Vol 2 Chapter 47 – Grentze Fort – Part 1【Exile to the Empire Arc】

The strategy meeting began with the village chief and someone who appeared to be Stark’s captain.

“Ahem, it’s awkward discussing things in such a dusty warehouse, but—I am Dart, captain of Eiden Ignia-sama’s private armed organization, Stark. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

The middle-aged man with short, spiked bangs introduced himself and bowed to Roy, the village chief, and Sophia.

“I’m Shuten, chief of the Shadow Clan village Ombra. Pleased to meet you.”

The old man—no, Shuten—also bowed similarly and took his seat.

“I’m Roy of the Shadow Clan, and I lead the members behind me. Nice to meet you.”

With that, they moved to the main topic. Dart was the first to speak.

“According to our scout’s report, the kingdom’s army won’t arrive here in Grentze for quite some time. In the meantime, the garrison may regroup and attack again, so I believe we should escape through the hatch in this warehouse to the sewers, then make our stand at the abandoned fort on the outskirts—Grentze Fort.”

“Can’t we just force our way through the border?”

“Leading the kingdom’s army in a parade toward the empire would create an international incident. If we disrupt their formation and force them into temporary retreat before crossing, we should manage.”

“Should?”

“Yes, because with Sophia-sama present, we’ll get a free pass.”

When Roy looked at Sophia, she nodded, confirming the statement was correct. According to Dart, Sophia had been taken in by the Ignia family and devoted herself to spear training, making a name for herself as the “Spear of Ignia” in martial arts tournaments before receiving the Holy Lance Longinus. Since then, as the bearer of the holy lance, she possessed considerable authority, making a free pass understandable.

Then Village Chief Shuten raised his hand.

“We’ve been training somewhat in this town while waiting for Sophia-chan to arrive. We’re far from our prime, but we can fight well enough!”

Shuten rallied the clan’s morale, and spirited voices could be heard from everyone.

“Then Roy-dono’s party will take the rear guard, while Shuten-dono and I will guide everyone to Grentze Fort.”

For some reason he was taking charge, but since enemies would likely come from behind, it was the right call. They opened the hatch in the warehouse, descended into the sewers, and their footsteps echoed through the quiet space.

Incidentally, the reason they weren’t fighting in town was because they couldn’t involve innocent civilians in the battle, and the unmarked fort was better suited for defense.

As they walked briskly, Sarina kept reaching out toward Shuten from behind, then pulling back.

Roy left Sophia on guard duty and tapped Shuten’s shoulder.

“Oh, Roy? What’s wrong?”

“Old man, this girl wants to talk to you. Could you listen while we walk?”

Shuten stared at Sarina intently but tilted his head with a puzzled expression.

“Do you have business with me? I’m delighted to be told a beautiful young lady like yourself wants to talk.”

It was no wonder he didn’t recognize her. Back then, her hair was light brown close to blonde and shoulder-length. Now it was back to black and tied in a ponytail—honestly, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her a different person.

“I-I’m… um, my name is Sarina.”

Shuten’s eyebrows rose slightly. Not just that—the surrounding gazes also seemed to turn toward Sarina.

“S-So… I…”

Shuten patted Sarina’s shoulder, looked around at his fellow clansmen, and said with warm eyes:

“You’ve been suffering from guilt all this time, haven’t you?”

Shuten stroked Sarina’s head. Those around them watched warmly. (It seemed like droplets appeared at the corners of Sarina’s eyes.)

“You’re all still children—I’m sure there were various reasons. I can tell by looking at you now—I’m a senior in life, after all. What matters is that feeling of not wanting to make mistakes again, not wanting to err anymore.”

“I-I’m sorry… I’m so sorry—”

Sarina cried while suppressing her voice, and the surviving clan members sent her words of comfort one after another.

Beside them, Manabu had completely missed his chance, and the matter ended with his outstretched hand still wandering in the air.

☆☆☆

—Kingdom Army Side—

Arcange asked the knight riding directly beside her.

“I heard rebels are hiding here, but do you know anything?”

“Ha! I’ve heard the Shadow Clan committed acts of betrayal and is plotting to defect.”

“Hmm, what’s this betrayal?”

“I understand they refused to hand over the Artifact and attacked the hero.”

According to an ancient covenant, an Artifact had been enshrined deep in the royal forest. The royal family’s duty was to let no one pass into that forest.

And if anyone broke through that surveillance and entered the forest, it was the Shadow Clan’s duty to eliminate them. The royal archives also recorded mutual non-interference.

“Mmm, so basically, we’re the ones who broke it…”

“Is something the matter?”

“No, nothing. Oh, anyone in my guard unit with family should return home.”

“Ha! Understood!”

“A king exists for the people”—that’s what my teacher taught me. The words of the founding King Regulus. I’ve lived believing those words were wonderful.

In the end, I learned I’d only been living in a garden, and I understood the intent behind being told to accompany the king this time.

To acclimate me, right?—Father.

She sighed, watching Haruto riding his horse far ahead.

“How long will you remain a puppet?”

The lonely princess praised as the Sword Princess pitied Haruto just a little.

Vol 2 Chapter 48 – Grentze Fort – Part 2【Exile to the Empire Arc】

After exiting the sewers outside the town, they entered Grentze Fort, which had originally been built to monitor the empire.

The deterioration wasn’t too severe—it was barely functional as a fort.

The first thing they did upon arriving at the fort was limit entry routes and set traps. Grentze Fort was good at defending from the front, but if attacked from behind, it could be entered from anywhere.

So Dart, Stark’s captain, made a proposal.

“We’ll seal the entrance with Manabu-dono’s earth magic and set explosion scrolls in the ground as traps.”

Roy felt that wasn’t enough and made a further proposal.

“Your subordinate reported that the kingdom’s army arrived in Grentze. I think we should set up double and triple layers of traps.”

“Hmm, what kind?”

Roy made additional proposals, and Dart and the others completed the traps according to his plan.

“Good, this might be enough to force them to retreat.”

The squad members, including Dart, nodded at Roy’s strategy. Then finally came the report that the enemy had arrived at the rear gate.

☆☆☆

“Rebel clan and their collaborators! If you intend to surrender—”

After reciting the customary lines, the man in black military uniform asked for instructions from the general, Kairo.

“Kairo-sama, they don’t seem willing to open the gate—what should we do?”

“…Transfer command to the regular army. My unit is withdrawing!”

“Ha!”

To the man in black uniform who saluted without question, a regular army soldier objected.

“Wait a moment, please!”

“Got a problem with my decision? Huh!?”

“No, nothing like that… but suddenly transferring command is just too—”

“The regular army plus the local garrison makes five hundred soldiers. We have the hero Haruto and the Sword Princess too… with all that assembled, are you saying I should still remain?”

Kairo put his arm around the new commander’s shoulder and whispered in his ear.

“I’m saying I’ll hand the achievement over to you. You know about my bomb, don’t you?”

Kairo tapped the bomb Agnate embedded in his left chest with his thumb.

“Distance-wise, I’m already cutting it close. If I stay here listening to your selfishness—boom! I’ll blow up, you know?”

The commander turned pale and broke into a sweat. After nodding repeatedly, he was finally released by Kairo.

“Well then, I’m counting on you!”

Kairo slapped his shoulder repeatedly and left with his entourage of black-uniformed followers.

The commander sighed and immediately issued orders to his subordinates.

“Magic corps, advance!”

From between the vanguard, a robed unit moved forward in orderly fashion—composed of fire mages. After the Tower of Agni’s release, the smithing industry developed, and fire magic users’ status improved accordingly.

After finishing attack preparations, they raised their right hands to the sky, then swung them forward.

“Fire!”

One red magic circle after another glowed, and the intermediate spell Eruption assaulted the gate. Each time a fireball landed, explosive sounds echoed.

After about five minutes of attack, the rear gate finally collapsed. What appeared was a straight corridor—the commander ordered the advance without hesitation.

“Good, now we just need to strike down the rebels. Haha, isn’t this easy—”

His relief was short-lived as an explosion immediately rang out.

“Report! The enemy appears to have set explosion scrolls in the ground—the vanguard has taken damage!”

“Tch!—Understood. The explosion scrolls the enemy is using are disposable magic items. Have the support magic corps work on disarming them immediately!”

“Ha!”

The support magic corps was an unsung hero that handled everything from healing to enhancement buffs. However, with the rise of fire mages, their relevance was threatened and their numbers reduced.

As a result, traps that should have taken ten minutes to disarm took thirty minutes, greatly lowering the army’s morale.

“Hey, Commander.”

While he was getting flustered, someone suddenly called out to him, and he looked in that direction. It was Arcange, the kingdom’s princess praised as the Sword Princess.

“You seem to be having trouble—shall I go?”

“That won’t be necessary! Please observe the brave figures of the soldiers from the rear, Your Highness—it will give them courage—”

“Brave figures, huh… all I hear are screams though?”

Arcange pointed this out, and he finally noticed something was wrong with the front lines.

The vanguard that should have broken through the mines and been advancing had broken formation and begun retreating in a panic.

“Reporting! The basic spell Stone Lance is raining down from above in large numbers! We cannot advance like this!”

“Tch! Heavy knights from the vanguard—receive enhancement magic from the support unit, then deploy shield skills upward and advance!”

“Ha!”

They spread the wide-area shield skill Protection evenly and successfully broke through.

(Phew, finally…) Just as he was about to look away from the front lines, an ordinary water tank installed near the top of the slope—burst.

Water gushed down, flooding all the way to their feet in the rear.

“Fuhahahahaha! They’re underestimating the strong legs of us kingdom soldiers who train daily! Do they think they can stop our advance with this much water! Alright! The enemy’s tricks are exhausted—all forces—advance!”

If they ran up the slope, they’d reach the fort’s center. Then they just needed to overwhelm with numbers. As they continued advancing, two women could be seen standing at the top of the slope.

Both held spears at the ready. He’d heard there were fewer than a hundred people, but were the actual fighters even fewer?

While he pondered this question, the enemy was already moving. With a brazen expression, the black-haired woman with her hair tied back thrust her spear into the ground.

“What on earth is she—!?”

Immediately after, a piercing pain assaulted his entire body… the entire army fell to their knees, and some had even lost consciousness.

“Lightning… is it?—That’s right! What about the princess!?”

The commander worried about the princess who should have been beside him.

“Your… Highness, I see… you had already noticed…”

Arcange, praised as the Sword Princess, had run along the wall, escaping the lightning. Not only that, she was attacking the other spear-wielder who resembled a noble lady.

And that wasn’t all—the hero Haruto, who had resistance to lightning attributes, and about a hundred knights were charging straight up the slope.

As a commander, it was a decisive defeat, but if their “hope” had gone forward, they would surely achieve victory.

The commander slowly lost consciousness.