The Royal Army soldiers hesitated; after all, no one knew what other dangers lurked behind the doors.
“There are no living persons inside.” The Mage Apprentice following the soldiers spoke again, a hint of impatience in his voice.
Only then did the soldiers cautiously step forward, preparing to force open the doors. The Mage Apprentice himself still discreetly cast a [Mage Armor] spell on himself, an almost invisible shimmer of magical energy enveloping his body.
Three soldiers approached the three doors. They looked at each other, then pushed the doors open simultaneously.
This time, the anticipated explosion did not happen.
The scene inside the rooms made everyone gasp. In the two side rooms, a single officer’s body lay in a pool of blood, gruesomely killed. In the middle, largest room, two corpses were intertwined in an extremely undignified pose. One of them was indeed Lieutenant Colonel Juan, the man they were looking for.
“Something’s wrong! Quickly report to the General!” An officer immediately shouted at the soldier next to him.
The soldier acknowledged the order and scrambled down the stairs. The Mage Apprentice and the other soldiers, after carefully surveying the other parts of the rooms, entered the middle room. The air was thick with a nauseating mix of blood, alcohol, and cologne.
“Separate them.” The Mage Apprentice, who seemed to be a germaphobe, pinched his nose and ordered the soldiers with disgust.
The officer nodded to the other soldiers. Two men stepped forward, attempting to forcefully separate the rigid bodies of Juan and the other officer. Just as they pulled hard, about to completely separate the stiff corpses, they felt a thin thread snap.
Immediately after, a dense “hissing” sound erupted, though no one could immediately identify the source.
When the two corpses were finally pulled apart, seven round iron spheres rolled out from between the bodies, clattering onto the floor.
Everyone in the room stared wide-eyed.
The young Mage Apprentice’s face instantly drained of all color. Only one thought remained in his mind: Run!
But it was too late.
“BOOM—!!!”
When the second, even fiercer round of explosions went off, High Mentor Eldridge and Division Commander Astra of the 24th Division, who had just rushed to the small building’s exterior, witnessed the fire and thick smoke billowing from the second-floor windows.
The violent explosions instantly shattered all the windows in the room. Aside from the Mage Apprentice, all the remaining Royal Army soldiers and his attendants were instantly killed.
Thanks to the layer of [Mage Armor], the unfortunate Mage Apprentice was not killed on the spot. If Morin had known this outcome, he would have shaken his head in regret, lamenting that the mere fifty grams of rifle powder in a single grenade was too conservative. He would also deeply regret not leaving all his remaining grenades behind.
However, although not instantly killed, the Mage Apprentice’s condition was also dire. The countless shrapnel fragments generated by the simultaneous detonation of seven grenades easily breached the defense threshold of his First-Circle spell. The close-range shockwave tossed him like a ragdoll; he slammed heavily into the wall, covered in shrapnel, and instantly fell unconscious, clearly in a state of near-death.
General Sanjurjo felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the High Mentor beside him, whose face was so gloomy it looked like it was about to drip water. The deaths of a few thug officers under his command meant nothing to him; he didn’t care about the loss and could even sell the vacant positions later. But the death of a Mage from the Holy Britannian Empire Highland Mage Corps—even if just an Apprentice—was not a matter to be resolved easily!
“Seal off the entire city! Search house to house! Arrest every single suspicious person!” General Sanjurjo virtually roared the command. He only wanted to capture the killer as quickly as possible to appease the furious Britannian party.
This order mobilized the entire Royal Army inside Seville. They focused all their attention on hunting down “suspicious individuals” within the city.
This, in turn, made the escape route for Morin’s team and the three girls and their families unprecedentedly smooth and safe.
When Morin and his reconnaissance team returned to the 1st Battalion’s temporary camp of the 33rd Infantry Regiment, covered in dust, the sky was already beginning to darken. They didn’t even stop for a drink of water, hurrying immediately to the Battalion Command post.
Battalion Commander Major Thomas and the other staff officers were huddled over a map, studying something. Upon seeing Morin and his team return safely, Major Thomas breathed a sigh of relief.
Shortly after, Captain Hauser arrived after receiving the news. Seeing Morin and Corporal Bowman intact, he rushed forward and gave each of them a bear hug.
“So, what’s the reconnaissance situation? Second Lieutenant Morin, did you find any enemy ambushes?” Major Thomas quickly got down to business, asking the question most on his mind.
“Reporting, sir. Based on the scouting along the way, the enemy did not set up any ambushes, but completely retracted their forces into the Seville urban area!” Morin paused, then dropped the bombshell: “So, we took a trip into Seville city.”
The command post fell silent instantly. Major Thomas and Captain Hauser were stunned, exchanging looks that clearly said, “Are you messing with me?” I just asked you to scout the immediate vicinity for ambushes. How the hell did you go right into the city itself? Did you think this was a trip to the countryside market? Major Thomas felt like he was listening to a fantastical tale.
Captain Hauser, who now greatly trusted Morin after the morning’s battle, couldn’t help but ask with suspicion: “Second Lieutenant, do you know what you’re saying?”
“Sir, of course I know what I’m saying!” Morin offered no further explanation. He simply gave a concise report of everything they had seen and experienced: the Royal Army’s defensive deployment on the outskirts, the existence of Aetherium Crystal Cannons, the full garrison of the 24th Division and the Britannians, and their encounter within the city.
After hearing Morin’s description, Major Thomas and Hauser’s expressions became even more priceless. The story he made up… it’s surprisingly detailed and convincing.
Just as Major Thomas was about to voice his doubts, Morin reached into his pocket and pulled out an officer’s ID card and a silver officer’s badge, placing them on the table. “These are the credentials of Lieutenant Colonel Juan de Rivera, Battalion Commander of the Aragon Royal Army 126th Regiment, 1st Battalion.” He then took a finely crafted revolver from Corporal Bowman and placed it on the table as well. “And this is his officer-issued sidearm.”
Inside the command post, all doubts and disbelief were silenced by these two objects. Major Thomas picked up the blood-stained officer’s ID card and flipped it open. He then picked up the heavy revolver—a Britannian officer’s sidearm, also provided as part of the weapon aid to the Aragon Royal Army.
All suspicion vanished in that moment. He looked up, re-examining the young Second Lieutenant before him, realizing he had never truly known him.
(End of Chapter 25)