Chapter 108

“How could you do such a cowardly move in a swordfight-!”

At the words of Count Bauer’s knight, who could not contain his anger, Elisha asked in wonder.

“I’m not sure I understand the words of those who throw their soldiers out of the castle only to survive for a while.”

As Elisha’s words hit the nail, the knight’s mouth opened as he couldn’t refute. One of the young noblemen standing next to him shouted with his blood vessels bulging on his neck.

“Soldiers are meant to be used in war, so what’s your point?! 2nd Consort, do you know how many Western nobles and knights you killed at Pavezzo? Those were soldiers as well! Your hands have broken countless pillars and companions of the empire!”

“It seems that I have a new ability. How can the barking of an animal sound like a human voice?”

Contempt flashed in Elisha’s sky blue eyes. Even though they were of lower rank, how could anyone throw their fellow soldiers as bait?

Elisha in the past had done worse things than that, and even now, she could not be confident that she wouldn’t do such a thing for Ascensio’s and Leon’s sake.

But Elisha had a standard. When she did it, she made no excuses and ensured it was worth the most.

But those people didn’t. They didn’t do it to make the situation better. They did it not because they want to catch a speck of hope but to escape fear for a very short time.

If there were stones around, they would have used stones, and if there were bags of grain around, they would have used them.

And they would have met the same ending as now. But it wouldn’t have made much difference if they hadn’t. They didn’t have to go that far.

“2nd Consort, you hypocrite! You’d have killed them with your own hands even if you’d let them go anyway, but now you’re pretending to be sympathetic!”

It’d be stupid to talk to them since there was no way they’d survive.

So Elisha did not have to do that, but she answered.

“You say the same thing over and over again. You’re set to die on my hands from the moment you’re on the other side. Am I sympathizing with the soldiers by saying this? No, I’m saying this purely because of people like you. Anyone who smells something foul will naturally frown.”

“Are you saying we’re dirty?”

“Do you still have to ask? In any case, shut that mouth. The smell is getting worse.”

Elisha’s gaze reached the mouth that opened again despite her warning. Elisha’s eyes squinted at him and turned towards the wall built on the edge of the road above the city wall. Drops of water exploded with a bang.

“Ugh!”

The young nobleman who had just been facing Elisha was startled and opened his mouth wide in surprise before closing it quickly. Then, before Elisha looked at him again, he put his palms together and pressed his mouth.

But Elisha’s warning ended earlier. So this one was a punishment, not a warning.

Crack-crack-crack!

The crack that started where Elisha had impacted spread like a branch in all directions. When it met the position Count Bauer had struck with his mana clad-sword before, the crack was split instantly, expanding its range.

“Ugh!”

“W-What is this?! What if it collapses?”

The instinct to move away from a dangerous place caused a clamor, further widening the rift.

Thuud! Thud!

A groove about 4 or 5 meters in length was dug on the upper road of the fortress wall, and broken stone pieces poured down like rainwater.

A few people could not avoid it and were swept away together, and those who did not were getting pale and fell on their behind. Some were crawling and trying to get away from the place where they had fallen.

This was a lot of noise, but when Elisha came from outside the castle, both the imperial knights and the rebels that spread out to the left and right, except near the third ascent, slowed their movements.

All eyes were on her.

From left to right, she glanced over the people on the top of the wall.

“Surrender. Withholding whether to accept your surrender is the greatest mercy I can give right now.”

Elisha turned his gaze away from those who avoided her eyes and went down under the wall. As she stretched her feet down the empty air as if she were descending a staircase, Undine created water-colored leaves just in time.

As she stepped down one at a time, a groan of astonishment and amazement erupted from below. These were the viscounty’s knights and soldiers guarding the locked gates at the bottom of the fortress walls.

They staggered back as Elisha got closer to the floor.

As Elisha descended on the floor, a large circle was drawn around her, and she stood alone in the center.

Despite layers of people forming the circle around Elisha, each holding onto weapons in their hands, the knights and soldiers hurriedly lowered their eyes when Elisha looked at them. They felt like they had to do so in front of a goddess standing alone before her enemy.

The deputy leader of the team, who was in charge of guarding the gates, thought they shouldn’t have done this. But as he glanced at the corpse of Count Bauer, which had been so disfigured that it was hard to recognize, he bit his mouth.

It’s not because he was afraid of what was going to happen.

The other knights and soldiers guarding the gate only knew that something unusual was happening above the wall.

Even though it was hard to see, it was enough to guess just by seeing the horses running on the top of the wall and the bodies of their colleagues, who were constantly falling, amplified the ominousness.

The deputy commander learned the truth from a report that his subordinate, who had been sent to understand the situation above, returned with contemplation. Thinking of the soldiers on the fortress wall who died in vain, he wondered if he should make any more unnecessary sacrifices.

Attacking that woman who had walked down from the sky seemed akin to jumping into the fire with a straw.

Then there was someone who alleviated his worries. It was not anyone else. It was her, the culprit of all this.

A stream of water gushed up in the direction Elisha was looking, and a path was created linking the top and bottom of the wall. Those who guarded the inside of the gates had not seen it, but for the rebels on the walls, it was a terrifying ability.

“This is a cheat-like ability.”

“How could anyone do this?”

Regardless of their reaction, the imperial knights running on the top of the wall moved towards the new water path Elisha had laid out.

The horses were a little intimidated, but as the most important thing in this operation was speed, they soon glided down the waterway according to the wishes of their master.

Elisha, who had made another road made of water, glanced at the man who seemed to be in charge at first glance. As she took one step, the circle collapsed and turned into an elongated oval.

Where Elisha walked, a path was made.

The knights and soldiers of the viscounty stepped down on their own.

Tadadak!

Around that time, the knights of the imperial army, who descended from the wall, start running along the edge of the wall on horseback. It was an obvious threat.

“The fight is over. Open the door.”

Elisha spoke briefly to the viscount’s deputy commander, and the deputy commander bit his lip. He reached out to a device that opened the gate himself without making anyone else do it.

“You are quick to judge, just like your master. How useful.”

Although Elisha’s murmuring was small, he could hear it clearly in his ear. It was vague to even call it a compliment, and it could be seen as a mockery of surrender, but the deputy commander seemed to have no regrets about his choice for some reason.

After a while.

Kung! Ku-kung!

The sound of the gate opening was heard. The imperial knights ran as if they had waited beyond the wide open gate.

When the people gathered inside the castle gate split left and right to make a path, Prince Raymond, who was at the forefront, passed through the gate first and ran inside the viscounty.

“Hmm.”

Elisha rode Spot, who had been brought by one of the 100 knights who had climbed the wall on foot and left their horses behind, passing through the central city and arriving at the inner city where the viscount’s castle was.

Prince Raymond hesitated and avoided her gaze. In the end, he couldn’t follow the orders that Elisha had given him.

Elisha didn’t glance at him and headed to the communication room. The mage of the viscounty connected the communication to Barossa.

“Your Majesty.”

A beautiful face appeared from beyond the communication port where the light came in at Elisha’s call.

(That was fast.)

The emperor said.

The rebels would’ve been stunned if they had heard it.

“Is Viscount Tara there by any chance?”

A faint smile appeared on the emperor’s lips at Elisha’s question. It didn’t take long for her to get an answer, as he was an emperor who didn’t like to waste time.

(Yes, he’s here. After asking for permission in advance by communication, he came and surrendered to me.)

As the emperor finished his speech, Viscount Tara appeared next to him.

(I see the 2nd Consort.)

“I didn’t expect you to have gone so far.”

It must have taken some time to talk to Barossa before activating the portal to move. Seeing he had succeeded, he must have left with his tail between his legs since the start.

Viscount Tara couldn’t find a word to answer and his eyes flickered. He had been so scared of the 2nd Consort that he had abandoned his estate and moved directly to the portal to hide behind the emperor.

Elisha had nothing to say to that poor mouse, who didn’t know where he was standing now was in the lion’s mouth.

Still, it was true that he had saved his estate from falling into the worst situation with his quick judgment and actions.

“As Your Majesty said, Viscount Tara knows how to read the situation. There will not be a few like him in the West, so if anyone pleads guilty, please accept them like the generous man you are, Your Majesty.”

This was what the emperor and Elisha had planned in advance. There was no change in his intention to devour the entire West.

However, if it were too damaged, it would be too difficult to eat, and the post-processing would be too labor intensive. So who were those people that Elisha had mentioned?

Those who belonged to the Western nobility because their territory leaned toward the west at the border between the central and the west, like the Syuphl at the end of the Western territory, but were rejected from the West for other reasons.

Whether because they were too comfortable with each other or their land was too barren, foreign things were out of sight.

So unlike the Syuphl territory, which wanted to be incorporated into the center of the Western region, Tara and similar estates, who were also close to the central region, did not cling to the western because there was nothing to be desired, and their sense of belonging was light.

So it would be good to open up new opportunities for places that did not actively participate in the rebellion, like Viscount Tara.

Showed them the power gap and gave them a hole to survive.

“We’ve captured the viscounty as soon as possible, but there will be many spots to search for as it was a battlefield. Since we have to leave immediately, please send someone to look after it. At that, the viscount over there should come back. Since the officials of Barossa cannot stir up the land without its owner, the land will also find stability and cooperate faster if the owner of the land is present.”

It was also why there was no need for soldiers.

The emperor answered Elisha’s words.

(You are free to leave as soon as you are ready. I’ll give you separate instructions for the rest. And the viscount, of course, as someone who wants to dispel the stigma of rebellion, will do his best to help. Am I right?)

The crystal ball reflected the emperor looking back at Viscount Tara. Viscount Tara nodded his head up and down quickly.