I’m Not Good at Offensive Magic, but I’ll Do My Best With Support Magic!

The knights surrounded us in controlled movements, leaving no room for escape.

「All of you, freeze」

The owner of the echoing voice was instantly recognizable as the female knight of high rank.

The voice causes us and the knights of the lord to stop moving.

Then, from among the knights, a woman in a beautiful pure white dress emerged.

She has wavy golden hair, a beautifully shaped face that even I would admire, and all the parts are calculated to make her look like a beautiful work of art.

「Eh, Emeria-sama!」

In front of the person, Snow-san kneels down and bows her head deeply.

「Imperial Princess…」

It’s clear to see that she is Snow-san’s Lord.

Like Snow-san, Kiara-chan and I kneel down and bow our heads. We are both imitating Snow-san’s example, so we look awkward, but is that okay?

And Shia-san… is still keeping the knights in check. She pretends not to notice.

「Snow, explain the situation」
「Ha!」

Snow-san informs the Imperial Princess of what has happened so far.

The Imperial Princess nodded slowly at the report.

「You, the knight over there, summon your lord here」
「But…」
「Couldn’t you hear Emeria-sama’s orders!」

The knight, who was standing right next to the Imperial Princess, shouted a warning. The echoing voice almost makes my body shrivel up.

「I-I understand!」

Tangling his feet, the lord’s knight disappear into the pavilion.

「Thanks for your efforts, Snow」
「Yes, but Commander Ellen. Aren’t things happening differently than we planned?」
「No, we’re right on schedule」

It seemed that Snow-san did not know what was happening now. From what Snow-san said, it seems that the person talking to Snow-san is Snow-san’s superior and the Commander of the Imperial Princess’s Knight Order.

「Well, well, well, if it isn’t the 2nd Imperial Princess Emeria-sama!」

For a moment I thought an Orc had appeared.

However, I can tell it is a human being because it is wearing sparkling clothes and has an expensive-looking ring on its finger. Though he is as fat as an Orc!

「It’s been a long time, Uncle」
「Yes. When I met you before, you were just an infant, but you have grown up beautiful」
「No need for pleasantries. I heard there was a commotion going on, so I stepped in. Can you please explain?」
「I too am not sure what is going on all of a sudden. Wouldn’t it be better to ask the assailants there for more details?」

Apparently, that man is the lord. That lord looks at us with hatred. But we haven’t done anything wrong, have we?

「I understand. Ellen, take these people away」
「Ha! Seize these people!」

The knights surrounding us narrow the encirclement.

「We will not do anything against you. Please just keep quiet and follow us for now」

The Imperial Princess murmured quietly to us, to which I gave a small nod without making a sound.

「Emeria-sama, please wait」
「Yes?」
「I am in charge of this city. Therefore, I will judge them」
「No, far from it」
「…… May I ask why? Without a good reason, even if it’s the Imperial Princess, I can’t be convinced, no?」
「A good reason」
「Yes, I am only trying to push this forward as much as I can. Of course there has to be, right?」

I don’t think this is appropriate attitude towards the Imperial Princess. Is it because he is a member of the hardliners?

「There isn’t」
「Well then…」
「But there doesn’t have to be a good reason. Because you are done for」
「What are you…」
「Emeria-sama, we found it!」

From behind the lord’s back…a woman appeared from inside the mansion. In her hand are several sheets of paper.

「Well done」

The lord’s face paled as he looked at her. Surely those papers are something he wouldn’t want people to see, or maybe they shouldn’t be seen.

「S-Seize that girl!」

The lord instructs the knights.

「I told you not to move」

Fast.

At the same time the knights moved, Snow-san’s superior, Ellen-san, moved.

「Gaa!」
「Fugo!」

With a brief scream, the knights fall.

Five knights were instantly incapacitated before they could reach the woman with the papers. They were with their lord, and I think they are not weak knights, but it was instantaneous.

「Still resisting?」
「Ku… This is the time to be in a positive mood. Imperial Prince Orstia won’t stand idly by」
「Older brother? Are you saying that older brother is involved in this matter?」

It was clearly a slip of the tongue that came out when he was cornered. The lord rushes to hold his tongue, but everyone present has heard it.

「Then, let’s go」

With the knights in tow, the Imperial Princess started to walk away, and we followed her as if we were being taken away.

Although I say “taken away,” we are not tied up, and our bodies are free.

「Emeria-sama, are you sure about the lord?」
「Yes, no matter how desperate he is, it’s all over. Now that he has mentioned older brother’s name, he is not so naive as to overlook it」

The Imperial Princess seems to have a good idea of what to expect from the lord.

As soon as the Imperial Princess said so, I caught a person leaving the lord’s mansion with my sensing magic.

They are not as fast as Shia-san at full speed, but they are moving away from us quite fast.

「Ku, don’t you ever forget that you messed with the hardliners! And you, you little girls, will eventually regret raising your hands against me, a Duke!」

He is barking something, but we cannot respond because we are being taken away by the Imperial Princess.

But shouldn’t we do something about that lord here?

He might cause a lot of trouble if left unchecked at that.

I thought so, but I could not say it, and we were taken.

「Snow, and all the adventurers, thank you for your cooperation」

The Imperial Princess does not bow her head and thank us for our help.

Royalty should not bow down so easily, so it is inevitable. If they did, we would be in trouble.

「I would like to thank you too」

We have been taken by the Imperial Princess to the inn where she is staying.

It is an even more luxurious inn than the Platinum Pavilion where we stayed on the first day. Each of the furnishings is so luxurious that even just sitting down is nerve-wracking.

「Please make yourself comfortable. At this moment, your position is irrelevant」
「All right」

Before I could say otherwise, Shia-san responded! Shia-san is drinking from a beverage on the table.

「Delicious」
「I’m glad you’re pleased」

Delicious, not! I can’t stop sweating uncontrollably.

「Please drink, both of you, Yuan-dono and Kiaraluka-dono」
「Eh, ah, yes…」

At Ellen-san’s urging, we sip our drinks.

I thought I wouldn’t taste it from nervousness… but when I took a sip from the cup, the mellow aroma passed from my mouth to my nose, and when I took a sip, it was a refreshing sweetness that was not unpleasant.

「Ah, it’s delicious」

I could not help but to let it slip out.

「It is a famous black tea in the Imperial City. Did you like it?」
「Yes, the sweetness of the apples and the aroma of the black tea is very delicious」

Kiara-chan liked it as well. Like me, I can’t really explain what makes it so delicious, but it does taste great. Indeed, it’s delicious!

「So, Commander, why did Emeria-sama come to this place? The plan was for you to be on the lookout around the city」
「If only it had stayed that way. What I didn’t tell Snow was that the mission was running a double operation」
「Double?」
「Yeah. If it fails, we will continue to be vigilant around the city, and if it succeeds, we plan to move as we did this time」
「Wha!」

It appears that if it had failed, the Imperial Princess would not have come here. In other words, Snow-san and the others will be abandoned.

「Snow, I apologize」
「No, that’s not something for which Emeria-sama should be apologizing…」

Snow-san said, but her expression is dark and she is clenching her fists tightly.

「What would you have done if it had failed?」
「Shia-san!」

Shia-san questions Snow-san and the others in their conversation. Moreover, she is speaking in her usual manner, without honorifics.

「At that point, I would have had no choice but to withdraw quietly」
「Why?」
「We were able to move because of the evidence. If we had gone head-on into the lord’s mansion, they would have suppressed the evidence and that would have been the end of it」

The evidence Ellen-san refers to is the people we rescued, and those papers that the person who sneaked into the mansion got.

Once we succeeded in rescuing them, the Imperial Princess took action.

On the other hand, if they had been working without any evidence, it is possible that all the papers they got at that place and the people who were kidnapped would have been erased.

We will never know if the papers were burned and the people kidnapped were killed and used as Devilfish food.

In that light, I am glad they did not move without caution, and understand why they could not move.

Snow-san was convinced, and relaxed.

「Then, does this mean that the rescued people were able to escape safely from the underground to the surface?」
「Yeah, no problem. They’re resting in a place we’ve got under control for now」

I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders now that I know the things that have been bothering me. It would have been meaningless if we had rescued them and they had not been able to get out safely.

「But that, too, was with the help of collaborators」
「Collaborators…the Resistance?」
「No, yet another group」
「So there were other collaborators」

I thought that we, the Imperial Princess, and the Resistance were the only ones involved in this incident, but it seems that there were others.

「So what about us… Yuan and the others?」

We were brought in nominally as traitors. Snow-san seems to be concerned about that.

In that case, I think we will do our best to resist. Treason seems like a reasonable penalty for death.

「Adventurers need not worry about incrimination」
「Yeah, because if we let the lords go unchecked like that, the difference with the hardliners will be even wider」

At any rate, there seems to be no fear of us being punished. Kiara-chan is also relieved next to me.

「We didn’t capture that lord after all, but is that okay?」

He was barking quite a bit at the end and I don’t expect him to mature as such.

「Yeah, we have evidence. Even though he is Emeria-sama’s uncle…the emperor’s brother, what he did was still a felony. It doesn’t matter what he does now」
「I am sure that by now he has cooled down and is making arrangements to flee the city. There is no way he will get out of here in one piece」

The Imperial Princess is aware of what the lord will do in the future. Although, I am too scared to listen about it.

「Does this mean that Yuan and the others will not be charged with a crime?」
「Of course. On the contrary, if more people were captured, kidnapped, and enslaved, the name of the Rūdo Empire would have been tarnished. I would like to reward you for stopping that」

On the surface, they say that slavery is prohibited, but in fact they were selling slaves to other countries. If that becomes public knowledge, trust may fall to the ground.

I don’t think a country that is trying to start a war in the first place is to be trusted, though.

「You’re going to reward us?」
「Originally… that is」

Shia-san has said another terrifying thing! However, from Ellen-san’s tone, it does not indicate that we will be given any.

「If we give it to you here and now, it will cause a lot of trouble」
「Troublesome?」
「In a manner of speaking, we brought you here under the guise of treason. If we rewarded you with a prize, the hardliners would not be silent」
「It would take a procedure to reward you from Royalty or any one associated with them」

The Imperial Princess giving away things is apparently the same as giving away a property of the country, and therefore she can’t give any away without telling them.

Of course, the Imperial Princess have private properties at her disposal, but since she cannot carry them with her from the Imperial Capital to this place, she does not have them at hand.

「I apologize」
「N-No! Please don’t apologize!」

The Imperial Princess has a very apologetic look on her face. I don’t want her to make a face like that and be accused of being disrespectful!

「But won’t it also be a problem to let Yuan and the others go?」
「I was wondering that too」

Snow-san is right. If the reason we don’t get the reward is because the hardliners won’t keep quiet, then I don’t think the hardliners will keep quiet if they declare us innocent.

It’s likely to be much more of a problem than rewarding us, right?

「Yes, that」

After a short pause, Ellen-san stood up and told us in a loud voice.

「Adventurers Yuan, Rinshia, and Kiaraluka, the 3 of you are hereby banished from the country!」