[V2C7] Confrontation of the Mad Dog, Hunting Dog, and Faithful Dog

Agatha closed the distance with Hubert, extending the mop in her palm as if it was a part of her arm.

Rather than wielding the spear with sheer strength, her movements showed an understanding of when to exert force.

Hubert used ice arrows to restrain Agatha and jumped backward.

At that moment, a knife flew in from the side, thrown by Isaac. Anticipating this, Hubert evaded the knife by squatting down.

Ideally, he would use a defensive barrier, but since he had deployed a magical tool disrupting the flow of mana, Hubert could no longer use magic, just like Monica. He must rely only on the magical tools he had on hand.

(…Is the knife a diversion?)

Hubert turned his eyes and glanced to his side.

Isaac had already closed the distance, unleashing a spinning kick with his long legs.

(This is impossible to dodge…)

Hubert lifted his right arm to shield his head. Under Isaac’s powerful kick, both his arm and shoulder creaked.

After rolling on the floor, Hubert quickly got up and activated his magical tools, pushing back Agatha and Isaac with arrows of lightning and ice.

“Hmm-hmm-hmm… Impressive moves.”

Though Isaac’s kick was not strong enough to break Hubert’s arm, he had rendered it useless for a while.

There were stories about the second prince, Felix Arc Ridill, being excellent in swordsmanship and martial arts.

At that time, Hubert had thought the instructors were probably showing favoritism to the royal family, but Isaac’s movements were sharper than expected.

“…As expected of the great Duke Crockford. His well-trained hunting dog is quite excellent, huh?”

Isaac, who was constantly called the Duke’s dog, simply smiled at Hubert’s taunt.

But it was a smile with a chilling gaze.

“Did you think mentioning that man would provoke me?”

“Was I wrong?”

Despite grinning, Hubert contemplated his options.

Hubert’s small talk wasn’t just provocation; it was also buying time for a tactical analysis.

Hubert Dee loved hunting. He loved analyzing the movements of his prey and setting traps to catch them. He spared no effort if it would allow him to savor that single moment.

(Monica is incapacitated. The orange-haired lady can’t fight… But Isaac Walker. He’s surprisingly skilled in martial arts. Those long limbs give him reach. His knife-throwing skills are quite advanced. At this distance, I need to keep a close eye on his hands.)

And just like Isaac, he must be cautious of the woman holding the mop: Isabelle’s maid, Agatha.

Though a mop had a different feel than a spear, her perfect weight shift was evident. Given her skill in rescuing Monica at the last moment, it was clear she was no simple maid.

“The mop lady is from Kerbeck, right? …I see. People from a land with constant dragon attacks are valiant warriors, even the women.”

At Hubert’s words, Agatha spoke while keeping her mop ready, all without lowering her guard.

“Indeed, I am from Kerbeck. However, in Kerbeck, the primary school would be the throwing spear for killing dragons. The spear techniques I have acquired are foreign arts specialized in personal combat.”

Makes sense. That made her ideal for protecting the young lady.

If this woman named Agatha specialized in dragon combat, she wouldn’t have been much of a threat. Dragon combat and human combat were vastly different.

(This woman is accustomed to fighting humans. Her long weapon gives her reach. She’s no easy prey either.)

Currently, there were two significant prey in front of Hubert. Both were formidable.

Hubert had no intention of fleeing before such formidable opponents.

“Yes, yes, yes! Oh, this is great! Now is the fun part!”

The Silent Witch, one of the highest-ranking magicians in the country. The Duke of Erin. The maid wielding a mop——they were all equally prey for Hubert.

Monica and Hubert may have completely different personalities, but they shared one common trait.

Just as Monica became equally merciless toward those she deemed enemies, Hubert was equally merciless toward those he marked as prey.

Whether they were royalty, the Seven Sages, or young girls, it made no difference.

As Hubert licked his lips, Isaac and Agatha looked on with disgust.

Even those disgust-filled gazes felt pleasant to Hubert. He activated the magical tool on his rings.

The biggest drawback for a magician was the time required for incantation. Therefore, magicians were vulnerable when that distance was closed.

However, Hubert’s weapons were magical tools. Just like Monica’s chantless magic, he could activate them instantly without an incantation, allowing for rapid fire.

“Now, can you dodge these?”

Ice arrows rained down on Isaac, while lightning arrows targeted Agatha.

Both arrows had tracking capabilities, albeit for a short duration. They weren’t easy to dodge.

However, Isaac picked up a chair at his feet, using it as a makeshift shield to block the ice arrows. Then, while keeping the chair as a shield, he closed the distance with Hubert.

…The prince intended to slam Hubert with the chair.

Meanwhile, Agatha, with the mop closely aligned with her body, danced across the floor, evading the lightning arrows. Despite their tracking capability, she avoided all of them.

Furthermore, while dodging the arrows, Agatha closed the distance and aimed the mop at Hubert’s forehead. Her movements were more graceful than the prince swinging the chair with murderous intent.

Both Isaac’s chair and Agatha’s mop were closing in on Hubert.

Hubert smirked and looked in a completely different direction from the two.

In Hubert’s line of sight were Monica, crouching on the floor, and Isabelle, who was comforting her.

The blood drained from Isaac and Agatha’s faces once they understood Hubert’s intentions.

“…You can’t abandon your precious master, huh?”

Hubert raised the corners of his mouth, smiling menacingly, and lifted his ring-adorned hands.

The ring gleamed, and a dozen or so lightning arrows materialized above him.

Those arrows were aimed at Monica and Isabelle.

“Monica!”

“Milady!”

Isaac and Agatha leaped in front of the lightning arrows, as if to take the hit for their respective masters.

The slender lightning arrows poured down like rain, attempting to pierce through Isaac and Agatha, but…

“…That’s enough.”

The lightning arrows attempting to pierce them were obstructed by an invisible wall and scattered.

(Barrier magic? How? The flow of mana is currently disrupted, so even a Sage should be unable to cast magic…)

Hubert stared at the Monica being supported by Isabelle, widening his eyes to the limit in realization.

Isabelle was embracing not Monica, but the child from the village, wearing the coat that belonged to Monica. On closer inspection, it was the child Hubert had overlooked earlier.

Isabelle’s body acted as a wall, obscuring half of Monica from Hubert’s view. That’s why he hadn’t noticed the substitution.

(If that’s the case, the real one is…)

Hubert turned around and saw… lightning arrows deployed around him. These were different from the ones created by his magical tools.

Standing behind Hubert was the Silent Witch Monica Everett, holding his magical tool knife.

Monica had lent her coat to the village child, then moved in secrecy while Hubert was busy with Isaac and Agatha. She made use of the opening to disarm the knife.

And she did it while dragging her injured leg and crawling across the floor.

“Looks like you grew some guts, huh?”

“…Today, I’m the cool master, you see.”

“Hah? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Although Hubert had never heard of Monica taking on an apprentice, it seemed that today’s Monica didn’t intend to cry and run away. Despite her dislike of pain and fear.

“By the way, how long did it take to disable the dummy magic formula this time?”

In order to rewrite the effect of a magical tool, it was necessary to disable the dummy magic formula placed on it.

In the magical battle two years ago, Monica had disabled the dummy magic formula created by Hubert in less than five seconds.

Taking that lesson to heart, Hubert had spent several years creating an exceptionally complex dummy magic formula, which he embedded in the knife magical tool.

For the dummy magic formula of the Barrier Mage Louis Miller, it took Monica about a minute to disable.

Thus, Hubert expected his dummy magic formula to take 30-40 seconds…

“Um, for this one… it took ten seconds.”

“Hah! Ahhahahahaha!”

Hubert laughed with a mixture of frustration and genuine joy.

He genuinely wanted to take down Silent Witch with his own hands.

But he didn’t want it to be too easy.

He wanted Monica to remain an extraordinary monster that no one could reach.

“As expected, you’re the best, my queen!”

Lightning arrows poured down on the crazily laughing Hubert like rain.

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