Welcome, adventurers . Sit down, please . â\nThough those were words of welcome, no one could help but feel some sort of pressure since they were coming out of King Leonhartâs mouth . Was that the majesty of a King?
âThank you, Your Majesty . â
Farkius was the first one to walk to his chair . Without getting intimidated in the kingâs presence, he gracefully sat on a rustic chair .
Then all other adventurers who had gathered in this place begin to sit down after him . Of course, I am one of them .
âYou can really feel the pressure hereâŠâ
The mood was so tense that you could hear people unintentionally saying things like that .
The place where we were gathered was Galahad Fortressâ military control room, which is where Farkius had been ordered to bringâ or rather, lead me to . I never saw myself being in this kind of room, together with royalty, generals of the nobility, and adventurers who were former academy students . The closest I had ever been to this was when visiting the old Iskia Castle after defeating Greed-Gore, and even then I was only sightseeing .
That place was like a cold basement made with hard stone, and it looked rather unimpressive . The same could be said for this room .
In contrast with the huge Galahad Fortress, there was no useless decoration in this room, as it has been thoroughly designed with the functionality of base defense in mind . This room too had been made with thick stones, steel, and defensive magic so that it stays strong against any kind of attack . Only the deep crimson national flag of Spada and a map of Galahad Mountains hang from the windowless walls . \nHowever, there was a sense of tension in this rugged room that was comparable to actually being on the battlefield . This tension was due to the fact that everyone here was putting their lives on the line .
I regretfully thought to myself that I should have brought Lily with me .
âThe situation has unexpectedly turned into a ceasefire due to the White Dragonâs Nest⊠but let me tell you that you have done a good job so far . â\nWe, the adventurers who had been summoned to this room, quietly listened to King Leonhartâs plain and diplomatic introduction .
Just as Farkius said, the only ones here were the leaders of the âGladiatorâ battalion and us, the âOrder Raidâ . Only us party leaders were called, not because the other members werenât allowed but due to space limitations, and for this reason, Lily and Fiona werenât here with me . Which reminds me of what those two told me earlier . Lily sent me off with a âGood luckâ, but I wasnât sure why I would need luck in this meeting .
Looking to my right, the one sitting closest to me was the handsome Farkius, then an old woman who was as thin as a dead tree, and a woman wearing a pink full helmet . That old lady was definitely the leader of âYomiâ, but I wondered why the Pink one from the Blade Rangers was here at all .
After Miss Pink Arrow, several brawny men who looked like really strong adventurers were sitting in a line, and finally, and closest to King Leonhart, was the leader of âGladiatorâ, Prince Eisenhart himself . Looking at them sitting right next to each other made me realize how much they resemble each other .
Looking to my left, several battalion members who I had never seen before were sitting next to me . We from the âOrder Raidâ didnât know the names of the adventurers appointed to the front lines by the battalion . \nThe only one I was able to recognize was the one sitting next to the king at the opposite side of Eisenhart: the leader of the âIron Demon Corpsâ the red orc Gustav . He is Rank 5 and has recently been awarded a medal for protecting the Iskia Village, making him one of the most prominent members of the battalion .
âThough it might be a little rushed, letâs get to the main point at once . Eis, I leave the explanation to you . â
âYes . â
Prince Eisenhart got up from his chair looking a bit tired as a knight handed him something like a conductorâs batonâ no, that was a genuine Magic Baton .
âBy now I doubt anyone in this room doesnât know about this, but there are two huge holes in our walls . â
The prince swung his baton once as he spoke with a light but strong tone of voice .
At that moment, a three-dimensional image rose from the large round table we were sitting at . Galahadâs great castle walls, composed of white light wireframes, appeared in front of us .
I wondered if that was some kind of light magic⊠but it looked more like special effects from a movie than actual magic . I wanted one of those for my room .
âTheir exact locations are here⊠and here . As you can see, itâs as if the wall enclosing the fortress had been split into two sections, one to the north-right side, and the other to the south-left . â
Each of the damaged locations were indicated with a spot of red light . The size of the red spots seemed proportional to their actual holesâ size . The diagram was really easy to understand . \nâWeâre currently working on the repairs as soon as possible, but this blizzard has made it really difficult to make any progress in that regard . Work under these conditions is so dangerous, that in a worst-case scenario, we may lose some workers to the storm . â
But thatâs the duty of the engineers . Be it during public service or out there on the battlefield, working under difficult situations is part of the job .
Still, being hit by a blizzard is far better than being exposed to a Crusader onslaught . At least those Crusaders havenât started hurling fireballs at us for now .
âSo, the ancient weapon used to make these holes, the ancient golem⊠ah, umm⊠according to reports, we have established that its name is âTaurusâ . The problem lies in the fact that there are more of them . Not only those two that escaped, we know that they have at least a dozen more, ready to attack . â
âA dozen, huh? Thatâs going to be hard to beat . â
Gustav spoke with his usual weird accent . The other adventurers too reacted with the same level of surprise when learning how many of those golems were still around .
If I hadnât heard that intel from Lily earlier, I would have been as shocked as everyone else in the room . Luckily, Prince Eisenhartâs explanation was roughly the same as what Lily had found, so I was able to keep a cool face .
Still, could it be that Lily had passed on the information she had gathered to the Spada Army without my knowledge? Or was there a brilliant intelligence agent that had been able to gather as much intel as her on the battlefield? Oh well, either was fine by me . \nâRegular attacks wonât work on those guys . Their thick plating can repel even our ballistas . You need something like the firepower of the Pharos Gun or your âspecial attacksâ, as we have already seen . â
So far we have been confirming facts . After this, we would be talking about what to do about those powerful Taurus, and how would we be protecting Galahad Fortress . Developing a concrete plan for those two issues was essential .
âBecause of this, we will be changing the stationing of our âGladiatorâ corps a little as a countermeasure to the Taurus . â
They would be focusing on the places where the holes had been opened . However, since we had already been divided into the north-right and the south-left, our positions wouldnât be changing that much .
What was relevant was the actual people who were going to be restationed .
âI will be personally leading the left-wing . The battalion will be Gustav, Lorentz, and Arrietty . The âOrder Raidâ is âYomiâ and the âBlade Rangersâ . That being said, Iâm sorry, but I will be putting the âBlade Rangersâ on hold for now from the âOrder Raidâ . â
âWait a moment, what do you mean by that?â
With a loud bang on the table, Pink Arrow raised her objection .
âPlease calm down . This doesnât mean that the âBlade Rangersâ are no longer of use anymore . â
âButâŠ!â
âYour âFive Blade Shotâ is one of the few attacks that can damage a Taurus . With a single one of those shots, you can change the state of the battlefield . In short, we need you to be able to hit a Taurus with your next shot . Itâs because of the time that it will take you to prepare your next shot that Iâd like you to follow this command . â\nAccording to what Iâve heard, the special attack of the âBlade Rangersâ, the âFive Blade Shotâ is a single powerful attack that completely drains their magic . Itâs just like Fionaâs âGolden Sunâ .
So, do all special techniques in this world completely drain their user of their magic? Or was it just a style thing?\nâ⊠All right . Still, on one condition . â
âIf itâs something we can accommodate, then please say it . â
âPrince Eisenhart, please become the new Red Sword for the âBlade Rangersâ . â
âIâm sorry, I canât do that . But I can double your payment . â
âJust this once at least! Please!â
âIâm really sorry, but I canât do that . â
âRed has always thought that you would be an appropriate replacement for him!â
âHow about I triple your payment and we leave it at that?â
ââŠI guess it canât be helped . But I wonât give up . â
After their negotiations had concluded, Pink Arrow finally calmed down and returned to her seat .
But how should I put it? She had quite the nerve, asking the prince of her own country to join their party at a moment like that . Well, that explained why Pink Arrow was here as leader of the Blade Rangers instead of Red Sword .
But Iâll say, I have to agree that Prince Eisenhart would make for an appropriate Red Sword . \n