I understood how they felt, so I couldn’t really get mad. If someone had placed mines all around my house and told me to just download an app and I’d be fine, I’d be constantly on edge, wondering if my phone battery would run out on the way home and I’d end up a black stain on the ground. Thankfully the stress and awareness of the real threat looming outside kept everyone’s complaints in check. To top it off, I told everyone that actually setting the mines was a dangerous step, so I’d do it myself. At night in secret, I used my Unseen Hands to get twenty-five mines in the ground at high speed. I’d concentrated their placement where the canton walls ended and the enemy would probably strike from. This was still a small number, but Kaya was scheduled to fix up a bunch more for us.
Kaya pulled a displeased expression as she set to work, but she was doing a bang-up job. At this rate, I’d be able to lay down ten more tonight, seven the day after, and then five more the day after that. With that much to spread around, we’d have a hell of a lot of sheer destructive muscle backing us up. The watchtowers and other fortifications were just about reaching completion, so if the enemy still hadn’t made a move, I figured it might be time to be greedy and get some trenches dug.
“Hmm... The magistrate’s pretty late, eh...” the elder carpenter muttered as he watched the defenses reach completion.
“That he is. It’s been seven days. Our people should have already reached him and explained the situation,” I replied.
It was weird. The magistrate’s manor wasn’t all too far from Mottenheim, and our messengers had ridden out on two of the fastest horses in the canton—their pride and joy. They should have easily reached the magistrate by now. It was painful to imagine, but the fact that no one had come to our aid could well have meant that our people had been caught by the enemy’s network and taken out...
“Maybe there’s too much even for the magistrate...” I murmured, too quiet for anyone to hear. An ugly hunch of mine told me that maybe I was right in thinking that there were troubles on multiple fronts. Maybe too much was going on for the administration to be able to cover everything—so much so that they couldn’t help the canton run by a noble’s favorite illegitimate son.
This was turning out worse than I’d envisioned.
The chime of the alarm bell in the north of Mottenheim disrupted me from my thoughts. There were three peals of the bell, a moment of silence, then three more peals: the sign to be on guard.
“Everyone, assume defensive positions! Watch, Fellows—get the villagers to safety! Ready the fortifications as you go! Now move!” I dashed ahead as I roared the command without delay.
When I had committed to taking on the leadership of the Fellowship of the Blade, I’d decided that I would use the experience accrued through Limelit to repay their loyalty and keep them safe. I was in charge of a small squadron of fighters, so I’d raised Foot Soldier Leadership to V: Adept. In order to make my voice reach and help raise morale, I’d dipped deep into my reserves to buy Leader’s Timbre. The resounding voice of a leader on the battlefield could sometimes be all it took to encourage one’s allies. Sir Lambert was the picture-perfect definition of this. Whenever I heard his low, booming voice, I felt the strange sensation that as long as he was around, we wouldn’t lose. I was pretty certain he must have acquired a similar trait through his own experience. Knowing firsthand just how handy such a trait was, I picked it up without a moment’s hesitation, even though it cost me as much as a regular Scale VII skill.
My voice might not have had as much solemnity, but it resonated across the battlefield and subconsciously encouraged people to follow my orders despite the chaos. It was worth every experience point. Of course, my voice had already been buffed up by Lingering Timbre and other traits I’d already acquired, but I doubted things would ever have gone quite as smoothly without this big purchase.
My Fellows snapped into action as soon as they heard the bell. A small number stayed behind in key guard spots, while the others dashed to the north of the canton. Those who had been resting in preparation for the night shift emerged from the assembly hall with their weapons at the ready.
We were ready to fight at a second’s notice. What I was confused about was the fact that our enemy had chosen to attack while the sun was still high. We had just set up the watchtowers and were even better prepared to strike back... Had they found the perfect time to strike for some secret reason beyond our knowledge, or were they just desperate? For our part, I was glad that we wouldn’t have to grapple with zombies in the dead of night.
As we reached our destination, the bell suddenly stopped. What was going on? Had the Fellow up by the bell been hit with a projectile? As I hurried to it full tilt, I caught sight of something that drew a deeply weary sigh from my lungs.
Up near the northern wall of the canton, with swaying heads of rye in the background, Margit and Siegfried—in charge of watch duty—were standing in front of a group of five children. The kids were sitting on the ground; Siegfried had one by the collar. I understood what had happened in an instant.
“Hey, Erich. Sorry for makin’ you run,” Sieg said.
“No worries. What did this bunch of miscreants get up to?” I replied.