CH 172

Warren dispatched a thousand of their vigilante corps to the city’s eastern end, facing the united Ceramics army stationed at the eastern lake. Two hundred of these soldiers were former refugee beastmen. At their own request they were placed on the army’s front lines as if to put their loyalty to Warren on full display.

The five members of Warren’s Powder Keg came to the front lines while giving their thanks to the gathered vigilantes.

Most members of the vigilante corps belong to the Adventurer’s Guild, so while the army is formally under the Warren Council, they’re really all Theseus’s subordinates. So for them to see Theseus and the other council members moving to the front, it was like watching a lionhearted general take his position. Naturally the morale for the vigilante corps skyrocketed.

The Powder Keg took their places on the front lines, standing in front of the rest of the army blazoned in the city’s colors. Izerina then used her magic to increase the volume of Maria’s voice. As such, every word Maria spoke echoed across the plains, allowing the enemies on the other side to hear every single syllable as if she were standing right next to them.

“Welcome to Warren everyone from Ceramics, Wisdom, and Wheat Grace! We of the Warren Council are honored to have you! Please feel free to enjoy everything the city has to offer!”

The Lord of Ceramics was taken aback by Maria’s sudden invitation. The King had issued him a royal order telling him to, “Mobilize your army, and station them near Warren.” Unfortunately he hadn’t received a royal order telling him what he was supposed to do next yet. And now Warren’s representatives are telling him to come and enjoy the city. Then suddenly Alphonse, the leader of Wisdom’s magic corps and Ferdinand, leader of Wheat Grace’s peasant militia, were standing next to him.

“Milord, what should we do now?”

Alphonse deliberately asked the higher ranked Lord of Ceramics for orders. But without the next royal order from the King, the Lord was stuck.

“Sir, I have an idea. Would you care to listen?”

Ferdinand was putting on airs, faking respect for the Lord. The Lord bought the act and gave his consent.

“For caution’s sake, I’ll hear what you have to say previous lord of Wheat Grace.”

“So, we should take them up on their invitation.”

“You think so?”

“In response to their offer, we’ll send some of our soldiers inside as ‘customers’. The next royal order the King will send will most assuredly be to have us conquer Warren. However as things stand, a full frontal assault will be difficult. Honestly, I’m feeling a little uneasy at our chances. But, if some of our soldiers have already infiltrated the city under the guise of customers, we can take the city in minutes after His Majesty finally gives the order. Efficient no?”

The Lord certainly thought so. It was a marvelous idea, and he was excitedly nodding his head as Ferdinand finished speaking.

“With that said, the enemy will grow wary if we send in a large number of our forces. So then, how about leaving this up to the peasant militia?”

“In that case, you should let my magic corps enter the city as well. Our golems are only truly effective for city combat.”

The Lord thought about it. 600 people in total. That includes 500 member of a peasant militia who could never be relied on for combat, and 100 members of a magic corps whose abilities he didn’t fully understand. Even if he were to send them out, he still had 5000 able-bodied men in his main unit. And a pincer attack is always an effective strategy.

“All right then former lord of Wheat Grace, you act as the representative and lead your peasant militia and the magic corps into the city. I’ll signal when His Majesty’s next decree comes in, so take the city at that time.”

“Got it.”

Ferdinand returned to his unit at the back of the army and arranged his men into ten rows of fifty people each. Two rows of mages then lined up behind them. The soldiers marched in file, never breaking formation until halting in front of Warren’s representatives.

“We are soldiers from Wheat Grace and Wisdom visiting on the King’s orders. The King made it very clear we were to, ‘Stand by in Warren.’ So we’ll be entering the city now. We do hope you don’t mind.”

Maria shook her head at Ferdinand’s words.

“We would never dream of going against an order directly from the King himself. We humbly welcome Your Lordship.”

With the formalities out of the way, Ferdinand led his men further into the city, breaching its defenses. But as he passed by Maria, both of them took one last glance at each other and stuck out their tongues.

“What are those guys doing down there?”

“It doesn’t matter, so let’s hurry up.”

The Demon Lord and Berunal noticed Ceramics’s encampment on their way to Warren. The Demon Lord was a little curious about what was going on, but Berunal pushed him forward not wanting to waste any time on something she didn’t care about.

The two of them landed on the outskirts of town like they always do and first headed over to Freedom Promenade. However for some reason the city district was a lot busier than it usually is.

Just as the two were starting to suspect that something really was amiss, a person they both recognized suddenly waved to them.

“Yo Rosen Princess, you want to come over and play with me?”

“Hello Grandpa Teaser Eel. Is there some kind of event going on today?”

“No no, I just brought along 600 of my friends to play so they can enjoy themselves. Heeeeey Maron! Bring me some alcohol please! We brought our own snacks to go with it!”

“Grandpa Fel, you’re really living it up today!”

“On days like this, rather than secluding yourself in the gambling house, it’s much more fun to share a drink with Machel and the others”

“Understood~!”

“Oh, the man’s uniform looks pretty good on ya silver-haired newcomer.”

“Her name’s Marcosia~. Marcosia, grab some alcohol for that grandpa over there~!”

As Ferdinand and Maron were talking about everyone’s orders, Ferdinand’s men were all grabbing their knapsacks and pulling out the dried fruit and preserved food they had stashed inside.

“Okay grandpa. Thanks for always watching over this girl.”

“There’s no need to speak to me so formally. It’s fun having her here, so she’s always welcome.”

And thus, Ferdinand started a large banquet on the streets of Freedom Promenade, partying with his subordinates and doing away with any of the tension you’d expect to find in a situation like this. Meanwhile the Demon Lord quickly left before any of the drinking started, hurrying to Dundy’s Shangri La where Margherita was waiting.

On the other hand, the 100 men from Alphonse’s magic corps were all standing stunned at Freedom Promenade’s Child Plaza. Their eyes were locked on the children in the plaza as they all ran, jumped, and played……..all over a giant, Mechanized Dragon.

“It-It’s moving”

“Oi, isn’t that dragon a golem?”

“Who’s operating this monstrosity?”

The questions kept tumbling from the mage’s open mouths. Alphonse included. Izerina was standing right next to the men, a bemused smile on her face.

“Fascinating isn’t it?”

“Don’t you go ‘fascinating’ to me. What the hell is that?”

“It’s my beloved daughter’s masterpiece. That reminds me, you taught her the basics didn’t you?”

“Beloved daughter, you mean Claire? That’s Claire’s golem?”

“Even more outrageous”

Her smile never disappearing from her face, Izerina called over to the children.

“Children, I’m sorry to interrupt your playing. These customers would like to get to know Ka-kun for a little bit however, so if you could let them get a turn for just a little bit. Mebett, if you’d be so kind.”

Already surprised enough by Izerina’s words, Alphonse didn’t know what to do when he heard the response.

“I understand Izerina, we’ll come over. So Ka-kun, let’s get moving.”

[

The dragon was suddenly moving. A little girl was riding on the dragons back. The dragon had responded to what the little girl had said to it. There were far too many things here for the mages to be shocked by.

As Alphonse stood back with his mouth hanging open, Izerina did him the favor of explaining how this thing came into being. How the golem was based off a blueprint Claire had drawn up and then constructed from the so-called phantom metal Dark Mithril. Also how it shared the power of a dragon after being blessed by the other five dragons of Warren’s Jewelry Box.

It’s impossible to imagine just how much MP it would take to make a dragon golem of this size in the first place. Stack that on top of the fact that it’s made of the phantom metal and received the blessings of other real dragons, and once again, there was way too much here for the mages to be shocked about.

With Mebett’s permission, Alphonse started pouring over every detail of the Mechanized Dragon. Mebett gave him the huge service of shrinking Ka-kun down to his pendent size, and then showed off her dragon’s moves as it flew through the air when it returned to its normal form.

“”Hey Alphonse, what’s your strongest attack magic?”

Suddenly Izerina was asking Alphonse something in a mocking tone.

But at this point Alphonse had gotten so tired of being shocked he had come full circle and gave Izerina an uninterested reply.

“As you already know, it’s {Thunder Lance}.”

And so Izerina called out to Mebett as she glided overhead, asking her the unthinkable.

“Mebett, we’re going to try throwing some magic at you in a minute!”

“Okay~. What’re we doing~?”

“You’re going to be a lightning rod!”

Izerina then turned back to Alphonse who was taken aback at hearing Izerina and Mebett talk as if they were going to be playing house after this.

“Alphonse, use everything you’ve got to try and knock down that dragon. Don’t worry, I’ll handle the medical treatment, so it’ll be fine.”

Now things were getting a little irritating for Alphonse. He didn’t have any resentment towards the girl on the dragon, but this dragon golem was really starting to grate on his pride as a golem master.

“Then I won’t hold back.”

“Feel free.”

“{Thunder Lance}!”

As the spell left Alphonse’s lips, a bolt of lightning escaped his right hand. The lightning split and loudly cracked as it hit the Mechanical Dragon, creating a bright flash of light as well. It was a direct hit on the Mechanical Dragon………..and the end result was nothing more than a makeshift firework.

“Whoaaaa!”

“Pretty!”

“Again, again!”

The soldiers from Wheat Grace and Freedom Promenade girls started yelling as if it really were a part of a fireworks event prompting Ril Rush’s Machel and Trans Happy’s Makoto along with all the other employees to come out together. With all the alcohol served, merriment abound, and children still running around, it was like an impromptu festival had suddenly broken out in the city square.

The excited atmosphere of the venue mixed together with their injured pride, and soon each member of Wisdom’s magic corps was throwing their own strongest magic up towards the dragon. Over a hundred spells began exploding overhead.

Time and time again, a loud crack would sound in the sky accompanied by bright red, orange, and blue lights.

“Uwaa!”

“Beautiful~!”

“So cool Mebett!”

“PARTYYYY!”

“This alcohol is delicious!”

“More, More!”

Everybody enjoying their banquet and each child in the square raised a shout as the festival continued on.

“That was fun Ka-kun.”

“[??????, ??????]”

The words of the dragon and its master echoed as they dropped down from the sky and landed in front of the group of mages.

“Hey, Alphonse, it’s always important to calmly think about where you’re going to end up in life. I’m heading back to my office, but you be sure to enjoy your time in Warren. And thanks for your assistance here Mebett.”

Izerina patted Alphonse’s shoulder once before turning around and heading home.

“See you later everyone.”

Meanwhile Mebett gave all of the mages a wave farewell before she and Ka-kun headed back to the Child Plaza.

Even with the wonderful fireworks display over, the banquet went on with the center of the city filled with Wheat Grace soldiers, Freedom Promenade employees, excited children, and a team of mages whose pride had been thoroughly shattered.