When we returned, the fortress was in total chaos.
I heard that soldiers were packed onto the watchtower, watching the fight.
From piercing the formation with flashes of light to breaching and assaulting the rear, they were doing it all.
*Wooaah!!!*
*Ouch, my ears…*
I could have sworn there weren’t even a hundred people here.
The roar of what could easily be thousands of troops greeted us as we passed through the main gate.
It was a reaction beyond my expectations.
A monumental counterattack.
Confidence that they could still endure much more.
That’s all I wanted to instill in them, but the morale boost was beyond imagination.
“What’s the name of the magician who cast that flame magic?”
“Me? You’re asking about me? I’m Aintz von Wigen…”
*Woaaaah! Aintz!*
“Wait, you didn’t even let me finish…”
*Aintz! Aintz! Aintz!*
*Ugh, how embarrassing!*
The enthusiasm for Aintz was particularly overwhelming.
That spell that split the earth and vaporized cavalry must’ve seemed impressive.
The soldiers dragged the exhausted Aintz around, and before long, they were tossing him in the air.
*Aintz! Aintz! Aintz!*
*Hahaha! Yeah! That’s my name!*
He looked ridiculously happy.
Just a moment ago, he was complaining about how he couldn’t possibly kill someone.
He must have overcome some of his trauma.
Now only Erika remained.
“…”
Looking up, I spotted her silver hair swaying on the watchtower.
I wondered if she really needed to get used to killing.
“Stop making so much noise! We’ll be deploying again soon, so change out of those sweat-soaked clothes!”
“Yes, sir!”
I broke away from the noisy crowd and headed for the watchtower.
Climbing the ladder slowly, I found Erika nodding off on top.
I thought she’d be snoring.
“Ah… you’re back?”
“Yeah. I came back.”
“I saw. It was incredible. You faced an enemy with a dozen times your numbers…”
Surprisingly, she was still awake.
From the look in her eyes, it seemed like she was hanging on by a thread.
“Still working on that?”
“Yeah…”
I sat down next to her.
Then, I focused on the flow of mana, concentrating on the spell above the 4th Castle.
*Wow…*
I couldn’t help but be amazed.
No matter how you slice it, even a Majin would be shocked to see this.
There were dozens of spells linked together, forming one chaotic spell.
Not to mention its scale.
The design minimized the flow of magical power, arranged for maximum speed and minimal mana consumption.
If anyone were to design a spell with this kind of effect, it would require at least 500,000 mana.
But Erika pulled it off with merely 200,000.
It was a level of precision that was hard to believe for a first-year undergraduate.
“You should take a nap and then continue.”
“No way. I need to finish as early as possible.”
“We still have enough time. In fact, it’d be better if we delay a bit.”
“…?”
Gotta give time for the evacuation, after all.
But something struck me as odd; there was too little movement from the 4th Castle.
No matter how bad their magical forces were, with a spell that huge, they should’ve caught on quickly, right?
Could it be that they executed all the captured mage mercenaries?
But still, anyone with a college education among the bureaucrats should be able to figure this out quickly.
‘Don’t tell me they’re not evacuating?’
A chill ran down my spine.
The idea of lodging such a spell on a living castle was psycho-level crazy, but for them to know and just let it be…
Duke Lorraine. It might be worse than I imagined.
Despite the situation being desperate, he was willing to use any means, but I didn’t think it would be to this extent.
“But you never know what might happen. We might need to accelerate the timeline. So it’s better to finish it early.”
“If we keep working like this, an accident might happen. Do you think you can maintain peak concentration until you doze off?”
*Ugh… Alright. Schlus, you win. I’ll take a break.*
*Thud.*
Erika leaned against me, resting her head on my shoulder.
Startled by the sudden contact, I tried to pull away—
*Click…*
But Erika was already sleeping.
She seemed to have pushed herself close to her limits if she fell asleep right after trying to speak.
She didn’t even flinch when I poked her cheeks.
“Ugh, you little.”
*Hmm…*
I even pulled her cheeks.
She just sighed, showing no signs of waking up.
She must have been tired, so maybe I should stop teasing her and let her sleep.
“If only you’d keep your mouth shut; you’d be so pretty.”
From the way she slept, she truly looked like an angel.
This girl had been thinking I had made a pact with a demon all this time.
*Heh…*
That thought made me chuckle again.
What a silly girl.
I suspected she’d have some ridiculous misunderstanding about me, but I never expected such grand delusions.
In the original story, it took her ages before she cleared up her misunderstanding about Hertlocker.
Looks like I sped this up a bit.
In the first place, since the subject isn’t Hertlocker, it’s hard to make a direct comparison.
‘I wonder if she still has her delusions.’
She probably does.
Of course, Erika would still be a bit wary of me.
For good reason…
“Huh?”
At that moment, a certain setting from the original story popped into my head, and I turned in surprise.
Erika was still there, nestled on my shoulder, snoring away.
I knew Erika wouldn’t fall asleep in front of just anyone unless she trusted them deeply.
Moreover, we were outside.
For her to be napping here, she would need someone she considered family or more to be nearby…
‘Could it be?’
There’s no way she’d trust me this much already.
She must have simply been too exhausted to care.
I shook my head, dismissing the thought.
But Erika clearly looked uncomfortable sleeping upright.
I laid her down, letting her use my legs as a pillow.
That seemed to help stabilize her breathing a bit more.
*Woaaaah! Aintz-sama! Please show us that spell again!*
“That’ll be tomorrow! I’ll show you tomorrow!”
*Wooaah!!!*
“Didn’t you hear the Commander in Chief? Change and get ready! The festival can wait until the 4th Castle!”
“Yes, Commander… Vice Commander!”
But it was so raucous.
I wanted to catch some sleep too, but sleep just wouldn’t come.
*
“Thank you so much, Saintess! Thank you so much! We owe you our lives!”
*Hehe, it’s nothing.*
The subhuman repeatedly bowed in gratitude.
As he left, Iris managed a weary smile.
After that, the medical ward was completely empty.
That last subhuman was the final patient.
Having worked for over 24 hours and casting healing magic, Iris was nearly at the brink of mana exhaustion.
“Ugh… my back hurts.”
I wish someone would give me a back massage.
Should I go and ask?
What kind of reaction would I get?
Maybe they’d blush and tell me not to joke.
As I was mulling this over with a smirk—
“Ah.”
Iris remembered this was the 4th Castle.
That man wasn’t here.
As that thought crossed her mind, a wave of exhaustion washed over her.
Is the effect of mana exhaustion finally showing itself?
Yeah, it had to be.
“Ugh. I wish he’d hurry up and come.”
“…?”
I called out loudly, but Schlus didn’t come through the door.
If it were Schlus, he could easily use disguise magic to infiltrate the castle alone.
But there was no reason for him to do so.
There was no need for him to waste mana just to come see me.
“Ugh…”
This wasn’t the time for such thoughts.
Iris wobbled out of the medical ward on her trembling legs.
There were still many people left to treat.
All of today’s visitors were able to walk here.
There must be many more patients who could barely move.
There was still so much to do.
“*Hmm?*”
At that moment, she spotted a subhuman soldier rushing through the city, drenched in sweat, holding a scroll.
“Hey!”
“Who are you— Ah! Saintess! Thanks for your hard work!”
“It’s nothing. Is there something urgent going on?”
“N-no, nothing!”
“Then could you tell me about that spell above your head? Have you figured out what it is?”
“Ah! Oh! That? It’s just a test spell! Don’t worry, it’s safe!”
“…?”
He was sweating profusely while making excuses, then he turned and fled like he was trying to escape.
Watching him leave, Iris felt her expression stiffen.
By now, an evacuation order should have been issued.
The 4th Castle was too peaceful, almost suspiciously so.
In the meantime, the back gate was repeatedly opened and closed…
It seemed the military was pulling out while leaving the civilians behind.
‘Duke Lorraine… has lost his mind.’
Not even a note to the saintess.
His intentions were clear.
If the saintess were to burn and die under that spell, Lorraine would use it to label the suppression army as the embodiment of evil.
The situation was so filthy and disgusting that Iris felt like she was about to throw up.
Of course, the man who created such a situation was equally sinister…
‘Communication magic.’
Iris glanced around and unfolded her spell.
It was a transmission to the suppression army’s fortress.
‘No evacuation order. Only the military is leaving. The only ones remaining are the bare minimum of guards.’
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