Curtains and sheets had been torn into thin strips, and those had been tied intermittently to ropes near the ceiling that hung across the length and width of the room. It was almost like you were standing in an ocean of swaying seaweed.
Pushing the cloth aside to move past was a little annoying, but the fabric instantly turned the space into a trap for would-be Jumpers, much like a spider’s web.
The snare was simple, but no one in Tiuccia’s military had heard of this strategy before. Maybe they hadn’t needed to, since up until now, they’d probably considered transmigrators allies.
But for this battle—and in my eyes—transmigrators were clearly the enemy. If they were willing to strike without a shred of mercy, then I was going to show them the same savagery. My trick might have been no more obnoxious to them than a buzzing fly, but it was still better than doing nothing.
The hastily constructed ceiling trap stretched from the entrance hall to just past the bottom of the stairs that led to the teleportation station. I hadn’t had much time, so that was as much as I could manage.
I examined the suspended strips of cloth from the corners of my eyes as I led Prince Wald down into the underground hall. Our destination was the teleportation portal that connected to the Cautley lands—the fief that had been governed by Nadar Cautley, in other words. According to the lore in Golden Dawn, a fief’s name was derived from its governing house.
That portal had already been dismantled and its core had been removed, but I had repaired it earlier. A lone man patiently stood atop the array, waiting for me to arrive—Gwyn, the man who had been Nadar’s milk brother. Half of his face was wrapped in white bandages. He’d undergone treatment, but I suppose it just hadn’t been possible to heal all of his wounds.
Noticing that Prince Wald was approaching the portal with me, Gwyn dropped to one knee.
“Nadar saved my life,” Wald said, acknowledging the man’s sacrifice to save his sister.
Gwyn replied without hesitation. “Nadar was Your Highness’s swordmaster, as well as a loyal subject. It is quite natural for a master to protect his disciple, and for a vassal to protect his liege lord.”
“As soon as we return to the capital, I will reward his loyalty and devotion. But first, I ask you to return this to his family,” said Wald.
Gwyn’s remaining eye opened wide upon seeing Scatterbloom in the prince’s outstretched hands.
“He really is gone...” Gwyn’s hands trembled as he took the sword, and he clutched it tightly to his chest. Tears dripped down from his one remaining eye and splashed against the array, wetting it, as he struggled to suppress his sobs.
Gwyn lifted his head. “Please... If I may have a request, Your Highness!” Though he was pleading with the prince, his gaze was fixed firmly on me. “Once you’ve returned to the capital, might you send Kariya to the Cautley lands?” he asked emphatically.
Wald nodded. “For the new head’s trial? I am aware of it.”
I guess the Nadar Cautley event is a thing here too. Even the prince knows about it.
“House Tiuccia will do everything in its power to assist the new head of the Cautley family,” Wald said before looking at me. “Kariya, once the news has settled down at House Cautley, could you pay them a visit?”
“Of course,” I agreed.
Gwyn lowered his head in a bow, but otherwise he didn’t move. His hands were still gripping Scatterbloom tightly. “I thank you.”
I approached the portal control panel, and at Wald’s nod, I activated it. “Starting teleportation.”
Facing the dome of light that had surrounded the portal, Wald raised his voice and called out into the chamber. “My deepest gratitude to Nadar, my swordsmaster! And my deepest regret, for failing him as a disciple—”
The bubble of light disappeared.
Wald clenched his fists as he stood before the now-empty array.
General Orlin, who had been standing on guard outside the portal chamber, now approached us. “Your Highness, we must attend to our own preparations for departure to Altiuccia at once. We have precious little time remaining.”
“I’d prefer to remain until the last. I want to see that all of our soldiers are evacuated safely,” Wald whispered.
Orlin’s reply was equally as gentle. “You’ve done more than enough for us by staying all the way till this day, until this very moment.”
As I listened to their quiet exchange, I set about the task of removing the core from this control panel again.
I really should have made the prince leave Tachyrinn a long time ago. As it turned out, deactivating the portals in turn severely increased the load on the remaining active portals. The mages had kept those portals running day and night without stopping to rest, but they were at their limits.
We had to have the soldiers who could still walk evacuate on foot. The portals ended up being reserved exclusively for soldiers who had been badly wounded, but there were so many of them that sending all of them off had delayed the prince’s return to the capital significantly.
Oh yeah, now that I think about it... At the beginning of the war, I figured if push came to shove, I would just escape on my own. But here I am.
General Orlin approached me as I worked. He must have had his men handling the prince’s guard.
“Kariya, the retreat seems to have been delayed,” he stated.
“Right,” I grunted as I slammed a foot against the control panel to forcefully tear a part out of it. “Sorry, I’ve just finished with this one. Nearly all of the portals have been sealed now, except for the one to Altiuccia.”
I tossed that part into my Pocket Dimension, feeling a little guilty for being the cause of the holdup.
With that, all of the functioning portals had been dealt with. I ignored the portals that had been broken and rendered unusable—I didn’t have the time to mess with them.
At the general’s urging, I headed alongside him to the large chamber that housed the portal to Altiuccia.
While we walked there, I explained the situation to Orlin. “You’re right; we’re a bit delayed. We just don’t have enough mages,” I said. “All the light orbs have been used up, and we don’t have many MP potions left. We’d kept a stock of MP portions on hand at Altiuccia’s side of the portal, but they’re nearly gone as well. The next time we can activate the portal is probably in twenty to thirty minutes. After that, it can’t be used for at least another six hours.”