Waiting: Maybe they will come.

The fact that Marquis Edfeldt concentrated his forces in Terra Kaine meant that all the other cities in the territory were as good as stripped bare.

However, even if he had dispersed his forces, they would have been defeated individually, so it was not wrong for him to concentrate his forces while praying that René would not attack any cities other than Terra Kaine. Moreover, since René had taken several territorial capitals by surprise without paying attention to other cities in each case, he might have thought that she would do the same next time.

However, the strategy was only to kill the lords efficiently by surprise.

As long as a good amount of forces had already gathered in the territorial capital, René had no difficulty in making the appropriate arrangements.

René was destroying the cities near the territorial capital, where the defensive framework had been reduced to nothing, like a streamlined workflow. She also organized dozens of squads of undead soldiers to uproot scattered farming villages.

Goods, food, and weapons were taken at random, and those that could not be carried were destroyed.

However, they did not kill non-combatants.

Houses were knocked down, city walls were carefully torn down, wells were filled with manure or flooded with zombies, and fields were sprayed with poison. Even so, they killed only the minimum number of people.

Inevitably, those whose livelihoods had been destroyed and who had become refugees flocked to Terra Kaine.

The number of people who could not be contained in a single city was so great that long lines of people waiting to be searched formed in front of the city gates.

Those with a certain level of wealth were able to secure accommodations immediately, but even with the increase in prices, the accommodations quickly filled up, and some people tried to pay citizens to provide them with accommodations. Those without money would try to offer their labor and, in some cases, their bodies.

Most of the temples, meeting halls, and other places where people could sleep were already filled by refugees from the capital. Although Terra Kaine was relatively close to the capital, it had not been able to accommodate all of the refugees until now, as most of them had headed west.

However, with the influx of refugees from all over the territory, the balance had been broken. The bad news was that it was now winter. It was the time of year when s*icidal people could simply sleep outside. Even so, what cannot be accommodated cannot be accommodated.

As a desperate measure, Marquis Edfeldt gathered tents from all over the city and laid them out in the enclosed area left by Noacurio’s army to accommodate the refugees. But even so, in the end, it was not enough. Some people fell ill after sleeping under the eaves of houses.

The only means of warmth they could provide was a bonfire. Cramming all the people into one place would also cause problems.

There was also not enough food to feed the refugees. Since the Noacurio army and the “Rose Princess of Hellrage” had already bought all the food they could find, the food stocks in the market were in short supply. If there was no money, or even if there was money, it could not be bought, there would be people who would steal.

The fact that humanitarian aid supplies from the Temple were concentrated in the western part of the country, where there were initially many refugees, also contributed to the situation.

When people were in hardship, they would resent someone.

Why should they suffer like this? Needless to say, the direct cause was the “Rose Princess of Hellrage”.

However.

The lord who gathered knights to his own knee and left all the other towns unattended because of his own love for himself. Can it be said that he was not responsible for this? The people had paid taxes, even though it should be in return for the nobles uniting and protecting them.

The Noacurio army, which Marquis Edfeldt had called in with great fanfare, was blown away by the winds of cowardice and fled back home. The distrust of Noacurio’s army also became distrust of Marquis Edfeldt, who used it as a publicity stunt.

Hungry, shivering in the cold, and suspicious of the Marquis (and, incidentally, the Noacurio army)…

What would happen if such things gathered beyond the capacity of the city?

＊ ＊ ＊

At the same time as the retreat of the Noacurio army, several cities were simultaneously attacked and declared to have fallen.

Even a day after that, refugees continued to flow into Terra Kaine.

“Marquis-sama. If I may be so presumptuous as to say so, I do not know what the citizens will do if the “Rose Princess of Hellrage” attacks. That is my honest impression after looking around the town. Panic is the only thing that is certain, but we don’t know what they will do as a result.”

“Nuh-uh …”

Marks, Marquis Edfeldt, a large, elderly man sitting deep in his office chair, his face frowning like a rough-hewn rock and his short-cropped dark brown head.

Bertil was walking through the city, looking around at the refugees. His impressions were as noted above.

The atmosphere of the city smelled somewhat musty, as if the smell of rusty red iron was in the air.

However, since there was nothing that could be done by ingenuity or effort, the situation would inevitably cause inconvenience to the refugees for some time to come. In other words, they would have to face the “Rose Princess of Hellrage” in this situation.

“It seems that the army of the “Rose Princess of Hellrage” is currently encamped in the ruins of Dualcamarte.”

“By the quickness of your ears. I have heard so too…”

“Considering the speed of the march from the destruction of Wesala to the attack on the royal capital, the enemy could come this way at any time… No, not at all, an army that requires no rest or food and is always unified in its intent is a nightmare. They can be moved like limbs according to the general’s mood.”

Bertil himself knew firsthand how fast the undead army marched, and Marks understood this as well. It was still fresh in his memory that the army had raided the royal capital in a single day, having traversed a route that would have taken a normal army several days to complete.

Even so, the city of Dualcamarte was close to Terra Kaine, so it was as if a blade had been held to his throat.

“Either they don’t dare kill the people and gather them here in Terra Kaine, … and continue to watch them, positioning themselves to strike at a moment’s notice. They are waiting for this city to be ripe, just like waiting for wine to be mature. We have received requests for help from the cities that are still standing, but if we send our troops elsewhere, we are playing into the hands of the enemy.”

Marks gritted his back teeth in disgust.

Bertil said nothing.

Gathering people together on purpose to create chaos … would certainly be René’s preferred method. The number of displaced people gradually increased, and discontent slowly descended. And the food supply was being gobbled up. If the undead army just stood by and watched, Terra Kaine would slowly run out of steam.

But only Bertil knew. René’s saturation of Terra Kaine with people had an even more catastrophic aim.

They would not even have to wait. Rather, they would move now. The mere presence of people here was enough.

Terra Kaine was like a pond that had been stirred up and the sand at the bottom of the water had become muddy. René’s strategy would be better suited to take advantage of the chaos.

” In any case, the “Rose Princess of Hellrage” is sure to arrive soon. How will we handle it?”

Bertil said at this point, intending to test Marks.

The fewer deaths, the better. He wanted to protect as many people as possible. It was up to Marks to decide what Bertil would do to achieve this. To what extent he will use them. And where to abandon them.

At first, Marks seemed to have the intention of escaping secretly with Ghislain and receiving the protection of Noacurio’s army.

René had been targeting the lords with pinpoint accuracy, and conversely, it was hard to believe that she would deliberately target Terra Kaine, where neither Marks nor Ghislain were. It seemed that he had a plan to distract René’s attention from his own territory by daring to advertise his own location under Noacurio’s army, and also to make himself and Ghislain inaccessible to her. He was also thinking of entering Noacurio as the Noacurio army retreated and returning with a second round of “reinforcements” that were fully prepared.

However, the sudden death of Patrick, the general, had divided the Noacurio forces into four. In such a situation, accompanying the retreating army would not provide any protection.

–Sudden death … Sudden death. Damn, what happened? The Noacurio army had left before we could get anything out of them.

Bertil did not know the details of what had happened to the Noacurio forces. All he knew was that Patrick’s sudden death was a strange incident. Marks was not giving him much information, and he was not prepared to investigate on his own at the moment.

He had just left a message by the prescribed means to get in touch with Sherry, an agent of the Gireshtal Federation, but there was no guarantee that she would know anything.

Whatever the case may be, it was certain that Marks was now trapped in a situation where he had no choice but to rely on his castle and his knights to fight back against the “Rose Princess of Hellrage”.

” If the “Princess Rose of Hellrage” were to attack, what would you do?”

“Regarding that matter. I would like the Second Order as the main assault force.”

“Is that the one where they have the Holy Beasts accompanying and fighting?”

Bertil had heard that the holy beasts left behind by the Noacurio army would be used.

“Certainly, if we are going to take on the “Rose Princess of Hellrage”, it is not enough just to have a large number of men. There are pawns, including the general herself, that cannot be controlled by sheer numbers. We must prepare an ace-level force to play a key role in the operation.”

“That was originally the role of the “Decisive Drolette”. Where in the world are they… I hope you didn’t hear that.”

Marks had a bitter look on his face like he had just finished a full course of weeds.

Even though the”Decisive Drolette” had some conduct problems, they were undoubtedly the second best party in the country, and it would be a big blow to Marks if they disappeared here, whether they ran away or got bored.

Even if they talked to the Holy Kingdom of Diletta through Erminio, it would still take some time for Diletta to come to their rescue, since they were not neighbors like the Kingdom of Noaccurio.

They had to make do with the cards they had.

“The soldiers of mediocre ability, whether knights or farmers, must fight in groups to buy time. The elite assault force with the holy beasts will go around and crush the strong enemies that cannot be defeated by such a strategy. I know it’s tough, but it’s the only way…”

“Leave it to me… will do my best. Kaya and the rest of my men are all one-hundred-thousandth as brave as I am. I, too, now have only one mechanical arm, but I will not fall behind the undead. Thank you, my lord, and please protect His Highness.”

Bertil smiled to himself, adults could be cunning.

If His Highness Ghislain’s presence was mentioned here, Bertil would be forced to fight for Marks as a remnant of the Order of the Royal Knights. That kind of calculation was evident.

However, this was only a pretext. Bertil had already given up on Marks and Ghislain.

He thought that they could not win against René.

Marks would have to fight, but there would be no need for the people to go along with that.

“We need more adventurers. I’ve been calling for more, but so far we’ve only gathered what amounts to a small army. Can we enlist the help of Earl Keely, who has just arrived in town… “

“What about Lord Aleotti, the former Commander of the Second Order? He may be retired, but he’s still a force to be reckoned with, and no adventurer can match him.”

Bertil knew the answer and asked.

Alfio. Former Commander of the Second Order, who opened a swordsmanship dojo in this city. He was an eccentric who even forced his younger brother to take over the family in order to pursue the path of the sword. In his prime, he was probably as good as Lawrence.

Marks replied in a straightforward, slightly exasperated manner.

“He has left for the west after he received word that Marquis Berger had nominated a candidate for the crown prince position.”

Alfio had already left for the territory of Marquis Berger to become a backer of the other crown prince.

Marks could not have read Alfio’s sudden action, as he had been avoiding any kind of politics. Of course, Alfio’s action was backed by the stirrings of the Gireshtal Federation and the support of none other than Bertil.

–I’ll have to go over there soon. But before I do, … I’ll finish the work I have left to do in this city.

“Then I would like to know the current strength of the defense, if that’s all right.”

“…Ah.”

Marks nodded grudgingly, though he seemed reluctant to do so.

Marks did not trust Bertil very much, and up to this point, he had been consistent in his attitude of simply doing as he was told, without giving him much information. However, at this point in time, he felt he could no longer remain silent. He had nothing else to rely on.

However, just as Marks was about to open his mouth, a faint blue light shone in his face.

The emergency call mark on his desk told him that he had an incoming call. In the margin of the tag was a message that read, “Captain of the Guards”.

Marks’ face paled. The Royal Order and other royal knights used call marks on a regular basis, but Marks used them only in battle or when he had a truly urgent call to make. This meant that something happened that had to be immediately reported to Marks.

Touching the call mark with his finger, Marks activated it.

“My lord!”

“What is it!? Did the undead show up!? Or did a riot break out!?”

“No, my lord, not that!”

The Guard Captain’s voice, coming through the call mark, sounded as though words were caught in his throat, driven by the urgency of having to say the next word as soon as possible.

But there was an urgency in his voice that was not unpleasant, and an elation that could not be concealed.

“It’s the “Sub-Zero Crystal Spear”! Ciel-Terra’s strongest adventuring party has agreed to join us!”

“What!?”

–Ah, well, well. What are we going to do, René? There’s no way this is going to be easy, is there?

Bertil was quietly suppressing a chuckle.