Chapter 6: Quiet Invasion
Duke Gregory’s territory was located at the northernmost end of Galarc. The Cretia family of the south, and the Gregory family of the north; since the dawn of history, these two duke families supported the kingdom from one end to the other.
However, the events that were to happen to the Gregory territory today were never before seen in history.
Early afternoon that day, before the three matches were held...
A group being led by Saint Erica was staying in Greille, the capital of Duke Gregory’s territory. Erica gathered the group in a room of a peasant inn to address them all.
“Everyone, what did you think of this city after walking around yesterday?” she asked cheerfully, looking around at the faces of her companions.
“By which you mean...?”
The companions exchanged confused glances with each other.
“We are about to seize this city and commence our invasion of the Galarc Kingdom. You will all be seizing this city with me. Not because I want it, but because you wish to do so of your own accord. That is why I want to hear about what you saw, where you stood, where you went, and what you felt. I had you look around the city by yourselves for this purpose,” Erica explained, looking around at everyone’s faces once again.
“It’s a very big city,” one young man eventually said. “Far bigger than the capital of our nation. If a suburban city is this big, then the capital must be even greater...”
A similarly aged woman seated nearby spoke up after him. “Will we really be able to seize a city this big by ourselves...?” she asked worriedly. The total number of their party, including Erica, was ten. A mere ten people.
Erica aside, even if they enhanced their physical abilities, the other nine each only had the strength of a knight at most. How could they storm such a large city and seize control of it? They were probably worried about that.
“What are you getting fainthearted about? We have Saint Erica’s beast of the land on our side!”
“That’s right. If the divine beast rampages a bit, this city will fall in an instant!”
There were others who were confident about seizing the city. They believed in Erica’s beast of the land. However...
“You mustn’t misunderstand, everyone. We are indeed invading this kingdom. However, our enemies are the royalty and nobility ruling this country, not the innocent people of this land. Summoning the beast of the land within the city would be a catastrophe. I cannot sacrifice the people of this land for no good reason,” Erica said, expressing her reluctance to call the beast of the land to capture the city.
“So we must take over this city without the use of the divine beast...?”
“Yes.”
“How in the world are we supposed to do that?”
Could they occupy a city with a mere ten people?
“With Saint Erica on our side, we have nothing to fear from their army.”
“Indeed. Even without the divine beast, we can still take over the city easily.”
“But there’s only ten of us. Saint Erica cannot use her full power while keeping the residents unharmed, and if there’s someone as strong as the man who attacked our capital here...”
“Hmm...”
The optimistic people who believed in Erica’s strength fell quiet. They were probably recalling Rio, who had fought with the beast of the land on equal footing. If a warrior like that appeared, even Erica would struggle against multiple opponents at once.
“Indeed, it would be a little bothersome if someone like him appeared. But I have no intention of losing,” Erica answered. “This isn’t a battlefield where we hurl all of our forces at each other. We are infiltrating the enemy’s territory, making the first move in a local war. There are plenty of ways to succeed.”
“Ooh...!”
The group looked at Erica hopefully.
“What do we have to do?”
“Shall we increase the number of our allies first?”
“Increase our allies? Do you mean we should call for reinforcements from home?”
“No, there are plenty of allies in this city already.”
“Was another squad dispatched along with us...?”
The group looked surprised. They hadn’t heard of such a thing.
“No. I am talking about the people living in this city.”
“The people...living in this city...?”
Nine of them made faces that said they’d never thought of that.
“Like I said before, our enemies are the royalty and nobility ruling this kingdom. There is no need to antagonize the innocent residents of this land. They are the victims that have been oppressed by the rulers, so they will join forces with us.” Erica gave them a saintlike smile.
“Of course...”
“Yes, that’s exactly right!”
“They’ll become our allies!”
One after another, the group raised their voices in agreement. They believed that the people of this city would agree with Erica’s teachings, just as they had when she first appeared before them.
“There are a few reasons why I selected this city as the starting point of our invasion. First, as it is located right along the border, it is constructed in a manner that is very easy to defend. On top of that, it is governed by one of the top nobles of the kingdom, making it a considerably large size. The more people living here, the more potential allies are available to us. If everything goes well, we’ll be able to obtain a powerful base and many allies in one go.”
The problem was whether things would go well or not. But for better or worse, the people here all had the utmost faith in Erica.
“...” They all saw their imminent victory. Even those who were unsure earlier looked confident now.
“The royalty and nobility of our nation were also overthrown by the power of the majority. If every single person living in this city became our ally, the Galarc Kingdom would be helpless. They couldn’t possibly kill them all. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes!”
Everyone’s voices overlapped with each other.
“Then, in order to save our comrades from the tyranny of the nobles, let’s first bring them over to our side.”
◇ ◇ ◇
Erica and her party left the inn in high spirits and made their way to the square connected to the main street of the city. However...
“There really are so many people here...”
Perhaps it was because they were all countryside dwellers that had never left their tiny nation before. When faced with the bustling street, far livelier than the capital of their own country, they felt daunted.
“There’s nothing to fear.”
Erica was the only one who marched through the square without the slightest hesitation. Behind her, the rest of the party nodded at each other before following her footsteps with resolution. Erica stopped before the fountain in the square. As for what she was doing in a square where so many people were gathered—
“Your attention, everyone!”
It was an appeal. Erica raised her voice loud enough to be heard over the noisy square, calling out to the people passing by.
“...”
The people paused, turning to her in silence. They looked at her with questioning gazes. Before she lost their attention, Erica continued.
“Don’t you all think it’s strange? We pay the noble class so much in taxes, yet they do nothing for us. If anything, they look down on us like we deserve to pay them tax. They think of us as dirty commoners.”
She looked around at the faces of those closest to her, presenting her radical opinion to them. An unknown woman had suddenly started a speech in a corner of the city. Her loud voice attracted quite a few gazes, some of which were unimpressed. However...
“Thanks to the taxes we pay, the noble class live in fancy mansions and estates, wear fancy clothes, eat good meals, have warm clothing, and sleep in soft beds. Yet we are forced to live humble lives in our cramped homes.”
Erica paid no mind to their dubious gazes, pressing forth with the presentation of her theory. Her speech was entirely extremist in a class society ruled by royalty and nobility.
But as the contents of her speech related to the lifestyle of the people, there were many who were listening in spite of their suspicion. Perhaps they were unhappy about having to pay such high taxes as well, and were only holding their tongues out of fear of the noble class.
“We are forced into absolute submission by the noble class. We must obey their every order, no matter how outrageous. We must constantly live in fear, praying that we won’t be targeted by the wrong noble. Even though we are all the same humans... What is it that makes them so different to us?”
By the time Erica asked that, there were quite a few people who had come closer, be it out of interest or empathy. She had put into words the things they couldn’t say themselves.
“Young lady,” an old man chimed in.
“Yes, sir?”
“You know we can’t defy the nobles. I understand exactly what you’re saying, but you should leave it at that for your own good. The soldiers will be coming soon.”
The old man expressed concern for Erica’s well-being. In a class society, there was no freedom for commoners to criticize the positions of power. Inciting the antipathy of the noble class was like begging for punishment.
Erica met the old man’s eyes and smiled gently. “You’re a very kind person.”
Just then, having heard the commotion, soldiers came running over—as the old man expected.
“What’s going on here?!”
“What are you doing?!”
They were members of Duke Gregory’s private army, hired to serve the role of police. It was the lord’s duty to maintain public order within his territory.
“Eek!”
The reaction of the gathered people was swift. The moment they noticed the soldiers, they scattered away from Erica.
“Aah!” someone screamed. It was a little girl who had been pushed by the wave of fleeing people and fallen to the ground.
“Ow...” She must have grazed herself in the fall. There was blood flowing from her knee.
“Oh, dear me.” Erica immediately approached the girl. She then materialized her Divine Arms and brought the end towards the knee. The end glowed with a healing light, closing the wound.
“Ooh...” The people scattered about stirred noisily at the appearance of a fine staff and a healing method they would never normally witness. They had distanced themselves from Erica out of fear of the soldiers, but they were now giving her even more attention than before.
“Off you go now.”
“O-Okay. Thank you, miss!” The girl bowed nervously before running off.
“Hey, woman. What is that staff?” The soldier who came running was taken aback by what happened and questioned Erica about her staff. But the other soldier beside him interrupted with a gasp.
“Excuse me, ma’am. Would you happen to be a noble?” he asked politely. The reason for his question was her staff—only nobles and top-class adventurers possessed magic artifacts containing sorcery. The clothes she wore weren’t particularly extravagant, but they were clean and of good quality. It would be bad for them if she was a noble. That was what he was probably thinking.
For the record, nobles that possessed territories—such as Duke Gregory—tended to have many vassals without a court rank. The soldiers working in the area generally came from such vassal families. They were treated as quasi nobles and guaranteed better lifestyles than the average commoner.
“No, I am not a noble.”
“A renowned adventurer, then?”
Top-class adventurers tended to have connections to high-ranking nobles, so regular soldiers had to be careful with how they treated them. However, Erica openly disclosed that she was neither of those things. “No. I am a regular citizen no different to everyone else here.”
“What...?” The soldiers exchanged confused looks, having assumed they were dealing with someone of important social status.
“Where were you hiding that staff? No—why do you have such an item? I’ve never heard of a magic artifact containing the sorcery to heal.”
With a clear change of attitude, the soldier that had spoken politely to Erica gruffly questioned her about the staff.
“This belongs to me. Is there a problem?” Erica tilted her head curiously.
“Where did you get that staff from?”
“Why do you want to know that?”
“Because that staff is clearly a valuable item. There’s no way a normal commoner would have such a thing.”
“Are you saying you don’t believe this belongs to me, by any chance?”
“That’s right.”
“This item is mine.”
“Then prove it.”
“How?”
The soldier sneered as though to taunt her stupidity. “If you can’t prove it, then it clearly doesn’t belong to you.”
It was evident from his attitude that he had determined the staff wasn’t hers.
“I suppose I have no choice, then. How about this—I can make it appear and disappear at will. Does that serve as proof?” Erica asked. She then made her Divine Arms vanish and reappear.
“...” The soldiers were speechless; it should have been pretty convincing proof. However...
“...No,” they denied.
“Why not?”
“The governor needs to make the final judgment.”
“Judgment of what?”
“Someone else might be able to make that staff appear and disappear too. He will be the judge of that,” the soldier replied, voice cracking.
“Would you like to try for yourself, then?” Erica offered her staff out to the soldiers.
“...” One of the soldiers hesitantly accepted it. He stared at it closely, as though captivated by the sight, and gulped. He could tell that it was a far better item than any of the steel batons supplied by the army.
“How do you make it disappear?” the soldier asked, eyes glued to the staff.
“It’s nothing special. I tell it to disappear in my head and it disappears. The same for when I want it to reappear.”
“What...?” The soldier holding the staff grunted. He was probably thinking the word “disappear” in his head, but the staff showed no sign of vanishing.
Eventually, the soldier holding the staff reddened in anger. “I can’t do it!” he shouted.
“That’s because you’re not the owner of that staff,” Erica snickered.
“Guh... The governor will still be the judge of that. We will hold on to this.”
“You’re coming along too.” The soldiers gave Erica their verdict.
“No. I do not want to go with you.” Erica refused them flatly. The way she clearly stated her own opinion against people of power must have been satisfying to watch, as there were many curious onlookers around them.
“What did you say?”
Humans were creatures that responded to betrayed expectations with anger. Erica’s defiance immediately soured the soldiers’ moods.
“Give me back my staff,” she said. The staff in the soldier’s hand vanished.
“Hey! Return that!” the soldier yelled in a fluster.
“That’s funny. Why should I return something that belongs to me?”
“There’s still no proof it belongs to you!” the soldier snapped irrationally.
“Everyone! Who do you think is in the wrong here: me, or these soldiers? They’re trying to steal an item from a commoner just because it seems valuable. No doubt they intend on claiming it for themselves, coming up with whatever excuse they can to confiscate it. Does this appear fair to all of you?”
Erica addressed the onlookers that had watched the entire scene from the start, seeking their opinion.
“N-No one said that much!” the soldiers refuted, flustered at how she had pointed out their ulterior motive.
“Is that so? Well, I’m sure whatever you say must be the truth.”
Erica stared at the soldiers coldly. “You insolent... Enough! Return the staff!”
“I refuse. Actually...” Since the beginning of the conversation, Erica’s tone had been extremely calm. “Do you have any proof I made the staff disappear in the first place?” she asked.
“You said it yourself! The staff disappears when the owner wants it to!”
“Oh, are you acknowledging the fact that I’m the owner, then?”
“No! I-It was just a figure of speech!” the soldier yelled with a panicked look.
“So it disappears when I want it to disappear, even though I’m not the owner? Do you have proof? Please present evidence that the staff disappears even when someone who isn’t the owner wants it to disappear.”
Her words must have been retaliation for the way the soldiers demanded proof from her earlier. The onlookers who had seen the whole thing play out from the beginning caught on immediately.
“Ha ha!”
Someone among the onlookers laughed loudly in delight.
“That’s...!”
They had been humiliated before the public. The soldiers turned red as their emotions got the better of them, and they opened their mouths to argue. But no words came out. They were probably at a loss for what to say. Eventually, they realized they wouldn’t win a verbal argument.
“Enough! You’re under arrest for the obstruction of public order!”
The soldiers took out their batons and prepared to suppress Erica for her insubordination.
“Heh heh.” Erica chuckled, and the fight with the soldiers commenced.
◇ ◇ ◇
Over ten minutes passed in no time. Erica was still locked in battle with the soldiers. But the soldiers she was currently fighting weren’t the same ones that initially confronted her—those two were lying around somewhere in this square. The whole square was covered in over fifty soldiers, all of them defeated by Erica’s hand. Excited onlookers were gathered in one corner of the square, along with the party that had followed Erica from their homeland.
“Heh heh heh.”
No matter how many soldiers she defeated, more reinforcements came running intermittently. But Erica faced them all with a cool face.
“Damn it!”
“Are the direct troops of the governor still not here?!”
Meanwhile, the soldiers surrounding her all looked rather pale. Their allies had been knocked out one after another, so it was only natural. They probably wanted to run away.
This is as much as I expected. As I thought, there’s no one as strong as that boy.
Erica thought as she glanced at the cowering soldiers. She had been wary of the appearance of someone as strong as Rio, but none of her opponents had been particularly threatening so far.
“This way!”
Just then, a new group ran into the square. There were roughly thirty people on horseback. Noticing the reinforcements, Erica directed her gaze over at them.
Oh? These soldiers look a little stronger.
The troops were clearly dressed in better equipment than the other soldiers. Their uniforms resembled the knight uniform of the kingdom’s military. They were all part of Duke Gregory’s private army—an elite unit of the finest soldiers.
The onlookers clamored at the appearance of the governor, who ruled the city on Duke Gregory’s behalf.
“Hey, it’s the lord’s personal army!”
“The governor is here too!”
“Will that lady be okay?”
The elite forces dismounted from their horses at a distance from Erica, stepping down onto the ground. But one man remained sitting on his horse. He was Duke Gregory’s second son, Maxim Gregory. The eldest son of the family was employed in the capital.
“Hey, woman! You must be the one causing this commotion,” Maxim shouted, glaring down at Erica on horseback.
“That would be incorrect,” Erica replied, answering him boldly before the thirty troop members. “This commotion was started by two of your subordinates, not me. I believe they’re lying around somewhere in this square.”
“What a mess you’ve made here... You should hope you don’t regret your actions.”
Maxim glanced at the disastrous state of the square with disgust. She had openly fought with soldiers that served nobility. It was pretty much the same as bringing disgrace to the noble himself. No matter the circumstances, this situation was unacceptable.
“I permit the use of excessive force. Enchant your physical abilities and apprehend her.”
“Augendae Corporis!”
At Maxim’s order, the elite troops all chanted the spell in unison. Once they’d finished preparing for battle...
“Seize her!”
They were given the order to arrest Erica. Three soldiers immediately approached Erica, surrounding her from different sides. All three were armed with police batons.
The elite troops had been mobilized. There was nothing else that could be done here. The majority of the onlookers in the square were thinking that. However...
“Wha...?!”
Their expectations were defied. In a single swing from left to right, Erica defeated all three of them.
“Guh...”
They weren’t dead, but their wounds were anything but superficial. The men who had been mowed down writhed, groaning in pain.
Maxim gasped in shock at the sight. “What did she...?”
But he immediately snapped back to his senses.
“All units!” he yelled.
Before he could command them to charge forward, Erica was running towards the elite troops. She slipped right into the midst of them.
From that point on, it was a one-sided scene of brutality. Against the soldiers that hesitated to raise their hands in fear of friendly fire, Erica swung her staff without a care. Some of the troops attempted to block the attack with their batons, but they were no match for Erica’s strength with only their physical abilities enhanced.
“Wh-Whoa...”
The nine subordinates that accompanied Erica joined the residents of the city in watching with bated breath as the lord’s army was helplessly suppressed. The nobles they feared didn’t seem so scary right now.
“D-Defeat her! Defeat her! Defeat her...!” Maxim ordered, getting his horse to back away so he could distance himself from Erica. But even as he did that, the number of his unharmed subordinates decreased moment by moment.
What people sought in fiction wasn’t a boring and ordinary life.
They wanted stories of the unreal and extraordinary.
For example, a hero appearing to punish the evil nobles... A story of poetic justice. Something simple and easy to empathize with.
That was how to seize the hearts of the people.
Eventually, all the knights and soldiers besides Duke Gregory’s son had fallen.
“Whooooooooo!” The onlookers roared in joy, praising Erica as they looked down on the nobles.
Maxim’s decision was rapid. He quickly yanked the reins, ordering the horse to change directions and flee.
“You’re not getting away.”
Erica slammed the end of her staff into the ground. A wall of dirt several meters tall rose before Maxim.
The horse neighed and tumbled over in shock.
“Ngh...!”
Having fallen from the horse, Maxim rolled on the ground and groaned. Erica walked towards him.
“Gah...!” Maxim tried to scramble back.
“There’s no need to be frightened. I merely wish to confirm something. If you answer me honestly, I will spare you from any pain.”
“I-I’ll answer!”
“All right. If I’m not mistaken, you are the governor of this city?”
“Th-That’s right.”
“The lord is absent right now, so that makes you the head of this city, correct?”
“Y-Yes. As the second son, I am in charge of the city when my father is away.”
“I see. Then there’s something I need you to do.” Erica smiled sweetly, her mouth twisting into a grin.
“Wh-What...?”
“In the name of Saint Erica, I am making a declaration. As of this moment, this city will become a territory of the Holy Democratic Republic of Erica. This is a declaration of war to the Galarc Kingdom. Tell that to the Galarc King for me.”
At this very point in time, a state of the Holy Democratic Republic of Erica was created. It was just a short while before Rio won his matches against William and Gilbert.
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