I crouched beside Shimizu, examining the slave collar around his neck. A few magic stones were embedded in it, and I could feel the flow of mana. Would something bad happen if I tried to forcibly remove it?

"Hmm... I don’t know."

I tried probing it with my mana like I had with the brooch, but it yielded no results.

"Are you planning to help him?"

"That was the idea."

"Hmph... you could just leave him."

It seemed Rio had no intention of helping. I wasn’t doing this out of pity or sympathy, either.

"It’d just be a hassle if they got ordered to attack us again."

"Ah, that’s true. But couldn’t you just destroy it?"

"I suppose so."

"It’s fine, isn’t it? If you destroy everything at once, nothing might happen."

Oh, that made sense. If there were some sort of self-harm mechanism tied to one part of the collar, destroying everything simultaneously might bypass it. Often in these cases, such mechanisms are triggered by interrupting the mana flow from the magic stones.

Still, destroying it felt wasteful. Wouldn’t it be more useful to repurpose these collars? Like maybe fitting them on the useless royal siblings staring blankly over there?

"Hmm. What about using spatial magic to remove it?"

I cast spatial magic around Shimizu’s neck. Opening an extradimensional box consumed mana, and the mana cost scaled with the size of the opening. Shaping it into a curve significantly increased the cost, but I expanded it carefully around Shimizu’s neck.

"Are you using a dimensional box? Is it working?"

"Hold on a second. It’s possible, but this takes some focus."

With time and effort, I managed to envelop the slave collar in the dimensional box and then closed the opening.

"Huh?"

It worked.

"Did it go well?"

"Probably?"

I wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed fine. I repeated the process for Nagai’s collar, successfully storing it too.

"That’s that."

"Haha! Let’s return them to their owners, then."

"Good idea."

Rio and I exchanged grins and approached the worthless royal siblings. They seemed about to say something, but I didn’t care to hear it. I immediately restrained them with Dual Bind, binding not just their limbs but also their mouths. Naturally, the knights around them received the same treatment, with blindfolds added to block their view.

Their muffled protests were ignored. Following the reverse process of retrieval, I returned the slave collars to their rightful places—around the princess’s and prince’s necks.

"Perfect fit," I noted.

"Does it even work this way?"

"Not sure. Maybe they need to register an owner or something."

"Why don’t you try giving them a command?"

"Good idea. Alright then... don’t speak or move."

With that command, I removed the Dual Bind from the royals, leaving them unrestrained.

"…!"

They glared at me fiercely but neither moved nor spoke.

"Whoa, this is great."

"Impressive."

The collars likely had an auto-recognition function that designated the one who attached them as the master. That worked in my favor, though I didn’t know how long the effect would last. Staying in this kingdom to monitor them wasn’t worth it. I’d issue some final commands and leave for good.

"What should we make them do?"

Rio asked, her excitement palpable. My answer, however, was already decided.

"Never speak of being collared, and never attempt to remove each other’s collars."

"Haha!"

"Oh, by the way, do you have any other siblings? You may answer."

"Our elder brother, Crown Prince Albert," the princess answered, her voice trembling.

Perfect.

"Then, here’s the last command," I said, pointing directly at the pathetic prince.

"You will kill the crown prince."

Ignoring his shocked expression, I turned to the princess.

"And you will kill the king."

"Excellent! They tried to kill us—it’s only fair they suffer the same fate."

"After that, you can do as you please. But don’t remove those collars."

With that, we dismissed them with a wave. Both gritted their teeth in frustration but complied, heading back into the castle.

"Wait, please!"

I released the knights’ restraints, and they, bewildered, chased after their masters.

"Now, about the remaining classmates..."

While Manaka and the others were on their way back, Neguro still hadn’t been accounted for.

"Probably that way?"

Rio pointed toward the wrecked castle. Extending my senses in that direction, I could feel Neguro’s mana signature. Breaking the brooch seemed to have sharpened my abilities. Rio likely felt the same.

"Let’s grab his collar and leave."

"Right."

We retraced our steps toward the castle. Near the entrance, the butler from earlier still lingered.

"Heading out?"

"Not yet. Do you know where Neguro, the other summoned hero, is?"

"Of course. Allow me to guide you."

With a respectful bow, the butler led us through the castle’s corridors.

We passed a chaotic scene—people running about, shouting orders amidst the aftermath of destruction. Walls were cracked even on the ground floor.

"Lord Ordis! You’re here just in time!"

A rotund, balding man hurried toward us. So, the butler’s name was Ordis?

"Minister Marcandre," Ordis acknowledged.

"Do you know what’s happening!? The castle is in ruins!"

"Indeed, it seems intruders caused extensive damage to the royal castle."

Ordis’s calm explanation left the minister dumbstruck. After issuing hasty orders for evacuation, the minister scurried off.

Despite being the perpetrator, Ordis remained tight-lipped. Likely, a destabilized kingdom was in the interests of someone like him.

"Please, this way," Ordis said, resuming his guidance.

Eventually, we arrived at what seemed to be a medical room.

"There he is."

At the farthest bed lay Neguro, his torso wrapped in blood-stained bandages.

"Wow..."

Rio grimaced but refrained from saying more. Neguro had nearly killed her, after all. Healing magic seemed to have stabilized him, but his injuries remained severe.

"Let’s finish this quickly. Seeing him makes me want to punch him."

"Yeah..."

We swiftly removed his collar, then turned to leave. Though I noticed Rio casting a healing spell, I didn’t comment.

Finally, we returned to the castle’s entrance.

"Well, this is as far as I go. Do visit again sometime," Ordis said with a bright smile.

"I doubt we’ll have the chance," I replied.

"If we do, I’ll look forward to it."

After exchanging parting words, we moved on. Manaka and the others, still incapacitated, were left behind for now. After silencing their complaints, we retrieved their collars and exited through the gates.

"Freedom at last!"

"So, where to now?"

"Anywhere but the Arclight Kingdom!"