Frizione’s army could be seen.
The report came in a few hours after Rei’s report on what had happened after he had left the camp. The autumn sun had set, covering the surroundings in pale darkness.
Frizione’s army was supposed to arrive several hours earlier, but they had been delayed by enemies lying in wait for them along the road.
Of course, Rei had attacked many of those units by dropping rocks on them and almost all those units had suffered casualties and were force to retreat.
However, even as they retreated, some units had set up small traps as a last resort, scattering the remains of carriages on the road to serve as obstacles and even shooting a few arrows at Frizione’s army to buy themselves some time.
Every time they encountered these groups, Frizione’s army had to halt their advance, resulting in them only reaching the rebel camp at this time.
That said, it could be considered fortunate timing.
The delay let the rebel army do some post battle cleanup, repairing damaged areas of the camp and clearing and debris that had been scattered through the camp, as well as cool the tension from after the battle.
Even for Frizione’s army, facing a tense army at this point in time may have led to unnecessary troubles.
And, since Frizione’s army had arrived, someone naturally needed to greet them. With that in mind, Mercurio, the leader of the rebel army, left the camp along with Theorem and others.
「Mercurio, I’m glad you’re safe. I heard that you being attacked with almost no army left, so I was worried.」
Frizione spoke with a happy smile.
Seeing his sister like that, Mercurio also smiled slightly as he replied.
「Same to you, Frizione. I hear you went through a lot of hardship after leaving the Imperial Capital. I’m glad you’re safe.」
The smile on Mercurio’s face was undoubtedly one of joy.
That said, it was still very different from the smile he had for Vihera.
If you were to ask if he were happy or not, he was definitely happy, but it wasn’t the kind of joy that filled his heart and soul.
Frizione knew how much Mercurio adored Vihera, so even though she noticed the difference in his attitude, she didn’t comment on it.
「More importantly, the enemy is Kabajid. It’s true that this situation was dangerous in many ways, but I don’t think he will give up so quietly.」
「I guess so. In the end, we managed to repel them, but we couldn’t pursue. And, Shurus is also on the other side, so it’s not surprising that their methods were so forceful.」
Even though they were only half siblings, they were still siblings and they reached the same conclusion after a brief exchange of words.
「In that case, it looks like we will have to wait a while before having a party to celebrate our reunion.」
「Vihera isn’t here either.」
「That’s true. Without sister here, we can’t celebrate.」
「……You haven’t changed.」
Mercurio took Frizione’s words, which had been intended as a joke, quite seriously. Frizione sighed with a smile.
To Mercurio, Vihera was sister.
Frizione was Frizione, but Vihera was sister.
「That’s true. It hasn’t even been a year since I escaped the castle after all. Anyway, I wanted to ask, did you see the punitive force retreating while you were coming this way?」
「No, I saw some units attack us as if to delay our march, but I didn’t see anyone who had attacked the camp. That’s actually what I wanted to ask about. If they’re not here anymore, Rei much have done his job in repelling them……」
「Yes, but it seems they didn’t use the highway to retreat……I wonder how they managed to retreat with so many people without being seen. Well, I can guess.」
Frizione glanced up……the sun had completely set and the night sky was starting to be enveloped in darkness as she muttered.
「Quantum Breath.」
「Yeah. B rank monster magic stones are a huge resource consumption, but if they keep the output low enough to just cover the punitive force in an illusion……」
「Even if they can’t move, they can hide themselves. They can’t eliminate sounds, but if they don’t make any loud noises, it won’t be a problem.」
「It would have been different if we had sent out a pursuit force, but as you can see, we didn’t have the time for that.」
There were bonfires all over the rebel camp right now.
The cleanup was still progressing under the light from the bonfires.
「If sister were here, we might have been able to manage a little better……」
「The blockades, right? Even if it seems suspicious, you can’t help but take action if you think they’re trying to starve you out.」
「Yeah. ……I think it should be fine.」
Frizione smiled lightly at Mercurio, who was worried about his sister, before speaking.
「More importantly, if things stay like this, my troops won’t be able to rest in the camp……would it be okay if I helped out?」
「I’d actually rather want the help. ……Theorem, please guide them, I don’t want any strange commotions.」
「Yes!」
「Angela, please.」
「But then, Princess Frizione’s guards……」
「It’s fine. In the first place, Mercurio is sending out his confidant, Theorem, so there still has to be people guarding him, right? Besides, in terms of guards, there’s no need to worry as long as Rei is here.」
All eyes turned to Rei as Frizione spoke.
The rebel army trusted Rei completely after what had happened in the battle just a few hours ago.
Frizione’s army also trusted Rei, having seen what he had done many times leading up to this point.
……However, unlike the rebel army, there were still some unfriendly eyes among Frizione’s army.
Seeing that, Mercurio was a little surprised, but quickly nodded in understanding.
Rei was someone with a strong personality, for better or worse.
There were many people who weren’t able to accept that.
「I understand. Well then, Theorem-dono, I look forward to working with you.」
「Thank you for your help, Commander Angela.」
「You don’t need to worry about that. From today on, we will be working together. Of course, this will also be our camp.」
With that, Frizione’s army and Mercurio’s rebel army entered the camp together.
The first joint task for the two armies was to clean up after the battle.
But, because they were on the same side, there was minimal rivalry between them. Instead, they talked about the battles they had experienced, creating a peaceful atmosphere in most places.
Needless to say, conversation about Rei and Set played a major role.
A common topic was more than enough to start conversations.
In contrast, a heavy atmosphere hung over the punitive force.
It was only natural. They had tried everything they could and acted only after determining they would definitely win.
Blockading the rebel camp required the rebel army to respond at all costs.
It might be one thing for the rebel leaders, but to the ordinary soldiers, running out of food would make them anxious and violent, which would in turn result in many small and large disputes within the rebel army.
In addition, merchants would have no choice but to leave the camp if the blockades continued.
Even if they saw the blockade a business opportunity, they would need to leave to buy food and supplies, and if they thought it was a waste of time, they would leave regardless.
As a result, the rebel army needed to lift the blockade, even if the circumstances surrounding it were strange.
They had gone to such lengths……they had really gone to such lengths for this attack, but in the end, it still ended in failure.
Naturally, all eyes turned to Pelfiel, who was in charge of the attack.
But despite the looks she received, Pelfiel continued to give orders to her subordinates without caring.
All her orders were given with their next steps in mind, such as checking their losses, the number of soldiers who had fled, reorganising units, checking the treatment of the injured, and counting their remaining supplies.
「What are you talking about? It’s true that our attack on the rebel army failed. But just because this attack failed doesn’t mean that Prince Kabajid and……」
She paused as she looked at the members of the Second Prince’s faction before continuing
「Prince Shurus have lost.」
「But, we mobilised a large port of soldiers we had available for the attack this time and we still failed.」
「I wouldn’t call it a failure. It’s true that we couldn’t defeat the rebels and had to retreat. But, it’s also true that this operation caused considerable damage to the rebels. In particular, much of their defensive fencing, a key part of their camp’s defence, were destroyed. There’s no doubt that they’ve lost a lot of their combat strength as well. In contrast, we still have a lot of soldiers remaining.」
「That is……」
Now that Pelfiel said that, her words were true.
But even if her words were true, it was still hard to accept the results of their situation.
Well, to be exact, they could accept the results if it were just themselves.
However, the soldiers were the important part of an army.
To tell those soldiers that today’s battle wasn’t really a loss or a win but a draw……would not be convincing.
Many of the soldiers who had participated in the battle now had a fear engraved into their minds.
Clad in Overlord’s Armour, Crimson had run wild, deflecting and smashing all attacks that came his way.
A sharp strike from the sky with his front claws would easily shatter a human head. His physical strength was enough to even keep Demon Soldiers at bay. Furthermore, anyone who heard his cry would freeze up in shock. It was a Griffon, an A rank monster.
There was no way most of the soldiers would be willing to fight such an opponent again.
……That said, judging from the fact that they seemed like they would be able to return to the battlefield in a few days, a week, or slightly longer, they still seemed to be doing much better than the Bestir Empire soldiers who had gone to the Selemus Plains during the Spring War.
「Won’t that make the soldiers useless?」
「……I suppose that’s certainly a problem. But……」
Pelfiel stopped speaking and her eyes widened as if she realised something.
She immediately reached for the sword at her waist……
「Stop it.」
At those words, she stopped moving.
Nothing had been done in particular, but Pelfiel had really stopped at those words.
Seeing Pelfiel like that, the people around here didn’t seem to understand what had happened.
Pelfiel took a deep breath, realising that the people around her really hadn’t understood what had happened.
She took a minute to catch her breath. She ignored the confused people around her as she spoke up.
「Why……are you here?」
「Kabajid asked me to. I never thought a messenger would come that far, so I was surprised.」
The people around Pelfiel finally noticed the voice as they heard Kabajid being called by his name. They all looked around with pale faces.
「Calling Prince Kabajid by his first name? Who are you!?」
Still unable to find the source of the voice, they all looked around in a panic.
Pelfiel could only look on in confusion at her subordinates’ reactions.
To Pelfiel, the person who spoke was just nearby.
And yet, this man, who had appeared just a few steps away from her without her realising, seemed completely invisible to everyone else aside from Pelfiel, with only his voice reaching them.
Pelfiel knew better than anyone that the reason why she was able to see them wasn’t because she was superior to those around her.
Rather, it was just because the owner of the voice had made herself aware of him.
Although she found it amazing, she didn’t find it strange.
It was clear that the person in front of Pelfiel possessed that level of strength.
「So……why have you come all the way here? You really just want to help us?」
「About that, that would be interesting, but……this time, I’m just a messenger. Hah, Kabajid is pretty impressive for using me as a messenger.」
Everyone except for Pelfiel were looking around for the person she was conversing with.
Even so, they didn’t draw their weapons because they judged the person couldn’t be an enemy as they were talking with Pelfiel.
It might have been unforgivable for the person to call Kabajid by name, but there was nothing they could do as they couldn’t even see the person.
「A messenger?」
「Yes. Kabajid and Shurus are currently heading this way, leaving only a minimum number of soldiers inside the Imperial Capital……that’s what they said. They’ve asked me to deal with Crimson, so there’s no need to worry about him. We’ll meet up tomorrow afternoon on this highway, in front of the closest village from here. I’ve delivered the message.」
As soon as she heard the message, Pelfiel noticed that the figure of the person she had been talking to had disappeared without her noticing.
After hearing the message and the voice of her subordinates, who were upset that the voice had disappeared, Pelfiel muttered.
「The Immovable……」