Red flames were burning.
Adventurers and knights … and wandering troops who had been dealing with the undead who had crossed the city walls and entered the city, loaded the remains of the undead onto carts and other vehicles and brought them into the vestibule of the temple.
The piled wreckage was covered with holy oil from one side to the other and plunged into the flames.
The remains of the undead that had left the caster’s hands should not be left unattended. If possible, they needed to be properly disposed of with holy energy.
Unholy power still lingered in the wreckage. If left unchecked, the wreckage may have reemerged as independent undead.
The undead did not disperse too much and acted as a unit. They were able to take them out en masse not far from the temple, so they were brought back and cremated there.
“Is this all the undead that have infiltrated the city?”
“I fear there are still more hiding…”
Kaya Lanner, a knight belonging to the Second Order, was counting the piles of undead corpses in front of the burning holy fire.
Kaya was a woman in her early thirties with a bloodhound-like look in her eyes. The knights as nobles who managed territories were all men, but the royal knights were a meritocracy and had nothing to do with status or gender (… at least on paper).
Kaya, who had distinguished herself with her outstanding swordsmanship, was one of the captains of the Second Order, and was leading her own squad on a raid.
The undead who had invaded the city were now exterminated, and the undead outside had apparently stopped attacking.
Kaya, however, was feeling helplessly anxious and eerie about this.
A bow can only shoot an arrow strongly when it is drawn wide. There is also the analogy of ‘the calm before the storm’.
Something stuck in her chest…
“Hmm?”
Kaya, who had been staring at the parchment, looked up when she heard a noisy voice.
She looked up to see Arnold, one of the captains of the First Order, who had also brought in the undead wreckage, surrounded by citizens who had apparently come from somewhere else.
“Knight-sama! What is going on outside? Is the city all right?”
“It’s okay, we will protect this city. Citizens, please calm down…”
The man was caught because he was standing right at the entrance to the site.
Arnold tried to ignore them, but the citizens, looking as exhausted as beasts being chased, gathered one after another.
“The defensive magic was broken, what is it!?”
“I saw a knight fall from the sky!”
“The undead have entered the city!”
“Are you sure everything is alright!?”
–That’s not good. … It’s reasonable to be afraid when you’re shown something like that. If we don’t do something, there will be panic.
Arnold was at a loss for what to do.
Kaya stepped forward to offer a helping hand.
“What you guys did… wasn’t that what brought it in?”
In a whisper.
One of the gathered citizens muttered, and time froze.
Arnold turned red and put his hand on the sword at his waist.
“Y… Y-you! What are you talking about!!”
“You know she’s the beheaded princess, don’t you!?”
“She said she’d spare us if we give up the king!”
“I didn’t think it was a good idea to kill her!”
The citizens were verbally berating Arnold, almost like this was the beginning of a debate.
Normally, they would not have said such a thing to a knight to his face.
But they were desperate to live.
They felt they were on the verge of death, and they couldn’t help but denounce the cause.
“Nonsense! All of you…. for disrespect!?”
Kaya grabbed Arnold’s shoulder from behind as he was about to pull out his sword and slash at them.
“Calm down, please. That’s not what you should be doing right now.”
“Uh… gh. Hey! I memorized all your faces! You’ll remember me later!”
Arnold was not at ease, but more than that, he didn’t want to get involved any more, so he let out a few words of dismissal and walked off in stride.
Inevitably, Arnold was replaced by Kaya.
The citizens were not happy about the situation either.
The air felt slightly deadly.
Kaya pushed up the front cover of her helmet.
The citizens looked a little puzzled.
Kaya knew that, although she didn’t like the idea of “using her womanhood as a weapon”,… she knew that in a situation like this, it would be better if she, as a woman, was the one to come out and make things right.
Kaya, a female knight and captain of the Royal Order of Knights, was a bit of a celebrity in the royal capital.
“My name is Kaya Lanner of the Second Order of Knights. I can only imagine how anxious you all are. But please rest assured. A small number of undead have invaded the city, but the Knights have exterminated them without any civilian casualties. The city walls and gates have not been breached yet, and we have the upper hand in the defensive battle. …We, the Knights of the Royal Court, will fight to protect you until the last person. So, please remain calm and behave now. Stay with your family and loved ones.”
She was aware that it was a bit unfair even for her to use that phrasing.
However, it was just a convenient way of putting it. If she panicked here, she would not be able to protect what she could protect.
Kaya recalled the commotion a month ago. It was a bitter memory. Citizens trying to escape from the “Rose Princess of Hellrage” had fallen in droves, and more than a dozen people had died from trampling those who had fallen down.
She didn’t want to be in a ridiculous situation where people were dying even before the monsters arrived.
“… Got it.”
“I said … too much.”
“Keep up the good work.”
The crowd was reluctant to leave, but they were all retreating.
Kaya sighed when she realized that the situation was under control.
Even some of the citizens who were crowding around Arnold may have been pleased with René’s execution. Surely.
Still, at this stage of the game, they were conscious of the fact that they wanted to find the cause of the crisis (from someone other than themselves) and hang them.
Some citizens might have thought that if the undead army would retreat in exchange for Hilbert, it would be better for them. Surely.
Still, they were not willing to use force because they were afraid of the undead, but they were also afraid of the Knights who were protecting the king. And they hoped that the Knights would win.
What would happen if the Knights collapsed…? Kaya was able to contain this situation well, but it would not be unnatural for such a move to occur, i.e., the same thing could happen all over the city. If the citizens caused chaos, it would also hinder the actions of the Knights.
Somewhere in the back of Kaya’s mind, the Evil God whispered to her, “Why don’t you just give Hilbert to us?” (It was not really whispered by the Evil God, but an idiomatic expression, so for the Evil God, it was a reputational hazard.)
However, they needed to be united now. She had a feeling that they could only be taken advantage of if their minds were disturbed.
“Captain, please come! A fight …”
Kaya was awakened from her somber reverie by a voice calling out to her.
One of her subordinates was running toward her in a panic.
＊ ＊ ＊
“…What happened?”
No matter how proud the royal knights may have been, it was not uncommon for these hot-blooded warriors to get into a fight.
However, it was rare for such an altercation to escalate into a bloody affair. This was an unusual situation.
Behind the temple, one of Kaya’s men and one of Arnold’s men were slumped over, each restrained by their colleagues.
They had drawn their swords, of all things, and were wounded by each other’s hands.
The priests who rushed to the scene applied «Regeneration», and the knights around them tended to their wounds.
“Hey, you draw your swords for a fight? What kind of bandits are you? Even if you were going to fight a duel, now would not be a good time.”
“This guy!”
Kaya’s subordinate thrust out his sword and pointed it in the other’s direction.
“He says that the Second Order has a deal with the Undead…!”
“What?”
‘What’s going on?’ Kaya looked at the other side, and the other side yelled back at her.
“It’s funny, isn’t it? Three of my colleagues died in front of me! But the guy who was with me, the second order one, didn’t even get a scratch on him!”
“That’s just a coincidence!”
“There is no such thing as coincidence! In such a fierce battle, not a single member of the Second Order died!”
Yes, that was something that Kaya also thought was unnatural.
The undead soldiers had chosen only the First Order to kill.
Even those who had invaded the city were so thorough that they had not laid a hand on the citizens.
Kaya only found it eerie, but from the First Order’s point of view, that would be different.
“… Arnold.”
Arnold sighed bitterly when she turned the water on him, signifying ‘you’ll have to settle it.’
Then he crouched down in front of the knight with whom she had been quarreling.
“Calm down. That’s not something to say now. It is not for you to decide. It is up to the Commander to investigate and make a decision. …I will put your suspicions in the Lord Commander’s ear. So for now, stop talking nonsense and just do your job as you are told.”
“What can… the Lord Commander do now! I was against the coup! If I’m going to be killed just for being a member of the First Order, I’m going to throw away my … armor! I’m going to run away with my mother!!”
“Hey!? What’s so important to say! It’s a felony to flee before the enemy!”
“Shut up!!”
“Damn it, seize him!!”
The surrounding knights rushed to the knight who had gone out of control, jumping on him.
The knight threw down his helmet, and a hand sword was slammed into the knight’s neck, knocking him unconscious and dragging him away.
“Exactly. As a superior officer, I have to calm my men down…”
Kaya’s words, almost swearing, fell flat on their face.
Arnold stood in a protective position for his subordinates and exerted a pressure that was almost murderous.
“…You’re kidding, right?”
“It is the Lord Commander who decides. But I will be cautious enough to protect myself.”
“Oh, please calm down. I would never do such a thing…”
“……”
In the tingly air, they stared at each other like they were facing each other on the battlefield, and then retreated to one another’s side.
＊ ＊ ＊
The burning ceremony was still going on.
The shining holy fire was the result of the victory over the undead, but it didn’t make Kaya’s heart feel any better.
“Hey…, if the undead are going to retreat in a deal…, do you think we should take that deal?”
“Huh?”
“I’m just asking hypothetically. If they are only interested in the First Order and His Majesty from the beginning, it’s not a good idea to provoke them…”
The subordinates lowered their voices, but they were talking in a way that was unbecoming of knights.
… Kaya, too, could only understand their feelings.
There was no way the First and Second Knights could work together properly in such a situation.
It was fine for now, but what would happen when the battle started…
–Why did the Undead retreat? Don’t tell me they ‘made time for doubt’ or something?
It may have been an accusation, but it still irked Kaya.
Citizens were paranoid about the Knights, and the Knights saw shadows of their enemies in each other’s eyes…
Consciousness of those who were in danger and those who were safe diverged…
If the battle had continued all the way through, everyone would have been frantic, with no time to think about anything else.
Now that there was time to take a breather, the gears shifted somewhere, and a creaking sound could be heard in the air.
At that moment, she felt a burning sensation in her chest.
She took out a call mark, which she had put away, and the letters on the surface glowed red, radiating waves of energy.
“… Commander.”
As she brushed the surface and activated it, she heard a voice coming from it.
A voice that sounded a bit soft and lazy, but full of wit.
“Can you hear me? Everyone. I’m going to tell you the next plan. There’s going to be a big change in placement, so listen carefully so you don’t make a mistake.”
Kaya was honestly relieved.
Her Commander still had a next move. Then, they were still in good hands.
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