I wonder how long I slept.
No, I couldn’t sleep. By the time I tried to find a place to sleep, a loud noise had started from the East Gate.
“They’ve arrived, haven’t they~”
They really have arrived. I was disappointed, as I had inwardly hoped they wouldn’t come. It seems I won’t be able to have peace after all.
But no one is coming to the West Gate. Have they forgotten about it? Perhaps they were scared by the name “White Lily Corps.” As long as things are peaceful, that’s all that matters.
Since the enemy is here, I can’t sleep, and the West Gate is idle. What should I do? I thought they would come from the North Gate, where there’s a large forest.
If Koatotemites City is being attacked, isn’t the head of the castle gate a decoy? Or maybe the forces at the East Gate are the decoy, and the main force has gone to the villages and towns.
Zivil Village should be fine, as there are four members of the White Lily Corps there. Even if it’s attacked, they have enough time to retreat to the rear town with the villagers and then return to Koatotemites in three days.
I don’t know the enemy’s strength, but we have three hundred adventurers, so there’s no problem. I’m not being careless; I’m just holding back.
“Orietta, send out Doron to scout the East Gate. But make sure not to be noticed by others.”
Even though Doron was made with Alchemy, it’s advanced technology. I want to keep it from anyone outside the White Lily Corps as much as possible. I’d even like to hide Orietta’s armored suit if I can. Orietta will descend the castle wall and deploy Doron from a convenient spot. She’s a capable girl, so there won’t be any problems.
The commotion at the East Gate is concerning, but there are no messengers, and the commander at the West Gate is doing nothing. The West Gate is eerily peaceful.
After watching Christine for a while, I felt like trying out the super-vibration function attached to her left prosthetic arm. It was popular with Yuina and Niina during the day, so I felt like using it. It’s primarily for increasing shield defense, but you have to use anything you can to survive on the battlefield.
As I reached out from my shoulder towards my chest, just for a moment…
“Captain~, the East Gate is falling~”
“What?”
Just five centimeters more. …That’s not the point!
“Is that true!? How many enemies are there?”
“There aren’t many, but there’s one with great heat~. They’ve already reached the gate~.”
Seriously? If it has great heat, it must be a Troll. More than a hundred adventurers are stationed at the North and East Gates, and it’s breaking through them?
“It hasn’t been breached yet, has it? What about the other heat levels?”
“There are about fifty the size of Orcs~. They’re clustered behind and the large heat source seems to be singular~.”
“It’s not one large heat source?”
“No~, it seems to be a cluster~.”
A one-point breakthrough at the East Gate. I thought they’d come to the North Gate, but I was wrong. A Troll breaks down the castle gate, and Orcs rush in. The ones behind are reinforcements. Once they break through the gate, they’ll advance and ravage Koatotemites. That’s probably the plan.
“They’ve come from the North Gate as well~. They’re about human-sized and very fast~. They’re passing through~.”
I saw them. A black shadow that flew through the center of the city, likely a Harpy. It flew over the East Gate’s castle gate and headed back north. About thirty or forty of them. They wouldn’t be here just for fun, so what are they after?
“I’m going to the East Gate. Orietta, come with me. Christine, you stay here.”
It’s not wise for everyone to go. Christine can handle long-range attacks, and she has no mercy for men. As I started to head for the East Gate, Christine grabbed my left sleeve.
Could it be that she’s curious about the super-vibration on my left hand!? Now is not the time, but I guess I have no choice.
“…Is it okay to kill them?”
“…Yes. Everything outside the castle gate is an enemy.”
I couldn’t ask if I could “fiddle” with it… I should get to work.
I scooped up the airborne Orietta and used Godspeed to head towards the East Gate. Orietta seemed to be enjoying being held, but it’s tiring to carry a single girl. I managed to get Orietta to the vicinity of the East Gate and sent Doron out again.
Several adventurers were holding the castle gate, trying to prevent it from being breached, but I quickly ran up the castle wall. There were many archers on the wall, but they weren’t shooting, hiding behind the wall.
Next to the fallen, stones as large as a man’s fist were scattered. They probably can’t shoot arrows for fear of being hit by projectiles. This is why adventurers are useless.
I leaned out to see what was in front of the gate, and a Troll was battering the castle gate with a log. It was like SWAT breaking down a door. The White Lily Corps’ SWAT broke down an inn door with their feet, though.
A stone the size of a soccer ball whizzed past me just as I peeked out. With that kind of accuracy, they’ll never aim for the World Cup.
If things like that are flying around, I can understand wanting to hide behind the wall, but if the castle gate is breached, Orcs and Trolls will pour in.
Who is the commander here!? What are they doing? They should either have the archers on the wall shoot or abandon the castle gate and prepare for battle inside the castle. They won’t win fighting piecemeal.
I looked for the commander but couldn’t find them. Either dead or fled. I should have brought Christine. If I had brought Christine, she could have forced a resolution to this situation using “Unfortunately…”
Believing the castle gate would break, I descended the castle wall and looked for Orietta. I need Orietta’s power right now. I didn’t want to show her armored suit, but against Trolls, I’ll be in trouble if I don’t wear it.
“Captain~, there are enemies at the North Gate too~. Probably Harpies~.”
This is inconvenient news at such a busy time. For now, I’ll ignore the Harpies since I don’t know what they’re doing. This East Gate is about to be breached.
“Orietta, change into your armored suit. We’ll meet the enemy on the inside of the East Gate.”
“Yes~.”
With a drawn-out reply, Orietta summoned her armored suit. It’s always amusing to watch. It emerges from a golden magic circle.
“I’ll change~.”
Huh? Here? Orietta’s usual outfit is Lolita. Even in battle, she wears Lolita. I’ve never seen her wear armor, and knowing Orietta, I thought her Lolita outfit was also somehow protective. Come to think of it, Nuyoo got caught in her Lolita outfit, and it caused quite a scene.
Orietta, without concern for those around her, started undressing. I couldn’t help but watch, but underneath her Lolita dress was a swimsuit! And it was white!
“Orietta-san, that outfit…”
“It was in the Captain’s memory~. Wearing clothes under clothes is a good idea~.”
It’s efficient and saves time, but why a swimsuit? And why white? Please don’t touch on the dark parts of my memory. I don’t dislike it; it suits her very well.
Orietta, in her swimsuit(?), put on the armored suit. Even as an armored suit, it’s a two-meter-tall behemoth. An armored suit over a swimsuit… it’s a dark memory.
When we arrived in front of the East Gate, the people holding it back were gone, and everyone was waiting with swords drawn for it to be breached.
Don’t panic. With our numbers, I and Orietta should be able to handle this. I gripped my Short Sword anew and infused Magic Power into my left hand. Super-vibration activated.
With a loud noise, the castle gate was smashed open. Small wooden fragments scattered like shrapnel, kicking up dust.
…
Silence descended. Outside the breached gate, a Troll was retreating as if fleeing.
My mind was filled with question marks and Orietta’s swimsuit. And it was white!
