I was briefly flustered by Blue Hydrangea’s proposal.

She would use support techniques for me.

Why?

Was it a scheme to pretend to show goodwill and make me lower my guard?

Or was it a plot to pretend to support me, then disturb my mana and make it run wild?

Several reasonable suspicions quickly passed through my head.

“I’ll be relying on you.”

However, in the end, I answered that way.

Objectively speaking, I was a fairly good employer.

If I were Blue Hydrangea, I would not betray me.

Thinking that way, it could be seen that Blue Hydrangea had first shown goodwill to me.

Because she had gone beyond the level of simply carrying out what she was told well and had even thought about what I might need.

Also, it really felt as though if I took just one more step now, I could fire the Electromagnetic Railgun.

Vmmm!

I floated the dagger into the air again.

Blue Hydrangea immediately approached and placed her hand on my shoulder.

“Support techniques deployed. ‘Aim correction,’ ‘mana stabilization,’ ‘trajectory maintenance,’ ‘recoil absorption,’ ‘heat control’...”

Unfamiliar words became unfamiliar sensations and wrapped around my body one after another.

A contradictory heat, cool yet burning, spread from my shoulder through my whole body.

In that instant, an illusion of vivid blue hydrangea petals scattering filled my sight.

The petals fluttered on the wind and mingled with the streaks of light, raising a blue vortex.

Wooooong!

I unfolded sword aura reinforcement again.

【Bodily Enhancement: 4.2】

【Neural Acceleration: 5.3】

Pale blue lightning reinforcement bloomed inside my body and strengthened my muscles and bones.

At the same time, I felt Blue Hydrangea’s support techniques.

“Ah.”

It was the sensation of another me, not myself, supporting my mana at my side at the same time.

The power connected so smoothly it was wondrous.

Woooong!

I added rotation to the dagger and strengthened the magnetic field.

The blue-green flame of ionized gas rose and excited the air.

Parrrrrr!

The dagger shook left and right, trembling as if it would burst out.

It seemed to struggle, yearning to be freed from my pulling force and shoot out on its own.

The dagger’s surface heated to blue-green and orange.

Pajijik, pajik!

The current wrapped around the dagger sparked in every direction.

There, my breath broke once.

My mana was being sucked out endlessly.

My lungs, which had seemed like a surging lake, emptied.

Suddenly, my half-brother came to mind.

How on earth had Traisan fired this in succession?

He would not have had the protection of the thunderous star, nor Blue Hydrangea’s support.

“Just a little more.”

I muttered without realizing it.

“Yes. Just a little more.”

I put strength into my eyes.

Blue Hydrangea added strength to the hand gripping my shoulder.

Drop, drop, drop.

The skin beneath my fingernails lifted, and drops of blood formed.

Smoke began to rise from beneath my split skin.

“Kh.”

I scraped together my remaining mana and added it to the magnetic field until the very end.

Amid my heart pounding as if it would burst, the whole world tightened around me.

This time, it will work.

It was the moment I believed that.

Pasusut!

“Ah!”

“Huh?”

The dagger suspended in the air shattered before my eyes.

The metal that had held a silver sheen turned red-hot in an instant, then crumbled into dozens of pieces of rust.

Tuk.

“Well.”

I smiled bitterly as I looked at the scattering something that “had been a dagger.”

My strength drained away.

“The metal could not withstand it. How unfortunate.”

Blue Hydrangea lowered her head as if she herself had failed.

Her sweat-soaked forehead and very stiff expression showed that she was sincere.

“Even though it was made of fairly good iron, it still ended like this.”

“I am sorry.”

“What are you talking about? If not for you, I would not even have grasped the feeling. I think I understand it now. Thank you.”

I tested her once.

If I were in a position where I had to make a good impression on someone and had gone so far as to support that person’s authority, only for that person to fail in the end, I would be inwardly anxious.

Because I might think it was my fault.

“As expected, gunfire arts have many useful skills. Can I get a discount for long-term employment? I want to travel together for about five years.”

“Yes. I will give you a discount. I will visit you again with a catalogue.”

I praised her, lifting the mood to an almost excessive degree.

Blue Hydrangea widened her eyes as if she had understood something, then smiled faintly.

I gathered the rust fragments scattered on the floor and threw them out the window.

Though I had failed, I did not feel regretful.

Either I fire faster, or I need a dedicated projectile that can endure the casting time.

Because I had seen a clear possibility.

That day’s practice ended there.

Blue Hydrangea was more exhausted than expected, and I also needed time to calm my overheated nerves.

“Please rest.”

“Right.”

She left the carriage.

“I ended up being comforted.”

A faint voice reached me.

It seemed she had underestimated a Blue Knight’s hearing.

So she was indeed my kind.

I smiled faintly and buried myself in the cushion.

“Lord, my lord!”

“Hm?”

After I had kept my eyes closed for a while, Joi came riding from the front of the procession.

“We have arrived, sir!”

I stuck my head out of the carriage window.

“Oh.”

At the end of the grassland, a massive city wall rose tall.

The red brick wall soaring into the sky shone solemnly under the sunlight.

A land not ruled by great houses.

A free city.

Before the city gate, the long inspection line stretched endlessly.

Carts, merchants, and wandering mercenaries were packed together and murmuring.

“It is taking a long time.”

Erica, who had returned to the carriage, muttered as if bored.

I felt cold sweat running down my spine.

She was a direct line of a great house.

It would not be strange if she immediately fired an Air Cannon toward that city gate or shot wind blades wildly at the people in the front of the line.

No. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that her not doing so right now was what was strange.

“It is likely because this is a free city. Since no blood relative of a great house protects them, they have no choice but to watch one another and guarantee everyone’s safety.”

Blue Hydrangea swiftly answered.

A way of speaking that naturally elevated Erica and the blood relatives of great houses.

I inwardly admired that skill.

“Rebellion has a population exceeding eight hundred thousand. Compared to Rikentrion, it is a remote village on the frontier, but it is still a major foothold of the Free Cities Union and an important city where even the Elector Princes Council will be held. This is a procedure for the safety of Your Highness and your attendants, so please understand.”

“This queen protects this queen’s own safety.”

Erica raised her eyebrows slightly, perhaps trying to assert her pride.

Because the direct lines of great houses followed a strange rule that, in order to show dignity, they must not acknowledge even correct words all at once.

Even so, Blue Hydrangea did not withdraw her smile.

“That is so. But protecting the freedom of even those who cannot do that to be safe—is that not also the mercy bestowed by the apostle of the Storm Star?”

The tension on Erica’s shoulders slowly loosened.

“The name Rebellion, too, is connected to Rikenta. Both mean freedom in the language of the Ancient Empire.”

Blue Hydrangea immediately continued the story.

“A great deal of niter is produced here. It is said that the city’s scholars were granted the right to freely study that niter, and even now, more than forty percent of the marksman school’s gunpowder is supplied from this place.”

Her amiable tone, trustworthy appearance, and historical story that stirred just the right amount of curiosity softened Erica’s expression little by little.

It was a skill that made me want to give her a standing ovation.

I inwardly let out a sigh of relief.

With this, the bloodbath had been annihilated.

Even to me, it was a scene unimaginable in the domain of a great house.

Because the very idea of inspecting the procession of a Blue Knight or a Navigator was a crime of irreverence.

Unless those bastards are insane, they would not pick a fight with an army totaling nearly a hundred thousand.

Of course, we also had no reason to make a disturbance in a city where the Elector Princes Council would soon be held.

It would be over soon.

It was the moment I thought that.

Rumble!

Dark clouds gathered, and thunderclouds tangled black above the city gate.

Lightning split in orange and raced across the sky.

[“You treat this eldest son of thunder like a fool? The entry fee for a hundred people is ten gold coins, but the entry fee for a thousand people is three hundred gold coins? What country’s mathematics do I have to use for that number to come out!”]

Heavenly Thunder Voice.

A highest-tier authority of electric arts, speaking by borrowing the sound of thunder.

A thunderous voice growled over the city gate.

“Joi!”

“Yes, my lord!”

I immediately jumped down from the carriage.

I mounted a random horse and rode toward the front of the city gate, where black smoke was already rising.

“Aaaaaaagh!”

“Run!”

“A Blue Knight is rampaging!”

The checkpoint was already in chaos.

Dozens of guards were rolling on the ground, electrocuted.

An official who seemed to be a tax collector was suspended in midair, held by the collar by Nereus.

The official flailed his arms and legs and explained something, but Nereus looked ready to break all those limbs and chew him alive.

“Nereus!”

When I called him, his head slowly turned.

The lightning of rage blazed in his eyes.

“One-eye...! Are you perhaps His Highness Kyrie the Lightning Blade?”

Another official hurriedly ran toward me.

“Yes. I am Kyrie.”

He bowed deeply as if he had seen a savior.

He politely explained the regulation that the entry fee increased exponentially according to the number of people.

“That much?”

“...Yes. Since the more people there are, the higher the probability of disorder breaking out inside the city, it is an unavoidable measure.”

I listened to that explanation and looked back at Nereus.

Nereus looked ready to pull the tax collector’s arms and legs out like a crab.

The soldiers, and the other people who had been standing in line, were all so terrified that they could not even think of running away and were trembling.

“Put him down. Nereus.”

I said it firmly, praying that the bastard would not strike me with Heavenly Thunderbolt.

If this had been during the academy days, I might have charged at him while saying this bastard can die and you can die too.

“To begin with, your army does not need to enter inside all together. Your mission is to handle the demonic beasts swarming the route that leads to Astreos, isn’t it? Set up camp outside, take only a few soldiers inside, buy the necessary supplies, and then depart at once.”

Nereus did not answer.

But the thunderclouds in the sky slowly scattered.

Thank goodness.

“I will do that.”

The bastard threw the tax collector aside like a stone.

The tax collector trembled, then pointed at Nereus and shouted.

“S-such tyranny! From now on, no city of the Free Cities Union will accept you!”

“...”

This was a natural death.

“Grrrrr!”

Nereus called lightning.

I inwardly let out a deep sigh and thought.

It was different.

An air completely different from the domain of a great house.

An attitude of believing that one could assert one’s own claim to a Blue Knight without anyone dying.

This place was the free city Rebellion.

“How many coins did you pay?”

“I brought all fifteen thousand of mine inside, so I paid almost five thousand coins.”

“Ha, mad bastards. Paying money that could buy even a highest-tier magic tool just to enter once.”

I was walking along Rebellion’s main avenue with Nereus, Erica, and Blue Hydrangea.

Only around a thousand of Nereus’s soldiers had entered the city to buy food and supplies, and the rest had set up camp outside the walls.

All of Erica’s and my soldiers had entered the city and set up camp in a large vacant lot near the city wall.

Right now, we were searching for a large, high-class inn where the command staff could stay.

Shouldn’t we share hardships with the soldiers?

I want to rest too.

They say the lords are all moving to lodgings?

Really? I’m so, so sad that my laughter, no. My tears won’t stop!

Bring me the list for outings and overnight leave!

Strangely, the soldiers liked it too, so it was good anyway.

“...They will keep public order that well. You remember earlier. They told us to step on the red star and enter.”

“Measures against the Dawn Council?”

Though Nereus wore a displeased expression at my words, he nodded.

“The two thousand sisters Ortupios called are all staying in this city. Tomorrow, I will meet the Golden Rose cadet, convey the situation, and pay my respects to His Excellency.”

“Do so.”

Blue Hydrangea quickly reported the schedule.

“It is beautiful.”

Erica looked around the city and admired it.

“It is.”

I could not deny it either.

Rebellion was a splendid city.

Stone insulae, orderly sewers, clock towers rising at regular intervals, and the separation of sidewalks and carriageways.

The entire city overflowed with vitality.

It was not splendidly decorated for nobles, but overflowed with order and vigor for all citizens.

“To maintain this much, would they not have to take that much?”

I glanced at Nereus and threw out a pointed question.

But I did not hear his answer.

[“■■■■■■■-!”]

Because a thunderous mental wave rang out a few blocks ahead.

“Ugh!”

“What is this?”

“Kraaaagh!”

In an instant, my vision spun, and vomit surged up to my throat.

“Keuk!”

I supported Erica and dropped to one knee on the paved main avenue.

My head rang as if it would split apart.

I soon knew what had happened.

There was no need to deliberately focus mana into Bio-radar.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

With every step, the entire main avenue trembled.

A massive shadow appeared between the insulae.

It was a mutant demonic beast.

Its form was giant-shaped, and it had no skin.

The muscles of its whole body were exposed in a reddish color, and ivory bones jutted sharply from every gap.

On its back, dozens of bizarre protrusions where spinal bones had transformed like tentacles dangled and swayed.

Its height rivaled a five-story insula.

Its head looked like a shattered skull, and something flashing seethed inside the dark red holes.

Chiiiiik!

Every time it moved, hot bodily fluid streamed down onto the road.

“Kyaaaaaaagh!”

“Aaaaaaagh!”

“What is that?!”

Citizens’ screams burst from every direction.

“How wonderfully safe.”

Nereus let out a hearty laugh.

Damn it.

I immediately drew a throwing dagger from my waist.

I was not yet confident in the Electromagnetic Railgun.

But I had a new technique.

First, I unfolded “Magnetic Railshot with lightning reinforcement.”

The process of infusing lightning reinforcement into Magnetic Railshot was the same as the existing “lightning reinforcement.”

However, I raised a magnetic field over its surface and trapped the radiant heat.

In an instant, pale blue ionized gas wrapped around the dagger like flame.

Fwoooosh!

Magnetic Railshot ionized gas.

I took precise aim at the mutant demonic beast’s skull-like head and fired the dagger with all my strength.

Chapter 201

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