episode_0132

“The Demon Lord’s army has invaded?”

“Yes, it was so sudden that we didn’t even have time to react.”

I knew they would come.

But this quickly, and so suddenly.

I was only told that the narration was coming, but there was no mention of when it would arrive, so I thought there would be some time.

“If it’s the Lambat Gorge… that’s the direct route to the kingdom’s capital.”

“Yes. And there was already a city in the middle that…”

Algot’s expression turned bitter.

Thanks to Algot showing me the kingdom map last time and pointing out the location of the Lambat Gorge, I quickly understood the situation.

“Could it be that the kingdom’s defense has weakened?”

“That’s one possibility… but this time, the Demon Lord’s army appeared ‘suddenly.’”

“Suddenly?”

“If it’s the Lambat Gorge, there should be units stationed there to guard the route to the kingdom’s capital. But the fact that they were easily breached means they used some other tactic.”

“Hmm…”

Well, if it’s the Demon Lord’s army led by that Bloodstain, they have used strange tactics before.

Like using decoy units in front and hiding the main unit with magic.

“What happened to the city in the middle?”

Come to think of it, Algot’s earlier words are concerning.

I understand that the gorge has been breached by the Demon Lord’s army.

But how did one city already fall?

“It was engulfed in the Demon Lord’s total assault.”

“That’s… unbelievable.”

It’s too fast, no matter how you look at it.

Up until now, the kingdom has been able to gather punitive forces to respond somehow, but this time, something was off.

“Many people must have died. Honestly, it’s not a situation where rebels or whatever should be fighting within the kingdom…”

“But the capital right now…”

『Yunoa briefly considered going to defend the kingdom’s capital, but it was a foolish thought.

The enemy was the largest Demon Lord’s army in history.

Naturally, to face them, Yunoa needed an army of equal scale.』

At that moment, the narration spoke to me.

That was the truth.

The enemy had attacked a city in an instant and set it ablaze with their massive army.

Moreover, the vanguard was probably the giant musclehead, Bloodstain.

Looking at the scale of the attack, there might be other powerful demons as well.

Even if Algot gathers all the adventurers and soldiers in Kubele with the authority he has, it would still be far from enough.

The Lone Legion, known as Milrea, may not be weak from our side’s perspective, but if the enemy has a similar force, it would ultimately turn into a battle of scale.

In conclusion, there was nothing we could do right now.

“…At this rate, the kingdom’s capital might fall to the Demon Lord’s army.”

Algot said.

The kingdom’s capital being occupied.

It was an unprecedented crisis that I had never imagined before.

“There are issues with distance, issues with preparation… we don’t have the time or resources to take action ourselves.”

“Yes, it’s unfortunate.”

Algot nodded at my words.

But is there really nothing we can do?

Even with a small elite force, we can’t fight a war without the kingdom uniting to respond.

『When there’s no solution, waiting can also be a way.

Yunoa didn’t know how everything he had done in Kubele would come back to him.』

At that moment, the narration said something incomprehensible.

Waiting can also be a way…

But if we continue like this, the kingdom’s capital could fall to the Demon Lord’s army.

Right now, many functions of the kingdom were paralyzed.

The various systems of the kingdom that used to function organically around the capital were now in disarray due to the chaos caused by the rebellion.

Currently, the kingdom’s cities, including Kubele, were all focused on survival, having lost their heads.

In this situation, it was impossible to gather a proper subjugation force or regular army to face the Demon King’s army.

The things I had done in Kubele…

At that moment, a certain flow began to appear in my mind.

If the kingdom’s capital were to be occupied by the Demon King’s army, what would people think?

The royal family that had ruled the kingdom had all been expelled by the rebel army, and the rebel army that had planned to occupy the royal palace and build a new kingdom had fallen into Mileia’s trap and lost their heads.

The kingdom’s capital had essentially lost its function as a capital.

If the Demon King’s army were to occupy the capital in such a situation, the kingdom would truly fall into chaos.

But in such a situation, where would people turn to for support?

“Goddess…”

“Yes?”

“Our city is the city of the Goddess.”

I said to Algot.

In times of crisis, people seek somewhere to rely on.

Now that the kingdom’s capital has lost its power, if the Demon King’s army invades, the natural place for people to turn to would be the Goddess.

Could it be that this is what the narration meant?

If things continue like this, Kubele, who possesses the Goddess, might become the center of the kingdom.

Currently, the cities of the kingdom are struggling to find their own ways, making cooperation difficult, but if Kubele becomes the focal point…

“If the kingdom’s capital falls to the Demon King’s army, the other cities will have no choice but to join us, led by the Goddess, right?”

Of course, even if all the cities of the kingdom unite around Kubele, the problem would not be solved.

But at least the situation where each city has a different policy and cannot respond to the kingdom’s crisis could be avoided.

In that case, as before, sending out a royal decree to gather subjugation forces and soldiers to resist the Demon King’s army could have been possible.

Winning or losing against the Demon King’s army in battle is a different problem.

If the kingdom continues in its current state, we would be giving up cities to the Demon King’s army one by one before even fighting.

“…Honestly, I’m not sure. I haven’t seen the situation over there myself. So, does that mean you want to take advantage of the kingdom’s capital falling?”

“Take advantage… it’s not quite like that, but right now, don’t we have no other choice?”

The Demon King’s army had already burned down a city on the route to the kingdom’s capital.

And now, the Demon King’s army had directly started to march towards the kingdom’s capital, Pifnel.

What could we do in Kubele?

I didn’t want to use innocent people of the kingdom as sacrifices to buy time and take advantage of that.

But even if I were to gather all the people I could right now and go to the kingdom’s capital, it would only lead to an unfavorable fight.

“But the people in the kingdom’s capital… if it falls to the Demon King’s army, the sacrifices would be too great.”

“Indeed…”

The kingdom’s capital, Pifnel, was the largest city in the kingdom.

If the Demon King’s army led by that Bloodstain were to occupy it, the people there would not be safe.

Is it inevitable… to pass it off as such would be too terrible as fellow humans.

“After completely burning and destroying one city, the Demon King’s army waited there for a while.

Just as there were problems within the kingdom, the Demon King’s army also had its own internal issues.

The reason the Demon King’s army halted its advance and delayed the occupation of the kingdom’s capital was because of that.”

Huh? What is this talking about?

So, does that mean the Demon King’s army is not advancing right now?

It seems like the narration is suggesting that just like the kingdom, the Demon King’s side also had internal issues.

But what kind of problems could arise in the Demon Realm…?

Honestly, I have very little information about how things work in the Demon Realm.

I’ve been there once by chance, but that alone doesn’t give me insight into the situation there.

“But that problem won’t last long either.

The Demon King’s army will resume its march in a week.

If we estimate the approximate time for the Demon King’s army to reach the capital of the kingdom, there are about 10 days left.』

Ten days seemed like quite a bit of time.

If the kingdom was in good shape, it would be enough time to gather a punitive force for an all-out battle.

“Alcott, what do you think about hastily gathering adventurers and soldiers from all cities to form a punitive force?”

“It will be difficult.”

“Why is that?”

“If we think about the situation in each city right now, there won’t be any city willing to respond to the call for a punitive force. There is no obligation to respond to a summons that is not from the palace but to abandon city defense.”

“But if we invoke the goddess…?”

“The goddess’s presence is currently gaining recognition centered around Kubel. It will take more time to exert influence over the entire kingdom.”

“True…”

『Yunoa’s idea was an unrealistic one.

Just declaring Kubel as the goddess’s city wouldn’t immediately gain recognition throughout the kingdom.

Furthermore, Yunoa hadn’t done anything in the name of the goddess yet.

It was a difficult reality that even if she sat idly by, it would be hard for the goddess’s city to gain recognition in other kingdoms.』

The narration sided with Alcott.

I fell into contemplation for a moment.

Of course, the most comfortable choice would be to sit quietly in Kubel and watch the situation.

But then there was a high possibility that many people in the capital of the kingdom would be slaughtered by the Demon King’s army.

Both Alcott and I were concerned about that, but no sharp solution came to mind, so we were contemplating.

Ten days until the Demon King’s army reaches the capital city of Pifnel…

I pondered the words of the narration once again.

Based on my experience, the narration never gave me meaningless information.

Even if I thought the information was unnecessary, if the narration judged it as important, it would provide it.

Ten days.

But realistically, it would be difficult for all cities to gather their forces now that each city was dealing with its own problems.

If it was already difficult to gather a punitive force, why did the narration mention that the Demon King’s march was delayed?

Honestly, I wasn’t sure if this was the right decision.

But Failfe had told me to have confidence.

After much contemplation, I opened my mouth to Alcott.

“Alcott, what do you think about evacuating the citizens of the capital city to Kubel as refugees?”

“It seems like we don’t have enough time. It will take at least a week.”

A week? That should be enough.

If we save as many citizens of the capital city as possible by invoking the goddess’s name, our reputation with the goddess as our ally will also increase.

“We won’t know until we try.”

“Are you serious…?”

Alcott looked at me with a puzzled expression.

It was natural. She didn’t know that there were still 10 days left until the Demon King’s army reached the capital city.

But there was no time to explain all the details.

“Other than that, we don’t have any other options right now.”

I spoke with determination, pushing my opinion onto Alcott.