Editing Sorcery Hacker:Volume4 Phase01 (section)

===Part 3===

The boom and shockwave erupted out a moment later. Those muscles shrugged off the drop of 50 esoule<ref>Approximately 60 meters.</ref>. If she could fall that far and survive, then why was that righteous idiot usually so afraid of heights!?

The battle had begun.

And this battle was entirely meaningless for Ayato’s side. Victory here would be costly and bring them nothing in return.

Teleria had gone entirely pale.

“Ah, ahhhhhh! Ayato, Ayato, you need to do something!”

“Like go on a vacation? Yes, to a peaceful world with no conflict to be found.”

“Stop staring into the distance and start dealing with reality. Henrietta is in trouble if you don’t!!”

This was a risk he had accepted from the moment he decided to bring along that righteous woman who hated sneaking around.

It gave him an awful headache, but nothing Henrietta had said was wrong.

He also wanted to save the young boy whose only crime was leaving the poverty he had been forced to live in.

Henrietta wasn’t all talk and she wasn’t irresponsibly making the argument while safely sheltered from any danger to herself.

She had ''taken action'' for nothing more than that.

It didn’t matter that she was up against the center of the kingdom and an elite organization that was ranked far above her in the hierarchy.

And Ayato had become a Sorcery Hacker because he refused to live in a world that rejected the people who could act on such righteous fury.

So it was an easy decision for him.

“Miss Teleria. And Miss Mamilis.”

Ayato Criminaltrophy calmly drew the linkage plug from his hip.

And he spoke.

“''I’m counting on you.''”

He gave the two girls’ backs a shove and then jumped down from the broken stone bridge with them.

They began a 50 esoule<ref>Approximately 60 meters.</ref> dive.

“Kyahhhhhhhhh!?”

“Miss Teleria, fire Secondary Splash straight down. Immediately!!”

A few silencer-muffled gunshots rang out. Bluish-white light stabbed into the grassy plain before spreading out into a magic circle from which a tremendous amount of water erupted vertically. That water magic was meant to flip over or topple heavy barricades. Ayato, Teleria, and Mamilis landed gently on the makeshift cushion, although they were soaked in the process.

The battle had already begun.

In fact, temporary buildings and containers were flying through the air.

“What is that? Her brute strength scares me,” muttered Mamilis expressionlessly with her full-auto shotgun in hand.

More and more sounds of destruction reached their ears.

Despite being equipped with a sorcery gun, Henrietta was grappling head on with the ferocious Nidhogg. She was actually getting along equal to, if not better than, the ferocious dragon which forcibly compressed its massive muscles and bones down to only 9 esoule<ref>Approximately 10.8 meters.</ref> around its ultra-massive heart. Her protector-style armor was reinforced with monster leather and tendons and she could magically boost her strength, but this was taking it too far.

“Stronger: Primary Ex Massive.”

Henrietta gritted her teeth.

The Striker kept her eyes on who she needed to protect as her bolt-action carbine gave another roar.

“Stronger and stronger!! Primary Ex Massive!!!”

In what sounded like an explosion, the axe-like bayonet caught the dragon on the side of its jaw and the Nidhogg released a scream of agony. The look in Mamilis’s eyes said she was questioning whether they had even needed to come to Henrietta’s aid. But that tamer wasn’t the only Royal Guard here. While Henrietta continued grappling with the dragon, she would be taken out by a shot from an anti-dragon rifle.

Ayato adjusted his grip on his linkage plug.

He had to deal with this right away.

He stabbed the linkage plug sword into various objects, releasing the blade each time.

(Outdoor lights, the barricade’s contact sensor, and the air purifier being me to level 10!!)

“Miss Henrietta! Create an opening for me!!”

“Do not order me around, dangerous individual!”

Henrietta complained, but she still did as asked. She swung down her axe-like bayonet from above, slamming the 9-esoule<ref>Approximately 10.8 meters.</ref> Nidhogg’s jaws to the grassy ground.

Ayato stepped on the forcibly grounded head and leaped. His target was the Royal Guard tamer.

Specifically, the pheromone mixer shaped like a thick baton. The sorcery device could control even dragons if its settings were just right.

He stabbed it and hijacked control.

Of course, all he needed to do was shut it off.

“''Reclaim your wild instincts''.”

“Wahh!?”

It was like a dark explosion.

The unleashed Nidhogg violently swung its body around, forcibly throwing off the Royal Guard who had been riding it. The powerful sniper shot meant for Henrietta also missed its mark. The quake-like vertical tremor must have thrown off the shooter’s aim.

Ayato didn’t try to fight it and jumped down from the dragon’s back.

“Miss Mamilis, switch to full-auto and fire Primary Blaze toward all the snipers! You don’t have to hit them, just spray enough fire magic to scare them into hiding behind their shields!!”

“Got it, coach.”

“And Miss Henrietta, are you a dragon slayer from a children’s storybook? If not, then secure Geranud. That is your top priority! We scared them into letting him go!!”

“That goes without saying.”

With that short response, she ran. The ground exploded.

A Royal Guard was reaching out toward cowering Geranud, but Henrietta’s tackle sent him flying more than 10 esoule<ref>Approximately 12 meters.</ref>. Like he had been hit by a car.

“What is this travesty?” asked a voice.

It was a quiet female voice. Did the tea scent wafting from her hair mean she had been resting indoors until now?

“And you call yourselves the famous Royal Guards who directly serve the royal palace? If royal authority is seen to pale, it will confuse the people and lead to even more crime. I thought you wielded your sorcery guns because you understood the great responsibility you bear.”

“14th Princess Carrisy…”

“None of that,” she cut them off. “As long as I wear this armor, I am no more than a Royal Guard who has dedicated her life to protecting the capital.”

“Stay back, Geranud!!”

Henrietta immediately hid the small boy behind herself, adjusted her grip on her bolt-action carbine, and charged toward this new enemy.

Her boosted strength was enough to grapple with a Nidhogg and to send Royal Guards flying with a tackle.

But there was no boom this time.

The instant Henrietta made contact, she lightly flipped around.

“Eh?”

Did that exclamation come from Henrietta or from 3025th Prince Geranud?

The Striker slammed back-first into the grass and began rolling, tearing up the dark soil like her momentum had suddenly remembered to affect her. Her great strength had worked against her.

Mamilis immediately swung her full-auto shotgun that way, but Teleria stopped her, using one of her handguns to raise the shotgun barrel.

The dark elf looked puzzled, but the ringlets woman grinned.

“A wise decision. Lay your finger on the trigger and I would be forced to draw my own sorcery gun.”

Or to put it another way, ''she had not even drawn hers yet.

That alone hinted at the extent of her skill. Was that the result of her efforts to provide the necessary qualities for a guardian of the capital? Ayato noticed something else as well.

She reminded him a lot of himself back when he had held the devil’s revolver.

“Why would you oppose us? A backwater knight like you may be a noble, but only just.”

14th Princess Carrisy remained on guard.

Standing tall, she spoke to collapsed and muddy Henrietta.

“We are the center of the center – the foundation of the palace’s defense. We serve the Combined Royal Family directly. Even without my position in the line of succession, my position as a Royal Guard places me above you. Did you not consider the possibility of having your house’s noble status revoked?”

“Kh.”

Henrietta clenched her teeth.

A knight or noble’s top priority may have been to use their service to the realm to increase their territory, have children to ensure the future prosperity of their line, and expand their house.

But the muddy Striker didn’t hesitate.

“There is a 6-year-old girl named Isabella here.”

“?”

“The boy named Geranud came here in search of her, along with several other children. They were worried for her and wanted to find her as soon as possible and ''that’s all.'' …Is this your idea of guarding the capital? You don’t want anyone to see the disgraceful state of the train and you are willing to silence young lives to cover it up? Did you really think House Destrius would be cowed by the likes of you? Are you trying to insult the butlers and maids who serve my house out of trust and the people who have chosen to settle in our territory by implying they are the sort of scum who would rejoice to learn they have benefited from such ugly collusion!?”

14th Princess Carrisy said nothing.

And.

Without a sound, she turned her head to look at her subordinates.

“''No one told me about any children.''”

“Eh? Um…”

They didn’t get any further than that.

A cacophony of violence continued for some time.

Dark Elf Mamilis gently placed a hand over 3025th Prince Geranud’s eyes.

As 14th Princess Carrisy changed targets and proved she ruled her unit with an iron fist (quite literally thanks to her thick armor), it was Henrietta whose eyes widened.

“Hey, wait! What do you think you’re doing!?”

“My deepest apologies.”

Henrietta couldn’t believe her eyes.

Once she was done, 14th Princess Carrisy bowed while still gripping a subordinate by the collar.

The class system separating royals, knights, and commoners was absolute.

Yet a royal princess at the top was now bowing deeply to a regional knight.

“This was entirely on me and my failure to educate my guards. Is Geranud that boy there? Good, he does not appear injured. I do not know about the Isabella girl or any other children. If you don’t mind, could you check on them yourself? I am sure you would trust your own eyes more than any word from me.”

“You mean you’ll let us all go?” asked Ayato, his hand still cautiously on his linkage plug sword.

This would hardly be funny if this was all a ploy to buy enough time to snipe them with anti-dragon rifles.

But 14th Princess Carrisy clicked her tongue in what seemed like legitimate annoyance.

“Something’s already screwed up when the Royal Guards are out here instead of inside the capital keeping the royal family safe. This isn’t supposed to be our job. They sent us out here to investigate the crash because the train was a royal’s toy, but I was against it from the start.”

“B-but, princess. 3rd Prince Hemmij said-”

The cacophony of violence resumed for a moment.

14th Princess Carrisy unclenched her iron fist and waved her hand dismissively.

“''Besides.'' Why should I have to clean up after my incompetent ''brother''’s mess? The Royal Guards are meant to act as royal bodyguards, not this. We’re leaving, everyone. That stupid prince is too much of a coward to leave the miniature garden he’s built for himself. I’ll tell him to head out here himself if he wants to collect his trash.”

The blonde ringlets princess added “one more thing” and briefly paused.

She turned toward Ayato.

“We were at fault here. I will assume your sorcery hacking was an emergency measure necessary to save Isabella, Geranud, and the other young lives. So I will overlook it.”

“…”

“''But do not even think about using that inside the capital, filthy sorcery criminal.'' Fail to heed my warning and I will be forced to draw my sorcery gun.”