If messengers were sent out immediately, they would be able to gather another six thousand from nearby territories in two days.

In three days, that number could be ten thousand.

The lands here had known war for a very long time, and so it was not too difficult to recruit men.

However, according to the confession, Ruain was in a position to begin their invasion at any moment.

–Because they were waiting for Reggie’s arrival.

“Ruain means to murder His Royal Highness, Prince Reginald, as he is the heir to the throne. Then they will move on to the capital and murder the king. This will leave the queen as regent and with the highest authority. She need only accept Ruain’s demands and the annexation will be settled. That is why they are waiting for Prince Reginald to come close to the border near Salehard.”

Ruain had caused this problem between Everal and Salehard so that negotiations would become necessary. And it would be very difficult to hide Reggie’s movements from Ruain, as many of the nobles in the capital were allies of the queen. Especially if he was on official business.

“I intend to lead the troops and take up the position as soon as the scouts return. We will likely depart tomorrow or the morning after.”

“You will go yourself?”

Madame Beatrice’s expression darkened.

“We will be guarding his lordship. I promise you, the Margrave will return to the castle safely.”

The captain of the guards assured her. Madame Beatrice nodded, but it was clear that she only did so as she had no other choice.

“My leg has now completely healed. I would go in your place if I could, but I do not have the experience to command a large army. It would not be right if it resulted in me holding you back. And so must leave the protection of the castle and the guarding of His Royal Highness to me.”

Yes, Madame Beatrice’s leg had healed. The fact that she was now able to join the fight was one factor that made our current situation more advantageous than it was in the games.

Furthermore, if the Margrave was able to control Ruain’s momentum a little in advance, then that would be to our advantage in the defensive battle. The Margrave said this himself.

“Ruain won’t be able to send all their men to Everal castle alone. If they spent several days attacking us and no one else, then other territories will have to time harden their defenses. If they cannot defeat us quickly, they will likely leave some men here and quickly move to the next target. Either that or resort to some cunning scheme.”

“Cunning scheme?”

“They have magicians, do they not? Not only will the monsters come and attack the castle, but it is likely that the magicians will join in the attack as well.”

With his question answered, Alan looked solemnly and said:

“Then I will go and deal with them.”

The Margrave’s eyes widened at this.

“I meant to have you stay with Beatrice to protect the castle. You were to help His Highness escape if the worst came to pass…”

“I have participated in the slaying of these monsters for the past month. I will take someone with me who can find these magicians and suppress them before they can attack the castle. However, it is likely that there will be monsters there as well. And so I wish to borrow some archers and infantrymen.”

Margrave Vayne closed his eyes for a long time. It was as if he were carefully considering Alan’s request.

Once he opened his eyes again, he no longer had the will to stop Alan.

“Then I will leave it to you. How many men do you need?”

“One hundred and thirty men should be enough. These monsters have always attacked in groups of thirty up until now. I think that this will be an adequate number to deal with the monsters, the magician, and any enemy soldiers that may be near.”

Alan must have determined that that was the maximum number of monsters that could appear after a month’s worth of battling. Very fitting for the protagonist. He had the kind of observing eye necessary to be a tactician.

Speaking of ‘taking someone who could find magicians,’ Alan’s gaze had now turned toward me.

Alan was asking me to come with him. Because I was able to find where the magicians were.

Usually, it was I who would follow Alan on his monster hunts and then find the magician who was lurking nearby. We weren’t coordinated or anything, it was just that Cain had gotten permission and so we were able to act at the same time.

And now Alan was trying to bring me into his operations.

While there was relief that he had finally accepted me, I was also angry at myself for not being able to convince Alan until it came to this.

But even so, he had offered his hand to me.

“Mother, I wish to take Kiara with me. Cain will also come to protect her.”

Madame Beatrice looked at me as if to say ‘What will you do?’ and so I nodded.

“But, to me, she does not look like she can fight… Additionally, if we light a signal fire now, there are two Houses to the southwest that can send reinforcements within two days.”

Reggie offered frankly. But he only meant it to protect me.

Both Margrave Vayne and the captain of the guards looked like they had been moved by his words. They were probably worried about this soft girl who could not even swing a sword.

And so I spoke.

“I have already succeeded in capturing a magician once. We had not expected the magician to have people protecting him, but we will not let him escape the next time.”

Reggie looked stern as our eyes met.

I felt like he was asking me, ‘why don’t you understand?’

But there was no uncertainty in my answer. The intensity of this room had helped me to brace myself for what would come.

–I wanted to protect everyone.

And while I didn’t want to die either, I would regret it later if I did not act now.

Also, the magician and the possibility of attacks by the monsters during the siege had been completely unexpected. Even the invasion route of Ruain’s troops was different from what I had known.

In that case, I may not be able to protect the castle even if I thought I was fully prepared.

And so I need to at least rid us of the magician and the monsters. That was something that I could do even if I couldn’t swing a sword.

I believed that this was the reason I was here, born with the knowledge of things to come.

Next Chapter

I Will Not Become an Enemy!