The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix's Novels Also Desires Happiness

Without a word, Lavini changed into a black robe, hoisted up a black-robed man of about the Crown Prince’s build, and, seizing the moment while the others briefly forced the enemy back, slipped from the carriage in a dark corner.

This time, she did not look back, darting swiftly through the shadows.

The cold night wind blew. Her hood swayed, now and then revealing a sliver of smooth chin and the outline of a proud chest.

From the depths of the night, whispers rose.

“It’s a woman. She’s trying to run.”

“Should be the Crown Prince’s maid. The one on her back—is that the Crown Prince? The build looks close.”

“Unconfirmed. Could be a deliberate lure.”

“Even a deliberate lure can’t be let go. Even if there’s a one-in-a-thousand chance, we absolutely cannot allow the Crown Prince any possibility of escape. Send people.”

“Yes.”

Shadows flickered and chased after Lavini. At the reins, Eken kept a calm face, but he could already feel the pressure around them notably ease.

“An opening.”

He drew a deep breath and, catching the instant several beastified ones pounced together, barked:

“Do it!”

Boom!

No sooner had the words fallen than a deafening blast drowned out all the clamor in the deep lanes. Several alchemical bombs and magic scrolls, long since primed, detonated at once. Scorching firelight turned half the Lower District bright as day.

The surging heat wave shoved aside every obstacle, and the blinding glare blinded eyes. Seizing this single chance, Eken snapped the reins and, like a dancer on a knife’s edge, drove the carriage in slashing bursts, battering through left and right. Relying on the carriage’s superior performance, he sped away through the breach they had just opened.

...

“This is the place.”

Having shaken the enemy for the moment, they switched to traveling on foot and soon reached their destination.

“Domino Restaurant...”

Albert looked up at the signboard overhead, and his face sank:

“That’s not the Franky Tavern you just mentioned!”

“I lied to that woman.”

Eken said it without ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ expression:

“The Franky Tavern is on the other end of the street. There’s nothing there. It’s just somewhere I once went for a drink.”

“Bastard! You still don’t trust Lavini—after she made a sacrifice like that!”

Albert swung a fist at Eken, but Eken caught it up with a raised hand, easily.

“My deepest apologies, Your Highness, but it wasn’t out of mistrust. It was for your safety. If a sacrifice has to be made, even if it were one of my own men, I would still not tell him the correct location.”

“... ”

Albert glared at Eken like an enraged beast. His lips worked. He seemed on the verge of cursing, but good breeding in the end kept the words from leaving his mouth.

At last he let his hand fall in defeat, his whole person like several bones had been plucked from him, head bowed.

“I understand. Let’s go.”

“Thank you for your understanding, Your Highness. Please be careful—it’s very dark ahead.”

The tunnel was dim and damp. Underfoot the soil felt slightly soft; it was obvious this had been opened not long ago.

Carrying a lantern, Eken led the way. Albert was protected in the middle, with the others following behind.

Very soon they reached the tunnel’s end. Eken sprang lightly and pushed up a plank, carefully scanned the surroundings, then turned and reached down to pull Albert up.

Albert looked somewhat disgusted, but with his weakened body he couldn’t even make that height. In the end he still took Eken’s hand and let himself be hauled up.

After leaving the quiet little yard, Albert looked up and saw that, sure enough, this wasn’t the so-called Doran Shop either.

“Please look there, Your Highness. Once we cross that stretch, we’ll arrive at the venue Marquis Angus arranged for tonight’s banquet. At this hour nobles will already be arriving. As long as you make contact, I judge the other side won’t dare make any rash moves.”

Following Eken’s pointing finger, Albert saw the silhouette of a building faintly lit in the near distance; it even seemed as if music and conversation were already drifting over. The taut string in his chest loosened a good deal in spite of himself.

But at the thought of Lavini’s life and death unknown, bitterness replaced the near-escape’s elation on his face.

“Heh... so I got out. Got out by sacrificing a woman...”

“Please take heart, Your Highness.”

Seeing Albert like this, Eken sighed and tried to comfort him:

“Miss Lavini may not come to harm. Once they realize it isn’t you, they’ll most likely capture her alive. So only if you’re safe will there be any room to—”

Twang—

The sudden, razor-sharp hiss through the air cut Eken off mid-sentence.

His face changed; he hurled himself at the frozen-in-place Albert.

Blood sprayed. Eken let out a groan of pain he couldn’t suppress.

Albert’s lips trembled. After a stunned heartbeat, he looked down. In his view appeared Eken’s shoulder, run through by a magic arrow.

“Are... you all right?”

“Damn it—temporarily.”

Eken’s features twisted. He snapped the shaft and lurched to his feet, roaring:

“All units—on guard! We’re under attack!”

He hardly needed to say it. Trained to a razor’s edge, the black-robed men had already reacted the instant the anomaly began, forming a defensive ring around Albert.

But the danger was beyond what they had imagined.

As the surrounding hush broke and a point of firelight lit the area, they saw uncountable pairs of ghost-green eyes—and gaping, blood-red, slavering maws.

No small number of beastified ones had already encircled the place, and farther out, silhouettes were flitting, closing fast.

“Wh... why? Weren’t we told this spot was well hidden, that it wouldn’t be discovered?” Albert whispered.

“I don’t know either. It seems they were waiting for us here from the start... but now isn’t the time to dwell on that.”

Eken barked again:

“Break out—protect His Highness and break out!”

The killing started anew.

The black-robed men took up their weapons and clashed with the savage beastified ones.

Each flash of cold steel brought a spray of reeking blood and the scatter of shattered bodies.

They held a defensive posture, repelling attacks while inching toward the edge.

But this time, the black-robed men’s defense was plainly far more strained.

Without the specialized carriage as a strong shield—and with the need to avoid harming the Crown Prince, an ordinary man—things were exactly as Muen had predicted: in this state they couldn’t even bring their full strength to bear, much less carve a path out while guarding Albert.

“This won’t do. It won’t...”

Albert’s eyes reflected the black-robed men fighting hard. Now and then one faced many with few, failed to hold, and was swallowed by the beast tide.

He suddenly ground his teeth:

“No. You have to push the line outward. Don’t let yourselves be crushed into this patch. If you do, we’ll all die sooner or later!”

“But Your Highness, you—”

“Don’t worry about me. I am a prince. I have means to protect myself.”

Albert took out a jade ornament; a soft glow blossomed, forming a faint defensive barrier.

Blood-mad creatures slammed the barrier, baring jagged fangs from inhumanly torn maws. Albert’s face was taut as he strained to maintain the expensive magi-device, but his steps were still firm.

Eken met his subordinates’ eyes; their spirits rose in turn, and they launched an all-out attack, pressing as one toward the perimeter.

But... even with no need, for the moment, to worry over Albert, the disparity in numbers was still despair itself.

They were like a small boat in a storm, in this cold night liable to capsize at any time...

Pft.

Pft.

Pft.

With a series of wet, penetrating sounds, one beastified one after another suddenly, inexplicably toppled slowly in front of them.

On the only vaguely human faces, a frozen contortion and ferocity of madness still lingered; from the black hole in each forehead bled fresh blood and nauseating red-and-white matter. It seemed that in the last instant of life, none of them even knew death was about to arrive.

“Th... this is...”

Eken’s eyes lit. As if he’d understood something, he surged into the slaughter of the beastified ones with sudden excitement.

Very soon, the beastified ones that had entered the little yard were cleared for the moment, and at last a familiar figure appeared before them.

It was a figure in a black dress suit, the top hat a touch tall, hiding most of the face. In his hand was a spell-breaking spear picked up at random, and that long shaft, once black, was now all red.

“Looks like I made it in time. Gentlemen... and Your Highness—are you unharmed?”

The figure tipped up the tall hat, revealing deep-cut Slavic features.

“Bruce!”

“My lord!”

The others were elated. Though they had already half expected it, only upon seeing that face did they finally relax.

“You... are you all right?”

It was Albert who, sharp-eyed, first noticed something off in Muen’s current state. His complexion was plainly pale, and both eyes were bloodshot as if he had stayed up several nights in a row.

“Temporarily. I’ve just spent a bit more spirit than usual.”

Muen rubbed his temples and looked around:

“So—who can tell me why you’re surrounded by these things, and why the exit of the hidden tunnel I prepared with such care is the place you got surrounded? By all logic, this location shouldn’t have been exposed to the enemy, should it.”

“As to that, we aren’t very sure either...”

Eken marshaled his words and, as briefly as possible, told Muen what had happened.

“I see... that maid chose self-sacrifice?”

Muen rubbed his chin and thought a moment. “But are you sure she sacrificed herself—and didn’t take the chance to run?”

“You’re still doubting Lavini?”

Albert said angrily:

“Didn’t Eken already say it? The address he gave Vini was false. Since the address she knew was false, how is she the one betraying us? Shouldn’t you be suspecting your own people first? You should know, this real address—only your men—”

“Your Highness, calm down.”

Muen raised a hand and patted Albert’s shoulder. “The moment it’s Miss Lavini, you do seem to get especially worked up.”

“I’m not worked up—I’m angry!”

Albert drew a deep breath. “Lavini has already done so much for me, so why do you never let her off? Do you really want her to die completely for my sake before you’ll—”

“I’m not hounding her, Your Highness, it’s just that at a time like this... hm?”

Muen, about to say more, suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked at Albert’s neck. “Your Highness, can you tell me what that is on your collar?”

“My collar?”

Albert started and casually brushed at it.

Then his hand froze—because in the fold of his collar he suddenly felt a small, cold, round object. And this sort of thing... was definitely not a button.

“Wh... what is this?”

Albert took the round object, slightly smaller than a button and clearly made of metal, and set it in his palm.

He seemed to have realized something. His lips began to tremble ever so slightly.

Muen reached out, took it, examined it, and suddenly gave a cold smile:

“What else could it be? A finely made miniature magi-locator, that’s all.”