Neia brought her trembling hand to her mouth, and then bit down.
Don’t be afraid! If you’re scared, you’ll miss a target you could have hit!
The magic item she borrowed from the Sorcerer King could defend against magical mental attacks, but it could not suppress the fear born of her own heart. Even so, she would probably have been even more frightened if she had not worn it.
As she felt the pain spreading from her fingers, Neia entered a tower on what seemed to be the left side of the city and ran up the stairs to the top of the wall.
Neia had been assigned to the Sorcerer King’s side, and so she was apparently the last to show up ― of course, her superior officers had granted her special dispensation so she would not be censured for being late ― and the other people who were supposed to be here were already present.
As Neia prepared to rush off to her station, the paladin commanding the left flank of the western wall stopped her.
“The Sorcerer King ― His Majesty seems to be missing.”
For a moment, Neia looked at the paladin in surprise. She had already reported to her superiors that the Sorcerer King had no intention of taking part in this battle, but they were still asking her this question. Did that mean they had not yet informed the others about it?
However, Neia immediately sensed that this was not the case. This man was holding on to a sliver of hope ― he was wondering if the Sorcerer King would change his mind and show up.
Neia looked upon the demihuman army that was sprawled outside the city. There were well over 30,000 demihumans there, but the pressure of looking directly at them made them feel more numerous than they actually were.
Neia could understand why anyone would wish for the aid of the overwhelmingly powerful Sorcerer King in the face of such a force. That was because Neia had once felt the same way too. However―
“Yes. The Sorcerer King is not here. That’s because this is our ― the Holy Kingdom’s battle.”
The paladin was speechless for a moment.
Neia slipped past him and ran to her post―
“―Hold on! Squire Neia Baraja!”
“Yes!”
Neia stopped and stood at attention.
“Stand by here for the time being.”
“Eh!?”
Neia looked around. This place was close to the exit of the tower which led to the top of the city wall. A lot of people would be moving through this place. Would she not be getting in everyone’s way if she stood here? In addition, this place was far from Neia’s assigned position, which was close to the center.
“May, may I ask the reason for this? Is there something you need me to do?”
“No, no, it’s not like we need you to do anything, it’s actually a little troublesome…Squire Baraja. Just stay put here. Do you understand!?”
“Ah, yes…”
She had no idea what was going on, but there must have been some reason for it. There was no reason to keep a trained soldier here for no reason when the fighting might break out at any moment.
Was my assignment changed? Is it so that I can focus on sniping the enemy commanders?…The bow I borrowed from the Sorcerer King looks amazing even at a glance, so does that mean they’re using me as a trump card?
“I understand. How long will I be waiting? Also, where shall I wait?”
“Ah, um, well, just until the enemy moves in. As for where, anywhere is fine.”
“Huh? I need to wait right until the last moment?”
It was indeed weird. Just as a sense of wrongness began to fill Neia, several men who looked like they had come from the militia carried a huge pot up the stairs. This was probably food for the defenders standing by on the walls. They were sweating far more than the cold weather warranted, and it was clear that these men had come back and forth many times. It was only to be expected, given that they were feeding several hundred men.
Neia leaned against the wall to give them room to pass, and the men moved hurriedly past her. However, one of them lifted their head a little and noticed Neia’s face.
“Huh? Aren’t you the Sorcerer King’s squire ― ah, no, would that be you, ma’am?”
“Ah, no need to be so formal… er, forgive me. Yes. I have been assigned the duty of serving as the Sorcerer King’s squire.”
Perhaps they had heard Neia speak with the man, but the other pot-bearers stopped and looked at Neia in surprise. It was probably for the same reason as the man from just now.
She was slightly embarrassed to be known as the Sorcerer King’s squire, but at the same time she felt very proud of herself.
The men did not know how Neia felt, and they worriedly asked, “I say, ah, actually, there’s something I’d like to ask the Sorcerer King―”
“―Stop that! No, could I please ask you to save it for later? She’s very busy. Would you mind carrying on with your work?”
Suddenly, the paladin stepped between Neia and the men, as though to hide her.
That was a strange thing to do. It looked as though he did not want her to speak with those men―
Was that the reason for the order just now? He doesn’t want me to talk to them… why is that? Is it because they were going to ask a question about the Sorcerer King?
She did not know why he was doing this, but finding the answer would be simple enough.
“I don’t mind. What seems to be the problem?”
Since the paladin did not want her to speak, then she would just have to address them directly.
“Squire Baraja!”
“Are you trying to keep people from asking about the Sorcerer King!?”
Neia answered as loudly as the shout which had been directed at her.
In truth, it was quite shameless to keep borrowing the Sorcerer King’s reputation like this, but she had to make sure the Holy Kingdom was not doing anything which might negatively impact the Sorcerer King. She did not want her home country to disgrace itself.
Neia gently addressed the man who had asked her the question earlier. Of course, she knew that it was probably going to frighten him, even if she felt her tone was gentle.
“I will answer to the best of my ability if your question is related to the great Sorcerer King. That said, I am not of the Sorcerous Kingdom, so I regret to say there are many things I do not know either.”
“Eh!? But you ― aren’t you from the Sorcerous Kingdom, ma’am?”
“Eh!? No, no, it’s not like that. I’m a squire from the paladins of this country.”
“Eh? Really?”
“Well, yes? So you don’t need to be all formal with me…”
The crowd burst into a commotion. Perhaps it was because the paladin had shouted at her just now, but at some point the militiamen on the walls had started looking her way.
While matters had taken quite an embarrassing turn, she could not look let herself look bad now that she had invoked the name of the Sorcerer King. Neia puffed up her chest proudly, determined to let all the soldiers present hear her. It would seem the paladin had resigned himself to the fact that he could not hide this, and so he stood to one side while glaring angrily at Neia.
“Then, first off… That armor of yours looked like something that the boss of those goat-headed monsters wore. Were you the one who defeated it?”
“No, not at all. The previous wearer of this armor was the Grand King Buser, and the Sorcerer King slaughtered him with a single spell.”
Ohhh, the crowd enthused.
She could hear snatches of conversation from the crowd: “He actually beat that monster!” “I can’t believe he used only one spell,” “Did he really take down a whole city by himself… he actually defeated so many demihumans…” “He’s super strong… I think I’m falling for him…” “He’s not like the undead I know at all…” and so on.