Just then, Calca imagined that she had heard the sound of bells.
Remedios immediately sprang into action. At times like this, she was still the first to act.
She flung open the windows.
The early autumn air flowed in, and the air warmed by their three bodies flowed out.
The bracing, cool air brought with it the sound of ringing bells. That was proof that what she had heard earlier was not a ghost sound caused by her ears ringing. No, it would have been much better if she had just misheard things.
At the same time, she heard the sound of several footsteps from the hallway.
“Calca-sama, please stand behind me.”
Remedios quickly drew the holy sword Safalrisia and moved up, putting herself between Calca and the door.
The door opened with a pon.
“Your Majesty!”
She recognized the first man to enter the room as he shouted at the top of his voice — he was the chief of staff.
“What happened? Why are you in such a rush?”
Remedios’s voice carried a hint of rebuke, and the chief of staff replied in a clearly disconcerted tone.
“There was no time to slowly walk over! Your Majesty! It’s Jaldabaoth! Jaldabaoth’s appeared inside the city! He’s begun destroying the city with many demons in tow! Also, the demihumans have made their move! It looks like they’re advancing on this place!”
“What did you say!?”
“We’ve sighted the demihuman army in the vicinity. We don’t know how they deceived our sentries, but we were fed false information! The fighting’s going to start any moment now!”
While the sudden excess of information confused her, that lasted for only a second. Calca immediately resumed her queenly demeanor and gave orders.
“While this is a great departure from our plans, we will begin combat with Jaldabaoth now. While we stall him, prepare to engage the demihuman army. Convey my orders to the adventurers!”
As she heard her subordinate’s words, the doubts in Calca’s heart flooded back again.
Had she underestimated Jaldabaoth?
Of course, she had no intention of underestimating the demon who could easily destroy the wall. But was the feeling that she could beat him a mistake in itself? Would it not have been better to fall back until they had finished learning about their enemy?
No. Calca waved away the budding weakness in her heart.
If they did not fight now, then when would they fight? While it was important to know the enemy, now was the only chance they had to strike with all their might. After this, the attrition of battle would deplete their resources, and it would become more and more difficult to muster the power they could command now.
In addition, continuously retreating until they had completed their intelligence-gathering operations was essentially permitting their country to be trampled underfoot.
If that were the case, an unimaginable number of her citizens would end up suffering.
“...I will let the smallfolk live their days in happiness, and make this a country where nobody will be hurt.”
“Indeed, Calca-sama!”
All smiles, Remedios followed up on Calca’s self-directed mutterings.
However, those were words she had spoken in the past, before she knew the truth of the world. Things being what they were now, it seemed a nigh-impossible aim to achieve.
“Hmph! He’s gotten cocky now that he’s crossed the wall, but to think he didn’t bring his demihuman army with him!” Remedios fumed angrily.
Was it really like that? No, it ought to have been that way. Yet, she could not peel away the undeniable sense that something was wrong which coiled around her heart.
“...Don’t lower your guard, okay? Is this the way you ought to be treating an opponent of such power?”
“Of course, Calca-sama! I don’t intend to be careless at all! With this holy sword, I shall relieve the demon of his head and present it to you!”
No good. I can’t calm her down any more.
That was what Calca thought, but she was not worried about her. That was because Remedios was a different person when she stepped onto the battlefield.
“Ahh~ there’s no need to bother with the head, but your loyalty makes me very happy. In that case, regarding the plan to defeat Jaldabaoth… can you buy us some time?”
“But of course. Your servant has already dispatched an advance force to carry out our plans.”
At that moment, Calca felt a dull ache in her heart. That was because carrying out that order was actually sending them out to die. The soldiers would be going out to fight Jaldabaoth, despite having no chance of victory.
One of her duties as a monarch was to trade the lives of the few for the survival of the many. Therefore, she could not weep or wail here. The soldiers were giving their lives for her, so she would need to put on a show to convince them that this was a glorious assignment.
She would have to play the part of the supreme queen, the Holy Queen who was respected above all others.
“In that case, let’s head out!”
The ringing clap of her hands was the signal for everyone to make their move.
Part 4
Remedios gripped her holy sword and slashed a demon — her Vice-Captains had told her its name, but she had completely forgotten it — in half. Imbued with holy power, the blade could inflict grievous wounds upon evil beings, and it was doing so to great effect. She had cut down the demons rampaging through the city one after the other. The fallen demons vanished as thick white smoke steamed from their wounds. Within seconds, there was no trace that the demons had ever been there.
However, the signs of how the demons had ravaged the city remained.
“How could this be!?”
She looked at a fallen soldier — not one of the vanguard troopers, but a local patrolman — and Remedios bellowed in rage.
His leather armor had been cleanly severed, and the hands clutching his abdomen were stained a deep red. She could even see the pink of his innards. His face was well past the point of paleness, now a bloodless white.
While she had almost no medical knowledge, her own experiences supplied enough information for her to make a judgement. There was no time to send the wounded soldiers back to a casualty collection point. She would need to treat them on the spot with magic.
The soldiers were not yet dead, but it was neither a miraculous survival, nor was it because the soldiers were simply that good, so was this the demons’ aim? That said, she had no idea what the demons were planning.
Still, the option to simply let the soldiers die did not exist in Remedios’s heart. Nobody would ever discard the brave soldiers who had chosen to become a shield for their nation in order to buy their country time. And the most important thing was that she was a paladin of righteousness.
“Begin healing him!”
Remedios was accompanied not just by the elite paladins behind her, but also by several priests. Her order was directed at them.
In response, one of her Vice-Captains stepped up and whispered in her ear:
“Would it not be better to let the medics in the rear aid him? If we use the priests’ mana here, we might run out when fighting Jaldabaoth, which might be the demons’ aim—”
“—Ahhhh, you talk too much! This is an order! Heal him to the point where he can move on his own! Also—”
At this point, Remedios glanced at the adjutant beside her and said:
“—I can’t hear you muttering through your helmet, so speak up!”