The Battle of a New Era

After a stretch of marching, we finally reached a position from which the fortress occupied by the rebels came into view.

"Looks like they're preparing for a siege," said Irene, who had ridden ahead to survey the situation. She turned back toward me. "What are you going to do, Swen?"

"Exactly what I told you last time. We finish them in a single blow."

"Are you sure that's all right?"

I smiled and nodded.

"We were never going to be able to keep it hidden forever anyway."

The existence of mages was bound to come to light with time. Reika was the most powerful mage in this game, but she was far from the only one. Besides, a number of the stunts I had pulled already — building an altar and making it look as though a meteor had fallen, for instance — had spread rumors across the continent that mages truly existed. As I had said before: if something was going to be revealed eventually, we might as well put it to the best possible use.

"…And Reika?"

Irene turned to look at the girl hovering uncertainly behind me.

"I—I… that is…"

Her voice alone made it clear how badly she was trembling. Without a word, I took her hand and held it firmly.

"Ah…"

Reika flinched in surprise, then tightened her grip with everything she had.

"…I—I'll do it. I told you as much the other day, Lord Swen…"

Unlike her usual hesitant, ant-crawling murmur, her voice came out remarkably clear.

"Lady Irene and Lord Swen… in an age like this, each of you carries your own burden. And Lady Serpina works so hard for Lady Irene's sake… and Lady Irene works for me, and for so many others…"

She glanced down at the hand I wasn't holding.

"Everything I eat, everything I wear, the very fact that I can live like this — all of it is possible only because people give everything they have in their own places. So even though I have this power… I refuse to stand with my hands behind my back and do nothing. I don't want to be a coward who just tries to ease her own guilt…!"

"…"

If she used her magic, people would die — rebels, yes, but people all the same. Some would merely be wounded, but inevitably a great many would lose their lives. That was the nature of war. Ten thousand soldiers were not a health bar labeled 10,000. They were ten thousand little universes, each ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠holding a world of its own, about to be shattered. Until now she had only ever hurled magic at trees and scarecrows. This time, her own hands would take human lives. For someone like Irene or me, soldiers bound to a nation, that weight might be bearable. For Reika, who was still essentially a civilian, it must have been crushing. And yet she wanted to be of use to us. She wanted to repay Serpina's kindness.

"…Very well."

Irene seemed to understand Reika's resolve. She nodded in silence.

"Then I'll begin. Lady Irene — once the magic is finished, seize the timing and charge straight in."

"Understood."

I slowly drew my rapier. Reika recognized the signal at once. She closed her eyes and began gathering mana into her hands.

"Haaah…!!"

I watched a sphere of flame take shape in her pale hands. She pushed it to the absolute limit of what she could manage, swelling it larger and larger —

"…Lord Swen…!"

— and then passed it to me. I carefully set the tip of my rapier against it. Just as I had done before, the fireball Reika had created caught on the point of my blade and began to grow. Honestly, I had never intended to finish things with my own hands like this. But these people had put Lady Irene in danger. That debt had to be paid in full.

You'll pay for it. Thoroughly.

Perhaps it was the anger simmering in a corner of my heart. The mass of flame hanging precariously from the tip of my sword was far larger than the one that had once blown open a castle wall.

"Th-that is…!"

"Impossible — magic actually exists…!"

"I told you! That white-haired mage — the man who dropped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the meteor!"

I could hear the soldiers behind us murmuring, but I paid them little mind. If anything, I was grateful for the misunderstanding. The more people who witnessed this scene, the greater my influence would become.

"…!!!"

And then — the instant the tip of the rapier in my hand told me, by pure instinct, that it was ready —

…Take this…!!!!

I thrust the rapier forward in a straight line. The fireball tore free from the blade and hurtled toward the fortress where the rebels had gathered.

KRAAAAAAAAAASH!!!!!!!!!

A fortress whose defenses were far weaker than any castle wall was being utterly pulverized. After that, Reika and I linked up again and hurled several more fireballs.

——From the sky, a red rain fell.

The fortress standing alone on that wide plain collapsed like autumn leaves before a force the world had never seen. I understood, then, what the scientists who had worked on the Manhattan Project in my old world must have felt. They had said they had become death, the destroyer of worlds. This didn't have the destructive power of a mushroom cloud — but to the rebels inside that fortress, it must have felt like divine punishment.

If they had a sin… it was the sin of endangering Lady Irene.

And the sin of Aingart's own people defying Lady Serpina.

…!!

"Charge!!"

WAAAAAAAHHH!!!

——Ah.

At Irene's command, the soldiers' roaring battle cry rose up and the assault on the fortress began in earnest. And in that very moment, I suddenly realized that the reason for my anger might not have been Lady Irene alone.

The fighting that followed was far more anticlimactic than I had imagined. A single magical strike shattered the morale of the roughly ten thousand rebels, reducing them to a disorganized rabble. There was nothing particularly surprising about people who had just witnessed supernatural power with their own eyes losing the will to fight. Of course, I didn't simply ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sit back after that. Reika and I continued to coordinate, using magic to support Irene until Reika's mana was completely spent.

According to Reika, the northern continent was far richer in mana than the central regions. Her endurance clearly stemmed from that abundance. The plentiful northern mana was a tremendous advantage for us — and a catastrophe for the rebel camp. Unlike every battle they had ever known, they now faced ice and fireballs raining down upon them. I wondered whether they finally regretted the pointless uprising they had started.

This will do.

I still hadn't fully repaid the debt I owed for the way she had thrown her own body in harm's way to save Lady Irene… but I hoped this would at least let Irene set down a little of the weight she carried. No one had suffered more than she had over the fact that her lord, Lady Serpina, had been wounded protecting her.

"The fortress has fallen! Move in and finish them!"

Before long, the battle entered its closing stages. Irene would handle the rest on her own. My part was done.

And then —

"…Lord Swen."

Reika approached me slowly.

"Are you all right, Reika?"

"Yes. I'm… fine."

I took her hand gently. The moment I did, she squeezed back hard. She was… not trembling. She might have been sweating cold, but she stood firm, unbroken.

"I want to be of help to everyone too. With my power… I want to help you, Lord Swen, and so many others. So… I'm all right."

"…You've done well."

"Lord Swen."

Reika turned her head and looked at me.

"I—I don't intend to hide anymore."

"…Pardon?"

"For the peace of the continent. For Lady Irene. And… for my master. I want to do what I can."

The same Reika who had always fretted and flinched and struggled to meet anyone's eyes was looking at me with the clearest expression I had ever seen on her face. Her pink eyes burned as if they might catch fire at any moment. I had no trouble reading the meaning beneath her words.

"But… will you be all right?"

"There's no hiding it anymore anyway… and I don't think we need to. This is simply the flow of the age. …My father always said a moment like this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would come someday."

"Reika…"

"So… I won't hide anymore. I'll use this power. It may still be weak and inadequate for now, but together with you, Lord Swen… I'm certain it will become a great help…!"

She meant every word. I nodded slowly.

"Understood."

"…"

Together, in silence, we gazed at the ruined fortress. From this point on, the shape of warfare across the continent would change considerably. Even the finest generals, veterans of countless campaigns, would have to account for a new variable that had never existed before — the mage — and would struggle for some time because of it. Brilliant strategists would rack their brains over how best to prepare for a battlefield that included magic. As the years passed, more mages would appear, and before long people would move past mere familiarity into researching countermeasures. Magic was a formidable power, but it was not something that could, by itself, let a single person play god and crush every enemy.

But for now, at least — the ones standing at the center of that wind of change would clearly be Reika and me.

I closed my eyes and recalled the name of the scenario in which Reika first appeared.

It had arrived far earlier than the actual scenario timeline — but either way, the existence known as Reika Nighthart had at last stepped fully into the light of the continent.

Pink hair, pink eyes. A girl who loved baking cakes, whose self-esteem was not particularly high, but who earnestly wanted to be of help to everyone — and the first mage on the continent.

As of today, a new era begins.

Like it or not, the continent's clock was ticking steadily forward.

Three thousand against ten thousand — by the numbers, an overwhelmingly unfavorable fight. Looking only at the result, however, the roughly three thousand troops led by Irene, a specialist in siege warfare, cleanly wiped out the foolish rebels who had openly declared themselves the masterminds behind the attempt on Serpina's life.

This battle would go down as the first on the continent in which a mage had appeared and played an active role on the front lines. The earlier fight at the northern fortress of Kelstein had left room for debate over whether what I had done with the altar truly counted as magic. This time, there was no such ambiguity. The existence of mages had risen fully to the surface.

And now — all that remained was the handling of the rebels.