I went to the palace courtyard to gather with the royal guards.
Of course, I would take part in helping them. After all, this whole incident happened almost entirely because of my mistake.
At the very least, I'll take responsibility until the end.
In the courtyard, I saw several groups of soldiers, probably reaching hundreds in total.
In front of them all stood Vern-san, seemingly leading them.
Damn, what kind of job did that maid even have in the past?
And the soldiers themselves treated Vern-san as their captain. Maybe this troop was more united than I thought.
Vern-san was still wearing her maid outfit and hadn't changed into anything else.
Meanwhile, the soldiers wore their usual gear—iron armor, swords, and many other weapons.
Still, with such equipment, they could protect themselves quite well.
It seemed today would be a very exhausting day. But I had to do it.
——
I lined up among the guards, listening to what Vern-san was saying.
Various expressions appeared on Vern-san's face, making me feel extremely guilty.
She spoke her feelings loudly, holding back tears that seemed ready to fall.
"Listen! The princess has been kidnapped, and of course, we're going to rescue her!"
"I know, when she was a child, she was once kidnapped, and I don't want that to happen again... But this time, I'm sure we can save her!"
"That's why, please, I beg of you—help me with your cooperation!!"
Everything Vern-san said reached the hearts of the soldiers.
They could feel what Vern-san felt.
They all shouted loudly, showing how ready they were.
Ready for whatever might happen ahead, and ready to save Rosa-chan.
——
We were divided into several groups—some went into the city, and some went to the outskirts.
We had originally been one large force, but we eventually split into smaller groups.
I went with four guards and Vern-san. She said that I had to come with her.
Behind us, there were other groups assigned to support us indirectly.
Since my group was led by Vern-san, ours became one of the main search teams.
I led them to the place where Rosa-chan had disappeared.
Quickly, Vern-san began inspecting the alley in great detail.
She didn't seem willing to overlook even a single thing. Meanwhile, I could only watch her from behind.
I didn't have the skills of a detective or a spy, so I wouldn't be much help.
"Lotte, was there anyone else besides you and the princess who entered this alley?" Vern-san asked after looking at the ground.
"No, I'm sure it was just the two of us," I replied.
Of course, since the beginning, when I brought Rosa-chan here, no one else was around.
It was just the two of us in this alley.
"In that case, you four go that way, I'll go the other way," said Vern-san to the four guards.
At first, they looked hesitant, but they followed Vern-san's orders anyway, moving toward the direction she had pointed out earlier.
"You, come with me," Vern-san said, calling me.
As she said, we went in the opposite direction.
Honestly, I had no idea what she was doing—whether it was a good idea or a bad one.
"The ones who kidnapped the princess are most likely the Anti-Kingdom Faction."
"They've hated the palace and held a grudge against us all for a long time—for no clear reason."
"That's why they took advantage of your carelessness and kidnapped the princess."
The Anti-Kingdom Faction... they sounded like the kind of group that often caused trouble.
But if what Vern-san said was true, then this was far more dangerous than I had imagined.
If they held such a grudge, Rosa-chan might have already lost her life by now.
"I'm sorry—" I said, before she cut me off.
"That's something for later. Right now, I have to focus on finding their hideout," Vern-san said with a slightly frightening look in her eyes.
Finally, I gathered my courage to ask something that had been bothering me for a while.
"Why are we going in the opposite direction from them?" I asked.
By "them," I meant the four from earlier.
"Footprints," she answered.
"I told the four of them to follow the footprints of the culprit."
"The reason we're going this way is because I once saw a place filled with people wearing clothes marked with a dragon emblem," Vern-san explained.
Finally, I understood why we were heading this way.
Rosa-chan, just wait a little longer—we'll find you soon.
——
We eventually arrived in front of a bar, from which loud noises could be heard inside.
Instead of going straight in, Vern-san told me to hide first.
Most likely, this bar was the base of the Anti-Kingdom Faction. For now, all I could do was follow Vern-san's lead.
"Do you know the skill Vision?" she asked.
I looked at her with a confused expression, as if I was hearing the name for the first time.
"This technique allows the user to find the whereabouts of someone they're looking for, simply by imagining and then directly seeing that person's face," explained Vern-san.
"But, the person being searched for must be within a radius of less than thirty meters, so this skill can be a bit tricky," she continued.
"However, once you've found the target's location, you can keep seeing their position for several hours afterward."
Damn, what kind of skill is that?
This was the first time I'd ever heard of a skill like that.
The conditions sounded rather difficult and confusing, but the effect seemed incredible.
Even though it could only be activated when the target was within thirty meters, it was still an amazing skill.
"Y-yeah, I can..."
WHAT DID I JUST SAY!?!?!?
I couldn't use skills like that—but why did I say yes!?!?!?
"After this, I'll go in first. You follow me from behind."
"Once we spot Rosa-chan, immediately activate your skill. Got it?" asked Vern-san.
I nodded, meaning that I understood what she said.
Honestly, I didn't even know if Vern-san could fight or not.
She'd never said she was a combat-type maid; she'd only ever helped with household chores, right?
So I wasn't completely sure she'd be the one charging in first.
Besides, I didn't see her carrying any weapons. Don't tell me... she's planning to fight barehanded?!
If there were swords around, maybe I could help a bit, but in this situation, I'd just have to rely on her.
My job now was to find Rosa-chan and activate the Vision skill.
From my guess, the Vision skill couldn't be used just by imagining the target's face.
You had to imagine their face, then actually see them in person—only then would the skill activate.
If I thought about it that way, this skill seemed even more complicated than I'd imagined.
Then... was there any way for me to get this Vision skill in less than thirty seconds?