BXBX NOVEL Volume 3, 12: Laughing Clown?
Volume 3, Chapter 12: Laughing Clown③
Lambert walked along the passage in Viscount Le Gael’s mansion.
Since the defense became stronger the deeper he advanced into the mansion, he was almost sure that Viscount Le Gael was right there at the end of the passage.
Even if the other party had prepared a secret passage to escape, tracking him down shouldn’t be a big deal.
According to the information that he gathered from the slums, Viscount Le Gael was a fat man. There was no way he could escape for that long from Lambert.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the person, who already hated to leave his mansion since it was too troublesome, had grown even fatter since he almost never left his mansion nowadays.
‘Judging from the mansion’s design… it should be around this place.’
Lambert unleashed a roundhouse kick with his Organ-covered feet, easily pulverizing the door.
And then, amongst the scattering wood splinters, he saw a girl wearing a mask and a thin man wrapped in noble clothes.
Although the man wore luxurious clothes, there was a clear hint of fatigue on his face. His cheeks were sunken, black spots were speckled under his eyes—a sign of sleep deprivation—and his appearance caught Lambert’s eyes.
Around the man were the subordinates of Viscount Le Gael who saw Lambert’s rampage along the way.
The masked girl was sitting in the innermost chair, legs hanging down on the place that should be used for sitting and looking down on the thin man.
The soldiers screamed upon seeing Lambert.
「I-INTRUDER?!」
「No way, I figured something must’ve happened below since they were being so noisy since a while ago, but the intruder has actually arrived! Be careful, he…!」
The masked girl shrugged her shoulders as she looked at Lambert and then clapped with her feet.
「Viscount Le Gael’s soldiers are truly useless! Should I just send those useless fellas to Tetomburgh?」
「P-Please spare us… Le Look-sama! W-W-We really can’t help you more than this! I-I-I never knew such a repulsive thing was happening in my territory! I mean, I…! I really am not the one who spread the information! That’s why, please, please go away!」
The thin man trembled again as he placed his hands on his head as if frightened by something.
「Haah? Are you telling us to withdraw when the inspection team comes? Hey, you can actually use money to solve such trivial matters, right? Are you stupid or what? Are you looking down on us? Now you say that you want to go back. Le Gael-chan, you know whats that mean, ri~ght?」
「P-P-Please… I beg you! Please leave at once!」
Seeing that scene, Lambert had pretty much grasped the situation.
The thin man was indeed Viscount Le Gael himself.
Although said man was rumored to be overweight, Lambert heard that he almost never left his mansion since sometime ago, so it was only natural that no one knew his current appearance.
He guessed that Viscount Le Gael lost so much of his weight during the span when he stayed in his mansion due to the stress in dealing with 『Devil’s Piper』.
「…Well, I guess I’ll have to deal with the intruder first. Listen carefully, I’ll help you just this once to take care of this mess. Use the time until I’m done with him to think carefully about your decision. You know what’s gonna happen if you betray us, right?」
The girl sprung upward as she spoke and landed right in front of Lambert.
She leaned forward, glaring at Lambert.
「Welcome, to this crumbling and worn-out place, intruder-san. Well, it’s not like this mansion is mine though! Aha!」
「You’re from 『Devil’s Piper』, huh…」
「Ahahaha, that’s right, but I’m not just your average Joe, you know? I’m also one of the Eight Wisemen of 『Devil’s Piper』, Le Look Le Look. Blame your bad luck for raiding the mansion on the day I came for a visit!」
The masked girl named Le Look placed one of her hands on the ground and kicked at lambert.
Lambert blocked the kick with his greatsword.
The sound of a metallic clash resounded thrice within a moment.
But Lambert didn’t even budge an inch from where he stood.
「Tch!」
Le Look hit Lambert’s greatsword with the bright red cane in her hand, while at the same time kicking the floor to get out of Lambert’s range.
「To deliver such a kick with such a petite figure. Your body has been tampered with, huh.」
「…」
Le Look glared in silence at Lambert.
Before she completely became part of 『Devil’s Piper』, Le Look was the living subject of an alchemist division that kept the matter about human experimentation from the royal family.
For that reason, she had such terrifying physical strength despite her petite figure.
In addition, as a result of the prolonged experimentation they did on her body, her bodily function ceased and her growth stopped.
That was the reason for her childish figure despite having long since passed the age of a maiden.
That alchemy organization had been already burned to the ground by the church inquisitor. They went as far as to try to dispose of Le Look and others, but she was the only one who managed to escape their grasp. After years of accumulating achievements in 『Devil’s Piper』, she became one of the Eight Wisemen.
「Ahaha, it seems you’re more powerful than my expectations, but don’t think that you can win against us with only this level of strength.」
Le Look twirled her crimson spear as she spoke, drawing a perfect circle.
「Heed my call and come to this world, Dancing Guillotine: Portal Scissor.」
A magic circle was deployed as soon as she finished her aria.
And then, a giant scissor with three eyes on each of its blades appeared from its center.
「Summoning sorcery, huh. How troublesome.」
「Aha, since you’re quite sturdy, I was wondering whether I should get more serious? Moreover, I won’t lose when it comes to sturdiness!」
「I’m not in the mood to flirt with a young girl though…」
Her Portal Scissor moved around Lambert at an extremely fast speed while spinning in midair.
Caught in between the Portal Scissor that could move freely at will and Le Look whose close-combat skills had long since surpassed the realm of a normal human, it wasn’t rare for such a two-pronged attack to fail.
But Le Look was cleverly moving outside of the Portal Scissor’s range.
She felt something was off the moment Lambert defended against her three kicks with ease.
「Here we gooo… One, two, three, and FOUR!」
Le Look moved right to Lambert’s side, completely sandwiching the latter in between her and the Portal Scissor.
At that moment, the Portal Scissor entered Lambert’s weak spot.
‘DIEEEEEEEEEEE!’
The moment she thought this, the Portal Scissor was knocked to the ground, completely pulverized by his greatsword’s might.
The broken splinters of the Portal Scissor were scattered about and vanished.
‘No way, how could he counter an attack from that angle?!’
Le Look leapt back the moment she detected danger.
But Lambert had already arrived in front of her, slashing down at her with his greatsword.
She kept jumping back and managed to dodge Lambert’s attack by clinging on the wall.
「Aha, that was a close call. But then, I’m still uninju—」
The next moment, a long crack formed on Le Look’s mask.
Le Look traced the cracks on her mask with her finger.
‘I managed to dodge his attack, but if he was any closer, I would have died for sure… This Le Look Le Look-sama, the close-combat specialist even amongst the Eight Wisemen…!’
「I’m not interested in flirting with you, but since you’re one of the Eight Wisemen, today will be your last day.」