Vol 3 Chapter 77 – Soleil Fort【Empire War Arc】

After entering the current Kingston territory and defeating Warren, Roy and the others headed for Soleil Fort in the northeast, using the information they had gained.

The farther north they went, the more the powdery snow turned into proper snowfall.
The scenery outside the carriage window looked exactly like those snowy countries Roy had only ever seen in books…

Soleil Fort gradually came into view. It was a perfectly ordinary stone fort. Letting his black cloak billow behind him, Roy took the lead, ahead of everyone else.

A few sentries were walking along the walls of the fort.

“One swordsman, two spear users… I’ll take them out quickly. You guys stay hidden.”

Roy’s party members all nodded in unison. Meanwhile, the Shadow Clan Ombra and the Union Knights were standing by in the mass-produced Testeeds. The plan was for Roy’s party to open the gate, at which point the others would charge in and overwhelm the place in one go.

Roy threw a stone to draw the guards’ attention.

Whack!

“Huh, what was that noise? —Guh!”

Roy chopped the swordsman in the neck, knocking him out, and tossed the man’s weapon into Shadow Pocket. Then he pointed with his index finger, signaling Sarina and Sophia to launch a surprise attack.

“—Guhah!” “—Gah!?”

Using the butts of their spears, they each took down one of the spear fighters. It was best to let the actual wielders handle those weapons; that way, you reduced the chance of some unexpected mishap. That was why Roy had given them the nod.

“Yukino, turn your shield sideways and get Ange and me up top.”

“Understood. ‘Blessing Breath Shield: Float Type.’”

With Yukino’s help, Roy and Ange rose up onto the top of the fort. Once they were up, the two split off, heading left and right respectively. As Roy ran, keeping his footsteps silent, he began to see their targets.

—Four archers, patrolling without much enthusiasm.

But archers were nothing to underestimate. Especially archers who had the Hawk Eye skill—those were nasty. In this snow, once someone like that locked onto you, they could keep shooting at you from up to a kilometer away.

Roy crept up as quietly as he could, then slipped an arm around his target’s neck from behind and turned it into a hip throw.

“—!?”

The enemy went down without so much as a groan and lost consciousness. Roy repeated that three more times and, without difficulty, finished the job before heading back to rejoin Yukino and the others.

“Oh, Roy, you were slow this time~”

“You just had fewer targets on your side, that’s all.”

“This isn’t even my main line of work, you know. That makes it a perfectly fair handicap.”

Roy answered Ange’s jab by lazily waving a hand, yeah, yeah, and then signaled to Yukino and Manabu below to come up.

He took Yukino’s hand and steadied her by the waist to help her make the jump across without falling.

“Thank you, Roy-san.”

“If you tripped here, it’d make a whole lot of noise. Just eliminating that possibility.”

“Boss, give me a hand too! I’m bad with heights—Gyaaa!”

Roy wrapped Shadow Whip around Manabu and forcibly yanked him in.

“Why is Shirasato-san getting VIP treatment and I’m getting the grappling-hook special…?”

“Yukino is a necessary asset to me—specifically in terms of enhancement growth. That much should be obvious.”

“Ha…! I… I’m really that necessary to you? If you say that much, Roy-san, then I’ll give you my—”

Yukino suddenly realized the only other person around was Ange.

“Yukino, what are you doing? Let’s go already.”

“Mouuu, Roy-san, you’re always like this! I’m playing a prank on you tonight!”

Muttering that, Yukino trotted over, a few steps behind the others. Their destination was the room that controlled the gate. Roy ordered Manabu to destroy the mechanism with earth magic.

“Hit this spot with Stone Lance. That way, they won’t be able to close the gate partway.”

“Got it. Just a moment, please.”

Manabu raised his hand and channeled mana into an orange magic circle.

“Once the gate opens, Sophia and Sarina will be the first ones in. Once we regroup, we head straight for the underground cells.”

Yukino, Manabu, and Ange nodded, and Manabu finished preparing Stone Lance.

“Here I go! Stone Lance!”

Gakin! Rumble, rumble, rumble…

With a noise that was far from subtle, the gate opened. In response, lights began flicking on inside the fort.
Then, like arrows, Sophia and Sarina sprinted in through the now-open gate to link up with them.

Right behind them, several Testeeds powered by fire and wind magic stones rolled in with their distinctive brurururun rumble.

Using the confusion to their advantage, Roy’s group headed for the underground level.

Just as Warren’s intel had said, the prison cells were filled with nobles dressed in fine clothes.

“Roy-kun, is that you? Oh—Roy-kun, it is you!”

“Eiden, you’re alive.”

“Of course I am, I still have tons of work left to do. Looks like entrusting you with the Ignia dagger was the right call…”

“I am glad you’re okay, but there’s something I need to tell you. The truth is—”

“Dart’s betrayed us, right?”

“You met him!?”

“No, not yet. I didn’t come here to confront Lydia and Dart in person. I came because I opposed what they were doing. They captured me and tried to recruit me, but I turned them down.”

“I see. So if you’re still in one piece, that means Dart and the others don’t know you’re being held here.”

Eiden nodded, then, hearing the sounds of clashing steel and explosions from outside, turned a questioning look on Roy.

“By the way… is there a battle going on out there?”

“Yeah. Once we get you and the others into Testeed, we’re planning to take down the enemy commander.”

“Then lend me a weapon. I’ll protect the nobles. You guys go take care of the commander.”

“…You sure you can handle it?”

“You know my skill with a dagger as well as anyone.”

“Fair point. In that case, I’ve got the perfect weapon for you.”

Saying that, Roy handed Eiden the Ignia dagger.

“It suits you a lot better than some commoner like me.”

“…Alright. In that case, go finish this with peace of mind.”

And so, Roy and Eiden split up.

In Imperial forts, the command room was basically always at the very top. The height allowed them to see farther and give more accurate orders. As Roy climbed the stairs, he glanced out the window to survey the fort and saw the surrendered enemies being gathered in the courtyard.

The tactic was simple: after a Testeed charge, the troops would form up out of the rear of the vehicles and rush in to secure the fort quickly. It was a new combat style—an interpretation of the “special surprise attack units” from Yukino’s world, applied to this one.

It was the ideal method for capturing small-scale strongholds quickly. The one who came up with it was Manabu, and the one who had handled the live training for it was Ange.

While they had been waiting for Eiden, everyone had been training in their own ways.

Roy kicked open the door at the top floor and came face to face with the commander. The one waiting for them there was a knight with pale purple skin.
All that came out of his mouth were sounds like, “Aaah…” and “Uuuh…”

“Roy-san… This person looks like a zombie!! Can’t we beat him with healing magic or something!?”

Apparently it was her first time seeing an undead. Yukino was half-panicking, hiding behind Roy’s back. Manabu, too, was trembling as he pointed the Meteor Grimoire at the enemy.
It seemed that in their other world, things like zombies simply did not exist.

“Roy, let’s hurry up and smash these undead freaks!”

For some reason, Sarina alone showed not the slightest hint of fear.

“Crush their heart and they’ll still move. Cut their tendons and they’ll still move. Their only real weak point is the head, and even then some types keep going… Don’t treat them like living things—treat them like objects.”

And with that, the final battle at Soleil Fort began.