Chapter 173 - 173 Attack
Count Cutter heard from his son Jackson about the dark side of this market situation and grasped the circumstances.
"You did well, Jackson. So it means that the princess of that vassal state and her entourage are plotting this. And the Valier Trading Company is helping them."
"Yes, Father. That Michael is a wretched person who harms our family, both he and his parents."
"Indeed."
Count Cutter remembered when he was in Alex's faction and snorted.
"I plan to give them a painful lesson at school tomorrow. The princess might be too much of a problem, but the other two should be fine."
"The woman injured the other day will be involved too, right? Is that okay?"
"That time we were caught off guard. This time we will use tools."
"Don't stand out too much. Even I would have a hard time covering this up."
"I understand."
Jackson, intending to take revenge for the previous incident, planned to attack Isabella and Michael.
It was a simple plan to attack while wearing masks in the school, thinking no one would know the culprit since everyone wears the same uniform, and that they wouldn't lose to the two unarmed people if they had weapons. It was a truly leaky plan.
The next day, Jackson gathered his entourage, those who held a grudge against Isabella from the previous incident, and handed out the prepared masks. Then he brought out swords for practical training classes.
Each holding a weapon, they waited near the room of the Economic Revolution Club.
To separate Elizabeth, students not participating in the attack spoke to Elizabeth and held her back.
Then the prey, Isabella and Michael, arrived. They were surrounded, with enemies in front and behind.
"Four people in front and four behind. Are we the target? Or just me?"
Isabella showed no expression of anxiety. However, Michael was different.
"Oh, aren't those real swords?"
"It seems so. But do they intend to attack seriously?"
Isabella thought they were just threatening, as they were opponents with no intimidation compared to her parents.
However, one of the masked men
"Kill them all."
gave the order.
They were children of nobles. They were a group that had treated lower-class opponents like commoners without mercy. Even though they were noble children, they showed no mercy to the two judged as lower class.
Moreover, Jackson had said that their parents would handle the cleanup afterwards.
They had no hesitation in cutting people. No, they did not even consider them as fellow humans.
Isabella judged that the opponents were serious, turned towards the first opponent coming from the front, and quickly knocked him down. Then, taking the sword he held, she cut down the three behind him in an instant. They had their hands holding the swords cut off and dropped their swords on the spot.
Confirming that the enemies in front had stopped attacking, she threw the sword she held at the one approaching from behind. It pierced the right arm of the one at the very front.
"Gyah!"
He let out a short scream and stopped his feet.
The group coming from behind couldn't stop and crashed into the one in front, rolling over. Isabella jumped onto them and kicked the heads of the rolling group.
The kicked ones suffered concussions and fainted.
Jackson was not part of this attack team. He was hiding, intending to appear only after he was sure he could win.
This worked, and he was not caught. However, his presence was detected by Isabella.
"There is one more person there, isn't there? Come out."
He had no intention of obeying Isabella and ran away in a panic.
Isabella did not chase him. If any attackers were still hiding, leaving Michael alone would be dangerous.
"He seems to have run away. We need to ask if there are others."
She tried to interrogate the attackers, but those who were conscious were wailing. They could not endure the pain.
At this time, Isabella did not yet possess cruelty, nor did she have the thought of torturing them further to make them talk.
While she was worried about what to do, Michael, with a pale face, began to remove the masks of the fallen students. It was a trembling work, driven by the thought that he had to do it even though it was scary.
"Oh, someone from the same class."
A familiar face appeared from under the mask, surprising him.
"Is this the revenge from before? They must have hated us a lot to come with the intention of killing us."
She was amazed that they tried to kill for such a simple reason.
Just then, Elizabeth arrived. Seeing this situation, she was shocked.
"What is this!?"
Isabella shrugged her shoulders.
"We were attacked. With clear intent to kill. I'll keep watch so they don't escape, go get a teacher."
"Okay."
Elizabeth went to call the teachers. Hearing this, the crying group tried to escape. However, Isabella stood in their way before they could.
"Michael, pick up the sword and hold them off on the other side."
"U-um."
Michael followed the order, picked up the sword, and held it. His stance was hesitant, and anyone experienced would laugh and say he wasn't worth fearing, but it was enough to intimidate the attackers.
Soon, the teachers arrived. The attackers returned to being students and complained that Isabella and Michael had attacked them. It was obvious from the number of masks and swords that this was a lie, but they were children of domestic nobles. And the ones attacked were foreign students and the child of a former prince with no power.
Considering the trouble ahead, the teachers accepted their claims.
"Taylor, Cromwell, put down your swords. What you did is a crime."
The two were stunned, and the attackers smirked. However, Elizabeth's angry voice rang out.
"If this is the school's judgment, I will tell my uncle everything."
Uncle, of course, referred to Steve. By saying that, she appealed to their bloodline. This made everyone turn pale.
Steve's popularity within the country was immense. Relations with neighboring countries were also good. Therefore, teachers who offended him and were expelled from the school would have no proper job prospects.
The parents of the attackers also had no power to match Steve.
And the anxiety that if this got to Papa, their school life would become unbearable.
Just then, the principal ran over.
"Mr. Cromwell, please come to the principal's office immediately."
"Yes."
Isabella imagined what would happen next and, worrying about how to get through it, followed the principal.
Michael watched her retreating figure with concern.
"Could it be that I'll be expelled?"
"I don't think so."
Elizabeth said that with conviction, but Michael couldn't grasp it.
After Isabella waited in the principal's office for a while, Steve appeared. He had flown there using teleportation magic.
It was decided that if anything happened to Arthur or Isabella, he would fly over immediately. Steve, who had made the school accept this, was truly a doting father. Also, the school side conducted investigations of students before enrollment. Therefore, some, including the principal, knew that Isabella was Steve's daughter.
"Principal, it seems to be an emergency situation?"
When Steve asked, the principal bowed deeply.
"Our student attacked the young lady, and we are truly sorry."
"Attacked?"
Steve's eyebrows twitched. Then he asked Isabella for an explanation.
"Oh, some masked people attacked us. But it was me and one other person. I don't know who was the target."
"That is correct."
The principal agreed with that explanation. He thought that rather than Isabella being the target, this would make Steve's anger weaker.
Steve spoke in a calm tone.
"Why don't you just mention the name of House Archibalt? Then students won't dare to attack."
"No thanks. If I'm looked at specially like Arthur, I can't enjoy school life."
"Then shall I attach a guard to you?"
"If you do that, I won't speak to you again. You can see even inside the toilet, right?"
Steve's guard meant using insects and small animals to share information obtained through their eyes and ears. It was absolutely unacceptable for a teenage daughter.
Even Steve could not force this.
"Then let Arthur accompany you."
"That is..."
Isabella's mouth stopped there. If Arthur was with her, it would be cramped, and more importantly, it would attract the interest of other students.
However, she couldn't think of a reason to refuse.
Eventually, the discussion concluded, and Steve decided to return.
Finally, Steve bowed his head to the principal.
"Please raise your head. I am sorry for my willful daughter. It will be troublesome, but please take care of her until graduation."
"I understand."
The principal was filled with relief that he had gotten out of this situation. He had prepared himself to never be able to cross the gate of his home alive, feeling as if he had returned from hell.
Isabella was also released and headed towards the room of the Economic Revolution Club.
Elizabeth and Michael were waiting there.
"Oh, did I disturb you?"
Elizabeth puffed out her cheeks at Isabella's joking tone.
"I'm fine, but Michael was really worried. Show a bit more modest attitude."
"Yes, yes. But you know, this was the first time I cut someone who came with killing intent. I had to do it this way to survive. Besides, there were various things in the principal's office too."
Elizabeth could easily imagine what various things meant regarding Steve.
But Michael was not like that.
"I'm sorry. If I were stronger, I wouldn't have made Isabella feel like that."
He clenched his fists tightly and trembled.
Seeing this, Isabella panicked. She thought that if he said that, Elizabeth wouldn't pay attention to him. She had misguided thoughts like she needed to act as if she was only looking at Elizabeth.
Michael didn't notice this and asked Isabella for guidance.
"I want you to train me. So I can handle a sword."
"Oh, that's fine, but what about having Liz join too?"
"I'm fine. I can at least protect myself."
Elizabeth had also been trained since childhood and had some knowledge, though not to Isabella's level.
So she refused, but Isabella sent a strong look at Elizabeth, asking what she was talking about. However, it didn't work, and it was decided that Michael would receive guidance only from Isabella.
However, starting from the next day.
On that day, Bella was waiting as usual.
"Welcome back."
"Hey, Bella."
"What is it?"
"How did you feel when you killed someone for the first time?"
"If you order me to kill the one who attacked Isabella today, I will."
Bella had heard from Steve and judged Isabella's question as such an order. Isabella hurriedly denied it.
"No, no. It's not like that. Today I fought an opponent with killing intent for the first time. Because they were weak, I could hold back, but I was wondering if I could have killed them if the opponent had no such leeway."
"In that case..."
Bella remembered the events from nearly 20 years ago and told Isabella.
"When I first killed someone, it was a soldier of the enemy country disguised as a bandit. I killed him with a spring-loaded gun, so I didn't feel that sensation in my hand, but I still had a bad feeling."
"How did you recover?"
"I don't know because I didn't have the leisure to worry about that. There were 30 enemies, and I thought if I didn't kill them one after another, I and the villagers would be killed, so I had no time to worry."
The first person Bella killed was a soldier of the Kingdom of Forest. The soldiers sent by the Kingdom of Forest aimed to trample the border territory. Bella encountered them and a battle ensued. At first, she was alone, and when she faced death, Steve came to help her.
Setting aside whether Steve came to help or not, Bella had heard that she achieved results in battle. Now she has killed countless people, but Isabella wanted to hear the feelings from that first time. However, the situation was too different from hers to be of reference.
No, there was one thing that was of reference. That was the fact that with a gun, the sensation of killing the opponent didn't reach the hand.
"Get a gun."
"Shall I give you mine?"
"No, it's dangerous if someone steals it, so I'll have Papa make a special one that only I can handle."
What Isabella was thinking was to shoot a bullet made of water, called Water Bullet, using high-pressure water from water magic.
The range of water magic was at most 50 meters. However, with this method, the water would become a physical attack, and the range should depend on the water pressure.
It was a method she thought of from her experience of making water for hydroforming at Nick's request in the territory.
Hydroforming is a molding method where water is put into a mold and high pressure is applied. When Steve was busy, Isabella had helped him.
That night, using the gun Steve made immediately, Isabella practiced shooting until late at night.
Also, the attackers did not mention Jackson's name. If they did, they would be denied everything, and then they would be retaliated against.