Her grip on her weapons tightened as she recalled what happened back in the Snow forest when she failed to properly protect the Madame.

There was no time to delay any longer. Louiselle had to quickly exterminate what was inside there and go back to her side.

“Get out of my way.”

“She is the traitor that His Majesty mentioned. Get her!”

At the same time as the cry, the knights all rushed towards Louiselle.

A sword flew in her direction, aimed for her throat. Taking a step back and repositioning her posture, Louiselle weaved through the metallic onslaught and shoved her dagger through the thin hole in his helm. The slit was meant to give him vision.

“Argh!”

A horrifying scream resounded. Blood gushed out as she withdrew her dagger. The injured knight fell while staggering backwards.

“What is this….”

Louiselle’s eccentric way of combat caused agitation among the knights. They did not expect her to attack using the slit carved for visibility on their helmet.

The knights had been daunted by the scream which pierced through the air. Louiselle wiped the blood from her cheek and spoke in a low voice.

“Next.”

“Ack!”

Another knight, furious at the apparent disregard, rushed in. He swung his sword wildly, but Louiselle effortlessly avoided it. The knight swung his sword even more extensively in the narrow trajectory.

The rest of the knights watching the scene from behind could immediately sense the death of their comrade.

He had exposed his weakness as he moved too recklessly.

“Stupid.”

It was not hard for Louiselle to slide into the gap and counterattack.

As another knight fell, there was a chilling silence.

This fight is not going to be easy.

The knights, who had belittled Louiselle for being a woman, eventually felt their hair stand on ends. They feared that they might end up having the same death.

“A-attack at once!”

When the knight commander shouted, the members fixed their swords and began charging towards the female mercenary at once. The intention was to drive her into a corner so that she could not escape.

But in reality, Louiselle struck down the swords one by one with smooth and flexible movements and knocked each of them down.

Thud.

When the last knight collapsed, the Crown Prince, who had been watching secretly from afar, was dumbfounded.

…So this is the power of the Grand Duchy.

The Prince gulped with tension. Now, he had somewhat understood why the emperor was so afraid of the Grand Duke and was always scheming to have him under control.

The Crown Prince approached Louiselle, vowing not to turn the Ducal family into enemies once he became the Emperor.

“…Are you okay?”

“Yes. Come on inside.”

Louiselle, who was not one bit dishevelled, answered calmly. She immediately tried to open the warehouse.

Clang.

Her expression crumbled at the lock on the door.

“Hold on a minute. Let’s find the key.”

The Crown Prince hurriedly looked inside the defeated knights’ armours. During the process, one more exclamation popped up in his mind.

She was only aiming for vital points.

All knights were stabbed in precisely one place, their forehead, between the eyebrows. She did not make a single error. One could say that this demonstration of artistic precision showed the calculative and thorough character of Louiselle.

“Ah.”

As his thoughts consumed him, something metallic struck over the fingertips of the armour. The Crown Prince quickly pulled it out, and, as expected, it was the key.

“I have found the key.”

When the Prince inserted the key into the lock, the door of the warehouse clicked open.

After looking at the Crown Prince with admiration for a moment, Louiselle took hold of her two daggers and went inside.

Fortunately, there were no knights guarding the interior of the warehouse. Inside, it looked like an ordinary treasury, with gold coins, jewels, old swords, and relics scattering around like junk. At first glance, it did not appear unusual, and there seemed to be no guards inside.

“It is probably disguised as a treasure trove,” said the Crown Prince.

Only then could Louiselle understand why he had only deployed this many troops. The Emperor was arrogant. He seemed confident that they would not find the magic-blocking device.

“What a fool.”

Louiselle, putting the daggers away, put on a gauntlet instead. It was a force amplification magic tool she had taken before breaking into the imperial palace.

“If we can’t find it, we can just break it down one by one.”

“Pardon?”

As soon as the Crown Prince confusedly questioned, Louiselle strode towards the most prominent stone statue in the treasure trove. And with all her might, she slammed her fist against the stone statue.

Crack, crack.