Olivia and the Demon Realm
The departure of the expeditionary force didn't take long at all. The army had already been prepared ever since Pector's invasion. I hurried the mages along to finish the harvest quickly and stocked up on plenty of supplies. And then—
Waaaaaaaaah!
Cheers erupted from the soldiers outside. I stepped out to take a look.
“Priests from the Holy Kingdom have arrived! There are paladins too!”
Knights bearing the Holy Kingdom's banners were visible. Priests and paladins had indeed arrived from the Holy Kingdom.
“They got here pretty fast,” Seria said, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at the Holy Kingdom's paladins.
Of course they came quickly. The Holy Kingdom is quite far away, but during Eldacrad's time, they had dug a direct road connecting to it. Of course, there were other noble territories in between, but all of them were under Ashtar control.
“The Holy Kingdom always maintains a wartime posture. Plus, once you enter the Empire, it's a straight shot to Ashtar.”
“That's impressive. Were there that many exchanges with the Holy Kingdom?”
“It's all thanks to Grandfather.”
Eldacrad's power had fostered a solid relationship with the Holy Kingdom as well.
Following that, supplies from the Kingdom also arrived. And that wasn't all. Quite a lot of support goods came from the imperial capital too. The officials who brought the supplies stopped by the Duke's tent.
“Did the council send these?”
“Her Majesty wishes for the expedition's success and has provided the magic stone guns from the armory.”
Oh, firearms. Nice. That should take care of the gargoyles. Their killing power is definitely superior to arrows.
“Tsk. They should be supporting the army instead.”
The Hero spat out some nonsense from behind me.
“Do you not have a brain? If the Empire's main army marches out, they'll get ground to dust, you know?”
I snapped back at his bullshit. Being kind to this guy would be too much mercy. It was far better to just beat him like I always did.
“Uh… sorry.”
Look at that red face. This bastard isn't serious, is he? If that crazy idiot gets horny for me, I'll steal the Holy Sword and deliver some justice. No, maybe I should just kill him for real. Bury him in the Demon King's territory with Noel. That would work.
There were others who came looking for me. It was the combat maid who guarded the Empress.
“Taesa.”
“Yeah? What?”
One of the officials approached me. I felt incredibly uneasy. Why was he calling for me? If it was something from the council for the Saint, I could understand, but…
A box stamped with the Empress's seal was handed to me. Inside it was—
My mage outfit.
“I can't believe the Empress even sent me clothes.”
It was truly custom-made. This thing.
“Wow, it really is custom-made. As expected of the imperial family.”
Even the wrapping paper was this flashy. It was seriously annoying.
“Oh, there's a letter too.”
A letter bearing the imperial seal. One the Empress only used for special occasions.
My poor son has caused you so much trouble. Therefore, I bestow this gift upon my Taesa. As you head off on an expedition, shouldn't you maintain dignity as both a Saint and the Empress's tutor? With that in mind, I present this to you while wishing for the success of the expedition.
She was basically shoving me out the door. Just thinking about how the Empress must have laughed while writing this letter made my blood boil. Well, that was that, and this was this.
Upon closer inspection, the outfit bestowed by the Empress was optimized for a mage. It was embedded with various defensive spells. Though it looked like a simple uniform on the outside, it would probably be sturdier than Ashtar armor. It couldn't have been made in just a day or two. Had she anticipated this? Or maybe she'd prepared it in advance just to toy with me.
In the past, I would have ignored it. But after fighting Pector, I realized variables always needed to be handled with caution.
“Now that I think about it, this is infuriating.”
Maybe I should just plant my flag in Ashtar this time? The more I thought about it, beating up the Four Heavenly Kings here seemed more suited to my situation. If I returned to the capital, I'd have to deal with the Empress every single day. Just imagining it was horrifying. Besides, my goal was to settle down here and fight the Four Heavenly Kings anyway.
After sending the council officials away, the strategy meeting began. The Duke pointed at the mountain range drawn on the map with his finger. It was a range that stretched into the Demon King's territory. Specifically, it continued all the way to the northeast of Krad Castle. In other words, if we took this mountain path, we could launch a surprise attack on the Third Legion immediately. They probably wouldn't even know the terrain well. They'd chosen the perfect route.
“We'll take this mountain range.”
“A mountain range? The soldiers will die in droves.”
“Then should we march straight ahead and get pounded by Berna of Krad? Or should we announce our arrival loud and clear?”
He was handling things more coldly and rationally than I'd expected. Marching straight in wouldn't be bad either, but crossing the mountains would let us inflict damage on the Third Legion more easily.
“Still, won't the soldiers suffer considerable losses in the mountains? They might even desert.”
“That's why we have the clergy with us.”
This wasn't bad at all. If it succeeded, it seemed like they could crush the Third Legion even without me.
“Since Lord Eldacrad fell to the joint attack of Seto and Berna, you must also prepare for Seto's army.”
“The gargoyles led by Seto are no match for the magic stone guns. We've already stocked up plenty of potions, so Seto won't be a problem either.”
The Duke had used his head quite well. I was honestly curious what would happen if thousands of soldiers targeted a unit of flying gargoyles. The magic guns hadn't seen much real combat yet. I wondered if they could show their strength against Seto's gargoyle unit.
“It's a good plan.”
I could just flatter them a bit and then fight when the time came.
“Also, Rockton will not participate in this expedition. Since I'm going, it wouldn't do for the next family head to leave as well.”
So that's why Rockton wasn't here. Not bad. The Duke had surprisingly good senses. If we circled around the mountains, we'd reach the Third Legion's fortress. It would be more vulnerable to bombardment than Krad Castle, so crossing the mountains would make it easier to deal with.
“We will keep this expedition secret until it succeeds. We must deceive the eyes of the demons.”
Even if they couldn't predict our attack, they would probably be on some level of guard. Hiding it would indeed be better.
“We've already moved tens of thousands of troops. How exactly do you plan to hide it?”
“Since you've already raised an army, why not strike Seto and Berna from the front?”
The paladin and priest who had come as representatives of the Holy Kingdom grumbled. Crossing the mountains would be annoying for them. But a little misdirection would take care of that.
“Hiding it is easy.”
“Does the Duchess have a method?”
A method? Of course I did. There was an incredibly simple way to use this.
“Pector invaded, and Berna desecrated the mausoleum. By now, Berna has probably realized that the Holy Kingdom and the Kingdom know she is Bernoa.”
It was actually too late. A Saint was originally a title used only in the Kingdom and Holy Kingdom. Yet after Bernoa died, the Four Heavenly King Berna appeared. Of course, the title “Fallen Saint” was added later, so there might be some confusion, but they should have at least been suspicious. Similar appearance to Bernoa, similar attire. It made no sense to claim that a new Four Heavenly King had simply taken over Bernoa's corpse.
Since they knew now, we could use it.
“And?”
“We just need to spread the word that, with the council's permission, the armies of Ashtar, the Kingdom, and the Holy Kingdom are conducting joint training exercises.”
All the Four Heavenly Kings like Seto and Berna had even smaller brains for strategy than humans. They wouldn't suspect a thing. In the conflict between the Kingdom and the Demon King's army, the Empire's Ashtar had always taken a passive stance. With such a long history, they wouldn't think the Empire would attack now while the war with the Kingdom was in a lull.
“I heard you are the Empire's Saint, Duchess. You possess quite remarkable military talent.”
The Holy Kingdom's paladin glared at me slightly. He'd thought it would be easy, but now his plans were ruined. Of course he was annoyed. There was no need to call it military talent. This method was something the Kingdom had used quite well. The smaller Kingdom, under the Princess's command, had avoided direct clashes with the Demon King's army and used dirty tricks instead. Every time, the Princess would laugh wickedly.
“Those brainless demons don't know how to think. That's why they fall for the same strategy multiple times.”
“Isn't that deception?”
“Demons whose only combat experience is following the strong and brawling mindlessly couldn't possibly have brains. Maybe Lord Noah would be different, but humans are creatures of forgetfulness, and demons are even worse.”
In reality, the Princess's words had proven true. The Kingdom's army under her command had repeatedly succeeded in using terrain for lure operations, steadily reducing the demon forces. Direct offensives from the Four Heavenly Kings were difficult, but the Princess's strategies had been quite effective. They would never imagine the Empire would use the same tactics.
The actual departure began after we spread the rumors. And it was at night. We decided to take a long detour so as not to be detected by the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings. The sight of the Holy Kingdom's paladins screaming was hilarious.
“My lady. Shall we go?”
It was Kise. She'd brought several mages with her. Hmm, so Kise would be assisting me? That's what I thought, but—
Seria blocked my path.
“If it's the magic division, you should just take the mages. Why are you trying to take my lady?”
“Could the Magic Tower's mage please not interfere? Since the lady has decided to join the magic division, the Magic Tower's mages should stay out of it.”
Did she really need to emphasize “Magic Tower's mages” like that?
“Listen here, Miss Flat Chest. Are you picking a fight?”
“This place only has mages affiliated with the magic division. What kind of pride is this?”
Look at her trying to overwhelm with numbers.
“It's confidence. And it's hilarious how you're gathering a whole gang because you can't handle it alone.”
“What did you say?”
These two were at it again.
“Just go together, what's the problem?”
“Uwaaah. Lady Olivia. This washboard is—”
Seria clung to me, crying. I glanced at Kise. Starting from the face, slowly down to the chest. Yeah, it was flat, but still, this was too much.
“You didn't do anything right either. Just go together.”
“No, I can't go with these magic assistants!”
Magic assistants? If she called them that, I'd end up being one too.
“How dare you treat the magic division my lady is joining like that!”
“My lady just needs a certificate, that's all.”
These two really were hopeless. It would be better to ignore them and go alone.
“Saintess!”
“Oh, you all came.”
In time for the departure, the proud nun unit of the Empire's Goddess Church appeared. They were all carrying various weapons. It looked like… a gang of thugs disguised as nuns. I wondered how those kids from the slums were doing. Lately, they'd been used to smuggle weapons into the church. Still, they were nuns. I rationalized it that way.
“My lady. Who are they?”
“They're the nuns under me from the church.”
I answered Kise's question lightly. In other words, I wasn't even a member of the magic division yet. Before that, I was a Saint. Which meant I didn't need their escort.
“By the way, I haven't seen Claire much lately.”
“I heard before we left that she's assisting the next family head.”
I nodded at Seria's words. Right. We could manage without Claire for now. I turned my gaze slightly toward the nun unit. As expected, they were the ones I'd trained. Their orderly formation was completely different from those Holy Kingdom fools. Just looking at these assassination guild kids filled me with satisfaction.
Suddenly, I thought it might not be a bad idea to leave the fighting to the nuns later and go deal with Berna myself. Maybe I should shake up Krad Castle a bit.