275 - ...The City of Dreams
――Beim had neither a king nor nobility.
It was a city of merchants and adventurers, a city that continued to grow. Because of this, remnants of where the walls once stood still remained.
The residents of Beim had abandoned the outer perimeter and retreated. At the port, there were merchants loading their fortunes onto their own ships to escape.
At the port, many people, having witnessed the atrocities of the Banseime soldiers, were clamoring to be let onto the ships.
"Let us on too!"
"It's my ship! Set sail already!"
"You heartless monster!"
In the chaotic port, ships departed one after another. Some ships, unable to withstand the weight of the cargo they had loaded, tilted and capsized. In the crowded port, some ships capsized, taking other vessels down with them.
The chaotic state of Beim was truly a picture of hell――.
――Tanya, having stepped outside the Eastern Branch of the guild, equipped her gear and fought the Banseime soldiers who had infiltrated Beim.
Soldiers armed with spears and shields awaited Tanya, supported by archers. Their expressions were filled with fear.
"T-this woman...!!"
They were not on the main street, but a unit moving for the purpose of looting. Their numbers were not many, and to Tanya, they were not particularly strong soldiers.
"Naive."
She ran vertically up a building, dodged the soldiers' arrows, and landed where they were clustered. Creating a situation where she was surrounded, Tanya placed her hand on the ground.
"W-what!"
"M-my feet are floating!"
As the soldiers floated in mid-air, they flailed their legs. Unable to get any footing to swing their weapons, they spun around in the air.
Tanya slit their throats with a dagger she drew from her waist. The unit of a dozen or so, including the knight and soldiers, was wiped out, their throats cut. Once everyone stopped moving, their corpses fell to the ground.
Wearing her mask, Tanya looked around. A terrified resident of Beim was watching Tanya from an alleyway.
"Escape from here immediately. Go through this street and head for the center of Beim."
Having said only that, she dashed off again, running up the walls of a building to reach the roof. Around her, adventurers and soldiers were fighting. However, their resistance was uncoordinated. They had not anticipated fighting inside Beim.
Tanya scanned the area, finding and eliminating the Banseime soldiers who had pushed past the fighting adventurers. She saw other Sweepers fighting, but they were inexperienced, and the fact that the powerhouses had been defeated by Liel and the others was taking its toll.
"Either way, the defeat cannot be overturned."
Beim had many individuals who were excellent on their own, but this was not a level that could be managed by individual skill. They simply knew too little about war.
By this point, the flow had turned toward starting negotiations, even considering surrender. However, Tanya narrowed her eyes.
The heads of the Beim merchants and their guards, who had gone to negotiate, were being displayed on the main street. It was likely Banseime's way of stating that they would not negotiate.
"This... this is...! ――!"
As Tanya moved from the spot, an arrow pierced the place where she had been standing. Several arrows had been fired simultaneously, embedding themselves deep into the building.
Moving as if leaping across the tops of buildings were the knights of Banseime.
"Found one, a Sweeper."
"This'll make for a good achievement, right?"
"I'll provide cover. Those petty lords are a nuisance. Let's crush them quickly."
The trio, who viewed Tanya as nothing more than prey, were clearly different from the enemies she had faced until now. Facing three knights with skills, Tanya dashed forward and threw a knife from her waist.
One of them deflected the knife with his sword, but the sword shattered. The knight immediately discarded the sword and stepped back as the knife pierced through the roof of the building and fell.
"That was terrifyingly heavy. Is that their skill? These people really have a lot of strange skills."
A knight drew a spare dagger. Another knight readied an arrow. Under her mask, Tanya steeled her resolve.
"I will not let any more skill-holders pass."
At Tanya's words, the three knights laughed. Tanya intended to pounce the moment they showed an opening.
"The people of Beim really are amusing. It's true we have skills... but it's not like we're particularly special."
Tanya stepped forward while watching the knights before her.
A skill to manipulate gravity――surprised by the speed of Tanya, whose weight had become light, the knight was cut down, sword and all, by a knife that Tanya had made heavy.
She took a bag containing small pieces of iron from her bosom and swung it. She threw it directly above the knight with the bow; it suddenly became heavy, and the small pieces of iron rained down on the knight.
Then, the knight with the dagger slashed at Tanya.
"You're quite strong, aren't you?"
"Kuh, you're still composed even though your allies are down."
As the opponent launched a series of attacks at Tanya, she defended against them.
"Allies? Idiot. Those guys were a nuisance to me too. A bow-wielding bastard despite being a knight, a cheeky brat... they were just in my way."
The opponent's strength was increasing, and no matter how heavy Tanya made the knife, the opponent deflected the attacks. The dagger slashed through Tanya's mask.
"What, you have quite a cute face."
However, Tanya delivered a kick to the opponent's abdomen. The knight had felt secure because he was wearing armor, but Tanya's kick pierced through the armor and sank deep into him.
Watching the opponent fly back while spitting blood, Tanya sank down on the spot. She checked her surroundings to ensure no other enemies were nearby.
"I can't fight for that long anymore."
Muttering regretfully, she began to move to return to the guild――.
South Banseime.
In the office, where I was reorganizing units and doing work, I was listening to a report from Monica. Novem had also come to the room, and we had reached a critical juncture.
"Merchants have already begun to flee from Beim. The walls were breached, and they are now huddled inside the walls of the center, which have become mere ornaments. Urban warfare is taking place, and both Banseime and Beim are suffering considerable casualties."
Forces totaling nearly four hundred thousand had clashed. Of course, considering pure military strength, the number was smaller. Still, the fact that both sides were engaged in a quagmire of a battle made me sigh.
"...Do they seriously intend to kill everyone? It seems Beim hasn't decided on a policy, whether to resist or flee."
It didn't seem like they were buying time to let people escape. They fought because the enemy came at them. They weren't forgiven even if they surrendered. Such a situation had turned the soldiers of Beim into desperate soldiers.
Banseime wouldn't escape unscathed either.
Monica looked at me with a serious expression.
"The leadership of Beim seems unable to fulfill their role. Originally, we should have made them bow their heads, but before the report of our victory could reach them, Beim's walls were breached and they fell into chaos."
Beim was more fragile than I had imagined. Depending on how it was handled, it might have been possible to make Banseime retreat. They had that much combat power, but I felt as if I had been taught how fragile things become when the top is weak.
Inside the orb, the Third Head smiled slightly.
...A scorched earth policy. If they had evacuated the people of Beim somewhere over a few months and taken all the food and wealth, it would have been better. Certainly, it would have taken a few years――no, five or ten years to return to normal. Even so, recovery would be possible. Banseime has problems with supplies and is barely fighting by looting Beim. It would have been interesting if they had fled and hidden the adventurers in a labyrinth or something.
Banseime would fail to achieve its objective, and its combat power would decline due to food problems, leading to a loss of control. Indeed, it would have been effective. The Seventh Generation nodded in agreement.
Well, 'if' is an impossibility. If it were us, we would create a situation where we could cooperate with the surroundings, or make preparations to defend ourselves alone. I am simply appalled by Beim, who made choices not to rely on others while seemingly not considering defense at all.
The Third Head responded to the Seventh Generation's opinion.
Well, the ones who made it so they couldn't get cooperation from the surroundings... were us, though.
He said, laughing.
Novem looked at me.
"Liel-sama, what will you do? Even if we abandon Beim as it is, there is a possibility that the Banseime army will eventually head toward South Banseime."
It was simply a question of where we would fight. Even if we holed up in South Banseime, the difference in numbers would be dire. I couldn't say that I could win against the Banseime army with a small force.
I looked at Monica.
"You recruited volunteers from the surrounding area. How many gathered?"
Monica informed me without changing her expression.
"Perhaps they felt too much fear; not many volunteered. They don't even reach a thousand."
It wouldn't even fill the gap of the soldiers lost fighting Bread and the others.
"Once the units are reorganized, send them to Beim. But before that, there is a place to stop by. Send a separate detachment in first. It would be best if we can get them to fight under our command."
I looked down.
I wondered how many more mountains of corpses I would have to build to reach Celes.
Novem looked at me.
"What will Liel-sama do?"
I'll go as planned. As planned... I'll head to Redant Fortress.
"The schedule was disrupted slightly, but the preparations are still complete. I will enter Redant Fortress with the nobles who cooperated with us and their soldiers."
――At the port of Beim, where fighting continued, several ships arrived.
There was no sign of people around, and it was terribly cluttered; seeing this, Vera couldn't believe it was the port of Beim she once knew.
"It's become this bad."
Standing next to Vera, watching the soldiers coming up onto the deck, was Novem. The soldiers――the Valkyries, had slight differences in appearance. Still, there was no change in the fact that they wore blue armor.
Vera felt complicated seeing the Valkyries, who were created from the monsters that had once tormented her.
"To think that Trident Sea Serpent would end up in this form. These girls are probably strong, but I wonder if they're enough to push Banseime back?"
Novem smiled at Vera.
"That would be difficult. If the numbers were equal, there would be no problem, and we could fight even if they were several times our number, but if there are hundreds of thousands, it's not a fight. However..."
Novem had brought along Unit 3, who was particularly excellent among the Valkyries. However, Unit 3 had a very displeased look on her face.
"Don't mess with me. Why am I the only one here... I wanted to go to Redant Fortress with Master. Rather, I should be the one carrying Master to Redant Fortress. Sigh, I've lost all motivation."
Looking at Unit 3, who was sitting with her knees hugged to her chest, Vera felt a headache coming on.
"She really is excellent, right?"
Novem also gave a wry smile.
"Yes. There is no doubt about that. Besides, the Banseime soldiers who have infiltrated Beim cannot take coordinated action. Rather than facing ten thousand people at once, if we fight a hundred people a hundred times, we will not lose."
Aria also came out onto the ship. She had finished her preparations and was wearing armor.
"Wow, smoke is rising from everywhere. So, we just go around helping the Beim soldiers normally, right?"
Miranda came out from behind Aria.
"Don't make it sound so simple. We have to show them that we're allies. Why don't we go to the Eastern Branch first? We have to explain the situation there so the Beim soldiers don't attack us."
The separate detachment brought by the several ships numbered fewer than a thousand.
However, the purpose was to provide assistance to Beim and buy time until Liel arrived with the main force.
Miranda brushed back her hair in exasperation and looked at Beim with half-closed eyes.
"They could have held out a bit longer. Thanks to that, we barely got any rest."
Because Beim collapsed faster than imagined, Liel and the others had to organize and send in a separate detachment. Originally, they were supposed to fight a more exhausted Banseime.
Vera looked at the group.
"The ships will return to South Banseime as planned. Also, make sure you don't lose until Liel arrives."
At Vera's words, Novem smiled slightly.
"What is it?"
"No, I just thought Liel-sama had found some good people. Also, we'll be fine, and Liel-sama will be fine too. By now――"
Liel and the others now――.
I was infiltrating Redant Fortress, disguised as a wounded soldier and wearing the armor of the elite units.
Looking around, soldiers who were disguised as wounded soldiers like me looked up.
"The Baronet did it well. Or rather, he had an attitude as if he thought the elite units would lose... did the remnants return first?"
Standing up and picking up the weapon I had brought, Baldor was guarding the surroundings.
"Liel-sama, you're too calm. This is enemy territory. Moreover, we don't even have five hundred men."
We had entered Redant Fortress by staging that we had been defeated and fled back. Baldor was tense.
Maxim-san, who had entered in the same way, patted Baldor's shoulder.
"Don't be so tense. When it comes to this sort of thing, Liel-dono is excellent. I'm really glad we didn't make an enemy of him."
He was laughing, but I couldn't honestly be happy with that evaluation. However, I drew my sword and looked at the entrance.
"Ah, sorry. It seems we might have been read."
Gathered in front of the door were armed Banseime soldiers.
Maxim-san took up a spear, and Baldor also drew his sword. As the soldiers we brought took up their weapons, the door opened.
"...I've been waiting for you, Liel Walt-kun. No, perhaps -dono is better? Or maybe -sama?"
The one who entered the room unarmed was General Bloa, who had been forced into the responsibility of Redant Fortress.
"My, to think the person I wanted to meet would go through the trouble of coming to me."
Inside the orb, the Third Head was impressed.
Oh, he's quite sharp. Or did we let our guard down? This is troublesome because it means we'll have to resort to forceful measures.
With my current power, it would be possible to break through this situation. However, the opponent was unarmed and shrugged his shoulders.
"Sorry. I know you're showing your motivation, but... I want to surrender. Other units have already arrived outside, right?"
I shifted my gaze to the armed men beyond the door. General Bloa brushed his hair and gave instructions for them to step back.
"Excuse me. They just wouldn't listen when I told them not to follow. Well, if you accept my surrender, most of the fortress's combat power will fall under Liel-dono's command."
"Most?"
"...Well, you see, there's a lack of trust. There are sentries, too. I went through a lot of trouble to restrain them."
He was acting flippantly, but this man... The Third Head looked amused.
Wow, he's selling himself. Or rather, does it mean he accurately understands his own situation?
I sheathed my sword and looked at General Bloa.
"You'll betray Banseime and enter my command?"
General Bloa scratched his cheek with a finger.
"Isn't that the goal? I mean, it seems you've been moving various things using the Baronet. I'm truly impressed, or rather, I just have no way out anymore. If it's no good whether I win or lose, I have no choice but to choose a third option."
Even if General Bloa won against me, there was no future for him. If he lost, naturally there was no future. If he was at a dead end, it meant he would submit to me.
"...I understand. I'll accept. However, I'll have you start working immediately."
At my words, General Bloa nodded.
"Fine. You're going to tell them that Redant Fortress has fallen, right?"
――He beat me to it, and I felt a slight sense of defeat.