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「Either way, I’m really glad you’re here to help us. I was really starting to get worried for a moment there.」

The soldier leader seemed to have been really anxious about his situation, so he was relieved to know someone like Mira was willing to help.

「I apologize for appearing so suddenly as well. Though I also nearly got a heart attack waking up to an armed group around my home, so we’re even.」

Now that all doubts had been cleared between them, Mira and the soldier laughed heartily. But it was impressive that such a big force had moved to surround Mira’s spirit mansion, so she was curious how it all happened to be. She also asked why she had been suspected to be related to Fuzzy Dice.

「It all happened last night. There were some reports about a suspicious beastly bird surveying the city.」

Saying that, the soldier leader began to tell Mira everything that happened.

When those reports came in, he also checked the night sky and spotted that large bird circling above the city, almost like it was searching for something. And so they began to suspect that it was Fuzzy Dice, surveying the city in secret before attacking.

Everyone in the city was on edge about Fuzzy Dice, and there were just a handful of days left before the stated date in the letter. The city was also preparing countermeasures against Fuzzy Dice’s arrival, so it made sense that he would want to investigate the city beforehand.

The soldiers on duty began to track the bird in the sky, while a separate group gathered to follow it.

That way they saw the large bird land not too far from the main gates. Once they secretly went to investigate that area, they were surprised to find a mansion there, one that had never existed before. On top of that there were two heavily armored knights patrolling the area. While it was all really shocking, the soldier leader also had a strong hunch that they had just discovered Fuzzy Dice’s hidden lair. That hunch had just been proven completely wrong, but it was a logical conclusion at the time.

Regardless, there was a building there, and it seemed to be inhabited, likely by Fuzzy Dice himself, or someone helping him. Whichever the case, capturing whoever was inside seemed like a no-brainer.

To accomplish that, the soldier leader left a few scouts keeping watch over the mansion while he went to gather more soldiers and adventurers who were interested in capturing Fuzzy Dice.

Mira was seeing everyone who gathered then, as they had all quickly surrounded the mansion and waited for her to come out. Apparently they had tried questioning the Ashen Knights before as well, but obtained no response. That made the soldier leader even more suspicious, so he unsheathed his sword and pointed it at an Ashen Knight, demanding an answer.

But the only response he got was a counterattack from the Ashen Knight.

「It’s been so long since I’ve been flung through the air with such grace, man… To be honest I can only laugh thinking back to that now.」

The soldier leader laughed happily as he recalled that moment. But Mira felt a bit guilty and apologized.

She had given various orders to the Ashen Knights when she left them to keep watch. One was to kill any monster that got close, another that if a human came, to not act aggressively but to be watchful, and if the human showed hostility to counterattack, but not with lethal force.

「It’s fine, you don’t have to apologize. This all could’ve been avoided if I hadn’t been so rash after all. Not to mention that he was clearly holding back.」

In reality it was largely Mira’s fault for placing the spirit mansion in a place like that, but the soldier leader did not seem to mind in the slightest. He also mentioned that the Ashen Knights had not been exceedingly violent in their reaction. 「That could’ve ended so much worse…」 he muttered as he glanced at the Ashen Knight standing next to Mira.

「In any case, some other brave ones tried challenging them as well, but I guess you can already see how all of that ended. Keeping watch was all we really ended up succeeding at.」

Apparently there were other soldiers and adventurers who tried going up against the Ashen Knights, but they all gave up. The only option they had left was to wait for someone to come out of the mansion and could properly answer their questions.

And that ended up being Mira when she walked out.

「By the way, we haven’t heard them utter a single word since we got here, but are those two knights also rank A adventurers?」

Eventually the soldier leader was done talking about that, and switched topics, his eyes full of expectation as he looked at the two Ashen Knights. He was really short-handed to do anything about the imminent attack of Fuzzy Dice, so he was essentially latching onto any hope he could find, no matter how faint.

But sadly for him, the Ashen Knights were no adventurers, and not even human.

「No, these two are my summons.」

As Mira said that, she sent an Ashen Knight away, and it quickly vanished like a mirage. Everyone there had seen the two reliable Ashen Knights patrolling the area until now, when one quickly vanished into thin air. That prompted everyone to start murmuring and talking to each other again, making a lot of noise. The soldier leader was also shocked, staring open mouthed at the spot where the Ashen Knight had been standing not too long ago.

「I thought it was odd how quiet they were, but I see, they weren’t human after all. But summons…」

Eventually he recovered from his shock and was able to say something, his eyes shifting to look at the remaining Ashen Knight. He muttered in a low voice that he had never seen any summon like that before, and then he looked at Mira, speaking more clearly to ask 「So what is this type of summoning called?」 his eyes full of expectation.

「Well, technically they’re just Armor Spirits. I modified them a little though.」

When Mira said that, the soldier looked somewhat confused. That was a natural reaction though, as Armor Spirits were commonly known as the first step of any summoner, certainly not something that could compare to anything of a higher level. Even if someone honed their skills to improve on them, the Ashen Knights seemed to exist on a whole different realm to someone’s first spell.

That also incited the crowd to start jeering. Mira had to be exaggerating too much, trying to pass a high level summon as a starting one.

「That’s…an Armor Spirit…」

The soldier leader also looked at the Ashen Knight in disbelief. Seeing that reaction, Mira looked around for a bit before grinning a little. She was about to blow everyone’s mind.

She had been telling the truth. The Ashen Knights were a Compound Skill made of Dark Knights, Holy Knights, and Sanctia’s power, combined with the Spirit King’s Divine Protection. That still fell in the category of Armor Spirits.

「Hmm…are they really Armor Spirits though? I know a summoner myself, but I don’t remember seeing any Armor Spirit like this before…」

The soldier leader examined the Ashen Knight for a while, and then looked at Mira again, his face full of doubt. But that was just what Mira wanted.

「They are bona-fide Armor Spirits, yes.」

Saying that, Mira quickly summoned three Ashen Knights at the same time. That instantly produced countless gasps from the crowd, while the soldier leader’s eyes snapped open almost into perfect circles.

「Maybe you’ve heard about this from that summoner you know? Armor Spirits are the only ones you can summon multiple of at the same time.」

Being able to use a summon multiple times simultaneously was a special feature of Armor Spirits. In cases like Isenfald or Worthramble, she would call on their help by directly summoning them, so it was impossible to have multiple of the same person. But Armor Spirits were slightly different, as instead they were essentially living within the summoner already. Because of that it was possible for a summoner to use mana to recreate them, and as long as the flow of mana was sustained, they would maintain their shape as summons, even if there were multiple of them.