“This will be the second attack this month.”

　Lili bit her lips as she surveyed the worsening damages on the map. The damage received in a single attack was insignificant. At most, the enemy would steal food for about 10 people at most, but the problem was that they didn't stop.

　Lili could try to spread her guards and patrols to cover a wide area, but then the goblins will trample over them, so even arresting the snow demons was not really an option. The situation was such that they had no other choice but to push with numbers, but the information necessary for them to concentrate their numbers just wasn't there.

　If the enemy were to attack an area where the few elites of their army, including Lili, were absent, then they will immediately lose the war.

　This was the guerrilla warfare that even Gulland had difficulty dealing with.

　Lili tried to ask for reinforcements from Germion Kingdom, but the only answer she got was an order to defend the territory until death. With no other option left, she had no choice but to send letters to some n.o.bles that she was personally close with in order to gain information. This was not something she wanted to do if possible.

　As a result, she was able to find out that Germion Kingdom was currently under attack from all four directions.

　When it comes to the difference in army strength, the north was still better off.

　There were less than 2,000 soldiers at the western side of Germion Kingdom, and yet the enemies there numbered at least 6,000. Moreover, that was only the number that they were able to confirm.

　Even Sivara the Ripper Knight, who led the eastern division soldiers at the east, had his work cut out for him.

　Moreover, the southern border has already been broken through, and the n.o.bles possessing various territories are being defeated one after another.

　As such, Lili couldn't help but realize that the country was already on the brink of destruction. Even the east that she should have been able to rely on for reinforcements was having a hard time. This was despite Sivara, who is said to be the greatest general in Germion Kingdom, being there. He was simply unable to deal with the rebellion. Has Germion Kingdom contacted the Holy Shushunu Kingdom? Unless they send reinforcements, it was likely that Germion Kingdom would be destroyed under the pressure from the enemies coming at them from every direction.

　Now that the king has lost all desire to manage the government, the minister of the military, Lord Bedoru, has focused the soldiers of the kingdom toward the south where the invasion had penetrated the deepest.

　The foundations of the country were audibly creaking.

　The loss of King Ashtal's successor. The expulsion of real holy knights from the country due to political strife. The decision to prioritize dealing with domestic discord over the enemies attacking from outside, thereby, worsening the wounds of the kingdom.

　As Lili thought of the kingdom slowly being dismantled, a cold chill ran through her back.

　She had the people of her fief to protect.

　She had soldiers that she led.

　As the feudal lord, she had to protect them all. The family of Aureya that she once abandoned now shackled her again. The possessor of the magic sword. The hunter of monsters. Either of which was the t.i.tle of the head of the Aureya Family in the past.

　The t.i.tle of the family head who died a hero.

　She should have changed since she spent time at that forest with the saint, Res.h.i.+a.

　She would protect those she loved as a knight. That was an oath akin to that of an unbreakable sword. And it held true so long as it was within her power. That oath was neither a lie nor a mistake.

　But then, when the sword is at last broken, what fate awaited the people? This was a battle that she was unlikely to win even if she were to fight. She knew exactly how powerful the enemy was. Because of that she could not choose to act recklessly.

　Within a temporary camp away from her mansion, inside her tent, Lili desperately sought for an answer.

◇◆◆

　While the northern front lines were at a deadlock, the western front lines were progressing greatly.

　Gi Gu Verbena's western army took advantage of the power of the siege weapons and their racial advantage that allowed them to call the darkness their friend to overtake the fortresses one after another.

　The booming noise that erupted each time the stones slung by the catapults crashed into the brick-reinforced fortresses resounded regardless of the time of day. That was a great weight upon the exhausted people of the Western Region. This was the 10th day of attack.

　The numerically superior goblins divided their attacks into three parts and attacked consecutively. When the arrows of the enemy showed a remarkable decrease in number, Gi Gu Verbena consulted the nearby Ra Gilmi Fis.h.i.+ga.

　The commander of the western goblin army was Gi Gu, and Gilmi the Hero of Ganra was merely here as rear support. Were these two goblins the overly compet.i.tive sort, then they would obviously try to outdo each other, but Gilmi did not show even the slightest hint of wanting to compete as he obediently took a step back and allowed Gi Gu to go ahead.

“Should I send a messenger and demand their surrender?”

“It's useless.”

　Gilmi replied without abasing himself.

Gi Gu nodded. “Why is that?”

“I hear the ones protecting the fortresses here are the beloved people of Gowen Ranid. These are people who have been driven out of their homes. They are likely to choose death if the alternative means having to bow their head before those who took their home from them.”