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As the strong wind whipped my cloak about, I hurled scorn at the two thousand-strong enemy army.

“Dogs of the Senate, you have some nerve, shamelessly crawling all the way here.”

With my hearing enhanced by magic, I could faintly pick up shouts like “Silence, monster!” and “So what if you’ve slain four thousand soldiers yourself?!” It seemed I could just barely catch their voices if they were yelling.
Apparently in the north I’m more known as “the Slayer of Four-Thousand.”
Fine. I’ll go with that.

“You wish to fight me, Veit, with a mere two thousand soldiers? How insulting.”

I was doing my best to provoke them, but inwardly my heart was pounding, wondering if or when arrows would start flying.
I did have the Arrow Ward spell active, but if several came at once, I would have to block them myself.
Fortunately, not a single arrow flew.
I should shake them a bit more while I can.

“You have neither strength nor just cause! Pitiful insects!”

From afar I could hear voices shouting, “Justice is on our side!” and “Do not listen to him! We are here to liberate Zaria!” Judging by the tone, those were likely the commanders.

I would rattle them even further.

“The Senate basely assassinated Lord Melgio, Governor of Zaria! And not only that—they even tried to lay hands on his young daughter, Lady Shatina! Unforgivable!”

This was not part of the strategy, but that act of theirs I truly found unforgivable, and I let out a roar to convey it.

My words seemed to deliver a considerable shock to the Miraldia Alliance army.
Faintly, I heard voices: “Impossible!?” “The Senate assassinated the Governor!?” “Captain, is that true!?”
They would never tell common soldiers about such filthy conspiracies. If the men realized they had no justice on their side, it would only lower morale.
So I would tell them more.

“Can you not believe it? …Then hear it directly!”

At that cue, Shatina shouted from one of Zaria’s buildings. I had cast an amplification spell on her as well.

“I am Shatina Stahl! Lord Veit speaks the truth! My father, the loyal Governor of Zaria, Mergio Jüm Stahl, was slain by assassins of the Senate!”

They should recognize that voice as the Governor’s daughter’s.
Shatina, as the Governor’s successor, had made frequent public appearances to build connections.

Her voice trembled with anger.

“My father devoted himself to the peace and prosperity of Miraldia, and I shall never forget how he was murdered by such vile means besides! I will exterminate every last one of you northerners and offer it as tribute to Father!”

I understood her feelings, but she was expanding the scope of retaliation too far.
If Shatina intended to succeed as Governor, she would need to learn more measured speech.
I would make that a task for the future.

Shatina continued shouting.

“I shall succeed my father and dissolve the Miraldia Alliance! And I shall form an alliance with the Demon Lord’s Army! Lord Veit, famed as the strongest of the Demon Lord’s Commanders, will slaughter you all!”

Even as the Governor’s blood daughter, declaring oneself successor without the Senate’s approval would be deemed rebellion. And she had just declared dissolution of the alliance.
It showed the magnitude of Shatina’s fury.
But if we let this continue, there was no telling what else she might say. Someone please silence her soon.

Perhaps my prayer was answered, for Shatina’s voice subsided. Good grief.
Now it was my turn.

“Dogs of the cowardly Senate, have you made your resolve? I have no intention of listening to your pleas for mercy.”

In truth, even if they begged, I wouldn’t have the chance to listen.
Even now, I was ready to flee at a moment’s notice.
However, Shatina’s speech seemed to have had tremendous effect. The Miraldia Alliance army was visibly shaken. As I thought, their morale was not particularly high.

There was a proper reason I believed their morale to be low.
Large modular trebuchets require specialized engineers to operate.
But the siege corps had no real combat experience. Since the unification war of Miraldia, siege engines had seen no action.
Of course they would train and perform demonstrations at ceremonies, but they were merely technicians unaccustomed to battle.
Naturally, when confronted with something like “the daughter’s rage over her slain father,” even without knowing whether it was true, they would be unsettled.

In place of the immobilized trebuchets, the archers advanced.
As expected, I could not drive them off with words alone.
I sharpened my hearing and waited for the archers’ command. They would fire in coordinated volleys, so I only needed to exert myself at that instant.

“Loose!”

The moment I heard it, I activated multiple enhancement spells in preparation. I heightened perception and reaction speed and hardened the fur across my entire body.

Arrows rained down like a storm. At this distance they launched them high into the air, tracing parabolic arcs to strike from above.
But precise shooting is difficult with this method. Only a small fraction would hit me.

“Impotent!!”

I roared and swept them aside with my hand.
I managed to block them, but it would be bad if they drew any closer.

Another volley came.
Desperately, I knocked the arrows away. For a werewolf, bows are the most frightening weapon.

“Ha ha ha! Fire as many times as you like—nothing will change!”

I blustered so, but honestly, if they kept repeating this, it would exhaust me.
Fortunately, they seemed shocked that I had swatted the arrows aside. The volleys ceased.
I observed my surroundings while I could. The arrows had been scattered over a wide area.
It is the archers’ job to rain arrows upon the enemy ranks, and in that they had succeeded.
However, to land arcing shots on a single werewolf from the very edge of effective range is not something one can reliably aim for.

The archers, perhaps frightened of me, hastily withdrew, but there was no sign of the spearmen charging.
What the spearmen feared was likely not me, but the city of Zaria behind me.
Zaria’s buildings rise like tall towers, perfect positions for ambush shooters.
My position was about a hundred meters from the northern buildings of Zaria. From Zaria’s side, they would be shooting downward, and their arrows would easily reach.

On the other hand, if the Alliance archers wanted to attack Zaria’s troops, they would have to advance past me. Realistically, that was impossible.
Thus, if the spearmen charged here, they would be showered with arrows from Zaria without support.
Before them stood a strange werewolf doing his best alone, and beyond him a labyrinth city from which arrows might fly. For the spearmen, they must be stuck between a rock and a hard place.
In reality, Zaria had little military strength left, but we had killed all who knew the internal situation, so no information should have reached them.

As it grew quiet, I listened closely and faintly heard raised voices in argument.
I could not make out the content, but it seemed the commanders of the spearmen, archers, and trebuchet corps were disputing.
They had likely planned to destroy buildings with bombardment before advancing, so the spearmen were probably protesting that this was not what had been agreed.
Being generous, I decided to wait patiently.

Before long, the spearmen advanced and lined up their large shields in a row. Not a charge, but a defensive formation. The archers secured their flanks.
Behind them, I could see trebuchet components being unloaded from wagons.
Though there was still considerable distance to Zaria, they had apparently begun assembly.
From that position, arrows from Zaria would scarcely reach them, but for the trebuchets it was also near maximum range.
Using lighter stone shot, they might just be able to target the northern buildings.
Good, good. That will do.