Book 3: Chapter 14

Outbreak of War

Three weeks have passed since I came to Alheim. I think I have visited most of the major tourist destinations.

Roads between the royal capital and each town were well-developed. It’s possible to travel back and forth to any town in just two days, so moving around was easy. We plan to spend our last week relaxing here in the royal capital, where Yggdrasil is located.

Regarding the marriage with Leaffa… Only the ministers and the royal family will be informed about it, just like how it was with Tina’s wedding.

The country officially recognized my marriage to Leaffa and Tina, but I didn’t tell my parents yet. Tina and Leaffa wanted to greet my parents and properly ask for their acknowledgment.

Tina, who was my exclusive maid, and Leaffa, a classmate from the Magic Academy and the Princess of the Elf Country—I’m pretty sure Mother and Father will be shocked if I tell them that I wanted to marry these two.

Once my parents approve the marriage, I will inform the people of Alheim once again about Tina’s return and our wedding.

That’s why I was just enjoying the time lounging around. However, the Elf King summoned me in the morning. Maybe he has something to say to Leaffa or Tina since our return date to Glendale is already near?

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“I apologize, but you have to get out of the country”, the Elf King said as soon as I arrived for an audience. 

Up until now, we have been politely treated as guests by the Elf King, so we froze upon hearing those seemingly cold words so suddenly.

Did we do something wrong?

“Papa, what do you mean?” Leaffa asked the Elf King.

“The army of Apristos is heading toward the Royal Capital. From now on, this place will be the battlefield.”

The Elf King’s next reply was chilling. Last night, Apristos’s army crossed the Alheim border.

The border guards were annihilated—they were caught by surprise. After that, the army steadily marched on toward the Royal Capital, overrunning villages near the border.

“…Maybe it’s because of my marriage with Leaffa?”

“That is also a possibility. However, the main reason is my lack of power.”

Apristos has long been aiming for Alheim’s Yggdrasil, but the invasion didn’t push through because they didn’t have a way to break the Alheim capital’s defense.

Despite the invasion of Alheim being on a standstill, Apristos was steadily accumulating power by integrating several neighboring small countries. It was at this time that Alheim’s side started to plan a marriage proposal between Leaffa and Apristos, and form an alliance between the two countries. Well, actually, this proposal was made arbitrarily by a nobleman and ministers, and neither Leaffa nor the Elf King knew about it at all.

The Elf King first learned about the ministers’ recklessness when the messenger from Apristos arrived and declared that the proposal was accepted. However, immediately after, Sylph commanded Alheim that they must marry Leaffa to me. Alheim was stuck between a rock and a hard place with Sylph’s order and the proposal to Apristos.

“I must bear the responsibility for not being able to stop the ministers from acting rashly. Leaffa, you are already married to Halt and thus have nothing to do with this country. Leave this country immediately.”

The Elf King chose to follow Sylph. He told the messenger that the promise made with Apristos was a mistake, but it was the Alheim Kingdom’s fault.

The prince, who was excited that he would marry the Elf Princess, became angry and led his private army into this country. The result, just like what was said earlier, was the lethal ambush of the border guards. At this point, the war between Alheim and Apristos began.

It became a daunting situation, and soon enough, news came that the Apristos army was headed here. 

The prince’s private troops consisted of 3,000 soldiers. And there are 100,000 in Apristos army.

On the other hand, the armed forces of Alheim have 10,000 people. They are enough to defend against the 3 000 private troops of the prince. However, once the armies of Apristos arrive, they will be besieged, and a one-sided battle will take place.

Humans characteristically possess a larger population than the other races. When humans seriously raise up their army, the strength will be overwhelming. That is why the Elf King wanted Leaffa to escape now.

“B, but I’m still the princess of this Kingdom.”

Leaffa looked at me as if pleading that she wanted to remain in this country.

“I’m Leaffa’s husband, so if she stays, then I stay, too.”

“Halt…”

“If my dear husband wishes to remain here, then I too will stay. Not to mention, I also have to protect Leaffa, my student.“

“Thank you very much, Lady Tina.”

“Ah, then I’ll be fighting as part of this country’s army. I may be a human, but I like this kingdom.”

Luke also opted to stay behind and fight as part of the military. Looks like his true motive was to protect his Elf girlfriend that he made last week.

Though Glendale and Apristos are both kingdoms of the human race, they are not allies. That’s why there should be no problems even if we side with the Elves and fight against Apristos.

“Since Master will remain here, then so shall I.”

“We will, too!”

Youko, Mai, and Mei also opted to stay put.

“I can also contribute to the armed forces.” (Ryuushin)

“My magic is that of restoration, so I can revive the border guards who have fallen. If it is now, we can still make it on time.” (Ryuka)

“I will be your support. You can also count on me for strengthening magical powers.” (Luna)

“Well then, I’ll be the one to protect Ryuka and Luna!” (Merdie)

In the end, everyone got into the fighting spirit.

“Thank you so much, everyone!”

“Stop that foolishness, everyone! This is a war! Your opponents are seriously coming here to kill you! You may have experience in fighting demons, but you, as students, do not have the experience to fight against people in a war!”

The Elf King tried to frighten us. Most likely, he did not want any of us to fight.

The Elf King is a nice person. He knows how powerful Tina and I are, but he never forced us to fight for him. It was clear to us that the Elf King is beloved by his subjects during our sojourn here. Also, if the enemy breaches the Royal Capital, he will be on the frontlines wielding the sword himself—that’s the kind of person he is. Thus, I wanted to help the Elf King.

“Sure, I may not be able to kill people. Even though it’s a war, I don’t want my companions to kill anyone.”

“You understand now, so escape immediately!”

“But we have power. Even if our opponents are here for the kill, we can still incapacitate them without killing them.”

“What are you talking about?”

Incapacitating an army that is coming in full force… Not only that, our opponents are numbered to be around 100,000.

It’s like a pipe dream, but I am confident I can do that.

I can’t cover everything by myself, and there may be many sacrifices, so I looked at my friends.

Luke, Luna, Leaffa, Merdie, Youko, Mai, Mei, Ryuushin, Ryuka, and Tina.

With these ten, my strategy will succeed. I am certain of that.

“Can you gather the ministers? I’ll tell you the strategy to stop the invasion of Apristos.”

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T/N: My Luke x Luna ship sank right in the next (this) chapter, not even sailing for a little bit… Oh well, at least it’s time for Halt to fight again. ????

Edited to add: I have mixed feelings about the Elf King. He was pretty much a decent guy, but I think he’s quite useless as a King; the ministers were doing whatever they wanted right under his nose. Seems like they didn’t respect his authority…or maybe he had none.

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