handful of times. Though unpleasant, the sensation was new to him, because he had discovered that he possessed enough fury to want to kill someone he had already killed all over again.
Leo took a deep breath to calm himself.
He had rescued Leticia. All that remained was to escape.
Repeating that to himself, Leo picked up Leticia, took the Holy Staff he had set aside, and made his way out of the basement.
■■■
The Griffon Knights who had entered the basement with them learned that Leticia was safe and rejoiced with tears in their eyes.
They offered to carry her, but Leo refused and went aboveground.
"Leticia-sama!?"
"Are you all right!?"
"I'm fine. She's only unconscious."
With that, Leo carried Leticia to where Noir was waiting.
Blanc, the griffin Leticia rode, had followed them as well, but Leo judged it dangerous to entrust an unconscious Leticia to Blanc and chose to have the two of them ride double on Noir.
"Your Highness! Isn't that too dangerous?"
"It's fine. Forgive me. It's not that I don't trust you, but we have to be careful."
At that point, the Griffon Knights realized that Leo was wary of a repeat of what had happened when he awoke at the castle—of the Griffon Knights being replaced by enemies.
Even after rescuing Leticia, Leo had not let his guard down.
He could not relax until he had brought her to a truly safe place.
Sensing that resolve, the Griffon Knights did not take offense at being suspected. Instead, they apologized for their own thoughtlessness.
"We failed to think this through. Please forgive us. We'll escort you."
"I'm counting on you."
With that, Leo climbed onto Noir's back with the unconscious Leticia.
Then, just as Noir took wing and the other griffins began to rise...
It happened.
"Magic!!??"
Fireballs came flying from far away.
They were not especially difficult fire spells. But there were an extraordinary number of them: well over a hundred fireballs came hurtling toward them.
It was far too many for Leo's group of fewer than ten people.
They might have been able to evade them if they had been flying through the sky, but they were still ascending. Moreover, the griffins, exhausted after nearly a full day of flight, had no way to evade them.
Leo and the others knocked away the incoming fireballs, but they could not keep up, and several struck the griffins, which cried out in agony.
"Tch! Gain altitude!"
At this rate, they would be shot down.
Judging that, Leo ordered them to gain altitude by any means necessary.
Despite their injuries, the griffins somehow succeeded in climbing higher.
However, what Leo saw then was an army that had advanced close to the village.
There were more than a thousand of them, including many who appeared to be mages.
At its head stood a dark-skinned female elf.
Leo immediately sensed that she was an extraordinarily powerful individual.
"So a Dark Elf was in league with the Demon Lord's Order..."
He murmured as he grimaced at how dire the situation had become.
There was no way they could have failed to notice an army that large approaching. There had to be some sort of trick, and they had failed to detect it.
The griffins they depended on had taken damage, making a long-distance escape nearly impossible.
On the other hand, if they fought, they would have to somehow deal with that Dark Elf.
There was practically no way to deal with this using their current forces.
Having reached that conclusion, Leo immediately issued orders.
"We'll flee east! There should be an old castle a little farther on! We'll go there!"
With that order, Leo set a course east.
Leo glanced at Leticia, who was still unconscious, and took a deep breath.
"I'll protect you...!"
As though reminding himself of that vow, Leo headed for the old castle to the east.
■■■
The old castle to the east was a small abandoned castle.
It was in terrible shape, seeming ready to collapse at any moment.
Leo landed there, let the griffins rest, and had Leticia lie down as well.
"What is the enemy's position?"
"A few mounted soldiers here and there. The main force must be coming later."
"How did they manage to assemble an army like that inside Imperial territory...?"
One of the Griffon Knights kicked a pebble as he complained.
It was the sentiment shared by everyone there.
"There was no way that many people connected to a criminal organization could infiltrate just because there was a festival!"
"I know. There must be a traitor in the Empire's upper ranks, and that traitor arranged it."
Leo stated flatly.
It was hardly surprising.
It had been obvious that there was a traitor inside the castle from the moment Leticia was abducted.
Neither the Demon Lord's Order nor the Kingdom was foolish enough to make a move without any assistance whatsoever from the Empire.
"Ugh... Where am I...?"
At that moment, Leticia awoke.
The Griffon Knights rushed to her side and spoke to her, but Leo remained silent.
"Leo...?"
"This is an abandoned castle in the Empire. The enemy has assembled an army of around a thousand and launched a surprise attack. We landed here partly to rest, but we'll be surrounded before the griffins recover."
"...I'm their target. Please leave me behind... With me here, you won't be able to escape..."
"Don't be absurd. If I were going to leave you here and run, I wouldn't be here in the first place."
"But... if this continues, you'll be..."
"I'm a prince of the Empire. I can't overlook a criminal organization's army walking across Imperial soil. Besides... I told you, didn't I? The Adler family never lets its chosen prey escape. Having you stolen from me is out of the question. I have not the slightest intention of handing you over to them."
"Leo... You have a future ahead of you... Besides, making a stand with no hope of reinforcements is foolish..."
"I wanted you to be part of that future. That's why I'm here. Besides, this isn't a foolish defensive stand. I'm not alone."
And so, Leo began preparing for battle.