“Would you really trust anything I said if I spilled it that easily?”
“Not at all...”
“Exactly. I’m telling the truth. The enchantment I’m looking for is unrelated to my research. Maybe there could be a connection, but I don’t know. I just want to experiment for myself.”
If a Hunting Ground enchantment was capable of cutting off magical intervention like that, I might be willing to let a little something slip about my Necromancy research. If we could lure Enma into a large-scale barrier, preventing her from escaping into the spiritual world, it would be possible to put her down for good. That’s what I wanted to prove.
“Once I can confirm if it would be of any help...well, maybe then we can continue this conversation.”
And this has nothing to do with our factional differences. This is a project for the kingdom as a whole. You want to be part of that, don’t you? Just say the word and you could buy yourself an invitation into that project right now...
Spinezia leaned back, putting a hand to her mouth as she thought. There was no hiding the curiosity shining in her eyes. “Then I guess we’ll just say you owe me one until then.”
“What happened to the sign of friendship?”
You brought that up, remember?
Spinezia sputtered a bit as some food got caught in her throat. Man, she was just too easy.
“Okay, fine. I’ll get you something enchanted with our Bloodline Magic. Just the size of a room, right?” She sighed, motioning to the room we were in.
“Yes. That would be extremely helpful.” This was just a verbal promise, not a binding contract, so I couldn’t thank her too much.
“Then one last thing.” I had thought the conversation was over, but Spinezia kept going, turning another serious look on me. “Does this have anything to do with the Corvut or Gigamunt?”
The families of Topazia and Daiagias? Ah, so that’s what all of this is really about.
“No need to worry. I have yet to even share a cup of tea with Rubifya. I haven’t made any final decisions yet.”
Don’t worry, I’m not on their side.
“I see.” She visibly relaxed, leaning back in her chair. By the look on her face, it was clear a sense of relief was washing over her...followed by the leathery sound of her outfit’s fastener loosening.
“I’m starving!”
Wait, really? I know you feel like this is a job well-done, but...
As if this were all par for the course, her servants didn’t hesitate for a moment in bringing out more food. Meanwhile, my maids looked on in horror as the thought crept into their minds of having to dredge out more food to satisfy her stomach’s whims.
And so I managed to put in my order for a tool to block out magic...
...at the price of a chunk of Evaloti Castle’s emergency food supply.
†††
Spring came and went, bringing the advent of summer in Evaloti. With his City Guard training finished for the day, Tafman enjoyed a refreshing shower, then marched energetically through the former capital—which had started to gain a renewed sense of liveliness. Thanks to Demon Prince Zilbagias’s occasional visits, there were no more severely wounded individuals left in the city. In exchange for the healing, everyone was forced to work. But that rejuvenated workforce had the face of the city back to a reasonable imitation of its former self.
Tafman passed many familiar faces, but gradually unfamiliar ones were getting mixed in with the crowd. With the eastern half of Deftelos now fully under demonic control, those who had failed to escape to the neighboring kingdoms had been captured and brought to the autonomous zone. Evaloti’s population had grown to many times its initial size. As vice captain of the City Guard, Tafman made it a point to check in around the city as much as possible, but even he could no longer keep up with all the new arrivals.
Isabella and Nina never got brought here, huh? Tafman thought as he watched a woman deeply involved in her weaving.
Isabella and Nina were respectively the wife and daughter of one of his comrades. They had escaped Evaloti with the retreating army, but he had no idea if they had successfully made it out of the country, or if they had been killed in the fighting that ensued afterward. Not knowing gnawed at him. And besides...
It’s not like escaping guaranteed an easier life for them...
That realization brought a cloud of gloom over his thoughts. Would they have been better off being captured and brought to the autonomous zone than living as refugees in a foreign country? He couldn’t help but feel that way, even knowing how unstable the peace that Evaloti now stood on was.
Tafman was now receiving training from the new arrivals in the autonomous zone who had experience with military leadership.
When the autonomous zone had been first established, Tafman’s appointment as vice captain had been a temporary measure to keep the City Guard united. And among the new arrivals, there were many with far more leadership experience. Tafman couldn’t wait to relinquish his position and return to his role as an ordinary soldier, but unfortunately the city’s situation barred that from happening. This was partially due to the strong relationship he had built up with the City Guard, but more importantly appointing those experienced leaders (former nobles and their servants) to his position might trigger a response from the demons. And that was without mentioning how many of those new arrivals were far too old to shoulder the load of such a leadership position. That meant Tafman was trapped in his role as vice captain, the newly arrived leaders settling for being his advisors or assistants.
Recently, that group had started ganging up on him. They forced him to learn tactics, as well as basic reading, writing, and mathematics. Though he was entirely uneducated, Tafman wasn’t stupid, and his experience in combat gave him an intuitive sense for surveying a battlefield. Seeing Tafman’s unrealized potential, his new helpers had become desperate to see that potential fulfilled.
He couldn’t just refuse. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t. He couldn’t see any future where they overcame the demonic armies, nor one where they survived just fighting that monster of a demon prince, but that didn’t mean he could give up.
With the war still ongoing, the demonic armies continued their advance against the Alliance. And as they did, the population of the autonomous zone continued to climb. One autonomous zone rising up in rebellion would be squashed like a pest. But if multiple autonomous zones rebelled at once, and if the Alliance provided them with support, then maybe...
Though that plan still had plenty of holes. They had no way to communicate with the other autonomous zones, nor to synchronize with the Alliance. At worst, a rebellion elsewhere might set off a chain reaction of revolts across that kingdom. That naturally positioned Evaloti, the first autonomous zone to be established, as the front line of the war.