Chapter 167 - Chapter 15: The Assault
The advance party consisted of the usual bowl-sized craft, carrying the Paratroop Jaegers guarding the observation post and the Marcelo Company.
The observation team was the same as the previous night, with Beatrix, Bonnie, and Flora joining in, and they went off to who-knows-where.
The Marcelo Company team consisted of Paul-san, Priest Harrison, Robinson-san, myself, Lyudmila, and Fiona; our main role was to support Fiona's activities and provide backup for the main force.
And then, riding in a newly added Paratroop Jaeger bowl, were Marcelo-san, Angelica-san, and the four goblin scouts. This group was to support us and also serve as a rescue team in case anyone dropped out, so they would basically be on standby in the air. With Angelica-san and Marcelo-san, they could use [Camouflage] and [Magic Reflection], allowing for long-term standby on-site.
There was no interpreter, but the four scouts had already been doing reconnaissance with the Nakanohara Jaegers, so they had reached a point where simple communication via hand signals was possible.
The main force, led by Eleanor-sama and Wilson-san with the Paratroop Jaegers, would move in a large bowl. They would sortie around the time the advance bowls began their activities, launching a surprise attack at ultra-high speed to suppress the area in one go and capture or eliminate the casters.
Before departure, there was an instruction from Eleanor-sama.
"Everyone. This mission is top secret, and failure will not be tolerated. Even if we achieve the capture or elimination of the targets, a single dropout will turn success into failure. All allies, even if they are corpses, must be brought back. Absolutely no personal belongings must be left behind. The mission is a success only when everyone has returned."
Everyone listened with tightened expressions.
"I know that you all have endured rigorous duties. This is the first mission for the selected Paratroop Jaegers, but you are all volunteers. Based on that conviction, I believe you will surely succeed. Since the first king and the citizens of that time founded Sertoria, we shall protect the Sertoria that has been built continuously with our own hands."
Eleanor-sama's instruction continued, her breath white in the air.
"Everyone. You all have lives. Think of the smiles of your families, lovers, and friends. To protect those people, let us make this mission a certain success."
Wilson-san stepped forward.
"Glory to the Kingdom of Sertoria!"
When he shouted in a loud voice, the soldiers chanted in unison.
"Jeanne. Please recite the [Chant of Exorcism]. Everyone, chant along."
Since the instruction was given, I had no choice but to step forward and recite.
Everyone knelt, folded their hands in front of their chests, and chanted with me.
I messed up.
I should have put on the boar outfit after the instruction.
I felt sorry for the squad members whose shoulders were shaking.
"Tonight is a special boar disguise. It is a splendid camouflage to deceive the enemy, isn't it?"
Eleanor-sama delivered the finishing blow.
Some people even started laughing openly.
My mood was at rock bottom.
"Now then, with the boar, the bear, and the midwinter fortress assault, the operation begins!"
Everyone cheered while laughing their heads off.
That was the final blow... There was a bottom even to rock bottom...
Why does it always turn out like this...
I can't just stay depressed.
The operation has begun.
I pulled myself together and departed. The infiltration route was the same: once passing the north of the fortress, circling around, and coming from the east.
The fortress ghost who would guide Fiona should be there.
As we approached the castle wall just like the previous night, a ghost whose neck was nearly severed emerged from the wall.
His face, bent at a right angle, gave a smirk. His chainmail was drenched in blood.
Lyudmila clung to me while crying.
She did well just by not screaming.
"Fiona-dono. I have been waiting."
"Good work. I'm counting on you tonight."
I couldn't believe Fiona was greeting him just as she normally would.
"Sir. Canst thou not do something about that appearance? I nearly ascended thee just now."
Priest Harrison was complaining.
Even if he said that, it's probably impossible.
While I was comforting Lyudmila, who was sobbing quietly, Priest Harrison conveyed the operation to the bloody ghost.
Since Fiona had removed her ring from the start, we decided to let her act together with the ghost as she was.
As we went up along the wall, several Gargoyles bathed in moonlight were fluttering about.
I already experienced in Western Plains that Gargoyles can be fooled by [Camouflage]. Their senses seem to be on par with humans. The difference is that they don't distinguish between day and night.
We decided to land inside the fortress and observe the situation.
The number of Gargoyles increased. They exceeded ten.
"It's about time."
Following Paul-san's instruction, we got out of the bowl.
Then, the three of us—Priest Harrison, myself, and Lyudmila—went to a corner of the wall.
Paul-san and Robinson-san then ascended into the air. They should be able to rescue us if anything happens.
The Gargoyles that were in the air descended. Some of them landed on the ground and approached us.
For a moment, there was a standoff.
As always, they had a rugged feel. Their limbs were long, and their horns, fangs, and claws were sharp. A single swing of those arms could easily kill us.
In the midst of that, one Gargoyle raised its right hand.
It waved its hand back and forth.
It seems Robinson-san's [Subordination] was successful.
Even though we had done a test once before the Jaegers came, it was a moment of tension.
I unintentionally let out a sigh of relief.
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The man was reading a grimoire.
Wearing a black robe, he was in a room of the fortress.
Even though it was close to a full moon, there was no light in the room. For an ordinary human, it would be impossible to read characters.
Despite it being midwinter, there was no fire in the fireplace, so the water in the room would be frozen by dawn.
For a Revenant, darkness and temperature have no effect whatsoever.
Occasionally, he would look out the window to observe the state of the Gargoyles dancing in the sky.
There was no particular change.
He had been repeating the same thing for nearly a year.
Soon, the year would change.
In the spring, new instructions would be issued.
The man thought so as he looked out the window at his colleague across the highway, who was controlling the monsters.
For the man, learning [Subordination] was a chance to fulfill his wish.
In the Ruined Town, those not chosen for the Council, which held absolute decision-making power, or the several committees beneath it, were all like underlings for them, spending their days engaged in farm work alongside the townspeople who had not become Revenants, merely prolonging their lives.
For those who desired a peaceful life, that was fine. However, for those who had obtained the power of immortality, a peaceful life was a given, and it was a life of extreme boredom. At least, it was for him.
The man was born as the child of a serf in a village in eastern Primordia.
The adults of the village lived in daily fear of plague, famine, and war, and above all, the feudal lord. They thought of nothing but groveling to the lord, paying taxes, and surviving the winter safely. For that purpose, they raised sheep and grew wheat and beans.
Since medicine was expensive, even if they fell ill, they thought of nothing but offering prayers at the church, and if there was conscription for war, they thought more of surviving than of achieving merit. Since Primordia was a small country, even laborers were forced to stand on the front lines as soldiers.
If the child born was a mage, they could live a somewhat better life... They always prayed at the church that their own child would be a mage.
If one was a basic mage, life would have a bit more leeway. If one was an intermediate mage, they could be employed by the lord and have a good reputation in the village, and in war, they could serve as magic soldiers in rear support. If one was an advanced mage, they would be called to the Royal Capital, find success, and the whole family could obtain a good life.
It was said that if neither parent was a mage, the probability of a child being born who could use magic was low. Generally, it was one in fifty. However, if the child was a basic mage, it became easy to marry into a family of basic mages in the same way, and that meant an escape from poverty.
Despite being the same serfs, whether or not one could use magic changed even where they lived within the village.
When a child reached adulthood, the villagers would take a single gold coin, which was all they had, to the lord and have them taken to a diviner.
And if the lord returned ten silver coins, it meant the child could not use magic. Of course, those who could not pay that gold coin would borrow from the lord.
The man found out he could use basic magic. His parents, who could not use magic, were overjoyed and praised the man, and he became the hope of the family. The man also took pride in being a mage, and whether it was farm work or daily life, he actively used magic and worked hard to make his family's life easier.
And while the man was conscripted and had gone to the battlefield, his entire family died of the plague.
Upon receiving the news, the man fell into despair and charged forward intending to die on the battlefield, where he was surrounded by enemy soldiers and received a near-fatal wound to his back.
He was rescued by allies who tried to help the man who had charged bravely and fought without flinching within the enemy's encirclement, and he was sent to the rear. He managed to survive after receiving treatment in a forest where a treatment center was located, but for the man who had intended to die, it was unwanted meddling.
Once he had recovered to some extent, he deserted. While wandering through the forest for many days, he encountered a man who reminded him of a bat with red eyes.
The man with red eyes said:
"Is your name Fran? Your parents gave you a good name. Tell me, Fran. Your country abandoned your family. We must overturn such a worthless world. Don't you think so?"
These words sounded perfectly natural to the man.
Because it was always the poor who died.
The man followed as he was invited by the red-eyed man, and since then, as a Revenant, he had continued his magic studies in between farm work.
Several years after he learned his first intermediate magic, a member of the Council suddenly came to his house.
There was a mission, they said.
Using [Forbidden Magic], he would apparently learn a new spell.
You have been selected, the Council member said.
The man, who had been waiting for this day, learned the new magic [Subordination] and acquired the technique to control Gargoyles.
He would overturn the world.
The mission given to him was the capture of a fortress near the village where he was born.
It was a fortress guarded by a unit to which his former lord also belonged.
He captured it without difficulty and was entrusted with its defense as it was.
Eventually, he would invade Primordia and destroy the worthless country that could not protect his family.
The man intended to be the vanguard of that.
"My senses are strange."
Suddenly, his colleague outside said.
It seemed the consciousness of the Gargoyle he was controlling had been severed.
"Perhaps you have found another ghost."
When he called out, the colleague left a single word saying he would go see, and after letting a nearby Gargoyle grab his arm, he flew toward the main base of the fortress on the north side of the highway.
When the monster one is controlling is drawn to a strong interest in something, there are times when consciousness is severed.
In the beginning, they were alarmed, thinking it was an enemy attack, but usually, it was a ghost bound to the fortress that was completely harmless to them, or an animal that had approached the fortress. He had to control them more firmly, or else his feet would be swept out from under him in a moment of need.
He had to polish his skills more.
Perhaps his concentration was being interrupted by the repetition of monotonous days.
He didn't care what the Council people were thinking. He would defeat the country that had abandoned his only treasure.
Just as the man returned his gaze to the grimoire, he suddenly felt a strong impact on the back of his head, and the man's consciousness was severed there.
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The Gargoyles surrounding us gradually increased, reaching over a dozen.
Fiona had said there were fifty in total.
About a third of them were now being controlled.
As we were surrounded by Gargoyles in the corner of the wall, there was a flamboyant sound of flapping wings, and finally, the footsteps we had been waiting for were heard.
"Has a ghost appeared again? I told you to leave it alone."
It was a male voice.
Since he didn't come out of the building, he must have come from the south of the pass by being grabbed by a Gargoyle.
"Move aside! Make way!"
The Gargoyles backed away, and when a path opened, a single man wearing a black robe approached.
"Why are there a bear and a boar in a place like this? Did you lot catch them?"
Now!
As Priest Harrison stood up, he thrust his right fist forward.
"Gofuh!"
It hit a vital point perfectly, knocking him unconscious.
We quickly restrained him.
It was so that Eleanor-sama could interrogate him later.
I had been lying down pretending to be a corpse, but finally, I could stand up.
"It went well, didn't it?"
"Umu. With this, the first stage is a success."
When I made the [Light] blink small, Robinson-san appeared, having likely gotten out of the bowl.
"Leave the Gargoyles to me."
"Please do."
When I pointed the [Light] toward the south, a single ice chunk about the size of a fist came rolling to my feet.
It seemed the other caster had also been suppressed.