Combatants Will Be Dispatched - Volume 7 - Chapter 5.4

4

We leave Snow and Heine with Rose and head to Grunade castle.

For some reason, Adelie’s tagging along with us.

As for everyone else, both the royals and the soldiers look like they’ll be out for a while.

Rose called over for some officials as she was carrying Snow and Heine back to town, so we decide to just leave the soldiers to them.

Adelie’s probably not going to try anything. Belial’s already showed her how futile it would be to resist...

“Hey, Agentsix, what are you planning to do by breaking into the castle? If you’re planning something evil, I can’t just stand by and let it happen...”

“We’re going to make the person who caused all of this unpleasantness—the tiger beastman you’re familiar with—take responsibility for what’s happened. I mean, in the end, it’s all his fault.”

Belial confidently leads our procession, neutralizing the soldiers who notice us and turn their weapons on us without the slightest hesitation.

Adelie watches as the soldiers attack, only to be taken down one by one, and says to me in a trembling voice:

"...H-hey, Agentsix. I feel like I’m witnessing some terrible villainy.”

“You’re no bystander, either. We’ve come too far to just let you walk off.”

“You came uninvited; the least you can do is stay. If Tiger Man resists, you’re pitching in.”

Adelie, knowing Tiger Man’s strength, doesn’t look pleased at that prospect, but it seems her innate sense of righteousness wins out in the end, as she follows us without complaint.

Princess Nadia is probably on the very top floor.

For whatever reason, the rule seems to be that kings and heroes just seem to like being in high places.

Just as we’re about to reach the top floor, Belial, who’s been leading us, stops.

When I look, there’s a single man standing in front of a giant, ornately decorated pair of doors that appear to lead to the throne room.

“You’re in the way. Move.”

The man pays no heed to Belial’s command.

There’s an aura about him, as his body easily carries the weight of full-plate armor, and his stance exudes confidence.

I doubt he could beat Belial, but he’s probably one of the stronger individuals on this planet.

“He’s at least as skilled as Snow in terms of swordsmanship. And he’s got the strength and endurance to easily move around in heavy armor.”

“Oh? He must be pretty good to be rated so highly by you. This might be entertaining.”

Adelie nods in agreement after Alice and my exchange.

“He’s this kingdom’s greatest knight, and a true warrior that even I treat with caution. I’m sure you’ve all at least heard his name. His name is—”

The man doesn’t even have a chance to speak as Belial punches him without a word, sending him flying.

He slams into the wall and lies there unmoving. Alice glances down at him as we walk past.

“Tell me the name of the man even you treat with caution, eh?”

“Your partner rated him highly, too! He fought me to a standstill when we sparred! H-hey, keep up, Miss Belial’s going to leave us behind!”

Adelie says this in a rush before Belial opens the doors!

“Mr. Tiger, say ahh”

“Hey, my mouth’s not wherrre you should ssstore prrrrudding. Make sure Rurrsssell gets srrrome, too.”

In a room where a lavishly decorated throne sits atop a luxuriantly rich carpet, Tiger Man is lying on the floor with his head in Russell’s lap, being offered a spoonful of pudding by a little girl.

“...Well, I don't dislike pudding. But I can eat it myself.”

With that, Russell holds his hand out to the girl, freezing as he turns his gaze toward us.

Tiger Man, noticing Russell suddenly go rigid, follows Russell’s gaze and freezes himself when he sees us.

The little girl, seeing Tiger Man, Russell, and our group all staringly blankly at one another, shyly looks up at us.

"Hello...”

“Well hi there, miss. We have business with Mr. Tiger, so can you follow this nice lady and play with her for a bit?”

“Huh? M-me?! Ahm, errm, okay! Heroes are also friends of children! I’ll teach you my ample repertoire of cool poses!”

Adelie panics for a moment when we push the child onto her, but she seems to catch on and accepts.

Based on how close she is with Tiger Man, I’m guessing this little girl is Princess Nadia.

As Adelie takes her by the hand, she looks back multiple times toward Tiger Man before leaving the room.

After making sure the door has closed behind them, Belial lets out a slow breath.

"Now...”

“I have one concern about dying. May I ask a favor of you?” Tiger Man, sitting respectfully, says without purring or meowing.

Belial nods as though offering a final bit of compassion to the mutant, who seems to have made his peace with his own death.

“All right. Say it.”

“If I die, Nadia will be exposed to danger. Could you please place her under your protection?”

As Tiger Man tries to protect the young loli princess even in the face of imminent death, Russell raises his voice in a panic.

“W-wait, what the heck?! Hey, Tiger Man, what do you mean you’re going to die?!”

Belial tilts her head quizzically at Russell, who she’s meeting for the first time.

“This is your first time meeting him, isn’t it, Lady Belial? This is Russell, whose hobby is cross- dressing.”

“Oh, the one who showed Lilith his dick. I don’t have anything to say about anyone’s hobbies, but don’t try to show me your junk, okay?”

“Well, that’s a terrible first impression you’ve given her! It’s not MY hobby to cross-dress, and I didn’t want her to see it! .. .H-huh? I-I can’t stop trembling.”

Russell, like Rose, seems to instinctively fear Belial, and he begins to tremble.

Belial suddenly raises her voice as Russell tries to hold his ground and stand in front of Tiger Man to plead his case.

“Making excuses is beneath you! Why would you dress up like that if you didn’t like it?! I have no interest in shaming anyone for their kinks, so be proud of who you are and what you like!”

“N-no...! It really isn’t my...”

Belial hikes up Russell’s skirt, even as he insists on arguing.

“You can’t wear shorts like this under your skirt and claim that it’s not something you enjoy. Don’t live in denial. It’s fine. It looks good on you, and you look cute. Be more confident in yourself.”

“She isn’t listening to me at all...”

Even as Belial pats his head, Russell grips the hem of his skirt tightly, eyes welling with tears of frustration.

Tiger Man then raises his face.

“Lady Belial, you just said you won’t shame anyeowone for their kinks.”

“...I didn't say that.”

The pervert who had forced a cross-dressing chimera to offer his lap to him as a headrest, then had a little girl feed him pudding, seems to have found the faintest glimmer of hope shining at the end of the tunnel.

The sicko mutant jumps to his feet and points his finger at Belial, shouting angrily.

“It’s nyeot frair for a Kisaragi Supreme Leader to go brrack on their worrrd! Lolicons are people, too! Making a little girl feed me a little pudding is hardly something I deserve a death sentence for!”

“You idiot! You kidnapped a child! I sent you out here as the ace in the hole to back up the Combat Agents because you’re the most powerful of the mutants, yet somehow you’ve caused the most problems!"

Russell trembles, cowing as the two begin to fight, and looks over at us pleadingly.

He probably wants us to intervene, but there’s no way a rank-and-file Combat Agent can step in and stop a fight between the most powerful Supreme Leader and the most powerful mutant.

Tiger Man, who seems to have given up any pretense of contrition, then pulls Russell over to him and sticks his tongue out tauntingly at Belial.

“Besides, Lady Belial went and hiked up Rurrrssell’s skirt, too! I’ll send a report to Kisaragi telling them that you peeked at a boy mrrraid’s panties!”

......

“You know that evidence can be destroyed, right? When did you delude yourself into thinking you can beat me?”

“I’m nrrrrot thinking I can win. But I can at least send some reports to Kisaragi befrrrore you can kill mreee! Mrrr!”

As the two of them face off, looking for an opening, I hear a large number of people approaching the room.

“There’s people coming. Maybe go for a temporary cease-fire?”

“Mrralready knyeow that. Frrrrom the sounds, there’s mrraybe ten to fifteen and they’re all arrrmmmed.”

“There’s fourteen. One of them isn’t carrying a weapon. That Lydia girl is bringing her soldiers here.”

.......

“You can’t even tell that much? Dummy! Moron!”

"You're a Supreme Leader, but you can brrre such a brrrrat!”

These two fighters, perhaps because their titles have “the ultimate” or “most powerful” in them, can sometimes be a lot of work to handle.

“And why the hell did you do something this stupid in the first place?! You knew sex crimes against children result in a death sentence!”

“I tried to explain on that front, but you wouldn't even try to listen to me! Also, I swear on anything holy and unholy that I haven’t actually done anything to her! Meow!”

“They’re about to enter the room! Can’t you two get along right now?!”

As I yell at the two of them, the room door is thrown open.

Just as Belial predicted, it’s a party of soldiers led by Lydia.

Lydia, having taken a quick look around the room, then raises her voice.

“Where’s Nadia?! I swear I won’t hurt her, so tell me where she is!”

“And then what, mrr? You’ll just demrrand that she give you the throoone!”

Lydia glares at Tiger Man’s comment.

“Yes, of course! I need to take the throne, not Nadia, not Madia! Even if I take the throne, my brother will become king soon after, so you stay out of it!”

Lydia’s desperate plea seems to have tipped Alice off to the fact that not everything was as it seemed.

“What do you mean your brother will become king soon after? What are you planning to do with the throne?”

Lydia swallows a breath at Alice’s calm question, containing her emotions and turning to her soldiers.

“...Leave the room. I need to explain things to these people.”

Lydia orders the soldiers to exit the chamber even as they object to leaving her alone with potential hostiles. Once the room is empty except for members of Kisaragi and herself, Lydia says with a thoroughly exhausted expression:

“I need you to finally, actually, listen to how the Grunade Kingdom was established.”

She smiles a wistfully sad smile as she speaks in a soft, scratchy voice.