Chapter 15: Fortress Defense - Part 2
The attack on the fortress by the soldiers of Mendashium Kingdom began.
The enemy wizards hid behind people holding large shields and unleashed their magic.
They used fireball magic. It was a slightly dangerous magic that involved the spread of fire and a small explosion.
Those fireballs collided with the outer walls of the fortress one after another. Explosions occurred continuously.
I took command near the outer walls and immediately instructed to check for damage.
However, the report came back saying that no repairs were needed.
"It's surprisingly sturdy."
Fireball magic had explosive power. It should have been able to at least crack the stone walls, if not as much as dynamite from my previous life.
But the report stated that the walls were almost unscathed.
I heard that the soldiers stationed at the fortress were bored and made improvements every day, but I wondered how much stronger they had made it.
While I was thinking about such things, I was called out from behind.
"Don't worry, Mimo. The outer walls aren't weak enough to crumble from a few fireballs."
When I turned to the source of the voice, Centis and a group of three new recruits were standing there.
They held buckets in their hands, containing a special clay-like substance used for repairing the walls.
"The four of us are the wall repair team."
"Because that old man Alextem threatened, 'If any one of these three dies, I'll demote you to a private,' we couldn't let the new recruits go to the battlefield. But there was no reason to keep them idle, so they ended up doing repair work."
"...Even though they committed three counts of insubordination, the punishment is that lenient. You should be satisfied."
"Wow, your criticism is sharp. Well, I didn't think this battle would be more dangerous than usual. If I knew, I wouldn't have brought them along just because it's a precedent."
Thanks to the precedent of bringing new recruits to the fortress defense line, Alextem's punishment was light.
As I was accepting that, Hones, who was behind Centis, spoke up.
"Mirimoss-kun, what are you doing here? If you have nothing to do, why don't you join the repair team?"
He probably said it with consideration, but I was at a loss for how to respond.
While I was puzzling over what to say to refuse, the other two new recruits chimed in.
"Heh. Even if we had a runt like this, he wouldn't be useful because he's too short."
"Yeah, he can't reach the cracks in the outer wall."
As the two of them came up with their own arguments, Centis smirked with a wicked smile. On the other hand, Hones got angry.
"Do not make fun of someone's physical features, it's unbelievably thoughtless."
"Shut up, Mune-nashi! I'm not talking about you, so just ignore it!"
"My chest is too flat, and I've been mistaken for a guy!"
"I appreciate you mentioning something that bothers me!"
While watching the three of them start making a fuss, I directed a sharp gaze at Sentis. It was a way of saying, "This is a battlefield, so educate them properly."
Sentis, trembling, approached while saying, "I'm scared, I'm scared."
"It's better than being scared and not moving――and the second round of attacks has landed."
After the sound of the fireball magic hitting the wall, damage reports came in. Once again, the reports stated that there was no need for repairs.
Upon hearing that, Sentis placed a hand on her chin.
"At this rate, it will take quite some time before repair work can begin. Maybe they'll get tired of attacking and retreat first."
"Why the serious face? If Sentis and the others have nothing to do, it means the fortress is safe, so we should be happy about it."
"But you see, the only thing we can do is wait, and that's boring."
"Having free time is not a bad thing, you know."
While exchanging banter, the enemy's third magical attack landed. Reports from various units still indicated no need for repair work.
With so little damage, there was nothing we could do to change the situation.
This was going to be a long battle.
The way Mendasium fought was that half of their forces would attack in the morning and retreat at noon, while the other half would attack from the afternoon until evening.
Dividing their forces in half not only increased the efficiency of advancing and retreating but also allowed their soldiers to take sufficient breaks.
On the other hand, for us on the Nonette side, although the fortress suffered little damage, we had to remain tense against continuous magical attacks throughout the day, and at night we had to repair the outer walls.
"This is going to be a war of attrition..."
It seemed that the situation wouldn't change unless either we made a decisive attack or the enemy decided to retreat.
The attacks began, and on the second and third days, the situation remained the same.
The fortress was incredibly solid. It could withstand a barrage of exploding fireballs all day long without even developing cracks. Moreover, even if there were cracks, they would easily be repaired during the night's restoration work.
"Well, you see, the outer walls of the fortress are built with a multiple structure. Between the three stacked walls made of stones, there is a filling of clay and soil mixture. The clay absorbs the impact, preventing the explosive force from reaching the inner walls," Senteese explained.
Although Senteese spoke about this ingenuity as the crystallization of the soldiers' pastime, I couldn't grasp its practicality.
In this manner, we have been fighting for ten days already.
The situation has remained stagnant, and perhaps due to the safety within the fortress, there was a relaxed atmosphere among the soldiers.
Even though I was in the midst of enemy attacks, I couldn't help but yawn.
I clenched my jaw to suppress the yawn that had slipped out and resolved to focus.
"So, Aructem, do you have any good ideas?"
"Well, that came out of the blue. However, I believe it is necessary as well," Aructem replied, crossing his arms and proposing his thoughts.
"First, we should make the soldiers shout insults at the Mendashium Kingdom."
"Why would we do that?"
"By insulting them, we can kill time. And if they get angry and launch an attack, the situation will change, and the soldiers' morale will be boosted."
"Anything else?"
"I suggest setting fire to the Mendashium Kingdom's camp. They are densely packed in their encampment, so if we throw Molotov cocktails, the damage will be extensive."
"That's a good plan. But do you have any other ideas?"
"You see through me. Another plan is to burn down the camp that the Mendashium Kingdom left behind in the mountains. As I mentioned earlier, the campsite on the mountain road lacks space. It is highly likely that they have only brought a few days' worth of food and water and left the rest in their rear base. I don't think they expect us, who are holed up in the fortress, to attack them. It should be easy to breach their defenses and burn it down."
All of these plans seemed effective. Choosing one of them would be good, but...
"Alright, let's execute all three of these plans."
"All of them?"
"After thinking it through, I feel that executing all three simultaneously will have a greater impact."
First, the soldiers left in the fortress would provoke the enemy by hurling insults. While the enemy army's attention was on the fortress, the assault team would secretly depart from the rear of the fortress, climb the mountain, and carry out the arson attacks on both the camp in the mountains and the camp beyond. If executed flawlessly, the Mendashium Kingdom would fall into chaos.
The only problem would be the temporary reduction in the number of soldiers inside the fortress. However, the fortress's walls could withstand magical attacks, and with no siege towers or ladders, the fortress's defense would be able to handle any enraged enemy assaults.
While explaining to Alekthem, something concerning came to mind.
"The only worry is that there might be Empire-made staffs left over there. If those staffs are deployed to the front lines while our forces are low, it would be troublesome."
"The enemy forces had plenty of opportunities to use them. However, isn't it better to assume that all those staffs are broken since we couldn't confirm their existence even after checking with the wooden bird's eye multiple times?"
"Even though I've checked with the wooden bird's eye multiple times, I can't confirm the presence of the staffs. I think I'm worrying too much, but if there is still anxiety, we must make preparations."
"If that's the case, why don't you, Lord Milimos, try using the fireball magic with the Empire's staff? Show it to the soldiers and gather their opinions on how many of those it would take for the outer walls to withstand. It might be a good idea."
"Great idea! Let's do it right away! And if it turns out to last for a day, we'll proceed with the three strategies I mentioned earlier!"
I left the scene and retrieved the Empire's staff from storage. Then, after gathering knowledgeable soldiers about the defensive strength of the outer walls, I tested the power of the magic on the mountainside.
"Seed of fire, fire to flame, flame to sphere. Clad in the shell of fierce fire, carrying the wind of explosion within, fly, fireball. Eustaau Spelerika!"
The spell was complete, and a ball of fire appeared at the tip of the staff.
It should be the same magic as Mendashium country uses, but the diameter of the ball is about four times larger.
As I swung the staff toward the mountainside, the fireball was launched. Surprisingly, the flying speed seemed unchanged.
Soon, it hit its target. And there was a massive explosion.
A cloud of sand and smoke billowed up, and small stones fell from above.
Not only me but also the soldiers were stunned, their mouths gaping in awe of its overwhelming power.
"Hey, hey. This power is no joke."
Centis, one of the members of the repair team, ran to the place where my fireball hit, waving his hand to disperse the sand and smoke.
What appeared was a large burn mark and cracks engraved on the mountainside.
Other soldiers gathered at that spot, inspecting the power of the magic. Eventually, they collectively showed a relieved expression.
"Visually, it was flashy, but judging from the shallow cracks, it seems like most of the explosive force bounced back from the rock. If we continuously hit the cracked part, the risk of collapse will increase. However, if it can be contained with this level of power, even if we endure magic attacks from the enemy for a day and night, only the outermost layer of the outer walls will be destroyed."
"I agree. Even if the enemy tries to use it from now on, the wall should hold for five days. The main concern is concentrated attacks on the gates, but we have countermeasures for that as well."
After hearing the soldiers' opinions, I decided to immediately implement the three strategies I mentioned earlier and ordered Alekthem to do so.
By the way, I couldn't participate in the raiding party and ended up staying behind at the fortress.