Black smoke rising from nowhere.
Screaming and yelling from all sides.
A falling soldier appeared in the fountain square, which was a place for people to relax.
Residents of the King's Capital fleeing dressed up.
In the morning, when the same routine was supposed to come, until yesterday, it was wrapped up in a sight that was not miserable to see.
A young mother is running to escape something while holding the baby with one hand and pulling the toddler's hand with the other.
The next moment, a toddler fell with his leg taken by the indentation of the road.
"Stand up! Stand up!"
The mother makes the tearful toddler stand with a desperate look on her face.
Nor would a mother, who would normally give a gentle hug and comfort, be able to afford that now that she lives or dies.
"They're here too!
The voice of a man freaked out by excitement comes after his mothers.
He wore leather armor and a small shield and saw a soldier with a short spear in his hand.
But that is not a soldier in the kingdom who is usually responsible for policing the King's capital.
The crest engraved on the shield belonged to the kingdom's rival, the Ermenian Empire.
"Quick! Run!
Pulling the toddler's hand out with enough momentum to throw, the mother runs out, but the hour is already late.
The Imperial soldiers were approaching the point where they were a few steps away.
One sword breaks in quickly from side to side as the tip of the spear being protruded tries to pierce the toddler's back.
A tall sound was made and the spear was bounced on top.
To a sudden interruption, a soldier steps on when he is disfigured.
"Run while you can!
The owner of the interrupted sword sheltered his mother on her back.
"Oh, thank you!
When the mother speaks of gratitude, she runs away with the toddler's hand intact.
"Well, he seems to do whatever he wants a lot..."
Without turning back, the sword bearer confronts the Imperial Soldier.
"Female knight?
An imperial soldier gives an expression of contempt.
The bearer of the sword who played the soldier's spear today was a girl who seemed to have as many age differences for the soldier as her parents and children.
Only in the late teens, you get a glimpse of feminine softness into the euphoria caused by youthfulness, that would be the year.
Slurry and even bodies are wrapped in expensive equipment to see, and the sword in their hands also shows a different glow than a few strikes that the general soldier is given.
It was also natural for soldiers to mistake for knights.
"Hang on, you aristocratic lady. Did I get the mistake of snoring at civilians in training grounds and thinking I was strong? Then I'll tell you what a real battlefield is here!
You must have decided he was the one who looked down.
Imperial soldiers have stuck their spears out with a sure look of victory.
"Half correct."
The girl answers so in a flat tone, while entangling her sword body in the tip of the spear (Hosaki) coming towards her.
Rotating the tip of the sword semi-circularly from bad to good, focusing on the sword's handles, the soldier's spear was danced in conjunction with the movement.
"What!?
I don't know what they did. I don't even give them to a soldier who raises a surprise. While recovering, the girl teases the spear and runs the sword along the pattern.
"Bye!"
A sword struck his hand holding the spear as it was, and a few of the soldier's fingers fell.
"Oh, my, my finger. Oh!
The girl lowers her sword when she sees a soldier who has lost her finger and is no longer able to hold a spear, and decides that she is not already a threat.
"Dear Minerva! Are you safe!?
Several armed men rushed there.
The outfit is not unified and at least it turns out that it is not the regular army of the kingdom or the aristocratic leadership.
The men who came running over stayed a few to protect the girl, and the other men began to scatter and guard their surroundings.
"Since when did the lady end up like a chopped kite (octopus), like shaking off an escort and popping out into a slightly distracted gap"
A man walking alone late speaks of stupidity with a loud sigh.
"I'll bother you, Captain Greysta. It was just critical to see if I could make it."
Minerva answers so sorry, he closes his eyes and hides his eyes.
"Well, as far as the situation goes, I guess the lady was the only one who could make it. If something happens to the lady, we all fly physically around her neck. I think it would be bad if I left the side for a little while."
"No, Captain Greysta is nothing wrong"
"Unless that's what your Excellency and the young lady would say. Be aware that you are in a position to be protected."
"Yes, of course."
There are no words of apology from Minerva's mouth.
But given your identity, that's not the way to go.
You felt the color of reflection more than words from that expression, and Moore avoided pursuing me any further.
At a time when words were interrupted from each other, one of them cautious around comes pinching his mouth.
"Captain, what will you do with that Imperial soldier?
"Uh right...... Tie him up and throw him in the house."
"Is that okay?
"You won't have a choice..."
On instructions, three men begin to rope the body of the Imperial Soldier into captivity.
Minerva brought words with regret as he watched it.
"I can't believe Imperial soldiers are wandering alone..."
"That's how bad the situation is."
Taking his gaze off Minerva, who cast a shade on his expression at the seriousness of the situation, Moore gave instructions out loud to his men.
"Hey, we're going back a little!
Following Moore's instructions, a group moves in line to protect Minerva.
Moore will naturally line up for Minerva.
"Will the kingdom... lose?
Minerva asks Moore as he faces the surrounding situation.
"What do you think? At least the King's capital will not be spared. The main force of the army was pulled out to the border with the Empire, and the Tria, who had come to defend the king's capital, conspired to rebel, and ambushed him from the sea after he had sent soldiers out of the king's capital without him to intercept it. I'm totally fucked. I don't know how many soldiers the Empire has carried on the ship, but it's that big convoy. It won't be 500 or a thousand."
"Was the ambush from the sea not alarming?
"Neither did the kingdom, but even the empire should not have had a ship that would allow us to sail the outer ocean with troops. A ship with about a few hundred people will be able to prepare it, but if you do, it's a ship for offshore use. It was common sense that it was impossible to ambush through coastline alert."
"Not that the assumption was sweet," he said?
"It must have definitely meant against the Empire. However, I guess the problem is that you've narrowed your enemies down to the Empire alone. It must have been the biggest failure not to weave the kingdom into the strategy this time, because it failed miserably four years ago."
"San Rogel Monarchy... Wasn't it"
"Yeah, it's an army that came all the way from the southern continent across the outer ocean. Naturally, we also have the skills to carry all the personnel and navigate the outer ocean, so we must have been able to make an ambush like this one. If the upper echelons of the Royal Army keep in mind the presence of the Monarchy of Saint Roger from the beginning............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
I guess the last word isn't directed at Minerva, it's just solitary.
"Anyway, now I can't help but say 'if' and 'if', because I'm not even a soldier in the first place. This time, the loss is confirmed at a time when Imperial soldiers are entering the King's City. All the kingdom can do right now is fall off the scene and start over again."
"But that's not why we nobles escape first. We have to stop the Imperial Army in order for a little more people to escape."
Even to Minerva, who naturally says it all, Moore pokes his reality in a bad way as he scratches his head with one hand.
"That's a fine idea, but civilians don't expect that from nobles. He said he didn't count on it from the edge."
A brief silence comes while Minerva's leg moves forward five steps.
Facing straight ahead and blinking slowly, Minerva opened her mouth.
"But standing on top of people means being accountable to people. People obey and respect those who stand above them because they are responsible. It was nobility that institutionalized it, wasn't it? Nobility must be responsible for people's lives and lives because it is. Just because you're not expected doesn't make your duties as a nobleman disappear. The Duke of Nilesteria was originally a royal house."
"How many human beings are still in that castle for making it royal?"
Minerva turns to Moore, who crumbled with the boss, with his puffy (abandoned) colored eyes.
"... the words are disrespectful now, Captain Greysta. I'll leave it to you not to ask, but be careful in public."
"Right. That was a silence now. However, how many aristocrats, even if not royal, will remain in the king's capital to resist the Imperial Army in this situation?"
"There are never many who are proud of their nobility... I would like to think so"
Moore relentlessly denies the words of the aspiring Minerva.
"I guess that's what nobility looks like it should be. It's very difficult to say where you hold your ideals high, my lady. Reality, you know."
I found the crowd ahead of Minerva and gave him a finger with Moore's frightened expression.
"Please help!
"Please! Just this kid!
"The Empire guys are right over there!
What I see is three large carriages.
And it was a lot of people surrounding it.
"Yes, some civilians! This carriage is not good for you to touch!
I guess it's a carriage escort.
One of the armed men who solidifies his surroundings looks depressed and hands on him.
"What are you doing! Get it out of here!
It is a middle-aged man in his mid-forties who faces out of the leading carriage and releases words of reprimand.
Being a nobleman who has stored luxury in its body is well understood by the fat and ornaments worn around the vain swollen chin.
"I'm sorry. They can't clear the way."
"Get rid of the civilians and all that!
Apparently, the inhabitants of the king's capital were seeking salvation in the aristocratic carriage trying to run away by abandoning the king's capital.
If we stay in the King's capital like this, we will not wait for any more results than we have already allowed the invasion of the Empire soldiers all over the city.
However, it is suspicious whether we can escape on foot.
At the very least, a carriage would make that more likely, but there would be very few carriages left in the current King's Capital, for example.
"Please, let me ride!
"Don't abandon me!
That is why the inhabitants are desperately appealing.
They should also understand that their opponents are aristocrats, but they can't care less about that now that they are at Seto time of living or dying.
He persisted diligently in his appeal to the nobility to get him on the carriage and so on, which he would never normally speak of.
"It's not a carriage to put the Xamas on! You think we're worth it!
Ruthless words are slammed from the carriage toward the residents seeking help.
Minerva bit her lip when she saw it.
"What a shallow nobility to protect the people"
"It's like that, what a civilian to a nobleman. Well, it's not limited to nobility. That's not true of people who can say something about temperament or spirituality in this emergency. Because every human being is the cutest."
"But it's an emergency..."
Moore asks about Minerva's unspeakable condition.
"So, what do you want to do?
"I'll ask that one. If you look at it, the two carriages in the back don't look like people are on board. We can't all do it, but if it's just women and children, we can handle it."
"Now, how far does the Duke's name go in this emergency..."
As Minerva tries to approach the carriage sideways with Moore shrugging his shoulders, one of the residents tells of the enemy's approaching with a voice that is also similar to a scream.
"And it's an Imperial soldier!
With that voice triggered, the confusion is applauded.
When an imperial soldier appeared from the corner who had made him look like a killer, people fled to scatter spider children.
"To, run!
"Wait! Don't leave me!
"Mom! Mom! Oh!
Under circumstances that could no longer be called frenzy, the Imperial Soldiers began to kill people who had missed the escape.
Minerva, who saw it, calls Moore's name sharply.
"Captain Greysta!
"I know!
At the next moment, Minerva runs with his sword in his hand, softening his dandruff hair.
"Cain! Take the five and secure the retreat route!
"Yes!"
A man called Kain backwards to Moore's instructions, and his remaining companions followed Minerva to the Imperial Soldier.