“How can I calm down!?”
“Squire Neia Baraja! Did you borrow that weapon from the Sorcerer King? Why was he so interested in it?”
“Don’t ask me irrelevant questions like that! More importantly, we need to find His Majesty! I saw him fall to the east! We need to send out a rescue party!”
“Surely he must be dead.”
“How could he be dead!? How could His Majesty die!?”
Neia instinctively grabbed Remedios, but Remedios easily swept her aside and Neia fell to the ground.
“Have you cooled off yet? Nobody could survive a fall from that height.”
“Cooled off? You actually believe that demon’s words? Captain, did you sell your soul to him!?”
Remedios’s expression changed, and then it seized up.
“Squire! Damn you, there are things you can and can’t say!”
She grabbed Neia’s collar with tremendous force, and Neia found it hard to breathe.
“You two! Calm down! Calm down right now!”
The paladins, priests, soldiers, and such hurriedly made their way between Neia and Remedios, and pulled them apart.
Neia panted with all her might as she shouted:
“We need to send out a team to rescue His Majesty!”
“We can’t waste our resources on that!”
“How dare you call it a waste!”
Neia wanted to go up and punch Remedios, but the people between them stopped her.
“I’ve got nothing to say to you!” Having cooled down a little, Neia addressed the people holding her.
“Could you let go of me? There’s something I have to do.”
“Where are you going!?”
In response to that question, Neia looked at Remedios with an utterly incredulous expression on her face.
“What kind of eyes are those!? Is that how a squire should look at a paladin!?”
Hmph, Neia snorted.
“First, I will be asking His Highness the Prince to organize a rescue party for the Sorcerer King. After that, I will go straight to the Sorcerous Kingdom and tell them exactly what happened to His Majesty, and then I will ask for aid for His Majesty.”
Given the circumstances, nothing good would come of going to the Sorcerous Kingdom. Even so, she was still the Sorcerer King’s squire, and she had to complete her duty.
Neia was unsure if she could safely reach the Sorcerous Kingdom from here, but she had to go, even if it meant her death.
“Ohhh, if you’re going to the Sorcerous Kingdom, let me go with you, Baraja-san!”
The person who spoke was a middle-aged ex-soldier, who had retired and become a hunter. He had been lauded for his archery and had joined Neia’s unit.
“Don’t worry about me, I’m old enough as it is. I don’t have much longer left.”
“Baldem-san!”
From his tone, she knew that he understood what sort of fate awaited him even if they reached the Sorcerous Kingdom safely.
“Hey, Neia-chan. Don’t forget me!”
“You too, Codina-san!?”
“I’ll go too, lil’ miss. Not for you, but if it’s for the Sorcerer King then it can’t be helped.”
“Even you, Mena-san?”
All the skilled people in Neia’s unit stepped forward, one after the other. With their help, it might be possible for them to reach the Sorcerous Kingdom safely. However―
“Thank you very much. But everyone, could you join the rescue party?”
“What are you saying? You were all gathered to rescue the Holy Kingdom and the suffering people from the clutches of that demon, weren’t you? Where are your priorities!?”
“What are you saying, Captain!? Could anything be more important than rescuing His Majesty!?”
“Of course! Right now, at this very moment, how many people of the Holy Kingdom do you think there are living in the hell the demihumans made for them!? Could anything be more important than rescuing them!?”
“Of course! That’s―”
“―What on earth are you doing!? What’s all this shouting for!?”
The argument immediately stopped when the interloper showed up. It was Caspond.
“Captain Custodio, should you not have returned immediately? Where is His Majesty? What about Jaldabaoth? What happened? Could somebody please explain?”
Caspond sounded like he was completely lost, and his voice echoed loudly in the crushing silence.
The meeting room was very cramped. It was filled with paladins, priests, nobles who had been prisoners until recently, and honorary paladins. That said, there were no better rooms for them, since Jaldabaoth had destroyed the one which Caspond had previously used.
Caspond had called an emergency meeting after receiving a report from a paladin, and he had instructed all key personnel to gather in this room.
After everyone had assembled, Caspond and Remedios entered with quick strides.
Everyone bowed as the prince entered. Neia was one of them, because she held no grudges against Caspond.
Caspond stood in front of everyone and began to speak.
“Thank you all for coming here. I wish to discuss the course of action we will adopt in the future.”
Although it was supposed to be a discussion, there was only one thing Neia had to do, and she was certain that it was the right thing to do. Just as Neia was about to speak, Caspond raised his hand to stop her.
“I’m sure everyone has concerns of their own, but I pray you will hear me out first.”
Caspond slowly swept his gaze over everyone gathered here.
“I believe many people have witnessed the extent to which Jaldabaoth’s strength exceeds our imagination… yes. While I regret to say this, we must accept the fact that nobody in this country can triumph over him.”
Several people frowned in silence, then peeked at Remedios, who had been hailed as the strongest in the Holy Kingdom. After learning that she agreed with Caspond’s opinion, hints of fear and disappointment appeared on their faces.
“However, it is too early to give in to despair. If we cannot defeat him, then we will derail his plans in some other way and make him give up on trying to conquer the Holy Kingdom. We will not drive him out directly, but indirectly.” Caspond waited several seconds for his words to sink in, and then spoke his conclusion, “What we will do is slaughter all the demihumans he leads.”
“Why are we doing that?”
Caspond saw someone asking a question and nodded to them.
“In the past, Jaldabaoth made trouble in the Kingdom. Back then, he fought a certain warrior in a duel, and then he lost and ran away. At that time, he led an army of demons, but not an army of demihumans. In other words, he came to lead the demihuman army after losing to that warrior.”
Caspond looked around, as if to see if everyone understood.
“In other words, he is using the demihuman army as meat shields to avoid being forced into a one-on-one battle with that warrior. Didn’t Jaldabaoth say something like that when he defeated His Majesty? Something about leading the demihuman army almost becoming meaningless, or something.”
It made sense.
Back then, they did not understand it, but after hearing that explanation, it was hard to think of any other reason.
“In other words, the demihuman army is like armor and stamina for when he fights that warrior again. What will Jaldabaoth do if he loses the demihuman army? Will he remain stripped of his armor and stamina, when that warrior might appear in front of him again at any moment? Or perhaps ― would he choose to flee?”
“I see… then do you intend to abandon this city, defeat the southern demihuman army, and then join forces with the South to drive out the demihumans?” a priest asked. He was answered by one of the rescued nobles.