Mobility. Esperanza unconsciously frowned. Cider leaned forward and pressed down on her furrowed brow. When her protruding lips showed displeasure, he smiled warmly.
"In military science, mobility is the question of how quickly you can move troops to a target location. As a warrior, you are of course the best. My mage."
He spoke as if soothing the sharp atmosphere, as if comforting the angry Esperanza, but Cider's tone contained unmistakable pride.
Just as he himself was, Esperanza was superior to anyone in her field, knew that fact well, and had pride in it. It was just that circumstances weren't supporting her right now.
"But Nine Holder isn't a place where you can properly demonstrate your abilities."
Cider's explanation went like this. In a metropolis like Nine Holder, there were countless obstacles such as buildings, people, carriages, gazes, and public authority. While Esperanza was quite agile and fast, preparing for urban combat was, for now, pushing it.
This was a weakness that didn't exist for Hunter Esperanza. Hunters sometimes destroyed cities while conquering dungeons or performing quests, but the Hunter Association handled the cleanup. No one cared if the game's cities got a bit destroyed.
If it had been in the game, that day Esperanza might have increased her gun's firepower to blast through buildings to settle things with Daria. Big deal, she'd pay some compensation.
But she couldn't do that here. If you killed people here, they really died. Like the employees of Pinement House that Esperanza couldn't save.
She felt her blood run cold. It was a reasonable point. But Esperanza still crossed her arms and responded defensively.
"But obstacles aren't a problem only for me."
"That woman would just destroy buildings and pass through if they're there. If there are people, she'd push through whether they live or die. But even if you could, you wouldn't do that. It was the same when you fought Daria at Pinement House. That's why a different method is needed."
"So, are you going to lure Daria outside?"
"She wouldn't be lured. If I were Daria, I'd just ignore you. We don't have any bait to lure that woman either. In the end, we have no choice but to settle things in Nine Holder, which is advantageous to Daria."
"...I understand. In the end, we have no choice but to fight on the battlefield that woman wants, so we need to get used to combat in Nine Holder with many obstacles beforehand. So we lay low until mobility is increased? How do we increase mobility?"
"I can do it."
It was a confident tone. What exactly was he planning to do? She couldn't grasp it at all.
"But not here. I have my laboratory at the estate mansion. We need to go there."
"That's what you were trying to say at school earlier."
Cider affirmed with a faint smile.
"The duke's letter came at a good time. Daria and your former colleague will need to restore their relationship with the royal family in their own way, and seeing them visiting magical engineers, they won't be able to pay attention to us for a while, so where could there be a better opportunity for 'leveling up'?"
Leveling up. Words that made her blood boil. Esperanza readily nodded.
As he said, it was perfect timing.
To face Daria and Cyrus, two people alone, Esperanza also needed preparation. Moreover, they could create dungeons. She didn't know how precisely they could control that ability, but if they trapped Esperanza in dungeons, and trapped her again and again to drain her strength before attacking, she'd have no choice but to fall victim. She couldn't be defeated so futilely.
"Good. So the conclusion is going to the estate. When are we going?"
"The sooner the better."
"Then tomorrow? Today would be good too!"
"...That quickly?"
"We just need to pack, right?"
Esperanza pulled her lips wide into a smile. Her competitive spirit bristled up, making her feel good. She forgot all about being briefly hurt earlier and about trying to read books.
Leveling up, good. It's been a while since leveling up.
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"A reply?"
Henry Bayman shook his head. Duke Galliston, Edmund, sighed and buried his face in his palms. There was still no reply to the letter sent to Esperanza. He couldn't even tell if she had read it.
Telling them to be careful wasn't just for their sake alone. The queen was afraid. Afraid that the barely re-established cooperative relationship with Daria might break.
If the negotiations with Esperanza had ended positively, he could have brought up the topic of attacking Daria when the time was right, telling the queen there was no need to worry. But Esperanza ultimately refused, and the royal family was once again in a position to face the two powerful storms of Daria and Cyrus without any weapons.
The problem was that Daria knew the royal family had tried to attack her through Esperanza. At this point, if Esperanza or Count Avondale did anything to displease Daria, all the backlash would fall on the royal family.
Daria had already tried to kill Edmund once. And she showed no hesitation in doing so. Anyone could be next.
"Didn't you dislike that lady?"
Henry Bayman, reading the duke's anxious mood, asked cautiously. Edmund looked out the window with a dark expression. Seeing the head attendant, who usually didn't ask about his master's intentions even when curious, acting this way, it was certain that Hunter Esperanza had properly shaken his emotions.
"I dislike her. Still do."
Esperanza said dungeons were disasters, but in his view, Esperanza's existence was more of a disaster. Like Daria and Cyrus, she was overwhelmingly strong and cruel. Before witnessing that strength directly, he had been wary thinking she was no different from Daria, and now...
Anyone who saw that woman conquering dungeons would have no choice but to feel awe. A person who accomplished such things purely out of goodwill. That's why he had to be even more cautious. If someone like him felt attraction, anyone else would feel the same.
However, Esperanza was merely a disaster stronger and kinder than Daria. Fundamentally good and considerate of those beneath her feet, but her essence was no different.
Edmund closed his eyes and thought.
Before experiencing the dungeon, if only one of the two remained, he thought Esperanza, who was at least negotiable, would be better. But after seeing that power before his eyes, his thoughts changed.
'Beings like them shouldn't exist in our world. Their very existence will collapse the balance.'
However, even the royal family of Osdern, the world's greatest empire, was as powerless as ordinary people in this matter. The powerless had no choice but to use schemes.
If the two disasters clashed and destroyed each other, could there be a better ending?
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"That woman. She was a mage."
Daria muttered quietly. Cyrus turned his head with a start.
"That can't be. Didn't you see wrong?"
"I couldn't have seen wrong. I fought with that woman. It's not a mistake."
"Isn't it that Cider Claiborne's magical tools are that strong? If they were wrapped with magic stones..."
"Idiot, does that mean I can't distinguish between a mage and a non-mage?"
Daria's foot mercilessly trampled on Cyrus's foot.
"It's completely different. That woman's magical power is her own. And, though saying this is extremely unpleasant... she's stronger than me."
"That can't be."
This "that can't be" was half admiration, half denial. Cyrus knew how Daria had come to possess her current power.
Some luck, and blood-shedding effort.
A mage stronger than such a Daria.
"Is that person also like us..."
"Shh."
Daria fiercely raised her finger to her lips. Cyrus sighed. Though it was excessive to suddenly impose restrictions after talking freely until now, Daria's worry wasn't completely groundless excess.
On the day the dungeon occurred at Pinement House, Cyrus, who was waiting for Daria as she jumped into the dungeon to rescue the duke, saw the Prime Minister's aide in front of the palace gates.
It was lucky. Because the person he happened to encounter was Cyrus, who had learned simple hypnosis, rather than Daria who was like an assault team, the Prime Minister's aide returned without feeling any particular problem. The suspicious Raymond Tempton would find something strange even in the fact that nothing was wrong, but he wouldn't know specifically what had happened. The royal family would cover this up on their own, so there was nothing to worry about. For the royal family, Daria joining hands with Raymond Tempton would be more frightening than Daria threatening them.
But until the suspicious glances disappeared from the palace, they too needed to be careful with their words. Other things didn't matter if they were discovered, but regarding their secret... no one should know. The two people's words became even more vague.
"If that person is also like us, could there be other means besides the Golden Claw?"
Daria shook her head.
"I can't know for now. From investigating, it doesn't seem like commuting like us, and it appears they're staying at the Avondale mansion."
Cyrus asked with an anxious face.
"How can that be possible?"
"It means a different method from ours. It might be related to Avondale."
"Then is it Cider Claiborne after all? We visited every magical engineer there was, but it was all fruitless. The only ones we haven't touched yet are that back-alley quack and Cider Claiborne."
"I'm not certain. First, he's too young. And it's difficult to approach."
Because another mage had already claimed him. Daria clenched her teeth. How lucky. What a good catch of such a genius. While this side was running around looking for people like this.
"First check the quack side. And if it's right."
Cyrus let out a deep sigh. It was an unwelcome part.
"'Kill them and steal all the research.' I know."
They hoped that the one they were looking for was on the quack side, so removing one quack would solve everything easily. But Daria intuitively felt she knew who they were looking for and what needed to be done.
What blocked the path toward intuition was a vague fear of defeat. But Daria couldn't acknowledge that to the end.