Volume 6, Chapter 56 – Counteroffensive

“How far have they advanced?”

The King asked the messenger knight in a calm tone.

“Sir! It is believed they are currently engaged in battle at the Gaeribi Pass Fortress in the Vantour Mountain Range.”

The King placed a hand on his chin, humming as he appeared to be deep in thought.

“Alan, how long can the Gaeribi fortress hold out?”

“Under normal circumstances, even if they were to advance through such a narrow pass, I do not believe it would fall so easily, but…”

The King directed the question to Alan-san, Captain of the First Knight Order, but Alan-san spoke vaguely. At that point, Mathias-san, Captain of the Fourth Knight Order, answered.

“I suspect half a day; a full day if we are lucky. Their way of fighting is aberrant. They continue their assault without the slightest concern for attrition.”

“Hmph. Because they do not die, I presume.”

“Yes, sir. The only time we managed to repel them was during the retreat from Crieri.”

“If I recall, Holy Knight Hugues took the head of the enemy.”

“Yes. He charged in alone, and the enemy ceased their pursuit of our forces. While we have not confirmed it, we presume he slew the enemy commander.”

I see. So that’s what happened. We did something similar in Airoll, so it really isn’t something I can dismiss as someone else’s problem. More than anything, though, I can’t help worrying about Char.

I stole a glance at Char. She noticed my gaze and, after a brief moment of thought, gave me a small nod.

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“We should deploy as well. As Fiene says, if Purification Magic is effective while they are regenerating, then we should be able to fight them.”

“Then we’ll go too!”

“Fiene, you cannot. You are the only person in this Royal Capital who can utilize both Holy Magic and Enchant at such a high level. Your job is to enchant the knights’ swords with Purification Magic.”

“Ugh…”

As I stood there speechless at Char’s words, the King brought the discussion to a close.

“Very well. It is decided. The First Knight Order shall deploy and head for the Gaeribi Pass Fortress.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Lady Fiene, first, please enchant as many swords as possible with your Blessing.”

“Yes.”

“And Lady Charlotte, please assist the First Knight Order alongside the priests of the Temple.”

“Your Majesty, I understand.”

“Leave it to me.”

“The Fourth Knight Order shall prepare for the reclamation of the Madura Region. The remaining orders shall dispatch analysts to the First Knight Order and strive to record the combat.”

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“””Yes, sir!”””

And so, we became the group left behind, and Char headed for the battlefield once again.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Haa… I wonder if Char is okay?”

“Onee-sama, that’s the fourth time today already.”

When I murmured this, Lu-chan replied with a slightly exasperated look.

Even if she said that, it didn’t change the fact that I was worried, so it couldn’t be helped.

It had been two days since Char and the others departed, and I was currently busy enchanting swords in one of the castle’s rooms.

Sitting in a chair, I enchanted the swords placed on the table before me with Purification Magic.

Once I finished, the enchanted sword would be pulled off to the left and dropped into a basket, while a fresh sword slid in from the right to take its place before me.

I felt like I was working on a factory conveyor belt, placing dandelions on sashimi. ¹ It’s a meme about repetitive work that becomes monotonous in JP.

Well, I’ve never actually done that, nor did I know if such a job even existed.

As for everyone’s roles, Chris-san moved the swords in front of me, and Shizuku-san’s role was to put the enchanted swords into the basket.

Lu-chan’s job was to carry the basket away once it was full and bring back a fresh batch of swords.

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The three of them seemed to get bored doing the same task, so they swapped roles occasionally, but since there was no one to swap with me, I did the same thing the whole time.

“If they are the same as the Undying Beasts, there should be no problem. All of our nation’s regular knights are above Level 20. As long as they can be defeated, there is no way we’d lose to Imperial soldiers.”

Chris-san answered me earnestly.

“I suppose so. I hope Hugues-san is safe too…”

“Indeed. I would also like to cross swords with him once.”

Shizuku-san is really consistent in that regard. Regardless of the circumstances, she had originally been traveling to hone her skills, so she must truly love fighting.

“Onee-sama, let’s finish up quickly and go eat!”

We kept chatting as we worked until Lu-chan finally complained.

“She’s right, Lumia. Besides, Fiene-sama, the sooner we finish, the sooner you’ll be able to go as reinforcements for Charlotte-sama.”

“True! Alright, let’s hurry up and finish this.”

Suddenly motivated, I decided to pick up the pace to finish the enchanting—or so I thought.

A loud bell suddenly rang throughout the castle.

“What? An emergency!?”

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Chris-san spoke in surprise.

“Chris-dono, what is this bell for?”

“It is rung for emergencies, such as an enemy attack.”

“Enemy attack? Then what about Char—”

Just as I was about to press Chris-san for answers, the door to the room flew open and knights rushed into our workspace.

“Saint-sama, everyone, excuse the interruption. A horde of monsters appearing from the Western Forest has launched a surprise attack on the Royal Capital. It is dangerous, so please suspend your work immediately and evacuate!”

“Eh? We can fight too, you know?”

“B-but…”

“We’re more than capable of fighting. Besides, what exactly is the situation?”

“T-that is, well…”

“Then, I wish for you to take us to the commander.”

“U-understood!”

And so, we temporarily suspended our work and headed toward the commander.