Disciple of Immortal - Act 3: Chapter 27: 《Puppet Coffin》(Side: Kotone)

「This doll is already obsolete I guess. It’s useless already but I have no choice. Though I should be able to get Lovis-chan with a bit more provocation.」

Bosgin raised his displaced joint, turned it around to return it into its socket.

「… What in the world are you? From the very beginning, you’re not the real Bosgin right?」

Kotone stepped back, raised the gauntlets covering her arms as she glared at Bosgin.

She realized that if her real opponent was the mysterious person who controlled Bosgin, then she had no hope in winning the battle.

Two of the three lids of the 《Puppet Coffin》 opened up.

There was a hand that pushed out the lid of those coffins, the people sleeping in the coffin had been woken up.

「Hou… Our opponent is this adorable lass eh. But, nothing can stop my justice! I’m going first, let’s fight fair and square!」

The armored tall man who appeared from one of the coffins pointed his blade toward Kotone.

He was a blonde haired man with sideburns that connected to his beard.

He’s a handsome man who embodies the concept of neat yet wild.

The color theme of gold on blue of his armor was that of kingdom knight.

His peculiar traits were something that Kotone heard before.

「Could it be that you are… 《Garan of Hundred Demon》!?」

It was the title of a high rank knight amongst the kingdom knights.

In Locklore, the difference between each person’s combat capabilities were really steep.

A knight who could take on a hundred monsters on his own would be entitled as Hundred Demon. That name wasn’t just for show.

The total number of kingdom knights was more than a hundred but there were no more than ten people who received the  Hundred Demon title.

One could say that they’re the trump card of the kingdom, counter to the Demon King or 《Humanoid Dragon》.

And despite his power as Hundred Demon, Garan suddenly went missing three years ago.

And in addition to that, since he kept acting strangely before his missing case, there was a rumor saying that he was the spy of another kingdom.

「Though personal combat isn’t to my liking, I’ve no choice in this regard I guess. Sorry but, no hard feeling okay.」

The other one was a long haired man with a monocle.

He wore a leather belt around his body, with bow, sword, axe, and spear strapped on that belt.

He was the famous S-rank adventurer, otherwise known as Balot, the Dungeon Master.

The origin of his name was because he kept challenging dungeons of various difficulties and returning alive as if it was not a big deal.

These two were big shots comparable to Kotone.

The third coffin stayed still, and didn’t show any sign of movement.

But, Kotone was convinced that it was still hiding something beneath its lid.

Looking at the two opponents before her, Kotone squinted her eyes.

「《Dungeon Master, Balot》 is originally someone who does as he pleases, so he never designated as a missing person.」

「An accurate, yet painful revelation, eh? I wanted to let Garan-chan to stay as kingdom knight but, the regulation over there is way too strict. It’ll be troublesome if the big shot over there know that I manipulated Garan behind the scene.」

Kotone already had a rough idea about the figure who manipulated Bosgin with 《Puppet Coffin》.

She heard the rumor about the user of ghost magic who could bind someone’s soul and manipulate their body as they like.

There was a magic that would allow its user to manipulate someone while keeping their personality intact.

Once, a long time ago, such magic was used to hijack the kingdom or the spy, and purposely abused to wreck the internal situation of the organization.

The remarks said by Ballot, Garan, and Bosgin were obviously had the same kind of speech.

The thought and idea was altered to the point that it was the same as the original owner of the body, while the mastermind manipulated their body at will.

But, there was a possibility that the mastermind’s thoughts and ideas leaked out just like what happened to Bosgin a while ago.

Bosgin, Garan, and Balot, three people whose strength rivals that of S-rank adventurers, was being manipulated so easily like that could only mean that the mastermind was very powerful, at least on the peak of medium rank of 《Humanoid Dragon》.

And the fact that such a person was aiming for a mere decoration like 《Red Authority Cane》 was clearly unnatural.

「Why are you doing this? With such great power, you shouldn’t have any difficulties with money right?」

Kotone asked the mastermind while maintaining her vigilance against the three before her.

「《Red Authority Cane》 isn’t just your trivial item. Originally, it’s an unstoppable weapon once it ran amok, but then, the royal family from back then murdered its original owner and hid the cane. Those fellas became more and more idiotic with every news that came out from their side.」

Bosgin sneered as he spoke.

Though he sounds like someone who lacked expression, the mastermind forced him to smile like that.

「But then you came, you should be able to use that cane with your power, right? That cane have a really troublesome requirement to equip it after all. Moreover, as you’ve already guessed, I’ve yet to get my hand on that cane. Those kingdom knight seems to hide it somewhere.」

Bosgin replied to Kotone’s question with a huge grin on his face.

Garan and Balot also made the same kind of grin on their faces.

It was nothing but an eerie spectacle.

「… What so funny about this?」

「Sorry, Lass. We already took the 《Red Authority Cane》 from my three adorable juniors. It’s simple enough to do so with Bosgin’s subordinate from 《Blood Cup》. Good grief… I should recommend an even more rigorous training. There’s high rank knight to counter high rank opponent.」

「But then, retrieving 《Red Authority Cane》 isn’t a big deal. With our personal connection, determining the knights’ route is as easy as flipping our hands. And by the time the royal castle dispatched those low rank knights to deliver the cane, the cane is as good as falling in our hand. They are already afraid that the cane will be taken by others even before it happens. It seems they know that they’re not qualified to do the job but, Garan-dono really should be more careful when choosing kingdom knight.」

Garan replied to Kotone, Balot added more details to Garan’s explanation.

Kotone’s eyes opened wide.

To begin with, Bosgin didn’t have to show himself before her if he had already retrieved the 《Red Authority Cane》.

「Oh yeah, the free spirited adventurer has no idea about the intricacies within the kingdom knight order. Kingdom knight order always suffers from lack of personnel since they need to always stay vigilant for the 《Humanoid Dragon》 or demon king. Part of the royal family might come with the idea to use the weaker knights to deliver the useless item rather than chipping away at their war potential right? I mean, there’s a huge uproar back then when I suddenly went MIA.」

Garan shrugged his shoulders as if joking about it.

「I think that’s your fault, Garan-dono. But then, what I want to say is what might happen back in the royal capital which caused this result. They really shouldn’t just simply take out the item from god that they has yet to understand to the outside without knowing the risk.」

Both Garan and Balot exchanged such mismatched, lighthearted conversations with smiles on their faces.

It was really a bizarre sight for Kotone who saw it from the side.

「… If you’ve retrieved the cane, why are you still in this city? You should leave immediately right?」

Bosgin, Garan, and Balot were looking at Kotone with a smile on their face upon hearing her question.

「Ufufufu, you know the answer, right?」

「《Red Authority Cane》 is just a decorative item if you can’t use it. It will be too boring if we just went into hiding after seizing it.」

「We have to snatch both the box, and the key. Or in this case, the 《Ares Hand》 who is supposed to receive the cane.」