“We’re retreating.”
Immediately, I ordered a “retreat” to everyone gathered in the central plaza. The enemy numbers are more than ten times ours. Retreat is the only logical option. Yet, no one moved.
“What are you doing? Their numbers are overwhelming.”
“It’s a bit difficult to run away~”
Are you an idiot, Priscilla? The enemy is ten times the number we were told. Five of us, excluding the non-combatants me and Sophia, would have to face sixty enemies each.
“I haven’t been able to create zombies this time. I need more.”
You can make as many as you want at the graveyard. If we stay here, we’ll become zombies ourselves. I’ll take you to the graveyard later, Rufina!
“I haven’t done anything significant other than break the gate~”
That was significant enough, Orietta! That’s why I paid your battle reward immediately. From now on, when you wear your armored suit, wear an inner layer, even if it’s thin.
“We can manage.”
Show me the basis for that, Alana! You’ll be doing calligraphy practice later. I’ll use my spirit of es and teach you strictly, so be prepared!
“Aren’t we okay? You annihilated a brigade before, so a little more is fine.”
Sophia, that was a brigade formed by mercenaries – a rabble. This time, it’s an army from the national Knight Order. They are incomparably stronger than before.
“……”
Are you angry? I never imagined steel could turn into slime. Please give me another chance. This time, it will be from the front, from the front, and it will be fine.
“…Understood, let’s do it.”
Three hundred is indeed tough. Our fighting strength is five people, and that’s the minimum. We’ll need to use our trump cards flashyly, or we’ll be left with no options.
“Alana, go scout. Don’t go so far that you can’t return. Rufina, how many zombies can you summon?”
“Sixty.”
“Have all of them wait before the gate to slow down the enemy’s advance.”
“Orietta, don’t use the Armored Alchemy Formula. Summon ‘Black Knights.’ How many can you summon?”
“Three… Up to four is manageable.”
“Position three of them behind the zombies. They’ll charge when the enemy’s speed decreases.”
“Priscilla and Christine, you will stay inside the gate……”
“Captain! The enemy has stopped!”
An unexpected report from Alana, who had gone scouting. That shouldn’t be possible. They know our numbers, so I thought they’d attack all at once. Climbing to the watchtower of the fort, I saw the national knights dismount their horses. This is madness……
“Rufina, recall the zombies and recover your magic power. Orietta, bring the Black Knights to the front of the gate.”
While summoning zombies, Rufina consumes magic power. However, the Black Knights created by Orietta’s alchemy are like robots that operate semi-automatically, except when they are being created and summoned.
“What do we do now?”
Priscilla asked, a slight smile on her face. She’s probably thinking of something lewd, but I’m having trouble dealing with this unexpected situation.
“This is unexpected. With this many, they should have charged.”
“Perhaps they aren’t charging precisely *because* of their numbers.”
That’s possible. If a group of only six can take down a fort defended by a hundred mercenaries, it’s no wonder they’d be cautious. The enemy commander must be a calm type.
“We’ve bought some time. Perhaps we should make a move.”
Even though I said that to Priscilla, I only had a couple of ideas, the ones I was starting to mention earlier. Normally, with such a disparity in numbers, there’s no way to fight. But giving us time was their mistake. I have two ideas now.
One is Orietta’s area-of-effect alchemy. We can’t help it if people call it demonic, and it could tarnish our reputation. I’d rather not use it, though Orietta would be happy to.
The other is Sophia. The conditions for its activation aren’t clear. It’s still in the realm of “maybe,” but I feel like she can do it now. This is magic, so it would be a display of power.
Sophia is a white mage who uses spells specializing in healing and support, but she can cast Meteor Strike. Ordinary white mages don’t have offensive spells, yet she can cast Meteor Strike, which destroys everything.
Such a Sophia once tried to kill me. Not just Sophia, but all of them tried to kill me at some point, but Sophia intentionally cast Meteor Strike to kill me.
It was a while ago. Or perhaps a long while ago, I’ve forgotten, but it all started with a request from a certain lord. It was for the protection of a lord’s daughter, nothing too serious. The White Lily Corps is an all-female mercenary group, so the lord probably entrusted us with peace of mind.
For me, it was an easy job. Just follow the young lady in the carriage, with plenty of time to eat Sophia and Menna’s fruit.
Since protection was needed, we were attacked. I think there were a decent number of attackers, but Priscilla didn’t even draw her sword, and Alana was sleeping in the carriage.
When some attackers approached the young lady’s carriage, I ran them over with my carriage. That was my first encounter with the young lady.
From my perspective, I ran them over as part of my job, but it seemed different for the young lady. She upgraded me to her destined partner, and apparently, running over a bad person makes you their destined person. Does this world have a shortage of encounters?
I was starting to get into it. Nightly… We made all sorts of memories in secluded spots during the day, too. I was tired of the fear of the White Lily Corps and my night life. Though, perhaps it was the same kind of fatigue?
My father-in-law apparently liked me, and private discussions progressed. On my way to the mansion to give my reply, I decided to buy a small gift, which saved my life.
When I arrived, the mansion was gone. Not just the mansion, but the entire thing had vanished. In its place were countless large and small, jagged rocks.
At first, I didn’t understand. I never realized it was Meteor Strike. I didn’t know what to do, so I returned to the inn where everyone was staying. Sophia rushed to me, crying and clinging to me.
As you might have guessed, Sophia’s Meteor Strike destroyed one-fifth of the city, killing many people. Naturally, the lord’s family also perished, and our discussions with the young lady ceased.
Later, Priscilla told me that she had intended to drop Meteor Strike on me along with the others, but she got scared after seeing the results.
Sophia herself doesn’t know why she could cast Meteor Strike. She just says it happened before she knew it, which is unstable. This time, I want to experiment with whether this instability can be stabilized.
Sophia’s Meteor is fueled by jealousy, but the members of the White Lily Corps are not targets. Even though we are busy with guard duty every day, not even a pebble has flown at us. However, for this specific situation, because of Priscilla’s dress and the naked curtain incident, we’ve taken a step forward, so I might be able to use it.
To seal the deal, maybe I can add that the Count Hart’s reinforcements will include his daughter, whom we can propose for marriage. Also, I’ll make sure Sophia directs the Meteor towards the enemy knights, treating her specially with something like, “If only the enemy knights weren’t here…”
I think I’ll have Alana and Orietta handle this role. Alana mentioned there were only thirty enemies, but when I checked the documents again, it said three hundred.
Despite Orietta’s verbal tic, she is a theorist by nature, being an alchemist, so I think she can do it.
I called them both and asked, and it was good that they were both enthusiastic. I expected Orietta might refuse, but not Alana. Later, I’ll have to give them both extra lessons in language and studies as a reward.
As night fell, Rufina arrived. She demanded her “battle reward.” I wanted to wait for the results of the Meteor, but refusing would only anger Rufina further and cause more collateral damage.
“Give me blood.”
I don’t know which world demands “blood” as a reward, but this one does. I’d like to offer tomato juice instead, but she’d probably just get angry at such a joke.
“We’re in the middle of a strategy right now, can’t this wait? If it’s later, I can free up a bed.”
“Guard duty is sufficient for that. Give me blood.”
I envy people who can clearly say “no.” I can’t… Because I can’t say no, it doesn’t mean I want to be bled until I faint from anemia! I say it in my mind.
I got off the bed and approached Rufina, but I abandoned my plan to knock her out with a hand chop at the second step. At Rufina’s feet, vines, her prized possession, were wriggling out of the stone floor.
They can trap me with that. I think they’re called “Restraining Vines.” Dozens of those wriggling things will fly out and capture me. And they’re barbed. It would be like getting tangled in barbed wire.
“Rufina, you must be tired. Blood is good, but let’s relax now.”
Don’t panic, me! My forced smile should look natural. Approach slowly, don’t convey your tension, get into their personal space.
“Just hurry up and give me the blood.”
Only two more steps to range. Don’t rush, but hurry. Keep smiling. Don’t look away. Don’t look at the wriggling things. It makes me want to eat eel.
With an explosion of tension, I closed the distance in half a step and stole Rufina’s lips. I embraced her tightly, then twisted my tongue inside and licked her forcefully.
For a moment, Rufina stiffened. The restraining vines raised their heads like snakes and lunged at me, but as our tongues intertwined, they lost their strength and vanished.
“You… You won’t fool me!”
She pushed me away, trying to break free, but I’m not so lacking in stamina that I’d lose to a mage. I won’t let go, I won’t let go, because I’m scared of the wriggling things.
“Rufina, you’re cute.”
This is true. Rufina is cute. However, unlike Christine’s fair skin, her sickly pale complexion makes me worry if she’s lacking blood.
I broke free from her grip and lifted Rufina, carrying her to the bed. Seeing her arms wrapped around my neck, I think this might work.
I gently laid Rufina on the bed and opened her robe. The inside of her robe had many pockets, containing small vials of various liquids and suspicious powders used as magic mediums.
The necklace around her neck was adorned with gold and silver jewelry, and among them was what looked like a human skeleton. Is it real? Whose is it? I wouldn’t get an answer even if I asked, and I don’t want to know.
I want to take off her clothes, but I can’t figure out how it works because of the necklace, and I don’t want to touch the skeleton.
However, unlike Sophia, Rufina’s skirt is short. I want to take my time and make her forget about the “blood,” but this is a moment for going all out!
I slipped my hand under her skirt and traced my finger to her most private parts. Rufina let out a sweet moan, and I was convinced of victory. I’ll thrust in the petty knife like this, don’t turn into slime!
Her sweet moans continued, and I could feel her wetness. I took off Rufina’s panties. My steel petty knife is ready. Let’s go, let victory’s glory be mine.
A tremendous roar became a salute for me. The rumbling sound from outside the window seemed to carry malice.
“I did it!” I blurted out. Rufina looked at me with a puzzled expression, saying, “We haven’t finished yet,” but this must be Sophia’s Meteor Strike.
Looking outside through the window, the area where the knights were encamped was piled with pyramid-like rocks. It was as if only that spot was accumulating concentrated hatred…
The door opened. The door to the room we were in. Rufina must have sensed it, the madness that was piercing through doors, walls, and pillars.
“Mikael… So you were here…”
She rarely calls me by my name. It’s like someone suppressing their anger and using excessive politeness. Is Sophia like that now?
“It has nothing to do with me! I have nothing to do with it!”
Rufina’s voice, trembling and shouting, did Rufina’s voice, trembling and shouting, reach Sophia? She didn’t even glance at me, and started walking towards me.
“…Run, Rufina. Run…”
In a small voice, that’s all I could say, and my legs wouldn’t stop trembling.
