Suddenly, Niké opens his mouth. I don't understand what he means and am at a loss for a response. Then, General Caries follows up with a response.
"The winner of this battle is you, King Agartha. No, you need not be so modest. You are the general of the enemy ...... and you have captured the king. What would we call this but victory? It is obvious to all that you are the commander-in-chief of this allied army. If you do not return with the spoils of war, you will not have won a victory over the nation of Tana.
"Hmmm, loot ......?"
"Generally, we bring back the head of the king of the enemy country. If you do not wish to do so, you may have the daughter of the enemy king offered to you, or you may take a hostage. You can demand whatever the king of Agartha or the nation of Agartha desires, territory, gold ...... or anything else you want."
Nike speaks to me in a calm voice as I am troubled. But nothing he said moved me. I exhale slowly and look around. Then I see the swords and armor that the soldiers have brought with them and that Ville and his men are equipped with.
"...... King Agartha?"
I don't answer Nike's call, but slowly make my way there. I picked up the sword in Ville's hand, pulled it out slowly and looked at the blade.
"...... nice sword."
I put the sword back in its scabbard.
"This sword will be my trophy. It's good enough.
"No, but that would be ......."
"Well done, sir."
Vieille smiles at me. She looks around at us and claps her hands.
That's how a king should behave. The king of Agartha took heart, not things. That is the behavior of a victor.
I don't need flattery.
I beg your pardon.
With these words, Vieille turns his attention to those who keep looking in the wrong direction.
"Well then, we are going to take King Thana and the others to the Swamp. ...... No, we'll be enough. At Swamp, we will absorb the rest of Thana's army and go straight to Thana. Then we will go to ...... and manipulate Thana to do the will of the king of Agartha.
With these words, she strode off to join Ville and the others. But then she stopped, turned on her heel again, and approached the side of her son Sin, who was standing by Nike's side.
"Master Shin!"
Shin's body shivered at the sound of Vieille's sweet voice.
From now on, we will be neighbors. Let's get along well with each other from now on.
Shin was frozen for a while at those words, but then he seemed to shake again, and he hurriedly responded with a shuddering voice.
"Ah, ah. Oh, yes, that's right. Neighboring countries: ....... Let's get along, get along. Yes, with pleasure.
He clears his throat and calms himself. Then he straightens his back and looks at Vieille.
"You are welcome to visit our country anytime. I, Sandanji Quare Singh, will be waiting for you with craned neck.
I can only see Vieille's back, but I have a vague idea of what kind of smile she is giving Shin. Probably, she is smiling with full of happiness. Nikke, who is standing next to Shin, is looking at her sharply, but Vieille pretends not to notice. Then she looks back in my direction and gives me a quick wink.
"King Agartha."
"...... what?"
"I forgot to ask you something important. When do you plan to withdraw your troops?"
"...... as soon as possible."
Today or tomorrow?
"No, I don't think so. We have to move the wounded to Agartha first, and we also have to take down the camps and medical tents. ....... With so much to do, it will take at least three days to prepare for the retreat."
I look at Nike and the others. They must have been thinking the same thing. They all nodded in agreement.
"Awe. Then we will withdraw our troops as soon as we are ready. We will leave the rest to you.
With these words, she approached Ville and the others again with a smile on her face and urged them to leave the main camp. Immediately after that, I called Sadakichi and ordered him to keep an eye on Vieille.
The next morning, Vieille and his men retreated with Tana's army. Tens of thousands of soldiers marched in an orderly procession in front of us, heading upstream towards the Kakona River. I had ordered my entire army to prepare for the worst, but it turned out to be a mistake. The spirit magic I cast on Ville seems to be working well.
It was the first time for me to use it seriously, but in a way, spirit magic level 5 is a terrifying magic. To put it simply, it can remotely control another person's consciousness. Thus, it is possible to do something like ...... to inflict pain whenever the magician feels like it. The range of this power seems to depend on the magic power of the surgeon, but in my case, since the magic power is almost inexhaustible, Ville can be controlled by me no matter where he is in the world. I can sense Ville's consciousness in a corner of my mind, and if I concentrate my consciousness in that part of my mind, I can read not only his consciousness but also the scenery he is looking at. This is difficult to explain because it is a sensory thing. .......
For example, suppose there is a woman whom Ville likes in front of him. He tries to seduce her by whispering sweet words to her. But I, sensing his consciousness, can manipulate his consciousness and hurl abusive words at her. ....... Well, you can think of it like that.
Well, I have to go that far, because it would interfere with my daily life, so for now, I'm trying to instill in them the awareness that the best happiness is to keep the kingdom of Thana peaceful and quiet. I'm also trying to make them think that Vieille's army is also their friend. There are probably a few more ways to do this, but we are taking a more moderate approach because we think that a drastic change in Ville's character would cause chaos in the country. I am not worried at the moment, because if there is any change in their mindset, I will be able to sense it immediately. Well, I'll consult with Rico and decide what to do about Ville and the others.
After seeing Tana's army off, we prepared to retreat. We had assumed that it would take some time to clear out the medical tent village, but May told us that it could be done in half a day. If we hurried, we could retreat by the evening of the same day, but I dared to postpone the retreat by one day. The reason for this was that I wanted to check the effects of the magic-absorbing arrows that Thana's army had fired.
Thanks to Lafayence's quick thinking, the arrow was swept away by the Kakona River as soon as it landed. However, the arrow had the potential to affect the surroundings where it flowed. Moreover, this river leads to a swamp with an oasis. There must be a large number of arrows at the bottom of that oasis, so I thought I would check them out.
I went to the swamp with May and the staff of the institute. There we tested the effects of the magic to make sure everything was OK. Just to be sure, we had the water quality of the oasis tested, and after receiving the report that there was no problem, we decided to go back to the swamp.
In the evening, I called May to the main camp and told her to transfer back to the house, but she refused to listen, saying she would return with the others.
"Alyria misses you?"
"Yes. ....... But the people from the institute will be staying here tonight. I would not feel sorry for them if I go back to my house alone. I'm sure Alyria will understand that."
May is looking at me with her beautiful eyes. I looked at her and couldn't say anything more.
"Ah!
Suddenly a voice comes from May. I wonder what's going on, and then I see her gaze turn behind me. I turned my head in that direction and saw a sky full of stars.
"...... is so beautiful."
"When was the last time you and your master looked at the stars alone ......?"
"......That's when I was in Kurfumfal."
When I looked back at her, I saw May in front of me with the happiest expression I had ever seen on her face.
"......You remembered me, didn't you?"
"Of course. You haven't changed at all since then. In fact, she's even more beautiful ...... than she was back then."
"Master ......"
I reached out to hug May.
"I'm sorry, sir!"
"Whoa! What the hell?
I moved away from May in a hurry. She turned her head down, her face bright red.
"Excuse me and ....... Oh, you too, Mei-sama. ....... I beg your pardon."
The soldier who was in charge of the message became confused and didn't know what to do. I tell him not to worry about it and calm him down.
"Ha, well then, I'll tell you about ....... There is someone here to see the king of Agartha.
"Dropping by? It's almost night? Who is it?"
That's ...... that ......."
What's the matter?
It's me, sir.
Then, to his surprise, Vieille, who had retreated with Ville to the country of Thana, entered the main camp. .......