Game Opportunities Become Reality Episode 63
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Game Opportunities Become Reality Episode 63
19. Saintess Candidate (2)
The Crown Prince must have interpreted my flustered expression — brought on by a guilty conscience over the two people's disappearance — in his own way, because he gave a wry smile and told me not to worry.
"What do you plan to do about it? If they're missing with no contact and no way to track their location, it could be a dangerous situation."
"First, I've formally requested the extradition of the two through official diplomatic channels. And in secret, I've deployed special forces alongside the national intelligence bureau."
Requesting a formal extradition through diplomatic channels while simultaneously deploying unauthorized units were completely contradictory approaches.
It would be best if the situation were resolved quietly, but the chances of that were low.
Either way, diplomatic friction seemed unavoidable.
From the Crown Prince, I could feel a willingness to save the two even at the cost of taking on a certain degree of risk.
But intent doesn't easily translate into results.
I sat still for a moment, scratching the back of my head, then rose from my seat and spoke.
"I'll go."
"What?"
"For rescuing the two, I'm probably the best fit. I'll move in secret with my identity concealed, but just in case — if my identity is ever exposed, I'll leave the cleanup to you."
He must not have expected me to step forward so proactively.
The Crown Prince's face showed both surprise and gratitude.
In truth, the reason those two fell into danger is partly my fault, since I placed a fake Opportunity in the Prius Republic...
"Then I'll compile the last confirmed location and the places they're most likely currently staying and send them to your terminal."
"Understood."
And I was about to return to my territory when I suddenly remembered one thing I shouldn't forget.
"Ah, Your Highness the Crown Prince. Regarding the Saintess candidate this time, I—"
"Yes, I'll push for her aggressively, so don't worry."
Before Ibril's name could even leave my mouth, the Crown Prince nodded as if telling me to hurry along.
And so, the original objective was achieved.
Now it was time to undertake a new quest.
I immediately returned to my territory and attempted to teleport to the Prius Republic together with Arcia and Black Eagle.
An unintended entry into foreign soil.
* * *
Count Acres is one of the Crown Prince's closest confidants.
As an Aura Master ranked second only to Marquis Vincent (a close aide to the Second Prince), who is called the kingdom's finest sword, he is famous as an eccentric who wanders from place to place seeking out the strong and begging them for instruction.
At forty years old, he's still relatively young, and his reputation falls short of Marquis Vincent's.
But among knights, everyone unanimously declared that if a Grand Master (8th Circle level) were to be born in the Kingdom of Rhinehearts, it would be Count Acres, not Marquis Vincent.
"U-Uncle!"
And that very Count Acres is now in dire straits.
This crisis began because of a woman who had just barely shed her girlishness.
Her name is Michelle Otis.
She was someone whose notoriety as an eccentric surpassed even Count Acres, the Aura Master himself.
Yet the uncharacteristic sight of her welling up with tears was because Count Acres had suffered severe injuries while shielding her.
"Just give up already."
At this moment, the two of them were surrounded by numerous Vanguards belonging to the Prius Republic.
No matter how impressive an Aura Master might be, facing down numerous Vanguards alone without Force equipment was a tall order.
Moreover, the figure commanding the enemy Vanguards was also an Aura Master like Count Acres, making escape by force impossible.
'How did things end up like this?'
Count Acres bit his lip hard.
He had long been close with his cousin, Marquis Otis of the borderlands, treating him like a brother, and he held dear his cousin's daughter, Michelle Otis, as a beloved niece.
But then she, who had been zealously searching for Opportunities, suddenly announced she would travel to the Prius Republic, which was on tense terms with the Bringham Empire.
So thinking he needed to protect her, he had volunteered to personally escort her — but he never imagined the trip would become this dangerous.
"You thieving bastards!"
In Grand Duke Lucas's Opportunity hunting, which Michelle had treated as a light hobby, her comprehension exceeded all imagination, and a situation occurred where she briefly accessed the Opportunity acquired by 'Louis Fairmont' — which led to this entire mess.
So it was no wonder the Vanguard belonging to the Prius Republic treated them as thieves.
"A misunderstanding! We're just travelers, we have no intention whatsoever of opposing your nation! Think it through! If I truly had ill intentions, I wouldn't have brought a woman along!"
Count Acres raised his voice desperately to explain himself, but the Aura Master commanding the Vanguard unit scoffed at his words.
"Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? The moment that woman approached the Opportunity, your fate was sealed — execution."
"It's true she's very interested in Opportunities, but who could have known that firewall would be breached so easily! If our purpose were truly to steal the Opportunity, we wouldn't have come with this few people!"
"Our Republic never negotiates with thieves. Surrender your lives now."
It was clear no amount of words would get through to them.
"Uncle, I'm sorry."
Even Michelle Otis, famous as she was for being eccentric, seemed to find it hard to accept death, and kept apologizing in fear.
The mere fact that she called her great-uncle "uncle" so affectionately showed just how close the two were.
And so Count Acres, resolved to die in her place, drew his sword.
"Left side — see where the encirclement is thin? When I give the word, run there without looking back. From what I can tell, if you move about 300 meters, the space movement magic should dissipate. Then you'll be able to use teleportation too."
"Th-then what about you, Uncle?"
"Without you, I can escape on my own. Don't worry."
Anyone could see it was a lie.
He had a large gash on his side, and facing all those Vanguard units alone while fleeing seemed impossible by anyone's judgment.
"No! I can't allow that!"
"Don't argue — run. Now!"
But at Count Acres's shout, she found her feet moving on their own.
"Damn thieves putting on a melodrama! They're running! Don't let them get away!"
"Where do you think you're going! Face me first, you bastards!"
It was a retreat plan that involved sacrifice, with an obviously low chance of success by anyone's measure.
* * *
The Crown Prince had sent a neatly organized list of locations where Count Acres and the Otis Young Lady were likely to be staying.
But the problem was that even with the Crown Prince designating specific locations, the range was so vast it was like 'finding a needle on a beach' or 'finding Mr. Wang in Beijing.'
"I'm counting on you."
-Kkireuk!
Still, I wasn't too worried.
After all, I had the Black Eagle's vision-sharing skill and the Myriad Mirror's clairvoyance and x-ray functions, giving me search capabilities on par with a supersonic reconnaissance aircraft or a spy satellite.
Moreover....
-Gogogogo.
The surprise-attack-type high-speed Sky Fortress Icarus, which never expected to see the world this soon, flew at 2 km altitude under an invisibility spell, burning with effort in its search.
"If I think about it, I did cause this, but honestly, does it make any sense to come to the Prius Republic in times like these?"
Sharing vision with the Black Eagle, searching with eyes about to pop out, I let out a complaint as my optic nerves began to ache after about thirty minutes.
At that, Arcia, who had been checking the Sky Fortress Icarus's instrument panel, took a leisurely sip of tea and said one word.
"Found them."
"What!? Already!?"
Startled, I broke the shared vision with the Black Eagle, ordered it back, and quickly approached Arcia.
Then I examined the target she had located.
"They're really there."
Looks like this is going to be easier than I thought.
The target was located on the ground 20 km northwest of where we were floating in the sky.
With the coordinates confirmed, I sent the Sky Fortress Icarus back into the subspace and used teleportation.
A small teleportation disruption spell was active at that location, so I space-jumped to a point 500 meters above the ground.
-Pwaat!
The scenery shifted from a cloudless sky to a space surrounded by towering mountain ranges.
Right now, Arcia and I were disguised in roomy black robes and pierrot masks — a cliché-ridden disguise through and through.
The thought that if the targets were alive, I could put the Crown Prince in my debt, filled me with delight — but the situation unfolding below my feet was unexpected.
"What the hell is that?"
First, I confirmed that the two target individuals were alive.
They were being attacked by what appeared to be Vanguard units of the Prius Republic, but the problem was that a mysterious force accompanied by Armored Golems was guarding Count Acres and the Young Lady Otis while fending off the Prius Republic's troops.
Comparing the two sides' forces, it looked like this.
-Prius Republic: 20 Vanguards
-Mysterious force: 10 Vanguards, 15 Armored Golems
For reference, the Armored Golem is a spider-shaped armored weapon that was also used by the assassination squad Anna dispatched before — a weapon from the century before Vanguards appeared.
Its production cost is similar to a Vanguard's Force Equipment, but its combat power is only one-fifth the level.
That's why the mysterious force's battle strategy wasn't to kill the enemy, but to help Count Acres and the Young Lady Otis escape.
"Are Aura Masters this common? There are four of them in this very spot."
Aside from Arcia and Count Acres, there was one Aura Master on the Prius Republic's side and one on the mysterious force's side.
"What would you like to do?"
Whether to snatch away just Count Acres and the Young Lady Otis, or to support the mysterious force helping those two...
Floating in the air and surveying the chaos below my feet, I checked the information displayed on the Myriad Mirror and decided on my course of action.
[Prius Republic Revolutionary Army]
I decided to support the revolutionary army that was helping Count Acres and the Young Lady Otis.
I held only a single dagger instead of a Magic Staff, and Arcia armed herself with a rapier instead of her arming sword.
Then we deactivated our levitation magic and began free-falling.
Not having a Magic Staff doesn't mean I can't use magic.
It just means the power drops slightly and casting time increases.
I immediately cast the 7th Circle anti-personnel spell I had memorized.
'Flame Blaster.'
Though called an anti-personnel spell, a house-sized dragon of fire writhed as it stretched downward and swallowed up the Prius Republic's Vanguards.
The Prius Republic's Vanguards, who had been full of momentum, recoiled in shock and looked up at us, and as if answering their gaze, Arcia's Aura Blade was enhanced and unleashed through Force Equipment.
"Damn it! An Aura Master!"
Then, as if to further fuel their confusion, another memorized 7th Circle grand spell came pouring down.
"R-run!"
"Aaaargh!"
With grand spells and Aura Blades raining down one after another, the battlefield instantly turned into chaos.
Even the revolutionary army supporting Count Acres and the Young Lady Otis was so flustered they scrambled about in confusion.
-Tak.
By the time Arcia and I landed on the ground, not a single Vanguard of the Prius Republic remained.
They had fled in panic, carrying the wounded and the dead with them.
The Prius Republic is a nation counted among Rondel's four representative empires.
Though the term "empire" might not seem fitting for a nation that espouses democracy, the people of this country reportedly take pride in that title.
Having created a situation where the Vanguards of such a powerful nation — especially an Aura Master — had no choice but to flee, it was only natural that suspicion and wariness would pour toward Arcia and me.
"We've come to escort you. Let's head back."
When my hand reached out toward them, Count Acres and the Young Lady Otis flinched.
Then, confirming that Count Acres was badly injured, I used Recovery, a 7th Circle healing spell.
-Pwaat!
"Huh?"
Sensing something, the Young Lady Otis widened both her eyes and stared at Arcia and me.
"S-surely not?"
I thought I hid it pretty well, but she has sharp eyes.
I brought a finger to the mouth part of my pierrot mask, signaling her to keep quiet.
That was a sign that what she was thinking was correct, and the Young Lady Otis's expression brightened as she quickly grabbed Count Acres's hand and approached us.
"Hold on."
But the two were blocked by those bearing the title of the revolutionary army.
"What is it?"
I'm a busy man these days because of the operation to make Ibril the Saintess, you know.
Their stalling actions naturally tinged my voice with displeasure.
"I apologize, but there's something I'd like to ask the young lady."
Well, they had a purpose, so it made sense they'd protect these two even while facing the Prius Republic's Vanguard units.
In any case, these two owed their lives to them, so I shrugged and waited for what they had to say.
"I heard you accessed Lewis Fairmont's Opportunity. Is his Opportunity real?"
Caught off guard by the unexpected question, I looked at the Young Lady Otis with a bewildered expression.
Accessed a fake Opportunity?
It's not like plugging a USB into a computer—how?