Illusions on the Kingdom Front

The invasion finally began as the main force of the Great Tiger Empire

crossed the border of the Kingdom of Friedonia.

Fuuga and Hashim were expecting the other side to have some sort of

scheme, and if they gave them time to prepare whatever it was, it would

spell their defeat. Because of that, the situation called for a lightning war

with a swift and conclusive victory. They needed to make it to Parnam as

fast as possible and kill or capture Souma to make him surrender.

In order to pull that off, they would leave any towns, villages, or cities

along their route that submitted to them intact but also thoroughly destroy

any that opposed them so that they could continue on their way. Souma and

his group knew this, so they evacuated the towns and villages and gave up

on cities they couldn't protect early, focusing their forces on the cities they

felt they could defend.

In the middle of the main force, marching forward with the bulk of their

war potential, Fuuga, Hashim, and Mutsumi were listening to a report from

their scouts.

"This is our report. There is no sign of anyone in the towns and villages

along our route. No soldiers lay in wait there, and there was no sign of

traps. We believe that they have already been abandoned."

"This is Souma we're talking about. He knows we're coming, so of

course he'd get his people to run away," Fuuga said, crossing his arms.

Fuuga expected things to go one of two ways: they would either meet

fierce resistance the moment they crossed the border or be allowed to get in

deep without meeting meaningful resistance. It looked like it was going to

be the latter. This way of fighting wasn't much fun for Fuuga, and was a

pain to deal with. Which is why the Kingdom chose to use it, of course.

"However, some supplies, such as food and water, were left behind in

the villages," the scout continued. "We've investigated them, and there was

no sign that any of it had been poisoned."

"Hmm? You're saying that he evacuated the people but left behind

provisions?" Mutsumi raised an eyebrow.

Normally, there's no reason to leave food in a town or village that's

going to be abandoned. It would only ease the Great Tiger Empire's

logistics. Obviously, they needed to be wary that the food might have been

tampered with, but it seemed that the Kingdom hadn't even done that.

"What do you think his aim is in doing this, Brother?" Mutsumi asked

Hashim, the military advisor.

Hashim brought his hand to his mouth as he considered the question,

speaking once he'd put his thoughts in order.

"It's likely...to ease our supplies."

"Giving support to their enemies? Why?"

"Souma and his people don't want us to get stuck or to go elsewhere.

Our plan utilizes a specialty of Malmkhitan, mounted combat, which takes

advantage of high mobility. We rush in as quickly as possible to assault the

enemy, conquering the cities that resist us and looting them for supplies.

That's how we meant to maintain our momentum. However...if supplies are

already provided, it saves us the trouble of pillaging."

"I see," Fuuga grunted. "He's leading us towards the shortest route to

Parnam."

If their army found itself short on supplies, they would do whatever they

needed to in order to acquire more. That would likely lead to a loosening of

military discipline, and soldiers might have to be sent to loot places that

weren't along the most direct path. The result would only expand the

damage to the Kingdom, so it wasn't something they'd want. That's why

they'd gone out of their way to leave supplies along Fuuga's path.

As Hashim saw it, they were trying to control the forces of the Great

Tiger Empire to keep them from diverging from their planned route.

"Is it to reduce the harm to innocent people?" Mutsumi asked.

Hashim shook his head. "Even if that was Souma's hope, our enemies

also include Hakuya the Black-robed Prime Minister, Julius the White

Strategist, and the venerable Excel. He might have done it to benefit the

people, but they wouldn't let him if it wasn't advantageous."

"So, what you're saying is that Souma and his gang have got us in the

palms of their hands... Is that it?" Fuuga asked and received a nod in

response.

"Indeed. In fact, I've tried sending a number of small units to find

detours that we might take, but they failed every time. This route is the only

one that lets us move smoothly and quickly."

"They failed? Were they ambushed by the enemy?"

"No," Hashim said with a stern expression. "Something even more

strange is afoot."

"What...do you suppose this is?"

Hearing the reports of his scouts, Gaten, the Flag of the Tiger, took some

of his best men and rode out on his temsbock to see if they were true. He

was taken aback by what they found—the gloomy woods spread out before

him.

According to what he'd been told before setting out, this was supposed

to be a desolate field across which they could march a large army.

Normally, he would have separated part of his forces into a detachment and

attacked cities off the main force's route in order to distract the Friedonian

military.

Of course, the Kingdom's forces would understand that, and so Hashim

had told Gaten that they might've placed forces here to meet him, meaning

this could be where the first battle of the war happened. But contrary to

expectations, the Kingdom didn't intercept him here. All he was met by was

a sea of trees that stretched on for who knows how far.

"We sent out scouts yesterday. Was there a forest like this in the

reports?" Gaten asked one of his men, who hurriedly shook his head.

"No, sir! The scout said nothing of it. I spoke to him earlier to confirm,

and he said, 'I'm absolutely certain this was a barren field when I came here

yesterday.'"

"Basically, this forest grew overnight, huh?" Gaten said, stroking his

chin. It's hard to believe, and yet...facing King Souma of Friedonia, I

wouldn't be surprised to discover he has the means to do it.

The Kingdom of Friedonia had thus far built island-like ships, bombs

that neutralized magic, and other inventions that defied common sense.

He'd even heard rumors they even fought a sea monster with a mechanical

dragon. It wouldn't be all that strange for such a country to be able to make

a forest spring up overnight.

It wouldn't be strange...? It's odd enough that they're able to convince us

that things that should be considered strange are seemingly normal. We've

already been heavily poisoned by their influence.

Gaten was an easygoing man with a gaudy taste in fashion, but he was

calm and composed when directing his troops.

Now that there was a forest, he couldn't send out a detachment. Even if

the forest was an illusion of some sort, dividing their forces against an

enemy who could pull off something like this would lead to them being

defeated in detail.

"We should give up on sending out a detachment. I'll make the

suggestion to Sir Hashim."

With that, Gaten took his men and returned to his own camp.

A group quietly hid in the branches as they watched the Great Tiger

Empire's forces to see what they'd do. They all had tanned skin and the

characteristically pointed ears of the elven race. These were the dark elves

of the God-Protected Forest. Most were dressed in light armor and carried

bows, but one wore a splendid robe. A young dark elf girl kneeled before

him.

"Lord Wodan. The enemy appears to have given up on coming through

here."

"Well done, Velza."

The robed individual was Aisha's father and the chief of the GodProtected Forest, Wodan Udgard. The girl kneeling before him was

Halbert's secretary, Velza.

Standing nearby were Wodan's brother, Robthor, and Velza's father, Sur,

to protect Wodan if needed.

The chief smiled softly. "It seems we've been able to direct the enemy.

This will be of help to Aisha and my son-in-law."

The dark elves' mission was to plug up any detours or side routes along

the invading army's projected course with woodland, preventing them from

dispersing. This task required a high degree of mobility inside the forests,

so it fell to the nimble dark elves, who were already forest dwellers.

"Yes! I'll go inform Parnam of this!" Velza said with a nod.

"Be careful, Velza," Sur warned. "And tell Sir Hal that I wish him luck

in his battles."

"Yes, Father!" Velza nodded again, then jumped away.

Once he'd finished watching her go, Robthor patted the bark of a tree as

he sighed.

"Arrows that can make a forest sprout overnight... King Souma really

had created something incredible."

"No, I'm told these were developed before King Souma was summoned.

They were apparently a failed experiment by the young lady from the

House of Maxwell."

Hearing this, Robthor's eyes widened and he asked, "Really?"

Sur explained that the arrows were the very failure that had once seen

Overscientist Genia driven out of the research and development branch. Her

unconventional idea was that, "War lays the land to waste, so let's invent

arrows that will make trees grow where they fall," but things got out of

hand, and a research facility was swallowed up by the forest as a result.

Later, Genia would return to the front line of research and refine her

invention thanks to Souma's efforts. The result was a reduction in growth,

making it so the trees would die off after a short time. They couldn't make

too much use of the arrows due to the cost of manufacturing and the

environmental effects, but the invention served its purpose admirably. This

spontaneous forest would vanish in a few days.

Robthor let out a sigh of admiration. "To think there were such wonders

in the outside world even before the king arrived..."

"Heh heh. Even as we shut ourselves away in the forest, the world

continued changing, bit by bit. And it would have been whether my son-inlaw came or not," Wodan told Robthor with a mischievous grin. "We were

right to open our eyes to that sooner rather than later. And that's all thanks

to my son-in-law, and Aisha, who left the forest on her own to go meet him.

We dark elves must do all we can for these two benefactors."

"Yeah, you have a point."

"Yes!"

Robthor and Sur both nodded. Wodan smiled at them with satisfaction.

"I must do my best so that I might hold Aisha and my son-in-law's child

in my arms one day."

"By the same token, I can't die until I see Velza married to Sir Hal."

"And I, until the daughter my wife left me grows to maturity."

These three were the top warriors of the God-Protected Forest, but they

were also doting fathers.

The other dark elves watched them with wry smiles as they carried on.

◇ ◇ ◇

Meanwhile, Kasen, the Crossbow of the Tiger, who had gone out

scouting like Gaten, also found himself beguiled.

The mountain road was somewhat precarious, but he'd sent out a unit of

scouts, knowing the leaping cavalry on their temsbocks could still traverse

it, and they discovered an enemy fortress. It was out in the open in an area

where trees were scarce, along a mountain road. It was normal for castles

and fortresses to be built along major thoroughfares, so he'd never expected

one here, much less one that wasn't in use.

Furthermore, it'd be hard for them to resupply using these rough roads,

and securing a water supply couldn't be easy either. That meant the

Kingdom of Friedonia had set up a fortress in a clearly difficult-to-defend

place in order to keep anyone from coming through.

Kasen found this strange when he heard the report, and so he decided to

head out and see for himself. When he reached the site, there was, in fact, a

fortress there. Stone block walls towered over a lonely bit of the mountain

with little foliage. The blocks were weathered, like a ruin from a fallen

civilization, but atop the walls were Friedonian flags, which seemed to have

been placed there recently.

The Kingdom is really deployed here?! he thought.

There was no point in defending this place if the enemy didn't come

through, and even if they were defending it, a little fort like that wouldn't

hold out long once it was surrounded by a thousand or so men. It looked

like a waste of men and materiel.

Or have they simply raised their flag there to confuse us? Maybe I ought

to get a little closer and look.

Just as Kasen was preparing to have his unit advance...

Boom! Ka-boom!!!

There was the sound of an explosion from the fortress, and a moment

later a pillar of fire and smoke rose up between there and Kasen's group.

The sudden burst of light and noise made them freeze up for a moment, but

they quickly realized they were being bombarded.

Ka-boom! Ka-boom!

Before Kasen and his men could do anything, the shells fell one after

another. The pillars of fire and smoke were still a ways off, but they grew

closer and closer as the enemy corrected their aim.

Firepowder weapons at a meaningless fortress like this?! Is the

Kingdom insane?!

Up until now, the Great Tiger Kingdom hadn't encountered any

meaningful resistance. The towns and cities along their route were either

empty shells or surrendered quickly. These were places that seemed easy to

defend and strategically valuable, yet the Kingdom passed up defending

them to reinforce this fort in the middle of nowhere? It defied all logic.

"Yahhhhhh!!!"

A battle cry rose up from the soldiers in the fortress. It sounded like

there were a sizable number of people there.

Something suspicious is going on here... But it'd be a bad idea to push in

too deeply.

Deciding it would be folly to lose men fighting over such an

unimportant place, Kasen immediately ordered a withdrawal to seek

Hashim's advice. On hearing the report, Hashim suspected deception of

some sort based on the strategic meaninglessness of defending such a

fortress. But he decided that figuring out the enemy's trick would cost them

time they didn't have. He gave up on using that difficult mountain road and

settled for posting soldiers at the road's entrance to guard it instead.

As Kasen and his detachment of the Great Tiger Empire's army pulled

back, there were just two people standing atop the fortress walls to watch

them go. One looked like a hero, wearing a silver mask with a circlet and

amulet, along with a red scarf around his neck. The other looked like an evil

emperor, with thick armor, a black cape, and a bony helmet.

The former was the protagonist of the beloved tokusatsu program known

throughout the Kingdom of Friedonia (and even in some other countries),

Overman Silvan. The latter was his rival, the Great Evil Ogre Emperor,

Akki Taitei. They fought intense, sometimes comical, battles on the

program, but now they were watching the Great Tiger Empire's forces

retreat with sober looks on their faces.

"It would seem the enemy have withdrawn, Akki Taitei," Silvan said,

and the Great Evil Ogre Emperor let out a wizened laugh.

"Heh heh heh... Ha ha ha! Ah hah hah hah hah! The imbeciles!" Akki

Taitei exclaimed. "They've fallen for our trick! They danced a merry jig, all

to our tune."

"I haven't fought alongside you like this since Miss Dran ran amok."

"Hmm. It galls me to work alongside you, my hated enemy, but

conquering this nation is a job for Akki Taitei and the Black Group. I won't

let a bunch of Johnny-come-latelies do as they please."

"It galls me every bit as much... But for the sake of the children's smiles,

the invaders must be repelled. I'll join hands with anyone, even the devil,

for that cause!"

"Ah hah hah hah! Well said, Silvan! I'll settle my score with you when

this battle is done!"

As the two of them were talking...

Siena Juniro, a woman in her early twenties, poked her head out to ask.

"Um, Brother, Father, what are you acting like that for?"

This was the younger sister of Silvan's pre-transformation form and suit

actor, Ivan Juniro, and the daughter of Akki Taitei's suit actor, Moltov

Juniro. Hearing her call out to them, Ivan and Moltov, who had been getting

totally into character, awkwardly removed their masks.

"Well, when we're in costume, we just can't help but get in character...

Right, Dad?"

"Y-Yeah. I always get so worked up for some reason."

Siena gave them a cold glance for their excuses. "Why are you dressed

up in costumes to begin with? His Majesty only commanded us to use our

family's illusion magic to confuse the enemy, right?"

Indeed. The explosions Kasen and his men just saw and the battle cries

of the soldiers were all the project of Ivan, Moltov, and Siena's illusion

magic. With the way magic functioned beginning to be worked out, it was

discovered that their magic worked by projecting images and memories into

the air. The Juniro family had been using this magic to help with special

effects on the broadcast programs.

Now, they'd been ordered to put those skills to use in order to block off

one of the side routes that the Great Tiger Empire could have otherwise

used. They washed the moss from this long-disused fortress, raised flags to

make it appear as though it were in active use, and then made it look like

there were a large number of defenders using their illusion magic.

This land was hard to defend, but it would still pose a problem if the

enemy pass through to the other side. The decision was made by Hakuya

and Julius to block it off with the Juniros' magic. If the Great Tiger Empire

thought there were defenders here, they probably wouldn't push their luck

trying to get past, and even if they did, the three people here could easily

hide. Now if the enemy decided to pass, assuming the fortress was empty,

then they could use their illusion magic to make them think an enemy had

appeared behind them. It would only take these three people to slow down

and confuse the enemy.

"But the operation didn't call for you to play Silvan."

Ivan and Moltov looked at each other awkwardly.

"Well, you know, the costumes help us psyche ourselves up. Right?"

"Y-Yeah. His Majesty said, 'a mental image is important for

strengthening magic.' By getting into character like this, we're able to

produce more powerful illusions."

"Tell me how you really feel..."

""We let ourselves get carried away!""

Siena's cold eyes forced a confession from her brother and father.

"Well... I understand how you feel." She let out a sigh. "We all have our

uncertainties about the war. It's normal to want to cling to heroes in times

like this."

"Right. We haven't been invaded like this since the war with the

Principality of Amidonia," Moltov said with a sober expression. "I think

there's enough justice, evil, and fighting on our broadcast programs. But

with the war going on, we can't use the jewels to make them. War in the

real world is boring, depressing, and terrible, so I want it to hurry up and

end already."

"Dad!"

"Father..."

With that, Moltov donned the helmet of Akki Taitei once more.

"The Great Evil Ogre Emperor is enough evil for one world! Ah hah hah

hah!"

Ivan and Siena smiled as Akki Taitei let out a booming laugh.

◇ ◇ ◇

While the Great Tiger Empire's detached forces were eventually forced

to retreat, their main force continued its advance towards Parnam. However,

the cities along the invasion route were either vacant or immediately

surrendered, so they met no meaningful resistance and were able to secure

their supply lines. This seemingly uneventful march towards the Friedonian

capital didn't go unnoticed by Fuuga and Hashim.

"I've gotta wonder what Souma's thinking," Fuuga said to Hashim,

riding on Durga's back alongside his advancing forces. Hashim was on

horseback beside him, with Mutsumi on his opposite side.

"Souma is plotting something, and whatever it is, time is on their side.

Yet, although they interfere with our detachments, the main force has met

with no delays whatsoever. We are heading towards Parnam without losing

any of our combat potential. If we were to plunge in without considering

our opponent's plan, we could likely reach Parnam in less than a day."

Their rate of movement was steady, but the Great Tiger Empire couldn't

utilize their mobility. The Kingdom of Friedonia had many schemers like

Hakuya, Julius, and Excel, so there was the risk that any lapse in wariness

could quickly turn the tables. Looking at the variety of ways their detached

forces had been stymied, the moment they let their guards down, their

supply lines might be cut, leaving them isolated in the middle of the enemy

with a large army to support. This was why the Great Tiger Empire was

forced to advance at a rate where they could maintain their speed without

compromising themselves. Repeated raids along their route would've stifled

their march, yet Souma didn't do it.

"Don't they want to buy time?" Fuuga wondered aloud.

"I'm sure they do," Hashim answered, "but perhaps they're being

selective about where they do it?"

Mutsumi cocked her head, asking, "What do you mean, 'being

selective'?"

"They could delay us by defending the cities along our route until they

fell or launching sporadic small-scale attacks, but it would increase the

Kingdom's losses. If he can focus his strength on a well-prepared battlefield

and meet us there, while still buying just as much time, that is what Souma

will choose to do."

"So he seeks to minimize the damage to his people?"

"That is part of it, yes. But it's also a logical decision when you consider

what will come after the war. If he's confident they'll prevail, then no

matter how many cities we take, he'll be able to get them back. It's likely a

decision to preserve people's lives, which cannot be regained in any way

once they are taken."

"But then..." Mutsumi trailed off.

"That means the enemy's sure he's gonna beat us. Scary," Fuuga

finished for her.

For something he said was scary, he sounded like he was enjoying it.

Fuuga seemed like a child wondering what he'd be getting for Christmas.

He looked forward to seeing what this enemy had in store for him.

"Ahem." Hashim loudly cleared his throat. "However, I would not

expect the next place we attack to go this way. Unlike everywhere else

we've been so far, you cannot say that losing this city would be no harm to

the Kingdom."

"'Red Dragon City,' right?"

"Indeed. It serves as the shield that defends Parnam from the north, and

is the residence of the former General of the Air Force, Castor Vargas. It is

also where they have trained the wyvern cavalry, so losing the place where

all that know-how is concentrated would be a painful blow for the

Kingdom. It is a hardened fortress built into the mountainside, making it

advantageous to defend, so...perhaps we were allowed to come this far in

order to stall us here?"

Fuuga crossed his arms and groaned. "But Souma already took that

fortress city once himself, didn't he? Back during Georg and Castor's

rebellion, if I'm remembering right."

"Yes. However, based on the information I've gathered, there were only

a few hundred defenders at the time, and no proper battle of defense was

ever fought. Souma's side used a battleship on land to bombard the city and

launched a sneak attack through the castle's secret passages. I believe it is

more correct to say that he took the city by subterfuge, not a direct assault."

"I get you. So we probably can't do the same."

"This time, they will have enough defenders, and I am sure they've

sealed up whatever secret passages there were."

"Which means we're finally gonna get a real fight."

Fuuga enthusiastically shouldered Zanganto. Hashim gave him a cold

look.

"I ask that you refrain from charging in at the vanguard. We have no

way of knowing when the enemy might use that weapon which seals

magic."

"You wouldn't want them to use it when you're flying on Durga's back,

leaving you to fall to your death...right?" Mutsumi cautioned him.

"I don't want to go out like that," Fuuga replied with a scowl. Hashim

nodded.

"This massive army is contingent on your existence, Your Majesty. If

you were ever seriously wounded, it would all crumble instantly. While

we're unsure what schemes the enemy has in store, the only time we can

deploy you into combat—"

"...Is when we're so cornered there's no other way out, yeah? I get it."

Fuuga let out a raucous laugh. It was almost like he hoped Souma might put

them in a position where he'd be dragged onto the battlefield.

Hashim and Mutsumi shrugged their shoulders in exasperation.

The Great Tiger Empire of Haan was said to be able to field about four

hundred thousand men. This was the total sum, including the forces of the

former Union of Eastern Nations, half of the former Gran Chaos Empire

and their two vassal states, the Zemish mercenaries who sided with them

and conscripts from that country, and the refugee soldiers and fortune

seekers who had volunteered to serve under Fuuga. (The Orthodox Papal

State is an independent country, so their numbers are excluded.)

Removing the forces staring down the Euphoria Kingdom in the west,

those warding off attacks by the Republic in the south, as well as the few

hundred who went with Lombard to support and monitor the Orthodox

Papal State, plus the few left to guard the homeland...only about two

hundred thousand, half their total, were deployed into the war with the

Kingdom of Friedonia.

The defending Friedonians had a hundred and fifty or sixty thousand

men. However, they had to send forty thousand of those to the Amidonia

Region to respond to the Orthodox Papal State, and their vaunted naval fleet

couldn't be used in a battle this far inland, so it'd been predicted that they

could only field a hundred thousand men against Fuuga.

The soldiers of the ever-victorious Great Tiger Kingdom were optimistic

that they could win with a two-to-one advantage, but the higher-ups were

cognizant that they only had twice as many men as their opponent. Even if

there was a gap in the number of troops available, the Kingdom of

Friedonia had far more national power and technological development.

They were a wily opponent that'd used a bizarre weapon that rendered

magic unusable during the war with the former Gran Chaos Empire, and

yet, the Great Tiger Empire had to send their second-best commander,

Shuukin, and the fierce Moumei to prepare against the Euphoria Kingdom

and the Republic.

It was thought their opponent's knowledge would make a hard battle

inevitable.

Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Friedonia, people were intimidated but

not panicked by the number of troops in the Great Tiger Empire's armies,

but not enough to panic. This was thanks to the Kingdom's news program

constantly reporting on the movements of the Great Tiger Kingdom. The

information was precise, as if the viewer were watching them from the air,

and served to guide evacuations. Those broadcasts could even be watched

in cities already seized by the Great Tiger Empire if the viewer had a simple

receiver. It seemed as though the Kingdom was only broadcasting

information that they didn't care if their opponents saw, but Hashim was

still surprised at the precision of it. He sent out Krahe and the griffon riders,

thinking that it might be because there were wyvern cavalry scouts

observing them, but they came up empty.

How could the Kingdom track the Great Tiger Empire's movements so

closely? The answer was at an altitude higher than wyverns or griffons flew.

"Hmm... It seems the Great Tiger Empire will close in on Red Dragon

City soon. There isn't any sign of them having lost troops, so our attempts

to interfere with their detached forces must be going well," Serina

murmured as she leaned out of the gondola to look down with a telescope.

After observing a bit more, she retreated back into the gondola.

Turning to her fellow passenger, Komain, she said, "There's no change

to their course. The vanguard units will arrive at Red Dragon City shortly.

Send word to Parnam Castle and Red Dragon City."

"Got it... Off you go now." Komain quickly jotted down what Serina had

told her, then released messenger kuis to carry the messages to their

recipients.

These messenger kuis had been trained for high-altitude deployment and

glided towards the ground at an angle. This was high enough that wyverns

couldn't fly, so they would drop to a more appropriate altitude before

opening their wings and continuing to their respective destinations.

With their job done, Serina and Komain shut the windows, which were

letting in a chilly breeze due to the high altitude. Why were Poncho's wives

doing this?

"Are you enjoying your flight, ladies? Over," came a voice from the

communication tube. (Although, in this case, it was more like a tin can

telephone.)

"Yes," Serina replied. "We're enjoying an elegant trip through the air,

Lady Sill. Over."

"Ha ha ha, I'm glad to hear it!"

The voice belonged to Queen Sill of the Nothung Dragon Knight

Kingdom. Her partner, Pai the White Dragon, was the one carrying this

gondola.

"You know," Sill said, "our country is completely surrounded by the

Great Tiger Empire these days. It makes it hard for the merchants to come

and is putting a strain on our supplies. It's a good thing we opened trade

routes with the Kingdom. Over."

"Hee hee. Well, Venetinova is the center of the Kingdom's trade

network, and our husband and children are all such big eaters, after all, so

we have a lot of food on hand. I'm sure we'll have something that suits

your tastes. Over."

"Yes. We were able to receive many quality items. And you were kind

enough to give us a hefty discount if we brought some 'sightseers' when we

delivered the goods back to our own country. Over."

And with that, the candid conversation concluded.

"Indeed. I'm told that the three-eyed race are quite big on sightseeing, so

I'm sure they're quite pleased with the arrangement."

Komain, who was listening beside Serina, had an awkward look on her

face like she didn't know how to react.

"Um... What was that about?" she asked. "You both sounded so

conniving."

"Hee hee. It's important for people and nations to keep up appearances,"

Serina replied with a smile like the one she wore when teasing Carla.

In short, the ones observing Fuuga's forces were Serina and Komain, as

well as members of the three-eyed race, to which Doctor Hilde belonged.

They boarded a gondola carrying supplies from Venetinova to the Nothung

Dragon Knight Kingdom and reported back to Souma and the others on

what they saw the Great Tiger Empire doing down below, providing

accurate information for the news program.

The Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom needed to remain uninvolved in

wars between other nations. However, there was no rule forbidding them

from taking passengers along while shipping supplies back to their own

country. Serina and Komain were both noncombatants, and the supplies

were not military in nature. As for the members of the three-eyed race, they

were just people who happened to have really good vision.

No matter what they happened to see during the trip or who they

reported it to, that was none of the dragon knights' concern. They wouldn't

get involved in wars between other countries, but they couldn't be held

responsible for what their passengers might do.

"I don't know that the argument holds water, but...we are at war, after

all," Komain said with a pensive look.

Serina stopped smiling and nodded. "We're doing this so that we can go

back to a happy dinner table with our husband, Marin, and Maron. Let's

help His Majesty dispense with this pointless conflict swiftly."

"Agreed... I want to get back to our husband and the children quickly."

The two nodded in agreement.

◇ ◇ ◇

The messenger kui sent by Komain landed in Red Dragon City. It was

received by the former steward of the House of Vargas, Tolman, who was

now the leader of the National Air Defense Force. He turned to look at the

person behind him.

"It seems Fuuga's forces will be here soon."

"Oh, I-I see..."

The one who answered him, his voice shrill with tension, was the

present head of the House of Vargas, Carl Vargas