Side: Yuki
"Boss, Boss, Mist-san and the others are calling for you."
"Siiigh... I want to become a NEET."
"I have completely no idea what that means-ssu."
"There's this wonderful profession called NEET where you don't have to work, and even kids don't look down on you..."
"No, that's literally just being unemployed-ssu. Anyway, like I've said several times already, Mist-san is calling for you."
"...Can't be helped. Guess it's time to work."
Sigh... I should just get this job over with as quickly as possible so I can go see my daughters.
Then again, I can't exactly talk to Mist and the others with this kind of attitude. Let's switch gears.
"So, what was Mist and Horst's reaction?"
"They were stunned when they saw the collapse site. Looks like they've given up on pursuing the enemy. They've posted a small monitoring force and are waiting in the rear for you to wake up, Boss."
"I see. As expected, they didn't recklessly launch a pursuit. That's exactly the kind of decision Mist would make. If it were Mist's older sister and Miss Wind Princess, they probably would have charged right in."
"Those two are currently on standby at the fort, after all-ssu. So, what are you planning to do now?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean the Eneria army inside the dungeon-ssu. We can't just leave them as they are, either publicly or behind the scenes, right?"
We are discussing highly sensitive matters while walking, but it's not like it matters if anyone overhears us. Because they wouldn't understand it anyway.
Ria and Jessica were guarding both sides of me, and there wasn't anyone actually trying to eavesdrop.
"I've got a few ideas, but first let's talk with Mist and the others to sort out the situation. If we know what Mist and Horst want to do, we might be able to steer things in a direction that's convenient for us."
There's no need to rush for an answer right now.
The Eneria army inside the dungeon can be dealt with anytime.
First, it's important to hear the opinion of my nominal superiors.
"Come to think of it, we're supposed to be hired mercenaries, aren't we-ssu?"
"Yeah. We're a mercenary group that's practically unknown on this continent."
"And yet this mercenary group's fighting strength surpasses that of an entire nation~"
"It's utterly absurd... but it's the undeniable truth..."
Ria states cheerfully, while Jessica rubs her temples as she lets the words out.
As far as I knew, in terms of sheer military strength, we were the strongest force across both the Weed Continent and this New Continent.
However, that doesn't mean power solves everything.
From the very beginning, my objective has consistently been to investigate and halt the cause of this world's mana depletion.
Whether this world is shaped like a planet or if it's a giant turtle supporting the continents, my goal is not to bring every living race to their knees and become a king.
"Oh, you're already awake? Are you feeling alright?"
As we entered the conference tent, Horst stood from his chair to welcome us.
Horst seems to have brought soldiers, but it feels like he's fully sided with Jilva now.
He probably wants to say he's under our mercenary group's umbrella, but because that would cause all sorts of complications, he acted as though he were firmly on Jilva's side.
"So you've finally awakened. We've been waiting. We wanted to hear your opinion, Yuki-san."
With those words, Mist spreads a map across the table.
Since we also wanted to hear what Mist and Horst were thinking, we gathered around it.
"Following Yuki-san's report, we assembled our forces here. However, the Enaria army has already retreated into the ruins, leaving only a handful of sentries at the entrance. Since there's no way to pursue them under those conditions, we were discussing leaving only a small watch force behind while returning to our respective towns, keeping in mind the possibility that the Enaria army may emerge from another exit elsewhere."
Hmm... That sounded perfectly reasonable. I would do the same in that situation.
If I were to add something...
"If I were to add something, I'd say we should search for wherever the Enaria army might come out. It doesn't have to be a large force—a small scouting party is enough. All they need to do is look for openings connected to the ruins."
"Fumu. That's a good point. Once we've secured our towns' defenses, we should begin searching for the ruins' exits ourselves. If we find one first, we may be able to ambush the enemy and inflict significant losses."
"Indeed. In the confined space of a ruin entrance, they can't make full use of such a massive army. As soon as our defenses are prepared, we'll dispatch scouting parties."
Horst and Mist quickly discussed and decided on key locations to send troops.
Immediate assessment, immediate execution... This duo is actually quite impressive, aren't they?
What's truly amazing is that some of the scouting locations they've picked out actually do contain exits to the ruins.
"By the way, Mist... how are you planning to report all this to your superiors?"
The handling of the current situation is fine. The real problem is how to report it.
If reported poorly, they might immediately launch an operation to invade Enaria's capital. If that happened, we'd have to interfere and stop it... Because otherwise we'd obviously be thrown into the vanguard as the spearhead.
For now, I want to hear what Mist and the others plan to do.
"...There's no choice but to report things exactly as they happened. We've already reported the capture of the two towns and one fortress, so reinforcements should arrive in about a month. That should solve our defensive concerns. But... I can't predict how the higher-ups will react to nearly 100,000 Enaria troops becoming effectively stalled because of this cave-in. In the end, though, they only have two choices: focus on defense or go on the offensive."
Just as Mist said, at the end of the day, the only choices are to defend or attack.
Since they couldn't simply abandon the territory they'd captured, they'd naturally strengthen their defenses. But the Enaria army—which can currently be classified as missing in action—remains a major wild card.
Would headquarters spend time dealing with that uncertainty?
Or would they see it as an opportunity and launch a full-scale assault on Enaria's capital?
"Given the situation, I think upper command won't have the luxury to reassign troops; they'd likely maintain the status quo." (Mist)
"And why is that?" (Horst)
"The Jilva Empire isn't only fighting Enaria. Even though Enaria sent a large army here, that certainly wasn't their entire military, correct?"
"...Indeed. 100,000 troops is only about one-sixth of their total forces. Hmm... Even if the supply unit that escaped returns with reinforcements, they'll likely prioritize rescuing their trapped generals."
"Exactly. There's no way they'd begin another offensive against us while ignoring a dual-wielding Magic Sword wielder."
"And we've already spread information claiming we have three Magic Sword wielders. I highly doubt the enemy has anyone among their reinforcements capable of matching them."
Make sense.
Since both sides were tied up fighting elsewhere, neither could spare significantly more troops.
Capturing the capital wouldn't instantly destroy the Holy Nation of Enaria anyway.
The higher-ups probably understood that expanding the war further would only create more problems.
"We'll receive reinforcements as well, but they're intended for defense. Our combat strength won't increase dramatically. Launching an offensive to drive the enemy back simply isn't realistic."
"Fumu. So it will become a defensive war. In that case, this cave-in has become extremely important as a means of buying time."
"Exactly. Under normal circumstances, Horst-dono's town would've already faced a major offensive. We should consider this fortunate."
Horst agreed with Mist's assessment.
But he glances at me with a slightly disappointed look.
He was probably disappointed that he hadn't gotten to witness the full power of the barbed wire defenses.
"Until enemy reinforcements arrive, we must further strengthen our defenses while gathering as much information as possible about the Enaria army inside the ruins. That's our priority. I'll personally report the situation and our plans to Onee-sama and Marley-sama. Yuki-san, Horst-dono, please return to your towns and proceed with the defensive preparations and ruin exit search as we've discussed."
* * *
After deciding the general policy and ironing out the details, we left a small monitoring unit at the site and disbanded.
Mist and Horst were busy giving withdrawal orders to their troops, so we held our own meeting inside the vehicle while watching everything unfold outside.
"Well, I suppose we can breathe a sigh of relief for now?"
Sheila asked while sitting on my lap, her rabbit ears gently swaying.
"It seems they'll focus primarily on defense, just as we discussed. Though personally, I think the Jilva Empire will still make some sort of move."
Replying to Sheila's words, Jessica—the local resident—offers her perspective.
"Why do you think so?"
"Mist-sama said they'll maintain the status quo, but even with current forces plus reinforcements, they're still overwhelmingly outnumbered by the enemy. They can't increase numbers any further, and they don't want to lose territory they've finally gained. Even with three Magic Sword wielders, no one in headquarters is optimistic enough to believe they can stop an army of over 100,000 through defense alone. If that were actually possible, they'd have been sending Magic Sword wielders alone to conquer territory long ago."
"I understand what Jessica-san is saying, but what kind of action do you think Jilva will take?"
"That's..."
Jessica hesitates, unable to come up with a definitive answer.
Well, there's no way she could know for sure.
However, just like Sheila, I understand what Jessica is getting at.
The King of Jilva isn't an idiot who would let this massive tactical victory go to waste. While I can't provide a definitive answer either, I can narrow down the possibilities to a certain extent.
They can't increase numbers, the enemy is overwhelmingly superior in numbers and strength, yet they can't retreat... To say I can narrow it down might sound strange, but it's more like there's really only one viable option left.
In battle, it's important to give your allies a reason to fight harder and make the enemy hesitant to attack. That appears in the form of morale among the soldiers.
So my guess was... they'll send one distinguished person — some famous commander or someone hailed as a genius?
If they already had three Magic Sword wielders, adding one more well-known figure from Jilva would probably make the enemy think twice before acting.
"Well, no point worrying about it. Jilva's homeland will decide on its own. As long as it's only Betan we're talking about, we can handle anything ourselves."
"That's true."
"At the end of the day, all of these strategic discussions are based on the premise of excluding our mercenary unit, after all."
Exactly.
The balance of power remained unchanged.
Our mercenary unit >>>>> the Jilva Empire and the Holy Kingdom of Enaria combined.
No matter what the enemy does, we just need to make the appropriate adjustments.
* * *
Side: King of the Jilva Empire, Fionha Reiga Jilva (Jilva III)
"Fumu... Capturing Enaria's territory so swiftly was admirable... but perhaps we've provoked the enemy too much."
In my hands were two reports from General Mist, one of the Empire's Magic Sword wielders.
One detailed the successful occupation of Enaria territory. The other reported that a massive enemy army was advancing to retake it.
While it is an entirely predictable retaliation, the massive army exceeds 100,000 men, and leading them is none other than General Prism—a woman widely hailed as the strongest blade of the Enaria Holy Kingdom and an unprecedented dual-wielding user of Magic Swords.
"They intend to hold the defensive line until further orders arrive, is it... They must have some sort of strategy in mind, but having already deployed an occupation force, I cannot afford to strip any more reinforcements from our ranks."
However, we've finally gained a foothold against Eneria. Allowing them to simply take it back now would be an immense waste.
Should I pull troops from another front and send them there instead...?
...No. The enemy is already approaching.
The fact that this report arrived in a little over a week means the battle may have already begun.
Sending reinforcements now would be too late...
"In this situation, rather than committing the folly of wasting our soldiers' lives, should I issue directives to dismantle the infrastructure of the occupied regions instead...?"
A scorched-earth policy.
Truthfully, such a strategy yields far too little benefit, and it places an immense psychological burden on the executing soldiers.
Putting it mildly as "destroying the functions of the towns and fortresses" actually means making them uninhabitable.
Seize the food, poison the wells, burn the houses.
This would force the recapture army to stop to aid the towns... However, this is not something people should do.
But if we do nothing, it's clear the enemy will easily take back the territory we seized. If we can't safely withdraw the Magic Sword wielders and those mercenaries, we could find ourselves in a difficult position.
"It can't be helped..."
Just as I resolved myself and reached for my pen to draft the order authorizing the scorched-earth operation... Another report arrived.
It stated that the enemy had been caught in a natural disaster called a collapse and had nearly disappeared... I thought it was divine providence telling me to take Enaria, but upon reading the report carefully, that didn't seem to be the case.
They were caught in the collapse, but most of the enemy survived and fled into the ruins.
Currently, since it's unclear when the Enarian army might emerge from one of the ruins' exits, the report recommended strengthening defences and preparing for the enemy.
"So... we've gained time. However, the enemy will surely send reinforcements once they receive this report as well..."
We could dispatch additional reinforcements ourselves. But ours would have to come from armies stationed elsewhere, meaning they'd arrive later than Enaria's.
That would accomplish nothing.
"In that case... perhaps sending one more exceptional individual will buy us enough time."
No matter how strong Magic Sword wielders are, three people cannot stop 100,000 soldiers. However, they can serve as a deterrent... Unfortunately, that deterrent had largely disappeared now that the enemy possessed General Prism, the dual-wielding Magic Sword wielder.
So...
If we sent another renowned individual... Perhaps the enemy would hesitate long enough for our reinforcements to arrive.
"But the question is... who?"
I cannot possibly send Air, who is assigned to guard me.
The famous generals are all deployed elsewhere.
As I ponder this, I hear running footsteps in the corridor, and the door to my office is thrown open.
Since Air showed no reaction, it's probably not an enemy, but...
"Father!! I heard some mere mercenaries caused trouble at the castle, so I hurried back at once!!"
"—Depart immediately to join the Magic Sword wielder, General Marley!!"
"Huh? Wait, um, Father, what about the mercenaries?"
The person who appeared before me was my tomboy daughter who had virtually no chance of inheriting the throne—
The Fifth Princess, Miffy.
