CH 31.1

Carmilla watched the attack on Brandenburg from beginning to end through the crystal. At first, she looked through it listlessly, thinking it would end up the same way as before, but halfway through, she became engrossed in it and began clutching her sides with laughter when she watched the griffins lose their advantage.

“What even is this?! Are they risking their lives just for a joke like this? I have no idea what these blockhead griffins are thinking! Saying stuff like ‘Leave it to us’ and ‘We’ll annihilate those inferior humans’… If they get annihilated instead, they’re just a bunch of laughingstocks! Well, it’s none of my business what happens to those beasts.”

Carmilla laughed so hard that tears started streaming down her face, and then, when she finally calmed down, her expression turned serious once more. Through the efforts of the girl shown in the crystal, the griffins’ and rhinoses’ attack was thwarted. Brandenburg itself may have fallen, but the entire operation had already suffered so much damage that it couldn’t be said to have gone according to plan.

“It looks like the operation was a failure. Anyway, these guys are kinda useless. It is pretty convenient that we can bolster our troops with them, but the quality is kinda terrible. There’s also a limit to the amount of materials. Even in death, these guys are useless,” Carmilla said, crossing her arms as she hummed in deep thought. “Hmm. Well, There’s nothing we can do about that. Our domination of this country is going smoothly, and if we fail, we can switch strategies.”

At that moment, the room was flooded with light from the tremendous amount of lightning displayed in the crystal.

“Agh, too bright! Geez, show the audience some consideration! Well, they can’t hear my complaints, though. Wow, this is amazing,” Carmilla gasped when she saw the aftermath of the lightning. Many of the griffins and rhinoses got struck by lightning and died. At this rate, this might not even cause Brandenburg to fall, let alone go according to plan. Moreover, the one responsible for this was only a single human. She never expected that a human could be capable of such a thing.

“Hmm, despite his appearance, this black-haired human is amazing. I might even want him as my underling. Hm? Black hair? …Could it be?”

For an instant, Carmilla had a pointed look in her eyes. Then, she immediately closed them.

“Master, Master, I have an urgent matter to report.” Suddenly, Carmilla switched to a more mature manner of speaking, unlike her usual childlike tone of voice and mannerisms. “The griffins’ invasion of Weichsel has failed, during which I noticed something interesting. A black-haired boy showed strength which no human should be in possession of. Perhaps he is a human of ‘the other world’?”

There was a brief silence. In that time, the second lightning storm was unleashed. As Carmilla slowly opened her eyes and looked into the crystal, the black-haired boy which it had displayed suddenly disappeared. Carmilla grinned. If anyone could see her current expression, their heart would be frozen by her cruel smile.

“I knew it. …Fooound you.”

***

Six days have passed since the monster army invaded Brandenburg. It can be said that those six days shook the Weichsel Empire more than any other time in history. When they received a report through express dragonmail that an army of large monsters destroyed Fort Eisenstadt, the imperial court was left shaken.

Upon receiving this report, Emperor Wilhelm III, Wilhelm Viktor von Weichsel, called upon the lords to assemble an army to slay the monsters. Predicting that Brandenburg would be abandoned due to being hopelessly outmatched, he was just about to send soldiers and supplies to a city further south to build a line of defense. However, just as the preparations were being made, he received another report by express dragonmail, and the imperial court fell silent, shocked in a different sense this time.

“The army of monsters that attacked Brandenburg has been repelled entirely.”

When this follow-up report was delivered, Viktor even forgave the knight who brought the report for accidentally addressing him directly and asked for further explanation. He dispatched an advance team and confirmed that, although the damage was great, it’s all true. Once again, the imperial court is enveloped in a whirlpool of astonishment.

“It’s astonishing how organized the monsters’ actions are, but an air raid with griffins? They did well to make it through that with 1500 survivors. It can only be called a miracle,” Viktor exclaims in admiration as he reads the record of the battle as reported by the survivors who just barely avoided death. Of the 2500 soldiers, adventurers, and volunteers in total who remained in Brandenburg to fight the army of 2000 large monsters, there were only 1000 casualties. In a battle where not even half of the hastily assembled army were regular soldiers and anything other than total annihilation was unthinkable, 1500 people survived. It truly must be called a miracle.

“Indeed. But, ‘The Miracle of Brandenburg’?”

“The nobles who fled in the face of the enemy were desperate to divert people’s attention. Well, nobody could have predicted that they would be repelled. It wouldn’t be fair to condemn them for it. Besides, it seems that the people are fond of the story. After all, there is one who accomplished a great feat.”

“The daughter of the Zavarish family?” an elderly servant, Otto, replies, narrowing his eyes as if looking at something dazzling.

Marie Alexia von Zavarish, the second daughter of the noble house of Count Zavarish who was present in Brandenburg. It is said that a girl of only 13 stood in righteous indignation without abandoning her people, and the sight of her boldly fighting alongside her servant and defeating the enemy on that gruesome battlefield was worthy of being called that of a war goddess. This girl made heavy use of support and attack spells unknown even to the empire which should be advanced in magic, raising the soldiers’ morale and fighting to the bitter end until she fainted. Her strikingly lovely image is truly that of an ideal noble who guides and protects her people, an image anyone would be deeply moved by as long as they aren’t a heartless person. In fact, even for Otto, who set his staff aside to enter the imperial court long ago, just imagining such a scene gets his blood pumping.

“‘The Saint of Weichsel’ – the saint who received the blessing of the gods, is it? She’s even being exalted by the priests. They say they saw her at a temple in Brandenburg receiving a divine revelation in a pillar of light.”

“It seems there were many witnesses. To think that she’s received the blessing of the gods. The power of the gods truly is tremendous.”

“The lightning of the gods, huh. To be honest, I find it unbelievable that lightning would strike in such a convenient manner. The saint used unknown spells, did she not? Surely this couldn’t be another one of the saint’s spells?”

“It can’t be. If she had used such a powerful spell at the start of the battle, she could have gained the advantage. At the very least, I can’t imagine that the saint could use such a spell.”

“Well, only the gods know the truth. That aside, I’d heard that the daughter of Zavarish was a failing student, but is that not the case? Or did she change due to the blessing of the gods?”

“I looked into it, and it seems that she excelled in the classroom, but when it came to practical skills, she did poorly. I also heard that she didn’t even attend classes regularly due to being ostracized by other noble children as well as teachers. However, it seems that recently, her talent has blossomed after participating in extracurricular lessons. Although it’s a prestigious magic academy, it’s truly sad to hear.”

Upon hearing these words, Viktor’s eyes widen.

“Damned nobles! The incompetent should stay out of the way rather than hold other people back with their incompetence! Honestly, it’s one headache after another. My hands are full enough as it is with the reconstruction of Brandenburg and Eisenstadt.”

Eisenstadt is no longer able to fulfill its function as a fort and needs to be rebuilt for the sake of defence, and since large monsters were allowed to invade Brandenburg, the damage to buildings was immense. Reconstruction of each will take time and money. Especially since the monsters advanced from Commune, this needed to be dealt with urgently.

“Please excuse me! Your Majesty, there is a matter of great importance!” a messenger rushes into the office.

“What is it? Have the monsters made another move?”

“No, it’s regarding the delegation sent to Commune!”

One of the primary factors that caused great damage in this incident was the fact that they advanced from Commune where there was already a road prepared. Since a pack of 2000 monsters came from Commune, Commune itself surely wouldn’t miss it. In that case, why did Commune allow the monsters’ advance, and why have they not sent even a word of contact to the empire yet? It was due to these issues that a delegation of censure was sent to the capital of the Allied Commune, Clermont. Depending on the Allied Commune’s response, the empire won’t be able to agree to an alliance with them and the Castal Kingdom. They need a response urgently.

“They haven’t yet arrived in Clermont, have they?”

“The delegation was attacked by Commune soldiers, and all except for a few survivors were killed!”

“What?!”

“But, that would mean Commune has…!”

It was unthinkable that Commune, which they’ve been in a friendly relationship with in recent years, would suddenly attack them without a word. In the first place, the Allied Commune’s military is slightly inferior to the empire’s, so destroying that relationship would only put Commune, which lies between two powerful countries, at a disadvantage.

“The Commune soldiers also used monsters to pursue!”

“That’s absurd! They’re controlling monsters?! …Could it be that the monster army was also a part of Commune’s plan?!”

They don’t know how Commune was able to control the monsters. However, it would explain the mystery of why Commune overlooked the monsters’ attack. It wasn’t that they overlooked it. Commune launched the attack on Weichsel.

Viktor’s eyes light up. This is because another thought arose at the same time as his rage at the humiliation of being outwitted by Commune.

Viktor is not an incompetent emperor. Although he is brilliant even compared to the emperors of the past, he hasn’t been able to demonstrate his brilliance. This is because the empire is a powerful nation. In recent years, the monsters’ growth has been troubling, but as long as the country remains powerful and continues its friendly relationships with neighboring countries, he can just maintain the status quo and let the next emperor take over. Even a mediocre emperor would be more than capable of that much, so it wasn’t a situation where he could demonstrate more ability than necessary. Therefore, he was somewhat unsatisfied, spending his days in boredom and apathy, and until now, he thought this would most likely continue for the rest of his life.

However, if that peace is disrupted… The Allied Commune’s actions are clearly a surprise attack on the empire without a declaration of war. It is an act of aggression with no just cause that would be criticized by every nation.

In other words, the just cause lies entirely with the empire.

“Otto, send a declaration to each country immediately.”

“What should the declaration say?”

“The Allied Commune has sided with the monsters and invaded our land. They are now the enemies of humanity.”

The emperor of the Weichsel Empire was once unable to invade the Allied Commune. This was because of the existence of the powerful Castal Kingdom. If they attacked Commune and a kingdom with about the same level of military power allied with them, even the empire would likely be driven back.

However, now they can take possession of Commune with the just cause of freeing them from the monsters. Moreover, in a way that Castal can’t make a move on the empire! Wilhelm III alone can obtain glory unlike any emperor in history!

“Humanity will never surrender our land to the monsters! Therefore, our nation will rise against them! This is by no means a vulgar act of aggression!”

They also have the nonstandard military power of the saint on their side. They have a good chance of victory. How fortuitous, Viktor chuckles to himself.

“This is a holy war,” Viktor says, his eyes keenly shining with the light of ambition.