The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom: Part 1

“Umu… Neia Baraja. Don’t make me repeat myself so many times. Failure is the mother of success. The consequences of not relying on me and instead thinking for yourself, even if they should end up being failure, should not be feared, but embraced. This is because they are the failures necessary for success.”

The Sorcerer King’s words stabbed at Neia’s heart. She could not keep asking the Sorcerer King to help. The Sorcerer King was saying that the consequences of planning on their own were a necessary sacrifice for the recovery of their nation.

Indeed, it was as His Majesty said.

But with the power of the Sorcerer King, they might be able to save more lives.

Would sacrificing them for the sake of self-reliance be justice?

What was justice, anyway?

Was saving more lives justice? Or—

Her thoughts went around in circles, and she could not find an answer.

“Now then, let us look forward to their skills.”

Right now, Neia was simply praying that the many sacrifices they would make would not be wasted.

The group advanced towards the prison camp in a straight line.

The terrain around the village was uneven, but there were watchtowers. If they made a direct approach, they would definitely be spotted. However, it was also a fact that this was the only way they could attack.

Soon, they spotted the village.

There seemed to be sentries on the watchtower above the gate. They banged on the alarm bells, and a commotion arose from within the village.

Neia narrowed her eyes, and stared at the watchtower.

The demihumans there looked like bipedal goats, wearing chain shirts and carrying large spears.

If Neia recalled them correctly, those demihumans were known as Bafolk.

They were a demihuman species who lived in mountainous regions, and their legs were every bit as capable as a mountain goat, making them fearsome warriors who could scale even city walls if they had so much as the slightest bump or depression on their surface. In addition, their fur tangled on slashing swords and steadily blunted their edges, so after killing one, it was important to clear the fur off the blade, or so her father had taught her.

She mused that things would be troublesome if they immediately strengthened their defense. However, they did not seem that well drilled, given how they were running around wildly and giving their side a lot of time to prepare.

The priests dismounted, and immediately summoned angels.

The paladins also dismounted, and raised their shields. This was probably to protect the people carrying the battering rams from attacks.

However, not all the paladins were like that. About ten or so people remained mounted and began circling around the village.

“Miss Baraja, I trust dispersing some troops around the area is meant to intercept any demihumans from the camp who are trying to flee with intelligence about this battle? If anyone gets away, then even if you win the battle, you will lose in the long run.”

“That, that’s it! It’s just as you say!”

He had seen through the paladins’ tactics with such ease. The only thing Neia could say about him was that he was amazing.

Still, that raised a question. Where had the Sorcerer King learned such tactics from?

A being with a demihuman’s tough skin would not wear armor on top of it. With sharp claws, one would not need swords. Humans wore armor and carried swords because of their fragile bodies.

If there was no need to rely on one’s wits, then tactics would naturally be unnecessary too. Why did the overwhelmingly powerful Sorcerer King know of siege tactics?

“Your Majesty, may I know where you acquired such knowledge?”

“Hm? By knowledge you mean— ah! My predictions just now? Umu.Those tactics were taught to me by one of the friends I mentioned before. After that, I tested them out in live combat. Well, I learned a lot of things, but I didn’t expect them to be put to practical use here.”

“...Since he was Your Majesty’s friend, surely he must have been very strong too?”

“Oh yes. Well, his strength was not in melee or magic, but in another field. In that sense, I have not yet attained his level of strength yet.”

Huhu, the Sorcerer King laughed happily. It was the kind of laugh one had when reminiscing about the past.

Right now, he seemed just like a human being.

Could it be that the Sorcerer King was once human...?

Perhaps he had transformed himself into one of the undead with the power of magic, but that would be a perplexing matter. That should not have been possible. To Neia’s knowledge, the undead were naturally occurring things. However—

The world is large, after all.

Neia’s journey with the ambassadorial delegation had let her realise how tiny the world she once knew had been.

Across the ocean, beyond the mountain, and in the depths of the forests — there ought to be something out there. The sages who could scoff at Neia’s problems and tell her the answers ought to be out there too.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Ah, my, my apologies.”