Magic Caster of Destroy

“Please wait, my Prince! The war with the Empire is coming soon. If we kill citizens of the King’s demesne, it will negatively affect the morale of the entire army! I also pray you will look at the fortifications. There is no way this is an ordinary village. Although the villagers are not numerous, trying to break down the gate with brute force will be difficult in the extreme. If that is the case, we should ask them their reasons for not opening the gate after things settle down here.”

“…Ask them nicely, and then hang a few of them.”

“…It can’t be helped. After all, they did keep the gate shut in defiance of Barbro-sama’s orders.”

“You must get that gate open, and then we’ll make an example of them!”

“Understood!”

Prince Barbro gazed at Carne Village.

As the knight said, the sturdy gate was set into thick curtain walls. Given that the village was right next to the Great Forest of Tob, this might even have been intentional. However, from the way the watchtowers were placed, it resembled a fortress more than a frontier village.

Bringing it down would take a long time.

Over a thousand soldiers were lined up in front of the gate, shouting at them to open up.

If one listened carefully, one could hear the same sounds in the distance, from the rear gate.

These shouts were like sparks from a flint, falling upon the tinder that represented the complex mix of emotions in Prince Barbro’s heart. The fire rose, and as it burned, he lost his ability to think.

“Oi! Fire the flame arrows!”

“F-flame arrows?!”

“That’s right. God only knows how long this is going to take with all this waiting. Listen up, we don’t have time to waste on this village any further! If you could open that gate in a few minutes that would be fine, but you can’t, can you?!”

The knight could only nod while gritting his teeth.

“Threaten them with flame arrows. The time for playing childish games like standing outside the wall and shouting is over. Now we show them how adults do things!!”

As the knight stared, open-mouthed and dumbfounded, a man stormed up from his side.

“To think you would disobey his Majesty the Prince… I can’t believe you’re one of the Marquis’

men. My Prince, will you permit my men to carry out that attack?”

This was Baron Cheneko. Behind him were several of his fellow brown-nosers.

Prince Barbro was glad that such men existed, who could be useful despite their foolishness. No, he was a noble as well, and if a village in his fief had dared rise up in revolt, he would probably have done the same thing as well. He might even understand Prince Barbro’s position.

“…Is that so. Then I order you to make it so, Baron. Fire flame arrows at the village… no, this way is better. Target the watchtower. That ought to avoid casualties, right?”

“Ooohh! Such a merciful decision! As expected of my Prince! Then, you have but to watch us!”

♦ ♦ ♦

“Ane-san! We’re ready! Everyone’s taken cover. We’re the only ones le― what’s that?”

Jugem could sense an oddity in the surrounding air, and warily asked about it

The defense force members who had remained here were completely opposed to each other. Half of them were reluctantly in favor of opening the gates for the army outside while the other half were fiercely opposed to it. The root of the dispute was whether or not they would be betraying the village’s hero, Ainz Ooal Gown. As a result, it was hard to make a decision.

“Actually…”

Enri was about to say something to Jugem when a loud voice came from outside the walls.

“―Citizens of Carne Village. Because you did not immediately open the gate when ordered, the fact of whether you are loyal subjects of the Kingdom has been called into question. As such, we will take representatives from among you onto the battlefield, where you will convince Ainz Ooal Gown to surrender. Doing so will allow you to prove that your loyalty remains with the Kingdom, and that you are loyal subjects!”

The atmosphere started to change. Hatred burned in the villagers’ hearts like a wildfire.

Enri was no exception.

It was true that the villagers were citizens of the Kingdom, and loyal. However, that loyalty paled in comparison to the gratitude they felt to the man who had saved their village for no charge or obligation. After all, when their families, friends and lovers had been murdered, the only one who had reached out a hand to help them was that great magic caster.

“I’ll never let myself be dragged onto the battlefield to get in Ainz-sama’s way!”

“Can’t we just hide in the forest and see how things go before making a decision?”

Loud arguments like these echoed from all around.

However, the one thing they had in common was that nobody wanted to do anything which might inconvenience their hero.