Volume 8 - CH 6

「Dragon King’s Proposal」

“In addition to Salma’s Larisa, Delfuento’s Rione has fallen as well! Only Soulia managed to repel the invasion…… damn it!”

The fall of the two capitals was being discussed in a palace conference room…… the one most surprised by the news was the feudal lord of Salma, Wendelin de Branier.

Margrave Branier, with his barely contained physique, sharp eyes and thinning white hair had more of a warrior’s feel to him than a nobleman.

In response to his shout, everyone glanced down at the large map covering the table.

The opened map was centered around Nozan’s capital. In addition to the rough topographical layout, it featured the position and names of its neighbors’ capital cities, over which two black squares had been placed.

A third black square had been placed on Nozan’s border with the Hiruku Theocracy.

“The likelihood of being attacked from three sides increases the more time passes.”

Fargus was stroking his white bread as he voiced his concerns, before crossing his arms.

King Asparf sighed and and shook his head when he heard that, and it was impossible not to notice the anxiousness reflected on Lille’s face.

“It was truly fortunate that Arc-kun was here to cut down the invasion when he did. Otherwise, this kingdom would have fallen as well and Hiruku’s invasion wouldn’t have come to light until much later.”

Ariane’s father, Dylan, made that point with a raised eyebrow.

To my left, prince Sect of Rhoden voiced his agreement with Dylan.

“We’ve all gathered here because of that. However, beings straight out of myths and legends, capable of surpassing thousands of soldiers… the world is truly large.”

As he voiced his opinion, prince Sect’s eyes wandered over the sitting Ferufivisurotte and me, with Ponta sitting on my head.

Ferufivisurotte seemed to have been ignoring the conversation around her with closed eyes until now, but a smile appeared on her lips and her long, crystal-tipped tail began to sway.

“In my opinion, the place were humans reside is but one part of the world……”

She slightly opened her eyes and a sharp change in the surroundings accompanied her threatening smile. On the receiving end of that, prince Sect audibly swallowed as he stared at her.

The pressure behind her words shattered the illusion that humans were the center of the world…… it was clear what she was intending to say.

“Kyun!”

In response to said pressure, Ponta immediately descended from the top my head and coiled herself around my neck like a scarf.

Ferufivisurotte responded to Ponta’s reaction with a mischievous laugh before pointing out the three black squares on the map.

“Ara, ara… how persistent. Why don’t we clear out the guys occupying these places first? Between me, Willi-han and armored Arc-han, we should be able to take care of them and deal with the others later, no?”

Although those of the human camps were visibly shocked by her rough outline of a strategy, the elves dropped their gazes to the map as if it’d been something close to a good plan.

With beings like the dragon kings, there was no need for complex stratagems. Rather, the focus should be on how everyone else should be moved to accommodate them.

If there was a person who was incredibly good at widespread destruction, like Ferufivisurotte and me, the most effective strategy would be to wipe the enemy out and hunt down the remnants afterwards.

However, the enemy’s current placement proved to be problematic.

All eyes gathered on me when I raised my hand and pointed out the problem.

“The enemy is undead, as time passes more of the population of those cities will be turned into new undead, so it’s a good idea to deal with them as soon as possible. However, if Ferufivisurotte and I use our powers inside the occupied cities, it would mean the death of any survivors still within them.”

As the previous use of my heavenly knight skill showed, it was neither pride or an exaggeration to say that I could destroy an undead army. Personally, I didn’t want to use those skills too much, but our numerical disadvantage meant that I had no choice in the matter.

However, the power output was so vast that fine control over it was impossible and I needed the surroundings to be vacated before using them.

It was probably the same for the two dragon kings.

Dylan nodded at my point and placed a white piece on the side of the table.

“That’s true. Both are large capitals of a country similar to this one. The hiding survivors cannot be saved if Arc-kun and Ferufivisurotte-sama level the cities.”

Elder Fargus spoke up once Dylan said his piece.

“Hmm, if you wanted to wipe the neighboring counties off the map, it wouldn’t be a problem once the undead are cleared out.”

An upset king Asparuf joined the conversation as Fargus began chuckling.

“S-Such an act would lead to later ruination, I would never consent to that! Even if this affair is settled, what’s the point if distrust and antipathy toward the elves spread throughout humanity!?”

Fargus revealed a hunting smile at the king’s opinion.

However, Dylan, who set beside the great elder, spoke up again.

“Great Elder Fargus, please rein in your jokes. This is an exercise to build good relationships for the future.”

After that, he gave Lille, who’d been anxiously watching the pair, a reassuring smile.

“Returning to the subject at hand, to prevent the number of undead from growing and leaving the cities standing, we must lure the enemy out into the open. After we lure them out, we can unleash our most powerful war assets.”

As Dylan laid out his plan he placed two white squares on the map, one in front of Salma’s capital and another in front of Delfuento’s capital.

However, prince Sect voiced his doubts to Dylan.

“If the enemies are undead, there’ll be no need to siege them. They should instinctively chase the living. However, these undead are receiving instructions from the Hiruku Theocracy, will they really move within our expectations?”

Dylan frowned in response to the prince’s comment and placed another black piece on the map.

“The art of creating and manipulating undead is a considerable threat to the living. However, after conversing with others on the matter, I’ve concluded that the enemy doesn’t have complete control over the undead.”

Dylan paused for a moment to gauge everyone’s reactions.

With everyone’s eyes focused on him Dylan continued.

“The corrupted spirits controlling the undead are more powerful during the night and are weakened during the day.”

The elves reacted as if that was a fact to be taken for granted, and the beastmen Goemon and Chiome shared a small nod with one another.

However, the humans were uniformly surprised.

I had the same reaction as they did, fortunately, my helmet hid that fact from everyone.

Dylan waited for things to settle down before continuing his explanation.

“However, I heard that the undead which attacked this city only did so during the day, when they were at their weakest, and simply wandered about during the night. Based on this strange behavior, I believe it is impossible for them to be completely controlled at night. Perhaps its related to the sheer number of them, but the results are the same either way.”

Prince Sect nodded slightly as he added to the conversation.

“I see, if you lose control of your vast army every half a day, even if you can direct them towards a specific direction, enacting stratagems are impossible…… It’s best to lure them out in their weakened state and then wipe them out.”

Prince Sect then pointed at the two white pieces Dylan had placed on the map.

“When you consider that the enemy is growing in number, we should move a quickly as possible. Dividing our forces and simultaneously striking at Salma and Delfuento.”

There was an uneasy expression on King Asparuf’s face as he silently listened.

“If we divide our forces, then how will we defend my kingdom?”

From the king’s point of view, overthrowing Hiruku was important, but it would all be for naught if his own capital collapsed under a second invasion.

Dylan gazed at the map once more and slowly nodded his head after thinking about the matter for a bit.

“Things should be alright with the forces we have. Even if they invade again, they can’t arrive immediately. Besides, Prince Teruva should be returning with the amassed forces of the surrounding lords. That should be sufficient to hold during a siege, if need be.”

He assumed that Soulia could survive a second invasion and looked for consent in splitting the vast majority of our forces between Salma and Delfuento.

“I don’t mind it.”

“There aren’t any particular objections.”

“……Hm.”

The representative of the three factions agreed with Dylan, who then directed a smile towards me.

“Arc-kun, I’ll have to ask you to use your transfer magic tomorrow.”

It wasn’t surprising to hear that.

I’d already decided to do the round-trip work, but there was a slight problem which I informed everyone of.

“I don’t mind transporting the troops with my magic…… but the problem is that I don’t have a transfer target for either Delfuento or Salma. As you know, my transfer magic can’t be used unless I know the location.”

Dylan’s eyes popped open when his oversight was pointed out.

“Moving our forces to each of the capitals can only be accomplished one way. It will take a day or two to reach each capital, so it’ll take at least four days of preparation for the transfer of the soldiers.”

I looked at the map and traced the route from Soulia to Larisa in Salma, and then did the same for Rione in Delfuento.

The distance from Soulia was basically the same, it may have been possible to make the trip in one day if I contently transferred and visibility remained good.

“Is it possible to do three days of preparation in the span of a single day? I don’t want to give the enemy that much time.”

Dylan followed my finger as I traced the path over the map before he furrowed his brow and tried to recalculate the date as he stared at the black piece.

Ferufivisurotte, who’d been watching in amusement, suddenly stood up with a smile on her face and crossed her arm in a manner that emphasized her voluptuous chest.

“With this one here, there is a way to do it, no?”

She tilted her head to the side and asked so with a gentle smile.