Master’s Smile

《Lucille and Everyone’s Choice》

Everyone was too stunned by Sorglos’ remarks.

Currently, a variety of emotions were being expressed here and there.

Pure astonishment and fear of Lucille and the others.

Anger and confusion of Rust’s group.

Bitter smile of the Master.

“Hmph.”

　In the midst of all, the first person to open their mouth was, as one would expect, Rust.

He snorted and gave an unpleasant look at Sorglos.

“You couldn’t sink even lower, huh? As expected of a dark guild, proposing such vile idea. Shame on you!”

“Well, I would be troubled if you say something like that. After imagining what kind of punishment Master and I will receive, even if Lucille-dono and the others have fallen into the grey guild, there’s nothing else for us but to resist.”

Even though his tone of voice was clearly condescending, Sorglos returned it back with aloofness.

If this had been the prideful Laladi or Vampir, Rust would have already been bled to death.

Sorglos’ concern was justified.

Lucille and his guild, a normal guild, would certainly be punished by being demoted to a grey guild.

But then, what about Sorglos and her master?

They are already from a dark guild, lurking in an even deeper darkness than a grey guild.

If they were to become a grey guild instead, then their guild would, on the contrary, be promoted.

Sorglos already knew what kind of answer she would get, but she still decided to ask.

“Obviously, you will be taken back to the capital and be tortured. After we have extracted all the information about your dark guild, you will be publicly executed while the people watching.”

“Mmhmm, as expected.”

Rust looked at Sorglos with a cold smile.

However, Sorglos just calmly nodded, even though she was told of a horrifying future.

Well, she wouldn’t give away any information about her master even if she was tortured (she would gladly give away information about other members even if she wasn’t tortured), and she’s also not someone who can easily die from execution in the first place.

Rather, how many of “Yelquchira” members that would die after being killed once?

“I don’t particularly care what happens to anyone but me and Master. Rather, I would gladly spare no effort in helping you to execute those girls instead. However, it’s a different story if Master is also included.”

The Master is (more or less, very suspisciously) a human being.

He’s a different race from the likes of Sorglos and Laladi, whose vitality is unusual.

She is willing to fight anyone for the sake of protecting her master.

“Hah! What an idiot!”

Rust sneered at her and attached the large shield from his back onto his arm.

“Normally, adventurers who have committed a crime would be punished by trial…, but you bunch are people from that atrocious dark guild. You can’t blame me if I give you the judgement here and now.”

In addition, he pulled out a single sword that was equipped inside his shield.

Then, it mysteriously glistened due to the sunlight which had gradually descended upon them.

As if in response to Rust, the other members of “Prishield” also drew their weapons.

Even when she saw their actions, Sorglos did not change her expression at all.

Well, the only thing that can be seen were her eyes as the others were hidden by the cloth.

“Now then, I will have to give you a slight pain if you don’t behave yourself, okay?”

“That should be my line.”

Sorglos and Rust glared at each other while saying so.

The next moment, Sorglos lowered her body, barely touching the ground, and charged at Rust with fierce.

She then pulled out a dagger out of nowhere and slashed at Rust.

“…!!!”

“Mu…?”

*GAKIIIN!!!*

What follows was a sudden high-pitched metallic sound as well as Sorglos’ muffled voice that doesn’t fit her.

She had slashed him with a speed that no normal person would be able to handle, but Rust was able to caught her attack with his shield.

And, that huge and massive shield was not even scratched by Solgros’ dagger.

“Nuuuoooooooooooooooo!!!”

“Muwaaaaaaaa!?!”

Rust let out a tremendous howl while increasing the strength in his arm and stretched his shield as high as he could.

Sorglos, who had put all of her strength into her dagger, was blown away straight into the forest from Rust’s strength.

“…so light.”

She flew further than Rust thought she would which made him, who did it, looked surprised.

Well, that was partly because she flew away on her own.

“I’m going after her. You guys keep an eye on these guys!”

“Yes, sir!”

Rust gave a brief instruction to his subordinates and went into the forest where Sorglos had disappeared into.

They are well-educated adventurers, more so than the Prince’s exclusive knights.

But, before they knew it, the Master had also disappeared from the group.

As a result, the only ones left were Lucille and his party as well as the members of “Prishield”, excluding Rust.

“W-What are we going to do…?”

Dripping with sweat, Heroro asked Apollo and the others.

What would be the best option for them to make right now?

Would it be right to abandon the Master and Sorglos and stay here quietly?

Surely, that would be the wisest choice if they are thinking for their lives.

As for the punishment from the kingdom, if they believe what Rust had said before, it’s only a matter of being demoted to a grey guild.

Managing the guild will probably be difficult for a while, but if they can keep up with the requests without causing any problems, they might eventually let them back in as a normal guild again.

But then, what would happen to Lucica?

The Master’s magic is holding her back for now, but it’s hard to believe that that powerful curse will stay dormant.

Furthermore, if they abandon those guys which would led to them being executed, his magic power inside Lucica will also disappear and the curse might start progressing immediately.

“If so, then…!!!”

“…!?!”

Lucille drew his sword and charged at the members of “Prishield”.

It was so slow that it didn’t even need to be compared to Sorglos’ speed, but the targets, who didn’t expect him to attack, were slow to respond.

This allowed Lucille to successfully approach them, and his sword immediately got caught by their small shield.

“Uuuoooooiii!? What are you doing, Lucille!?!”

“A-Apollo…!!!”

However, this attack caught even their allies, Heroro and the others, by surprise.

Rieg looked at Apollo, the guildmaster, in frustration.

“Ugh, kh…!!!”

Apollo was racking his brain as hard as he could.

In his mind, the choices to either side with Sorglos and her master or to accept the punishment quietly were swirling here and there.

But now that Lucille had taken action, he had no choice.

“…We’ll cover for Lucille!!”

“…Yes!”

“Are you for real!?”

The decision Apollo had made was to side with the Master.

Rieg looked back at Apollo’s face, which was full of sweat after he made his decision, with a strong look of determination.

Heroro still seemed to be unconvinced.

“Wouldn’t it be better if we just stayed quiet!?”

“Well, I also think that’s the wisest thing to do! But then, what about Lucica!?”

“T-That’s…!!”

Heroro choked on his words from Apollo’s shout.

However, he managed to get back on his feet right after his legs were about to give him away.

“T-Then, are you saying we have to kill them!? If we do that-…!”

“No, we don’t have to go that far. For now, let’s just beat them up and make them forget what had happened here.”

“That’s so sloppy….”

Sweating profusely, Apollo replied to Heroro’s remarks.

Rieg knows that it is an impossible feat, so he made a complaint with his body quivering.

However, it was also a fact that this is what they can only do for now.

“Luckily, we have Rieg who can use recovery magic. I’ll ask Rieg for help if we overdo it.”

“You’re relying on me…?”

Rieg took a few steps back as Apollo looked at him with a broad smile.

Though, he’s not a member of Angelism. Therefore, he is not able to use recovery magic that often….

Rieg breathed a sigh of resignation, saying “Well, if it’s to protect our guild, then…”.

“～～～～!! Aaahh! Alright, fine! It can’t be helped!!!”

Heroro, who had been opposing to the idea until the end, finally nodded in agreement.

The first thing he did was attacking the members of “Prishield” and ran to Lucille, who was trapped due to the disadvantage in numbers.

“Oooooooooooooohh!!!”

Soon after, Heroro hit the man, who was closing in on Lucille, with his body.

“H-Heroro-…!”

“Don’t go running off on your own!!”

Lucille looked up at Heroro in dismay.

He had acted on his own again, just as he had when he brought the Master and Sorglos in. Hence, he hadn’t expected them to help him on this.

“Get up! We will need to blow their memories away now!”

“Y-Yeah!”

After being scolded by Heroro, Lucille stood back up once more.

They then looked at each other lightly and laughed, while confronting the members of “Prishield” right in front of them.

TN: I didn’t manage to get Kyouka, but I got Mahomaho and Nozomi instead. I feel conflicted now.