I was feeling nervous. Of course, with Hura-dono's explosives, Mishky-dono's and Catel-dono's support, plus Ava-sama's subordinate Dresha, all should go as planned. Although, this was certainly the first time I had ever done anything like this. Above all, I was pretty scared of Ava-sama. Even when she was at B-rank, she already had an incredibly threatening aura, and while it was tamped down at the meeting, she had become even more terrifying upon reaching A-rank. In fact, it was probably even because it was tamped down that it felt so intimidating. I had no idea just how much she wasn't showing her strength.
Like a mini-Ava-sama, Dresha looked at everyone with a cool, appraising eye. Even though she was young and her face still looked a little childish, her perfectly still posture, coupled with an almost noble elegance, and topped off with an intense gaze gave her the impression of a predator. Of course, her presence was not quite as overwhelming, but she still looked as though a single move out of place might end in bloodshed.
"Is this the gap..." I muttered to myself.
"Huh? Watcha talking about, Vel?" Meric piped up from beside me.
"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about Ava-sama and her subordinate Dresha. Don't you think they seem too calm and ready for this?"
"Hrmm, certainly. I haven't met that Ava-sama, but that girl Dresha looks too sharp and way stronger than her rank. If I had to fight her, I wouldn't stand a chance in hell."
"I almost get that feeling too. I'm sure I could hold my own for a bit, but I don't think I'd stand a chance of winning."
"Well, then isn't it a good thing that she's on our side? Don't getcha self all gloomy thinkin' about things like that."
"No, it's just...what kind of things have they gone through to make them so battle-ready?"
"Wahaha, always a soft heart, eh Vel? I imagine they went through worse things than you and I did. But what's important is that they're standing up by themselves, just like us."
"Un. You're certainly right, Meric."
"Hey, Vel...I've been meaning to say this a while ago, but...after this is all over, you wanna settle down?"
"H-huh?"
"Well, y'know. We've always been together and all, and we've always been real close as buddies, but I've been thinking and... I kinda want more than that with us."
I froze on the spot, not knowing what to say to my best friend's words. I had never considered romance or settling down at all before he brought it up. I had always thought, as long as we were together, we'd be doing everything together and-
Ah. So that's what it was. I had never given any thought to it because everything important was right beside me after all.
"Mercis..."
"I mean, you don't have to say yes or anything, I won't push ya. But I've been thinking, you and me, we make a great pair, don't we?"
I smiled at him, really and truly looking at him properly for the first time in a long time.
"Yeah, we do. We've always been together and I thought we were close like brothers, but I think now I'm starting to realise that maybe the reason I never gave any thought to stuff like that was because my most important thing was always right here with me."
"Uguh, Vel. You're being too damn smooth for someone who's never thought about it, ya know?"
"H-hey! It took me a lot of courage to speak so honest-mmph!"
He touched my cheek with his hand and brought my face to his as our lips met. All of a sudden, I felt as though a lightning bolt had struck me. A deep, pleasant warmth flowed through my entire body, pooling comfortably in the base of my stomach. My arms and knees felt weak, and I could only hold on to Meric's arms. Wave after wave of coursing warmth filled my body, and I couldn't help but wonder if this was what love felt like.
Ahhh, I've been a fool. If only I'd realised my feelings earlier.
However, the moment didn't last. A voice filled with rebuke entered my ears. Dresha looked at us disapprovingly, saying, "Commander. Please refrain from being distracted. We are about to move. Also, don't make these promises on the eve of battle. It's the kind of thing that gets one of you killed. Instead, survive first and live your long happy life afterwards."
Meric and I looked down at her sheepishly. Men like us getting schooled by a kid less than a third our age was certainly embarrassing. She sighed, her eyes softening and the faintest hint of a blush appeared on her cheeks.
"Well, it's not like I don't understand. I'm glad you both were able to confirm your feelings for each other, but if we don't survive the battle, it will have been for nothing."
"A-ah. Of course, Dresha-san," I mumbled.
"Thanks, Dresha-jou. You got a point. We should focus on surviving, then I'll go back and marry this dense dumbass and live happily with him," Meric declared, grinning from ear to ear.
She responded with an exasperated glare and a chop to the crown of his head, saying, "what did I just say? Saying these kinds of things is a flag, a flag! You better protect your husband and make sure the both of you survive this so you can make good on your word."
She huffed and returned to her place, resuming her unmoving and sharp-eyed posture.
"Whaddya say, Vel? Turns out the little lady's got quite the range of expressions and normal emotions, huh?"
"Y-yeah. I was surprised. I thought she'd be as cold and alien as Ava-sama, but it seems that she's retained a lot of emotions."
"Was that Ava-sama really so strange and terrifying?"
"You've never met her, so you don't know, but... she feels more like a personified force of nature than a person. Her facial expression doesn't change much at all, and it always seems as if she's constantly appraising you. I felt like a lamb to the slaughter just talking to her. She apologised for being the reason we took a bit longer than expected, but... it didn't seem like she was apologising because she felt bad, more that it was because she delayed and inconvenienced us. It seemed more out of principle than emotion. Frankly, I have no idea if she has emotions."
"Damn. And she's the one who supposedly trained these kids?"
"Yeah, according to Jessa-sama."
"No wonder they're so battle-ready, then. With a teacher like her, there's no way they wouldn't be polished to this extent."
"Velphos, we're beginning." The communication crystal embedded in my ear sounded out.
"Everyone, it's time. We attack now. The important thing is to cause as much mayhem as possible and draw as many soldiers to us as we can! Keep yourselves safe, and let's show them hell! For the Empire!"
""""For the Empire!!!""""
From the corner of my eye, I watched as Dresha summoned her [Tamed] monsters. Although there were only three of them, they were all A-rank and obeyed her perfectly. As far as I knew, that probably meant she had beaten them into submission all by herself and then offered the contract to become her familiars. A chill went down my spine. Her, taking on A-ranked monsters by herself and winning to the point that they would bend their proud necks? An incredible feat, matched only by Cartel-dono himself. In fact, it was even more impressive, given that Cartel-dono had accumulated his five A-ranked monsters over twenty years, while she had probably done this within the month.
It's not that she isn't capable of more, it's that she didn't have the time...
Shaking my head, I looked around at our ~250 strong army, and gave the signal for us to charge the gates. Everyone immediately sprang into action, but no one moved faster than Dresha, who vanished and reappeared in front of the gate, and bare-handedly incapacitating two guards, leaving the third to call for help.
"Gate, open." Dresha announced flatly.
Everyone was shell-shocked. We expected to perhaps be sieging the gate for a while and luring out the soldiers, but it seemed that Dresha wanted to get it done even faster than that. We immediately flooded the gate entrance, marching into the city. Civilians screamed and fled, leaving the main road empty in a matter of minutes. We continued on our journey, stopping near the deserted city square to find six platoons of armed soldiers staring us down.
"Halt! Who goes?!" The soldier in the lead asked. He must be a company commander.
"We are a rebel army," I said, reciting the words Jessa-sama had told us to say, "we wish to excise the rot growing from the root of this nation. Stand aside or you will be mercilessly cut down."
"Hahahahaha! You think you can threaten this great Empire with a few monsters and some lowly rebels? Men, kill them all!"
And thus began the battle...not. From the sky, a bolt of magic rained down and knocked over half of the soldiers unconscious. Of course, it was Mishky-dono's magic, primed to incapacitate but not kill, and to draw even more attention to us.
"[Artillery Mage]! That's the power of an [Artillery Mage]!" A random soldier yelled.
The commander furrowed his brows and yelled, "one of you, go inform a general! We need at least a general or two to handle an [Artillery Mage]."
In the meantime, we cleaned up the rest of the soldiers and moved them aside so they would not get caught up in the aftermath of the battle.
Soon, three generals appeared with their battalions, numbering over a thousand soldiers each. While it might seem like a small number, in reality it was in fact a small number. Due to the illicit underhanded deals that the generals had been making, most of their well-trained soldiers served as private military for the land-owning nobles. There were certainly a large number of recently conscripted foot soldiers, but they were painfully undertrained and would not be able to even serve as meaningful cannon fodder against a group like this.
I grit my teeth. It was time to begin. Dresha immediately singled out one general and attacked him immediately, following which Catel-dono also did the same. Facing down the last remaining general, I held out my sword, and waited for combat to begin. Despite the fighting going on around us, the space between us was silent. As if waiting on a cue, both of us leapt up together and our swords clashed in a bright ringing that overshadowed the clamour on the battlefield of soldiers fighting [Tamers] and their monsters.
"So? Why are you, a decorated adventurer, rebelling?" The female general's sharp gaze bored into mine.
I gritted my teeth and ground out, "the Empire is rotten. My village was destroyed and people captured. Even though it was the work of bandits, I know that they were ordered by the ruling Count. And you all have backdoor dealings with them."
Hearing that, her lips widened into a crazed rictus as she cackled, "ahahahahaha, what a silly reason. Isn't it the case that the weak and useless should stay as they are and serve us? [Magic Sword]."
As she spoke, she nonchalantly released a skill and almost caught me off guard. However, I was also a [Magic Swordsman] and released the same skill, which nullified both our casts. We weren't even fighting seriously yet. We were both feeling each other out, probing for weaknesses to exploit. While a [Berserker] might attack all out from the beginning, being a [Magic Swordsman] required a more careful approach. I couldn't let her get the drop on me.
Even so, as we exchanged blows a few more times, I could definitely see this fight dragging out far longer than necessary