The Villain's Reincarnation – Tired of Working Hard, I'm Slacking Off! The Peacefully Oblivious Slacker Avoids Ruin! - Chapter 38

The main force quickly realized that both the vanguard and the rear guard had come under attack.

After all, a blazing slash cut through the sky from the front, while in the rear, trees—and what appeared to be members of the rear guard—were sent flying into the air.

“Captain of the Knights, what is this?!”

“I know! So they’ve finally made their move!”

The Knight Captain, having anticipated an ambush, showed little sign of panic.

“All units, begin the operation!”

“““Understood!”””

At the captain’s command, the main force split into units of ten. Four squads moved to the rear, six to the front—dispersing all at once in a coordinated escape maneuver.

“My, that’s quite a quick response for just after an ambush. I see now… Ha, what a cruel Knight Captain you are. You meant to use the vanguard and the rear guard as decoys from the beginning, didn’t you?”

The one speaking cheerfully to the captain was none other than Darius, the very man they were escorting.

“And what of it? We carry the righteous duty of taking you to the royal capital and making you atone for your crimes on that day.”

The Knight Captain replied with unwavering composure to Darius’s provocation.

“Righteous duty, is it…? Righteous duty… Hahaha!! In the end, neither you nor I can see anything at all.”

“What are you talking about, you bastard?”

The captain glared sharply at Darius, disturbed by his ominous words.

“No need to look at me like that. Just the ramblings of a defeated man. More importantly… are you sure you’re ready?”

“Hm?”

“You lot aren’t suited to face them, you know?”

The moment Darius spoke, a fierce wind surged.

“What in the world—?!”

The Knight Captain turned to see a massive tornado erupting where the rear guard had been stationed.

(Was there really… such a difference in strength…?)

The captain’s head fell to the ground.

“Wha—Captain?!”

His adjutant stood frozen, unable to comprehend the scene before him.

Before anyone realized it, the Knight Captain had been cut down.

It had happened so naturally—so flawlessly—that no one even recognized it as an attack.

“What…?”

And in the very next instant, his own head fell to the earth.

Thus, the elite unit tasked with guarding the dangerous Darius, including the Knight Captain himself, was annihilated—without a single one of them understanding what had occurred.

“Ahhh… No matter how many times I see it, your swordsmanship is truly a thing of beauty. Not one of them even flinched. You sure you’re not better suited to being an assassin, Alan?”

Darius addressed the young man beside him—clean and untouched by bl00d despite being the one who had just slaughtered the elite knights. Alan, one of the Four Blades, had the air of a serious young warrior.

“Master Darius, I don’t want to be an assassin. I want to become a swordsman like the Captain.”

“The fastest swordsman, always the first to arrive on the battlefield… That was it, right? So, should we start running now? Judging from the situation, it seems you had to go with a plan you’d rather not use.”

“Haha, that’s exactly right, Master Darius. We had to resort to a rather forceful method. Ideally, we would have attacked the main force directly and asked Sir Robert to stall them, but the Knight Captain had no openings. So, we decided to create one through this flashy move. Honestly, without your diversion, I’m not sure I could’ve taken him in one blow.”

Alan gave a wry smile as he explained.

The Knight Captain had been strong. At the very least, he had never once shown an opening until Alan made his move.

Against ordinary enemies, Alan could finish the fight in seconds even from the front. But not with the Knight Captain. While Alan wouldn’t necessarily lose, defeating him instantly was out of the question.

If he failed to take him down in the first strike, there was a risk that Darius would be taken hostage.

That would have complicated things significantly. So, despite the risk of standing out, they initiated the attack to create an opening.

“For now, we should make our escape. We were a bit too flashy—reinforcements might be on their way. I doubt the Celestial Marshal will come since we sabotaged a few of their routes, but in this situation, I can’t say for sure.”

“I see, so that’s how it is. I get the gist of it. In any case, let’s run for now. Still, that Knight Captain was quite cautious.”

“So he left one unit behind after all. I thought he had sent them all charging ahead.”

Knights could be seen rushing toward them.

“Master Darius, will you handle this? You might be a bit out of shape after all that time in a cell.”

“I maintained myself, thank you very much! Well… this should be a nice warm-up.”

Darius conjured a sword with magic.

“Let’s go, Alan.”

“Yes, sir.”

And so, the escort unit was annihilated, and the mission to transfer Darius ended in failure.
All of it had happened in a mere three minutes after the ambush began.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“One day later, following Darius’s rescue—”

“Captain, the mission to retrieve Darius was a success.”

Alan and the others had returned to the hideout of the Shadow Trace Mercenary Corps.

“Well done. Were there any complications?”

“No, none to speak of.”

“We were extremely cautious, thinking it might turn out like it did with Darius, but nothing happened.”

“Just as Robert said—nothing happened. One of the knights turned out to be an adventurer in disguise, but he posed no threat.”

At the captain’s remark, Alan, Robert, and Henry each gave their assessments.

“It seems things went smoothly this time.”

The captain glanced at a young man with a slightly shady aura as he spoke.

“Please don’t look at me like that. Even we didn’t expect what happened with Darius. That’s exactly why our organization made such efforts to ensure his rescue.”

The young man earnestly tried to plead his innocence.

The Shadow Trace Mercenary Corps had received a request from the organization to which the young man belonged.

The content of the request was the abduction of Princess Liona, the First Princess of the Kingdom of Justina.

The requesting organization had caught wind early on of a political rift brewing between the royal family and the House of Mitsurugi.

They had also anticipated that, due to this conflict, Princess Liona’s security would become critically thin.

That’s why they made their move early, aiming to seize the opportunity.

The original instruction was to strike and kidnap the princess while she was within the Mitsurugi domain, where her guards would be the weakest. However, due to the nature of the Mitsurugi clan, conducting operations within their territory posed extreme danger.

In fact, it would be riskier than targeting the princess while she was guarded by the Royal Knights. For political reasons—specifically, to avoid provoking the Mitsurugi family—they proposed conducting the ambush near their territory instead, where the Celestial Marshal would have difficulty arriving quickly.

Nevertheless, the organization responded that they had successfully disrupted some of the Mitsurugi clan’s surveillance and that there would be no problem.

Naturally, the mercenaries could not simply take that claim at face value. As a compromise, they sent the young man—Raam—as a hostage, liaison, and potential reinforcement, while dispatching Darius into Mitsurugi territory for recon and verification.

The result? On the very first day, Darius and the entire scouting team were ambushed and captured in a disastrous failure.

Of course, this led to fierce questioning, and tensions escalated to the brink of armed conflict—threats of tracking down and destroying all of the organization’s bases, starting with Raam.

However, the organization responded by relinquishing authority over tactical decisions and sincerely providing support—rescue operations, supplies, and other resources—which allowed their alliance to continue.

“So, that’s the story. Darius, what are your thoughts on the matter?”

The captain turned to Darius, seeking his opinion on how things had played out.

“Well… I don’t really have anything to say. But our interests align. As long as that’s the case, it’s still worth cooperating.”

“Mutual interest, huh…”

“Even with all their efforts, kidnapping Princess Liona won’t be easy—that much is clear. Still, if they’re going to entrust this to outsiders, we remain the most capable choice. On top of that, they’ve offered us something far more valuable than money—something that ensures we won’t easily betray them.”

If the reward had merely been money, the Shadow Trace Mercenary Corps would never have accepted the job.

However, the organization had presented something they desperately wanted—something they’d go to any length to obtain.

Because of that, siding against the organization would be a significant loss for the mercenaries. Likewise, from the organization’s perspective, the mercenaries were a rare asset—and if they turned hostile, the damage would be substantial.
So cutting ties was not a simple option.

“In that case, we won’t change the plan. As scheduled, we’ll abduct her on the return trip to the capital.”

The decision was based on the conclusion that attacking within the Mitsurugi domain—especially after what happened with Darius—was far too dangerous.

“Ah, wait a minute. There’s something I want to share.”

Raam raised a hand, as if objecting to the finalized plan.

“This just came in—a fresh piece of intel. Apparently, the princess has been going around the city in disguise as a maid, completely unguarded.”

“Raam, enough with the jokes. The princess is on an official inspection. There’s no way she’d put herself in such a foolish situation.”

Henry rejected Raam’s words without hesitation.

“Hey, hey, it’s not that impossible. You see, the one escorting the princess in her maid disguise… is none other than Kaito Mitsurugi—the very man who holds the most sway in negotiations with her.”

“…”

Kaito Mitsurugi—a man often called a prodigy and the leading candidate to succeed the Mitsurugi clan.
Despite his talent, he was infamous for his arrogance, lack of discipline, and problematic behavior stemming from never having needed to try.

“Considering the princess’s position, it wouldn’t be strange for her to go out of her way to build a positive relationship with Kaito Mitsurugi, even if it means sacrificing herself to grant his outrageous demands.”

It was certain that the current inspection had, at its core, a goal of improving relations with the Mitsurugi family.

Given Princess Liona’s reputation, it wouldn’t be out of character for her to make personal sacrifices in pursuit of that objective.

“If the request really is as reckless as it sounds, it’s not unthinkable that Mitsurugi Kaito is using his position of power to force her into it. I did some digging—apparently, despite his immense talent, Kaito completely neglects his studies and duties, spends his time gallivanting around the city, and basically does whatever he wants. The townsfolk even call him a lazy, pampered brat who’s gone soft from peacetime.”

The rumors they’d heard beforehand lined up with the current situation, making even this outrageous scenario feel disturbingly believable.

“If someone spoiled by power and talent is allowed to do whatever they want, then it’s not hard to imagine them forcing unreasonable demands. Princess Liona is pure, graceful, and beautiful—she looks every bit the royal she is. She’s also eleven, the same age as him… Honestly, it wouldn’t be surprising if he was tempted to do something indecent. And to top it off, he’s making her dress up like a maid? He’s beyond redemption.”

Darius, who had once fought Kaito’s younger brother, Yuki, couldn’t help but smile bitterly at the stark contrast between the two siblings.

“The fact that Kaito had his brother fight me instead of facing me himself says a lot. If that’s anything to go by, we might be looking at a situation far worse than we anticipated.”

The more they considered it, the more likely it seemed that this ridiculous story was actually happening.

“In short, thanks to Kaito Mitsurugi, the princess might be in a completely unguarded state. Honestly, it might even be worth the risk of stepping into Mitsurugi territory.”

Even with the strength of the Shadow Trace Mercenary Corps, trying to abduct Princess Liona while she was protected by the Royal Guard would come at a high cost.

But if Raam’s intel was true, there was a chance to kidnap her without a fight.

Yes, there was still the danger of entering Mitsurugi territory, but with the right strategy, they could reduce that risk.

“What do you think, Darius?”

The captain looked to Darius for his thoughts.

“Raam, how did you get this information? The Mitsurugi family is known for their strong intelligence network.”

“I told you, we managed to disrupt their surveillance. So we’ve been able to slip some spies in to gather intel. I’ll admit, we haven’t gotten in too deep, so the details are limited. Honestly, the part about the princess was mostly just luck. And as for your case, Darius… that really was something we didn’t see coming.”

Raam’s tone showed no sign of dishonesty.

“If the intel is accurate, then Raam’s suggestion isn’t off the table. But if we go through with it, we need a small, elite team. Anyone who’d slow us down should be left behind. And Raam’s coming with us too—it’ll lower the chances of betrayal.”

“That’s way too harsh!”

Raam’s protest was completely ignored by Darius.

It could still be a trap—but it seemed unlikely that the Mitsurugi family would be able to manipulate Kaito’s reckless behavior this precisely.

So, if the information was true, it probably meant Kaito Mitsurugi was acting on his own—and that might be a gap they could exploit.

Even if it was a trap, as long as only high-ranking members were involved, they could handle it.

The risk was there—but with careful planning, the chances of success were good. And the reward would be huge.

“…Alright. We’ll give it one more day. If things still look promising, we’ll go with Darius’s plan. The team will be me, Robert, Henry, Darius, and Raam. Alan, you’ll stay behind and lead the others—prepare for a counterattack if things go wrong, and be ready to retreat immediately if we succeed.”

—And so, the next night, on the third day—

A new report came in.

Apparently, Kaito Mitsurugi wasn’t just taking the princess out during the day. Even at night, he was leading her into quiet, deserted areas with no one around.

Because of that, the team made a decision:

They would proceed with the abduction inside Mitsurugi territory.