Published: August 10, 2026
At Brother Cornelius's sharp voice, I drew my stave.
The three prisoners rushed toward us as if they were going to pounce, all of them swinging their staves down at once and unleashing mana. Their attacks had far more force than the ones I had taken before, but it was the same kind of mana attack I had once received from Count Bindebald when I was still a blue shrine maiden apprentice at the temple.
There were many Guard Knights around us, and this was probably the easiest attack to deal with out of all the ones ever directed at me, so I felt no fear at all.
"Gettilt!"
In response to Brother Cornelius's voice, Leonore and Laurenz immediately deployed shields, while Angelica, Matthias, and Brother Cornelius, who had all charged forward at the same time, each brought their swords down. With that alone, the mana shots the prisoners had unleashed were cut apart and sent flying off in altered trajectories.
...Well, of course that happened.
Even I, back when I was a lower-ranking knight Darmel, and even I from my blue shrine maiden apprentice days when I didn't even know how to fight, had been able to somehow deflect Count Bindebald's attacks, and he was an upper-ranking noble with an overwhelming mana advantage. That kind of attack only works when a superior who is absolutely certain the opponent cannot defend against it abuses a weaker foe, or when it is used in a surprise attack. If my Guard Knights unleash their own mana in the same way or put up shields, it can be blocked easily.
"Tch!"
The prisoners grimaced in frustration and tried to swing their staves again, but by then Angelica had already used physical enhancement to rush in at high speed and, together with Steinluk, had leapt into the enemy's midst.
"Angelica, be careful not to let them die here!"
As Leonore shouted her warning, she spread her cloak to block my view. Immediately afterward, Angelica gave a slightly flustered cry.
"Please hurry and heal them!"
It seemed the warning had come a little late.
"Take over, Angelica!"
Brother Cornelius, who had water attribute and could use a little healing, switched places with Angelica. It seemed Brother Cornelius had applied healing, because Leonore lowered her cloak. Apparently it was healing just enough to keep them from dying, and one of the prisoners was being held down by Brother Cornelius with a normal rope rather than a light band.
"Hartmut, bring the manacles that seal staves!"
At Brother Cornelius's command, Hartmut pulled out the manacles he had prepared and rushed over. With this, the enemy should no longer be able to use their staves.
Watching the remaining two prisoners' movements, it became clear that their mana shots were powerful and that they were fairly strong in hand-to-hand combat as well. But the attacks they unleashed from their staves were only mana projections, and compared to our Guard Knights, they were not particularly well trained. Since they had been attacked in their sleep, perhaps because they were wearing nightclothes, and since they had likely been stripped of weapons by Dunkelfelger, they had neither silver weapons nor Instant Death Poison. The remaining two were quickly subdued by Angelica and Matthias.
"Clarissa, send an Ordnance to Dunkelfelger. Tell them the enemy has staves. They probably already know, but..."
Hearing Leonore's instructions, I turned my gaze toward the building into which the Dunkelfelger knights had rushed. I could see windows flashing here and there from mana blasts. In some places, the windows had even been blown out. I could also hear Aub Dunkelfelger's excited voice shouting, "Do you think that kind of thing can stop my attack!?"
Even as that was happening, more prisoners were being brought out by the Dunkelfelger knights. Regarding the prisoner who had been bound with a light band, Leonore instructed the Dunkelfelger knights, "The enemy possesses a great deal of mana and staves. Please deal with them accordingly."
Unlike the Lanzenave soldiers who had ravaged Arensbach while lacking mana, the knights were told. To prevent escape, they twisted the prisoners' arms and legs and bound them tightly. Leonore kept her shield raised with Gettilt while staring intently at the prisoners groaning in pain with a stern look.