Chapter 271: The Fall of the Border 7

When posed with the question of where a teleportation circle would be placed, Riley, Liliana, and Gild immediately reached a consensus. If the ones who brought the circle into the fortress were the farmers or merchants delivering foodstuffs and clothing, it was most likely placed somewhere they had easy access to. The second most probable location would be an area accessible to the laborers, maids, or servants who likely received the circle from them.

However, they also had to account for the possibility that it had been moved since then.

Even so, in their current situation, they had no choice but to search every likely spot one by one. While Liliana could pinpoint people’s whereabouts using their mana and body heat as clues, she could not locate a teleportation circle that emitted no mana. Thus, as laborious as it might be, scouring the fortress on foot was their only option.

“We just gotta make sure we don’t run into the night watch,” Gild said.

Riley and Liliana nodded in silent agreement.

The majority of the enemy troops occupying the fortress were fast asleep, but sentries naturally remained on watch. If they were spotted, disabling the teleportation circle would be the least of their worries.

“Sasha, it’s best to conserve as much mana as possible. You can put out the light,” Riley said.

“Understood,” Liliana replied.

Nodding obediently at Riley’s suggestion, Liliana extinguished the light illuminating their feet. Her vision plunged into darkness, but after standing still for a moment, her eyes adjusted enough to discern her surroundings.

The area around the watchtower where the three of them had just been was the darkest. Their next destination was the servants’ quarters; although the fires had been put out, it still retained a modicum of light.

Masking their presence, the three made their way stealthily through the fortress.

Eventually, they arrived at the storerooms situated near the side gate. There were various types of storerooms, divided into storage for fruit, grain, and vegetables, as well as cellars for wine. Processed meats appeared to be kept underground, and there was apparently a storehouse for dried fish on the upper level.

“It’s dark in here,” Riley whispered softly.

Murmuring quietly, Riley retrieved a magic tool from the pouch at his waist. It was a lighting tool that had gone unused earlier because Liliana had cast her own spell.

“Will, I can—”

“You used healing magic earlier, Sasha. You should conserve your mana,” Riley said, cutting her off gently.

Liliana had been about to offer to create light herself, but Riley’s firm refusal silenced her. She still had plenty of mana to spare, and illuminating their surroundings was hardly strenuous enough to fatigue her. However, no one could measure the exact extent of Liliana’s remaining mana. Common sense dictated that Riley’s judgment was completely reasonable. If anything, the fact that he did not assume her mana had been entirely depleted after using healing magic proved he had an astonishingly accurate grasp of her condition. Under normal circumstances, anyone else would have assumed her mana pool was completely empty.

“Let’s move,” Gild called out quietly.

With a word from Gild, the three stepped inside the storeroom. A distinctive odor stung their nostrils. Setting aside the mercenary Gild, neither Liliana nor Riley had ever set foot in a common storehouse before. While both looked around with slight curiosity, they remained entirely focused on searching for the teleportation circle.

“It does not appear to be here,” Liliana observed.

Though called a storeroom, given the nature of a military fortress, it was much smaller than the storage vaults of a standard castle. Their inspection was over in moments, and the three moved on to the other storerooms. They managed to search through them without taking much time, but the teleportation circle was nowhere to be found.

Concealing themselves in the shadows to avoid any sign of presence just to be safe, the three huddled together to discuss their next move.

“It doesn’t seem to be in the storerooms. In that case, the armory is probably the next most likely spot,” Riley said.

“Could be. If they’re using a teleportation circle, it’s safe to assume they’d transport a decent number of troops—and when it comes to spaces big enough for several people to warp in at once without issue, you’re looking at the armory or the courtyard,” Gild agreed.

“You’re right,” Riley said.

However, entering the courtyard carried the risk of being spotted by sentries. In that case, searching the armory first was the wiser course of action.

Having no objections of her own, Liliana did not interject in their decision.

“Besides,” Riley added nonchalantly.

A calm, unbothered expression settled on his face.

“If we go to the armory, we might also be able to whittle down the enemy’s fighting strength to some extent.”

“Huh?”

Gild furrowed his brows and shot Riley a dubious look. But realizing Riley’s intention almost immediately, he bared his fangs in an amused grin.

“Ah, gotcha. Ruining their gear so it’s useless will make things a hell of a lot easier for us later,” Gild chuckled.

“Ideally, I’d love to take the weapons back with us, but that’s probably asking for too much,” Riley remarked.

If they were escaping the fort on foot, hauling weapons out would be impossible, but if they extracted via teleportation magic, they might be able to bring some along.

The problem, however, was that with only three people, the amount of weaponry they could carry was severely limited. Moreover, increasing the volume of cargo would naturally demand more mana for the teleportation spell.

“We can consider that when the time comes,” Liliana quietly interjected.

Her voice was calm and steady.

She had no idea how many weapons were stored in the armory, but she was confident in her ability to teleport a fair amount of the inventory along with them. However, given that revealing such an ability to others might endanger her own safety down the line, she was reluctant to use it recklessly. Still, if seizing the armaments proved advantageous to the Calvert Knights, she would not hesitate to deploy her power. For now, she wished to reserve judgment until she could assess the armory with her own eyes.

“Fair enough,” Riley agreed readily.

He nodded without pressing further, showing no sign of having caught onto Liliana’s private calculations.

“Let’s head to the armory for now,” Riley said.

“Right,” Gild answered.

Gild and Liliana nodded. With Gild taking the lead, Liliana followed behind him, and Riley brought up the rear.

The armory was located on the opposite side of the compound from the storage ward. Along the way, they picked their path through the shadows to avoid detection by sentries. The surroundings were pitch-black, but keeping all lights extinguished was essential to avoid alerting the enemy. Consequently, Liliana had to accept a helping hand from Gild and Riley several times over the rougher terrain.

Despite a mounting sense of urgency, the three managed to reach the armory. The chamber was larger than the food storehouses and packed with far greater quantities. In addition to the armaments originally kept there by the Calvert Knights, a substantial amount appeared to have been brought in from the neighboring empire.

“Food’s one thing, but this amount of hardware is insane,” Gild growled in a low voice.

Riley wore a solemn expression as well. Liliana was a novice when it came to military matters, but even she could tell there was enough equipment here not just to withstand a siege, but to use the fortress as a staging ground to march on other regions. However, perhaps due to a lack of quartermasters, the weapons were haphazardly piled in disarray. Picking up a sword within arm’s reach, Riley spoke with an exasperated look.

“Then again, it doesn’t look like they’ve maintained the weapons they brought in. A decently trained knight would probably snap this blade after trading two or three blows.”

“So it’s cheap junk on top of being poorly kept,” Gild grunted.

“Exactly,” Riley agreed.

Nodding at Gild’s remark, Riley placed the sword back where he had found it.

“There’s a huge volume of weapons, but the quality is atrocious. Besides, how do they plan on using all this? With the number of troops currently in the fort, they’d have far more gear than men.”

Tilting his head in puzzlement over what the enemy’s scheme might be, Riley thoroughly combed the armory for the teleportation circle. Gild and Liliana split up to search as well, but unfortunately, they came up empty-handed.

“Doesn’t look like it’s in the armory either,” Gild grumbled after a while, clicking his tongue and roughly running a hand through his hair.

They had already spent far longer inside the fortress than intended. The longer they lingered, the higher the risk of discovery became.

Riley, who had crouched down to check beneath the weapon racks, stood up and nodded.

“You’re right. Every single one of our predictions has fallen flat so far. That means we have to choose between searching other possible locations or pulling out,” Riley stated.

“What’s the call? As long as that teleportation circle is active, we can’t even gauge the enemy’s actual numbers,” Gild pressed.

“Yeah, that’s the problem,” Riley said.

Riley crossed his arms, his expression troubled. The ideal course was to disable the teleportation circle right now, preventing the enemy from summoning reinforcements during tomorrow’s siege. But if they failed to find it, the enemy could funnel in as many troops, weapons, and provisions as they pleased. In that scenario, during the siege, they would have to infiltrate the fortress undetected, have one unit open the fortress gates from the inside, and send a separate squad to hunt down the teleportation circle. While having a clearer grasp of enemy movements would be an advantage compared to searching aimlessly without clues, it would turn into a race against the clock, drastically increasing the likelihood of being spotted and killed.

“So what’s the play?” Gild turned to Riley and asked.

Riley did not reply right away.

“What do you think? You have the most actual combat experience among us,” Riley asked, turning a calm gaze toward Gild.

Though Riley had studied tactics as part of his monarchical education, his understanding was purely theoretical. Consulting Gild, who was intimately familiar with the realities of the field, was entirely sensible.

Gild, however, shook his head. His mouth twisted into a grimace as if he had chewed on a bitter bug.

Originally, the plan had been for him to infiltrate the fortress alone, secure the prisoners, and neutralize the teleportation circle. Gild had initially believed he could manage on his own, but it was taking far longer than anticipated. His expression made it abundantly clear how grateful he was that Riley and Liliana were with him.

“Beats me. I’m built for bashing heads, not brainwork. I’ve always left the thinking to folks who are good at it. If I were on my own, I’d have cut my losses and pulled out by now, but...” Gild trailed off.

Securing prisoners was one thing, but dealing with teleportation circles was far outside Gild’s wheelhouse. When he admitted he would have abandoned the search early on if he were alone, Riley gave him a skeptical look.

“Really?” Riley asked.

“Well... I mean, you know,” Gild mumbled awkwardly.

Perhaps realizing how unconvincing that sounded even to his own ears, Gild rubbed the side of his nose in embarrassment before muttering sheepishly.

“Ain’t pretty, but if I was alone, I’d probably just grab some random bastard, squeeze him till he squeals, and make him spit out the location.”

“Yeah, that sounds much more like you,” Riley replied.

It was hardly the sort of remark one made in front of the crown prince and his fiancée, yet Riley nodded placidly without the slightest hint of agitation or anger. Tilting his head, he turned his gaze to Liliana and offered a gentle smile.

“With that in mind, I intend to go with Lord Gild. However, from here on out, combat is almost guaranteed. So Sasha, would you please slip out of the fortress and return to the camp tent ahead of us?”

It was a proposal meant to keep Liliana out of harm’s way.

Liliana’s expression remained unchanged as her eyes met Riley’s. An ordinary noble lady would have obediently complied here—though an ordinary noble lady would never have lent a hand to an operation to recapture an enemy-occupied fortress in the first place.

And Liliana was most certainly not an ordinary noble lady.

Within the dim armory, Liliana offered an enchanting smile. She held Riley’s gaze. Though she felt Gild looking on as well, Liliana had only one answer.

“Having come this far, I shall accompany you to the end,” Liliana stated.

“Sasha,” Riley said, his voice laced with mild reproach.

Even so, Liliana refused to back down.

Liliana’s objective was to ensure the apprentice knight—Austin’s close friend—did not die. In the game’s original history, Austin had agonized over his failure to save his dear friend, and Riley, witnessing his childhood companion’s despair, had grown disillusioned with his own powerlessness. That incident served as the catalyst for Austin obsessively honing his swordsmanship and Riley prioritizing his duty as a monarch protecting his kingdom above all personal sentiment. As a result, the two of them would ultimately mete out a ruthless punishment to the Liliana who dabbled in dark magic.

Having healed the captured apprentice knights earlier, the probability of Austin’s friend dying had dropped, but it was still not zero. Furthermore, as long as Riley is here, the collapse of the world should be averted.

To eliminate even the slightest chance of failure, she intended to stay by Gild and Riley’s side until the very end.

Besides—there was one more reason. The face and voice of the person who had first recognized her worth flashed through Liliana’s mind.

“Lady Liliana. I want you to stand by His Highness as his ally. I believe you possess the talent and ability to do so. May I count on you?”

While moving pieces across a chessboard, that man had praised Liliana’s diligence, commended her insight, and asked her to protect Riley. If Gild was the sword shielding Riley, Liliana would become the magic shield defending him. Naturally, she had no intention of throwing her life away. Ever since regaining the memories of her past life, survival had been Liliana’s paramount objective. Thus, she possessed no tragic, self-sacrificing resolve to die for Riley’s sake. She simply wanted all three of them to walk out of this fortress alive.

“After all, my magic is certain to be of use to you,” Liliana said simply.

A brief silence descended over the room.

“...All right.”

After staring at Liliana in silence, Riley finally nodded with a sigh. When he looked at her again, a warm smile graced his lips.

“Thank you. I’m counting on you.”

Coincidentally, those were the exact same words spoken that day across the chessboard by the late Duke Ealdred when he asked her to stay by the crown prince’s side.

—-

Toc