The day after witnessing the Railgun, Orietta and I returned to our room at the inn in the early morning. Sure enough, the Halberd came flying at us. I couldn’t completely dodge the Laser.
“Ugh! Sofie, it’s quite hot this morning!”
“I thought you liked it hot, heehee.”
While I have no problem with hot coffee, I certainly don’t appreciate a scorching Laser piercing my belly. The Halberd flew between me and Orietta, closely followed by a Platinum Laser aimed directly at me.
We are currently at war. Although Sofia can only fire twenty Lasers in one day, she had unloaded ten of them on just me.
“This is wartime! What would you do if the enemy attacked us right now? The one that hit my stomach made a hole in the wall, and I have no idea what happened to the person next to me.”
“First of all, aren’t you ignoring guard duty!”
Let me confirm once again that guard duty is supposed to be suspended during wartime. Besides, we are short on rooms and overcrowding in a large room, yet we fight from morning till evening, hold guard duty from evening till morning, and then expect to resume fighting again the next day—it’s simply impossible.
Priscilla, Sofia, and I discussed the situation. Within five minutes, Orietta had snuggled into bed and was fast asleep. When everyone else gathered, we ended up having a meeting where we confronted one another.
But despite everything, I felt happy. Setting aside the Halberd incident and the Laser shots, I was glad that we were able to continue discussions.
Before, we would have just fought nonstop after the Halberd attack. Even if it was just for a short time, the fact that we could discuss things made me grateful. I was thrilled with Priscilla’s growth. Sofia seems to have matured too, but I wish she would refrain from shooting Lasers every time something goes wrong. Due to the growth of both girls and the indirect attacks from the three of them, I had fallen faster than Anaheim.
“Is the enemy still not here?”
“Yes, it seems so.”
“Can I get a refill of coffee?”
“Of course! I’ll bring it right away.”
“Captain, we have some over here.”
“Got it.”
“Captain, do you need help?”
“I’m fine, Alana. Just take your time eating.”
From the meeting yesterday morning until this morning… Ugh? I thought I was going to die. This ordeal was intense—no, saying it was intense is an understatement. It was absolutely ferocious!
What drove these women to this point? Did I alone think it was just a casual day?
Thus, I became the morning waiter. Fortunately, Alana was the only one who worried about me; you’re my angel, Alana. But I won’t forget how you clawed at my arm yesterday.
Fortunately, the Demon Army was not full of procrastinators. They were likely waiting to start their advance after capturing Anaheim to eliminate any worries from behind. Until then, we could have breakfast at our leisure, and since the enemy was out of sight, it was ruled that guard duty could continue.
To me, this is still a wartime situation. As captain, I need to be involved in discussions about troop formations, supplies, and tactics.
During guard duty, we managed to discuss, “We will join the Third Army, and Orietta will…” but we hadn’t talked about the Railgun. The moment I said “but…”, a new massacre began. It seemed like mentioning Orietta’s name was a mistake. Women are so complicated.
At one point, Orietta tried to join in by crawling into bed, but I steeled myself and kicked her out.
I can be serious when I need to be. After all, I needed to communicate with the leader of the Third Army. I couldn’t just waltz in without greeting the commander of the White Lily Corps and the mercenaries from Anaheim.
I sent Orietta to greet the commander and provide tactical advice. We, the White Lily Corps, had three long-range attack capabilities.
Sofia’s Platinum Laser, Rufina’s magically animated Sand Dragon rock, and Orietta’s Railgun. These three methods had a range that surpassed that of a catapult.
Even though it was late at night, after Orietta explained, we managed to take command of the mercenaries from Anaheim and were incorporated as an independent strike force within the Third Army.
From now on, we barely intend to minimize our casualties and earn money by aiming for big game based on the three long-range attacks.
When Orietta returned from speaking with the commander and entered our room, I welcomed her back to bed without hesitation. I wouldn’t refuse anyone who came.
On the morning of the third day after our retreat to Schreiaschwald, the bearer of bad news was none other than Shiina.
“Good day, it appears that Anaheim fell last night.”
I felt a sense of dread but couldn’t hide my surprise. Being jolted awake by her voice right next to my ear caught me off guard.
“Good morning, Shiina. When did you come in? Please don’t startle me like that. Were there any survivors escaping from Anaheim?”
“……”
Shiina quietly shook her head. Would I never see the smile of Lady Helena again? I recalled her sad eyes alongside the sunflower-like smile.
“Do you know the enemy’s numbers?”
“Yes. There are ten Giants, two Sand Dragons, seventeen Trolls, and around two thousand Orcs and Goblins.”
“Huh?!”
I involuntarily sat up. There were two Sand Dragons? That must have been reinforcements from another city, but how can a Sand Dragon’s mother produce that many offspring?
The path from Lauenstein to the Royal Capital branches into three ways. Central to Runelius, east to Etvaaru, and west to Anaheim.
From these three, two paths lead to either us in Schreiaschwald or to Doishunomuharuto to reach the capital of Harm.
Seeing that Anaheim was held due to our efforts, they likely moved to launch another assault after waiting for reinforcements from Runelius or Lauenstein. However, the enemy’s numbers are larger than I had anticipated.
If either Schreias or Doishun falls, they can directly assault the royal capital. If that happens, we might even have to abandon the cities we had just held.
Though we won Anaheim, I’m against abandoning it. Who knows if someone like Lady Helena might emerge again?
“My good fellow…”
It can’t be helped. I don’t mind a waking kiss. Just as I was getting up, the person sleeping next to me, with a quick jab to my temple, caused me to fall back into bed.
“Wake up! How long are you planning to sleep?”
I had a headache, feeling like I was suffering from a hangover. Someone please make me clam soup. When I finally woke up, everyone was dressed and ready.
No need to rush so much! The enemy won’t arrive till the day after tomorrow at the earliest. We should take it easy; otherwise, we’ll tire ourselves out.
“Good morning. Are you all set to leave?”
“Huh? What are you so dazed about? The Third Army has called for us. Get dressed quickly!”
We have to hurry! I quickly jumped out of bed, and for some reason, everyone stopped moving and looked at me. As I wrapped the sheets around myself and exited, the one who caused my second sleep said,
“I’m already done changing… I’ll help you.”
“I’m fine! I can do it myself… Where did my pants go?”
“They’re right here, Mikael. If you want them, come and take them by force.”
Are you kidding me? We’re being summoned by the commander, and you’re playing around? I staggered, enduring the headache as I reached for the pants Priscilla was holding, but she lifted them higher so I couldn’t grasp them.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“I told you to take them by force.”
This girl! I might just grope her breasts. But doing it over armor wouldn’t be enjoyable. I stretched my hand toward Priscilla as she swung her arm.
“Hey, Sofia!”
My pants flew through the air, fluttering and landing right in front of Sofia, who caught them. I thought about using Godspeed, but using divine gifts to chase after my pants felt wrong.
“Wow, I got the captain’s pants!”
If you’re going to get something, go for a monster instead of my pants, I almost wanted to retort, but I staggered and chased after Sofia.
“Ah, this is the scent of the captain’s pants. I think I could get addicted. They smell a bit, should we wash them?”
I could almost hear my fragile heart breaking. Stop it, that’s so embarrassing! Don’t sniff my pants!
“Sofia, pass, pass!”
As I staggered, my pants took flight once again, this time flying toward Alana. Is this a new form of bullying?
“Sniff, sniff, wow—this is the scent of the captain’s pants! It’s overwhelming! How about you, Christine?”
Bullying is a definite no-go. Perhaps caught up in the moment, Alana shoved my pants into Christine’s face. I could hear my heart shatter.
Christine, upon smelling the pants pressed to her face, seemed to have a strange glint in her eyes and smiled devilishly. Where did the beautiful Christine go!?
“Alana, that’s enough of the pranks… Captain, you might want to get a bit angry too… I’ll wash the underwear, so please wear something else.”
Christine, having tucked away my pants into her pocket, acted as if nothing had happened.
“Geez, that’s boring.”
Yeah, that’s true. But it was enough to break my heart. Perhaps I’ll scatter Priscilla’s pants later. Let her experience the feelings of someone having their underwear sniffed.
“Excuse me. I’m the Earth Mage you requested.”
Opening the door without knocking is unacceptable, but I had completely forgotten that someone I had asked for was arriving. A girl wearing a robe entered, having removed the hood; she had short hair and a boyish look.
I couldn’t tell from the robe, but from her face, she seemed a bit thin; having a little more in the chest department wouldn’t hurt. She was a lovely girl with gentle eyes.
However, would she really see the man in front of her—the captain, half-naked and wrapped in a sheet, with only a petty knife for clothing—as the esteemed leader?
“Uh… is this the White Lily Corps…?”
I can understand her nervousness. This is the White Lily Corps. A half-naked man just hiding a petty knife doesn’t exactly invoke confidence…
“Yes, this is the lodging for the White Lily Corps. And who might you be?”
Who do you think you are?! Just stay back! This is something for Orietta and Rufina to handle together.
“Orietta…”
“How terribly boring. I really want to make things interesting. ■■■■■, concentrate!”
Being caught off guard by the spell the idiot recited, I had no chance to resist. As I switched from the petty knife to the Buster Sword, I ended up dropping the sheet in a moment of panic.
My eyes met with the Earth Mage’s, and she quickly glanced down, letting out a shriek before fainting.
Bullying is a definite no-go, absolutely!
