kscans

Chapter 250 - The Siege of Miglutt and Maryanne's Oath

I stood on the roof of the One-Land family's mansion. It was gently sloped, with a maintenance catwalk where it met the walls. The city, cloaked in twilight, was far from asleep. Countless people, as if melting into the darkness, held their breath, their restless energy stirring in the gloom. There was still time before the moon would rise to bathe the night city in its silver light. Lights were visible to the east and west, signaling the advance of the Leafkraut and Air-Ally forces. It wasn't the armies themselves holding torches, but the citizens living nearby, lighting their rooms to silently indicate the enemy's movements. Looking down, the ground was a long way off, higher than Irysalie's room from which I had jumped this morning. The fear from that moment seemed to resurface, my body, which Elisha had supposedly healed, beginning to ache. I told myself it was just my imagination and continued to watch the scene unfold. In the square in front of the mansion, bonfires burned brightly, and a large crowd had gathered. Soldiers of the One-Land and Star Union families were surrounded by citizens, who stood without a sound, just silently looking up at us on the facade of the mansion. Maryanne stood in the center, flanked by myself and the captain of her royal guard, Trusar. Further out, Elisha and Marina stood on either side. A gentle wind blew, and Maryanne's tail swayed in it. The tips of her ears twitched, and she took a deep breath.

"The city of Miglutt faces a great crisis. The Air-Ally family, in a bid to seize control of this city, has joined forces with the Leafkraut family and started a rebellion. The Star Union and Sky-Lot families have been defeated, and all that remains is us, the One-Land family, gathered here."

Maryanne paused, looking out over the crowd that had gathered in the square. Seeing the crowd listening quietly to her words, she grit her teeth.

"They did not declare war. They are trying to take over this city by cowardly means, with a surprise attack. They do not speak to us face to face, but lurk in the shadows, trying to crush us with force. They will say that we have abandoned the independence of this city and sold it to the Demon Kingdom. But there is no such fact. Look at the one who stands beside me."

Maryanne's gaze shifted from the crowd to me. She looked at me intently. She was checking. What she was about to begin was a declaration of war against the Air-Ally and Leafkraut families. During the day, it had been a one-sided defensive battle, but if we were to go on the offensive, the war would escalate and cause further damage to the city. She knew that I was hesitant about this. And she felt guilty for dragging me, who had no involvement in the city's politics, into this. So, was it really okay to involve me? Her eyes were asking that question. I looked back at her. Her eyebrows were beautifully groomed. Beneath them, her upward-slanting eyes gave her a strong-willed look. But inside, there was a soft, warm heart. On the surface, it was the Air-Ally family's rebellion, but behind the scenes, a hunt for transmigrators was taking place. I still didn't know the full picture, but I could no longer be a bystander. I gave Maryanne a small nod, and she nodded back.

"This is Lord Mash, the otherworld hero sent by Lady Laciel. The hero who was ordered by the goddess to defeat the Demon Lord is here by my side. The hero is here in this place to fight with us. This fact should make it clear to you. The claim that the One-Land, Star Union, and Sky-Lot families have sold themselves to the Demon Kingdom is completely baseless. It is all a conspiracy concocted by the head of the Air-Ally family, Istvan Air-Ally, for his own ambition."

Just then, Elisha, dressed in her clerical robes, stepped forward and struck the ground forcefully with her staff.

"No one has forgotten the incident the other day when the Great Cathedral disappeared. It was Lord Mash, here, who manifested Lady Laciel. The vessel for our god that we had built could not withstand Lady Laciel's power."

Elisha's clear, dignified voice rang out, taking over from Maryanne.

"Originally, the church should remain neutral and entrust the politics of the secular city to the people of the city. However, if the hero says he will act with the One-Land family, then Istvan Air-Ally is an enemy of the gods. I, too, will do my utmost to save this city, together with all of you gathered here."

Elisha bowed her head and stepped back, her gaze returning to Maryanne. Maryanne placed her hand on the sword at her waist and drew it slightly from its scabbard. Then, she drew the sword completely and raised the white blade to the night sky.

"Rule by force is unnecessary in the city of Miglutt. But if Istvan Air-Ally intends to take over this city by force, then I too will answer with this sword. I swear to Lady Laciel and to everyone gathered here. That no matter what, I will not hand over the future of this city to them. If they intend to defeat me in a night battle, then I too swear to defeat them in this night battle!"

At her words, a cheer rose from the crowd. It washed over us, who were looking down, and spread out into the night sky that enveloped the city of Miglutt. It spread out in a roar, echoing again and again.

Just then, Maryanne's body swayed. I reached out and supported her waist. She leaned against me, entrusting her body to me. Trusar noticed the abnormality and quickly stepped in front of her to shield her from the crowd, letting out a roar. I supported Maryanne and helped her down from the roof into the building. Her cheeks were flushed, and hot breath escaped her lips.

"Mash... what am I trying to do?"

"You mentioned you had a fever, didn't you? That was enough to rouse them. Leave the rest to Trusar and get some rest."

"I can't do that..."

Maryanne shook her head. Then, she pulled away from me and started walking.

"I can't do that. You put me in the position of family head, Mash. And even in a situation like this, you're here by my side. I have to win, no matter what. Otherwise, I'm not qualified to stand by your side."

"That doesn't matter. You were about to show weakness just now, weren't you? That's fine. What's the point of trying to create a world where you can't be yourself? Leave it to us and get some rest."

Maryanne shook her head again and looked back. Elisha had followed us.

"Lady Elisha, please grant me a miracle of healing."

At her words, Elisha lowered her gaze.

"Lady Maryanne, this is not a church. I can bring down your fever. But in this place, I cannot remove the cause of the fever."

"That's fine. Considering our fatigue, both I and the soldiers gathered here need to settle this tonight. As long as it lasts until tomorrow morning, I'll be fine."

Elisha and I just looked at each other in silence.

After her oath, Maryanne led her army to retake the government building. A mobile unit composed solely of beastmen, led by Trusar, went ahead and charged straight up the main staircase. The enemy had expected a battle in the One-Land's territory and hadn't anticipated that we would strike back. They had only deployed the same number of soldiers as when we had visited during the day. By the time Maryanne's main force arrived, the tide of battle had already turned. They immediately began to carry things out of the government building and build barricades to block the main staircase and the side paths. In the meantime, I circled around to the north side of the government building's hill with Riley, Irysalie, and the members of Nekono Konekoneko: Takamura, Komachi, Fang, Doris, and Beers.

"What's the situation with the battle, anyway?"

Beers asked. It felt like it had been a while since I'd seen his bald head.

"The enemy leader is Istvan Air-Ally. However, there's a possibility that another man, Zeno Leafkraut, is a joint leader. And an army of one thousand from the Air-Ally family and five hundred from the Leafkraut family were advancing from the west and east to launch a night raid on the One-Land family's mansion."

"So we took advantage of that opening to launch a surprise attack and retake the government building. But... isn't fifteen hundred too many?"

The Four Regent Families did have standing forces like guards and special units, but they didn't maintain a large standing army, instead gathering troops from the city and surrounding territories as needed. We had information that the Air-Ally family had hired mercenaries, and the Leafkraut family had gathered troops from their own lands. Against this, the One-Land family had five hundred soldiers, the Star Union family had two hundred and fifty, the remnants of the Sky-Lot family numbered one hundred, and the Wandering People numbered one hundred, for a total of nine hundred and fifty. Our forces didn't even reach a thousand. Citizen volunteers would join, but we couldn't rely solely on their strength.

"That's the enemy's strength at the start of the battle. And since it's not an open-field battle but an assault on a mansion, even if it's not a full-blown siege, they should have taken some casualties..."

"We can't be optimistic,"

I said, nodding at Beers's words.

"So, which building should I shoot at?"

Komachi asked me. I looked out over the city. The cityscape, illuminated by the faint light of the Crystal Palace floating overhead, was dark, making it difficult to identify buildings. And Crystal Garden, which was usually brightly lit even at night, was now shrouded in darkness, as if a cordon had been set up. From among the darkened buildings, I found a particularly large mansion and pointed to it.

"That big mansion over there."

It was the Air-Ally family's mansion. We would bombard the mansion from here using Komachi's special skill. If we burned down their headquarters, the enemy would be thrown into confusion. If things went well, they would have to divert troops to guard the mansion, which would disperse their forces. Komachi, standing next to me, leaned forward and held out her hand, staring at the tip of my finger.

"That big building there?"

she asked, then turned her palm towards the ground.

"Special Skill, 28cm Howitzer!"

With her shout, an iron cannon with a barrel taller than I was appeared from the ground. The muzzle of the cannon had a hole large enough for my head to fit in. I peeked into the hole, but it was pitch black inside.

"It's dangerous, so stay back. And cover your ears, you might burst your eardrums,"

she said. We nodded and moved away.

"Is this really going to work...?"

I couldn't help but voice my concern.

"What do you mean?"

"When you fought us, you missed..."

"Hmph, that was a naval battle and we were both moving, wasn't it? Besides, if it wasn't for the magic barrier, you guys would have been fish food! This time, it's a fixed cannon on land, and I'm using high-angle fire, so I'll definitely hit it."

While Komachi was talking back, the cannon barrel was moving. It seemed to adjust its firing angle automatically according to her will, but it didn't seem to adjust to actually hit the target. And then, the barrel stopped dead.

"Alright, fire!"

With her voice, the cannon roared to life. A shockwave and the sound of gunfire echoed around us. I kept my hands over my ears and watched the trajectory of the shell. It hit a building far short of the target mansion, and a huge explosion sent black smoke billowing up.

"Huh..."

"'Huh' isn't going to cut it! You've caused civilian casualties!"

The residents of that house couldn't possibly be safe. Lights flickered on in the surrounding houses.

"One more time, wait ten minutes."

I took out my phone and checked the time. How much time did we have before the enemy surrounded the government building and began their assault? Before then, I wanted to destroy the Air-Ally and Leafkraut mansions to the point where they couldn't be repaired quickly. And with the shot just now, the transmigrators should have realized we were here. I believed that Levante would realize and rush here before the enemy did. Her cannon's weakness was that it couldn't fire continuously and required time between shots. She began to adjust the firing angle based on the first shot's impact.

"Observing from the sky."

As if to conduct spotter fire, Takamura, standing beside her as she adjusted the angle, used his special skill to create countless balloons and hastily ascended into the sky. Looking at his retreating figure, he seemed like a perfect target. I worried about what he would do if he were shot down. This wasn't the water. But he was the one with the immortal special skill. As I was thinking such things, Riley had somehow appeared next to me. She was glaring at me from the side.

"You're wrong. Komachi is Takamura's girlfriend, the one who just flew up. Not all of them are my women!"

"I haven't said anything yet!"

Just then, Komachi raised one hand. And then she brought it down quietly. At the same time, a deafening roar echoed, and the second shot was fired. The projectile tore through the darkness at a tremendous speed and, this time, it was a direct hit on the target mansion. A crimson flame erupted along with black smoke, and a moment later, the sound of the explosion reached my ears.

"We did it..."

At my murmur, Komachi nodded. I didn't know why Takamura had flown up, but with this, the second stage of our counterattack had begun.

"Should we fire one more shot?"

I nodded at her words. I noticed that Irysalie was watching us with a cold gaze.

"The human family head, Istvan, had ambitions to rule this city, but he was an old man. It's possible he wasn't on the front lines and was commanding from his mansion."

"So what?"

"If his life was lost in this bombardment, you will have lost the foothold to end the war. He may be an enemy you have to defeat, but he is a man you need to negotiate the end of the war with."

There was no heat in her words to provoke us, nor any moisture to show concern for us. She just stated the facts calmly.

"Next is the Leafkraut family. I'm sorry if Zeno was left behind, or if you left any of your valuables in that mansion..."

At my words, Irysalie's lips curled slightly into a smile, but the smile quickly vanished. I still didn't understand her intentions. And I didn't know why she was here. Just as I was about to question her, Komachi raised her hand and looked at me. I covered my ears and nodded back to her. The third roar echoed through the night.