Chapter 271: Climbing onto the Roof

I ran along the wall.

When I ran past, the watcher made a "Gegeh?!" face. That reaction was the same for all of them and it was funny, but you people aren’t safe either! Stay sharp!

"I’m going up!"

I told Lily, then jumped onto the shoulder of the watcher who happened to be there, used him as a foothold, and came out onto the second-floor balcony. A crowd of people was on the balcony, all wearing "Ohh?!" faces. At face-to-face distance, had my sweat splashed on them? I caught a glimpse of the Queen’s face. Anouk was behind her. Delighted, I flashed a fox sign. No one understood...

I saw Lily about to jump from below, so I had no time to check the Queen’s reaction and leapt to the balcony of the next room over. Cheers rose here! Because there were spectators, no arrows came. But stones were being thrown from around Count von Kirchhoff. You people—that’s lese-majeste, lese-majeste! You don’t know who they’ll hit. The only certainty is they won’t hit me.

Ohh, someone hurled abuse at me. A Kirchhoff supporter? They were probably betting on it. If I won they’d lose their shirts. Sorry about that—!!

The light followed me. The light aimed at the roof was pointing diagonally upward, which meant the archer couldn’t see me. Looking back, Lily and Rudolf were following. Rudolf was properly holding the shield. What kind of physical ability let a man jump while holding a shield? Was that much weight no problem?

Anyway I climbed in a Z-pattern onto the third-floor balcony. Voices that could have been shrieks or screams of delight reached me, but I didn’t care. I had no time to respond.

At last I would go onto the roof. The archer’s side probably had a general idea of where I was too, so I had to assume I would be sniped the moment I went up. I shifted Divine Legs into the fastest gear, shook off the light, and leapt onto the roof. I didn’t know if Lily and Rudolf were following. If I went up first I would become bait, so Lily and Rudolf should be able to come up easily.

I landed on the roof, took one breath, and arrows came. They flew straight at my chest from the front so I couldn’t sweep them with a sword. I twisted my body. They passed just in front of my chest. Arrows came at the place I had twisted to. Another arrow came; I twisted to dodge but lost my balance. Ah! An arrow! Better to fall than force a dodge here. I kicked the edge of the roof and flew out into the air.

"Ah, Lord Robbie?!"

Lily, whose face I met as I fell, cried out. I tried to say something but no voice came as I dropped. I spun my body and fell right in front of the Queen. "Kyaa!" voices reached me. Sorry for looking uncool.

There was a zun! of landing impact in my legs, but this much was fine! Within expected parameters. The watcher asked:

"Are you all right?"

"I’m fine!"

I answered, and he said:

"That’s good! Do your best! I want to see you win!"

So he was cheering for me.

"I have one question, if I may?"

"What is it?"

"After this, would it be a problem if I broke part of the mansion? Would I have to pay compensation or anything?"

I didn’t think they’d talk about compensation, but I asked just in case.

"That should be fine. What are you saying at this point? If you think of this as a battlefield, the whole mansion could even be destroyed. His Majesty said so as well."

Oh—this man could speak directly with His Majesty. And he said something quite bold.

"Forgive me, but may I ask your name? I am Robin Marie."

"Ahahaha, thank you for being so polite. I am Michael Lothar. I serve as Knight Commander of the Kingdom of Mainz. I am the chief referee today. I have expectations of you. Do your best!"

Oh-ho, an unexpected big shot. Was it all right for the chief referee to be on my side? The question remained, but it felt good.

"Thank you very much. I’ll do my best!!"

I thanked him and dashed, leaping onto the second-floor balcony. At that timing I collided with someone who had been looking down at me and kicked them into the room. Oops, bad. What now? The person next to the one I had kicked seemed to understand I was flustered; he laughed and fluttered his palm. Did that mean it was fine, no problem? I chose the convenient interpretation and leapt to the third floor. Ohh! This balcony seemed to have expected me to come up; there was a one-person gap in the railing.

The eyes of the people on the balcony sparkled as they looked at me. Being looked at with eyes so full of expectation was embarrassing and pleasing at once, but anyway I leapt onto the roof.

On the roof Rudolf was holding the shield and stopping arrows. The shield was dented all over, but Lily was stuck close behind Rudolf as he held it. They were trying to inch forward, but the force of the arrows was too strong for them to advance?

The moment I came onto the roof, arrows flew at me. Three in a row, but because they had suddenly aimed at me the power was a bit lacking. In that interval Rudolf and Lily advanced. Even if they couldn’t close the distance, it was enough if they put pressure on the enemy!

At the place where two roofs met at a right angle there was a small spire, and arrows were flying from there. Was there a bell inside? The spire wasn’t tall, but it had walls; were arrows stocked there? If so they wouldn’t run out. I could glimpse people moving.

There were three volleys of three arrows, and after that there seemed to be a short interval. If we struck in that gap we might manage something. If we could force close combat we could do it!