"......"
Laura covered her mouth with her palm. She fell silent for a moment.
"......Can you assess how much damage the Demon Lord's Castle has sustained?"
"A powerful anti-magic field has been deployed across the entire castle. I've already dispatched messengers toward the Custos territory. A report should arrive within half a watch."
She couldn't gauge the situation immediately. She had no way of knowing how dire the crisis facing the Demon Lord's Castle truly was. It could have been nothing more than a minor raid, or it could have been a full-scale assault.
Laura swallowed hard.
"Every second may count......"
"Yes. In my judgment, this is an enormous problem."
Laura nodded. She agreed. Their liege lord—ranked first among Dantalion's Demon Lord's army—was currently unconscious. Second in rank, Lapis Lazuli the Minister of State Affairs, happened to be at the Demon Lord's Castle when the attack occurred. That left her, ranked third, with no choice but to make the decision.
And so Laura said:
"......We wait until the scouting report comes in."
She could not make a judgment beyond the role she had been given.
Ivar gazed at Laura with concern.
"Are you sure about this? Minister of State Affairs Lazuli may be in danger. If anything should happen to her, His Grace Dantalion will surely fly into a rage."
"Our Demon Lord's Castle is impregnable. It cannot fall so easily."
Laura narrowed her eyes.
"This is likely a stratagem of the Republic's Consul. The Republic is retreating in defeat on the battlefield. At this precise moment, if our attention is diverted elsewhere, the enemy can escape virtually unscathed."
"A planned assault by the enemy......"
"That is highly probable."
Why this particular moment?
If the intent from the start had been to split their forces, the attack should have happened yesterday, not today. Yet the Republic had struck at exactly the moment their main force was routed. Laura found the enemy's intentions deeply suspicious.
"In times like this, you think in reverse."
"In reverse?"
"You shouldn't ask why they targeted a moment like this. You should ask why they could only target a moment like this. That is the right question."
Laura murmured softly. Rather than explaining to Ivar, it felt more like she was working through her own reasoning aloud.
"If the enemy had a strike force powerful enough to destroy the Demon Lord's Castle, they would have ordered the attack during the heat of battle. Our forces would have been thrown into terrible confusion, and they could have especially pressured the lord psychologically. If the enemy had a strike force that could adequately threaten the Castle, they would have launched the attack just before the battle began......"
But the Republic had chosen neither option.
Which meant, Laura said:
"The enemy doesn't actually have a strike force that can threaten the Demon Lord's Castle. They can only pretend to launch one. They can probably disrupt communication magic and block teleportation magic at most—nothing more."
"I see."
"There is no actual attack or anything of the sort. The enemy's true goal is to plant the illusion that an attack has occurred, so they can retreat a little more easily."
Ivar nodded. His expression suggested he was convinced.
"So no reinforcements will be sent to the Demon Lord's Castle. That is your decision."
"Yes. There is a possibility that my judgment is wrong, but I cannot cross a dangerous bridge while commanding a large army. For now, let's wait for the scouts you dispatched to return."
"Understood."
Ivar bowed deeply and entered the tent.
Laura was about to follow him in when she suddenly stopped. Ever since earlier, a strange sense of unease had been tickling her spine. She couldn't identify its source, which only deepened her discomfort.
'Might I have made a mistake in my reasoning?'
Laura stood at the entrance to the tent and carefully retraced her logic.
'The Consul was judged by their lord to be the finest military mind on the continent. When it came to reading people, their lord had never been wrong. Then would a Consul truly that brilliant simply use a strike force as a disposable pawn......a disposable pawn......I see.'
Laura lightly bit her lip.
'If the Consul won this battle, the strike force would become completely useless. There would no longer be any need to pin us down. In other words, the Consul prepared in advance a measure that would only be effective in the event of defeat......that's irrational!'
Only then did the unease seem to ease, if only slightly.
That was right. To deploy anti-magic across the entire Demon Lord's Castle would require a substantial force of mages. If they had that many mages, it would have been far wiser to deploy them in the battle that had just taken place. With that magical firepower, Elisabeth might have won the victory.
And yet they had sent a mage unit to the Demon Lord's Castle, even at the cost of accepting defeat?
Moreover, for a purpose that would only be effective if they themselves lost?
'Then it means the Consul deliberately aimed for defeat—gaining nothing from the defeat itself. Impossible! They couldn't have done something so foolish.'
Laura covered her forehead with her palm.
'But then, what on earth was it all for......'
Time passed with agonizing slowness. Laura simply couldn't bring herself to enter the tent. Consul Elisabeth's actions were completely incomprehensible. And Laura was not the type to linger on a battlefield with unanswered questions.
'From the very start, they were aiming to retreat. Is that even possible......?'
Laura turned sharply toward her adjutants.
The adjutants noticed that their far superior officer was in a foul mood. No profession made one more attuned to a superior's mood than the military—especially when that superior was not just any officer, but the supreme commander and the Emperor's acting general.
"Everyone. There is something I need checked immediately."
"Whatever you need, Your Grace."
The adjutants saluted in unison. Their form was impeccable.
"Check whether the enemy has stationed a large number of supply wagons in the rear."
"Yes, Your Grace! I'll relay the order at once."
"Good."
If there was even a chance that the Republic's Consul had deliberately aimed for defeat—though Laura still couldn't fathom why they would want to lose—they would have deployed supply wagons in the rear.
To mercenaries, supply wagons were the most tempting plunder. No matter how enthusiastically they chased the enemy, upon discovering supply wagons along the way, they would naturally halt the pursuit and raid the wagons. That was only natural. Killing five or six nameless foot soldiers couldn't compare to looting a single wagon.
'This location is extremely close to Munich. There would be no reason or need to mobilize more supply wagons than necessary. And yet, if a large number of supply wagons had been deployed......it would mean they were brought in solely to block our army's pursuit.'
Laura waited for the adjutants' reports.
After a short while, the adjutants finished their communications through the crystal orbs. They spoke to Laura.
"Your Grace. The cavalry on the left flank reports that they found no supply wagons ahead."
"The right flank is the same. The right flank cavalry hasn't finished reorganizing and hasn't entered the pursuit yet."
"Our forces in the center found supply wagons, but they report the number is not significant. It appears that a large-scale deployment of supply wagons has not been detected by our forces."
"......"
Laura let out a small groan. Her reasoning had plunged back into a maze.
That was when Ivar emerged from the tent. He was clutching a communication crystal orb in his arms, his steps hurried and his expression grim. Seeing his face, Laura's heart sank.
'No. That can't be right. There's no way.'
Laura furrowed her brow involuntarily and approached Ivar.
"Has the report come in?"
"Yes, Minister of Military Affairs. The situation is serious. They say the Demon Lord's Castle has been experiencing continuous vibrations and noise at regular intervals."
"Vibrations and noise?"
"The messengers have only scouted from a distance, so we're not certain, but it seems likely that some kind of explosions are going off inside the Demon Lord's Castle."
"That can't be......!"
A chill ran down Laura's spine.
Explosions were almost certainly the mark of battle. An image of the enemy's strike force having breached the castle and unleashing magic flashed through her mind in an instant. The Demon Lord's Castle's secret passages were guarded by elite soldiers as tightly as a fortress. But what if, through some scheme, the defensive line had been broken?
'Lapis has no talent for commanding troops!'
The problem was that Lapis Lazuli's sense of responsibility was beyond imagination.
No matter what happened, Lapis Lazuli would never tolerate the Demon Lord's Castle being trampled under the enemy's boots. Even if the enemy came charging with overwhelming force—even if she had no means to stop them—Lapis Lazuli would never back down.
Because that was the home to which Dantalion would return.
A place that must never be violated by outsiders.
Laura gritted her teeth.
'Lapis can't die......!'
Laura was the only one who placed Lapis Lazuli above herself. Lapis Lazuli held greater meaning for their lord than she did. Laura sometimes felt bitter about her lord's favoritism, but such feelings didn't matter now.
"The situation has changed. Ivar. I will head to the Demon Lord's Castle immediately. You must stay by the lord's side and protect him."
"Understood, Minister of Military Affairs. I wish you good fortune."
"Yes. Good fortune to you too."
Laura urgently summoned the Royal Guard.
Dantalion's Royal Guard, led by the dwarf Zachary, was composed entirely of veteran mercenaries. She teleported with five hundred Royal Guards to the vicinity of the Demon Lord's Castle in a single bound. This alone consumed a tremendous amount of gold in magic scrolls.
"From this moment, we march at full speed toward the Demon Lord's Castle!"
"Yes, General!"
The Royal Guard thundered their response. They called her General instead of Your Grace. This was a privilege implicitly granted to them alone—it meant they would address only Demon Lord Dantalion as Your Grace.
All members of the Royal Guard had mastered riding magic, so they advanced rapidly. Sweeping around the outskirts of the Custos territory, the Royal Guard arrived at the Demon Lord's Castle. And without anyone saying a word, they reined in their mounts almost simultaneously.
"What in the world......"
Laura stared in disbelief at the scene before her.
The Demon Lord's Castle, once a majestic sight, was shaking violently as a whole. It was as though a minor earthquake had struck. Demonkin who had lived inside the castle came pouring out, screaming. In their frantic rush to flee, countless Demonkin stumbled and were crushed to death.
Absolute chaos unfolded before them.
Could it be that the pillars supporting each floor of the Demon Lord's Castle had been damaged? Those were structures that would be virtually impossible to damage without intimate knowledge of the castle's internal layout—unless there was a highly skilled spy on the inside.
Laura bit down hard on her lip.
"......We'll take another entrance!"
Charging into that pandemonium with hundreds of Royal Guards was impossible. Laura decided to use the secret passage regardless of the risk. Before long, they arrived at the secret passage hidden along the riverbank.
Fortunately, the passage was still intact. At least on the surface, there were no signs of trouble. Yet as Laura gazed into the black, well-like shaft stretching out before her, she felt an almost unbearable sense of dread.
"General."
Zachary, captain of the Royal Guard, quietly called out to Laura. His voice urged her to decide.
Laura steeled her resolve. She could not stand by while the Minister of State Affairs was in danger. Laura raised her voice and shouted.
"We're going in!"