The Promised Dawn

"You're okay, Kei?" I asked my teammate.

She was fidgeting around with a slightly tense look beside me.

We had gathered in front of the north gate at the promised time for the raid. The lighting was still dark due to the time before dawn. Regardless, the darkness was bustling with the excited shouts of volunteer soldiers, frontier soldiers, and Alterna residents who had not only come to see the departure of the assault troops but also used the opportunity to conduct impromptu business among others.

"She's probably just nervous," Kiyotaka stated.

"Hah!" Kanji laughed it off. "Wimpy!"

Kei quickly snapped. "Shut up! You're trembling as well, don't hide it!"

"I-I'm not! Wait, how'd you even know that?!"

"It's pretty obvious," Suzune sparsely joined the conversation, sighing as she said that.

The frontier soldiers were at the front as the primary aggressors. As soldiers, they were better disciplined. Whenever there were other soldiers out of line, for example, they would be immediately scolded. Compared to them, the volunteer soldiers were a shambles. They were left to their own devices. And from the looks of it, the frontier soldiers look down on them.

That being said, there are a number of figures among the volunteer soldiers that the frontier soldiers can't afford to overlook.

The Wild Angels, a female-only clan, gave off a wild aura much like their name. It was very domineering. Each of their members wore at least one white furry gear on their bodies. They intimidated any man who tried to get close to them. Their leader, Kajiko, had a mature, experienced look, and a feral composure.

Then there was a party, only a party, that could equalize that domineering vibe with the Wild Angels. Renji-kun, wasn't it?

He was a man with silver hair and a rough but not wild appearance. From his equipment, he should be a warrior. Same with the cropped-haired guy squatting beside him with a thick sword on his back. The man with glasses was definitely a mage. The woman in the revealing dress was a thief. And the little girl (?) was a priest. They all had prominent but not tasteless equipment and seemed to be of equally high quality.

Even Kajiko... -san was attracted by the aura he gave off. She sent a hard look to Renji-kun for a while, which the man ignored. That was impressive. Her gaze was extremely piercing and could be easily perceived. Renji-kun must have done that on purpose.

'And then us. Or maybe Kiyotaka-kun.'

Because of his low presence, it took a while before the volunteer soldiers and frontier soldiers noticed him.

Kiyotaka-kun once brought the head of the Death Spots himself into Alterna. It was the volunteer soldiers' working hours, but for the frontier soldiers, it must've been still strong on their minds. Although the volunteer soldiers only knew that fact later from the words of the crowd, there's a matter of Kiyotaka teaming with the Spearhead clan, which becomes an uproar again.

I can relate to that. Kiyotaka had only just bought a full-fledged volunteer soldier's badge at the time. It was only about a week into our work, and a famous clan like Spearhead had already taken an interest in him and went as far as inviting him to their important conquest expedition in New City.

I heard it was a failure, though. When Suzune asked for the exact reason, Kiyotaka didn't give a clear answer. That was probably because the reason itself was unclear. Suzune took it that way and didn't pursue it further.

"Aren't you bothered, Kiyotaka-kun?" Kikyou approached the man.

Kiyotaka turned towards her. For a moment, I thought Kikyou stiffened. 

Kiyotaka answered indifferently. "No, not really. I don't particularly care about that."

He also seemed to understand the attention he was getting among both the volunteer soldiers and the frontier soldiers. He didn't act any different about it.

I spotted Haruhiro-kun's party at the back. Haruhiro-kun is a fellow thief. As he immediately noticed me looking at him, Haruhiro-kun gave a somewhat awkward smile while providing a slight nod.

"Whew," Ken did a warm-up. "When will the assault start? I'm too lazy to wait."

"I have to agree," Yousuke-kun also showed his anxiety clearly. He kept tapping his fingers on the handle of his staff for a while now.

A large-scale attack like this has different pressures than when working as a small team. I can see where his nervousness coming from. I personally didn't really feel anything. Strangely calm, in fact.

I recalled Barbara-sensei's words. "You have little spirit, Prowler. A dull one. But for thieves, that's undoubtedly the most important aspect of stealth. You're easily detached from reality because of that trait of yours. It makes creeping up on the enemy a lot more natural."

I guess she has a point. This job seems to be the one that suits me best.

"Alright, gather up!"

Britney's voice spread to the volunteer soldiers. Our party quickly got close to him.

There are a total of 37 volunteer soldiers' parties, with 197 participants. We are led by Britney's volunteer army chief. For the frontier army, they were composed of 500 warriors, 100 paladins and hunters, as well as a number of priests, for a total of 700 members. The leader was Brigadier General Wren Water.

The group at Riverside Iron Fortress, on the other hand, contained 1,000 warriors, 300 paladins, 200 dread knights, 300 cavalry, and 50 priests, led by General Graham Rasentra. The total was 1,850 troops. There was also a commando unit around Soma's Day Breakers consisting of 55 parties for a total of 300 people. 

The protection of Alterna was held by the remaining frontier soldiers under the command of Brigadier General Ian Ratty. To be honest, I had never heard of them until just yesterday.

Britney laid a sheet of paper on the ground. A map.

(Map in the Comment)

"For the plan, to sum it up, we'll charge Deadhead from the west and east sides simultaneously, knocking down the orc camps along the way. The main force will attack from the main gate in the south. We'll need ladders to climb the four-meter walls on the west and east, which have been prepared. The orcs will likely shower us with arrows the moment we get too close, so we've prepared single-use shields for you people to carry."

"Well, aren't you generous!" Ranta-kun, who is from Haruhiro-kun's party, bellowed that.

Britney ignored him. "The main force should be able to break through while we distract the orcs on the west and east walls. Also the south, of course. But, in any case, you'll need to descend the wall eventually, move up the outer wall to the rooftop in the southeast, then continue down another flight of stairs to the bottom floor, and, if you're lucky, find Zoran Zesh, Abael, and his personal army between the three towers accessible from the bottom floor.

"I will divide two groups for the assault on both walls. Wild Eagle Force by Kajiko in the west, and Green Storm Force by me in the east. The ones I appointed are with me, while the remaining ones are with Kajiko."

Haruhiro-kun's party quickly gets chosen to go with Green Storm Force. Renji-kun's team too. We are in the Wild Eagle Force. The timing of the attack would be adjusted using the dwarves' watches that Britney and Kajiko-san had.

"According to our scouts, there are 200 orcs in the keep, the majority of which are from the Zesh clan. They dye their hair black and have red tattoos on their faces. Their equipment is mostly standardized. They use single-edged swords called gahari, feathered shields, red helmets, and bows and arrows. They weren't weak, as one would expect from clans on the front lines. But, the orcs in the surrounding camps are made up of a mix of clans, so the relationships between them shouldn't be strong.

"The keeper is Zoran Zesh of the Zesh Clan," Bri-chan said. "Zoran-chan is well-built enough that you should be able to tell it's him at a glance. We have intel saying he fights with a two-sword style. The twenty or so orcs who are Zoran-chan's closest associates are all supposed to be very skilled. On top of that, it looks like there are a small number of sorcerers. Orcish sorcerers are lightly equipped. They don't wear armor or helmets, so they're easy to pick out, but I think a good number of you will never have faced one, so be careful. Orcish sorcery is centered around psychokinesis and insects. It's quite different from magic: they don't chant spells or make elaborate gestures, so it's quick. They're dangerous, so if you see a sorcerer, prioritize taking them out. Other than that... Right, right, the smoke signals."

Yume, the hunter from Haruhiro-kun's party, tilted her head to the side. She had a unique manner of speaking by referring to herself in a third-person perspective. "Smoking kills?"

"Yes, someone's collapsed... They're coughing up blood. Now they aren't breathing. Could it be... They're dead?! Who could the culprit be?! Who was it?! This was caused by—Wait, no, that's not what we're talking about! Gosh! Look what you made me go along with! What are you going to do about it? Nobody even laughed!" Bri-chan shouted.

"Could it be you're gettin' mad at Yume? Maybe?" Yume asked.

"...I'm not mad. There's no way I would ever be so petulant, is there?"

"You aren't, huh?" Yume said. "Oh, but, Bri-chan, sorry. Yume, she might've gone and done that thing. She may've detailed the conversation."

"Listen now, we don't have time for you to detail the conversation," Britney said. "You have to derail it. Well, no, you don't have to do that, okay?"

"If Yume doesn't have to do that, what should she be doin'? Yume wonders about that."

"Let it go! Just close your mouth and let me talk! I don't mind girls like you, but you're throwing me off balance here, so be quiet! Please! Zip your lips!"

"Zip."

"Okay. Now, back to the smoke signals. When Deadhead Watching Keep is under a large-scale attack, they use smoke signals to alert Riverside Iron Fortress. I'm sure the signal will go up right away this time, too. But, the attack will be starting over there at the same time. Even if they call for them, reinforcements won't come. That's why you shouldn't panic even if you do see a signal go up. Well, that's about it, I suppose. I know I've talked a lot, but as long as we don't make some incredible blunder, we should be able to win this. The keeper, and the bounty on any famous sorcerers, will likely have nothing to do with our detached force. Either way, it's not going to be a difficult battle. You kids without much experience can put your minds at ease, too."

Britney seemed to be directing those words at a group specifically. 

Well, even if we couldn't put our minds at ease, the worrywart Yousuke-kun or Kanji-kun at least seemingly started to feel that it might not be as bad as they'd thought.

"That said!" Bri-chan went on, suddenly taking on a dangerous tone. "We're up against our natural enemies. With the Undying King dead and gone and the undead suppressed, the orcs are the largest faction in the frontier. Let your guard down, and you won't get off with just a slap on the wrist. You could die quite easily, you know?"

Kei gulped.

'Boost them up, then let them down. That was what Britney was doing, huh?' I thought.

Still, it might be an effective strategy. When getting a little optimistic, being knocked down from that high had put them in a good state of readiness, both mentally and physically.

Britney's pink tongue licked his black lips. "Well, there you have it. Get your butts in gear and let's go, my little kittens."