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「Gentlemen, the day has finally arrived. On this very day, there will be a great change in Central’s history. We shall dethrone the incompetent Fiiyanamia and forge a new era with our own hands.」

A speech before the start of the assault. As I raised my voice, everyone answered with a cheer.
It seems no one has any doubts about our victory; this high morale is quite promising.

「There is no time to waste. Let us start the operation. Advance!」

We assembled early to launch a surprise attack.
For that reason, taking much time here would be meaningless.
With my command, our forces marched all at once.

Fiiyanamia’s manor is not far away. Before they can notice us, we shall surround them and strike all at once.
Kill the men and seize the women. Naturally, Fiiyanamia will be no exception.
Incompetent she may be, but her beauty has no equal.

If I can discipline her to my liking, it wouldn’t be bad to have her serve me constantly by my side.
As for the daughter, if she can service me well enough, then I wouldn’t mind taking her for my own.
Otherwise, I can simply hand her to a subordinate.

As the sun started to show itself, we had finished surrounding the manor.
Just to be sure, we planned to begin after scouting the area. However, the scout we dispatched returned with a sour expression.

「Was there an issue?」
「The whole manor is surrounded by a barrier. It’s not unbreakable, but it will take a lot of time to destroy. However, only at the entrance, there was no barrier to be seen.」

Consuming time here is not an option.
While it will give them time to prepare a counterattack, the worst situation is for them to escape upon noticing us.
In that case, it appears that we have to go through the front entrance.

If we immediately spread out after going through the entrance, it should be simple to seize the manor.
The problem is that there’s a chance of this being a trap.

Acting in accordance your enemy’s intent carries a high risk of falling into unexpected situations.
However, I believe the chances of there being a trap are low.

After all, Fiiyanamia has no knowledge of our attack today.
We’ve taken great effort to prevent Fiiyanamia’s people from infiltrating our ranks, and, more importantly, today’s attack was unplanned on our side as well.
There is no conceivable way this could be discovered in advance and planned around.

That’s why I believe that this barrier is for everyday use, and there is simply no barrier at the entrance to avoid impeding traffic.
Besides, even if this is a trap, we’ll just have someone trip it first.

「Just check if there’s a trap at the front.」
「……Regarding that, there seems to be a girl.」
「A girl?」
「A girl with white hair and not even the age of 15, standing before the entrance door as though to guard it.」

‘Why didn’t you say that first…’ isn’t something I should say.
Rather, his decision to come back without attacking the girl—Fiiyanamia’s daughter—deserves great praise.

At the same time, my hypothesis that they were unaware of today’s assault has been proven wrong.
I don’t know where the information leaked from, but it appears that Fiiyanamia knew we would attack.

「Does she appear to know of our presence?」
「She’s simply staring at the frontage, so I don’t believe she does.」

In that case, we could opt for a war of attrition.
However, with short-tempered hunters in our forces, that wouldn’t be the best option.
To begin with, why is Fiiyanamia’s daughter defending by herself?
Are they simply belittling us?

In any case, I can’t ask for a better opportunity.
If we capture the girl, our chances of winning against Fiiyanamia will only be higher.

「Relay this to the whole army. As this lot charges in on my signal, capture the girl. After that, enter through the door and seize the manor as planned.」
「Affirmative!」

Giving my instruction, I saw the scout quickly run off and began contemplating when to give the signal.
I can’t act before the information is spread to everyone.
And if I give the signal too late, it might affect our morale, particularly because of the short-tempered hunters.

As the proper time arrived, I gave the leader of the hunters —the strongest man among them— the order to go. And with an unsavory cackle, ‘Understood’ he replied with sardonic courtesy before leading his associates onward.

Only after did I follow behind.

Falling slightly behind the hunters, I’ve finally gotten near enough to see the girl.
Just as reported, there is a girl around 11-12 years old standing guard.
Still unripe, but her face looks to have a lot of promise.

As I was examining her from a distance, the girl turned to my direction… or at least she seemed to.
This surprised me, but there’s already a large quantity of people running towards her.
She does not have the leeway to look at me.

An attack from the hunter heading the charge quickly approaches the girl. However, she showed no signs of fear. Seemingly not even interested in the blade flying her way, she showed no change in expression and leisurely extended her arms forward.
And then, with her hands, she enacts the blooming of a flower.

The hunters stopped in their tracks, astonished, with their eyes locked onto the girl.
However, they immediately regained their sanity and swung their respective weapons at the girl.
But their attacks did not reach her; instead, the hunters were squashed by a large thorny vine.
Looking around to understand what just happened, I saw a large cage of thorns enclosing the entirety of our army.

What good luck our protagonist Triadol has to have a front row seat to a once in a lifetime performance! May his pieces rest in pepperoni.

As sleazy as our boi Triadol is, I really like how much competence he has been showing. From understanding the temperament of his forces and how it would affect the war situation, to being quick on his feet regardless of the many unexpected scenarios playing out. Still, the banner he united his force under, the backbone of everything he’s planning around, is insurmountably wrong. His only mistake is believing that he could win against Fii. Also, that believing that Fii is like a normal human? Elf? Actually, I don’t know what he’s smoking if he believes that Fii is as old as Central’s history but doesn’t believe that she has any power or anything backing it up. Even the least active elf would probably have a “study lots of magic/martial arts” phase, if I’m being honest. What else is there to do in hundreds of years of living in just one place? Anyhow, it seems like we might have a show from our princesses in the next chapter!

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!