Volume 3 - CH 5.2

The next day, Alec went into the enemy camp.

This time, I prepared a <Remote Vision> to see what was going on with his opponent. I had engraved a mark on his sword so that I could observe the battle from anywhere. Thanks to this magic, I can project the situation around him through mirrors and water surfaces.

As soon as I tried to watch, Olympia and the others who were just visiting the tent also wanted to see what I was up to, so they too decided to watch Alec fight.

「Wow! Is this a reflection of where Count Gilflea is?」

「Yes, it is. It can show a radius of about a hundred meters, centered on the place where the mark was carved. This time, I'm focusing on the magic sword he's holding.」

「Excellent! I've never seen a magic like this before!」

Melvina seemed to be a little excited by the magic she saw for the first time, but Olympia looked unamused by the projected scene.

「I know, but why is that man supposed to be the leading? Master is far more worthy of praise than that man. ......」

Olympia doesn't seem to like Alec. This is probably another result of me raised her overly loyalty.

When I checked Alec's condition again, I saw that he was riding alone, so he could ride his horse as fast as he could, and he was able to reach his target, the enemy unit, rather quickly. From the enemy's point of view, a knight rushing in alone is nothing more than a target, and naturally, a large number of fireballs were raining down on Alec. But he drew his sword and swung it at the fireballs, which came flying at him like rain, not only drowning them out, but also blowing away a group of enemies ahead of him with a gust of wind.

I can't say for sure because I can't hear the chanting, but the mouth movements of the guys who used the magic seemed to say only a few words, as if they were omitting the chanting. Unless the average soldier has mastered the art of chanting abbreviation in such a short period of time, it is a code word to draw out the magic.

If that's the case, then there are other magicians who are supplying them with formulas. The fact that they are able to hold that many formulas together means that there must be at least a thousand magicians left.

「It's very powerful. It's no wonder Master himself modified it. But can't this magic heard the sound?」

「Sound is impossible. The only thing I can share is sight.」

「Murhh, after all, it's hard to understand the battle situation without sound. Is he shouting?」

Alec stopped his horse after knocking down the enemy, and seemed to be shouting something. Given his personality, he was probably announcing himself before he started the fight.

Even Melvina, who had nothing to do with the army, knew that he was the hero who defeated the "Red Scales", so his fame was considerable even within the Demon Empire. In fact, the soldiers were trembling when they heard his words.

When Alec dismounted from his horse and raised his sword, the group of soldiers in front of him broke up as if they were avoiding something. It was probably to avoid being hit by the wind that had just hit them, but they wouldn't be able to avoid it as much as they could avoid it to the side. I was saddened to see the soldiers making such a futile effort.

There was a soldier shouting in the back of the group, but I guess that was the commander. As soon as he ordered something, the enemy began to retreat in two directions in a broken formation. They may not have been frightened by a single attack, but this was unexpected.

Alec, too, was startled by the suddenness of the situation and seemed to have stopped thinking, but when he saw the fleeing enemy, he hurriedly began to pursue one of the groups. However, it would be difficult to annihilate even one of them, since the other was trying to escape.

「Mmm, the enemy's behavior is still clearly strange. It looks like they're trying to buy some time.」

「Are they stalling for time, or are they drawing a magic circle of strategic class magics ......?」

While watching the scene of them continuing to cast magic on Alec while retreating, I try to think of a reason why they are stalling for time. You can expect that they might be stalling the kingdom army and preparing reinforcements or secret plans. Maybe another unit will get behind the Royal Army and launch a pincer attack.

As I was thinking about this, I suddenly heard the sound of a hard object cracking around my neck. When I looked at the necklace Elaine had given me, I saw that the magic stone attached to it was cracked. The fact that it cracked even though it wasn't pressed against force would be proof that something had happened to her. I can't help but have a bad feeling about this.

「Olympia, Melvina, and I will jump to Leshiana. If anything should happen, you can count on Sagami-dono.」

「Eh? Huh?」

「Wh-What's the matter, sir? All of a sudden, you're doing that ......」

I feel uneasy leaving them like this, but I don't have time to explain the situation in detail. Besides, Sagami would not do anything rude to the girls.

Leaving the two of them bewildered by my sudden comment, I transfered to Leshiana.

※

Transferring directly to the magic pool would be dangerous because of the possibility of shifting coordinates, so I jumped to the nearest village to where Elaine lived, but there was a horrible scene there.

The forest was engulfed in fire everywhere, and there were several dead bodies of Wood Elves lying around in the settlement. No matter how you looked at it, it looked like they had been attacked, and it was highly likely that Elaine and the others would not be safe.

I hurriedly tried to head towards the place where Elaine lived, but on the way I stopped when I heard someone's voice. It seemed to be coming from a nearby warehouse.

I peeked inside and saw that the Wood Elves were trapped there, bound all over their bodies and rolled over a magic circle. Near them were two men dressed as soldiers of the Demon Empire. They were probably keeping an eye on the elves. They were chatting with each other without hiding their boredom.

「When are they going to give us the order to retreat?」

「Who knows? I haven't heard the details, but at any rate, the plan is to attack the royal capital, right?」

I'm also curious about the content of the conversation, so for now I'll just use <Fear> to make them both fall into a coma.

I approached them and used my <Memory Reading>, but I didn't find anything interesting except the information that they were planning to attack royal capital. However, I was able to learn about the effects of the magic circle the elves were trapped in. It seemed to force them to activate the fireball as long as their magic power lasted, keeping them in a standby state.

In other words, it seems that the soldiers fighting in the Frontier Count were using the magical power of the elves here. There was a man who thought of such an outrageous thing. The idea probably came from Elle, though.

The only thing is that the elves here can't possibly activate the magic of 5,000 people. In fact, it would be impossible even if they gathered all the wood elves in Leshiana. Then there is only one possibility: Elaine and the others are going through the same thing. The amount of magic power of the High Elves is incomparably more powerful than any other creature in this world. If it is a Fireball, Elaine alone can shoot thousands of shots. This is the perfect person to transfer the magic formula to.

The reason why the magic stone cracked just now is probably because the amount of magic power she possesses is decreasing and she can no longer maintain her existence. For her, as a spirit, the loss of magic power means the loss of her existence. The magic stone in the necklace is not completely broken yet, but if I don't hurry, it might become bad.

I want to help the elves here, but I have higher priorities than that. I quickly put a <Stop> to the Demon Empire soldiers, dismissed the elves from the magic circle, and left the warehouse for the magic pool.

※

In the magic pool, the otherworld reversal that was supposed to have been deployed disappeared. It seems that the soldiers of the Demon Empire have already invaded the center of the magic pool. I also deployed an <Advanced Nullification Ward> and proceeded to the center, where I found the residence of the high elves occupied by the magicians of the Demon Empire. I knew right away that they were not ordinary magicians, because they were all standing there without being affected by the magic of the magic pool. At that moment, one of the four looked at me as if he sensed my presence. Even though we were in the middle of the forest, there were no other creatures living there, so any movement would immediately make their whereabouts known.

「Hey, whoever's hiding there, come out!」

From here, the distance is too great for the <Fear> to be effective. And from the sound of the words he was ordering with such conviction, it would be impossible to pretend that he was imagining things. I knew there was no point in lurking around like this, so I had no choice but to show up in front of them.

「This was the home of the High Elves. Why is a member of the Demon Empire here?」

「You're from the Kingdom, aren't you? You seem to be a very skilled, not to be intimidated by this many people.」

「I suppose so. By the way, I have business with the High Elves. Would you mind stepping aside if you could?」

「Unfortunately, but I've been told that no one is allowed inside. But now that we have someone to keep us occupied, why don't we have a little fun? You won't make it out alive, of course.」

With those words, the people around me moved, and they surrounded me. If they knew who I was, they would have taken the initiative and attacked me instead of taking such a long time, but since they didn't, their defeat was already decided. After cutting the <Advanced Nullification Ward> and making it ready to use magic at any time, I pointed my finger at the man who was talking in front of me and activated the <Dismemberment>. Even though he was a bit more skilled, there was no way he could resist my magic, and he fell to the ground, his entire body torn apart.

After a moment's delay, the men around him looked astonished, but the soldier seemed to be undisturbed by this situation, and they immediately struck at me with a special magic. However, they were not powerful enough to penetrate my magic barrier, and they stopped before they could penetrate even the first magic barrier.

「Wh-Who the hell are you!?」

「Hmph, don't you know yet? Well, I am one of the hero of the Kingdom of Henrient, Yard Ray Werner. Remember that from now on.」

「Gughh! A hero of the kingdom?」

Of the remaining three, two were inching away from me when they heard my name, but they didn't seem to have given up their will to fight. The other one, however, seemed to have heard my name before, and the moment he heard it, his face paled and he moved away as far as he could.

「You're Count W-Werner, you say ......?」

「Hey, what's the matter? Don't show your weakness to the enemy.」

「Count Werner is the worst kind of monster! N-Noo! I don't want to die!」

As if he didn't hear his friends, he finally turned his back on me and started running. But I couldn't let him escape out of the forest, so I activated my <Dismemberment> and had him dismembered as well.

The two of them, who understood my strength through the panic of their companions, were wary of me with bitter expressions on their faces.

「I'm in a hurry. If you beg for your life, you won't have to go through that, you know?」

「O-Okay! I won't harm the elves here anymore, so please forgive me!」

Hearing my words, one of them immediately knelt down on the ground and started begging for his life. I laughed at the sight, which was unimaginable from his earlier attitude, but I'll keep my promise.

The other one didn't beg for his life even after hearing my words. Unlike the man next to him, he is a very brave man who doesn't give in to strong enemies, but a promise is a promise, and I won't let him go.

「Damn it!　『Water blade, cut through the enemy in front of you』!」

The blade made of water hit my magic barrier, but again, it didn't penetrate a single barrier, falling to the ground and wetting the soil. From the fact that they were wearing the official military uniforms of the Demon Empire, it seemed that these guys were probably the missing 1st Magic Corps, but their skill level was too low.

「Why!? Why can't my magic hit him!?」

「Even though it is difficult to control the magic formula due to the accumulation of magic power, your power is too low. If you don't at least double your current power, you won't even be able to break the first barrier.　Well, now it's my turn.」

The man was screaming like a child when his abilities were repelled, and just like the previous two, I activated the <Dismemberment>, and his dismembered body fell to the ground as well. The remaining one was shaking with fear as he looked at the wreckage of those who had been his friends moments before.

「You said I would let you go, right? Yeah, I'll certainly keep my promise.」

「Ah, oh! I appreciate it!」

The man was happy with tears streaming down his face, and I applied the magic seal to him. Even though he has surrendered, there is no guarantee that he will not attack the elves again. It should be enough to get him out of here and through Leshiana.

But it's hard to get out of this pool of magic when you can't use your magic, so instead of providing a service, I blew the man far into the sky with a gust of wind. Of course, I adjusted the drop point so that it would be outside of Leshiana.

The moment he was blown away, I saw the man's expression as if to say, "Why?" Did he think that the people who hurt the people of my alliance partner would be sent home without any blame? I wish he would think a little.

It took some time, but the magic stone of the necklace still seems to be intact. I have to hurry and save Elaine.

※

After clearing out the magicians inside and reading their memories, I was able to easily find out where the High Elves were being held.

I quickly made my way to the room and found the High Elves in the same state as the Wood Elves I had just found in the village. Of course, there was a magician from the Demon Empire standing guard nearby, and the moment I entered the room, I was met with a flurry of magical attacks.

「That's quite a greeting. Didn't the soldiers of the Demon Empire ever learn even the minimum of manners?」

None of the attacks reached my body, but when I showed them that I was unharmed by slapping my clothes, they all gave me a bitter look.

「You're from the kingdom, huh ...... and your ability to take our attacks unscathed, you're one of the heroes, aren't you?」

「Correct. If you know that, then you should surrender quietly. Resistance will only prolong your suffering.」

When I told him that, he fell silent, and I turned to Elaine, who was being held captive. She remained downcast and showed no reaction to my presence, even though I was her acquaintance.

If you look closely, you can see that the other high elves are in a similar state. This is mental manipulation. I can forgive them doing this to other high elves, but I'm not going to let them get away with half-hearted punishment for messing with a human woman.

And from the way he was staring at Elaine, the Demon Empire soldier seemed to think that he could use her as a hostage. He pulled her close to him and placed the dagger on her neck, pressing the blade a little against her skin as if to show it to me. With a little more force, the blade would bite into her neck.

「Hey, if you want to spare this high elf's life, stop resisting magic now.」

「......」

「Don't worry, if you die, I'll keep her live. It's not often that you see such a beautiful woman. Even if her magic runs out, I'll be able to enjoy her to the fullest until she breaks.」

As he was talking, I guess he couldn't stand to just look at Elaine's body, so he grabbed her breasts while he was talking, but I ignored him and started drawing a magic circle.

It's not very pleasant to have your woman touched by an unreserved hand. I'll take your advice and give this guy the maximum amount of pain before I kill him.

「H-hey! What the hell are you doing!? Stop drawing that magic circle right now!」

The other party, who was suspicious of my actions, pressed another dagger against her neck and tried to wound her.

But she's not a human, she's a spirit. If he attacked her with a blade that didn't have any magic in it, I doubt if he would be able to get even the slightest scratch. Thanks to her, I could continue to draw the magic circle without fearing the man's threats.

The magic circle was completed, and I activated <Immortality>, a Second Type of Physical Interference Magic. The target was, of course, the Demon Empire soldier who was pressing his blade against Elaine. With this technique, no physical or mental factor could kill him.

「Wh-What the hell did you do! You don't care what happens to this woman's life!」

「...... You seem to have misunderstood something, but I am the one who is in control here. It's up to me to decide whether or not to make any concessions to you, and you shouldn't do anything to upset me, you know?」

「Damn it!　『Water blade, cut through the enemy before you』!」

He seems to have finally realized that Elaine is not worthy of being a hostage, so he throws her away and launch a water blade at me, just like the man before him. I wonder if the reason he didn't use fire was to prevent the fire from spreading. Either way, I don't think it's powerful enough to break through my magic barrier.

A number of water blades were bounced off my magic barrier and scattered on the floor. If he wet the floor too much, the magic circle I drew might disappear, but I don't think that's already in the man's mind.

He was just desperate to get rid of the threat in front of him, but even though it was difficult to control due to the accumulation of magic power, the power of the magic formula he kept using in succession was gradually decreasing, and finally he couldn't hit even one shot.

「...... Is this the end?」

「Wh-What the hell!? It's an attack that could pierce the defensive magic of an ordinary magician! So why can't even a single shot reach you!」

「Good grief, the people of the Demon Empire are a bit overconfident. Do you think you've mastered the art form with your level of ability? If that's the case, you're an irredeemable fool.」

I invoke the <Dismemberment> on the man who continues to use a magic that he has not even been able to activate over and over again. The magic, which broke the man's resistance in an instant, literally dismembered his body, leaving only the neck and above, showing a clean section as if it had been cut with a sharp blade.

Normally, this would have killed the man, but due to the effects of <Immortality>, his life would never end. The pain of losing everything from the neck down would have filled his brain. But he has lost his vocal cords, so he can't even scream.

「How do you feel?」

「──────!」

He's moving his mouth to say something, but since he can't speak, I can't understand what he's saying. The only thing is that the cross-section of his neck is giving him unusual pain, and his expression is twisted in pain. Blood was flowing from the section and it was unpleasant, so I sealed the wound with a <Minor Heal> to the point where no blood would come out, and then I let him lie there.

<Immortality> is not permanent, and the effect wears off after a while. Either that, or he wouldn't die no matter what I did until I deactivated the magic, so he would have to wait for death in pain and despair. I'm a bit lax, but since I can't see any external injuries on the High Elf's body, I'll let it slide.

Finally, I tried to use <Memory Reading> to find out what was going on in the Demon Empire, but he didn't know anything either. Perhaps because they knows I can use <Memory Reading> , they seems to be very thorough in their information management.

After that, I lost interest in the man. It's too much trouble to devote your attention to someone who has no value anymore. I think the first thing to do now is to check on Elaine's condition. For the time being, I broke the magic circle that was forcing the girls to activate their magic, and then approached her.

From the looks of it, she seemed to be conscious, but she didn't show any reaction, as if her thoughts had been paralyzed. Perhaps she was being suggestible or drugged to limit her thoughts. If so, it's easy to bring her back. As soon as I applied the <Awake>, her eyes came back into focus.

「Yard. ......sama」

When she regained consciousness, she looked around to make sure there were no soldiers from the Demon Empire, then looked at me with a relieved expression on her face. She looked a little tired, but I was glad to see that her life was not in danger.

「That's right, I'm sorry for the delay in rescuing you, but it looks like you're okay.」

I called out to her as I removed her restraints, and she smiled despite her pale face, which was showing a lot of fatigue.

「I'm sorry, I didn't have time to contact you about the sudden attack. ......」

She tried to stand up, but her legs were not strong enough and she fell towards me, so I caught her. She was probably consuming too much magic power and her bodily functions were impaired. 

Since the magic circle was no longer functioning, it would not consume any more magic power, but it would take some time for her to recover since the amount of magic power consumed so far would have been depleted in an instant by a normal human.

I can use the <Mana Transfer>, but if I give it too much magic power, I'll run out of magic power myself, so I'll just let her recover naturally. Since this is a pool of magic power, she should be able to recover quickly as a high elf.

「I-I'm sorry. I'm a little weak. ......」

「It's better to rest a little and recover your magic power than to worry about it.」

「Okay, I'll probably be back to full strength by tomorrow morning.」

By the way, it would take a normal person half a year to recover the amount of magic power she is losing. Even though the recovery is accelerated by the accumulation of magic power, the amount of recovery of the High Elf is nothing short of staggering.

「Anyway, I'm glad you're okay. If it weren't for that necklace you gave me, I might have missed the attack on this place, and that chills my heart.」

「I'm glad to hear that it came in handy right away. It's a pity that it broke, but I'll make another one.」

She smiled a little shaded, perhaps from exhaustion, and I could see a fragility in her appearance that made me want to protect her, which was different from her usual supernatural atmosphere, and made her even more attractive.

I couldn't resist and kissed her on the mouth, but she accepted my tongue without the slightest resistance, as if she was expecting it, and we enjoyed our brief encounter.

After that, she rested for a while and recovered enough to stand up, so I let the other high elves go. They don't seem to consume as much magic as Elaine, so if I leave them alone, they'll recover enough to get back on their feet.

「Elaine, in addition to the High Elves, there were other elves captured and trapped in the same kind of traps as you. There are probably a few more places like this, can you identify them?」

「Sure, just give me a minute.」

When she meditated and muttered something, the detection magic was activated. The composition of this magic is much more precise than the ones used in the Kingdom and the Demon Empire. I wonder if it's a magic that has been handed down to the High Elves themselves.

「All right. I'll tell you where they are, so give me your hand.」

I held out my hand to her as she told me to, and when she grabbed it, she muttered something again, and at that moment, I could feel where the elves were being held captive.

「I see, that's a useful magic.」

「I can tell you this directly, though, only in the Leshiana, where I have a good grasp of the surrounding terrain.」

「Well, we'll talk about this later. We have to crush the Demon Empire's people first.」

If we can free the elves who are being forced to supply them with magic formulae, the strength of the enemy soldiers that are currently fighting in the Naylor Frontier Count territory should decrease drastically. Then the sooner we act, the better. I immediately moved to the place where I was told.

※

After knocking down the Demon Empire soldiers on guard, releasing all the remaining elves, and putting out all the fires that had been rising here and there, I was back under Elaine's care. I don't think more than an hour had passed, but she had regained enough of her healthy color to make me think that she was already fully recovered by the looks of it.

「I'm sorry that I left it to Yard-sama even though It's our forest」

「Well, we're allies, don't worry about it.」

Even so, despite the fact that they had visited almost all the places, the number of soldiers from the Demon Empire was less than two hundred. The First Magic Corps should have had at least a thousand magicians, but this was too few. I wondered if they had left the rest in the Frontier territory for emergencies.

And there were other things to worry about. Or rather, the most important question.

「Elaine, I don't think a high elf would fall behind a magician of that caliber just because it was a sudden attack, could there be something else causing it?」

「...... Yes, your apprentice was also there during the attack. If all the High Elves had fought together, we would have been an even match for her, but there were many other magicians」

「Then, do you know where Elle went?」

「No, I don't know what happened after I was captured. I only just regained consciousness.」

So has Elle already retreated? Even if they occupy Leshiana in secret, the kingdom will eventually find out about it, and they'll probably imagine me coming here. And yet, what would they do if they wanted to use up one of the few magicians they had?

「Elaine, can you tell from their footprints the direction they moved?」

「Eh? Yes, that's possible.」

「Then please.」

Since there was no trace of them having traveled by transfer, and not all of them were magicians who could use the <Flying>, the only way to travel was on foot or by horse. It would be difficult for them to move through the forest without leaving any traces, and they would certainly have left some kind of trail.

「There are traces of a large number of people moving around. The direction is ...... that way.」

She then pointed in the general direction of the east. If they were to return to Naylor's territory, they would have to head north, so it seems that they have not retreated. I have a bad feeling about this, but I can't be sure.

But still, what was there to the east? I don't know much about the detailed geography around the kingdom, so I can't remember what exactly was in the east when I was told they were in the east. I can't help it, I'll have to ask someone who seems to have some knowledge here. I immediately activated telepathy and called Tia.

(Tia, do you have a minute?)

(...... Master? What can I do for you?)

Her response was delayed for a moment, so I knew she was doing something, but now was not the time to give her any consideration. I'll just have to accept that she's going to be late.

(Was there any important base of operations for the kingdom in the eastern direction of Leshiana?)

(Master, even if you say east of Leshiana, a third of the kingdom is within. Can I consider that question to be east from around the center of Leshiana?)

(Sure, that's fine.)

(As the region is close to the border, there are many important bases, but I think the most important place in the eastern direction would be the Gurtha Fortress? It's not that far from Leshiana..)

(I see, thank you for your help.)

(No, if it's okay with me, please feel free to ask me)

It seems that my bad premonition was right after all. I'm sure that Margarete is still in the fortress.

I hurriedly sent a reminder to her as well, but there was no response. If she's not asleep before dark, then something is wrong with her.

「Elaine, I'm going to head to the Gurtha Fortress now. Leshiana was most likely used to secure magic and as a transit point to the kingdom.」

This makes sense as to why there were not many magicians in Leshiana. If they proceeded to Istrian, they would be sandwiched between the armies of the imperial capital, so they would probably ignore that and use the Gurtha fortress as a foothold to invade the kingdom while securing elves in place of magic power in Leshiana.

A thousand men may not be enough to invade a kingdom, but there are hardly any soldiers in the royal capital now. With Elle there, it would be possible to overrun the capital.

「Yes, please be careful.」

「Yeah. If you need any help, please come visit me at my residence in the capital. I'll help you as much as I can.」

Elaine immediately recognized the urgency of the situation from the way I looked at her, and nodded as she stared at my face with a serious expression. I think it's safe to leave Leshiana in her hands now.

The soldiers in the fortress had probably been wiped out, but I hoped that Margarete was still alive at least, and with the help of my memory, I made my way to the fortress.