Volta Under Siege
The emperor scowled, clearly displeased, as he stared at his approaching aide. But Wellington Marquis, the aide in question, hurried toward him without a care for the ongoing ball.
“What is it?”
“W-well...”
For some reason, Wellington Marquis hesitated to speak directly to the emperor, glancing furtively elsewhere. His gaze landed on Duke Carpoem and his daughter, who were staring at each other with grim expressions. They had moved to the center of the hall for a dance but now ignored the eyes on them—including the emperor's and the aide's—as they engaged in a grave conversation.
“Wellington Marquis!”
“Ah, yes.”
The marquis finally snapped to attention and swallowed hard. For six years, the emperor had relentlessly offered the vacant prime minister position to Duke Carpoem, who had refused with every excuse imaginable. As a result, the marquis himself had been filling in as aide for far too long. Piles of work led to endless overtime and nights without returning home, and now even the ball had been missed. Who could have foreseen such a dire crisis?
Wellington Marquis suppressed the urge to weep as he bowed to the emperor.
“The messenger we sent to the north with Your Majesty's decree has just returned...”
The messenger dispatched to the northern frontier on imperial orders had come back pale as a ghost. Knowing how brutal the north could be, Wellington Marquis had even granted him leave to rest upon completion. Yet instead of using a return scroll to his own estate, the man had appeared directly in the imperial palace.
“The Volta Base is on the brink of falling to the monsters!”
“What?”
The emperor shot to his feet in shock. His eyes immediately turned to the father and daughter. Duke Carpoem and Abigail stood out more than anyone at tonight's ball, and they regarded him with strangely composed faces.
“What in the world is going on, Duke?”
Northern affairs fell squarely under the duke's purview, leaving the emperor no choice but to ask in bewilderment. The duke opened his mouth with an impassive expression.
* * *
Just as the music for the dance began, a vibration that made my whole body tremble jolted me.
Bzzz. Bzzz.
“Hm? What is it?”
“What's wrong?”
“Ah, hold on a moment, Father.”
I excused myself from the duke and rummaged at my waist. My fingers touched a hard object. We called it the text transmitter. It was a collaborative invention from my idea and the Magic Tower. Communication orbs often failed over long distances, so this was for emergencies between mana users. The downside? Only those who could handle mana could send texts, and since it was carved from a magic stone, it was small and couldn't hold many characters.
I widened my eyes at the words glowing on the pager-like device.
[Volta, falling, crisis.]
“...!”
Just three words, but their gravity hit me instantly.
“Father, Volta Base is...!”
“Mm.”
The duke's face hardened as he read the message too. This was no time for idle dancing.
“Th-this is serious, Your Majesty!”
“......”
“......”
We silently watched as Wellington Marquis approached. We knew exactly what he had come to report.
“The messenger who brought Your Majesty's decree must have arrived.”
“I see.”
The messenger who had arrived at Volta Base in disarray hadn't been fit to return immediately. He had a return scroll, but magic scrolls worked best with sufficient stamina to mitigate the backlash. Before coming to the ball, I'd left him at the base to recover. And today, as I attended the ball, he'd witnessed the monsters' sudden assault. Realizing the severity, he'd used the scroll to come straight to the palace.
Still, something felt off. We'd crushed so many monsters—why was a monster surge happening just like in the original story?
The original's compulsion?
The inescapable force of the plot. I could tweak relationships with characters to some extent, but core events like this seemed immutable no matter what I did.
Even so, suspicions abounded. I'd only been able to attend this ball because we'd wiped out the monsters rampaging since before spring. Without that, not even an imperial decree would have dragged me here.
Perhaps the monster surge—one of the story's biggest events—was orchestrated by someone.
I bit my lip, watching Wellington Marquis whisper to the emperor.
“Stay out of this one.”
“Pardon?”
I stared at the duke in surprise at his words.
“What do you mean? The outpost is...!”
“Abigail.”
His red eyes met mine with grave intensity, and for some reason, I couldn't speak.
“Leave it to your father from now on. You've done more than enough.”
“But...”
Thanks to Benjamin and me turning back time, the duke had returned to health before the curse took hold. But I knew his fatal flaw. Dragon's Mana. The immense power inherited by heirs. Yet the duke's mana dwindled year by year—a fact I sensed more acutely as my own strength grew.
In the original, he died before the surge, but now he stood before me, alive. Still, how long could he last on the front lines without that dragon's mana?
“Father, I'll go. It has to be me.”
“Abigail.”
As we argued, the emperor abruptly stood.
“What in the world is going on, Duke?”
His gaze—and with it, every noble's in the hall—turned to us. Unfazed by the scrutiny, the duke spoke calmly.
“The northernmost outpost is engaged with monsters. It appears quite dangerous.”
“...!”
For someone calling it dangerous, the duke seemed far too serene—enough to make even me think it was no big deal.
“It seems I must go myself. Please permit my departure mid-ball.”
“Mm.”
As the groaning emperor began to nod, I stepped forward and cried out.
“If I may, Your Majesty!”
“Abi!”
I shook off the duke's hand on mine and looked up at the emperor on his dais. His eyes met mine. This was the first time I faced Rampas Empire's emperor directly.
“I've built and managed that northernmost outpost. With all due respect, not my father, but I must go resolve this myself.”
“You?”
The emperor eyed me dubiously, likely dismissing me as a mere woman. Then Wellington Marquis, who had been glancing around nervously, whispered something more to him.
“...Mm.”
“......”
The marquis had surely heard details from the messenger who'd arrived at Volta Base. He'd witnessed me dealing with the monster remnants, so he must have reported that. Indeed, the emperor's gaze shifted as he looked at me.
“Is that so.”
“Yes.”
Wellington Marquis bowed and stepped back. The emperor regarded me again.
“Very well. I command Abigail Carpoem, daughter of Duke Carpoem, to repel the monsters.”
“Your Majesty!”
“However.”
His eyes swept the hall as if searching for someone.
“Crown Prince, step forward.”
“...Yes, Your Majesty.”
The crown prince approached the dais, looking startled—as if he'd been watching from nearby. I'd momentarily forgotten him.
In the original, Michael Lux Rampas was the one ordered to repel the monsters. Things had diverged now, but...
“I also command my son, the crown prince, to lead the imperial knights and assist Abigail Carpoem in exterminating the monsters.”
“I accept Your Majesty's command.”
“...I accept Your Majesty's command.”
I bowed, stealing a glance at the crown prince beside me. As expected, they wouldn't send me alone. It seemed our fates were inextricably linked after all.
To protect the north from the imperial family, I'd need to outmaneuver him in this surge and claim greater merit.
“Then, I shall take my leave first.”
Most of our forces were already in the north, so I planned to return immediately with Ren. The crown prince would bring his knights with the imperial mages' help.
“I'll follow shortly.”
“...Yes, we'll be waiting.”
I replied stiffly to the crown prince, then turned.
“Abigail.”
“Father.”
The duke stared at me, looking angry. I took the hand I'd just shaken off.
“If I fail, then you step in.”
“...Don't say such things.”
His pained expression oddly made me smile. Having read the original, I knew how brutal the monster surge would be. Yet fear didn't grip me. An inexplicable confidence assured me I'd succeed.
“Abigail!”
“Yurina...”
“I'll convince His Holiness—the temple will send reinforcements too!”
“Good.”p>
The heroine would head north soon enough. I smiled faintly at the future unfolding before me.
“Ren, let's go.”
“Yes.”
I worried desperately about Volta's situation now. I strode out as boldly as I'd entered.
* * *
“Fire!”
Boom! Crash! Kaboom!
The cannons atop the walls spat fire. The magic weapons, crafted with utmost care by Magic Tower mages and northern engineers, pierced the monsters with terrifying power.
Yet the onslaught never ended.
“Damn it, there are too many.”
Jade Mare wiped cold sweat from his brow, staring ahead. The previous battles paled in comparison; monsters poured in endlessly. At this rate, the outpost's fall was inevitable.
“We hold until the young lady returns!”
If only Abigail would come back. Absolute trust and faith in her drove them on. The knights who'd shared life and death with her for six years held blind conviction.
“Reload!”
Soldiers loaded magic stones inscribed with fire spells and pulled the cords. Seeing preparations complete, Jade shouted again.
“Fire!”
The magic cannons roared once more at the monsters.