Slime Reincarnation

"According to this map, Krelia’s faction of the capital guard is handling security in the southern gate area. We’ll coordinate with the capital guard on site once we arrive."

"Yes, sir!"

Tony, captain of the knight order’s Fourth Division, led his men to respond to the monster attack at the southern gate. But upon arrival, the capital guard members present were simply standing at a distance, watching.

"What’s going on? What about clearing out the monsters?"

"Ah, are you with the knight order? Actually, it seems there’s no need for us here..."

"What!?"

Looking closer, a massive wolf fang was rampaging freely in every direction. Sturdy monsters like orcs, ogres, and minotaurs were being sent flying and torn apart. Around them, slightly smaller wolf fangs formed a protective wall, watching carefully to make sure no harm came to ordinary citizens. Looking further, the monsters seemed to have been nearly wiped out already, with no new ones appearing.

"...Ah!"

"What is it?"

"Over there..."

One of the capital guard members pointed. There lay a man, crushed dead beneath a minotaur’s corpse. In his hand was a shattered black crystal orb.

"Was this what was summoning the monsters?"

Tony collected the shattered black crystal orb and the body, then withdrew to the royal castle to report to Commander Gracia.

Mick, deputy captain of the knight order’s Fourth Division, arrived at the eastern gate with his men.

"According to the map, this area was supposed to be secured by the Pleasure faction’s guard unit. They’re probably abandoning their post, so we’ll hold back the monsters no matter what, to keep civilians from getting hurt!"

"Yes, sir!"

He rallied his men and deployed the unit. The moment they arrived,

"Thunder Rain."

An extraordinary bolt of lightning struck across a wide area right in front of them. The lightning seemed to have hit the monsters directly, leaving a mass of charred, fallen bodies.

A single wolf fang, notably larger than the rest, stood alone. Sparks of residual electricity still crackled faintly across its body, suggesting it had been the one to unleash that lightning.

"What incredible combat power..."

Beyond that individual, other wolf fangs, apparently subordinates, were hunting down the remaining monsters around them.

The unusually large wolf fang bit the collar of a man hiding within the crowd and dragged him forward.

"Are you one of the knight order? This one appears to have been summoning the monsters. Take him."

Looking closer, a hooded man holding a black crystal orb was gasping for breath, pinned under the giant wolf fang’s paw.

"Was this man the one summoning the monsters...?"

"Indeed. Take him for questioning."

"...Incredibly intelligent."

Mick found himself thinking that if this massive wolf fang were ever assigned to the knight order, he wouldn’t stand a chance against it.

At the royal castle. In the end, Deputy Commander Daimler was left in charge of the castle’s defense, since Commander Gracia, worried about his sister, had personally deployed himself.

King Warenheid always had an elite guard from among the knight order’s finest protecting him at all times. So the ones truly worth worrying about were the first prince and the queen. Considering the first prince also had elite protection assigned to him, the queen’s security, having to rely on female knights, left a somewhat greater cause for concern.

They had no choice but to maintain a two person rotation, taking care that there was never a moment left unguarded.

(I hope nothing happens...)

And Daimler had made the grave mistake of completely forgetting about assigning protection to the second princess, Cassina.

The queen continued her work in her study. No direct report of the chaos in the capital had reached her yet. And for some reason, a chick was perched quietly in the corner of the room.

"Your Majesty, your tea is ready."

Looking up, she noticed a face among the maids that she didn’t quite recognize as one of her usual attendants. That maid carried the teacup on its saucer slowly toward her.

(...Petit Fire.)

"Ouch!"

A small fireball struck the maid’s hand directly. The tea, cup and saucer together, fell and left a stain on the carpet.

"Oh my, are you alright?"

The queen expressed concern for the maid. This same maid had already spilled a plate of sweets on the floor earlier.

"Ah, I’m sorry, I’ll clean it up right away..."

The maid hurried to deal with her own mistake.

"Are you alright? You seem a bit clumsy, dear. Perhaps carrying things simply isn’t the work for you."

The queen said this, sounding a little disappointed.

(What is going on here...!? I wondered if she’d noticed the poison in the tea, but...)

This maid was, in fact, an assassin who had infiltrated the castle with intent to kill the princess. She’d also laced the plate of light snacks with poison earlier, but the back of her hand had grown unbearably hot again, causing her to drop the whole plate.

The queen had no idea the chick had been guarding her the entire time, and the assassin had no idea she was being interfered with by a chick either.

When the knight order arrived, Ice Fang, defending the northern gate, had already finished encasing the man suspected of controlling the monsters, whom the chicks had smoked out, in a block of ice.

"This is Ice Coffin. Take him and release him once you’re ready to question him."

"...Thank you."

The knight captain bowed his head to the wolf fang.

Near the western outer gate as well, the cleanup of monsters suppressed by Wind Fang was progressing steadily.

The sudden monster attacks used as a diversion throughout the capital were coming to an end.

Gracia, commander of the kingdom’s knight order, hurried toward the point where Krelia and her group were expected to intercept the attackers protecting Marquis Kirue.

"...Krelia! Please be safe..."

No matter how much this man named Yabe promised to lend his strength, it didn’t erase the worry entirely. In truth, as the one who should have been directing operations from within the castle, he should have left things to Deputy Commander Daimler, but his concern for Krelia had been too strong, and he’d made the decision to leave the castle himself.

And when Gracia arrived at the site of the ambush, what he saw was Krelia and her forces, mounted on the wolf fang tribe, darting about at blistering speed, completely running circles around their enemies.