Some still didn’t believe it.
“Is there really a spell that can turn an entire castle into a pile of charcoal?”
Even if such a thing could be done, they angrily argued that there’s no way it could be cast in just half a day.
“Yeah! Even if that’s all true! But would the suppression army really use it? The saintess is in there!”
They articulated their arguments rationally, insisting that the spell could not possibly activate.
“Ah…”
“Um…”
But the moment the spell finally became visible…
When the purple light began to ominously glow above their heads…
Their reason and logic melted away like *sizzle*.
“Damn it! We need to escape!”
Even the remaining Southern Republic troops soon attempted to flee through the backdoor.
From the moment they saw that, thoughts of running away dominated their minds.
Perhaps the deployment of the saintess was a bait to deceive us.
Or they rationalized their decision by thinking that the suppression army was cornered enough to use such brutal tactics.
For now, there was no choice but to run.
“What about the saintess and the civilians?!”
“We were ordered to leave them! We’ll only take ourselves out!”
“……!”
Everyone was shocked into silence.
Yet no one raised an objection.
Civilians, including the saintess, were not meant to survive in the castle.
They all had to become targets of the suppression army’s cruel massacre.
Not a single person could be left who had noticed the Southern Republic army’s evacuation.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the 4th Castle, I have an announcement. After analyzing the massive spell floating in the sky, we have determined it is not an offensive spell. The 4th Castle is safe. So please rest assured and carry on with your daily lives…”
A broadcast using a communication artifact started to flow out.
But the announcement kept repeating the same words.
“The 4th Castle is safe. So please rest assured and carry on with your daily lives. To the residents of the 4th Castle…”
The communication room was already empty.
The communication artifact continued to play the recorded message.
The backdoor was tightly closed, and all military units were already far from the 4th Castle.
Yet the residents of the 4th Castle still firmly believed that broadcast, packing their escape gear only to unpack it again.
*Kugugugugu…!*
Now they could feel the heat radiating from the spell.
Though it was summer, this was far beyond just hot.
Looking up, they could see a massive red shape descending.
“Ah…!”
Only then did the residents realize.
It was not a red circle.
It was not a painting in the sky.
It was a sphere.
A blazing red fireball.
Everyone lifted their gazes blankly, sensing they were doomed.
“Huh? Over there!”
At that moment, a child pointed foolishly in another direction.
“Why is the flag being lowered?”
“……?”
People’s heads turned spontaneously.
The gate of the 4th Castle.
The flagpole, which was like the signboard of the 4th Castle, was lowering the flag of the Southern Republic.
As everyone stood there, dumbfounded, trying to grasp what had happened…
“Wait! A fireball?!”
The spell began to engulf the fireball again.
The fireball, which had been slowly descending, began to rise again, hiding its shape.
In an instant, both the heat and the red sphere disappeared—
*Puh-WHAM…!*
A purple light exploded in the air, scattering everywhere.
And nothing remained.
Only the ever-clear sky.
The residents had a fleeting thought that perhaps all that had just happened was a dream.
*
*Thwack.*
With a snap of my fingers, the core part of the spell was destroyed.
The spell, having lost its core, could no longer maintain its form and simply crumbled away.
Given the size of the spell, its destruction was nothing short of beautiful.
‘A bit disappointing though.’
It was the magic that consumed the most mana since the lightning magic in Whist Forest.
If I said I didn’t want to see it explode, that would be a lie.
But below it were the residents, along with prisoners from the suppression army, and the saintess as well, so I had to dismantle it with tears in my eyes.
I wasn’t a psychopath; I couldn’t just let that burst.
“Move quickly! We need to take control of the gate first!”
But the job wasn’t finished yet.
Now I needed to neutralize the castle’s defense…
It felt almost too easy as things were going smoothly.
There truly wasn’t a single rebel left inside, only a weakly-armed castle guard remained.
“I-I surrender! I surrender!”
“I’m giving up!”
“……”
Of course, most of them were not even in combat positions.
When fully armed knights suddenly barged in, they must’ve freaked out.
The guards didn’t even think to put a finger on their sword handles and surrendered immediately.
Thinking about it, it was understandable; it was like an outdated local reserve soldier standing guard with an M16 rifle, suddenly facing an enemy tank from behind.
“The 4th Castle is safe. So please rest assured and…”
“Hah.”
A familiar-sounding broadcast continued rolling out.
Were they trying not to let the residents think about evacuating?
What a terrifying thought.
Still, I was grateful for it.
The 4th Castle was given a perfect opportunity to turn its back on the suppression army.
“You all hurry and raid the defensive facilities and take them over. Make sure the enemy can’t re-enter through the backdoor. And Schlus…”
“Hmm?”
“We need to go do the most important task.”
“……?”
Pelaine spoke to me seriously.
The most important task?
Honestly, I had no idea what it was.
What could be more urgent than quickly suppressing the castle’s defenses?
With such a small number as it was, could we really afford to have someone essential like Pelaine absent?
“Here you are, commander… Commander in Chief.”
“Good job. Hurry and go.”
“Yes.”
Taylor handed something wrapped in cloth to Pelaine and hurried off.
Ah, I think I get it now.
Pelaine gestured for me to follow and I nodded silently, trailing behind her.
“……”
“……”
In the silent bell tower, we sprinted up the endless circular staircase.
The sound of the wind was getting closer, meaning we were nearly there.
Finally, a wooden door that was half-open appeared.
When Pelaine swung it wide open and leaped out—
“Uwah!”
“Pelaine!”
Pelaine was going to roll down the steep tower.
Her center of gravity had already tilted outward.
Just as she was about to tumble backwards, I barely managed to grab her hand.
A moment more and I would have failed to rescue the future Empire’s finest sword…
“Ugh…”
Using both hands, I pulled Pelaine back with all my strength.
With armor and a longsword together, she was heavy beyond measure.
“Hehe! That was a close call!”
“……!”
In an instant, Pelaine, who leaped toward me, wrapped her arms around me tightly.
Let’s be clear; it was just that she had to hold on because she was pulled this way.
“It feels like a dream. I never thought we’d be able to retake the 4th Castle with this force.”
“Retaking it isn’t guaranteed yet, Pelaine. Even if we do, a rebellion could break out inside at any moment and we could lose it again. This is just the beginning.”
“You’re right. Shall we take that first step? I’ll go up and lower a rope. You just need to pull it.”
Before I could ask how long she’d been holding me, Pelaine suddenly turned around, picked up the cloth that had fallen, and poked her head outside the door.
It was an incredible height.
At least, I couldn’t see any higher structure around here.
While the bell tower was steep, it didn’t look impossible to climb if one took cautious steps.
Soon, Pelaine rolled the cloth and bit it, beginning to scale the tower’s wall.
“Whoa…”
Her speed was astounding.
Is she really a cat-human or what?
Having reached the top of the tower, at the flagpole, she was preparing to let down the rope.
“It’s ready! Pull it!”
“Got it!”
I pulled the rope with all my strength.
Until it wouldn’t budge anymore.
Before long, I could hear the sound of the cloth flapping in the wind from above.
After securing the rope to the back wall, I poked my head out the door.
The empire’s flag, the emblem of the suppression army.
A black eagle on a red background flew across the sky.
From outside the 4th Castle, it could likely be seen even from the 3rd Castle if one’s vision was good enough.
With this, we were declaring that the 4th Castle had fallen into the hands of the suppression army.
This signal would have also been visible to the carriage carrying the troops that followed behind.
By now, they must be safely moving in and equipping themselves with armor and weapons.
“Ugh! Coming down is a bit tough!”
“Trust me.”
“Whoa!”
Not that I meant for her to jump into my arms.
As if breaking in like a special forces unit rappelling through a window, Pelaine dove into me.
*Gah!*
I felt like I had just been hit by a charging elephant.
It was a moment where my breath was knocked out of me as I fell backward.
When my vision returned, I found Pelaine straddling me, grinning.
“I’m so sorry, Schlus. I’ve committed a terrible offense against you, the investor.”
“Well, now I need to dispose of all my shares starting tomorrow.”
“Aah! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean it! Please, just that!”
“I was joking.”
“Ah…”
She really was one who’d lived her life without recognizing a joke.
It was quite fun to tease her.
I steadied my breath, rising to my feet.
I felt a slight dent in my chest.
I hope there’s no permanent damage from this.
If there was, I would receive treatment from Iris.
“If you just want to raise morale, you could send someone else.”
“No, this is a task of carrying the empire’s flag and planting it in the heart of the enemy. I can’t just ask anyone to do it. If I entrusted it to someone else and it got damaged… Ugh. I can’t even imagine.”
“……”
Yeah. That was Pelaine.
She couldn’t not take on responsibility for everything.
Whether it succeeded or failed, as the leader of the order, she wanted to shoulder it all—stubbornly, I must say.
“Have you pulled me into carrying the sacred flag? If it were to get damaged, do you intend to share the blame equally with me?”
“No. Because I trust you, Schlus. Even if I made a mistake, I knew you would correct it. After all, you caught me just as I was about to fall.”
“……”
I thought I was joking.
But Pelaine responded earnestly.
She trusted me…
Much like how I trusted Iris, Pelaine seemed to trust me as well.
I never imagined I could be someone’s absolute trust.
It felt strangely warm.
Somewhat embarrassingly so.
“Let’s hurry. A fierce battle may erupt somewhere inside the castle right now.”
“You’re right. Let’s provide support swiftly.”
“……”
I wondered what kind of expression I had now.
Not wanting to show any discomfort, I turned and led the way down the stairs.
“Schlus.”
“……”
“You brushed it off last time, but I need to thank you.”
“……”
I offered no reply.
There was no grand reason behind it.
I was just too out of breath to find the words.
But I couldn’t just stop to converse in this urgent situation either.
Only monsters like Trie or Pelaine could chat so nonchalantly while rushing down the stairs like this.
“Everyone in the Holy Knights shares the same sentiment. Without you, Schlus, we absolutely would not have managed to hold on. We all respect you.”
“……”
Feels like they’re mistaken about who to respect.
I’ve just been holding on to shares purchased at dirt cheap prices since the time they were worthless, never selling, and simply giving them dividends.
From my perspective, there was hardly anything else that I invested.
“You’re our hero, Schlus.”
“……”
“You may want to deny it, but we really think so. Just keep that in mind…”
“……”
Pelaine’s voice trailed off at the end and then abruptly stopped.
After that, there was no further conversation between us.
We simply continued our descent down the endless staircase.
