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Tiara really wanted to come along as well but everyone managed to dissuade her from that.
She showed us a really cute pouty face but I will have to side with the others on this…
As much as it might hurt her to say this, she would definitely be a burden if she comes along.
The princess was still pouting even as I left the sweets shop to join up with Katsuki and the others on assaulting the hideout.
We had to leave the cleanup to the Royal Knights which they did not seem to mind, trusting us to deal with this cult that was targeting their princess in their stead.
I found it a little ironic that the knights were cleaning up after the maids while the maids were going off to fight… Granted, the maids already did most of the repairs before that but the knights still need to clean the place up…
“Where are they located?” I asked as we rode through the city on horses.
I had no experience with riding horses so I was seated behind Katsuki on her horse.
“The others gave us the location of a building in the Commoner’s District, it seems like it’s simply a facade for their hideout where they planned this operation,” Katsuki replied while maintaining control of the horse.
“And who exactly are these people? Bandits?”
“No, Mistress. As I mentioned, Head Maid was right about this. They belong to a cult that believes they can get power by making a deal with demons. That’s why they are hoping to use the princess to gain that power and then overthrow the Royal Family to become the new rulers instead.”
So I really did hear her say it was a cult…
I frowned, “That’s stupid… And all of them are in on this? How are they even supposed to share the power?”
“They seemed to have agreed that it would operate like a council to make decisions instead of relying on a single person to make decisions.”
I guess at least they had planned that far ahead… That still doesn’t mean we’ll just let them do this though. I like the princess… And I’m fine with how things are going on now.
There were about twenty of us rushing towards the hideout right now, we could have gathered more people but time was of the essence since they could be attempting to escape after failing that initial kidnapping.
It wasn’t like the numbers were a problem anyway since I should be able to overcome any difference with my summons.
Less than five minutes after the attack at the sweets shop, we had arrived at our destination.
The building itself looked unremarkable and there were quite a number of passers-by who were quite curious at our arrival. Most likely they were wondering why a bunch of maids showed up on horseback out of nowhere.
We ignored them and we went up to the entrance of the two story house in front of us.
Not even wasting time to knock, the maid leading the way braced on a foot before kicking her leg forward, breaking the door away from its hinges and sending it flying.
From the surprised yelp coming from behind the door, I’d wager there had been someone standing behind it before it was kicked.
Two more gasps came from the sides of where the door had been, revealing two hooded figures who had their swords out.
Seems like they were already expecting us and tried to lay an ambush?
The other maids rushed in, instantly subduing the two by knocking them out before the others flooded into the house.
I ended up being the last one to rush into the house with my sword drawn, though I wasn’t really sure if that was a good idea considering the narrow spaces of the building.𝚘𝔳𝑙xt.𝓒𝒪𝔪
But that didn’t matter because I realised I came here without a plan at all.
The maids obviously had experience with this and they went around clearing the rooms methodically without any hesitation. But for me, I was just looking around the place wondering what I should do and where the enemies were at that moment.
It was my first time raiding a base like this ok?! It’s not like I’ve done this before!
If you ask me to go and subjugate a goblin or orc village, I’ll be able to do that without any problems! But I have no experience when it comes to this!
Look, they’re even covering each other while they clear corridors and check their corners! They clearly have experience with this! You can’t expect me to compete with that!
In less than five minutes, the entire building was clear with all the enemies inside it either unconscious or dead.
I didn’t even get to do anything…
“The entire building is clear, Mistress,” Katsuki reported.
I tapped a finger on my cheek, “Hmm… Something’s not right…”
Katsuki tilted her head, “What do you mean, Mistress?”
“I mean… It’s too easy, don’t you think? Plus… With how small this place is, I don’t think it can sufficiently host the number of people we saw back at the sweets shop that attacked us, right?”
“Perhaps Mistress is suggesting that there’s other hidden bases?”
“Hmm… I was actually thinking along the lines of there being a hidden passage here or something.”
Katsuki turned to the other maids and nodded, prompting them to split up and search the rest of the house. Meanwhile a few of them went to pick up the unconscious cult members to start interrogating them for information again.
I decided to join the search party to look for the hidden passage while Katsuki accompanied me.
Hmm… If I wanted to hide a hidden entrance, where would it be?
Well obviously I went to the bookshelves first and started pulling at the books, hoping one of them was a secret lever.
Unfortunately, that trope was not present here since no hidden entrances were found even after I pulled out all the books.
What a waste…
Maybe it’s the hidden trap door under the rug trope?!
Except… There’s no rugs in this house so that wasn’t feasible either…
Well… The other possibility would be that I was wrong about a hidden entrance anyway since no one confirmed the existence of one.
Hmm… Maybe if I just tried breaking the floor instead?
Meh, whatever, it’s not like I have anything to lose right?
I pulled back my fist and castted [Body Current] on myself before punching down, breaking the wooden floor.
Unexpectedly, a large section of the ground caved in and broke apart, leaving a gaping hope that seemed to lead to an underground passage of some sort.
Oh wow… There actually was one?
Katsuki clapped her hands, “Incredible, Mistress. To know where exactly to break to reveal the hidden entrance, as expected of Mistress!”
No, no, that was all pure luck…
One of the maids appeared at the doorway, “Young Mistress, we have found the mechanism that seems to activate a hidden ent– Ah… I see Young Mistress has already found another way in.”
“Ah… Yeah… Just out of curiosity… What was the mechanism?” I asked.
“There was a button hidden under the head of a stone bust that revealed a trap door that popped up from the ground.”
Ahhhh! I can’t believe I forgot about that one! Of course it had to be that trope!
Damnit, I guess I better keep a record of it in case I forget it again in the future.
I jumped into the hole with everyone else, finding a dark passageway awaited us that seemed to continue forward indefinitely.
Using the [Spotlight] spell, I created a small ball of light to illuminate our path before advancing forward.
Everyone was on alert since this was still the enemy’s territory.
I was expecting there to at least be a trap or two within the passage but it was surprisingly empty, which allowed us to reach the end without any problems.
The passage stopped at a staircase that led upward and stopped at a trap door.
This time, instead of opening it myself, two maids went ahead to open it for me while checking for traps.
Seeing none, we exited from the passage and into what looked like a dark space of sorts.
Even with my light ball, the light did not reach any walls so this place must be huge.
Just as everyone got out of the hole to form up with me, the trap door slammed shut and a large stone slab suddenly slid out to close up the passage that we had just come from.
That wasn’t really a big deal since I could probably break the slab apart but a voice boomed from above us.
“Hahahaha! As I predicted! You have fallen right into my trap, Third Princess of the Lehcarouc Kingdom! Your guards shall die here and I will– Eh? Wait a minute… Where’s the Third Princess?!”
Oh… So this is a trap?
But… Why would you even think the princess would come here? I’m pretty sure that she would be told to stay at home regardless, right? It’s more likely that the Royal Knights would be dispatched to clean out this place instead of the princess coming here herself?
I know the Princess wanted to come as well but that’s because I was there, isn’t it?
The maids formed a defensive circle around me while the voice continued, “Seems like the plan was a failure… Hmph! No matter! I’ll still have you meddlesome things killed anyway while we start a new plan to get the princess!”
I was just wondering what he was trying to kill us with when a loud stomping came from behind me.
I turned around in time to see what I could only describe as a horned demon at least four stories tall appearing from the darkness, its eyes lit with fire.
Err… Hi?