[V10C31] Brutish Darling, Runaway Princesses
Translated by Jodas 10: A Job for a Con ManOnstage, Hütter wiped the sweat from his brow as he beheld the army headed towards them.
He’d done all he had to do. Heck, he had a feeling he’d done plenty that he didn’t have to do.
“I figured you were in contact with the Black Lion Emperor.”
He heard a voice from behind. There was Spiremaster Abel, staring daggers at Hütter.
Hütter stood as firm as he could and flashed her a smile.
“All I did was keep the promise I made with the kids of the village. I told them I would do something fun.”
“Likely story.”
“But man, thank goodness those folks just happened to hear all the commotion and came this way!”
More accurately, it was Poppo Four who heard the commotion. He’d retrieved the message Four was carrying then lit smoke beacons to draw in the reinforcements.
But if Hütter mentioned that his whole Poppo Showtime was all just a ritual to summon a messenger pigeon, the Spiremasters would only ask more questions.
Behind Abel, Spiremaster Alto looked perplexed, but Spiremaster Lowein was holding back his laughter. Since Lowein had been advocating for seeking reinforcements to begin with, he likely would not think poorly of Hütter now.
“The Dream Mage sure got you this time, Abel.”
Lowein’s remark caused Abel to fall silent.
“If you’ve got a line with the Black Lion Emperor, then you’d best make good use of it. First thing’s first, how about you come with us to greet these reinforcements?”
As far as Hütter was concerned, he would have preferred if the reaction had been “We want nothing to do with the Black Lion Emperor’s lapdog! Get lost!” In that case, he would be able to just get out of here no problem. Yet, it appeared that fate would never be so kind to him.
(Well, I’ve already figured out everything the Emperor wanted to know. I’ve told him about the Wedge Tower’s current condition and where everyone’s hiding… I’ve done my job, right? I’m free now, aren’t I?)
His only concern now was what was going to happen to the Apprentice Mages, but the adults of the Wedge Tower had no plans to let anyone aside from Rose, one of the Seven Sages, join in the upcoming operation.
He had been worried about said operation, but the reinforcements were here now. For the time being, all he had to do was make sure the Apprentices were okay… With that on his mind, Hütter realized something.
(Huh? Where’d Tia go?)
It wasn’t just Tia. Sevil and Wren were nowhere to be seen either.
Just now they had been right in front of the stage, but now Hütter couldn’t see a hint of any of them.
(Oh~~~~, Sevil, you brat……!)
“Pirororooon…”
“Wait, Sevil! A pretty boy’s arms are delicate, you know! Don’t pull so hard!”
Just as Tia let the last notes peter out following her duet with her sister in the distance, Sevil grabbed both of their arms with a grim expression and went on the move.
Dragged by his arm, Wren grumbled.
“Hold on, what the heck did Mr. Hütter just do!? How does singing and dancing and poppo-ing make an army show up!?”
“Mr. Hütter is an agent of my brother’s. I surmise that singing, dancing, and poppo-ing must have been some manner of secret code.”
“What kind of secret code is that!? … Wait, hold on, when you say your brother’s agent…”
“Piyo? Sevil’s brother? Isn’t he the em-per-roar?”
“Precisely! For him to use a man of the Dream Mage’s caliber as a mere spy! His decadence knows no bounds!”
Tia drew on some of her half-remembered knowledge.
The Wedge Tower and the Emperor should have been at odds with each other. And Hütter was apparently sent by that Emperor. That made things a lot more complicated now.
But Sevil said nothing more aside from “That is of no importance at the moment.” It seemed like Sevil was in a rush for some reason other than Hütter.
“The problem is those reinforcements. Lord Henrik is coming.”
Leading this detachment was the Margrave of Warmberg, Henrik Blanke.
Elder brother to Gerald (real name Gerhard), as well as…
“Sevil’s darling!”
Immediately upon saying that, Tia realized something. Why would Sevil be running away from her beloved darling?
If her darling was here, wouldn’t you expect her to run after him and try to woo him?
‘Is this some special human thing I don’t get?’ Tia wondered, but Wren’s face was also screaming ‘Why?’
Eventually, Sevil broke through the crowds and made her way to the other Apprentices. Rukiye wasn’t in attendance, but everyone else seemed to have made it.
“Pefun!” Tia’s amber eyes opened wide. Gerald was slumped over in Rose’s arms.
“Piroro… Rose? Gerald? What happened?”
“When he heard his big bro was on his way, this guy just conked right out… Heeey! Gerald! Are you feeling okay?!”
Rose lightly rocked his arms and called to him, and she could see Gerald’s eyes creaking open beneath his frizzled hair.
They were usually hidden beneath his bangs, but Gerald’s eyes were surprisingly sharp. Those piercing eyes of his darted around, as if to assess the environment.
“I just had the most terrifying dream… I dreamt my brother was on his way here…”
“Get it together, Gerald. That is reality.”
Sevil’s words caused a “Gueee…” noise to escape Gerald’s throat. It was a cry that sounded as if he had managed to distill the concept of despair down to a concentrate.
Sevil glanced towards the stage, then barked out orders.
“Rose, take Gerald and return indoors at once. We must give the impression we Apprentices were behaving as we are expected to.”
“Huh? …Surely that’s out of the question now, right? All of us were poppo-ing our lungs out just a second ago.”
Ella and Roswitha sulked when Rose pointed that out.
“And Sevil, you guys were dancing right up there in the front…”
“It would be a waste of time after all the poppo-ing we just did.”
Unable to read the room, Agniol piped up “It was so much fun, right Young Master?” but Julius refused to acknowledge it.
Regardless, Sevil stubbornly insisted on urging everyone indoors.
“Henrik is still unaware of my presence here… But there is no telling when he may learn of me. We must hide ourselves without delay and formulate a strategy.”
Sevil was unusually desperate.
Appearing to have gleamed something from her body language, Sophie’s pink eyes practically glowed.
“Wait wait, does that mean what I think it means~? If he finds you, Sevil, is he gonna say ‘I cannot bear to see you exposed to such danger, Princess.’ and lock you away somewhere? To keep you restrained out of love?”
“Indeed. Lord Henrik will likely stop me by any means necessary. Even if that means punching me.”
His way of stopping her was quite brutish.
That said, Sevil wasn’t the type to stop unless you did something like that anyway. After all, she was the famed fearless Barbarian Sword Princess. Even punching her might not be enough to stop her.
“And once this incident is over, Lord Henrik would likely cut off his own head in atonement for having raised a hand towards an Imperial Princess. That’s the kind of man he is.”
“Why does it always have to be so bloody!?”
Tia, the Harpy, found herself agreeing with Sophie’s lamentation. Humans were scary creatures. if anything, they might just be scarier than Monsters.
As the Apprentices stood there speechless, Gerald, still in Rose’s arms, muttered “My brother… would definitely do that…”
Wren groaned.
“Gerald… What era does your family think they’re living in…?”
“It’s embarrassing to talk about it…”
Gerald muttered quietly. Sevil then spoke with a bitter expression.
“That family certainly has an antiquated way of thinking. However, the troops they lead are the elite of the elite. Their prowess is undeniable. I will attest to that.”
Suddenly, Tia’s excellent hearing picked up on a voice she could not ignore.
That was Otto’s voice. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen him at all in this crowd. He must have been indoors this whole time.
When she heard his voice, Tia tugged on Sevil’s clothes.
“Piyo… Sevil, hold on, before we go…”
“What’s the matter, Tia?”
“Mr. Otto just said something.”
Tia repeated the words Otto had said to Hütter and Spiremaster Abel word-for-word.
“Assistant Headmaster Miriam has passed away.”
“Assistant Headmaster Miriam has passed away.”
Hütter only responded to Otto’s news with a soft “I see…”
He had had a feeling that she may not live to see the start of the operation.
(So we won’t be able to settle our bet.)
If Assistant Headmaster Miriam was willing to trust outsiders at all, then she would undo Rose and Sophie’s seals.
That had been the bet between Assistant Headmaster Miriam and the third-rate con man. However, ultimately Miriam had run away with the ‘victory.’
Now it was guaranteed that Rose and Sophie’s seals would not come undone for a whole week.
As Hütter gritted his teeth, Otto handed him a bottle. It was the bottle of candies he had given to Miriam earlier. Inside, there was a little piece of paper folded up.
Hütter grabbed the bottle and unfolded the paper. As he did, Otto softly said:
“All she said was that you’d understand the moment you saw it, Mr. Hütter.”
(I don’t get it at all.)
On the page was a magical formula. There was no way a third-rate con man would get anything about this.
Pretending to have comprehended it all, Hütter held out the note with a flourish. Importantly, in such a way so that the three Spiremasters could read it.
(Come on, read it for me, I’m begging you.)
The Spiremasters reacted immediately. Alto whispered in disbelief.
“That’s… Is that the formula for undoing the seals of ‘Despina, the Chain of Fools’!”
‘Wait, what!?’ Hütter glanced once again at the paper in his hand.
All the while, Otto echoed in a low voice:
“That woman’s… Miriam’s last words were: ‘I need you to tell the Dream Mage, Caspar Hütter. Tell him he was right.’”