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Reconnaissance
We safely arrived at the ex-David territory.
Looking at it from a historical perspective, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say we were the enemy of the Radols. I wanted to avoid any bloodshed, so I was currently scouting ahead with Aquido.
The stronghold city of Camelot was surrounded by several kilometers’ worth of sturdy stone walls……. or at least it should have been. In reality, the area around the northern gate was partially destroyed, so you couldn’t really call it a stronghold anymore.
Around the broken gate there were several armored soldiers waving around flags with the symbol of a fierce lion wearing a crown engraved on them.
“That’s the symbol for the Amrzs Kingdom,” Aquido noted.
Why am I always thrust into these awful situations?
“Do you think there’s Radols inside?”
“If that’s really the Amrzs Kingdom, they’re sure to have taken some hostages.”
I agree. The Radols consisted of several different tribes. So taking the leader hostage after capturing the city was almost like an ironclad rule.
“Then there’s only one thing to do.”
“Yeah.”
They weren’t Radols, but invaders, so we hadn’t any need to dawdle around any longer. On the other hand, we’d need to move in the shadows to save the hostages, for which I had the perfect person for.
I returned to Straheim under the pretense of preparing our equipment and ordered Judo to call out a certain trio.
After they arrived around half an hour later, I ordered them to follow in our shadows without being noticed.
“……”
They silently nodded.
Aquido and I moved towards the part of the wall that hadn’t been destroyed yet and infiltrated in with Wind Manipulation.
The main road was paved, and the snow shoveled to the side, and the buildings were built with thick stone walls and orderly lined up next to each other.
Most of the passersby were clad in armor or, rarely, the outfit of a civil official.
Once we entered the back alleyways, we commenced operation. We followed alongside the roof and peered inside the wooden window where we saw several Radols inside.
“They’ve intruded on our territory without even declaring war, so this much is to be expected, really,” I thought to myself.
The women, who had dark indigo skin, were being physically and mentally violated by the soldiers. Some were crying, and many more had bruises on their faces and bodies.
Their expressions of absolute despair told me everything I needed to know.
“How wretched!” said Aquido, trembling with fury beside me.
“Calm down. This is the battlefield.”
“S-sorry.”
“No……You’re fine as you are right now.”
That’s right. That’s how you should be.
“What do we do?” he asked.
“It goes without saying.”
I manipulated the wind around the necks of the soldiers who were on the bed, hanging over the Radol women, and twisted.
Crack!
Like I had cut a puppet’s threads, their necks twisted every which way as they collapsed onto the bed.
“Hiiii!!” one woman shrieked.
“No more!!” another wailed, seeking refuge in the corner of the room.
Aquido and I jumped into the room where I quietly, yet forcefully reassured them.
“Don’t worry, we came to help.”
“Help? Us?”
“Yeah, put this on.”
I fetched out several sets of clothing out of my item box and placed it before the women.
“Um……”
The women kept switching between looking at me and looking at clothes in confusion.
“Hurry!” I said, a little more forcefully.
The women snapped awake and put on the clothes before broodingly sitting down on their knees and bowing before me.
“Please, save Lucia-sama!”
“They’re all trapped in the storehouse to the west of us! Save them!!” they pleaded.
I didn’t now who this Lucia was, but I’m the lord of this land; I had a duty to save anyone held prisoner.
“I had intended to from the start,” I nodded before teleporting the women to where Judo was on standby. He would do the rest from there.
I now know there’s a prisoner of war camp, so let’s keep going.
“Let’s go.”
“Yeah,” he replied, and we began investigating the area to the west of us, where we quickly found the place the women were talking about.
“Those fuckers,” Aquido managed to wring out in hatred.
“So this is what awaits the prisoners who have no use……”
There were women, children, and elderly, all huddled around in a single room like a bunch of abandoned kittens.
Even if spring was near, this was the north and an area of heavy snowfall; there was still plenty of snow around. They needed a place where the cold breeze wouldn’t penetrate, but this storehouse was one of the remains from the undead attack. Cracks littered the building, and it barely kept out the cold. From what I could see, a portion had already become immobile from frostbite.
“They can’t even eat in that condition,” said Aquido.
He’s right. Some had sunken cheeks, others exposed rib cages, and even some whose stomachs were swelling from ascites. Even the poor territory of Millard couldn’t hold a candle to this.
First raping the women, then this. How far do they plan to irritate me?
Time was pressing, and there wasn’t any point in getting worked up here. We need to save them as fast as possible.
I tried to drop down through the wooden windows, but the door quietly opened. A young man with blue hair parted to one side and who was carrying a bag entered and looked around.
He approached the thin girl with short, white hair and handed her the bag. She had sunken cheeks and was covered in dust, but you could tell that she used to be quite the looker.
“Thanks as always.”
“No. I’m sorry that this is the most I can do.”
He quickly lowered his head before looking around like he had before and exiting the room.
“Aquido,” I called out, and this time we dropped down.
Seeing the two of us suddenly drop down from above, everyone began to shriek and tremble in the corner.
The white-haired girl, seemingly their representative, staggered forward and shouted, “Who are you!?”
“I am Grey Ines Navarro. His Majesty has entrusted this land to me.”
The moment I brought up the emperor, the room filled with hate, all pointed towards me.
Nice. This is what I was expecting. If they can still direct this much hate at me, then there’s time left to save them.
That’s what I thought, but, the white-haired girl said, “They brought a child all the way to this dangerous place!?”
I feel like her anger is a bit off.
“……”
I was speechless.
“Grey,” Aquido whispered from the side, rousing me back.
“You’re quite the strange one,” I said.
“Hurry up and leave! This isn’t a place for children like you!” she threateningly said, completely ignoring my words. This was throwing me off.
“Aquido, bring them back to the camp and give them some food and clothes.”
I had already ordered the recovery team to head over to Judo, so Aquido would be able to safely gain control if they turned violent.
“Wait a moment. What are you doing, Grey?” she asked.
“I’m carrying out my duties as the lord.”
This was my land, and that kingdom had captured it. It was a clear violation of territorial sovereignty, so this was only natural.
I had confirmed this earlier, but only soldiers and officials were here in Camelot; I couldn’t find any citizens.
They had invaded another country’s land, so I’d need them to reap the seeds they had sowed.
“Alright, but I’ll join you once I escort these guys back to the camp,” said Aquido.
“No need. You’re out of line.”
“Are you really going to go by your—”
I snapped my fingers, cutting him off. Suddenly, a presence loomed behind us. Moonlight shined through the giant hole in the ceiling, illuminated three people behind me.
“We are most delighted that you have chosen us, Grey-sama.”
These three were the ones I had left the underside of my company to. I’d have them walk the path of blood alongside me.
“You guys—”
“Stop. Master does not wish this,” said Hachi.
“Yes. Leave this matter to us,” added Kama.
They’re quite fluent now. They had spoken in incomprehensibly broken language at the beginning, but now you couldn’t tell them from a human.
“Aquido-dono, who would take control of the situation, if not you? Our enemy is the Amrzs Kingdom. Or are you to push that responsibility onto your subordinates?”
Damn he’s good. He really knows that Aquido’s weak to.
“It’s exactly as Kurama said. Nobody else can take command of our squad. Now hurry up and go!” I said.
Aquido grinded his teeth together but said, “Don’t you dare die on me!”
“Who do you think you’re talking to?”
“W-who are you guys?” The white-haired girl fearfully asked while sweating profusely.
“Didn’t I say? I’m the new lord of this land. I won’t do anything bad, so listen to Aquido.”
I pointed my palm towards her and teleported them all in front of the camp.
After confirming that Aquido had taken his leave as well, I turned around to the three behind me.
The Amrzs Kingdom had illegally occupied this land; they had invaded without so much as a declaration of war. I had no need to go easy on them, and I wouldn’t let a single soldier return. This would never end if I let it pass, so I needed to punish them severely.
“You guys don’t need to hold back anymore. Trample them down, thoroughly and to your heart’s content.”
And with that order, the tragedy began.