The Water Magician

"Demons' kin..."

Zack squeezed out the words.

"Oh... so you understand that much. Hm? By the way, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Orenju. I'm one of Lord Garwin's four generals. And you, captain, what is your name?"

"Zack."

In response to Orenju's question, Zack answered honestly.

Right now, he needed every second he could get.

He had to grasp the situation and think of a way to escape.

Zack faced Orenju.

Scotty stood against two figures that had emerged from the shadows.

The three who came out of the mansion with Orenju were tying up the three who had been defeated earlier.

"Are you capturing those three to take them somewhere? For demons' kin, you're not being very subtle."

While extracting information, Zack deliberately asked to buy some time.

"Information is important, you know? We need to investigate those guys and figure out which faction, or who, has what level of information."

"That appearance doesn't suit you."

"Do you want me to kill you right now?"

Zack unintentionally voiced his thoughts, prompting Orenju to retort with a twitch of his cheek.

Even while they spoke, Zack remained on guard against Orenju's sword, which was still brought down.

"If you're not bringing out the mage with the water magic after talking for this long, does that mean he's not here this time? I won't be greedy and ask for both of them, but isn't at least one of them missing?"

"Why do you ask that?"

Orenju feigned a casual look around as he questioned Zack, who grimaced and retorted.

"That's obvious. It's because it's fun. Both of those water mages are quite formidable. No, at least as far as I know, they are quite something. I don't know the current level of the water mage, but if they're that skilled, it would be enjoyable to fight them."

"I see. They could be around here somewhere."

Zack answered vaguely to Orenju's explanation.

There was no need to explicitly reveal the truth.

If they thought there could be a powerful ally nearby, they might hesitate to take decisive action.

However...

"Hmph, that's a lie. So they're not here, huh? What a pity."

"…"

"That said, you do understand that two swordsmen alone can't handle this situation? Why were you chasing us?"

"I have no intention of answering!"

"Hmm. You don't plan to defeat us... obviously, you don't intend to capture us either... So it's reconnaissance, isn’t it? You know my power... Ah, are you checking whether I am here? Is that it? Here in Wingston? I see..."

Orenju said that much and took a breath.

Then he displayed a sinister smile.

"And you've realized the connection with the ducal house, huh?"

"!"

That was a definitive statement in many ways.

It made it clear that there was a connection between the demons and the ducal house.

But at the same time, it revealed to the demons that the kingdom had noticed that connection.

In other words, this meant that both factions were about to engage in a serious confrontation...

At that moment, it became a situation from which neither faction could retreat.

That was the situation.

(This is... something I have to report, no matter what)

Zack grimaced inwardly.

If both he and Scotty were defeated or captured here and could not report, the demons would unilaterally know that the kingdom had discovered the connection between the ducal house and the demons.

They would take the initiative in the upcoming large-scale actions.

That would be extremely problematic.

It was problematic, but...

(Both Scotty and I have a high probability of not being able to escape this situation... right?)

Zack understood the power difference between himself and the demons' kin in front of him.

At the very least, he knew he was not a match for them.

If that was the case, it would be more likely for Scotty to escape the situation and deliver the report.

Making that judgment, he glanced at Scotty.

Scotty must have understood the same thing.

He looked toward Zack.

However, he shook his head slightly.

Scotty seemed to be dealing with a troublesome opponent as well.

It was natural that even if they were not one of the four generals, facing two of the demons' kin would be a challenge.