“That was easier than I thought.”
“Look at how much we’ve prepared. Of course it’s easy.”
East, headquarters of the Medium and Small Guild Alliance.
At this very moment, the Guild Masters gathered in the operation center were discussing the next plan, as news of castle sieges trickled in.
It had been 3 hours since the Siege War began.
They had taken control of the eastern region much quicker than planned, making further incursions into areas outside of the East inevitable.
The leader of the Medium and Small Guilds, Rai, was grinning while looking at the gigantic occupation status map displayed on one side of the conference room.
“Good, good… Everyone is pulling their weight.”
“There’s still plenty of time, right? We have 6 hours left.”
“Fufufu. This is the power of me and our guild.”
“…It’s slower than I expected.”
“Huh? This is pretty fast, right, Bihon?”
“I’ll give you that. It’s definitely faster than planned.”
The total duration of the siege was 9 hours.
To have completely dominated the eastern region in just 3 hours was an impressive achievement.
Finishing 2 hours ahead of schedule guaranteed that, as long as they protected the castles they had taken, they could reap a substantial reward and even aim for victory.
However.
“What’s the next destination?”
“Please let us know. We need to increase our kill count. Quickly.”
“We must win. Absolutely.”
“The Black Sword has already set off, you know? If you don’t tell us, I’ll kill you first, Rai.”
“Ha ha ha ha.”
The Guild Masters, filled with greed, were not satisfied with merely this much land.
Though they had acquired a lot of land, in the end, it was still a ‘Guild Alliance.’
With many members working together, the pie was small.
Rai waved his hand lightly to calm them down, “Whoa, whoa.”
Zoom!
Red-colored directional points appeared on the map drawn on the board.
“As I said before, there are three directions.”
“Hmm.”
“Lily, the Empire, and those southerners. The easiest one is definitely the south…”
“South!!!”
“Looks like we’ll head south.”
“Let’s go!”
Some of the more impatient Guild Masters bolted out of the conference room as soon as they heard “south.”
Their enthusiasm was a bit much, but the Medium and Small Guild Alliance operated fairly horizontally.
Time was still ticking away, and the more territories they conquered, the bigger the pie would get, so there was no reason to hesitate.
Rai couldn’t help but chuckle as he looked at the five Guild Masters that remained.
“This is what I like. This is how our alliance should be.”
“……”
“Hurry up and go. Seize the island for us.”
“Okay!”
“Got it!”
“By the way, after the south, don’t regroup and head west. Leave the beehives alone.”
“By the way, after going south, don’t regroup and head west. Don’t touch the beehives.”
“Understood!”
“Right, right, hurry up and go… Ah! Ayane, you stay for a moment.”
“…?”
The two users who showed the most activity in the Eastern Siege War.
Between the Black Sword and Ayane, Ayane was just about to leave for the south while hugging her doll.
Originally, she should have headed straight south like the Black Sword, but Ayane had returned after Rai’s call.
Ayane sat back down in the chair.
“Why?”
“I thought about it. Pushing south theoretically makes sense. The center is the Empire, and above is Lily, so the only place to go is south.”
“…Right? Unless we’re not going across by airship or boat.”
Though they hadn’t taken over the Magic Engineering Guild yet, obtaining an airship wasn’t that difficult.
It wouldn’t be a problem to bypass a castle since it’s not necessary to connect it with the existing territory.
However, in the middle of a siege, there are constraints on space movement, so unless one has the ability for long-distance travel, such occupations would be difficult.
“There’s Yena’s guild in the south. Most of it is Yena’s territory, so even if we take the south, we won’t get much. The Empire is also positioned somewhat.”
“It’s better not to touch the beehives. We can’t afford to end up like the Empire.”
“But… I just got a brilliant idea! Maybe you can do it!”
“…?”
“If we assume we won’t touch Yena and we won’t touch the Empire since it’s a beehive…”
Pop! Rai pulled out a red pen and drew a very long line on the map.
Starting from the east, it went down smoothly to the south, then made its way back up to the west.
In this case, it would mean not even devouring 50% of the south.
As Ayane was about to say what a waste of time this was, Rai began drawing a new line.
This line wasn’t directed downwards.
“…Huh?”
It was heading ‘upwards.’
“You plan to hit Lily? You’ve got guts!”
“Hehe.”
“Are you crazy? Am I really going to hit Lily? If you’re going to talk like this, I’m out. It’s a waste of time.”
“No, that’s not it.”
“…? Isn’t that what hitting means?”
“Watch closely.”
Rai’s line seemed to be roughly heading towards Lily’s Elbrite, but then it gradually slowed down and transformed into a dotted line.
And as it passed Elbrite, it started heading endlessly upwards again.
Ayane seemed to finally catch on, her eyes widening.
“Though the entrance route is blocked by Elbrite to the north, if you think about it the other way, once we pass Elbrite, there will be plenty of delicious land!”
“The Outer Castle of Elbrite is to the north, blocking our advancement route, but if we think about it the other way, passing through Elbrite means there’s a land full of deliciousness waiting for us, right?”
“Are we aiming to take down the Eden Federation?”
“They won’t come anyway since they’re busy clearing quests. Since we’re going big, we shouldn’t touch the seven main bases. They won’t resist much.”
“…Lily would let us through easily, though?”
“She might allow us to pass just a little.”
“……”
Ayane pressed her forehead in contemplation.
She had seen Lily once.
Before the Rookie Alliance collapsed, she witnessed the overwhelming might during the demon raid.
‘I can’t win against her.’
Since she was not an opponent with whom ‘fighting’ could take place, they had to avoid her at all costs.
“Can’t we find a way around? Like, going to the sea…?”
“The northeastern port is all under Lily’s jurisdiction. The sky’s the same. It would take too long to detour completely.”
“…What about the teleportation portal?”
“Will it even open? It always closes when the siege war starts due to spatial instability and whatnot.”
“……”
“Think about it carefully. Even now, the Black Sword and the others are taking over the south. It’s an easy march now, but heading west will be challenging. They’re pretty strong over there too.”
“……”
“But if we can just overcome the ‘mountain’ that is Lily, the north will be an easy breach without bloodshed. Don’t you see? We could gain the upper hand in the competition against the Black Sword!”
“It’s ridiculous to call us while saying we shouldn’t go… what the.”
Ayane let out a sigh.
As much as she wanted to smack the Alliance Leader for making such an absurd proposal, the die was cast, and they had to manage it now.
Since so much time had been wasted, it was true that they were falling behind the Black Sword.
They had to take a risk.
Clang!
“Why me of all people?”
“All the other guys are completely out of it. You’re the only one who’s somewhat normal, so you can carry out this operation.”
“The most abnormal one is saying that.”
“Hehehe.”
“…If Lily attacks us, I’m not taking the blame.”
“Then quit the guild.”
“What… fine. Whatever.”
■
“…This is the entrance to Elbrite.”
3 hours and 31 minutes into the siege war.
Ayane, donning a thick robe to disguise her identity, secretly blended into the queue for entering the Outer Castle of Elbrite.
“Step step! Come in slowly!”
“Is it particularly noisy today?”
“Mom! Where’s Mom?”
“I want to get in fast~”
A long line of NPCs stretched out.
The broadcasting system of the siege war only highlighted the castle that was declared war on and the users invading it.
Currently, the Elbrite where Ayane is located has neither been declared war upon nor has any intention to invade, so it wasn’t broadcasted.
“Tsk. Normally, I would quickly move using the portal.”
Ayane looked up at the sky, feeling dejected by the reality that she could not do that.
Wuuung…
A sky that was perfectly clear.
Ordinary NPCs probably didn’t notice, but it was vividly clear to Ayane.
“I was thinking of flying with the butterfly wing doll I made last time…”
Dozens of layers of magical shields filled the sky.
That shield, with its incomprehensible structure and daunting power, strictly prohibited Ayane from flying.
If she were to fly up there without permission, she’d surely be turned into a crispy deep-fried Ayane.
“Going back would be safe, but it would take too long… Yet, if I use my abilities to break through, I’d definitely attract attention.”
In the end, to move quickly, she would have to cross through Elbrite itself.
And that line was very long to just stand in.
Creeeak-!
“Hmm?”
“Now then~ please show your ID… Hm? Is that a daughter next to you? I don’t think she was there a moment ago.”
“……”
“Excuse me?”
“…Ah, that’s right. She’s my precious daughter. I was just taking a quick restroom break. Say hello.”
“Ah, hello…”
“Haha~ You have an adorable daughter.”
“Thank you.”
You may pass~
The cute girl, tightly holding the doll, and her father passed through Elbrite’s outer fortress.
For some reason, the father’s eyes seemed a bit dazed, but the guard soldiers at the outer fortress didn’t notice.
About three minutes passed.
“Uh, huh? When did I pass through? How strange…”
The man regained his senses and scratched his head as he walked off into some street of the outer fortress.
And the girl, Ayane, who quietly watched that, exhaled softly and moved her steps.
“Step one cleared…”
She still had a long way to go.
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