“How violent,” I muttered.

With three fully armored knights blocking the doorway and mages stationed behind them, the exit was completely sealed off. The tips of the knights’ drawn swords were barely a meter away from us, and the mages had their staves pointed in our direction, ready to act.

“I told you—they’ve done nothing wrong!” Tobil tried to push past the six people crammed into the room, but he couldn’t squeeze through.

“They’re wanted for attempted murder and theft in Zain!” one of the knights barked.

“What…?” Tobil was at a loss for words.

Oh, right. That little misunderstanding in Zain. It’s surprising how quickly news travels. It was supposed to take ten days to get here, but they already know?

“Attempted murder? All we did was defend ourselves from adventurers who attacked us first,” I said, sighing deeply.

“And theft? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb. You have the royal crest brooch, don’t you?”

Ah, so it’s about that brooch.

“What? This brooch was personally given to us by Princess Lilia Arclight! How dare you call it stolen!” Rio snapped, her voice rising with indignation.

“What nonsense. You must have stolen it from Lady Lilia!”

Rio was momentarily speechless. Could it be that the princess herself claimed it was stolen? If so, this was clearly a setup.

“If you hand it over now, we’ll ensure it’s returned to the princess. Hand it over!”

The knight’s one-sided demand was beginning to irritate me. People who refuse to listen are the worst.

“Sorry, but I’ll have to decline. I intend to return it to her in person—by throwing it at her feet.”

“How dare you, you insolent wretch! As if someone like you could ever meet the princess directly!” the knight roared, thrusting his sword closer to my face.

“I’m not asking for permission. I’ll make sure she gets it, one way or another.”

“Wait! Is that why you came to the castle?” Tobil interjected, desperate to de-escalate the situation. He seemed like the only one here willing to listen, but the knights had no intention of resolving this peacefully.

“This was just meant to be a reconnaissance mission,” I said, sighing. “But clearly, there’s no way to meet her through official channels…”

“As if that were ever an option!”

“Then let’s do this. I’ll be back in two days. Let her know to be ready.”

“What?”

The knights looked dumbfounded, and even the mages behind them wore puzzled expressions. Outside the room, I could sense at least twelve more people surrounding the area, likely from the Royal Guard and Mage Corps.

“Rio, let’s test out that magnetic magic idea. I’ll handle the mages in the back.”

Seeing the knights’ metal armor, I figured this was the perfect opportunity for some experimentation.

“Hehe… Got it,” Rio replied, her smile a little too eager. She was clearly as fed up with these knights as I was.

“You think you can escape this?” one of the knights sneered.

Oh, absolutely. Unless their armor is made of some non-metallic material, they’re about to have a bad day.

“What are you doing!?”

Sensing Rio’s magic building, one of the mages shouted, but it was too late. By the time they realized what was happening, the spell had already been cast.

“Gah!”

The knights’ swords clattered to the ground as their metal armor was forcibly dragged down by a powerful magnetic pull. All three knights collapsed to the floor, unable to resist the force pinning them down.

“When did she even chant?!”

The mages weren’t wearing metal armor, but one of them staggered, his arm limp. Must be wearing some kind of metal accessory, maybe a bracelet?

“Wait!”

One of the mages began chanting a spell, but he was too slow. Casually, I walked toward him, letting him finish.

“Dark Bind!”

At the moment of activation, I disrupted his spell by channeling my own magic into its starting point, effectively nullifying it. This was one of the experimental anti-magic techniques I’d been working on.

“Did… Did something just happen?”

“Huh…?”

The mage looked bewildered as his spell fizzled out before it could even take form.

Ignoring their confusion, I walked past the collapsed knights and stunned mages. Rio followed, her parting words laced with mockery.

“See you in two days. Be ready this time.”

We left the room without further resistance, their groans of frustration the only sound chasing us.