Vol. 4 - Chapter 171 - The Spirit King (1)
In the evening after the night raid, we were walking through the corridor of the largest building in the center of Tiamo. Unlike the Royal Castle in the Kingdom, the wooden structure with its simple but beautiful wood-grained interior was the building where we met the Queen and the Generals last night.
"Master Allen, we made it back in time for the evening."
In a somewhat cheerful voice, Sophie called out to me.
"Yes, you're right. I need a good night's sleep."
(I want to sleep now. I can eat later.)
As if to say, "Deliver this thought to me," I poured out all my current thoughts to Sophie. Since we hadn't slept a wink since the night raid, everyone seemed to be somewhat sleepy, no matter how young we were.
"But it was a great battle. I'll be sure to share it with the Queen and the Generals."
"Yeah."
(Is Sophie the kind of person who doesn't have to sleep?)
We arrived in front of the Queen's Chamber, and without waiting, the large doors opened.
Something in my sleepy eyes reminded me that even in the RPG I played a long time ago, entering the throne room with the King needed an appointment.
In addition, the elves that I thought were soldiers were actually all Generals or higher in rank.
They all looked to be in their thirties or forties, but they might be quite old.
We entered the room where the Queen was waiting for us.
Today, the Queen was sitting on the throne at the far end like a Queen, apparently without standing in a circle to discuss the matter.
On the Queen's shoulder was the flying squirrel I had seen last night, and now our eyes met again.
(It's looking at me again. Hmm? Is it sleepy too?)
The flying squirrel on the Queen's shoulder gave a big yawn and moved over to curl up on the Queen's lap. It closed its eyes and fell asleep easily.
"So, how were the other three cities?"
I said nothing and stared at the flying squirrel, so the Queen called out to me.
"Eh? Yes, they are still holding on, so I safely distributed 500 Elven Elixirs to each of them. I think it's safe to say that the war situation has picked up."
(Thanks to that, I have used all of my stock of [Blessing of Heaven]. I need to convert 2500 B-rank magic stones into [Blessing of Heaven]. I'll have to increase my stock of [Blessing of Heaven]. Should I borrow a flowerpot to make them?)
"'Oh, my God! Wonderful!!!"
As I was contemplating my lack of [Blessing of Heaven], I heard shouts of joy from the elven Generals.
We conducted night raids until dawn and were able to defeat a total of just over 40,000 Demon King troops on the north and south sides of Tiamo city. It seems that the situation on the north gate side was hardly communicated to the south side, so we were able to do pretty much whatever we wanted on the south side.
Due to the night raids until dawn, the Demon King's army did not attack Tiamo City that day.
Then, when B-rank Spirit heard the conversation between Tiamo and the Generals of the Nest City, I found out that Tiamo was not the only city on the frontlines.
The Demon King's army, which invaded from the north of Rosenheim, was moving south while attacking and destroying cities and fortresses. After the Capital in the center of Rosenheim fell, they continued to move further south.
The main force of the Demon King's Army was said to be in the capital of Rosenheim. From there, they were dividing their forces and advancing south in order from the north. As expected, moving an army of 3 million was not efficient in terms of logistics.
There were about three other cities at about the same latitude as the Tiamo City, and they were still being invaded.
(The reason why four cities including Tiamo were fighting was to make the Queen's survival and whereabouts unknown.)
The Queen moved to Tiamo City after the fall of the capital. The Demon King's army marched south to defeat the Queen.
If attacked by a large army at once, none of the four cities would be able to withstand it.
So, they decided to make it unclear to which city the Queen had fled or if she was alive at all. The Generals protected the Queen in that way.
Thanks to this, the Demon King's army attacked the four cities evenly. As a result, they were able to buy time for us to rush over.
The soldiers in Tiamo City didn't know that the Queen was here. They had only been told that their fight would lead to the protection of the Queen.
And that morning, we escorted 3 Generals Bird B-rank Bird summons and rushed to support the other cities.
The reason I took three Generals with me was to explain the war situation to the Generals of the other three cities. So the Generals landed one by one in each city and went straight into the battle to intercept the Demon King's army.
In all three cities, as well as in Tiamo City, there are many refugees as well as injured soldiers. There were nearly 700,000 refugees in Tiamo alone. If Tiamo falls, all the refugees along with the defeated soldiers will be turned into food for the Demon King's army.
While handing out recovery medicines, I also supported them by buffing them with Fish summons. In preparation for the offensive and defensive battles that would continue tomorrow and beyond, I left some Fish summons in each city.
Thanks to the healing of the injured soldiers, the number of soldiers who could fight in each city, including Tiamo, had exceeded 100,000. At least they wouldn't fall in a few days.
This was if the Demon King's army didn't change their current strategy. However, it was unlikely for them to change their strategy in a day or two, because they would have confidence in their own strategy that has been making rapid progress for the past month.
That's why I was sleepy.
Instead of the sleepy me, Sophie explained the situation in the three cities.
"So that means over 300,000 soldiers have returned to the front lines!?"
One of the Generals was pleased that we could still fight.
"However, the Demon King's army is now beginning to assemble flying magical beasts and other weapons. A night raid like yesterday's might be difficult."
I also told them about the situation in Tiamo City.
Whatever it was, they seem to be thickening their air force considerably.
(Hmmm... I see they've taken immediate action. We're not going to make a direct night raid that day, though. No, this is just the right time. I'll send out the Dora-dora and burn down their air force. It's also important to get the enemy off to a bad start.)
I was thinking about that night's strategy.
"And thank you very much, Master. Allen.
"No, no, no."
Her Majesty the Queen bowed her head lightly while sitting.
We kneeled in front of the Crown Prince, but we were standing like a stick in front of the Queen. No one told us to kneel, so we lost the timing to kneel. I was willing to kneel.
"Thanks to you, the lives of many helpless elves have been saved. Master Allen, please allow me to thank you."
(We've only defeated about 40,000 of them. There's still 2.96 million left. Oh, the elves must have defeated some too, so that's about 2.7 to 2.8 million.)
According to the Generals, they were so busy defending themselves that they had hardly been able to reduce the number of the Demon King's army.
Even so, they said they had defeated 200,000 to 300,000, but the Demon King's army still overwhelmed them in numbers.
I heard that the total number of elven troops in Tiamo, Nest, and the three cities we went to help that day was about 600,000.
"No, the battle is not over yet, but..."
(If you're going to thank me, I have something I want.)
"What? Is there something you want from me? Do you want me to give you my daughter?"
"Well, Your Majesty...."
Sophie's white cheeks turned bright red.
"No, not that."
""...""
(Hmm? I feel like some kind of event just occurred, but maybe I'm imagining things.)
I was too sleepy to think much of what the Queen was saying.
"Actually, I have two requests."
"Yes and what might they be?"
My friends listened behind him, wondering what I was going to ask for.
"First of all, I want the magic stones. Please let me have the magic stones obtained during this war."
Last night, we defeated 40,000 magical beasts of the Demon King's army. However, after defeating them, I sent B-rank Spirit to collect the magic stones, but they were devoured by the hungry magical beasts of the Demon King's army and were in no condition to collect.
However, if I wanted to fight in the future, I needed to collect the magic stone. I asked them if they could give me magic stones.
"Of course. Sigur, are there any magic stones in this city?"
Sigur was the Marshal and the Supreme General of the elven army.
The Queen asked Marshal Sigur about the status of the magical stones in this city.
"No, not nearly enough. Most of it has been used to run the Magic Ships, so..."
"Oh, I meant just the amount of magical beasts we defeat ourselves with. I know that magic stones are required for the city's activities and for the war."
While defending in a siege, the supply of magic stones will stop and our stock of magic stones will dwindle. I know how valuable magic stones are in war. Without magic stones, we can't run Magic Ships.
It was just confirmation that they'll forgive us if we take the liberty of collecting magic stones.
"That, of course, you may collect as you wish. What is your second request, Master Allen?"
"Please let me see the Spirit King."
""Huh?""
Everyone reacted out loud as I asked to see the Spirit King.
"Can't I?"
"Yes, you can. I'm sure everything will be fine, but may I check?"
"Of course."
Then the flying squirrel, who had been asleep until now, woke up and looked at me.
And....
"No need to confirm. I'm Rosen, aren't I? What can I do for you, Summoner of the Beginning?"
"Fl.. Flying Squirrel!"
(The flying squirrel? That's an eye-opener!)
The flying squirrel on the Queen's lap spoke and Allen's surprised voice echoed in the room.