Chapter 88: Volume 2, Chapter 32 – I Am Confronting

Bam!

I slammed my fist against the makeshift table that we managed to cobble together with a bunch of logs, causing its shoddy wooden surface to crack.

The advance of the eastern tribes had been stopped for the last two weeks as a result of the nigh-impassable walls of Fort Moroch. The fortress was hastily built in a joint effort between the three western nations, but that didn’t mean it served as any less potent of a defense.

Its construction had began ever since their scouts had brought news of the eastern tribes’ unification, and though physical construction of such a massive structure would usually take years on end, the Sylphid Alliance’s elven casters as well as the dwarves of Brul’adur managed to forge something that was mighty enough to stop even an army in record time.

The walls were a pristine white, the color of perfectly polished pearls. Like mountains, they stood tall and proud, reaching toward the heavens as if to say that their height was equal to the domain of gods. That none without the authority could pass through regardless of their efforts.

Indeed, Fort Moroch was the greatest wall that the people of Celatria had ever seen, and its stalwart surface seemed impenetrable even to the most powerful of siege weapons.

Despite this, I was forbidden from marching to the front lines and simply smashing through that shitty wall of stones, magical or otherwise.

I mean, seriously! What kind of lunacy is this!?

“Please calm down, Ryuuko!” Priya exclaimed worriedly as she placed her hands on my fist as if to smother the smoldering anger that was slowly burning brighter within me. Her hands were small.

Honestly, the past two weeks were rather trying for me. Sitting in the back lines and waiting for reports certainly wasn’t my style of doing things, and the fact that my troops were dying just made it worse.

“How the hell am I supposed to calm down, Priya!? Our people are dying out there, and these idiots are telling me to stay put! What kind of bullshit is that!?”

“Ryuuko, please...”

Priya didn’t deserve having to deal with my lashing out, but I was pissed and not in my right mind at the moment. I’m pretty sure Priya knew that too, because there wasn’t a single hint of anger or indignation in her eyes.

Originally, Lucrezia was the one who accompanied me to these meetings, but I didn’t exactly want to show her this side of me. Plus, it put her in an awkward situation as King Borea was her father and a part of the war council that was holding these meetings. I didn’t want to damage the close relationship that they had.

Naturally, Antenora had been my next choice, but it didn’t take longer than a minute for an argument to break out thanks to the prejudice that a few of the council’s attendees still held for Antenora’s previous identity.

That meant only Priya was left to accompany me. I didn’t like letting her see me blowing up either, but she’d already journeyed with me during my rampage to unify the eastern tribes and seen me at what was pretty much my lowest.

Plus, she wasn’t exactly affiliated with any of the war council members and—as awkward as it was to admit it—she somehow exuded a calming effect on me whenever she was nearby. That’s why I had her accompany me for the first time since I started attending these meetings. Even so, the current treatment that she was receiving from me wasn’t fair.

The war council was composed of four kings: Borea, Eurace, and two others who I’d never seen before. They had the same imposing physique as King Borea and Eurace, but when I learned their names, I recalled that they had been the first to retreat to the safety of their palaces while I was going on a rampage.

Of course, they were also accompanied by a retinue of high-ranking clansmen, but I paid them no mind.

I turned my attention to the four men now, barely managing to contain my frustration. “What the hell’s the problem with letting me go bust up the wall now? We’ve been stuck at this place for two goddamn weeks, our people are dying, and our resources are dwindling.”

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I didn’t consider myself an expert in military strategy. Far from it, in fact. But even I could tell that we were in a shitty situation.

The war council regarded me with stony expressions. If they were offended, they certainly didn’t show it on their faces.

It was like we were frozen in time as I stared daggers at them while they returned my gaze with mild irritation. In the end, it was King Borea who broke the silence with a sigh.

“...Ryuuko. This isn’t the first time we’ve fought against the western nations,” he began. “Every time we fight, we’ve fought to a standstill. Over millennia, centuries, that’s all we’ve experienced. We push forward and advance, they push back and force us to retreat. That’s why the Fissure exists.”

I frowned, failing to see his point. If he was expecting history to repeat itself, then what the hell was the point of embarking on this campaign anyway? Surely there wasn’t anyone alive who was that foolish.

“But this time is different, Ryuuko. Every time we’ve fought before, there was always a Hero and a Demon Lord to champion the fight.” King Borea paused, leaning forward to stare straight into my eyes, as if he was trying to engrave his message into my mind. “There is no Hero this time. There is no Demon Lord. But you know what there is? There’s you, Ryuuko. It’s you that they’re afraid of, not us. That’s why we can’t send you out there so casually.”

“...Fine. But what the hell do you want from me, then? Do you really expect me to just sit back and keep on watching our troops die?”

“Well, actually...” Priya started. I turned, surprised that she was the one to speak instead of one of the kings. King Borea began to shake his head after making eye contact with Priya, but she soldiered on. “We’ve been making preparations to get around their fortifications during the past two weeks!”

The king let out a lengthy breath of disappointment. “Priya... You weren’t supposed to talk about that yet...”

“You weren’t even supposed to know about it.” King Eurace remarked, though his comment went largely unaddressed.

“But why? The tunnel’s ready, isn’t it?” Priya asked innocently.

You devious old fucks...

I smirked. It wasn’t as if I didn’t understand why they hid the existence of a tunnel underneath the wall from me. Had I known, I probably would’ve gone to dig that shit out myself and ended up drawing a whole lot of attention to it since the enemy probably had scouts and spies watching me from every angle.

“Well then, it looks like it’s finally time to watch this wall crumble.” I announced, pivoting on my heel. King Borea opened his mouth to stop me, but immediately closed it once more. After all, he already knew it’d be an exercise in futility.

The pitter-patter of Priya’s footsteps against the soft dirt approached me from behind.

“I’ll come with you, Ryuuko! You keep leaving us behind ever since the first battle, but I’m not gonna let you do that anymore!”

I stopped for a second, surprised. I had continued jumping straight into the fray and breaking enemies lines ever since we crossed the Fissure, but I didn’t really think of it as leaving Priya or the others behind. It seems they really wanted to fight by my side.

I grinned, reaching down to ruffle Priya’s silver hair. 

“Of course.”

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