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「Sorry, you two. I got you in trouble!」
「Don’t be. We’ve already crossed the bridge together.」
「Don’t blame yourself.」

As though to admonish her, Luwin spoke to Pullum.

「Lady Pullum. There is one more thing I would like to tell you… There is a huge possibility that once Prince Lahti is exiled, he may never be able to return to Alucard. Therefore, even if agreed to their demands at your expense, it will be difficult to achieve the ending we all desire!」
「EH?! Why is that, Mr. Luwin?」

Pullum’s query represented everyone’s question. Everyone in the room was silent, waiting for Luwin’s answer.

「Unfortunately, His Majesty will soon lose his sovereignty」
「Eh…?! But why?! Is dad’s illness that serious?! Or maybe someone plotted his assassination?!」
「No, the cause is nothing unnatural. Sending an army to a nation as large as Charalia is simply unforgivable. As soon as the situation settles, His Majesty the King must seek forgiveness from Charalia in order to mend the relationship between the two nations. That would require a certain attitude on the part of our nation, the least of which would be for His Majesty to take responsibility and abdicate his throne.」
「……! No, I see, that makes sense… just a letter of apology won’t be enough to quell the severity of the crime…」

「If not handled properly, they might even demand the cession of territory, huge reparation fees, and many other demands on top of our king’s abdication. Our nation must quickly offer our apology to avoid this to happen. It is even possible that one in our government already notified Charalia of the negotiation the moment they received the news that Lekrea had been liberated.」
「……Aah, yeah, the faster the better.」

「If you were to be exiled during such times, Prince Lahti… even if His Majesty were to recall you upon his abdication, who would follow the orders of a man who’s no longer king? If Prince Weinsel were to cancel your exile in favor of the king… then the others would fear it would only prolong the situation and make it much more complicated, and Charalia might take it as an act of bad faith, using it as an excuse to attack us. In other words, the top brass would side with Prince Weinsel and you will still be exiled regardless of what the king wishes. Do you understand now? Leaving the nation now would mean giving up the kingdom for good, and parting with Lady Pullum forever. I cannot recommend you take the offer.」
「…I got it, Luwin. So we wait and see. Do you understand that, Pullum?」
「I-, I understand! Forgive me… I won’t say another word…!」

With a serious expression, Pullum strongly nodded.

「My remarks echoed Inglis’ understanding that she imparted before she left. She had expected that this demand would arrive.」
「Hahaha… she’s really out of our reach, eh. Just how far does she see ahead… What else did she say?」
「A retreat here would be tantamount to a complete defeat. However… their coming to us is an opportunity in the making, so we must decide who is to succeed to the throne in these lands.」

When Luwin conveyed Inglis’ wisdom, Leone endorsed it.

「……Inglis’ judgments usually always hit the mark in times like this. If she said we should do something, that means we can do it!」
「We must prove that we are worthy of her trust… However, with only us and a handful of Knights, we are outnumbered in terms of military might.」
「Yeah. We have to do it! But, while I know Inglis said she would hold back against them, with our strength, that would be impossible for us. So we have to be prepared.」

They would have to have the resolve to go to war, that’s what it meant. It wasn’t that they had never fought other people before, but… Actually fighting a war with a real army would be a first.

「……Honestly, I feel more comfortable fighting a magic stone beast… but I won’t see myself whining. If this is our only option, then so be it.」

Once Luwin saw Leone and Liselotte nodded to each other dependably, he turned to the messenger Knight and asked.

「Have you looked at their equipment as I told you? How many flygear and flygear carriers do they have?」
「Only a handful. I believe they only have enough for scouting and transporting supplies.」
「I see! So they have to march on the ground, and they can’t airlift the whole army, is that right?!」
「Yes. They only use the flygears and a flygear carrier to support their main force that marches on the ground…」
「Very well! If so, we can make use of that plan!」

Luwin nodded with vigor.

「”That” plan?! You have one, Luwin?!」
「I do, indeed. Inglis and I have discussed this together before… we both understood that it is simply reckless to attempt a frontal assault when we are outnumbered, thus we should adopt a strategy that is best suited for this situation.」
「Well, that sure sounds great from someone who’d rather charge in blindly all by herself. I’m pretty sure, if she was here, she would be the one who was vastly outnumbered, and also holding back too……」
「On that point… Inglis’ very presence could be interpreted as a strategy in and of itself.」

Luwin assured, his face was serious.

「Haha… Yeah, phrases.」

Lahti couldn’t help but admire how clever Inglis was with her phrasings.

「In short, you are saying that she is counted as much more than a single footsoldier.」
「Well, yes… she has to.」
「And this strategy that you and Inglis discussed is something we can do?」

Pullum asked.

「Of course, Lady Pullum. I had thought that Inglis was a person of utter strength, but she also has a very keen intellect as well. She is someone with the caliber of a prime minister if not a military general! While she can’t help us directly, she has left us with good wisdom. We will see victory on our side, regardless if we are outnumbered or outclassed.」

Luwin declared and spread out on the top of the table a map describing the area.

「We will stand ready at once and embark from here to await their forces. This is our point.」

His finger traced the long canyon that ran from the east to the west a little south of the encampment and stopped at the bridge there. The map showed that both north and south of the bridge, the roads were wooded.

Luwin pointed to the woods north of the bridge. From the incoming Alucardian force, it was a location just after crossing the bridge.

「The bridge of Reara Canyon…? Not many can cross a bridge at once… so, you’re saying we should ambush them there?」
「No. We will face them upfront. However, with some camouflage… I will explain the details. Once they pass through here, the strategy will no longer be in effect, so it is a race against time. We will sortie right after I finish the explanation! Also, Leone, Liselotte… even if this strategy works, we will still rely heavily on your might. Please take care of us.」
「Understood!」
「Of course…!」

After the strategy meeting, Leone and Liselotte rushed to do their part…

「In the end, we still do what we always do?!」

Leone put all her strength into thrusting her black greatsword Artifact into the tail of the Divine Dragon. This was the usual process that she had been repeatedly doing ever since the construction of the encampment… cutting out dragon meat.

Today, as always, the straight-laced Leone would never skip and was sweating as she worked with her hands.

「Nothing we can do about it! It’s necessary…」

Liselotte was likewise working out a sweat.

「I get it, but still… Inglis must really love these dragon tails. She eats it, she makes a weapon out of it, and now she implements it in her tactics…」
「I hear it also works wonders on injuries and illnesses? But, I too fancy these dragon tails. Thanks to the continuous butchering work, our Artifacts both have gained power, see?」

The power of dragons, Dragon Roar. The reason why such power dwelled in their Artifacts was because they kept cutting a large amount of dragon flesh. And thus, their weapons were imbued with Dragon Roar.

As for Inglis, she had taken the Dragon Roar into her own body, thanks to the extraordinary amount of meat she kept eating.

「I guess. It’s a good workout too… And this is the last. Let’s do it!」
「Indeed. And this time, everyone is helping, so it will be quicker than usual!」

The ones who were carving out the meat from the tail of the Dragon God weren’t alone. Lahti, Pullum, all of the knights, and even the residents. It was all hands on deck.

「Let’s hurry it up, everyone! Once we’re done, we carry those tails!」
「「「OOOOooohh!」」」

Upon Luwin’s command, the voices of many responded. The work was soon completed, and the ginormous tail of the Dragon God, with the flesh inside hollowed out, was carried to the bridge in Reara Canyon, which Luwin had indicated as their meeting site.