The Hero King, Reincarnate to Master the Art of War (LN) - Volume 8 - Chapter 1

Chapter I: Inglis, Age 15—The Two Princes (1)

The scene: Alcard, at the camp near Leclair’s ruins. The situation: Alcardian forces previously stationed at the Karelia border were now approaching. Those forces’ leader: Lahti’s older brother, Prince Windsel.

Leclair was no longer under threat from the Highlanders or the hieral menace Tiffanyer, who’d ruled there, destroyed the town, and with the Floating Circle had taken away even the land on which it once stood. Nevertheless, under the leadership of Prince Lahti, who had liberated the area, work continued to return Leclair to its former glory.

In this position, one would hardly expect conflict among their troops, yet Prince Windsel’s army was on the march.

“Achoo!” Lahti sneezed loudly. He was in one of the temporary barracks in the camp, planning their response along with Pullum, Captain Lewin, Leone, and Liselotte.

“Lahti, are you okay? Your nose is dripping. Come on, hold still and let me wipe it,” Pullum said.

“I can do it myself!” Lahti protested.

“Prince Lahti. You’re very important, which makes your health equally important. You must take good care of yourself,” Captain Lewin advised.

“Yeah, but at times like this—”

“It’s precisely because things are dire. There’s no doubt that you, personally, are their target. We mustn’t let anything happen to you. That would be catastrophic for morale.”

Lewin’s read on the situation was correct. The time for the army to move to protect Alcard from foreign enemies had passed. The Highlanders had left, and the Karelian army on the border had likewise fallen back. What lay ahead was civil war in Alcard—a struggle for dominance between Prince Lahti and Prince Windsel. Or at least, what chroniclers at a distance would describe as such.

Lahti sighed deeply. “Of all the times for my brother to—! I didn’t think he was the kind of person who would do something like this.”

Liselotte leaned close to Leone and whispered, “Leone, you should make sure to take good care of yourself as well.”

“Huh? Oh, of course.” Leone couldn’t recall the last time someone had said that to her. She nodded, grateful that Liselotte showed that much concern for her.

“I know you’ve been training in the woods at night. You’re working on using draconic power—on using dragon lore more effectively, are you not? I heard the roars of a dragon from far away.”

“Huh?” Inglis had told Leone that her Artifact seemed to contain dragon lore, the power of a dragon. She had been able to create phantasms, which were a sort of semi-material projection serving as a dragon’s guardians. There had been the sound of a dragon’s roar at the same time.

However, Inglis and Rafinha had set off to support Rafael in his battle against the revived Prismer three days before, and Leone hadn’t trained at night since then. She’d slept like a log every night; she’d heard no such roars.

“Liselotte, that—” Before she could finish, the door to the barracks slammed open.

“Prince Lahti! Sir Lewin! I bear Prince Windsel’s response!” said the knight, rushing in with a letter. Lewin had sent him as a messenger to Prince Windsel’s forces to inquire about their intent and purpose in marching on Leclair. At the same time, he had sent another messenger to Alcard’s capital, warning of impending civil war.

“Good work. Can I see it?” Lahti thanked the knight as he took the letter he bore. Scanning over it, his expression darkened to one layered with anger and sadness. “Achoo! Dammit!”

“Which was that for? The sneeze or the letter?” Pullum asked as she moved to wipe his nose.

“Both! But seriously, I can wipe it myself!”

Leone laughed.

“They get along so well,” Liselotte remarked with a smile.

But the vital matter at present was the contents of the letter.

“Your Royal Highness, may I see the letter?” Lewin asked.

“Yeah, sure. Read it out.”

Lewin did so, making sure that Leone and Liselotte could hear. “It reads, ‘Leclair is not liberated at the moment, rather occupied by Prince Lahti, who has colluded with Karelia to sell out Alcardian soil. We are the ones who will truly liberate Leclair!’ A plausible blend of fact and fiction.”

Pullum was livid. “I can’t believe it! Leone and Liselotte, and Inglis and Rafinha even though they’re not here right now, struggled so hard for the sake of the people of Leclair! That’s terrible!”

“But it is true that we collaborated with Lahti to infiltrate Alcard. Collusion, I can see. It’s the ‘occupation’ part that disturbs me,” Leone said.

“I suppose Prince Windsel’s claim will ring as true as ours,” Liselotte pondered. “Sir Lewin, do they have any demands?”

“Yes. First, the removal of the Karelian knights beyond Alcard’s borders. Second, the exile of Prince Lahti. Third, the handing over of the lands of Leclair.”

“Those are... Hmm, perhaps...” Liselotte trailed off.

Leone understood what she meant—that there might be room to consider those demands.

There was no problem with the removal of the knights of Karelia—that was Leone and Liselotte themselves, and they had always planned on returning home when their mission was complete. As for Lahti’s exile, even if he did comply, perhaps the king could be persuaded to revoke that later. It was Prince Windsel’s demand, not a royal decree. They had already written to the capital, and while Prince Windsel was the king’s adoptive son, Prince Lahti was his own flesh and blood. Once he knew the circumstances, the king would likely arrange for Lahti’s return.

“It may be a trap, but still...” Leone said. They had to be prepared for the case of such a trap being the precursor for the prince’s sending an assassin while Lahti’s guard was down, but that would be Leone and Liselotte’s time to shine. Even if worse came to worst, defending Lahti from an assassin would involve fewer needless deaths than facing down an entire army. However, what Lewin said next flipped their plans upside down.

“And fourth, handing over Lady Pullum. Those are all of his demands.”

Everyone else gasped. “Wh—!”

Pullum’s brother Harim had sided with Tiffanyer and joined in the ravaging of the area. He had originally been an administrator with a promising future, the scion of a family with ministerial rank. The people’s resentment at such a betrayal was great. While Pullum herself had done nothing wrong, they made her the next closest target for their anger. That was what this was about. And that was why the demand was unacceptable.

“I retract that. I will fight to the bitter end!” Leone insisted.

Liselotte was just as adamant. “I will as well! That demand is simply unacceptable!”

“B-But—” Pullum stammered. “Except for the part about me, it’s not that bad...”

“Oh, quiet down!” Lahti barked, covering her mouth with his hand, silencing any response she tried to give. “We’ve already gone through this over and over!”

“Yes, indeed!” Liselotte said.

“Good job, Lahti!” Leone said.

Pullum may have wanted to suggest handing herself over, but that was unthinkable. If he had ever considered such an option, Lahti wouldn’t have proclaimed before the entire encampment that he was going to take her as his queen. Leone and Liselotte had been moved by that scene, so they respected his decision here.

“Sorry for pushing this mess on you two...” Lahti said.

“No, we’re all in the same boat,” Liselotte replied.

“Don’t worry about it,” Leone agreed.

Meanwhile, Lewin spoke to Pullum admonishingly. “Lady Pullum, if I may add one more thing. If Prince Lahti is exiled, it’s likely that he will never be able to return to Alcard. So even if you sacrifice yourself, it will be difficult to achieve the result you hope for.”

“Huh? What do you mean, Sir Lewin?” Pullum asked the question that was on everyone’s mind, and the room quietly listened for Lewin’s response.

“Unfortunately, I believe the king will soon lose his authority.”

“What?!” Lahti gasped. “Why?! You’re saying my dad’s sick? Or is someone planning to assassinate him?!”

“No. I believe he must, inevitably, abdicate soon. The fact that he both prepared an invasion of a major country such as Karelia, and sent assassins against its king, cannot be forgotten. As soon as the current matter is settled, His Majesty must beg forgiveness from Karelia and attempt to improve relations. And to accomplish that, a change in our posture will be necessary—at the minimum, His Majesty taking responsibility for the situation and abdicating.”

“Ah...! Yeah, I guess you’re right... From Karelia’s perspective, they’d want more than just an apology...” Lahti said.

“Even worse, they may demand His Majesty’s suicide, cession of land, war reparations, or other conditions. To avoid this, it’s vital that we move quickly to smooth things over. Or perhaps, with news of Leclair’s liberation, a peace offer has already been made.”

“Yeah...the sooner the better.”

“And Prince Lahti, if you were to be exiled in those circumstances... Even if His Majesty’s last decree is your return as heir, who would listen to the orders of a king who is no longer? If Prince Windsel opposes such a move and denounces His Majesty, the royal court will surely feel that the longer the situation drags on, the more likely it is that Karelia will see it as duplicity and resume the war. They would side with Prince Windsel and force immediate abdication. That would be the safest course for them. Do you understand? To leave the country now would mean a permanent end to your hopes of succession and a lifelong parting with Lady Pullum. I cannot recommend that course of action.”

“You’ve got a good read on this situation, Lewin. All right, I’m not gonna just sit back and see what comes to me. You get that, right, Pullum?”

“I-I do! Sorry. I’m sorry! I won’t say anything like that again!” Pullum nodded, her expression serious.

“My opinion is largely based on my discussions of the situation with Inglis before she departed. She had predicted that such demands might be made,” Lewin said.

Lahti laughed. “I really can’t figure out how she does it. She sees through everything. Did she have anything else to say?”

“Yes. She said that while a temporary retreat here would be tantamount to complete defeat, we could instead seize on the opportunity of Prince Windsel’s advance to settle the matter of succession right here.”

As Lewin repeated Inglis’s advice, Leone nodded. “Inglis’s observations always strike the mark in this sort of situation. And I imagine she also meant she believes we can pull it off.”

“It wouldn’t do to fail to live up to her expectations,” Liselotte said. “But our forces only number a few knights. We’re rather unavoidably outnumbered.”

“Yes, which means it’s up to us ourselves!” Leone responded. “But there’s no way we’d be able to just knock them all out like Inglis wanted to. So, we need to be prepared.”

Prepared for war, she meant. They had fought other people before, to be sure, but this would be their first time in a true pitched battle.

“Honestly, I would prefer to fight magicite beasts...but I shall not back down. If this be our only path forward, it is one I shall not stray from.”

Lewin was happy to see Leone and Liselotte nod to each other. He turned to the messenger. “Were you able to scout the enemy’s equipment as I asked? How many Flygears and how many Flygear Ports do they have?”

“Few,” the messenger replied. “Only enough for patrols and to carry supplies, I believe.”

“I see! Then, they can’t airlift their entire force—they’ll have to march!”

“Yes, their Flygears and Flygear Ports are only sufficient to act as support.”

“Excellent! Then, I have a plan.” Lewin nodded. He was determined.

“A plan?! What is it, Lewin?!” Lahti asked.

“Yes. This is something else I discussed with Inglis. We came to a shared understanding that, given how outnumbered we are, it would be reckless to attempt a head-on attack. We’d need some sort of plan.”

“Wait, didn’t she wanna just charge in and knock ’em all out? Is that somehow not a head-on attack while outnumbered?”

“In that event, we could consider Inglis herself our plan, I believe,” Lewin declared with a serious expression.

Lahti laughed. “I guess it just comes down to how you describe it—or describe her.” He appreciated Lewin’s wit.

“Meaning, when we’re talking about her, numbers don’t matter,” Leone mused.

“Yes, indeed,” Liselotte added. “There’s no other way to phrase it.”

“Is the plan you designed with Inglis something we can do?” Pullum asked Lewin.

“Of course, Lady Pullum. Inglis may seem to be the incarnation of brute force, but she also has a very sharp mind. She’s well suited to becoming a chancellor or a strategist... Even though she couldn’t fight alongside us, she left us with useful words. I’m sure we’ll be able to overcome our disadvantages.” As Lewin spoke, he rolled a map of the environs out on the table.

“We must prepare immediately, leave this camp, and lay in wait. Our position will be...here.” He pointed to a long defile just south of the camp, which ran from east to west, and a bridge there. The forests lining the road on both the north and south sides of the bridge were marked on the map. His finger lay on the forests to the north. It would be the first thing the enemy would encounter after their crossing.

“The bridge at Leara Gorge? If it’s a bridge, they can’t all come over at once. So, a surprise attack during the crossing?” Lahti asked.

“No. It will be an open assault. Though we will have something of a disguise. I’ll explain the details as we go. If the enemy manages to pass through here, the plan won’t work, and we’ll be racing against time. As soon as I explain, be ready for action. And, Leone, Liselotte...we have a plan, but in the end, we’re relying on your valor. I thank you for your cooperation.”

“You can count on us!”

“Indeed!”

With the war council brought to an end, Leone and Liselotte rushed to prepare—which meant resuming a task they were very familiar with.

“Isn’t this just what we do every day?!” Leone put all her strength into thrusting her dark greatsword Artifact into a dragon’s tail. This was something she’d done over and over since the camp at Leclair was established—cutting dragon meat. Today, as always, even in this situation, the earnest girl dripped sweat as she put her hands to work.

“We don’t have a choice in the matter. This is necessary work.” Liselotte was sweating too.

“I guess so... But wow, Inglis really does like these tails. She eats them, she makes weapons out of them, now she’s come up with a tactic using them.”

“I mean, they are said to cure both wounds and illnesses. Honestly, I rather like them too. Hasn’t all the time we spent cutting them improved our Artifacts?”

Draconic power—known as dragon lore—rested in their Artifacts as a result of the amount of dragon meat they’d cut. The dragon lore had seeped into their weapons. In Inglis’s case, she had taken the dragon lore into herself due to the prodigious amount of dragon meat she’d eaten.

“Yeah. It’s been good training, but I guess this is it. Let’s do our best!”

“Yes. This time, everyone is helping, so I suppose we’ll be done quicker!”

It wasn’t just the two of them tasked with carving meat from the dragon’s tail. This time, Lahti and Pullum, all the knights, and even the civilians helped. It was truly an all-hands effort.

“Hurry up, everyone! Once we’re done, we can move all of this into place!” Lewin ordered. The crowd cheered in response.

The work was complete before long, and the dragon’s tail, emptied of flesh, was carried to the bridge at Leara Gorge that Lewin had marked out as the site where they would meet the oncoming army.

◆◇◆

Whooooosh!

The cold wind howled in Liselotte’s ears and beat at her cheeks. The sky was dark, and sporadic gusts of snow limited her vision—but it was perfect weather for hiding. She had no worries about the main squad being caught. All that was left was for her, flying as a lookout above the forest where they concealed themselves, to endure the cold.

Compared to a Flygear’s bulky airframe and the hum of its engine, the pale wings granted by her Gift were small and quiet, making them perfect for reconnaissance. Scouting was her responsibility; she was the only one who could do it secretly in this situation.

“Still, it is rather cold up here.” She’d bundled up as tightly as possible, but the cold cut through to her bones. “Ugh, if they’re coming, I wish they’d hurry up and arrive! Even my wings are going to freeze!”

Well, she doubted a Gift could actually freeze, but the cold was getting to her.

“Ah—?!” At the furthest reach of her vision, obscured by the blowing snow, she nearly missed them—there were soldiers marching toward the bridge over Leara Gorge.

“They’ve arrived! Let the operation begin!” She dropped into the forest which lay past the bridge on their path.

There, the first thing that came to eye were dragon tails showily propped into the road from the woods—three of them, in fact. Their bases were planted in large white clumps, large enough when viewed from a distance to be massive bodies in proportion. Surely, they looked to the enemy like bodies covered in snow and rime. Of course, they were fakes meant to deceive the enemy, made with the blizzard-generating dragon lore which was invested in Liselotte’s Artifact.

“Everyone! I’ve spotted the enemy! Are you prepared?”

“Liselotte! Good work!” Leone’s face popped out from one of the snowy forms. The insides were hollowed out so that people could conceal themselves, and in each a dozen or so people were lying in wait.

“Prince Lahti, give the order!”

At Lewin’s call, Lahti nodded. “All right! Go for it, everyone! Make ’em move like they’re really alive!”

“Yes!” The knights, along with volunteers recruited from among the civilians, set to work, crawling into the bodies and then into the tails...

Rattle, rattle, rattle! Fwoosh!

Moving the frameworks constructed within from side to side to sweep around the dragonskin on top, they made the tails look as if they were alive. Not only that, but—

“My turn!” Leone sent a phantasm from her dark greatsword into the sky.

“Grrrooooooar!” The phantasm’s roar pierced the snowy skies.

Tremendous creatures appeared to be lurking in the woods on the far side of the bridge, swinging their tails and roaring. When seen from the other side, it must have been quite intimidating.

◆◇◆

“Prince Windsel! Prince Windsel! Ill tidings!” To the rear of the column marching toward Leclair, before its young commander, barely over twenty, a panicked messenger appeared.

“What’s wrong?!” Windsel answered, his voice filled with gravity but not lacking in confidence. The steed he rode had an exceptionally impressive physique—its coat black with a red dapple, its mane and tail also red. Its tail in particular resembled a gout of flame in the shape of a tail, and the snow melted where it touched the ground. Clearly, it was no ordinary horse. Windsel himself exuded a calm self-assurance ill befitting his age, one which rapidly spread to the messenger.

“Gigantic magicite beasts are lurking in the woods across the bridge before us!”

“What?! Magicite beasts?! Very well, I’ll see for myself. Thank you for your report!”

Windsel spurred his steed forth, to the head of the column. Its speed was unnatural. On level ground, even a Flygear would have a hard time giving chase. Reaching the vanguard and gazing out over Leara Gorge, he saw—even in poor visibility—the great forms lurking on the other side. “Ah...! That’s a rather large magicite beast, is it not?”

Stout tails like bundles of logs, snow-covered bodies the size of hills... He imagined what would be revealed when they roused themselves fully.

“Grrrooooooooohn!”

Their roars, carried on the wind, rattled his soldiers.

“Ahh! What are those monstrous beasts?!”

“If they’re there...are they going to attack us if we continue our advance?”

“But there’s no other way forward!”

“Grrroooooooar!”

Another roar.

“Aaaah!” The soldiers had completely lost their nerve. As was common in Alcard’s armies, few possessed the strength of Artifacts. It was difficult for any country not as great as Karelia or as militaristic as Venefic to compose their forces solely of Artifact-wielders.

Furthermore, the threadbare poverty of Alcard’s lands was reflected in its government. They simply couldn’t afford to procure that kind of weaponry. If tasked with the invasion of Karelia—that is, with fighting other humans—a force lacking in Artifacts would still pass muster, but against magicite beasts, normal weapons would simply be ineffective. Thus, those without Artifacts were especially terrified.

Even Windsel had never seen such huge magicite beasts before. “Calm down! I do not intend to order my best men into combat to do battle with such beasts without the aid of Artifacts! We halt! We will camp among those trees, to break the wind!” Windsel pointed to the woods before the bridge as he gave his order. His forces would face the gigantic beasts across the gorge, separated by the bridge. “And not only that, but three of them... Lahti, did you really expect me to believe that the increase in magicite beasts here was a Highlander diversion?”

As his forces moved into the woods and began setting up camp, Windsel continued to give orders. “Knights with Artifacts, leave setting up camp to the others and gather to me! We will prepare a plan to deal with the magicite beasts blocking our path!”

In truth, he had already formed his plan. There was simply no reason to send soldiers without Artifacts into battle with magicite beasts. A handpicked elite would do.

About an hour or so later, Windsel addressed his knights again.

“Then, I order you, my elite, to conduct a contact patrol against the magicite beasts. Scout them out up close, and reply to any aggression in kind, but don’t go too deep. If you see that you’re no match for the enemy, turn back. Your top priority should be avoiding any casualties.”

“Yes!” Windsel’s chosen knights replied to his order.

“Then, go! Fall out!”

The knights’ Flygears took to the sky. Windsel’s forces were limited in their number of Flygears, but a small detachment could make full use of them. Watching the Flygears recede into the distance, Windsel let out a private sigh. If he’d handled this himself to begin with, it would already be over. But there would inevitably have been objections to a commander being the first into battle against unknown enemies. To avoid those objections, he was forced to let his subordinates take the lead at first. Only if they encountered setbacks could he take the field.

“This isn’t like me. But if it’s for this country’s sake, I’ll do it. That’s how I repay favors,” Windsel muttered to himself.

The knights aboard the Flygears had drawn close to the magicite beasts lurking in the woods across the gorge.

“Grrroooooar! Grrroooooohhhhn!”

The roars of the magicite beasts became more lively, the sweep of their tails more intense.

“Ah!”

“Did...did they notice us?!”

The knights paused for a moment, halting their Flygears. The roars had become louder, but the beasts showed no sign of rousing themselves from their snowdrifts or going on the attack.

“They might have noticed us, but they’re not attacking...”

“Let’s get a little closer!”

“Carefully, though! Prince Windsel ordered us to be careful!”

“All right, here I go...”

They drew closer. Carefully, slowly, slooooowly...

“The closer we get, the bigger they look.”

“Yeah, they’re huge...”

“If they get up and attack us...”

The knights drew yet closer.

“Aren’t we about in range for a ranged attack with our Artifacts?”

“All right, let’s fire on them and see what they do!”

“Okay, going for it!”

Balls of flame and blades of wind sprang forth from the knights’ Artifacts, but the attacks simply dissipated when they struck the tails, leaving not even a scratch.

“It didn’t work?!”

“I guess we have to close in and try at point-blank range.”

“But that’s dangerous!”

“No, look. Even though we attacked them, they’re not responding. We can get a bit closer.”

“That’s right. Maybe they’re stuck in the snow.”

“Ha ha ha, wouldn’t that be great?”

“We should try getting even closer. If they don’t attack even when we’re right up next to them, we don’t even have to fight them—we can just ignore them and go around.”

The other knights agreed with that assessment.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Let’s give it a try!”

“Don’t let your guard down!”

And, as the knights descended very close to the gigantic tail, the world suddenly went black around them.

“Wh—?!”

“Wh-What?!”

The white landscape, the snowy wind—darkness overtook all. They were still aboard their Flygears, but it was so dim that they couldn’t even tell where the ground was.

◆◇◆

“Now, Liselotte!” Leone shouted after activating her Gift.

This dark sub-dimension was a power of her greatsword Artifact. It created a separate dimension and isolated the people in range within it. It had first been prepared by Ambassador Theodore to allow them to fight the magicite beasts summoned by Ripple without collateral damage, but here it found another use.

This was key to the plan Inglis had left them with. The enemy would be forced to advance through terrain that was decorated with Fufailbane’s tails.

Dragons, of course, were not an everyday sight, so those who saw them would assume that they were magicite beasts.

Furthermore, ordinary soldiers were no match for magicite beasts. Knights wielding Artifacts would be sent in response. Because Alcard possessed very few Artifacts, the elite forces that were available would be small in number.

According to the plan, Leone’s Gift would trap and neutralize them inside the dimension. There would be at most a dozen—few enough that Leone and Liselotte could handle them themselves!

“Yes! Leave it to me!” Liselotte activated her Gift and spread her wings, swooping behind the Flygear-mounted knights.

“Huh?! What’s that?!” Her speed was beyond what normal knights or their Flygears could manage. Their slow, sluggish reaction was exactly what she needed.

“You’ll have to be quicker than that!” Liselotte thrust her halberd Artifact forward. It glowed a faint light blue.

Fssssh!

The dragon-jaw-like tip of the halberd unleashed a fierce, glistening blizzard. Her weapon had only somewhat recently taken on this shape, after being permeated with dragon lore. The intensity of the blizzard, formed by a fragment of the ancient dragon’s power, was extraordinary. Inglis had said that, among Fufailbane’s many powers, his breath was one of his most lethal.

Even as a fragment of his power, it was far beyond a normal Artifact’s Gift. If it hit a human directly, they would be frozen before being torn apart and crushed by the wind, so Liselotte aimed at their Flygear. She swept the blade of her halberd to the side, and the dragon’s breath, radiating over a wide area, caught their craft and instantly froze it in place.

“Whoa!”

“We’re falling!”

Frozen, the Flygear plummeted downward—to where Leone was waiting. She had already wound up a forceful strike with her greatsword. “Sorry for being so rough!”

She activated her Gift, and the greatsword sprung forth, sweeping the falling knights away.

“Whoa!”

“Aaaagh!”

It was a sweep, but with the flat of the blade. She bowled over the knights with her fearsome sword, knocking them all to the ground.

“All right!” If this was what the enemy could bring, Leone had room when working with Liselotte to overwhelm them without taking their lives. Against a larger assault on the camp, she wouldn’t have been able to do so. She would not hesitate were it necessary, but if possible, she wanted to minimize casualties among both friend and foe. After all, they were all human.

Lahti, to the rear, gave the order. “Everyone, tie them up so they can’t move! Quick! While they’re knocked out!”

“Yes, sir!” Lewin, the knights, and the civilian volunteers moved as one. Activating the Gift in an area wide enough to consume the enemy knights had inevitably drawn them in as well. But that wasn’t all bad, as the extra hands made it possible to quickly bind the subdued enemy knights.

“Leone! Excellent work!”

“You too, Liselotte! That really helped!”

“No, no. Rather than me, it was all thanks to this!” Liselotte happily clutched her Artifact to her cheek. She’d grown quite enamored with dragon lore.

“Ha ha ha, I see you’ve taken a shine to it.”

“Yes! While my Gift of wings is handy for moving fast and covering a wide area, it simply can’t do a thing about what I find there. All I can do is cleave and thrust at close range...but with the dragon’s breath, I can spread a powerful attack over a broad area! I believe it’s quite effective at covering for my own weaknesses.”

“I guess so... I’m counting on you next time too!”

“Leave it to me! Thanks to Inglis, we can fight without worries!” Liselotte smiled.

With Inglis and Lewin’s plan, they wouldn’t have to face a mass frontal assault by the enemy; instead, they could simply continue to repel small groups of knights coming to hunt magicite beasts. They could remain unchallenged enough to capture, rather than kill, their foes. Additionally, that would relieve some of the burden on Leone and Liselotte to keep their own forces safe.

Inglis had probably thought that far ahead when advising Lewin of the plan. As unusually passionate—if not obsessive—as she became over her own battles, breaking away from the beaten path into the completely ineffable, when contemplating others’ battles, she was a receptive, reliable ally with a keen sense for human emotion.

“Leone! We’ve tied them all up! You can bring us back now!” Pullum said.

She hadn’t taken part in the fight. After all, her harp Artifact’s Gift enhanced the performance of nearby Artifacts. If she had used it then, the enemy’s Artifacts would have been bolstered as well. It was fair to say that Pullum’s power could find its true expression not in battles between knights armed with Artifacts, but only in those with inhuman foes like the magicite beasts. Because she understood her limitations, she had volunteered to join Lahti and others as support.

They pulled the knights away from where they had fallen, carefully bringing them to where Lahti and the others had first appeared. That way, when they returned from this dimension, they’d be inside the false magicite beast bodies with Lahti and the others.

“Of course! Here we go!” Leone replied.

If they continued this, they could eventually draw out and capture Prince Windsel, who commanded the enemy army. With their commander captured, the enemy would no longer offer resistance. After all, the other prince—Lahti—was on their side.

Leone and Liselotte had heard that Prince Windsel was a skilled knight with an upper-class Rune. Thus, he would eventually have to join in any planned attack on magicite beasts. If their other options had no chance, he’d have no choice but to deploy his most valuable force—himself. And he seemed to be a man who liked a good fight, so he would show up before long.

That would be the true battle—that was what Lewin had really meant when he’d said they were all relying on Leone and Liselotte.

Just as Leone thought, the enemy prince would soon arrive.