Chapter 1151: Fort Siege

We departed the hilly region and headed east toward our destination, Fort Elent.

『There it is. That’s our fort.』

「Nn!」

「Fuhahaha! As expected from Urushi! Such incredible speed!」

「I’m stunned.」

「Me too.」

Even the former Rank A adventurers were impressed by Urushi’s transport speed through mountainous terrain. On his back was Fran, Jean, Cysanth, Dore, Maleficent, Persona, as well as a few knights and nobles.

I doubt any other familiar could transport us anywhere near as fast.

Kranzel had already taken Fort Elent, so the division in charge of the fort was currently repairing the destroyed facilities and resting up for the upcoming battle.

Jean immediately gathered the heads of various units and held a meeting upon his return to the fort. We found someone very surprising participating in this meeting.

「Esmeralda?」

「Hyah-hyah-hyah. Long time no see, sweetheart.」

「Why are you here? Is the capital okay without you?」

「Heh. My men can handle the rest, since I’ve already taken out the garbage for them.」

It seems she purged all the dangerous nobles and spies in the short time since we left. The old lady’s smirk had an indescribable power backing it up. She really doesn’t hold back.

That said, this explains my doubts about the sand rats. Even Esmeralda should have trouble monitoring so many soldiers from all the way in the capital, but it makes sense if she’s physically present.

It seems her presence here is a secret, since she’s also in charge of spy operations in Raydoss.

Also, Esmeralda probably can’t move much at the moment due to maintaining a wide network of sand rats. She’s still capable of riding her chair of sand, though I doubt she can fight.

My suspicion was further backed by the presence of what appeared to be bodyguards behind her.

「Oh yeah, and these two used to work for me. I brought them along since they’re only good for fighting.」

「…」

「…Hey.」

Not much talkers, probably because they’re on the job. One of them said a greeting before hurriedly closing his mouth.

Perhaps they’ve received the “discipline” that Esmeralda mentioned the last time we met.

「Now then, allow me to explain our future plans…」

Rather than some noble or knight, it turns out Jean was the leader of the division holed up in Fort Elent. Everyone followed his orders without complaints, proving their faith in his abilities. This even applied to a few of the arrogant-looking nobles in the room.

Jean informed everyone present of the plan decided at the military conference.

「In other words, we basically continue as planned.」

「Indeed. While I have transferred some undead and troops to the other division, Fran and the others are joining us. This gives us a net gain.」

「Weren’t we originally supposed to be the decoy? I thought the plan was to siege the fort up ahead without taking too many risks…?」

「That part will have to change. We shall put all our efforts towards bringing the fort down.」

The meeting went on for about an hour. After all the questions were answered, everyone began preparing for the operation.

We went to take a look around in the meanwhile, checking the surrounding terrain and doing some reconnaissance.

After departing from Fort Elent, we observed our target from the skies. Fort Marth was a small fort still held by Raydoss.

『The road suddenly gets really narrow here, huh.』

「It’s hard to bring too many people.」

『Yeah, quite literally an uphill battle.』

I can see why Kranzel weighed taking the city of Rajhil against capturing this tiny fort.

A fort would normally be much easier to take, but the terrain more than covered all the fort’s weak points. Being right in the middle of a mountain pass makes it very difficult to send a large number of troops. Brute forcing it with manpower will not work.

Any attempts to climb the mountain will expose us to ranged attacks from Fort Marth. Moreover, the road turns into a steep slope halfway through, which only gives the fort an even greater advantage.

Not to mention the wards I sensed covering the fort. Blasting it with magic likely won’t have much effect either.

Perhaps we could send someone strong enough to take it by themselves? It might work, but only if we don’t bump into an enemy on Roaneth’s level. After all, the Red Knight captain proved he had enough power to threaten Rank A adventurers.

The next morning.

Fran and Jean stood on the wall of Fort Elent.

「Fran. You’re in charge of the second wave.」

「Nn!」

「The knights always take the lead, so don’t worry about it.」

Regardless of how much trust is placed in Jean, that doesn’t mean the knights will give up on the honor of being the vanguard.

If efficiency is the only concern, sending waves upon waves of undead first would probably be the best path to victory.

That said, we cannot overlook how important honor is to the nobles and the nation itself. Actually, I suppose honor is kinda what triggered this war in the first place.

「More importantly, be on the lookout for surprise attacks from the cliffs on either side. We would have difficulties passing through that terrain, but this is enemy territory. Who knows what kind of secret routes they might be hiding.」

「Got it.」

We continued talking with Jean as we watched the knights deploy.

Our current location, Fort Elent, is at the foot of the mountain. Meanwhile, our target is about halfway up the mountain pass, which has locations where we can only pass in a single file line. How many of our knights will make it there alive?

Even if supported by healers and shield-bearers, they are only capable of suppressing casualties to a certain degree.

We watched for a little while until the messenger came. It seems the tail end of the knights passed through the designated point. It’s time for the adventurers to deploy.

『Fran. Make sure you don’t go off on your own.』

「Nn!」

『Urushi, stay small so you avoid becoming a target.』

「Woof!」

No clue if it counted as good weather for a war, but the sky was overcast. It was neither too hot, nor too cold.

Were these ominous gray clouds suggesting the fate of Kranzel, or of Raydoss?