Chapter 88 – Royal Capital Search-and-Destroy Operation Part 2

Editor: Thor’s Stone

“………Alan, did you really get appointed as this kingdom’s Lord Protector?”

“Yeah, that’s right. But my authority only extends to the subjugations of bandits and criminal elements around the capital, and my appointment will only last until we’ve accomplished the royal order.

I’m not that familiar with that Lord Protector position. What’s it about anyway?”

“The Lord Protector is a position as powerful as the prime minister when it comes to matters involving a country’s defense. Usually, the ones appointed into the position are nobles with territories near borders and are permitted to deal with enemies who have crossed the border even without waiting for the king’s orders. In addition, they can also mobilize the personal troops of surrounding nobles to aid in national defense.”

“Hou, that’s kind of amazing! So does that mean I’m allowed to mobilize the city garrison?”

“Of course, something like that should be possible. However, you normally cannot be appointed as Lord Protector unless you are a senior noble of notable repute who is close to the royal family……”

I then talked about how my wine was poisoned, and that the prime minister was most likely involved. I conjectured that in order to serve as his alibi for the assassination attempt, the prime minister merely pretended to hold me in high esteem.

“I see…… That does seem to be quite likely.”

“In any case, I plan to make good use of this Lord Protector position.

I really don’t like our current situation. Everyone’s on edge while constantly watching out for possible attacks. In order to overcome this situation, we first need to get rid of the bandits and other criminal elements lurking around the capital.

We will carry out a strict crackdown so that nobody would think of messing around with us any longer.”

After my declaration, everyone responded with nods while sporting spirited looks.

After arriving at the royal capital, we’ve constantly stationed forty Clan members at the inn where the main party was staying to stand guard. Of course, having guards were necessary for this situation, but forty was still a bit too much.

And on top of that, I wasn’t able to freely go out to the city alone as well. Now that I’ve become a genuine noble, going out alone would be even more difficult, but I still wanted a little bit more freedom anyway.

Most of the current info Iris managed to gather was sourced from local pubs. The information we have gathered is most likely just the tip of a larger iceberg.

However, we’ve already pinpointed a couple hundred criminals operating in this city. I’m sure we’ll have more info soon after catching all of them.

“We’ll start the hunt by tomorrow. For efficiency’s sake, we will make use of the three Satellite teams present here to serve as three separate subjugation teams. A Team will be led by Selena, B Team by Sharon, and C Team would be personally led by me.”

Afterward, we proceeded to divide into three teams as planned while continuing to discuss the specifics of the operation.

Since the inn can’t be left completely unguarded, each team had only twenty-five members, with Cleria and Dalshim serving as assistants to Selena and her A Team, and Elna and Walter assisting Sharon and her B Team. The inn would be guarded by the remaining fifteen members.

If possible, I wanted to conduct the bandit subjugation operation with cooperation from the city garrison. And since it wasn’t a good idea for Selena, Sharon, Elna, and Cleria to stand out too much, Dalshim and Walter will pretend to act as the team leaders during the operation.

After deciding that the other details would be discussed later, the impromptu meeting was brought to a close.

I returned to my room and had a brief meeting with Selena, Sharon, and Iris regarding tomorrow’s operation as well. With that, the preparations are finished.

『Captain, they’ve discovered the breakout.』

(Finally huh. In the end, they didn’t manage to notice until the next guard shift.)

Footage of the castle interior was displayed on a virtual window showing people frantically moving about near the vicinity of the castle dungeon. It was taken forty minutes past midnight, just before the regular shift change.

The passage leading to the castle dungeon only led to it alone. I did think they wouldn’t manage to find out until a certain point since no one passes through the passage except for those involved in the dungeon, but I didn’t think it would last until the next shift change.

Maybe it’s because of the day’s events like the title conferment ceremony and the commotion created by a dragon appearing. I think it would be a good idea to tighten security a bit more in the future, guys. Just saying.

Now then, what will happen next? Since people dressed as ladies-in-waiting perpetrated the breakout, maybe I’d get suspected as well since I brought female attendants with me.

In any case, it would be necessary to strengthen drone surveillance.

(Keep monitoring the soldiers. Please inform me immediately once you detect any sort of movement from them.)

『Roger.』

Worrying wouldn’t help at this point, so I just decided to go ahead and get some shut-eye.

The next morning, while I was having breakfast with everyone, I received a transmission from Iris.

『Captain, there is movement from the soldier’s side.』

(What!?)

A live feed was projected from a virtual window showing a group of soldiers coming out of the castle. They numbered about thirty or so, and some were on horseback.

The soldiers were heading in the direction of the inn we were staying at. ……Yeah, it looks like they were heading straight for us.

I got worried for a moment while thinking that they might have found incriminating evidence pointing to us as the perpetrators of the breakout and were now moving to apprehend us, but after regaining my cool, I dismissed that conjecture.

Thirty or so soldiers were too small a number. If they wanted to apprehend a reputed adventurer Clan like us, they would have to bring at least a hundred and fifty people.

“Everyone, be on your guard. It looks like thirty or so soldiers are heading straight for this inn.”

After my warning, two Clan members rushed out to warn the others staying at the other two inns. Furthermore, some members pulled out the four large cargo boxes that we placed in the innermost room. Inside them were spare swords, shields, bows, and arrows.

We prepared them in case of an attack on the inn, but we most likely won’t be making use of them at this point.

A few minutes later, the group of soldiers finally arrived in front of the inn and began to line up in an orderly manner. It looks like they really didn’t come here to apprehend us. Did they simply want to get in contact with me or something?

“Alan-sama, members of the city garrison have come to visit you.”

“Right. I shall meet with them.”

When I went out of the inn, I found thirty or so soldiers lining up and kneeling on the street. Five men who seemed to be their captains were kneeling at the very front.

I’ve already met the one at the center of the group during yesterday’s conferment ceremony. He introduced himself to me yesterday as Sir Hermann Bahr, and his name was now displayed in bold font on top of his head.

He was a man who looked to be in his fifties sporting a fearless countenance and dressed in crisp military attire.

Next to the knight was Ralph, the captain of the guards stationed at the city gate of the royal capital I met the other day.

“We’re sorry to disturb you so early in the morning, Your Excellency. I serve as the corps commander of the royal capital defense forces. My name is Hermann Bahr.”

“Good morning, Sir Bahr. So you were actually a part of the military.”

“Your Excellency, there is no need for you to address me in such a polite manner. If you address me in such a way in your capacity as Lord Protector, it would only cause confusion among the ranks.”

“……That is true, Hermann. Forgive me. So what is your business with me today?”

“I received an order from His Majesty the King to assist you, Your Excellency. I thought it would seem rude to come to you so early in the morning, but I am obligated to do my best in fulfilling the royal order. I concluded that it would be best for me to meet up with you as soon as possible, and so, we have come before you with all haste.”

“I see. That is truly convenient. Actually, I was already thinking of getting in contact with you as well. We have decided to begin capturing bandits and criminal elements today. By the way, how many soldiers can you gather in an hour or so?”

“……We can manage to gather about three hundred or so in that time.”

“No, three hundred is too many. Alright then. Can you prepare three units consisting of 40 people each, for a total of 120 people? Also, it would help if you prepared some chains or ropes for securing the captured bandits as well.”

“Yes, understood.”

One of the soldier captains kneeling beside Hermann exchanged looks with him, got up, and rushed away on his horse to carry out my request.