Chapter 174: Church of Love, Ride the Express Train to Hell! (4)

The more the plan went awry, the more of a headache it became for him. Eric hid in the mansion in the open space, waiting for the investigation to disperse. This old house had been cleverly avoided by the search party. It was a relief for Eric, but at the same time, it made him anxious. They weren't investigating it for now, but he didn't know when those soldiers would remember the old house next to the mansion and come knocking.

With both of his subordinates captured, the difficulty of Eric's mission had skyrocketed. His subordinates had been arrested on clear criminal charges like trespassing, so he couldn't handle the aftermath if he were to return now. Because it was obvious the interrogation for trespassing on the mansion would hit harder than the justification of rescuing the priest.

Therefore, Eric had to obtain evidence that the priest and his two subordinates were being tortured in the mansion. He either had to see it with his own eyes or rescue one of the three imprisoned people. Eric began to formulate an operation. An operation to infiltrate the mansion and discover the location of the underground prison.

Eric didn't know as much about mermaids or beastfolk as his other subordinates, but he possessed the Response Team's characteristic planning and execution skills. Hiding for a whole week, Eric began to draw up his operation. He figured out all the shift change times of the mansion guards and even checked all the weak points of the wall.

As if that wasn't enough, he even confirmed Cellu's nap time and Elsi's workout time, and perfectly grasped the knights' training schedule to ensure there would be no obstacles when entering the mansion. Eric now thought there were no longer any factors that could hinder him.

Eric's plan was simple. There was an unused abandoned gate on the side of the knights' quarters, and while this gate was locked, it had no guard. During the last search, it was night and bushes had exquisitely hidden it, so he hadn't discovered it.

The knights trained their bodies every late afternoon, and during this time, they were too busy doing push-ups and sit-ups in a corner of the knights' quarters' athletic field to be distracted.

Eric planned to use this time to climb over the abandoned gate, head towards the quarters, and then run to the mansion. This was because after his subordinate was caught climbing the wall, the magic devices on that side of the wall had been enhanced.

Having witnessed a stone he threw for a test turn to dust in less than a second upon hitting the wall, Eric had given up on climbing it. Eric moved his position and waited in front of the knights' abandoned gate for the physical training time to begin. The physical training time started with Robin's thunderous shout.

"Stretching! Beeegin!"

Eric thought Robin's shout was exceptionally loud today. But the knight commander's condition was none of Eric's business. He carefully grabbed the abandoned gate and used all his strength to climb up. The rusty gate, made of iron bars, made a bizarre sound as Eric climbed it. Startled by the louder-than-expected noise, he scrambled over the gate and hastily threw himself into the trash can next to it.

Just as he hid himself, a few knights appeared. They looked around, then scratched their heads and spoke.

"Isn't it just some wild animal messing with it?"

"Fuck, what if some other weirdo gets in? Just let me catch him. I'll snap all his limbs."

Eric held his breath, waiting for the knights to disappear. The murderous words about snapping limbs echoed in his ears. Eric swore he would make it back alive. The sounds of stretching began again. Eric silenced his movements, got out of the trash can, and slowly peeked around the alley.

The knights were diligently focused on their workout. Since no one was looking this way, Eric sprinted towards the mansion's side door. As soon as he threw the door open, he collapsed to the floor to catch his breath.

If caught, he'd become a corpse. Eric wiped his cold sweat and looked around again.

The hallway was empty. Eric moved his steps cautiously. Now that he had succeeded in safely entering the mansion, his plan was to grab an employee, force them to reveal the location of the underground prison, and quickly rescue the priest. He felt sorry for his subordinates, but he didn't have the leisure to rescue all three.

"Oh?"

"Huh?"

As if a god had answered Eric's sweet plan, a woman came out, opening a door in the hallway. Eric flinched at the sudden appearance. The woman, leaning on a staff, saw Eric and her eyes widened as she asked. Sonia Yaivan. The mansion's mage had discovered Eric.

"Who are you?"

"Uh, ah... E-Eek!"

Eric knew that she was the mage who maintained the mansion's magic devices. But he was the type of man who believed all mages were weak in physical strength and could be defeated in close combat. Moreover, he thought a mage leaning on a staff would be easy to subdue.

Eric didn't know that because mana constantly circulated inside a mage's body, they possessed a monstrous strength unimaginable to a normal human.

Thwack!

"Kyaaaaaaak!"

Soya screamed and swung her staff. The moment the staff struck his side, Eric's vision went black and he felt his breath catch in his chin. Eric barely caught his stumbling legs and stood upright. He felt like he was about to die, making it hard to regain his senses. But he had to escape.

"A thief! A thief!"

Soya, as if forgetting she was a mage, grabbed the hallway door and began to beat Eric wildly with her staff. He was clearly being hit by a wooden staff, but Eric felt a shock as if he were being hit with an iron club.

"Ugh! W-Wait! Ack! Ugh! Uuugh!"

Eric collapsed to the floor and began to let out a moaning sound. Soya, having exhausted herself after hitting him for a while, slumped to the floor. Eric used that opening to push himself up. The thought of taking Soya as a hostage or grabbing employees to escape had long since been forgotten. To get out of this crazy mansion alive, that was Eric's final goal now.

Hearing the scream from the mansion, the knights began to approach from a distance. Their faces were filled with bewilderment and rage. Men showing off their bursting muscles were running towards Eric, holding wooden swords.

"Ugh, uwaaaaaaah!"

Eric ran with all his might. The subordinates trapped in the underground prison and the pitiful Sir Priest no longer entered his mind. Escape and survive. That was all he wanted. Even as Eric ran with all his might, the muscular men were leisurely catching up to him. It felt like a bone had broken where the mage had hit him earlier. Every time he breathed, a whistling sound escaped his mouth and his chest ached.

"Uah! Uwaaaah! Uwaaaah!"

Eric screamed and ran even faster. He wanted to live. He wanted to return to his family alive. He hadn't always been a member of the Church of Love. Just a few years ago, he was nothing more than a young man drunk on justice. He awakened to the 'love' inside his heart when he encountered the pitiful beastfolk living as slaves.

"Faiiiiiiiith!"

Eric clutched his chest and recited a prayer text. But his body was gradually losing strength. His legs trembled, and he couldn't breathe properly. He clenched his teeth and shouted.

"Hooooooope!"

It felt like strength was surging back into him. Eric could see a small carriage approaching him. On top of the open-air carriage sat a fat noble young lady. She was looking around with a bright face, as if she found the scenery of the Peta Territory fascinating. Eric looked back again. The knights, led by Knight Commander Robin, were running at him with wooden swords.

"Loooooooove!"

This was no time to be picky. Eric intended to hijack the noble young lady's carriage. It was a simpler task than it looked. All he had to do was push the coachman, sit in the coachman's seat, and pull the reins. The coachman, seemingly unable to imagine the misfortune that was about to befall him, was dozing off with a languid expression.

"Uwaaaaaah!"

Eric leaped towards the carriage with all his might. The young lady sitting in the passenger seat looked at Eric with a surprised face. Eric smiled and said.

"Calm down..."

"Kyaaaaaaaaang!"

With a clear and beautiful scream like a canary's, the young lady swung her hand. The moment a palm the size of a cauldron lid touched Eric's chest, it was all over.

Boom!

The carriage swayed violently from the impact's recoil. Weight fell onto the carriage's wheel axis, and the frame collapsed. The dozing coachman screamed and jumped off the horse, and atop the collapsed carriage, Young Lady Rosalyn Yuba was trembling.

Like a checker piece sent flying, Eric was flung away by the young lady's single gesture. Everyone froze as they watched Eric, who had been on the carriage, slam into the ground like a cannonball. Robin approached Rosalyn Yuba with a pale face.

"Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Young Lady Rosalyn Yuba looked at Robin, nodded her head, and began to sniffle. Robin started to comfort her, patting her on the back.

"It's all right, Young Lady Rosalyn Yuba. If you cry like that, won't your perfectly plump cheeks slim down?"

"Heuk... I was scared. Really... I heard it was a peaceful place, so I came separately from the soldiers on purpose... Hiccup..."

"I apologize. We will do our best to provide protection so that you no longer have to tremble in fear. You lot! Escort our Young Lady Rosalyn Yuba to the mansion! I'll arrest the criminal and return."

"Yes!"

The knights escorted Rosalyn Yuba to the mansion. Their faces were deathly pale. Peta Lusius would overlook most wrongdoings, but he showed no forgiveness for mistakes related to duties like this. Robin, too, was filled with worry. He had another subordinate knight check the condition of Eric, who had collapsed on the ground.

In a deep crater, Eric was spread-eagled like a cookie in a cookie-cutter. With his eyes rolled back and his tongue lolling out, he looked for all the world like he had been knocked out. The knight who went to pull Eric out checked his condition and spoke to Robin in surprise.

"Commander. He's dead."

"What?"

Robin examined Eric. Eric's chest was caved in in the shape of a palm. It was a situation where anyone could see he had died from Rosalyn Yuba's Buddha's Palm. Robin silently stroked his chin and then spoke.

"It seems he fell and hit his head. Right?"

"Pardon?"

"Right?"

"Y-Yes! I believe so!"

Robin clicked his tongue and decided to move Eric's corpse, thinking he was just really unlucky.

Meanwhile, opinions in the mansion were divided on how to handle the three members of the gang they had just captured. The opinion to summon an expert from the capital was raised. Her name: Bellix Karin. At the territory's request, she was on her way from the capital to the Peta Territory.