When one compared the average demihuman to a human commoner, the latter was so weak that even comparing them seemed like a foolish act.
At the very most, the only people who could stand on equal footing with demihumans were the paladins, the priests, and professional soldiers, but they did not have many of those. Compared to the 40,000 strong army they were now facing, it was as pointless as trying to put out a Fire Dragon’s breath with a bucket of water.
Still, one could not say this was an entirely unwinnable battle.
There was one person who could beat back the demihuman hordes by themselves, even without counting the Sorcerer King.
Assuming physical exhaustion and lucky hits from the enemy were not a factor, the strongest paladin in the Holy Kingdom ― Remedios Custodio ― could take on about 40,000 demihumans and kill them all.
However, one could not say there were no powerful individuals in the demihuman army who could stand toe-to-toe with Remedios. In fact, it was very likely that there were such beings out there.
Neia recalled the Grand King Buser, the demihuman who had previously ruled this city. While the Sorcerer King had killed him like he was nothing more than a pile of rubbish, that was simply because the Sorcerer King was incredibly powerful. Buser was overwhelmingly strong in his own right. Neia could not have beaten him, no matter how hard she tried.
Demihuman kings like that might be Remedios’s equals, or perhaps even her superiors. They were all very strong in Neia’s estimation, so she could not accurately judge the outcome of a showdown between two such powerful beings.
In addition, physical exhaustion had to be taken into consideration if one was being realistic. No matter how strong they were, nobody could escape the spectre of fatigue. Magic could briefly ease it, but fatigue would continue to accumulate once more.
Even after killing an army of 10,000, Remedios could still be attacked in a moment of exhaustion and weakness and be killed by an average demihuman. Quantity had a quality of its own, after all.
However, if there was some being who could overturn that logic ― Neia’s eyes went to the great ruler who still stood with his back to her.
That person would be an absolute force.
An entity who surpassed this world (Overlord).
He was none other than the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown.
As Neia gazed upon his regal back, she suddenly realized that she had not yet answered the Sorcerer King’s question, and she hurriedly spoke.
“I, I’m not sure!” Panic caused her to exclaim louder than usual and she blushed before continuing in a normal tone, “―Therefore, I’ll do my best to find out.”
The Sorcerer King seemed entirely unmoved by this, and asked another question.
“I see. Then, have you learned anything new about the enemy? Have you verified Jaldabaoth’s presence?”
“The situation on that front has not changed in the past few days. We have not yet sighted Jaldabaoth among the demihuman forces.”
“Hm. That makes things difficult. It may be very hard for me to help you in this defense. After all, I need to replenish the mana I’ve used up. I must consider the possibility that his plan might be to deprive me of mana before I take any action.”
“But of course. Everyone is fully aware of Your Majesty’s opinion.”
During a strategy meeting, someone had once said they had spotted a demon who looked like Jaldabaoth, but when Neia said they had to make sure, that person had immediately said they had probably been mistaken. Given the mood in the air, it was clear that everyone present ― with the exception of Neia ― was planning to involve the Sorcerer King in the fighting by spreading false reports of Jaldabaoth’s presence.
They might despise the undead, but lying to the king of a nation means they have no integrity to speak of. Even when backed into a corner, isn’t it proper to display their best side to someone who ought to be respected?
“In that case, what do you make of the demihumans’ movements?”
“Ah, yes, the demihumans had been previously massing at the west gate, but now they’ve split their forces and are sending some of their troops to the other ― the eastern ― gate. We believe they’re about to make their move ― probably preparing for a siege.”
“That is to say, enough time has passed for them to finish building siege weapons, then? Well, that’s probably a good thing. After all, the enemy isn’t trying to starve you out.”
Neia could not tell if it was a good or a bad thing, but they would have no response to starvation tactics.
If the demihumans attacked on an open field, then they would be promptly annihilated due to the opposition’s overwhelming advantage in military strength. However, if they were fighting from behind the protection of the city walls, it would not be such a lopsided battle. Of course, that was merely going from “incredibly bad odds” to “pretty bad odds.”
“Of course, that might also be due to the fact that the demihumans aren’t aware of our supply situation. Then again, it’s more likely that they simply don’t care about a small city like this.”
“Well, the demihumans did conquer the fortress line we saw when we entered the Holy Kingdom, so it would be reasonable for them to hold a small city like this in low regard… if you give them a hard time during the defense and make them feel that a siege is to their disadvantage, that’ll draw the battle out. After that, you’ll have a very hard fight ahead of you.”
It appeared that the Sorcerer King believed that they would have to win this unwinnable battle before the true battle began.
“Your Majesty, may I ask your opinion of how you think the situation will develop?”
“Future developments, hm. I don’t honestly know. In truth, one could say that you’ve lost by being forced to hole up within the city. Taking shelter in a city is typically done under the pretext that reinforcements will arrive. Either that, or the enemy is operating under a time limit or something similar. However, you are simply defending a city in enemy territory, so your chances of victory are despairingly small.”
“Still, we managed to send the nobles we freed to the south before this, so we can’t say for certain that no help will arrive.”
Neia might have said those words, but she knew in her heart that she should not be counting on reinforcements.
The southern armies would need to break through the Demihuman Alliance forces blocking their path to reach Neia’s location, and even if they did that, there was still an army of 40,000 demihumans to contend with.
Fighting repeated battles would be a huge drain on their combat strength. It would be wiser to abandon the 10,000 people in this city.
“That would be good…”
It would seem the Sorcerer King did not believe it for a moment either.
But that was only to be expected. Given the circumstances, who could turn things around without sacrificing anyone―
Neia dispelled the notion rising in her head.
His Majesty is here to fight Jaldabaoth, so diminishing his chances of victory by having him waste mana on unrelated manners cannot be allowed.
“…It will take me a while before I can once again cast the teleportation spell which I used on the Orcs, but I can still cast the spell which I occasionally use to return to the Sorcerous Kingdom several more times. Taking a few dozen people with me would not be a problem… but I guess you can’t decide who to send, and you won’t.”
“I am grateful for your understanding, Your Majesty.”
Perhaps it would have been a better idea to ask the Sorcerer King to take Prince Caspond and flee, but that move was of dubious merit.