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The Tabtimo Plains, Count Evas’s military encampment.
The Golden Sword Knights, the Heavenly Spear Knights, and the High Castle Knights.
The knight captains of the top three knight orders out of the seven serving the count’s domain gathered in one place, their faces twisted with urgency.
“Is that truly the case?!”
“It is absolutely certain. Three of the castle servants are my informants, and I received the exact same report from all of them. Grand Commander Carmen has gone completely insane. She lost her mind, captured every single member of Count Evas’s family and direct relatives, and dragged them away like livestock to parts unknown.”
The three locked eyes. Sharing the most dangerous secret within Count Evas’s domain, they understood instantly what this news implied.
“…We must assume the brainwashing has broken, right?”
“Most likely. Otherwise, that bitch—who used to crawl when told to crawl and die when told to die—would never treat his Excellency and his family like that.”
“But his Excellency explicitly assured us that it could never break under any circumstances.”
“Fuck if I know how this happened. There must have been some kind of freak accident.”
“W-What do we do…? We’ve already attended and thoroughly enjoyed his Excellency’s ‘parties’ multiple times…. If we stay here, we will surely be….”
“…Torn to shreds brutally. By her bare hands. For all we know, she might be riding out this way right now.”
“…Dammit! I didn’t want to do it! I said I didn’t want to do it!! What a horrific crime it was! To enjoy the public humiliation of the very master who bestowed everything upon us! To mock and jeer at her! How on earth is that something a human being would do?!”
“Shut your mouth! If you truly cared about the Grand Commander, you shouldn’t have half-heartedly joined the party; you should have drawn your sword! The fact that you didn’t and simply looked away all this time means you are exactly the same breed of trash as the rest of us!”
“Ugh….”
“How do you think we, with our mediocre skills, managed to advance further than the other captains? It’s because we attended those parties and displayed our absolute loyalty to his Excellency! The reason we could get our hands on more secret techniques than the other captains! The reason we could leave the other knight orders aside and come out to this battlefield to secure achievements! It’s all because we sucked that sweet nectar! You happily stuffed your face with every single thing handed to you, and now you dare spute such hypocritical nonsense?! You disgusting hypocrite!!”
“Enough. Enough. Drop it. Now is not the time to be bickering over such trivial matters.”
“…….”
“…….”
“So? What on earth should we do in this situation?”
“…Aren’t there only two choices? We either stay and fight, or we flee.”
“Staying and fighting is literal suicide. Do you not know her actual strength? Did you forget because she bared her belly and danced for us…? That bitch was a Sword Master ranked within the top three in the entire United Kingdom. Do you honestly believe a few Blasters like us—who only reached this point through the crumbs of guidance she threw our way—can actually pull off something against her?”
“If we utilize the strength of the entire knight order….”
“The knight order? If we clash with her, do you honestly think the knights will take our side? We’ll be lucky if they don’t drive a blade into our backs.”
“True… the ordinary knights were raised from the ground up, one by one, by the Grand Commander herself….”
“…….”
“…….”
“I happen to have an idea.”
“Truly?”
“Do you have some kind of good plan?”
“…Since things have turned out like this, the count’s domain is effectively ruined anyway. So, let’s defect.”
“De… fect?”
“Exactly. Right now, we possess three elite knight orders under our command. With a military force of this scale, wouldn’t we be treated with massive hospitality wherever we go? If we play our cards right, we might even receive a fiefdom of our own.”
“Y-You actually have a valid point.”
“And… perhaps depending on how the situation unfolds, there might even be a far better outcome waiting for us.”
“A far better outcome than that…?”
“If it’s a tiny, insignificant kingdom… wouldn’t it be entirely possible for us to overthrow it ourselves? If we head down south, there are plenty of mediocre little nations… it isn’t a completely impossible narrative.”
“Which means….”
“We become kings.”
“……!”
“……!!”
“I guess I don’t need to hear your answers. Excellent. Then from this point on, I shall tell you exactly what we must do.”
“…Speak.”
“First, we must keep this a complete secret from the knights under our command. We must only reveal the truth to them once the rice is fully cooked and turned into bread—meaning, after the knights can no longer back out of this.”
“Agreed.”
“We abandon the foot soldiers. Trying to move with them in tow is impossible.”
“I also agree with that.”
“And… on our way out, we will take the priests at the treatment facility hostage.”
“…The priests?”
“In a worst-case scenario, they will serve as an excellent bargaining chip. They’ll be reasonably useful as portable batteries as well.”
“That’s a bit…. When we’re already abandoning the foot soldiers out of fear that they’ll become a burden, how are we supposed to manage over eighty people?”
“What a bizarre thing to say. Why on earth would we take all of them? We only need to take those at the intermediate priest rank or higher. That’s barely a dozen people.”
“And the rest?”
“We kill them all, of course. We can’t leave a single trail behind.”
“…….”
“…….”
“Why? Are you trying to pretend to be righteous now of all times?”
“…It can’t be helped. I agree.”
“…Me as well.”
“Excellent. Then let’s move immediately. There’s no telling when that bitch might descend upon us. We can simply plunder provisions along the way, so tell everyone to pack nothing but their weapons and armor. We must march out within five minutes at most.”
“Understood.”
Shia stood on top of a table, thrusting her hand high in the air as she began her speech before a crowd of roughly a hundred people.
The hastily gathered Adventurer’s Guild members, priests, and their attendants wondered what on earth was going on, but swept up by the atmosphere, they focused entirely on the young girl.
“You’ve heard the situation, so you understand. The time given to us right now is seven to eight minutes at most. Within that window, we must complete our preparations and get the hell out of here.”
Shia’s plan was simple.
- Set a massive fire at the treatment facility to draw the attention of both Evas and Harpun.
- Neither side will be able to simply ignore a massive blaze at the treatment facility. Naturally, the Evas side, which is already marching this way, will accelerate, and the Harpun side will also dispatch forces to investigate.
- Since Harpun will be departing later, their group will move directly toward the direction from which the Harpun Knights are arriving.
- Orchestrate the situation perfectly so that the Evas and Harpun forces collide and slaughter each other along the way.
“Of course, during that process, we will inevitably catch the eyes of those two groups. They will try to secure our custody before a battle even breaks out between them. Therefore, we shall disguise ourselves as a third, completely unrelated party, rather than the Moonlight Wings. And that is exactly when we will need this.”
Shia threw a flowing curtain with two eyeholes cut out over her head. Dressed up in that cheap ghost cosplay, she cute-sy lifted both hands and let out a little growl. “Rawr~”
At that sight, a wave of skepticism washed over the faces of the crowd.
“Do you really think they’ll fall for such a flimsy disguise?”
“Did I not just tell you? If you tell the truth like it’s a bluff, it becomes a bluff, and if you spin a bluff like it’s the absolute truth, it becomes the truth. This lady shall take full responsibility for the rest, so trust me and follow.”
“I mean, you say to trust you, but… we don’t even know who you—no, who you are. Even if the Vice Guildmaster vouches for you, that and this are entirely separate matters…”
At that, without saying a word, Shia pulled the perception interference earring from her ear.
“Trust this lady.”
“……!”
“……!!”
“……!!!”
And… completely caught off guard, their minds utterly blank as they were dazed by her absolute, domineering beauty, the people began to move one by one, exactly as Shia commanded.
“Uh… so, we tear the curtains… and make holes for the eyes…”
“Q-Quickly, let’s just do it. They said we can survive if we do…”
Three minutes later.
“It seems to be roughly finished. Kate, you explain.”
Having been thoroughly educated by Shia in the meantime, Kate held up the hastily crafted eyehole curtain and explained how to use it to the crowd.
“Now, th-this right here is our ‘ceremonial attire.’ I believe you’ve already heard about it once, but… everyone, please throw this over your heads, line up the eyeholes properly, and then tie a rope around each other’s necks so it doesn’t fall off. Ah, pretty bow knots are strictly forbidden. Tie an Evans knot… meaning, the kind of knot used for hangings, and pull it just tight enough so it doesn’t choke you. If you don’t know how, learn from someone who does… and those who are finished, roll around on the ground next and get plenty of dirt on yourselves. Ah, everyone took off their shoes, right? It’s not just your face that needs to be hidden. Your bare feet are the only things allowed to be exposed.”
At her words, the people put on incredibly troubled expressions, yet they threw the blankets over themselves one by one.
“Now, everyone is dressed perfectly. Let me repeat this once more: casual chatter is strictly forbidden from this moment on. You are madmen. You must become thoroughly bizarre entities. The unknown is the source of fear and mystery. The exact moment you appear as something familiar to them, they will doubt you.”
“…….”
“…….”
“Excellent. And you’ve all practiced that beforehand, right? Now, let’s practice it one final time. One, two, all together!”
In accordance with Kate’s cue, a bizarre, low-pitched drone echoed from the crowd shrouded in blankets.
“““Ouuuuumm~~~~”””
“Now~ please lower the tone just a bit more. Five seconds on, five seconds off… in turns… Yes, that atmosphere of a dark cult, excellent. It has plenty of ambiance. I feel like we could summon a demon if we just had a goat head right now. Good. Just keep going exactly like that. If anyone squeaks because they laugh or feel embarrassed, I’m going to throw that person behind first and leave them, got it?”
“““Ouuuuumm~~~~~~”””
Threatened by Kate, the low drone echoing out grew a fraction deeper.
Shia clapped her hands at the display.
“Splendid. Now, for the actual final touch… the mage over there. Hyacinth, was it? Now, burn it all down. Use a level of firepower that makes it completely natural for even the corpses to be incinerated into scattering ash.”
“OK. That happens to be my specialty.”
Wharrrrr…!!!
And a short while later…
The group, cloaked in the eyehole curtains dubbed ceremonial attire, left behind the massive, roaring blaze of the temple. Dragging a corpse cart—a vital prop loaded with the dead knights and various pieces of luggage—that was dripping heavily with blood,
Clack-clack, clack-clack….
…They began to move quickly toward the encampment of Count Harpun.
Thud-thud-thud-thud….
The thunder of galloping hooves echoed from the distance. It was likely the knight order dispatched from Count Harpun’s domain.
“““Ouuuuumm~~~~~~~”””
Following that, figures riding furiously on horseback came into view through the haze.
Perhaps because they had witnessed the flames piercing the sky, the scale of the knight order was extraordinary, even though it was past three in the morning.
Kate, cloaked beneath her ceremonial attire, muttered under her breath.
“It looks to be roughly three hundred. And every single one of them is a knight.”
At those words, the Vice Guildmaster, who was similarly huffing and breathing through the fabric of his curtain, replied.
“Considering the vital importance of the treatment facility, it’s a completely natural reaction.”
Hyacinth spoke in a lukewarm tone.
“…Harpun’s reaction is swifter than expected. It’ll take a bit more time for the Evas bastards to get here.”
At that, Shia replied in a leisurely voice.
“Do not fret. Is that not exactly why we threw on these dust-caked curtains? Leave the rest to this lady. In that sense… come. Let us all cry out together.”
“““Oooooouuumm~~~~”””
And roughly thirty seconds later… the galloping Harpun Knights finally discovered the visual-shock of a group emerging from the pitch-black darkness, cloaked in bizarre cloths with ropes tied around their necks, and let out shouts of sheer horror.
“Whoa!”
“H-Halt!”
“Stop the horses!!”
Neighhh! Snort!!
“W-What on earth?! What are you monsters!!!”
“A-A magical beast? Is it a magical beast?”
“The cart! The cart!! Gasp! That, the stuff dripping down right there! That’s blood, isn’t it?!”
“Just what the hell is loaded under those rags!?”
“Fall back for now! Keep your distance! Priests! Mages!!”
As mentioned, ignorance and the unknown breed revulsion and fear in people.
The reason a human fears a ghost is not because the ghost is powerful or violent, but because they know absolutely nothing about the nature of a ghost.
And that was exactly what Shia wanted from them.
An overwhelming, eerie bizarre appearance stemming from that unknown, capable of pushing both suspicion and rational judgment entirely to the background.
Rattle.
Ultimately, the cart ground to a halt right before them… and until Shia, who unlike the others was cloaked in a black priestly robe and a black mask, stepped forward in front of them, they failed to show any proper reaction to this highly suspicious crowd other than stumbling backward.
“W-W-W-Who are you! R-Reveal your identities!! We are the knight order belonging to the Count of Harpun!!”
And then… in front of them, Shia utilized her Universal Comprehension—one of her few remaining powers as a Demon King that allowed her to speak all languages—and began to spout the tongue of a minority elf tribe residing in the far north.
‘If you’re going to spin a bluff, do it grandly. The exact moment you show awkward hesitation, the bluff is bound to be exposed.’
“ai[geio frevar ajkaqarsiva (The goat well smells.)”
For the record, there was no actual substance to it. It was just a complete festival of random words.
At that, the soldiers began to show noticeable panic.
“W-What is she saying? What country’s language is that?”
“e{tero cavlaza qugavtrion (Another hail is a cute daughter.)”
“S-Shouldn’t we fight?! They look incredibly dangerous?!”
“Fuck! We have to at least know what those things are to fight them!! Don’t provoke it and just fall back for now!”
Shia shook her head as if finding their flustered panic pitiful, then thrust both hands high into the air as if receiving a transmission.
At that single gesture, close to a hundred knights gasped in horror and scrambled backward in a scramble.
The young girl held the pause for about five seconds in that position, before parting her lips in a serene tone.
“…We wish to converse with you.”
“It spoke!! It’s the imperial tongue!! We can communicate!!!”
“Is that what’s important right now?!”
Shia ignored their reactions and calmly continued her words.
“…Deliver this to your leader. Tell him that the people of the thirteenth tree, residing in the ancient courtyard of the north—a place now dubbed the demonic realm—have come to visit because they possess a question to ask.”
Immediately after, as if adding an accompaniment to her declaration, a dismal choir of voices resonated through the air.
“““Ouuuuumm~~~~~”””
“No, fuck… someone make them stop doing that first. It’s genuinely terrifying….”
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