The Nerd Next Door Turned Out To Be The Magic Tower Master - Chapter 54

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 54
The moment the Signal Flare burst overhead, people surged into the forest like a tidal wave.
Between the broad-shouldered knights, the Princess descended with a stiff, measured gait, and the Prince’s retinue—oddly relaxed for the occasion—vanished into the trees just as quickly.
Through it all, Cecilia remained unhurried, leisurely sampling the refreshments that had been laid out.
Only after most of the participants had departed did she rise to her feet.
“Shall we make our way as well?”
Under the sharp stares of those not participating, Cecilia located the Emperor and Dilanshe in turn, flashing them a composed smile.
Then she wandered into the forest at a leisurely pace, as though taking a stroll rather than embarking on a hunt.
Her stride remained unhurried until they’d ventured far enough past the forest’s entrance—a point still relatively close to the starting line.
At a soft whistle from her, knights concealed in the nearby trees emerged to join her, swelling their numbers to nine.
‘Well, the rules limited each team to five members, but they said nothing about two teams moving together.’
She couldn’t venture into danger without some contingency in place.
Deliberately, she’d fielded a knight from a titled family as an official participant while secretly assembling a second team.
With the Holy Knights and the family’s knights at her back, Cecilia gripped her rifle firmly.
“Now, let’s truly begin.”
When she’d first arrived at the Monastery, she’d braced herself for a particular sort of trial: frivolous nobles beneath glittering chandeliers, clinking wine glasses as they deployed insincere court pleasantries to thoroughly dismantle some provincial Saint.
Instead, the dangers that had actually found her were private audiences with the royal family and this life-or-death hunt.
Whether she would become the hunter or the hunted remained to be seen.
At this crossroads, Cecilia pressed forward without hesitation, trampling underfoot the springing plants, inhaling the cool, almost frigid air, every sense heightened to its peak.
The group soon reached a fork in the path. Cecilia chose a direction without deliberation.
Then one of the knights trailing silently behind her spoke up cautiously.
“Forgive me, Saint, but this path leads South.”
The knight had prominent cheekbones and was not one of the Holy Knights, but rather a knight from one of the noble families.
Cecilia didn’t answer. She neither slowed her pace nor turned back.
As though she hadn’t heard him at all, she addressed Miguel instead.
“Any sound of pursuit yet?”
“None as yet.”
“Then we’ll split here. Half of you continue West as planned. The rest come South with me.”
Eight knights—all except Miguel, whom she’d briefed beforehand—widened their eyes. None could hide their bewilderment.
And with good reason: she had announced to the knights back at the Barracks that they would head West.
It wasn’t certain, but with a successor’s succession at stake, dangerous incidents might unfold in every direction, she’d said. She herself, being an unwelcome Saint, could fall prey to such dangers. That’s why they needed to head West, where the Prince and Princess wouldn’t venture—or so she’d argued.
In truth, she had no way of knowing where the Prince and Princess were headed, nor did she care.
What mattered was that someone had been listening to her plan to go West.
She’d noticed from the beginning. Early that morning, as she and her group had surveyed the hunting grounds, there had been someone discreetly trailing them.
—”The terrain to the West seems the most gradual, with the clearest sight lines. I think staying in the West during the hunt would be best.”—
A remark she’d deliberately let slip for that someone to overhear.
The same had been true at the Barracks, where mages were thick on the ground—so surveillance equipment would hardly be out of place.
‘She had lied to her knights so they wouldn’t raise suspicion.’
‘They’ had taken the bait beautifully. According to the knight Miguel had assigned to shadow them, the mysterious ‘someone’ tailing her that morning had headed toward Dilanshe’s section of the Barracks.
She couldn’t say whether the Emperor himself was involved, but if she was ambushed in the West, it would at least prove that Dilanshe was connected to the string of ‘incidents.’
“I can’t reveal my source, but I’ve obtained intelligence that I’ll be attacked in the West.”
“That is to say—”
“So I mean to verify it. You’ve all heard that the person behind the Relief Festival incident was a mage, haven’t you? It might be the same person.”
She explained only part of the truth to them.
It would be enough.
Cecilia trusted the loyalty of the knights she had personally selected. She trusted their steadfast faith in God.
And so she trusted that they would not refuse an unexpected request from their Saint.
“It may be dangerous, but will you help me?”
“Of course. We await your command.”
Her faith was not betrayed.
The knights knelt at her feet without a moment’s hesitation.
Cecilia gazed at their sturdy shoulders, at the armor that lay upon them, and at her own distorted reflection gleaming in its surface—then unfastened the white Cape she wore.
She draped it over the female knight she had deliberately chosen for her similar build.
‘Knowing I’m asking them to walk into danger, I have no right to say this.’
As she tied the Cape’s clasp firmly, she turned to the knight with a final instruction.
“The moment enemies appear, remove the Cape and show your face. Their target is me alone. Once they realize you’re not me, they’ll abandon the attack and search for me instead, giving us time to slip away.”
“Saint, that’s an insulting request. We will absolutely eliminate anyone who threatens you.”
“I’m not trying to diminish you. But I don’t know how strong the enemy is, and five of you alone might be hurt.”
“Even so, we—”
“It would help us far more if you stayed safe and rejoined my group.”
When Cecilia pressed her opinion forcefully, the knights could not hide their displeasure even as they nodded in assent.
Half the knights, with the female knight at their center, departed westward. Cecilia watched their retreating forms, then began moving south with the remaining knights.
Rustle, rustle.
In the quiet surroundings, a constant irritating sound kept reaching her ears.
Whether it was the whisper of fallen leaves, the footfall of wild beasts, or the presence of enemies, she could not tell.
Cecilia swallowed a sigh, affecting composure as she led the way forward.
It would be a lie to say she was not afraid.
Yet more terrifying than a rogue leaping from behind that tree stump, more dreadful than a blade through the air, more agonizing than a wound opening into searing pain, was something else entirely.
It was the possibility that her fragile trust in ‘him’ might crumble in an instant. That she might witness the truth of his betrayal with her own eyes. That fear gnawed at her, again and again.
If assassins were lying in wait to the south, there could be only one reason.
Only one person who knew she would head south. And that person was…….
Then it came.
From the west, a signal flare burst with a sharp crack.
Cecilia’s head snapped upward. The divided group had finally reached the western forest.
They had agreed to fire a blue signal if they met no attack, and a red one if they did.
And spreading across the sky was blue smoke.
‘Ah.’
Cecilia exhaled in relief. And then despaired. Those she had sent as bait were safe, and for that she was grateful.
Yet the chill that seized her heart was…….
“Saint, someone is lying in ambush ahead.”
For this very reason.
Miguel whispered the words discreetly and drew his sword. At that signal, the knights closed ranks around her.
“Show yourselves at once, or I will strike you down.”
Miguel warned with stern authority.
Rustle, rustle!
This time the sound was louder, more brazen than before.
“Clever of you to notice.”
Figures in robes and white masks poured forth like a flood. Their appearance made it clear they had not come for hunting of any ordinary kind.
‘Well, hunting a Saint is hunting all the same.’
Her lips curled in a thin smile before contorting into something far uglier.
She had prayed not to face enemies at all. Even if she must, she had begged that it be anywhere but the south.
Yet there was no time for such thoughts.
“Destroy the false one!”
The enemies surged toward her with furious cries.
Clang!
The sound of metal striking metal rang out in succession.
Low curses, the wet sound of blades finding flesh, cries of agony.
She wanted to cover her ears, to close her eyes. But Cecilia kept her composure and fired another signal flare skyward.
Red.
‘The knights who went west will see this signal and come to reinforce us. I just have to hold out until then.’
Yet contrary to her anxiety, the holy knights held their ground against enemies outnumbering them threefold, showing no sign of being overwhelmed.
Miguel’s swordsmanship in particular seemed to have reached a height that even one blind to such arts could perceive—the enemy soldiers themselves fell back, hesitating.
As time passed, the tide that had surged so violently at first began to turn in her favor.
‘If the other knights arrive in time, we can finish this without loss.’
Cecilia had just begun to breathe easier, still gripping her useless gun—which she dared not fire for fear of hitting her own—when it happened.
A man bearing a leaf tattoo on his neck suddenly let out a cry of desperation.
“All for Him!”
“Saint!”
Miguel, sensing something was amiss, moved with desperate speed.
A figure pulled something from his robes. Fingers withdrawing a pin. A sphere of metal rising into the air. No—a bomb.
A solid, heavy body enveloped her in that moment.
Bang!
A deafening roar swallowed all other sound.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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