Chapter 243 - The Siege of Migul and the Battle for the Kitchen
The kitchen was a stone building, a separate structure detached from the palace. A covered walkway connected it to the main building. As we ran into the corridor, a soldier in a black cloak and silver plate armor stood in our way. His billowing cloak bore the crest of two oak leaves and an unfamiliar flower. It was the crest of House Leafclout.
"Enemy!"
I shouted and drew my katana, and the enemy simultaneously readied his weapon. A nearby wall had been destroyed, and other soldiers were trying to get in.
"...Mash! Get down!"
Marmie's cry echoed as a fireball she had created with fire magic flew over my head. With a roar, the enemy soldier was instantly engulfed in flames, collapsing with a scream. I slipped past him and charged another soldier. However, my attack glanced off his metal plate, failing to wound him. The soldier raised his sword at me.
"Kuh!"
I tried to pull back, but I had stepped in too far. I blocked the blow with my blade, and we were locked in a stalemate. Just then, Maira jumped in and struck the soldier with her mace.
"Guaah!"
The soldier screamed and fell against me, so I shifted my body to deflect his momentum.
"Thanks..."
I looked down at the fallen enemy and thanked Maira. The helmet part of his armor was badly dented, and blood was dripping from inside. The soldier Marmie had hit with her fireball wasn't moving either. Seeing this, I grit my teeth. I would never get used to the death of a person. I averted my gaze. There, I saw Mizuki's face. Her brow was furrowed, her face contorted. I was probably making the same face.
"Mash?"
Maira placed a hand on my shoulder, as if checking on me.
"Ah, yeah, sorry."
I shook my head, as if to shake off my apprehension.
"There might still be enemies outside. I'll keep watch here. Mash, you head to the kitchen."
"Master. I will accompany you."
I nodded to Fam and ran towards the kitchen.
Fam and I stood before the door, trying to gauge the situation inside through it, but we couldn't hear any particular commotion. I considered peeking through a window, but that would require going outside. Exposing myself outdoors seemed more dangerous. Although the sound of clashing swords outside had lessened, the sounds of destruction, people's screams, and the whistling of arrows were constant. I couldn't tell if there was an unspoken rule of war not to kill civilians, or if the kitchen had already fallen to the enemy, but apart from the soldier we just fought, there were no other enemies in sight around the kitchen. It seemed the enemy encirclement in this area was thin. I had no idea what the right course of action was from here. At any rate, I wanted to get the members of Levante to a safer situation, even if just slightly.
"I'm opening it."
At my whispered voice, Fam drew her katana and gave a small nod. As I was about to put my hand on the door, I noticed she was still looking at me.
"Master, you are afraid of killing people."
"And you're not?"
"I'm afraid that you will get hurt in a chaotic situation like this, Master."
"I..."
Memories of fighting the transferee Mii and his group, and of fighting the pirates, flashed through my mind. I still felt a deep revulsion for the act of killing. I especially hated it when members of Levante were involved. I had thought this feeling would fade if such situations continued, but seeing the defeated enemy soldier now only strengthened it. I had to discard the values of my old world as quickly as possible. If we were caught up in a situation like this, anyone could die at any moment. I didn't want anyone to die. But the more I thought that, the more a conflict arose within me, wondering if that was really okay, and that feeling also grew stronger. I put my hand on the door as if to cut off those thoughts. This was no time to be lost in thought.
"Let's just finish what we need to do quickly, and let the knights of House Starunion do their best to defend this palace. We have to find Sameim. If we can regroup with our allies outside, we should be fine."
At my words, Fam lowered her gaze.
"Master... is the Sam now different from the Sam I know?"
I placed a hand on Fam's head. I stroked her ear, feeling its warm, soft texture.
"Who knows. But you're the only one who can believe in Sameim until the very end, Fam. I don't know about Sameim, but I believe in you."
Fam nodded at my words. I felt a powerful light enter her light-blue eyes.
"Alright, let's go!"
"Yes!"
In contrast to my determined words, I opened the door slowly. Peeking through the gap, it was still quiet. It seemed no one was there.
"Were they already evacuated...?"
I boldly threw the door wide open. The faint, raw smell of food hit my nose. It was a spacious room. There were no decorations; the wooden beams and stone brick walls were exposed. In the center were tables, and along the walls were several hearths. There were signs of a struggle; large, waist-high urns were lined up against the wall, but half of them were broken. Next to them were wine barrels, but they were neatly arranged, as no one would have touched them in this situation. Looking around the room further, I saw broken windows, signs of arrows having been shot in, and evidence that the enemy had invaded. I could see several enemy knights lying dead. As I was about to step inside, Fam tried to go first, so I pulled on her clothes.
"I will go first."
"No. I'll check things out. If anything happens, regroup with Mizuki and the others and escape into the palace."
"N-no! You should stay back and watch, Master!"
As we argued in low voices, a rustling sound came from inside the room. We hurriedly readied our weapons, and about twenty people in white aprons crawled out from under the tables. They held cleavers, frying pans, and knives as weapons, pointing them at us.
"Are you alright?"
"Who are you?"
The man who asked held a long kitchen knife. He had thick arms, but he probably wasn't used to this kind of situation. His face was pale and the tip of his blade trembled. Seeing their faces, I thought I should have brought Marmie. I turned back to the walkway and beckoned for her.
"We're in a party with Marmie. We're here on Marina's request to evacuate you to the palace."
"Are Lady Marina and Lady Marmie safe?"
"They're fine. Marmie is behind me, securing our escape route."
The man with the knife looked at the others, sighed in relief, and lowered his stance. Then, they began to move towards us.
"Marmie and the others are outside. Head for the second floor of the mansion."
To make sure no one was overlooked or left behind, I left the guiding to Fam and Marmie, who had just arrived, and stepped deeper into the room. As I passed by a soldier lying in a pool of blood, one of the maids turned to me in a panic.
"Be careful! That soldier keeps getting up and moving!"
"Moving? What do you mean..."
Just as I said that, the soldier abruptly sat up. At the same time, a scream-like voice echoed from the walkway.
I kicked the rising soldier down. However, he wasn't the only one getting up; all three soldiers who had been lying on the ground were now rising.
"Master, the soldier Maira defeated is getting up too!"
Fam's voice rang out from behind me. I couldn't see the situation in the walkway, but I thought the enemies we had defeated were dead, and even if they were alive, they shouldn't have been in any condition to get up and attack us.
"Did they use healing magic or something?"
"I don't know. But—"
"Kuh. Fam, you and Marmie protect the people here!"
To cover their retreat, I stabbed my katana through the gap in the soldier's face guard in front of me.
"Guaaah!"
The soldier collapsed with a muffled scream. I planted my foot on him, pulled out my katana, and readied it again for the remaining two. Fortunately, perhaps due to the weight of their armor, the soldiers' movements were slow. I closed the distance to prevent them from having a chance to prepare, and one of the soldiers heaved up a table. It was an old table, but it was made of thick, heavy wood and looked so sturdy that it was hard to believe a single man could lift it. I instinctively froze, but it was thrown towards the fleeing people.
"Damn iiiit!"
I instantly unleashed my earth magic. A large stone sphere crashed into the table with a loud noise, deflecting its trajectory. The table hit the wall right next to the screaming servants and fell to the ground. Before I could even sigh in relief, a soldier picked up a fallen kitchen knife and charged at me. I parried the blow with my katana and slashed at the soldier, but again, the blade couldn't penetrate.
"Circulate the mana..."
I recalled Merianne's words while dodging the attack of another approaching soldier. But it was a three-on-one situation. The moment I tried to gather mana at the tip of my blade, another blade was pointed at me from a different direction. I once again launched a stone sphere from my earth magic at one of the soldiers' heads.
"Take this!"
With a low metallic clang, the stone sphere struck the soldier's head squarely, and he collapsed. In that opening, I thrust my blade into a gap in another soldier's armor. Red blood gushed out, and that soldier crumpled. It was when I turned my eyes to the last one. Someone who had entered the building unnoticed was standing next to that soldier.
"My, oh my. It may be the result of our lord's research, but it's not in the best of taste."
It was a dignified, beautiful voice. The speaker held a long staff and wore a black robe. Long elven ears peeked out from between her long golden hair. And, as is characteristic of her race, she was a woman with beautiful, porcelain-like skin. From her features, she looked to be around twenty, but like Marmie's mother, she must have lived for longer than a normal human lifespan.
"Who are you..."
While keeping an eye on the other soldier, I pointed the tip of my katana at the woman.
"Me?"
The woman smiled. For some reason, it seemed eerie, and a shiver ran down my spine. I glanced towards the door. The last of the people who had been here was just leaving. Fam was gone. Was she guiding them? Or was she fighting the soldiers in the walkway? As I was thinking about this, the fallen soldiers got up. Even the one I had stabbed in the face was getting up.
"I am an elf who serves House Leafclout. My name is Ilysalie. You are the otherworldly hero, Mash, correct?"
I didn't answer her question and shifted my position towards the door. But as if sensing my movement, one of the soldiers stood in my way, blocking my path. Blood was streaming from the gap in the armor of the one I had stabbed in the face, staining his armor and cloak a dark, blackish color.
"Even if part of the body is damaged and dies, many of its functions are not lost. If you implant a command in place of the brain, it will continue to move like this until all its functions are lost."
Ilysalie glanced at the soldier as if looking at something boring.
"Are you controlling them?"
"Not exactly. A magic circle is embedded to take over the person's consciousness and move the body when they die."
"...So even if I defeat you, these soldiers won't stop?"
I took a step back. Four soldiers who kept moving even after being defeated, and an elf. I couldn't think of a way to get out of this. I prayed desperately that Fam and the others would come back.
"Mash, you don't have to be so on guard. Besides, you heard my name. It's Ilysalie. I'd like you to call me by my name."
Ilysalie smiled.
"Why did your lord Zeno start a fight like this? What does he plan to do?"
"This mansion was not at all designed for battle. You understand, don't you?"
Her reply was completely off-topic.
"Yeah, I guess so."
It was to buy time. I nodded to draw out the conversation. I wanted to check the situation beyond the door, but the soldier was completely blocking it. The soldiers were slow. If I focused on escaping, they wouldn't be able to keep up with me. But would Ilysalie allow that? Fleeing without knowing her abilities felt like a dangerous gamble.
"And this kitchen was designed with the convenience of the servants in mind, with easy access to the outside for shopping and other things, connecting to the back entrance."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Mash, I can take you out of this place without anyone knowing. I would like to invite you to Lord Zeno's mansion."
"Unfortunately, I just visited the other day. I don't want to seem like an overly rude guest."
"Don't say that. I'll give you a front-row seat to watch the city of Migul being trampled."
As she spoke, I noticed that another, unfamiliar man was standing in the kitchen.
"Let me introduce you. He, too, is a hero from another world, just like you, Mash."
It was a man wearing a red hood. A complete stranger. He had a stout, medium build. His cheeks were a bit sunken, and he had a scruffy beard. The moment I saw the deep, dark eyes of that man, an impulse of inexplicable rage surged through my entire body. As I glared at him, the man glared back. I finally lost the battle to suppress the urge to attack, raising my katana and closing the distance in one go. However, before I could reach the man, a soldier cut in and I was struck.
"Kuh!"
I endured the pain, quickly regained my posture, and readied my katana again.
"Master!"
I thought I heard Fam's voice in the distance. In that instant, the angry impulse that had possessed me cleared. I pulled back and aimed for the door.
"What a pain. As long as we don't kill him, it shouldn't be a problem if he gets a little injured, right?"
the man muttered.
"Special Skill, Destruction Battleaxe!"
With his shout, the kitchen ceiling came crashing down. The area in front of me was buried under a mountain of rubble, and a thick steel wall blocked the path to the door. Looking up, I could see the blue sky peeking through the gap in the collapsed ceiling. Towards that blue sky, the steel wall was lifted. The wall shimmered, blending into the blue of the sky, and took the form of a giant battleaxe. It was swung down towards the kitchen. A dull, heavy mass of iron with a sharp blade swung down from above again. With a roar, the remaining parts of the building that had withstood the first blow shattered. The battleaxe was not completely swung down, stopping with a slight gap, so I did not take a direct hit. But the shockwave was accompanied by a deafening roar, and a rain of rubble poured down. The soldiers were protecting Ilysalie and the transferee from the collapsing rubble. I tried to use this chaos to escape towards the walkway, but I was struck from behind by a soldier. My knees buckled from the dull impact and pain. I barely managed to stay on my feet and swung my katana to shake off the soldier. But my arm was grabbed by the soldier. At the same time, rubble hit my shoulder and back, and a sharp pain made me stagger. I was struck again by the soldier, and my vision went completely black.