2-08: A Farce of a War Council (3/5)
Just what could have possibly allowed all these otherworlders to be sent back?
Although an unbelievable thing had just been thrown at their faces abruptly, Earthgant was renowned for being a magic country.
This was the hypothesis that the investigation team they sent out came with. They must have enough material to base their reason upon. All eyes gathered on the princess, and she continued as if to answer their question.
“Yes.
First, according to the eyewitnesses, none of the otherworlders had any idea what was happening.
They were all confused when they were teleported.
Moreover, there were no traces of a magic formula being used at the place, but there were traces reminiscent of a powerful mana reaction and teleportation. When we pursued these traces, we confirmed that everyone was sent out of Falandia. Moreover, they were all sent in the same direction.”
In Teleportation Magic or Transfer Magic, the word ‘Direction’ does not refer to the four directions, but is instead used when the exact coordinates of a jump are unknown to indicate that the coordinates are nearby.
In this case, it is used to mean that the otherworlders were all sent outside Falandia toward the same world.
“I see. A forced transfer that targeted only the otherworlders from outside.
Moreover, they were all sent toward the same world outside of Falandia.”
“It is doubtful that this is a natural calamity. Given that there is a clear purpose. It appears as if they took away their brethren who wounded up here.” Someone said in understanding.
The princess nodded. “The same thing occurred to the other otherworlders that did not join the army. We have reports of them suddenly disappearing from right in front of their acquaintances on the same day that the others vanished.
If even the hidden otherworlders that we do not know of were taken away, then the possibility of that is high.”
After presenting testimony and events that supported such conjecture, the round table sighed.
If their people had vanished suddenly and ended up somewhere with no way to come back, they would surely try to get them back.
The otherworlders were basically taken away by a natural calamity with no hope of returning. They could sympathize with their situation.
Besides, as far as numbers went, the otherworlders that fought did not number in the hundreds, and only in the tens.
Even if one included the non-combatants and the hidden otherworlders, there were only about 20 of them all in all.
That was not a number that would affect the situation of the world or the success of their surprise attack.
Or at least, that would have been the case had the otherworlders been mere soldiers.
“Call them back at once, Princess Lilisha.
The mages of Earthgant aren’t just for show.”
From the robust body and the armor of the man, it could easily be inferred that he was from the military. Such a man snidely spat those words toward the princess, who was at an age that wouldn’t be odd for her to be his daughter.
The general of Damores spoke rudely, but the princess merely smiled.
“Oh, it seems the general of Damores seems to be misunderstanding something.
While it is true that you are the commanding officer of the allied armies, you are not in the position to be giving me orders.”
Just one look at the general of Damores was enough to make one feel the pressure of a veteran emanating from him.
But despite that, the princess did not mind his hostile gaze one bit.
In fact, not only did she not mind it, but she even made it apparent that she was scorning him.
He groaned in response, but there was no denying that she had hit a sore spot.
Princess Lilisha hadn’t joined the allied armies.
So long as he was a mere general, he had no right to command the royalty of another country.
“You little—”
He wanted to curse her, but he still held a sliver of reason and was able to keep the urge down.
He wasn’t happy that Lilisha was here.
But that was only given. After all, many of the people gathered here were the representatives of the participating countries of the great alliance and their army.
And yet this girl who was neither the queen nor the top of the magic knights was sent here. Even if she was second to the throne of Earthgant Kingdom, it still didn’t make sense.
It would have made some sense if she had been sent here as reinforcements, given her talent in magic, but why was she sent to represent the will of the country?
To this general who has devoted his soul and body to the battlefield, such a decision was simply too negligent.
Not to mention that their Earthgant Kingdom didn’t even bother to send them much help, only sending some soldiers and the heroes they summoned to put on a show that they were helping. The reason they gave was that they expended more effort than expected due to the succession of the new queen.
They could only reluctantly nod since the heroes were too precious to ignore, but now that they were gone, even that had become meaningless.
The attitude of Earthgant Kingdom could only be said to be negligent. As such, the general did not look kindly upon them.
“Do you people not understand that the survival of humanity depends on this war!?”
“…If that were really true, I would be desperate too, but…”
“What was that!?”
“Well, either way, we don’t have any way to bring them back.”
The general was shouting hard enough to shake the round table, but the princess just acted as if there was a breeze blowing at her. She readily confessed that ‘it couldn’t be done’, but there was a smile on her face.
Apparently, she didn’t think anything of that.
“You can’t do it? Even though you people are the ones who came up with the summoning spell to summon the heroes?”
The heroes of the otherworlds.
A spell to summon the strong warriors of a different world.
And while the spell to return the heroes home might function as a set with the summoning spell, but the fact that this princess was herself able to create a spell that allowed the otherworlders to go back home when they normally couldn’t is the reason why she is said to be the greatest mage in the history of the great magic country, Earthgant.
Moreover, the heroes she summoned also possessed power fitting for them to be known as heroes.
Though the general might scorn her internally, he had no choice but to acknowledge her abilities.
“We have no way of knowing where in their homeworld they are presently.
We could summon another hero, but that would require preparation and time… It should be possible after a year.”
“Too slow!
It’s because your Earthgant is so far away from the demon tribe’s region that you don’t understand their threat!”
“…If we understood their strength, then we would already know that there’s no chance of winning.”
“What was that!?”
Princess Lilisha watched as the general howled with a cold and paled face.
She smiled as if laughing scornfully as she bore the brunt of that furious gaze and spoke the truth that no one dared say.
“Send the elite team made up of heroes of our countries and the otherworlds to the castle of the demon king. Should they succeed at vanquishing the demon king, then all shall be well.
In the case of failure, the allied armies are to be teleported before the castle and attack before the demon tribe is able to react. That’s how the initial plan goes, no?”
That was the outline of the strategy the Damores and the Rimoa Church came up with.
“It was because you had a chance at winning – as small as it may be – that our kingdom joined this alliance of yours.
So, let us hear it, Commanding Officer. Given our current strength, is the initial plan still doable?”
“KU…”
When the princess pointed that out, the general had no choice but to swallow the anger that sought to erupt.
There were two key points to their operation. One was that the elite unit had to successfully get in unnoticed. Two, that the strength of that elite unit be sufficient.
The difference between the abilities of a normal human soldier and a normal demon soldier is said to be fifty to one.
Meaning it would take fifty human soldiers to take down one demon soldier.
With the exception of some very powerful individuals, that was how big the gap was between them.
Their one saving grace was that the demon tribe were few in numbers. They greatly outnumbered them. But because of the demon tribe’s great strength, even if they sent a small elite team, if the team wasn’t strong enough, they would not be able to cause chaos.