And so, even though the Forbidden Army had only arrived at the site yesterday evening, by the time morning came, the fortress was complete. From the people of Randel’s perspective, it must have looked like the fortress had been built in one night.
Later historians would come to call this “Randel’s One Night Fortress.”
This blitz of construction had been carried out immediately after the ultimatum, and the Army and corrupt nobles who were shut up in Randel had been able to do nothing to stop it.
“Still, I have to hand it to Duke Carmine, you know,” Kaede said. “The only ones who are visibly unnerved are the nobles’ private troops. The Army is quietly moving to encircle us.”
“Hey! Don’t expose your face!” Halbert exclaimed. “You’ll get hit by a stray arrow!”
Kaede had been peeking out through an arrow slit, but Halbert pulled her back.
At just that moment—
Boom!
— they heard an incredible explosion nearby.
Halbert saw Kaede was about to fall over backwards, so he quickly supported her. The sudden noise must have caught her by surprise, because Kaede was blinking.
“Th-Thank you for that, Hal,” she said.
“Come on, keep it together,” he said. “…That was pretty close to us, wasn’t it?”
An enemy spell must have struck the walls.
Technically, the walls had been strengthened against magic by Kaede and the other earth mages. That said, if they kept taking direct hits like that one, they weren’t going to hold up.
Halbert wreathed a nearby throwing spear in magical fire, throwing it towards the group he thought had unleashed that last spell. The fire spear flew like a missile, impaling one man and then exploding to incinerate the rest.
“Arghhhhh!”
He could hear their dying screams from here. Seeing that the deed was done, Halbert hid in the shadow of the wall once more.
“Wait, hold on… don’t you think the attack is extra intense just here on the west side?” he asked. “It feels like the other sides are only seeing sporadic attacks.”
“…Those are Zemish mercenaries, you know,” Kaede said as she peeked out from behind the wall. “They must have been hired by the corrupt nobles. The corrupt nobles literally have their necks on the line. If they lose this battle, the only thing waiting for them is a trip to the execution block. It’s do-or-die for them, you know. What with them getting the death penalty and all.”
“I know you think you’re being witty, but that one made me shudder,” Halbert said while throwing his second fire spear. He didn’t miss his mark and many mercenaries burned.
“Arghhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“Hot, hot!”
“It burns, it burrrrrrrrrns!”
Halbert watched with a pained smile as the mercenaries turned into balls of flame and rolled around on the ground.
For Halbert, this was his first real battle. While he had much more power than the average person, he wasn’t used to killing.
Well, it’s easier than fighting an Army unit with a lot of guys I know in it, at least, he thought.
As a former member of the Army, Halbert had complicated feelings about this whole situation. Due to their close relationship with the king, Halbert and Kaede were among the few who knew the whole truth behind this war. That was why he understood what the king wanted to accomplish. He understood, but… his feelings about it were still complicated.
“Hal!” Kaede called out to him, snapping Halbert back to his senses.
“What is it, Kaede?!”
“This is awful, you know,” Kaede said. “Look at what the enemy just brought out.”
She pointed at the giant cannons that were being carried onto the battlefield at this very moment. In this world, where gunpowder weapons had never really developed due to the existence of magic, research had continued on cannons for use in naval battles. While they lacked mobility, their destructive power that didn’t rely on magic had caught the Army’s eye. The Army kept three of them for use as siege weapons, where mobility was not so important.
At present, the only force in Elfrieden which had cannons that could be used on land was the Army.
“…Come to think of it, they do have those,” Hal said. “I’d totally forgotten.”
“If you’re going to use those, it should be in the opening stages of the battle, after all,” Kaede said.
“Well, what’re they dragging them out this late in the game for?” he asked.
“Probably the corrupt nobles brought them out because they’re panicking, you know.”
“…Is it really bad?” he asked.
“It is really bad,” she answered. “The anti-magic reinforcement is only effective against magic and flames, you know. Against physical impacts, these are just dirt walls coated with ‘Roman concrete.’ They’re more durable than normal, but if they keep hitting them like that…”
Booooom!
…Thunk!
One of the cannons fired with a sound like the air was being sucked away, the cannonball tracing a parabola before striking the wall and punching into it. The dirt wall crumbled around where it had punched through.
The cannonballs in this world were lumps of solid iron.
It seemed they had considered exploding shells, as well, but while those were flashy, they had been unable to inflict damage on walls reinforced against magic, so there was that historical reason for why they were not used. Simple impact damage worked well against reinforced walls. The lumps of iron that had just been fired into the walls were exactly the kind of high-mass projectiles they were weak against.
Seeing their power, Halbert and Kaede looked to one another.
“Wh-What do we do now?!” Kaede stammered.
“Don’t ask me! Can’t you do something with your magic?!” Halbert exclaimed.
“I’m out of magic after building this fortress! What about you, Hal, can’t you intercept them with a throwing spear or something?”
“They’re too fast!” he cried. “That’s like asking me to hit an incoming arrow with a rock!”
While they were bickering back and forth…
“Hmm. How about a bow, then?”
…they heard a calm voice from above them say.
““Huh?””
The two of them turned to see a tough young dark elf (though it was hard to be certain of an elf’s age by his appearance) holding an impressively large bow. The dark elf warrior nocked an arrow, pointing it upwards on a diagonal and taking aim.
Booooom!
Once again, a cannon fired.
At practically the same time, the dark elf warrior let loose his arrow.
In that instant, Halbert and Kaede thought they heard a high-pitched keening sound. The dark elf warrior had probably used a wind magic enchantment on the arrow. Two seconds later, the iron cannonball was smashed to smithereens in mid-air. Halbert and Kaede could only gape.
“Hmph,” the dark elf said. “Easier than taking down a migratory falcon.”
“Wh-Who’re you…?” Halbert stammered.
“Pardon me. I neglected to introduce myself. I have come from the God-Protected Forest. My name is Sur,” the young dark elf man said with a broad smile. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sir Halbert Magna.”
“Wh-What do you know my name for?”
“You may not remember, but when the major landslide happened in the God-Protected Forest, my daughter was among those you rescued with the king,” Sur answered. “When she heard your name later, she wanted to thank you, but the initial relief force had already returned to the capital, so… back then…”