About an hour before the group was hit by a mysterious attack.
Peach, who was directing the plan, nodded after receiving the report.
“I see~. So it went well.”
“Yes. The ‘Angler’ has already left town. They were being properly tailed.”
The woman who delivered the letter to the man was one of Peach’s companions.
The reason the man was so easily fooled was that everything from the original letter to the correspondence was the result of the dedicated efforts of the “Shadows” of the Sumit Kingdom.
While they made it seem like they were constantly outmaneuvered, they never neglected information gathering for crucial moments.
More importantly, the fact that skilled individuals scattered throughout the land had gathered to await the time for counterattack was also a significant factor.
As a result, they were able to infiltrate without raising any particular suspicion.
“How are the preparations on your end~?”
Peach said, and then looked at someone different from the person who had reported.
That person was a companion of the Kingdom’s Shadows who was advancing the plan in another location.
“It’s proceeding without any problems.”
“Is that so? Then, we’ll proceed as planned here too~”
“Yes. There are no problems. …However, are you sure it’s alright?”
To that question, Peach tilted her head.
“If the report I received from your side is accurate, I don’t think there will be any problems~. Did something go wrong?”
“No. It’s not that…”
“Right~. It’s precisely because you investigated so meticulously that we were able to infiltrate so easily.”
The information gathering that the Shadows of the Royal Capital had conducted was, in Peach’s opinion, simply wonderful.
That was precisely why this plan was conceived.
Naturally, they intended to make full use of them in the future as well.
Meanwhile, Iris (a pseudonym), who was assisting as part of the Kingdom’s side, listened to Peach’s words without changing her expression.
She voiced her doubts because she had been instructed to do so from above, and because she herself had doubts.
In this plan, thugs were to gather at two locations in the Royal Capital.
Personnel had to be deployed to both of those places and subjugate them.
To make it successful, a considerable number of people would be needed, but Peach had not requested support from the Sumit Kingdom side.
In other words, she was saying that she would handle it all with the people from Razek Amamiya’s side, and it was probably for this reason that even the higher-ups of the Shadows were half-skeptical.
That was why the other plan was scheduled to take place half a day later.
If the plan on the Royal Capital side failed, that other plan was to be stopped.
Seeing Iris thinking such things, Peach smiled.
“Hmm, worried?”
At Peach’s expression, which seemed to see right through her thoughts, Iris couldn’t react immediately.
Whether or not Peach had noticed this, or perhaps by mere coincidence, Peach continued speaking without waiting for Iris’s reply.
“Well, it’ll be alright. Probably.”
Peach, who said so, had an unfading smile on her face, and never let Iris discern what she was thinking until the very end.
***
The group, which thought they had calmly dealt with the opponent’s pebbles (?), ended up being unable to do almost anything in the aftermath.
The moment they hardened their defenses to evade the pebble attack, something was thrown, and the next moment, a smoke bomb spread.
Simultaneously, those who inhaled the smoke found themselves coughing.
“Gah, gah! W-what the hell is this!”
“My, my eyes!”
Screams erupted here and there, but the group, which had not anticipated such a peculiar attack, had no way to counter it.
While a small portion of them calmly covered their noses and mouths with cloth, they were only about ten percent of the total.
By the time the person directing them tried to issue orders, the situation had already begun to shift once more.
Towards the panicked group, several figures began to attack.
There were five of them in total.
One of them headed straight for the leader.
“Tch! You guys, block them!! …Wait.”
The leader, who quickly noticed this, cursed under his breath for a moment, issued a brief command, and blocked the attacker’s blow.
All five figures were clad in black attire.
While walking around town in these outfits would be conspicuous, in this case, they were effective as the goal was to prevent their identities from being revealed.
The attacker whose first blow was blocked stopped attacking and braced himself.
The leader, confirming this with his eyes, widened them for a moment.
Although covered in black attire, he immediately realized that the opponent was a woman.
“…What a waste.”
The leader said so, his face contorting into a ferocious expression.
Although he couldn’t see her whole face, her physique suggested she would appeal to men.
Naturally, the one facing this leader was Peach.
The other four were also Succubi, and they were among the strongest in their village.
The reason Peach could keep the leader occupied alone was that they were drawing the attention of the others.
However, Peach had no intention of spending too much time on just one leader.
With many enemies still remaining, she had to defeat them as quickly as possible.
But separately, Peach was inwardly tilting her head with a strange sense of unease.
Of course, she made no outward show of it on her voice or attitude, so as not to alert the opponent.
Peach did not ignore this sense of unease; rather, she immediately began her attack on the leader to determine the source of the discomfort.
The leader Peach was currently facing was a man who had fallen from the adventurer ranks, a fighter of C-rank.
He was, to boot, a skilled individual who had reached the verge of B-rank.
Even Peach couldn’t defeat him with a single blow, but influenced by having inhaled the previous smoke, the man’s attacks didn’t seem to be at their full strength.
“Gah…!”
With an expression of disbelief, the leader collapsed before Peach.
Even a strong person cannot stand properly after receiving a powerful blow to a vital spot.
Peach’s attacks were not just based on physical strength, but also on the addition of Divine Power.
Receiving a blow that was seemingly impossible given her appearance, the leader lost consciousness.
After confirming this, Peach looked around to assist her companions.
More than half had already fallen, but with such a large number of enemies, dealing with them was taking time.
Their basic strategy was total annihilation, to prevent anyone from escaping and reporting back to other towns.
However, since it was impossible to defeat everyone at once, the Sumit Kingdom’s Shadows were tasked with handling the stragglers.
As Peach stepped forward to help her companions, her arm was suddenly grabbed from behind.
“Wait a moment.”
It was Mitsuki, who had been assigned by Kousuke to escort her, who grabbed Peach’s arm without her hardly sensing her presence.
By the way, Mitsuki was also clad in black attire to avoid drawing attention.
“From here on out, I will handle this. You will stay here and command.”
With that, Mitsuki headed towards the area where the melee had broken out.
Watching this, Peach sighed and muttered.
“As expected, as one might say. To be noticed with just that.”
Her voice, laced with a hint of mild exasperation, disappeared into the night’s darkness without being heard by anyone.
The attack in which Mitsuki joined ended in an instant.
After all, while Peach was dealing with the leader, the other significant fighters had already been defeated by the others.
The fact that the remaining enemies were those who had inhaled the smoke and were no longer capable of fighting was also a major factor.
They efficiently dealt with the remaining enemies, and the entire group was annihilated in about twenty minutes.
Of course, some managed to escape, but as per the initial plan, the Sumit Kingdom’s Shadows were handling them.
The attack that took place at another location was originally smaller in scale than this one, so it proceeded smoothly as planned.
Thus, the plan in the Royal Capital concluded without incident.
Although it ended so easily, it was because they exploited the opponent’s complacency and confusion.
Furthermore, the fact that it occurred during the night also contributed to their inability to respond properly.
By the way, Peach’s companions each possessed a strength of around B-rank.
