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There was only one of me, and there were many people that needed saving. I had already saved over 40 healers, but the number I couldn’t save ‌was exponentially larger than that.

If at least some of the long-range users or the close-range users had stayed behind to form a line of defense so that the retreat could be done safely, then most of the mercenary could have escaped, but that wasn’t the case.

“W.. When did you…? You’re cheating!”
“You’re the one cheating…”

As I cut down the last frontline soldiers of the Shining guild that was retaliating to his very last breath, I looked around. I saw that there were allied healers who had already run far away into the castle grounds. They had plenty of range and space to keep themselves safe from any attack that could happen.

I wasn’t sure if they knew our current situation, but the main forces of the Shining guild leisurely marched towards us as if they were a cat slowly forcing mice into a corner.

It made me grind my teeth in anger.

That kind of action was to show off that they’re confident in their absolute superiority in numbers. Glaring at those walking towards us, I quickly moved into the insides of the castle’s hallways.

“It’s all over… We’re all going to die.”
“There’s no hope.”

When I arrived into the hallways, everyone was in absolute despair. It was because even though they survived, they definitely knew that it wouldn’t last long.

The number of survivors that could reach here was only 300, even if I was being generous. The number of enemies was…

Sigh.

I shook my head and tried to get rid of any negative thoughts.

“Ellie! You’re safe.”

Before I realized it, Katalina had come towards me and looked very relieved to see that I was still alive.

“Of course. It’s not like I went out there to die, right?”
“But still…”
“I’m still alive and kicking, so it’s fine. Before that, I think this place needs a little livening up, don’t you think?”

Did the great Tang Dynasty look like this back in the day as well? Seeing the mercenaries all look like stragglers after a defeated war, I knew I needed them to recover their morale.

“Yeah. I think at this rate they wouldn’t last even for a few minutes.”

Katalina nodded as if she was agreeing with my opinion.

“You’d be more fitting to persuade them than me, don’t you think? As the leader of a giant guild, you had more experience in leading a huge group of people after all.”

Hearing my words, Katalina shook her head.

“No, not really. I don’t have a way to show my real identity here without having a problem after all. If it’s a short-term goal of boosting morale, I think you are more suitable for the position though.”
“Wait, I’m the suitable one?”

Confused by Katalina’s statement, I asked while pointing a finger at myself.

“Yeah, you, Ellie.”

Katalina confirmed again as if she was serious about it.

“But I…”

In the past, I had dreamed of setting up a small guild for myself and taking part in endless siege wars and guild battles to one day have enough power to set up a powerful guild myself. But there was no way that Katalina would know about my secret.

Since I knew that she thinks I lost most of my memories.

“As someone who has saved many of the mercenaries here now, I think you have earned more trust than anyone else here. Can’t you see them looking at you with hope in their eyes?”

Only then I realized that there were several mercenaries, particularly healers, looking in my direction. Although my face was covered, it wasn’t like my ID was hidden either. It wasn’t farfetched that they would recognize the ID of the person who had saved their life, even if temporarily.

Then the answer is already set.

“Everyone, please gather your attention here.”

It was with a subdued voice, but the voice carried like a lion’s roar throughout the whole hallway since I had put a bit of my mana into it.

“What is it?”
“Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?”

Just as I expected, a few mercenaries caused a disturbance. Most of them were users that are rebellious. It’s natural to be annoyed if you were suddenly ordered to follow someone that you don’t know and never heard of. I would have reacted the same way as well after all.

“Who I am is not important. I’m sure as you all can see from my temporary ID, I’m just like one of you, trapped in this place. Right now I’m simply… ‘Random Unit… 1.'”
“Pfft…”
“Heh.”

I was doing well until the careless ID I made up, which made my face feel hot. Even though thankfully it’s covered from everyone’s eyes.

But, ‌seeing that there weren’t any cries of disagreement coming from them, it showed that they were ready to listen to what I had to say.

“Right now, it is time for all of us to unite. As you all know, this place is the hallway of a castle. It is the only place that is connected through many narrow passages within the castle. Even if the Shining guild outnumbers us several times, we can easily block all of them.”
“So what is it ‌you’re trying to say?”

A rude question was thrown at me. But instead of being regarded as a single person’s question, I realized he was questioning me on behalf of all the mercenaries.

I also didn’t want to make the introduction too long and waste time when every second is crucial right now. I smiled and opened my mouth once more.

“It’s simple. Just follow my orders.”

However, I knew more than anyone else that it’s not simple. Words from someone that none of them ever met or knew before. And it wasn’t like that voice was very trustworthy or anything. If you considered it from the men’s point of view, those words are from a woman that they weren’t trusting‌.

“Don’t make me laugh.”
“You b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲, you’re planning to buy as much time as you can until the siege battle finishes by staying far in the backline, aren’t you?”
“Then I’ll lead everyone instead!”
“Oh yeah, no, I’ll lead everyone!”

Just as I worried, many people started shouting that they will be the leader of this group. Though I wished it would happen somewhat…

“We will follow her.”

It was subdued but a loud voice came from one corner. With a high pitch yet ‌trustworthy voice, it sounded calming and elegant.

“All the healers that I represent here will follow her.”
“…”

Even at a glance, I could see that most of the healer that had gathered here were nodding along as if they were agreeing with her. The men that had been clamoring and shouting for the position as the leader all became quiet.

“Is there anyone here that stayed behind and came to save us, the healers, when we were dying out there?”
“…”
“I did save them.”

Many were silent, but one of them answered.

“The person standing in the front saved at least 40 healers… How many have you saved?”
“Uh… Just one.”

It seemed like he was embarrassed to say it.

“If that person really is selfish, would she really have done something like jumping into a dangerous battlefield to save the healers?”

As she asked the question, no one answered.

Well actually, I was feeling guilty because I really was being selfish in trying to maximize the chances of my survival by saving as many healers I could. But there would be no idiot in the world who would admit to that guilt in this situation right now.

“Thank you for your kind words.”

I thanked the healer who had calmed the assembly down, and the user bowed her head in return.

“I understand the reason ‌all of you are worried. As you can see, I am a close-range combatant. A type of user that should stand in the front line. I do not lead people.”
“?”

Before people can start asking questions, I spoke again.

“Instead, this user who’s in the 8th circle will lead in my stead.”
“8… 8th circle?”
“Y.. You’re joking, right…?”

I turned my head towards Katalina, and she cast a spell she had memorized as if she knew I was going to do that.

A group of users had their bodies glow bright blue, with their legs flashing before returning to normal.

“Wha, my movement speed has gone up!”
“You’re right, me too!”
“Haste magic is 7th circle magic, right? Then that means that’s Mass Haste!”
“Mass Haste? That’s 8th circle!”
“She’s a top-ranking user.”
“Top-ranking user! Then is it Merlin?”
“Are you Merlin?”

Well, they were right to assume that since there weren’t that many mages that had reached the 8th circle in the whole server. Having her identity outed here meant that her reputation was on the line, since it was improbable that they would be a mercenary for a rival giant guild.

“Everyone, we’re mercenaries. Even if this person was Merlin or not, why would that matter? Can you just forget that and trust this person since you now know that they’re an 8th circle mage?”

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. I was satisfied.

“Then everyone, please follow our orders.”

And right away, Katalina divided up the numbers into teams. She split the 300 users into 3 different teams and assigned members appropriately. Perhaps thanks to her being swiftly recognized as a leader, when the Shining guild’s main forces entered the hallways, we were all ready to face them.