Chapter 286 (1/2)

The Elarc Defense Chivalric Order was staring down the First Princess’ Army near the East Gate of Elarc. They had received a certain order. That order was “to let through anyone who wished to follow after the First Princess’ Army.”

This was a request that they had received from the First Princess’ Army, to “not get in the way of anyone wanting to join the side of the legitimate heir.” Normally, in order to respect the will of the citizens, it would be best to leave the gates open for those who wanted to leave, but the request was met with nothing but refusal.

The Third Princess Celis was the one that the Elarc Defense Chivalric Order was to respect and acknowledge as the legitimate heir. By following the request of the “rebel” Narika’s First Princess’ Army, they would be admitting that they were below them.

So why would the gates be opened this time? The reason was simple. They had a goal that they had to accomplish, even if they had to take a serious risk.

But they were not to be opened yet. They had to be opened at the right time. This was part of the strategy by Celis herself, and it also had to do with Kain’s mission. Of course, they were at risk of being discovered by the enemy, and it was a bit of a gamble.

And now, there was an unexpectedly large number of people gathered around the opening of the East Gate.

「Open it already! Let us through!」

「Yeah, we’re sick of being trapped in this city!」

「To the legitimate princess!」

「To the legitimate princess!」

The frequent attacks by the Alva had struck fear into their hearts. As ominous rumors about Third Princess Celis spread throughout the entire city, First Princess Narika was like a savior to them.

In a normal mental state, one would be able to calmly distinguish between truth and lies, but as they hear something over and over again, and once their fear gets the best of them, they have the tendency to believe whatever they are told.

Maybe there’s at least a bit of truth mixed in.

Maybe the rumors are true.

What if Princess Narika was right?

Now that I think about it, I heard a rumor like that a while ago. It’s probably true.

In a changing environment, their worries build up, and they blindly wander around, looking for someplace where they will feel safe. By communicating this fear to other people, it spreads even further. This built-up fear then begins to bloom, resulting in “rumors that must be true because they are spoken by many.”

With this, the people gathered around the East Gate spread this fear and unease to the other refugees near the station, and members of the Narika urge them on.

—And this situation was the result of that. The riled up townspeople refused to go back. Even if they were to calm down for a short moment, that awful sense of unease would spread once again. This was an incredibly dangerous situation, and it was horrible for those on Celis’ side.However, on the other hand, it was suggested that this situation should be used to their advantage. The plan was to have several of Celis’ subjects merge in with the people at the gate. The Defense Chivalric Order had not yet been told what the infiltrators will do, but they were aware of what they looked like.

As one of the men on the Defense Chivalric Order confirmed that “the two people” were mixed in with the crowd, he sent a signal to the others, and their plan was communicated to the knights near the station. As the co-captain was arguing with one of messengers from the First Princess’ Army, the captain appeared next to him.

「Hey, we’ll listen to your request. However, we won’t forgive you if you stay here any longer.」

「You should have said that from the very beginning. So, you will open the gates for us, correct?」

As the First Princess Army’s messenger seemed to celebrate his victory, the captain tried his best to answer him with a frustrated expression.