Chapter 229
The Imperial Guard consists of three knight corps that protect the castle.
The First Knight Corps protects the throne room, while the Chancellor has deployed the other two at key positions.
That means the soldiers belonging to the army are responsible for defending the castle as a whole.
Normally, the Imperial Guard would make up most of the castle's defenses, but since they are being used to protect the Emperor and the castle's key positions, there is no helping it. They have to use the army.
It must have been a difficult choice for the Chancellor as well.
Most of the military backed Gordon. He would have preferred not to use them, but since he had no choice, he placed a relatively moderate general in charge of the castle's defenses.
The general was Estman, a veteran in his sixties.
He was one of the generals entrusted with command of a unit in the central part of the Empire, and he gave the impression of a kindly old man who was always smiling.
That impression was accurate. He doted on young soldiers like grandchildren and passed on the knowledge he had accumulated to them.
He was extremely well regarded and was one of the generals most popular with both soldiers and civilians. Naturally, Father thought highly of him too.
However.
"So he sided with Gordon..."
As Fiene, Mia, and I headed toward the inner palace, I saw the soldiers gathered around the stairs and muttered that.
Several soldiers on this floor were hurrying back and forth as if searching for something, while keeping constant watch on the stairs.
They looked flustered, too.
If this were merely security duty, they would only need to patrol a set route and station a few soldiers. It was strange for them to be frantically searching for something.
"Are they enemies? Then let's blast through!"
"If we're discovered at this stage, it'll make things difficult. A lot of soldiers will be standing in our way before we can reach the inner palace."
"Yes. We have to somehow get past them."
"This is so roundabout..."
Mia pursed her lips at Fiene's and my views.
Mia was strong enough that she could probably force her way through, but we had to bring Mother and the others out of the inner palace.
At the very least, I didn't want to cause a commotion before we reached the inner palace.
"Can we somehow draw their attention away?"
"And what will we do once we've drawn their attention away?"
"I want to get into the room on the far side of the corridor."
"But then we won't be able to go down the stairs, will we?"
"That's all right. I have a plan."
"Then that's easily done."
With that, Mia suddenly drew her magic bow and aimed it at a nearby window.
Then she silently fired an arrow made of magic.
For a moment, I couldn't understand what she was doing. But when a shrill sound rang out on the far side of the corridor, I realized what Mia had done.
"What was that!?"
"Hurry!!"
The soldiers turned their attention toward the sound.
Seeing that, Mia gave us a signal.
"Now!"
Mia glided along the corridor, silently opened the door to the room she was aiming for, and beckoned Fiene and me inside.
We crossed the corridor as quietly as possible and made it safely into the room.
"What exactly did you do, Mia-san?"
"I bent the arrow I'd shot outside and sent it in through another window. I must have broken something."
"That's right. I had already confirmed that the window on the other side was open. It was easy."
With that, Mia asked what we should do next.
Mia made it sound like a piece of cake, but it was anything but easy.
Magic bows and magic may be different, but their underlying principles are much the same.
That meant even a mage could do what Mia had done—in theory.
That is, if they could guide magic that had left their field of vision through the opposite window without letting it dissipate or collide with the outside of the castle.
It required delicate control and spatial awareness, enough magical power to keep it from dissipating, and precise control over its force. Mia had done all that in an instant.
It was nothing short of divine.
I could finally understand why the vassal states had been unable to capture the Vermilion Knight.
If someone like her attacked at night without warning, there was no way anyone could defend against her.
If a window was even slightly open, she could silently shoot a guard through it. Even without a clear line of fire, she could bend her arrows around obstacles.
Against Mia, guards were practically useless.
"What is it? Why are you staring so intently at my face?"
"No, I was just thinking that you're more amazing than I realized."
"What do you mean, 'actually'!? Didn't you hire me because you recognized my abilities!? How rude! So incredibly rude!!"
"I knew Mia-san was an amazing person."
"As expected of Fiene-sama! Unlike some stubborn prince, you have a much better eye for people!"
"If you spoke normally, I could give you a more accurate assessment."
"I told you, this is the way of speaking for a proper lady that my grandfather taught me! The true lady my grandfather met must surely have spoken like this!"
"I hope so. Did that old man teach you the magic bow, too?"
"That's right! My grandfather is an amazing man, you know!"
The old man who trained Mia, huh.
Anyone who possessed such a specialized technique as the magic bow and had trained an archer this skilled couldn't be an ordinary man.
When I thought of a master of the magic bow, one person came to mind. The old man was probably connected to that person. Mia probably was, too.
I was curious and wanted to hear the story at leisure, but now wasn't the time to indulge that curiosity.
"Well, tell me about that old man sometime. For now, let's hurry downstairs."
"Hurry downstairs...? The stairs are blocked off. If I were alone, I could go around from outside, but with Fiene-sama here, that's impossible, isn't it?"
"We won't use that method. We don't know who's watching."
With that, I began rearranging the seven portraits displayed in the room.
Mia tilted her head at my inexplicable actions.
"What are you doing?"
"It's an extension of a game."
"You're playing around at a time like this!?"
"Yeah, I am. Sometimes playing around comes in handy."
With that, I changed the order of all the portraits.
Some remained where they had been, while others changed positions.
Once I had checked them, I removed the portrait in the center.
A hidden opening appeared where there hadn't been one before.
I reached into it and pressed a switch at the back.
In response, a hidden door appeared in the wall opposite the portraits.
"W-w-whaaat!?"
This castle has undergone all sorts of renovations every time the Emperor changed. In the process, the emperors built all kinds of hidden passages and rooms. Most of those passages and rooms were never passed down to later generations.
"If they weren't passed down, how do you know about them!?"
Clues to those hidden features aren't found in the respectable books used for study, but in things like diaries that teachers deemed worthless. I never studied, but as part of my games, I read through all those pointless diaries and discovered their hidden features.
"So studying isn't the only thing that can be useful?"
"Exactly. This castle is my backyard. I've never lost at hide-and-seek or tag, not even once. It's all a product of play, though. This passage leads down three floors. This will take them by surprise."
With that, I entered the passage with a sly grin.