Chapter 390 – The Flattering Minister Kahar

Our objective was to ensure none of Kahar’s faction or the vampires escaped, thoroughly crushing them all. To achieve that, we’d start with gathering information. Maintaining a safe distance, we circled the town, using the crystal panel to magnify and examine the outer walls together.

“…If anyone notices anything, please speak up.”

“Indeed.”

The first thing to be wary of was the strange barrier covering the town. Through the monocle, I could perceive some kind of magical power enveloping the entire area inside the walls.

The town was dim and hazy. Was it… weakening the sunlight? Even though the sun hadn’t set yet, I could see dark spirits swimming leisurely inside the walls. This meant… vampires might be able to move around inside the walls. And if sunlight was being weakened, it would naturally lead to lower temperatures.

I had thought vampires in the desert would be at a disadvantage, but given this situation, we should assume they had countermeasures for sunlight when moving outside the town—through the desert.

…I’ve heard the highest class of vampires can move during the day. Apparently, they can protect themselves by covering their bodies with aura to block the sun’s effects. Since Virginia from before wasn’t that strong, this could serve as a gauge of the enemy’s strength.

“There seems to be some strange barrier in place. The vampires might be able to move even during the daytime.”

“How troublesome…”

There were other things we needed to investigate as well…. This abandoned desert town. Every house seemed to be crumbling into decay. At the very least, it wasn’t in a condition anyone would want to live in.

“Let’s set the vampires aside for now. They probably don’t stay in the town normally. Not in this state.”

“I’d imagine so. Rather than repairing the houses for use, they’re all holed up in that fortress castle.”

The outer walls were crumbling in places too, but they still served their purpose. It seemed difficult to scale them from either outside or inside. There was one gate each on the east, west, south, and north sides. The gates appeared to still be functional.

The gates were currently closed, but there were no gatekeepers. Though it seemed there were lookouts at the upper windows of the fortress castle…

And in the center of town was a water source. Water had collected at the bottom of what looked like a depression in the rocky hills.

Originally, there were supposedly wells inside the fortress for siege situations… but by the time this place was abandoned, the wells inside the fortress had already dried up. The spring in the town center—its water level had probably dropped considerably from what it once was. They said the water used to reach right up to the edge of that depression, so there was no doubt the water output had decreased significantly.

The important point here was… that they needed to come out into the town to secure water.

“…Now then. How should we attack? The outer walls aren’t a problem, but if we want to let none escape… I thought daytime would be fine, but if the vampires can move too, they’ll be quite formidable.”

“Let’s seal the gates. We’ll use the walls themselves as their cage.”

“Oh? Interesting… but how will we seal them?”

“Theodore is also skilled in magic construction.”

“I see.”

Sheila provided supplementary explanation. King Farid nodded cheerfully.

“The barrier’s range doesn’t extend to the top of the outer walls. They seem to dislike the extreme heat, thinking it’s fine as long as they keep watch from high places overlooking the distance. In other words, the area right outside the walls is a blind spot. If we seal the gates and confirm there are no passages from inside the fortress to outside the walls, the only way out of town will be through the air. This should work for everyone except the vampires.”

The vampire Gardinis brought had wings and could fly, but at the very least, Kahar’s faction would need levitation or equivalent magic tools to get outside. If they tried to fly with such methods, they’d just become easy targets for the wyverns.

“Is there a possibility they might see our small numbers and decide to hold up inside?”

Grace asked.

We had mainly envisioned two battlefields: the town itself and inside the fortress castle… but I had no intention of conducting a proper siege. If fighting vampires wasn’t restricted by time of day, it was undoubtedly more advantageous to fight outside rather than inside a fortress whose internal layout we didn’t know.

Well, we still needed to prepare methods for assaulting the fortress.

“In that case, we’ll secure the water source and use water flow manipulation to dry up the water that should go to the fortress. We’ll hide the airship until the last moment and show them the wyverns, forcing them to move.”

At my words, Rosemary nodded.

“So if they determine that an advance party using dragons has arrived, they’ll have no choice but to quickly strike out to secure water and escape.”

Exactly. Without water, Kahar and his group couldn’t go anywhere, and either way, they couldn’t hold out for very long.

Even if our forces were small, the fact that Baharzard’s soldiers had attacked meant their location had been discovered. In that case, they’d probably decide they needed to escape before King Farid’s main forces arrived. They’d have no choice but to come secure the water source.

If they could use water magic to prepare enough drinking water to quench everyone’s thirst, that would change things. Well, that would still be a significant burden on any magician, requiring someone with water magic skills on par with Ashley’s. Either way, they’d need to escape quickly.

“And we’ll handle any enemies that can fly. Your Majesty, how about you deal with Kahar’s group?”

“If we’re talking about vampires capable of flight, wouldn’t they be considerably powerful vampires? There might be high-ranking individuals among them. Entrusting that to you…”

“Aerial combat is our specialty. And also… they’re enemies we have a grudge against.”

When I answered that, King Farid closed his eyes.

He seemed hesitant about the burden falling on us, but if we considered facing high-ranking vampires, this combination would be optimal. King Farid seemed to understand that too, making a slightly pained expression as he pondered, but eventually nodded.

“…My apologies. Then we shall focus on Kahar’s group.”

After all, no matter what, their sworn enemy was Kahar.

“Thank you.”

“I think we can handle the vampires too.”

Elliot inquired.

“If you could perform aerial combat and ground attacks based on the battle situation, plus eliminate anyone trying to escape as mobile forces, wouldn’t that give the overall operation an advantage?”

The outcome of aerial combat would depend on the number of vampires. And if they could move based on the ground battle situation… The Demon-Slaying Knight Order would also be best positioned to attack those trying to flee.

“Understood. I’ll leave command of the mobile forces to you. Sir Lionel… could you join King Farid in the ground battle?”

“Understood.”

I see. Lionel specialized in earth magic.

Quickly assembling weapons, building defensive walls, creating golems… He’d definitely be more advantageous participating in the ground battle.

Elliot assigned tasks to the other members of the Demon-Slaying Knight Order as well. There should be no issues with the Knight Order.

“Then let’s immediately seal the town and cut off their escape routes. Your Highness Stephania, I’d like to request Corulis accompany us.”

“Won’t it be discovered because of its large size?”

“We’ll descend while using light magic to conceal Corulis’s form.”

“Understood. I should probably go along too. That way I can immediately relay what Corulis sees.”

Indeed… That would be faster than communicating through devices.

“Then, thank you.”

“In that case, we’ll need escorts too.”

Ashley said, picking up her mace. Hmm. So it would be the party members descending.

“Then monitoring the fortress from the airship… would be our current task, I suppose.”

Princess Adriana said this. She was surprisingly adept at operating the crystal panel too, and she knew the locations of the speaking tubes. We’d leave that to her.

Well then, let’s get moving immediately. Taking the party members and Corulis, we headed out to the deck. Old Sigmund moved the Sirius to a position right above the very edge of the outer walls.

“Alright then, let’s go.”

“Yes!”

“Mm. Anytime.”

When I spoke while looking at everyone, responses came back. Marlene also nodded with a serious expression.

Everyone seemed sufficiently motivated. We leaped from the edge of the deck, covering ourselves with a light magic field as we descended at a gentle speed—until we reached the sand.

“Corulis. If there are cavities underground, would you be able to detect them even from some distance?”

I asked Corulis. In response, Corulis tapped the ground with its claws before nodding slightly.

This seemed to be a base built atop rocky terrain. The sand accumulation layer appeared shallow, and Corulis tapped the ground with its claws click-clack as it moved.

From what I could see through the monocle, it wasn’t simply listening to sounds but rather injecting magical power and perceiving the reflections like sonar.

We moved along the outer wall with Corulis. Eventually we reached a metal gate. We sealed it from the outside as if welding it shut, then reinforced it with structural enhancement so it couldn’t be broken from inside.

We sealed the second and third gates, and as we progressed further, Princess Stephania spoke.

“Corulis seems to have found something underground.”

“Understood. Then let’s seal the final gate first before returning here.”

After sealing the final gate, we returned to where Corulis’s detection had picked something up.

Well then. What would appear? As Corulis dug through the bedrock, it broke through into some kind of cavity.

It appeared to be a construction where the bedrock had been dug through and various parts reinforced, with passages leading toward the fortress and another heading toward nearby rocky terrain.

So it was an escape route for getting out from inside the fortress. Whether Kahar’s group knew about this passage was unclear, but at least it wasn’t in the documents King Farid’s group possessed.

“An old passage. It doesn’t seem to have been newly modified.”

Sheila went a little deeper into the passage, crouching down as if examining the dust accumulated on the floor.

“Between the fortress construction and this… the one who built this base must have been an earth magic user. There are traces of earth magic breathing here.”

Claudia touched the passage walls, examining their structure as she spoke.

“Mm… Discovered fresh footprints too.”

“So they’ve found this hidden passage then.”

In that case, they probably wouldn’t bother securing another passage. After all, King Farid hadn’t known about it. When they found it, there shouldn’t have been any signs of anyone having entered.

For now, let’s block the passage. We’ll fill and seal it with thick rock created through earth magic. We’ll need to close the hole Corulis made too, but before that, we should check the escape exit at the other end of the passage.

“Go.”

I sent Balor ahead as a scout to investigate further along the passage. After a short distance, an exit came into view. Good… There didn’t seem to be any lookouts, so let’s seal this one too too.

—Just at that moment, there was movement on Caduceus’s side too. The spies who had come here from Mernpios seemed to have made contact with someone resembling Kahar inside the fortress.

Caduceus had already infiltrated the fortress interior. Using the Five Senses Link, I probed their exchange.

…A dark room. Several figures inside. The man believed to be Kahar was sitting sprawled in a chair. He wore what appeared to be expensive rings and other ornaments.

“Report.”

“Yes! Lord Kahar. This is the letter we received from the maid.”

He took the letter from the kneeling spy and read it by the candlelight.

“—Hmph. So Elharm was a shadow clone. Meaning the real princess either died or was injured?”

“Perhaps she was caught in combat? The real princess’s condition is unknown, but the soldiers in town were in quite a fluster.”

“Deploying troops to the mountainous region? This… might have successfully diverted their attention northward, no?”

Kahar shifted his gaze, speaking to a figure in the shadows.

“Well then… what do you think? What happened to your forces? Weren’t you supposed to kidnap the princess and return to join us?”

The one Kahar questioned was a woman with brilliantly glowing red eyes in the darkness. Her skin was pale but her lips were unnaturally red…. A vampire? It would have been great if we could just have Caduceus capture Kahar right here and end it, but that didn’t seem possible.

If the vampire group noticed Caduceus’s presence, they might realize forces other than King Farid were involved. We should strike when they come forward underestimating us, thinking we’re just normal forces. We mustn’t let them consider escaping first.

“The letter says they failed their objective and fled toward the mountainous region. That was also part of the arrangement with Dahl’s group. The next best plan if the assault failed. However, there are a few… concerning points.”

“The letter.”

Complying with the vampire’s demand, Kahar handed over the letter. The vampire who read it narrowed her eyes.

“It says the injured princess was protected by a Verdgar envoy who happened to pass by, using a flying ship… What does this mean? Do you know anything?”

The vampire glared at the spy.

“Yes! That point should be correct. I also saw a winged ship at the harbor.”

This information was becoming rumor in town too, so I thought it better to disclose it rather than conceal it. Since the spy had seen it at the harbor, they couldn’t avoid mentioning it in the letter either.

“Regarding Verdgar, it seems Farid invited them. As thanks for defeating a sect executive in Termwills, or so they say.”

“I know the cult leader seems to have died. The reason we took interest in this region was to investigate the sacred land the leader kept secret.”

“…The legacy of Nahalbia, is it?”

At the vampire’s words, Kahar smirked.

“I don’t know if it’s the kind of legacy that would please you lot? We received the secret technique to seal this town at night from the cult leader as reward for cooperating with the sect. Therefore—that person has extraordinary interest in what the leader called the sacred land. It should also appear in Nahalbia’s legends. Probably something or someone possessing demon treasures, secret techniques, or similar technologies. Even without solid evidence, we can’t just leave it be.”

“If it’s treasure, you’ll share it with us too, won’t you?”

“That depends on my husband’s intentions… but aside from secret techniques, if it’s gold and silver treasures, we could share. As the Countess of the Flamsteed family, I could put in a word for that much.”

The wife of Flamsteed… she said.

“Thank you, Lady Isolde.”

“Let’s return to the matter. Regardless of other things, we need to be wary of that so-called ship. We should keep watch on the skies. Ideally, we shouldn’t act while such uncertain factors remain in the country—”

“…We shall inform them accordingly. However, we can wait no longer. If we dispatch scouts again and wait to confirm the messenger’s return before moving, it would take several more days just for that confirmation. The soldiers have already endured much, and it’s possible they won’t be able to suppress their discontent any further.”

At Kahar’s response, Isolde showed a thoughtful expression. Eventually, she raised her head and replied.

“Very well. Do as you wish. But when you attack the settlement, do not slaughter them all. Capture a few of the main figures alive. We shall make them our servants and pretend the plunder never occurred.”

As Isolde bared her teeth in a bewitching smile, Kahar formed a strained smile in return, then turned back to the scouts and said.

“Then—have the soldiers prepare for deployment. Make sure to properly convey Lady Isolde’s current words as well.”

“Yes, Lord Kahar.”

The scouts who received the instructions left the room.

“That vulgar and insolent usurper must be taught a lesson. We shall drag him down from the throne, make him crawl on all fours, and beg for his life.”

Watching the scouts’ backs as they departed, Kahar muttered.

“And you will become this country’s king, eh? Well, that would allow us to obtain a land where we can settle peacefully.”

On Isolde’s face as she looked at Kahar from behind, contrary to her words, a mocking smile appeared.

…That’s enough. Kahar shows no signs of being under mental control, and his forces appear to be people we need not hold back against in the slightest.

The city’s blockade is complete, and the stage is set. Before they notice anything unusual, we should make our move as well.