Chapter 136
The story continues off the page
The Last Dance Before Midnight
A masked dragon asks the lanternwright for one slow dance
“Wow……”
“Wow……”
Zed and Penelope were staring at the wounds on Ferda’s chest.
Both of them let out the exact same exclamation.
“How are you still alive?”
“I’m alive only because it wasn’t a fatal wound.”
“Still, it’s fortunate that it missed your heart.”
“The bleeding wasn’t severe, either, so there’s no need to make such a fuss.”
The horn had gone in fairly deep, but since there was little damage or bleeding, the injury was ultimately minor.
Ironically, it was precisely because Ferda’s body was so weak that it had ended up being only a light injury.
“Exactly.”
Penelope peered into the hole and grinned cheekily.
“So you hugged her, and during that hug, she forgot about the horns on her own head?”
“That’s right…….”
“Is that Grand Duke person perhaps an idiot?”
“……”
Ferda simply could not bring himself to answer no.
So all he could do was glare at Penelope as though he wanted to kill her.
Penelope did not even bother looking at that gaze, staring only at Ferda’s chest as she muttered,
“Wow, I can’t even say anything but an exclamation. You almost literally went right through the chest, didn’t you? To that distant place?”
“……”
“You left a hole in my chest and went away. You are my companion~. Oooooh~. My eternal compa—pffft!”
Before Ferda could do anything, Zed struck Penelope on the back of the head, knocking her unconscious.
Then he changed the subject as though nothing had happened.
“Are you still planning to set out?”
“There was no particular problem, so we should go. And surely this is enough to ward off bad luck, isn’t it?”
“I suppose so. And are we really allowed to just stay here?”
With the exception of William, the knights’ main order was to guard the main camp.
In practice, it was no different from being told to take it easy.
“There’s nowhere for you to distinguish yourself in this operation. It would be better for you to guard the castle and report anything that happens. And…….”
“And?”
“As long as Garnet is in this castle, we can’t afford to let our guard down.”
Both Luri and Ferda would be leaving on this expedition.
They were deeply concerned that if Garnet remained behind while the key personnel were away, no one knew what Garnet might do in this empty house.
“Keep an eye on Garnet. Can I trust you?”
“Please don’t worry. Even if she is an old friend, I am a knight of this castle now.”
“All right. I’ll trust you.”
“Then I’ll be off.”
Zed dragged the unconscious Penelope away like a piece of luggage.
Then he hesitated at the threshold and turned his head.
“Um…….”
Zed opened his mouth as though he had been itching to say something.
“Congratulations on your first time…….”
“……”?
Zed gave him a thumbs-up and disappeared.
Ferda did not understand what he meant, but he vaguely realized it had come from a thought similar to Penelope’s.
I forgot they were two peas in a pod.
Lacking the energy to get angry, Ferda simply closed his eyes and looked forward to tomorrow.
……or at least, he tried to.
Whenever he was about to fall asleep, the melody Penelope had sung kept circling in his ears.
Ferda decided that the moment he got up, he would beat the hell out of that demon woman.
* * *
Morning broke.
The soldiers who had finished preparing the night before were bustling about, getting ready to begin the march.
The forces were divided into three groups.
One was the First Regiment, under Olivia’s overall command,
another was the Second Regiment, commanded by the young master of House Lutenia, the strategic advisor,
and the third was the main force, which remained at the castle to protect the citizens and the young ladies.
Their strategy was to draw monsters away from two locations simultaneously, deal with them, and then secure the two monsters.
The provisional alliance had to take care of four in total.
The Far Eastern Alliance, massed in Count Consilius’s territory, was moving as well, but since it lacked magitech, it would engage only one colossal monster.
Erika, who was carrying out the special operation, selected twelve adventurers and, under the name Eri Adventuring Party, planned to defeat one colossal monster, bringing the total eliminated to six.
Their main goal was to destroy the line completely within three days, including travel time.
Everyone wore grim expressions.
This was despite the fact that the monsters’ entire army was heading toward the Empire, effectively raiding an empty house.
The fact remained that they were entering a deadly situation.
No matter how you looked at it, this was war.
The mere word war was enough to wear people down.
“The Empire’s capital will serve as our shield, while we become the sword and eliminate the source. For your homelands and your honor…….”
The princess’s practiced speech inspired everyone.
It raised morale, but it still seemed difficult to get them fully fired up.
Olivia herself had said she did not expect much of an effect.
She had a separate plan.
-We’ll force-march and approach the monsters as quickly as possible.
-What effect do you intend to achieve by doing that?
-We need to raise morale by deploying the magitech riflemen, known as the tactical infantry.
The tactical infantry’s effectiveness had already been proven several times.
She had judged that if they could eliminate the monsters charging at them without significant sacrifices, morale would undoubtedly soar.
“Then I’ll contact you once we reach the first point.”
“I’ll pray for your good fortune.”
She looked at Ferda while fingering Althe’s amulet.
It was her way of saying she would pray for him.
More than three thousand troops and wagons carrying supplies moved along the rough road.
The two forces, both at full strength, split up and moved on.
The First Regiment was led by Princess Olivia and her Imperial army,
while the Second Regiment placed the young master of House Lutenia, the strategic advisor, and his army at the front.
Ferda moved alongside the Second Regiment, where the young master of Lutenia was stationed.
Ferda’s forces consisted of fifty tactical infantry, Isabella, their commander and core combatant, and Luri, who was moving with them.
As they traveled along the rough road, dense woodland welcomed them.
“I can’t help feeling uneasy. It feels like we’re entering the belly of a leviathan.”
Lutenia, the strategic advisor, said that as he peered into the gloom.
He could not be the only one who felt that way.
Everyone would be stepping into this place carrying the thought that they might die.
Ferda felt the same way.
That was when it happened.
A sudden gust blew in, and for a moment, a vast shadow covered the sun.
“W-What is that?”
“A-A monster?! Already?”
Everyone raised their heads toward the sky at the strange occurrence.
They thought a battle might break out as soon as the march began, but that wasn’t what happened.
“Ah……!”
“That’s……!”
The moment they confirmed its identity, everyone let out a cry of astonishment.
Even Ferda did the same when he saw it.
Lower in the sky than the sun, its scales burned an even deeper red.
Two pairs of horns and enormous wings large enough to blot out heaven and earth.
“A red dragon!”
“I-It’s Grand Duke Valdrova!”
“The Grand Duke has appeared!”
Valdrova made a wide circle through the sky, then landed atop a lonely mountain.
She looked as though she ruled over the entire mountain.
The red dragon, who had not shown herself for a long time, boldly revealed herself.
‘Why has she come out?’
She should have been able to sense the monsters well enough even from inside the lair.
The fact that she had gone out of her way to reveal herself meant there was a reason.
When Ferda quietly looked up at her, his eyes met Valdrova’s.
Though she was far away, Ferda could tell.
She was staring directly at Ferda.
She gave a slight nod as though she were saying something.
-I’ll do what I can.
That was what it seemed to Ferda she was saying.
Then she cast her gaze eastward.
As the saying goes, the interpretation can matter more than the dream itself, and someone shouted when they saw the sight.
“The Grand Duke is watching over us!”
“Long live Hestia! Long live Grand Duke Valdrova!”
Though no one had told them to, they poured out a thunderous cheer, raising their morale.
This was something she could do.
The infamous evil dragon said to kill people like insects was nowhere to be seen.
If that was an evil dragon, could they shout so fervently, chanting her name?
Overcome with emotion, Ferda unconsciously placed a hand over his own chest.
‘My heart…….’
Ferda smiled as he watched her.
‘I will engrave your courage in my heart.’
The chill of the cold morning could no longer make them tremble.
The soldiers’ march began again, victory engraved in their hearts.
* * *
The borderlands of the Grand Duchy were plains untouched by development.
They were useless as farmland because the abundance of small stones often broke plows.
The only traces of humans were a few hiding places built by hunters trying to catch animals that occasionally came to nibble on young leaves.
Even those traces of humanity were gone now.
The colossal monsters surrounding the Grand Duchy.
They resembled caterpillars, but could not move, merely repeating contractions as they sat in place.
They sucked the vitality from the earth and molded eggs, constantly producing monsters from them.
After a month of neglect, all the land within a two-kilometer radius had now turned black.
They continued reproducing as they normally did, repeatedly gathering an army.
But today, something was different.
Sensing the change in the air, a beast-type monster stirred and raised its head.
What it saw was the sun rising in the east.
Numerous flags and the ranks of a human army appearing with the sun at their backs.
-Kieeeeeeek!!!
It shrieked to warn of danger.
At that, all the monsters turned their heads toward the sound.
The reason they lived and breathed was right before their eyes.
-Kieeeek!
-Kieeeeeek!
The monsters surged forward, using the beast-types’ sharp shrieks as their battle cry.
Without any fixed formation, they charged toward the humans on instinct.
The blond-haired commander at the front raised her sword high.
“All forces, prepare for battle!”
Olivia’s voice rang out through the amplification spell.
She was so charismatic that one could believe she was commanding as a war hero rather than a frail Imperial princess.
“Tactical infantry, form a winged formation! Mages, focus on aerial types, and tactical infantry, concentrate on the ground!”
Olivia had devoted herself to planning the deployment of troops solely for this moment.
The infantry carrying magitech rifles moved in perfect unison and formed a line at the front.
All fifty stood in a line, aiming their muzzles forward.
“Initiate ignition!”
When they pressed the buttons, a humming sound began inside the rifles.
Pure mana bullets emitted light from within the barrels.
Beast-type monsters came charging on all fours.
The instant those body slams connected, their victims would disappear without even realizing they were dead.
When they had drawn close enough, her sword sliced through the air.
“Fire!”
Brrr-brrr-bang!
A peal of thunder rang out from the ground.
Even the soldiers standing behind them flinched in surprise.
The sound was not the only astonishing thing.
Before they had time to realize what was happening, the beast-type monsters in the front rank were collapsing one after another.
They were not killed instantly.
But it demonstrated the attack’s remarkable stopping power.
The front rank fell like leaves in an autumn gale, but monsters had no concept of momentum.
The monsters charging from behind continued to rush forward.
The tactical infantry had to prepare their next attack.
“Relieve the front line!”
As though they had been waiting for the order, the tactical infantry fell back.
At the same time, knights in heavy armor surged forward and formed a square formation.
They had all come to serve as escorts, bearing the fame of their domains on their backs.
The monsters that destroyed everything and those who sought to protect it collided head-on.
The knights held their ground admirably.
Once the clash ended and the two sides entered a standoff, a knight shouted.
“Spearmen! Attack!”
“Hold the line!”
“Stab their eyes! If you can’t hit the eyes, stab inside their mouths! If that won’t work, stab them in the groin! Stab every place you can think of that feels dirty!!”
The knights held them back while the spearmen stabbed through gaps and over their heads, preventing the monsters from approaching.
Their purpose was to buy time.
“The second attack is ready!”
William, the adjutant, said so.
Olivia, who had been frantically issuing commands, raised her sword again.
“Tactical infantry, tight formation! Knights in square formation, form a firing lane!”
Bwoooong!
Since it was impossible with her voice alone, she blew a horn to relay the order to the knights.
The knights in the center, having heard their commander’s order, calmly withdrew.
They opened a path toward the center, as though the wall of men had become a door.
The monsters that had broken through the line poured through it.
They did not realize until the path had opened.
That it was a passage leading to death.
Brrr-brrr-bang!!
Fifty mana bullets flew toward the densely packed monsters.
They collapsed one after another without even needing to aim for their hearts.
Monster corpses became thresholds and obstacles blocking their advance.
The monsters were trapped in the firing lane.
“Die! Die!”
“Be purified by Althe’s light, you vile things!!”
The beast-type monsters that had posed the greatest threat were trapped in the firing lane, unable to move either way.
The knights’ aura-infused swords hacked their bodies to pieces.
-Kkieing!
-Keeeek!
The monsters let out death cries, even imitating the sounds of dying beasts.
The beast-type monsters, once numbering over a hundred, were reduced to a handful in an instant.
“We’ve finished mopping up the stragglers!”
“Commander, your orders!”
A gleam lit the adjutant’s expression.
Olivia’s expression was the same.
She raised her command sword high into the sky and shouted.
“Advance in two battalions! Don’t let your guard down until the very end!!”
The dependable human wall moved quickly.
The Meltids following the beast-type monsters were subdued in an instant, and the soldiers succeeded in pressing up to the vicinity of the colossal monsters.
“First Battalion has secured its colossal monster!”
“The Second Battalion has secured one as well! The operation is a success!”
They prepared to deal with any newly created monsters immediately.
Unless they possessed abilities beyond laying eggs, they had effectively been neutralized.
“We won!!”
“Long live Count Kali!”
“Althe watches over us!”
Each shouted the name of their own lord or their god, doing their part to boost morale.
Olivia, standing behind them, heard their cheers.
‘With this, I’ve taken the first step toward my plan.’
Joy welled up.
The joy kept rising to her face, making it difficult to control her expression.
‘If only the Second Regiment succeeds, the plan will be perfect.’
Olivia had no doubt they would win.
Because Ferda was there.
Perhaps that was why.
In the end, a laugh burst out despite her efforts to hold it back.
She raised her sword high and celebrated the victory in the first battle.
* * *
The First Regiment’s capture of its target was effectively the same as the Second Regiment’s victory.
Since they were facing identical monsters apart from their locations, the forces had been sent after fully considering the balance of power.
In this situation, the young master of House Lutenia, the strategic advisor and supreme commander of the Second Regiment, thought,
‘Is this really the war I knew?’