In The Name Of Ingrad! (23)

While the spite of the soldiers climbing the wall and the grit of the soldiers blocking them from climbing the wall were in full swing, creating the result called death between them, the appearance of Viscount Muriel, who would not have been out of place being called a hindrance on the battlefield, caused the soldiers and knights of House Pearl who had climbed onto the wall to begin being steadily eliminated.

“Damn it, it’s a Master! A Master has appeared!!”

Someone’s shout had quite a great meaning.

“Even if you know, it is too late. Jumping down from the wall may instead give you a higher hope of survival.”

Viscount Muriel lightly swung his sword, which contained aura emitting a chilling sharpness, through the air and cut off the enemy knight’s head. When the enemy soldiers realized that the presence he emitted was closest to “death,” incomparable to anything else, they fell into confusion.

Viscount Muriel was giving off an aura that felt so close to death that it truly seemed wise to jump down from the wall, and he firmly cut off the flow.

‘Quite a lot of them have climbed up.’

It was troublesome. Realizing that simply clearing up one side of the wall would not solve the problem, he looked toward the enemy leadership, who were steadily approaching the distant gate.

‘Is that Archduke Pearl…?’

Among them, the sight of the man emitting an intense presence felt quite difficult to deal with, and Viscount Muriel instinctively realized that with his current skill, he could not defeat him, then let out a sigh.

He knew that there were countless strong people in the world, but the situation where he had to frequently face such beings and feel helpless was simply absurd.

“Clear the surroundings quickly. Our role… is to endure and wait.”

Viscount Muriel left that order to the knights who had climbed the wall after him, then moved ahead and merely continued clearing away the remaining enemy soldiers.

There was a man watching that situation from afar.

“Is that man Viscount Muriel?”

“That is so, Your Majesty.”

“…He is strong. However, I think I could kill him within a hundred exchanges.”

A sound of admiration naturally flowed from Rex at his father’s words. That was because if it was Viscount Muriel, he was someone who had made quite a name for himself while being called the Empire’s new star.

Moreover, conversely, he could not help but admire once again the fact that Muriel could withstand as many as a hundred exchanges against his father.

It meant that the difference between a skilled person who had become a Master decades ago and a skilled person who had only recently become a Master was not that great, so Rex could not help but be impressed.

However, it was enough that he said he could clearly decide victory and defeat.

‘In the worst case, we have no choice but to… collapse the wall…’

That was because Rex judged that if they activated large-scale magic with the help of the Three Sages, collapsing the wall enough for their allies to enter would not be a major problem.

“It appears that opening the gate has failed. What shall we do?”

Not a single one of the prepared operations had properly worked. At best, all they had done was collapse one side of the wall and force troops inside little by little.

However, he had received reports that even that was causing trouble because of the variable called Agnes.

“If there is truly no other way, I will open the gate myself.”

“…Please preserve your strength.”

“Why?”

“Because the only Master on our side is Your Majesty.”

Currently, there were two confirmed Masters in the Terakan Empire’s camp, and it was known that there was also a veiled figure called a shadow.

Moreover, they were also behind in the number of mages. Because it was an Empire, a magic corps existed, and since they had that corps only carry out magical responses suitable for siege defense, they were having difficulty crossing the wall.

“The enemy is only five hundred thousand. Against our two million… they will not be able to hold out long.”

“Are you saying only the result matters?”

At Archduke Pearl’s words, Rex shook his head and spoke.

“…I am saying Father’s life is more important than anything else. In this war, we can grind down any number of troops. That is the process we have prepared for, and now we are facing the result before our eyes. We cannot ruin this.”

Archduke Pearl laughed heartily at Rex’s words, as he called him Father instead of Your Majesty.

Then he looked up at the distant wall and spoke.

“It sounds to me as if you are telling a tiger to tear at corpses that are already dead.”

“You know that is not what I mean!”

“My son, it would certainly be comfortable to sit at a table someone else prepared and settle your meal there, but how would that look to others?”

“Face is not what matters. Father’s safety is…”

“I have no intention of losing to anyone. Therefore, the gate… let us indulge a whim.”

Then Archduke Pearl kicked his horse’s side and sprang out. Rex hurriedly chased after him, saying this would be troublesome, but when he saw that his father had already risen onto his horse, he had no choice but to grit his teeth.

Then he urgently stopped his horse and shouted.

“Charge! The entire army will charge! Deploy all knight orders, and the mages will prioritize His Majesty’s safety!!”

House Pearl’s army surged like a rolling wave, but elites were elites, and they began moving well in response to the order.

A change had occurred in the war that had been about to drag on sluggishly.

“Damn it… So they’re saying they won’t open easily…”

Rex gritted his teeth.

I had ended up completely drained with the completion of the wall just before my eyes, and while I was looking over the still unfinished part in a limp state, Murumur asked me a question.

“Do you intend to establish a foundation here on the East Continent?”

“Seeing it from a high place makes it look even more desolate. But it’s clearly land that should be wide and fertile. There are forests, rivers, and the sea. And it looks like grasslands are about to spread out over there, so the land itself seems like a place one would very much covet.”

“…Do you wish to save the East Continent?”

At Murumur’s question, I chuckled and spoke.

“You talk as if I’m someone important, but honestly, I’m the kind of person who thinks even what I already hold in my arms is more than I deserve. Still, it’s not that I don’t understand the necessity of this place.”

At the word necessity, Murumur tilted her head.

“What necessity do you mean?”

“Why does the Demonic Tribe leave humans alive? I’ve thought about that from time to time.”

“And what conclusion did you…”

“Well, first, I thought that perhaps the Demonic Tribe also needs humans in order to survive. And today, I was able to be certain. The Demonic Tribe had humans work to secure food, and the humans of the East Continent were providing other things that formed the basis of their lives as well.”

“That is why I am asking whether you intend to save them.”

“Well, rather than salvation, I’m trying to give them an opportunity.”

“An opportunity…?”

“If our Ingrad human forces do their part, I think the humans of this continent will surely express a will to resist as well.”

“You wish for them to become self-reliant?”

I could not call it self-reliance, but I thought we could give them the strength to oppose the Demonic Tribe through support. Even if they were not good weapons, I knew that first-generation firearms could still damage the Demonic Tribe, so I was thinking of releasing and supporting them with an appropriate quantity of those weapons, which were now only used for training.

The benefit that could be gained that way was that the Demonic Tribe would no longer be able to turn their eyes outside.

‘It won’t go as I want, but…’

At the very least, I believed that if humans with the will to become independent spread evenly across the East Continent and rose up in rebellion in various places, then the Demonic Tribe would surely be unable to take it lightly.

Moreover, I wanted to buy some time on this side.

I had received a report that the wall had still not been completed with blocks, and although the fact that it was taking longer than expected weighed on my mind, I thought I had no choice but to hope Ulde would do well, then spoke to Murumur.

“The East Continent will want to stand up not by someone else’s hands, but by their own. Look over there.”

I could see men from the East Continent coming on their own to the place where the soldiers were training, even though no one had ordered them to. I heard that they wanted to dedicate themselves to our army, which had driven out the Demonic Tribe using new weapons, but for now, we were still watching the flow and had not accepted them.

“The Demonic Tribe will not stay still.”

“They already didn’t stay still. They were hostile to us, fought with us, and aimed for each other’s lives. This time, they even withdrew after suffering a major blow. They must certainly be grinding their teeth over it.”

“Are you not afraid?”

I could not say that I had no fear. Honestly, there were many aspects that were frightening. The surroundings were nothing but peaceful scenery, but the Demonic Tribe might be crouching somewhere, and there might be eyes watching me even now.

However, I thought that if I was afraid, I would not be able to move forward.

“The Demonic Tribe in this world… honestly, I think it would be right for them to disappear. I want them to return to the place they came from. Though that won’t be easy…”

“If Your Majesty sets your mind to it, anything will be possible.”

I thought it was an excessive amount of faith. However, it was a pleasant answer, so I smiled at Murumur and then got up from my seat.

Murumur looked at me and asked.

“Will you not rest a little more…? I was told to stop you unconditionally if you tried to overdo it.”

“Ah, I’m not overdoing it. My magic power has recovered enough to finish this.”

Murumur looked at me with a surprised expression. Recently, the amount of my magic power had been increasing so much that the phrase “like crazy” suited it.

How surprised had I been when I learned that my magic power amount was several times higher than Hare’s, even though she already had a large amount of magic power?

When I recalled that memory, this current situation was something I could not easily understand.

‘Just what kind of change is happening to me…?’

Honestly, whatever change was happening, right now I was more excited than afraid. It meant that the power I could use had increased that much, so was that not something to be happy about? Moreover, as if Murumur did not know, I had already taken more than ten magic power recovery pills, but I could hardly feel anything that seemed like a side effect. I loosened up my body here and there and used Construction to finish it.

And just as I used the finishing Construction while imagining the wall rising up as if connecting to the wall on the opposite side…

Murumur blocked my path, then shouted.

“Enemy. Climb the wall and form ranks!”

At the sudden shout, I looked at the black silhouettes visible beyond her and found it absurd, but I quietly asked Murumur.

“Can you see that?”

“The eyesight of beastkin is… very good. Your Majesty should evacuate to a safe place…?”

“For now, finishing this place comes first. Now then.”

When I finished using Construction, the wall quickly began rising as if flesh were filling in. Then I looked around at the completed fortress, connected flawlessly to the wall on the opposite side, and spoke.

“Have the magic cannons raised up and placed in the positions prepared as turrets, and prepare them so they can respond immediately if the enemy enters firing range. I think it should be fine to place six riflemen at each battlement so they can fire in turns.”

“Mm… What is the durability of the wall like?”

“For now, I infused it with a lot of magic power and made it sturdy, so I think it should withstand most magic. If you’re really concerned, how about you test it, Murumur?”

When I asked while pointing to the battlement, Murumur nodded and took out her shield. Then she filled it with aura and struck the battlement with it as it was, and after confirming that it was perfectly fine without even a scratch, she looked at me in surprise. I grinned and spoke.

“A wall lives and dies by its sturdiness. With this… I can leave the stage now, right? It’s a little scary.”

When I showed her a playfully trembling action, Murumur laughed and saw me off, telling me to leave it to her. After that, Wijel and the legion made up of humans began being deployed on top of the wall.

As I watched that after moving inside the fortress, Demina came to me and asked.

“Are you not returning?”

“I’d like to watch for a bit. So will you wait just a little?”

Then I used Construction once again and caused a tall tower to rise up. Then I looked at the spiral staircase inside the tower and reached my hand out to Demina.

“You’ll protect me, won’t you?”

“…Gladly.”