Chapter 157 (1/2)

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Waterfall and Tiger

The fort city of Leather Elka was surrounded by walls taller and thicker than anywhere else in the Kingdom. Behind it was a steep mountain; invading from that side would be impossible unless you could fly like a bird.

It was also a metropolis with a population of about a hundred thousand. But because of the walls, the city had limited land. As such, people lived in high-rise buildings. Most were apartment buildings at least three stories high, with ten stories being the tallest. Since there weren't any elevators in this world, citizens moved furniture using magic and magic items.

After the chaos following the King's death, the Crown Prince Austrin came to Leather Elka. For a while the citizens were restless, but now they were gradually regaining their composure.

However, chaos was about to ensue once more. Einbeast's ten thousand elite men were stationed just outside out of the city. While the citizens knew they came not for war, but to back Austrin up, the people were nonetheless uneasy.

「Apparently those are all demi-humans.」

「I thought Einbeast was an enemy.」

「What is Prince Austrin thinking?」

Plenty of rumors spread around. Carts filled with large quant.i.ties of food rolled towards the foreign army's camp.

「I heard they're not paying for it immediately, but after the war.」The people sounded unhappy.

As a matter of fact, Austrin fled the royal capital with nothing but the clothes on his back. He barely had any money with him. No n.o.ble ruled Leather Elka since it was under direct control of the royal family. The Prince called the local governor to ask about their financial status, and it seemed they would last for a while. But they didn't have much to purchase food and pay outright.

「I-I see. So Lord Gerhardt says we can thank Einbeast for the reinforcements after the war.」Austrin said, clearly relieved.

He was in a mansion—the royal family's villa—that had its back against a cliff. It was barely used; the Prince had only stayed here once before when he came for an inspection. Only maids looked after the place. Basically, it was a waste of money, and there were others in various places as well.

「Yes, Sir. He said to focus on the war at hand first.」a large man answered. Almost two meters tall, his face looked human, but he had ears jutting out of his head, and fur on his back colored yellow and black—a tiger therianthrope, also known as Beastmen. His tiger blood seemed to run strong. He was dressed in colorful Einbeast-style attire—a combination of sky-blue and vermillion—loose clothes, with a sash wrapped around his waist.

「Man, I can't wait to fight.」

「Yeah, I'm itching for a battle too.」

The Beastmen were talking among themselves. In the reception room's long table, Austrin, the Grand Chamberlain, and a few n.o.bles sat on one side, while Einbeast's men were seated on the other.

「Sir Gotthold… Are you the commander of the army?」Austrin asked timidly. He couldn't help himself. After all, Gotthold—the tiger Beastman—didn't look like a military man at all.

「Indeed. I, Gotthold Kostenlos Anchor, am an rank adventurer in Einbeast, and overall in charge of the army.」

「Wow! So you're an adventurer as well.」

「Someone trained actually mobilizes the troops, but only the strongest can be the representative. That's how we do things in Einbeast. I'm a bit of an exception since I'm a soldier as well.」

Gotthold was a true-born Einbeastian, and he adored their King, Gerhardt, also known as the Beastman King. He believed that “the strong were mighty” and “the strong should help the weak”.

Seek power to help people in need—that was Einbeast's way of thinking. While it looked good on paper, it could also be, in fact, suffocating. If left alone, Gotthold would start talking about how magnificent Gerhardt was.

There were six other Beastmen beside Gotthold, some female. Do they use magic or something? Austrin wondered.

「Let me introduce the members of the Polar Tiger party.」

It wasn't as though Gotthold read Austrin's mind, but he began introducing his party members. After the introduction, the Prince nodded in satisfaction.

For a party to be cla.s.sified as a certain rank, at least half of the members should be at the same level. That meant at least four of Gotthold's party members were rank A adventurers. But something else bothered Austrin. Einbeast had eleven delegates in this room—seven from Polar Tiger, and there were four others.

「Ah, I suppose we need to introduce ourselves as well.」a young man said with a bright smile.

He had bright, curly blonde hair and clear blue eyes. His teeth sparkled when he smiled—a good-looking guy. Indeed, he was human. And so were the three others with him.

「I'm Igloo Fullblood, the leader of the rank A party, Rising Falls.」

「I see. Where are the other members?」

「We four are the only members. All rank A.」

「All of you?!」

「Yes. Although one was actually lent to us.」

Lent? What does he mean by that? Nah, for now I should be glad they're on our side.

Austrin thought about something else instead. There were eight rank A adventurers present in the room. A war was centered around organized armies clas.h.i.+ng against each other. But high-ranked adventurers had the power to turn the tides of war. They weren't organized like soldiers, but sometimes one party could destroy a whole army. After all, they fought monsters—creatures far stronger than humans—all the time.

They say rank A adventurers are way more powerful than B-ranked ones. Ponsonia only has one rank A party and it only has three members. Clearly, we're stronger. The Master Swordsman could pose some problems, but there's no way he can take on eight rank A adventurers.

Austrin smiled. Technically, there were rank S adventurers as well, a level higher than rank A, but only two of them existed in the whole continent, and they were forbidden to join wars. There would be no need to worry about them.

「Before we start the meeting, I'd like to talk about something.」Igloo said after finis.h.i.+ng introductions.

「What is it?」

「I'm guessing Quinbland will make a move.」

There was a stir in the conference room. Austrin remained calm, however. Even though Austrin was rotten to the core, he was still the Crown Prince.

「That sounds plausible. They must despise Ponsonia for the war. They might attack the Princess's army from behind, which means we can use them.」

Sounds of amazement came from the n.o.bles, but Igloo shook his head.「That is not what I mean. Quinbland will form an alliance with Princess Kudyastoria.」