By the time they realized, it was already too late.
The unit positioned to the rear had been annihilated.
To make matters worse, unexpected individuals had joined the fortress at the front, and the enemies inside numbered well over a thousand.
"What about Marina?!"
The commander roared, demanding answers from those around him, but no one had a grasp of the situation. Things had gone too smoothly, and they'd let their guard down.
By the time the commander himself realized he'd let his guard down, it was already too late.
He looked up at the fortress wall. The section above the central gate was slightly elevated. Standing there, on the left side, was a cold-looking woman with light blue hair dressed in white.
His subordinates who had placed ladders against the walls and attempted to climb had been frozen solid.
On the opposite side, adventurers from various parties were being burned by a woman with platinum-white hair.
Several days.
They had spent too much time on this fortress. It had taken three days from Lyle's departure to reach the location. From there, they'd launched their assault two days later, and within two more days, they'd taken two fortresses.
"Report that they've gone deep into the forest and—can't realistically be pursued by just two people—"
"When?! When did you report that to me?!"
The commander grabbed his subordinate by the collar. He knew it was unreasonable himself, but facing the current situation, he couldn't stay calm.
"Th-three days ago! At the time, you told us to let Marina do as she pleased—"
The commander flung his subordinate aside and fell deep into thought.
(If Marina had lost, the Kirin would have come for us by now. We could have hit it in a pincer. But they didn't do that? What does that mean?)
Even if a single Kirin attacked them head-on, they could still win—even if they took losses. It wouldn't be possible with just the mercenary band alone, but they had adventurers whose individual strength had been honed in the Dungeon.
The commander figured that pressing on with the current assault, and then having Marina deal with a battered Kirin afterward, wouldn't be a bad outcome.
But it was their companions, who should have been in the rear in tatters, who came to report that the rear formation had been destroyed.
And when they launched an offensive against the weakened fortress, what emerged was—
"You've got to be kidding me! Why are they here of all places?! They're supposed to be representatives of an entire nation!!"
The commander looked up at the wall. There, gazing down at them, stood Eliza and Gracia. Surrounding them were the flags of both nations, with knights and soldiers joining the fray as well.
He couldn't get an exact count, but judging from their deployment, there was no shortage of forces. Every magical attack they launched was blocked, and with fewer options they were starting to be pushed back—
—Novem was looking down at the enemy from atop the wall.
"It should be about time now. The Valkyries did a fine job."
Dispersing their forces.
It was a risky move, but Novem had executed it specifically to buy time. May had returned a few days ago and, whether from exhaustion or not, had stuffed herself with a massive meal before falling asleep.
The achievement of taking down Marina—a pivotal asset of the Eastern Branch—and bringing her back alive was enormous.
Because of that, no one around her asked anything more of May. Besides, May's job was done; all that remained was to keep an eye on Marina.
The Valkyries had bought time, forced the enemy to expend their equipment, stalled for two days across the two forts, and lulled the opposition into a false sense of security.
Now all that was left was to hold out at their true stronghold—the main base. By deflecting magical attacks while putting on the appearance of fatigue, they managed to buy yet another few days.
Monica, standing near Novem, spoke with a thoroughly unmotivated expression.
"...All I've been doing lately in the Dungeon is looking after knights and soldiers. I haven't been babysitting that Chicken, so what exactly am I supposed to be doing here..."
They had been asked to hole up inside the Dungeon, with Monica and the remaining Valkyries handling their care. It seemed the enemy had scouts with reconnaissance ability, since they had a solid understanding of the movements within the fortress.
However, it didn't appear they had confirmed what was going on inside the Dungeon.
Novem thought to herself.
(Well, I was worried about what methods they might use to scout, but it's a relief they didn't notice.)
The enemy had grown unsettled—there was no sign of them pressing the attack. The dozens who had charged in had been frozen solid and burned; they would have lost all will to fight.
The ones who had charged in were, by their own account, the elite. But even such elites fell before Eliza and Gracia.
"Clara, could you provide some light?"
At Novem's request, Clara, who was positioned below the wall, lit her staff. She then swung it wide, sending the light soaring up into the sky.
The light danced upward, split apart, and illuminated the surroundings. That was how they secured light inside the fortress nestled within the forest.
The scene around them became clearly visible. Mercenaries and adventurers were fleeing. Novem looked out over the forest and spoke.
"That judgment isn't wrong in itself, but... your mistake was obeying the Guild's orders and opposing Lord Rael. Did you honestly think we'd let you escape? No, I suppose some of you did."
Belonging to a massive organization centered in a place like Baim had a way of blinding people. Because they themselves wielded enormous power, they had placed blind trust in the Guild.
When Novem began to move, Eliza and Gracia walked over toward her.
"...Sorry, but about that matter we discussed."
Gracia, looking slightly embarrassed, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and sought confirmation from Novem. Novem replied with a smile.
"Yes, it's perfectly fine. Between the rescue and the harbor matter, I owe you quite a bit. I'll speak to Lord Rael on your behalf."
Elza, seeing Gracia's relief, grew anxious.
"What about me?!"
"I know. Lord Rael will have some free time before long, and when he does, I'll send you to the Four Nations Alliance. I'll keep your stays in Galleria and Rusworth on the longer side. I'll shorten Rolfis's accordingly."
Novem's treatment of Rolfis was notably harsh, but there were reasons. The princess had not given up on Rael, and those around her were working to close the gap by observing the situation in the Four Nations Alliance.
For Novem, a marriage between a princess who failed to meet House Walt's family creed and Rael was absolutely unacceptable.
"R-Really? Then I'll go ahead with that matter as discussed, but... are you sure about this? I can't imagine it turns out well for you."
At Eliza's words, Novem nodded. As for Monica, she sighed and climbed down from the wall to prepare to move on. She muttered the whole way down, grumbling things like "I want to see that Chicken. That's the only kind of treatment I ever get these days."
"There's no problem at all. After all, what matters is House Trace, where Fidel resides."
With that, Novem began to walk away —.
— In the forest.
Miranda was restraining the fleeing mercenaries and adventurers with her sticky threads.
Eva and Aria were moving together with her, and dozens of elves trailed behind Eva.
Faced with the men of the mercenary company who were desperately trying to escape, Miranda felt the threads extending from her right hand tugging.
"Caught again. Do they really think the way they came in is safe?"
She had placed traps along the path they used during their advance and lay in wait. Expecting them to try fleeing, she had set up other traps as well.
But since most of them retraced their steps, those other traps saw little use.
Eva brushed her hair aside.
"It'd be tough without elves, wouldn't it? With this kind of darkness, there's just no way."
The reason she had enlisted the elves' cooperation was to counter other elves. They were forest-dwelling elves whom Eva had negotiated with and recruited as allies. To be more precise, every single one of them had brown skin.
An elf who appeared young spoke to Eva in a voice that sounded aged.
"Daughter of Nihil. As promised, our young ones captured some elves. They were from the Eastern Branch, weren't they? They were all different, so we disposed of them."
Miranda turned to the elf—a dark elf—and asked.
"I thought fellow elves would get along better? Aren't elves supposed to have a strong sense of kinship?"
Eva scoffed.
"They lose to humans on that front."
The dark elf elder felt the same way.
"We'll cooperate if we need to. But if they're enemies, we kill them. Simple, right? We're not good at the complicated back-and-forths humans are fond of, but elves and dwarves will fight each other when the need arises. True, it happens far less frequently than among humans, but still."
When Aria heard the elder's words, she let out a sigh.
"That shatters the image. I thought elves got along better with each other. Bard elves always seem so friendly, too."
The elder smiled.
"In human society, you can't survive if you're always at each other's throat, right? We only do it because we have to."
Miranda accepted this but pressed for further confirmation.
"Don't kill any more humans from the Eastern Branch than you absolutely have to. Also, have someone ready to deliberately let the rest escape. And besides—"
The dark elf elder cut off Miranda's words.
"—Show them that only the Eastern Branch humans will be spared, then let them go, right? I understand. It's for the sake of getting our hands on our forest. I'll keep my promise. But if your side breaks your promise as well..."
It was not Miranda, but Eva who made the oath to the elder.
"On the name of the Nihil clan, I'll make sure the promise is kept on Lyriel's end. We will provide part of the forest as a settlement for the dark elves. However, we'll be expanding the current base, so it will be toward the back."
The elder nodded.
"That will do. We'd also prefer to keep our distance in our dealings with humans. Let us respect each other's rules."
There were elves who lived in the forest. Yet even among those who managed their own woodlands, there were clans who lost their forests to a dungeon rampage. Those displaced clans had been drifting in, seeking a different way of life, and that was how Eva had come to know them.
In an incident where a dungeon had rampaged in a neighboring country, they had lost the forest they called home. And Lyriel had written a blank check in order to bring them in.
She had offered to provide them with land that wasn't even her own.
Miranda knew this, but said nothing about it.
"If so, let's keep searching for another spot. Oh, those people over there—"
Before Miranda could give her orders, the dark elves had already cut down the mercenaries. Seeing them—desperate souls who had lost their place to live—Miranda thought to herself.
*(Is Lyriel really going to be all right? If she can't manage it, we'll have to find some other land somewhere... but in most cases, the good places are already occupied by elves, aren't they?)*
You could also say that the places were good precisely because elves were there. The elves were a people who managed their forests, after all.
With a touch of unease, Miranda hurried onward—
Near the base for the dungeon subjugation, there was a spot well suited for a port.
So rather than Baim, I had the ship moved toward that location instead...
"What the— is this a fleet?"
I turned around and saw ship after ship trailing behind the Vera Trace, making the whole thing look like an actual fleet. And honestly, that wasn't far off—some of them were proper warships armed with cannons. The Vera Trace itself carried cannons too, so you could practically call it a cutting-edge warship.
When I shifted my gaze back to the deck, where groups of people were climbing aboard small boats one after another to make their way ashore, Ludmilla draped a white coat over her shoulders and came up to link arms with me.
"You're quite the jack-of-all-trades, aren't you? You're support-class, sure, but looking at the results, you're the kind of person I'd kill to have on my side. Hey—once this job's done, come to Kartasf. I'll hold the ceremony right away and hand you the throne."
I averted my eyes and endured the feeling of Ludmilla's chest pressed against my arm.
"Ah, um... I'm from House Walt in Banseim, and I was actually expelled, so..."
When someone comes at you this aggressively, it's hard to know how to respond. A complaint voice came from inside the Jewel. It was the Third Generation.
"Why are you backing down?! We should be pressing the attack! She might just be putting on a tough front!"
But Mireia immediately shut that down.
"No, if you push this one, she'll bite right back. She's a wild animal—a wild animal! Lyle's first time is precious, and I want it to go to the Miranda I'm endorsing. So, Lyle... just sweep this under the rug and go back to hold Miranda."
The Fifth Generation was completely taken aback.
"You... were that kind of person? I mean, up until now—or rather, when you were alive—you were much more refined, weren't you?"
Mireia laughed.
"Hah? Why would I need to put on airs when Brother isn't around? Well, I couldn't exactly be my true self around Brother either, I'll admit. There was just something... endearing about how he'd try so hard and spin his wheels."
Still, from the Seventh Generation's perspective, a marriage between me and Ludmilla apparently seemed well-matched.
"Isn't that a good thing? She's the Queen of Kartasf, a great northern power. She's a perfect match for Lyle, who carries royal blood. In fact, in terms of status she's number one—she'd be the leading candidate for first wife, and—"
Inside the Jewel, a sound like a firecracker going off was heard, and it went quiet. I'd noticed this recently, but the exchanges between the Seventh Generation and Mireia were almost like skinship... No, maybe I was overthinking it.
"House Walt in Banseim, right? That's fine. Banseim is a formidable rival to Kartasf, and House Walt is one of its noblest families. Plus, we've never clashed directly. The fact that you were expelled is a bit troubling, but if that hadn't happened, you and I never would have met. You could call it fate—that doesn't sound so bad, does it? If you wanted, you could become king and ravage Banseim."
It wasn't like I intended to fight Banseim for revenge, but Kartasf's support was certainly something I needed.
As I was mulling things over, a voice called out from behind.
"Hey, I get that there's a lot going on, but could you maybe explain what's happening?"
I turned around and saw Erhard with a massive black greatsword slung across his back.
Behind him stood Erhard's party members. And alongside them, the female adventurers who had been part of Raluk's group.
"…I already explained, didn't I? The greatsword is a special bonus. I had no idea Raluk would step outside at that exact moment, so think of it as an apology. As for the ladies, while a full acquittal in Kartasf would be a stretch, there's enough room for leniency that Baim agreed to take them in."
Erhard shouted from across the ship.
"Then why do they have to join *our* party! Why not just let them go independent!"
I shook my head. Ludmilla must have figured she was getting in the way of the conversation, because she drifted away from me.
"There's a monitoring aspect to it, and they're clearly capable, so Erhard's party seemed like a good fit. Besides, the ladies themselves agreed to it."
The reason the women had chosen Erhard, apparently, was that they'd been freed from Raluk's control. And having witnessed the fight, they'd found something attractive in the stoic, no-nonsense way Erhard conducted himself as an adventurer — something different from Raluk.
So when they were invited to join Erhard's party, they'd been surprisingly eager to accept.
Truth be told, bolstering Erhard's combat strength was also a strategic move for the future. Whether it would actually pay off was anyone's guess, but the possibility was there. That's why I went through with it.
It had nothing to do with me not wanting to deal with the hassle. Absolutely nothing.
"I… I don't know what to do! Forming a party with girls… isn't that, like, super hard?!"
Erhard's honest feelings came pouring out. I placed a hand on his shoulder. He used to be desperate to recruit women into his party, but once he learned the reality of the situation, he'd shrunk back — and I decided to give him a boost.
I flashed a grin and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Hang in there. I've been wanting an adventurer friend who shares the same struggles."
At those words, Erhard lunged at me. He grabbed me by the collar and shook me violently back and forth, but nobody around us moved to intervene — they just watched and laughed.