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Chapter 38 – part 2

That’s a harsh way to put it, oi.

「…」

「Aren’t you going to retort? It seems the defeated dog mentality of the subjugated has truly permeated to the depths of your heart. A person with such a mentality is one hundred years too early to express his opinion at this meeting. 」

Ah, I see.
His point is, he is looking for a fight. Well, I’ve got no qualms with taking the bait.

Just as I was thinking that and about to stand up, Cordelia stopped me with her hand.

「It’s fine. I requested him to be present here.」

With her words, I reconsidered and settled back deeply into my chair.

「I mentioned it before, didn’t I? He’s the one who achieved great feats defending the western fortress.」

「It’s hard to believe that suddenly.」

「I’m vouching for his abilities, though.」

The knight order leader seemed to have made up his mind and spoke up.

「However… isn’t Hero-sama also known as the Berserker?」

Upon hearing those words, Cordelia’s complexion quickly changed.

Come to think of it, during the Goblin incident and the Amanta incident, no one believed her when she said I did it, and everything was attributed to her magic power going out of control.

Well, I might have caused a bit of trouble in that regard.

Continuing after the knight order leader, the lord also directed his words to Cordelia.

「You’re certainly famous. You’re powerful, but speak nonsense. You’re not known as the Hero of the North, but the Berserker of the North.」

Cordelia’s face turned crimson, and veins started showing up on her forehead.
Her shoulders trembled slightly, and under the table, she was making a fist.

Oh, she’s definitely furious.

Is this idiot going to start punching?

Well, if Cordelia does attack, I’ll back her up. And if I move, Lilith would also jump on them immediately, probably.

Cordelia slammed her hand on the table and shouted loudly.

「What we should be doing isn’t engaging in pointless verbal battles… It’s fortifying the city.」

Cordelia was quite mature, surprisingly.
Well, you could also say that I was acting like a child, all eager to do something.

Whether she realized or not that I was feeling a bit let down, Cordelia continued her words.

「Well, more precisely, we should open the gates.」

The knight order leader questioned Cordelia with a puzzled expression.

「Open the gates…? In the preliminary meeting, didn’t we decide to take a defensive stance?」

This place is a fortress city located in a danger zone where monsters roam freely, and the entire town is covered by tall walls.

There are sturdy gates to the east, west, south, and north, leading to the main road, that serve as crucial entrances and exits for the city.

「Throughout history, siege defense tactics are usually employed when allies are on their way, right?」

「Yes, indeed.」

「We’ve already sent messengers to the neighboring countries and the Adventurer’s Guild several days ago. And there hasn’t been any communication from anywhere. In that case, either the messengers were all killed by ogres or other monsters along the way, or… we’ve been abandoned.」

A silence fell over the group.
Everyone probably had a vague sense of this fact.

Amidst the silence, Cordelia struck the table with both hands once again.

「If that’s the case, then currently, what we should be doing is not buying time.」

With a heavy expression, the knight order leader questioned Cordelia.

「What do you intend to do?」

「From here on, we’re not going to do siege defense. But a counteroffensive centered around a defensive stance. We’ll open the gates to the east, west, south, and north, concentrating our forces in specific locations. This is the only way to minimize civilian casualties.」

I see, I nod in agreement.
They say that the gates are sturdier than the walls.

If they close the gates, the walls surrounding the city would likely be attacked by the ogres.
If they’re randomly breached, and the city is infiltrated from various points, the civilians would be at the mercy of the intruders.

Well, if I were to generate 50 clones of myself, the problem would be easily solved, but doing that here would draw way too much attention.

That would be an option in the worst cases, but I’m not planning to do it right now.

Unless it’s unavoidable to stand out, it’s not a good idea to intentionally draw attention to oneself.

「In that case, we’ll need to reorganize our forces at the gates to the east, west, south, and north.」

The knight order leader contemplated for a moment, then pointed to the map spread out on the table as he spoke up.

The head instructor, who had remained silent until now, spoke up.

「We’re only here as part of march training. It’s not our job to be involved in armed conflict.」

「Head Instructor? What are you saying…?」

Facing the knight order leader who was speechless, the head instructor smiled wryly and said.

「That said, we’re not saying we won’t fight. But we can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to defend the whole city… Well, the eastern gate has been assigned to us. And our forces include Cordelia-sama, the instructors, and the scholarship student. Oh, by the way, the low-ranking student we rescued at the western fortress won’t be counted as combatants… Feel free to do as you like with them.」

Cordelia and Lillith, along with the instructors themselves.
With a simple calculation, that is about seventy percent of the military strength of this fort city.

In other words, he intends to protect the noble children no matter what. And based on his statements, it’s even possible that he might abandon the city and make a run for it.

「Head Instructor?」

「What is it, student Cordelia? Well, I should say ‘Cordelia-sama’ in this context.」

「Sorry, but I’ll decline. I intend to take charge of the northern gate.」

It’s the announcement of the end of the head instructor.
With just one sentence from Cordelia, a significant downshift in the group assigned to defend the eastern gate was decided.

The head instructor’s complexion rapidly turned pale.
And then, the head instructor looked around, sending a pleading look to Lilith.

「What about you, student Lilith?」

「… I’m planning to take the southern gate.」

The head instructor became even more teary-eyed.

Well, leaving that aside, the knight order leader spoke loudly.

「Understood. The eastern gate will be entrusted to the instructors of Altena Magic Academy. The north will be handled by Lady Cordelia and… I’m sorry, but a reorganized force consisting of the mercenaries who fled will be dispatched.」

「I don’t mind. What about… the west and the south?」

「The west and the south will be taken care of by our knight order.」

With the general plan in place, the white-haired lord of the city looked up at the ceiling and murmured.

「The reports say that it wasn’t just Ogre Kings, but even an Ogre Emperor. No matter what we do, there’s no way we can win. It’s like using a drop of water against a blazing fire. Defeat is inevitable… What are we supposed to do…」

No one had deliberately brought up this fact until now.
The difficulty level of this subjugation had surpassed Class A, going into Over A territory… in other words, S Rank level.

Ogre Emperor.

It’s an extraordinary creature that would even be classified as a mythical beast.

Furthermore, within the fortresses that were originally manned and defended by the majority of the permanent forces, three quarters had fallen in the blink of an eye.

Even without the Ogre Emperor, it was clear to everyone that the odds of victory were slim to none from the start.

And everyone had come into this strategy meeting fully aware of that.
That’s why the head instructor had made his earlier statement with the assumption of escape.

Well, in that sort of atmosphere, no one could respond to the lord’s words, and the meeting came to a close.