Chapter 75

The raid on the Vafan group, who attempted to assassinate Terry, Warner, and Fel, began.

First, the soldiers guarding the town forced open the door of the mansion, which served as the group's hideout.

From there, it turned into a violent confrontation, with the soldiers barging in with their initial momentum.

The Vafan group couldn't respond in time and were pushed away from the entrances, shouting in anger.

At the same time, the back door was being forced open, which would further add to the chaos inside.

"Is the prince really going to go in?"

Levan looked clearly reluctant.

"If I get hurt, I won't hide the fact that I'm injured, so it won't become a liability. Besides, there's something I can do, so I'm here. Come on, let's go."

The entrance was still a scene of soldiers pushing and shoving.

We walked past them and headed to the neighboring house.

After the raid began, the nearby residents were informed of the situation and told to stay inside their homes.

The neighboring building was not a residence but an office of some merchant guild, which had not been informed.

However, for some reason, there were people there even at night.

"Closing the shutters and curtains so tightly that no light leaks from the outside means they have something to hide."

Herkov knew that someone was watching from the other side of the door and deliberately spoke out loud.

Reacting to the words, the person was caught off guard, and Herkov kicked the door open with force, inserted his arm, and unlocked it to enter.

Hearing the noise, a man with a scar on his face, holding a piece of wood that could be used as a weapon, came out from deeper inside.

Wearrel, who had been hiding behind Herkov, blew the man away with a wind spell.

He then used the same wind to knock another man who had appeared from deeper inside, subduing both.

The person who had been attached to the door was knocked out and silenced by Herkov.

"Huh? We're just a normal merchant guild during the day, and we're not doing anything illegal..."

Levan had a clearly reluctant and sour expression.

When I investigated for today, I also heard that there was no illegal activity and no overt involvement.

But Sefira said there were people here at night.

Suspecting something, I had them search for a hidden passage, and bingo, there was a door disguised as a wall connecting the neighboring Vafan group to this merchant guild.

"If Princess Asha hadn't noticed, they could have escaped from here."

Icto spoke to the flustered Levan from the end of the corridor.

After Wearrel's wind spell, he immediately followed Herkov into the building.

He then guarded against the new enemies that appeared after the fallen ones, and immediately silenced them with his fists.

"We've already confirmed that there's no back door in this building, so let's block the hidden door before more enemies come."

Wearrel hit another enemy with wind while Icto was focused on the new enemies.

In this way, they managed to take down four more people before reaching the stairs.

"There are more than we expected. Maybe they caught wind of our investigation."

Herkov grumbled, pointing his bear nose upstairs.

It seemed there were still people upstairs.

"If we control the stairs, we can cut off their escape route, so let's not overexert ourselves."

I said this out of concern, but no one had taken a single hit yet.

Moreover, they hadn't even drawn their swords.

It might be because it's hard to use swords indoors, or maybe they're considering my safety.

And it seems the situation is under control to that extent.

"Hey, you mean we can only escape through the front door?"

Levan, who couldn't keep up, seemed to be unaware of the internal structure of the building.

I was in the back, both to keep up and to act as a rear guard.

"There's no other way out except through the neighboring building. But there's a hidden room underground."

"If you know that, we don't have to rush in, right?"

Levan seemed to want me to stay safe and not get involved too much.

"They've already dispersed their numbers, and we've allocated people to the back door. There aren't enough people, so the front door is still in a push-and-shove state. It's better for us to control one area."

"We could have let them escape to the underground room and then trapped them there."

Levan's suggestion could work.

They might hole up there until the heat dies down, but there was something that bothered me from my previous life.

"If they're hiding in a place with no escape, and they've committed a crime punishable by death, and their hiding place is exposed, isn't there a possibility that they'll never talk again?"

It's like in period dramas.

When their crimes are exposed, they go on a desperate rampage.

In fiction, there's a trial afterward, but in reality, if they launch a desperate attack, we might be killed before we can stop them.

Moreover, it would be problematic if they die in a barricaded room.

We should try to capture them alive.

"Hey, tutor? What kind of education are you giving the first prince? You're starting to say some dangerous things."

Levan, unable to argue with me, directed his frustration elsewhere.

When Herkov poked Wearrel, who was about to climb the stairs, Wearrel shook his head and pointed to Icto, who looked indifferent.

Well, maybe it's my fault?

"Everyone is experienced, so even if I haven't experienced it myself, there's plenty of room for imagination. But this is a dangerous place, so I don't think we should keep talking like this."

"Ah, yes."

Levan seemed tired of listening and fell silent.

Then I heard him mutter something.

"......I was supposed to be on lookout, right?"

While Levan was silent, we entered the second floor and approached the third floor, where the hidden door was.

Of course, there were enemies on the second floor to secure a retreat.

First, Herkov, with his prominent build, acted as a tank, and Wearrel, behind him, used magic to prevent enemies from getting close.

Icto, as a quick attacker, dealt with the slowed enemies, and if new enemies appeared, Herkov would cover them.

"Wow. Just by suggesting an idea, it turned into this. Are you all experienced in battle?"

"Hey, did the prince come up with this formation?"

Levan asked in a rather lackluster manner.

"It's not that I came up with it. I just wanted to minimize injuries. Wearrel, as the rear guard, should be the least injured. If he gets hurt, we should retreat. Icto, with high attack power, is a target, so it's better if he doesn't move. That way, he can also pay attention to me. So, Icto should be the last to move to attack safely."

In short, I'm just talking.

It's impressive that these three can execute this just from my suggestions.

While we were talking, we reached the third floor.

It seemed the enemies only went up to the second floor.

Sefira had scanned the area, and there was no one in the corridor.

"Since they'll just be caught up from the other building, I think a barricade in front of the room with the hidden door would be fine."

While I was listening, I subtly showed Levan two fingers, indicating the number of enemies inside.

They had already escaped through the hidden door to the neighboring building but were still hiding in the room, knowing we were coming from below.

According to Sefira, they were still at the hidden door.

"Let's go in and capture them. It will be useful material to silence them when we report to the Strategist Marquis."

"We will go in, but you must not come to the front. Do not even show your face from the shadow of the door."

Herkov and Icto made the decision and warned me.

"Then, I'll use magic to create an opening. I'll signal when the power inside is sufficiently weakened."

Wearrel joined in, raising his staff.

"Maybe we should have brought the marquis. It would have been impressive to bring the Vafan group's leader back unharmed with the young prince."

Levan muttered something ominous, perhaps about the hassle of reporting, but I pretended not to hear it.

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Next: Criminal Guild 4