Daybreak Rondo

by Yuri Kitayama

  Be careful.

  Thank you. I won’t let the monsters reach you, but...

  I know. Leave Celia to me, Aishia’s determined voice echoed.

  ◇　◇　◇

  Meanwhile, at the mouth of the road facing Amande’s east gate square, the soldiers protecting the area had completely lost their nerves.

  “Eek! There’s too many of them!”

  Several meters away, the army of goblins and orcs closed in.

  “Fool! There are many citizens still evacuating behind us. For Lady Liselotte’s sake, too, protect this place with your life!” the supervisor in charge of the area yelled in motivation. They couldn’t afford to abandon their posts, as there were still huge crowds of residents evacuating behind them.

  “That’s right! Let’s protect this spot with our lives! I’m alone, but I’m here as a reinforcement!” the youthful voice of a young girl yelled. It was Chloe. She had been the first one dispatched to check the situation on the east gate, where the defense was thinner, when the monsters suddenly attacked.

  “L-Li’l Chloe!”

  “Stop calling me that — I’m an adult!” Chloe replied with a bitter smile. She was a little conflicted about how people still called her “Li’l Chloe” and treated her like a child, having watched her grow up in Amande from a young age with her family’s inn.

  “Sorry, Li’l Chloe. Having you here from the attendant team is most reassuring. We’re counting on you.”

  “Geez, I already said...! No, there’s no time. I’ll use magic to intimidate the approaching monsters, so could everyone ready their lances and deal with the monsters that draw near?”

  “L-Leave it to us!” the soldiers nodded, and the battle soon begun.

  “Photon Projectilis!” Chloe held her hands out and chanted the spell. A magic circle immediately appeared, firing bullets of magic essence converted to energy bullets from within the circle.

  “Gweh?!” The bullets of light blew the goblins away. It was a kind of magic that had enough force to knock out a human in a single blow, depending on where it landed — meaning a small-bodied goblin could easily be sent flying.

  There’s so many of them! I hope the reinforcements come soon...

  Panic soon showed on Chloe’s face; blowing away a handful of goblins wasn’t about to stop the advancing army of monsters. They closed the distance from her without reserve, confidence clear in their creepy smiles.

  “Guheehee!” The giant orc acted as a wall for the goblins, drawing within meters of them. Unlike the child-sized goblins, orcs had the height of an adult human and thick skin that wouldn’t yield so easily to one shot of the photon bullet.

  “...” Panicked, Chloe glanced behind her. There was no sign of the reinforcements, only the sight of the residents evacuating with only the clothes on their back.

  The situation was hopeless. They wouldn’t even be able to last minutes like this.

  “Geeeehhk?!” Suddenly, a strong gale blew from the diagonally left to the side, and all of the monsters right before Chloe’s eyes were easily blown away.

  “Eh...?” Chloe found herself gazing in amazement. The other soldiers were also dumbfounded.

  Just then, Rio landed lightly right in front of Chloe. “Allow me to assist you until your reinforcements arrive.”

  “H-Haruto?! Ah, no — I mean, Sir Haruto!” Chloe stammered immediately.

  “Chloe.” The attendant uniform she was wearing helped Rio immediately identify her.

  “U-Umm, why are you here?” Chloe asked hesitantly.

  “I figured the defense at the east gate would be thinner as it was attacked later, so I came as backup.”

  “T-Thank you very much!” Rio’s simplistic answer filled Chloe with relief, and she thanked him from the bottom of her heart.

  “Now, let’s reduce the number of monsters as much as possible before the reinforcements arrive. May I take the frontline?” Rio asked as he braced his sword and faced the monsters, who seemed to be wary of Rio and had frozen in place.

  “Y-Yes, please do,” Chloe nodded with a squeak.

  “Then, if everyone here could handle the monsters that make it to the street.” With those words, Rio calmly closed his distance with the monsters. Sending essence into the sword in his hand, he created a large gale of wind and fired it at the monsters.

  “Guhee?!” Dozens of the monsters before him were pushed back to the gate, easily blown away. No sooner had he done that, Rio was charging into the group of monsters, initiating close-quarters-combat.

  “J-Just what is that guy?” The soldiers muttered in a daze at the tremendous sight of Rio’s combat prowess, frozen in their awe.

  ◇　◇　◇

  Meanwhile, at the governor’s estate of Amande, Liselotte had set up a temporary command post in her garden to deal with the situation at hand.

  “The citizens will be on edge from fear. Make sure their relocation into the inner city goes smoothly. And what was that new alarm and minotaur-like roar? I want more information,” Liselotte said to her subordinates. The attendant, Natalie, rushed to give her report with a pained expression.

  “There was a message from the watchtower through the magic transmission device. It seems as though a large number of monsters have appeared at the east gate, accompanied by a minotaur. They seem to have broken in.” For the record, the watchtower was a tower built in the north district that oversaw all the areas of the city.

  “W-What did you say?! How far have they gotten inside?” Liselotte asked for confirmation in a panic.

  “We don’t have any details at present, but they had intercepted them at the square facing the east gate. But our people will be quite outnumbered, so I believe we must send reinforcements as soon as possible...”

  “Even if we send the soldiers and adventurers in the rear guard, they’d be in danger of clashing with the citizens evacuating the other way. What about the attendants dispatched near the east gate?” All the attendants could either use magic or had magic artifacts with sorcery to enchant their physical abilities. If they were mobilized, they could move from one point to another quickly and smoothly.

  “Most of the personnel have been dispatched to the west gate, so at present, it’s only Chloe. Cosette and the others should be in the center, assisting with the relocation of evacuating citizens...”

  “Then I want you to head there right away. You can bring Cosette along with you when you pass her.”

  Natalie nodded after a faint pause. “...Understood.” She hesitated was because the number of Liselotte’s own guards would be lowered without her.

  Most of the other attendants besides Natalie were out right now, so there were barely any skilled fighters left. While there were still some attendants left, many of them were ill-suited in terms of fighting, making Natalie the most combat-experienced attendant remaining. However, the current situation required all skilled fighters out on the field, even if that left the mansion less guarded. Otherwise the threat of the front lines being broken through became more likely.

  If the attack is as large as the one at the west gate, we’ll be lacking power even with me there. Cosette might not even be able to fill that gap... Natalie’s heart was torn.

  “Duke Huguenot’s knights will stay here at the mansion, so you don’t need to worry about my protection. This should be the safest place in the city anyway, right? All you need to do is focus on your own mission. Now go on. Get out of here.” Liselotte seemed to see through Natalie’s woes and urged her to depart with haste.

  “...Understood. Then... Augendae Corporis.” Natalie chanted the spell to enhance her physical abilities and ran off at full speed, leaving the estate. Not long after that, another attendant named Grace appeared.

  “Lady Liselotte, a report.” Grace could fight too, but was remaining at the mansion for her rare healing magic.

  “Go on.”

  “A skilled swordsman appeared at the east gate square. He’s driving back the monsters alone.”
<
br />   “...Sir Haruto?”

  “Most likely.” Liselotte frowned apologetically. “...It seems like I owe him once again... But that’s a relief. Natalie’s on her way too, so the east gate should have enough manpower now,” she uttered, relieved at the appearance of reinforcements.

  ◇　◇　◇

  Inside the ramparts of Amande’s north area in an isolated back alley...

  “Hahaha, to think it’d be so easy to sneak in. What a piece of cake,” Lucius said lightly. After sneaking into the north district amongst the evacuating residents, Lucius and Reiss had come here.

  “Please refrain from speaking,” Reiss sighed tiredly.

  “Don’t be so boring. I’ve already had to step away from such a fun-looking battlefield. You could at least keep me company in conversation.”

  “Then let’s talk business. As soon as the minotaurs give the next signal, we’ll begin to move. Please be prepared to move at a moment’s notice.”

  “Gotcha.” Lucius’ mouth twisted in a grin.

  Now, the humanoid spirit’s aura has remained at the center of the city this entire time. And it’s about time for the back line to join the front lines... Reiss turned in the direction of the center block and narrowed his eyes.

  ◇　◇　◇

  A bit earlier, back at the square near the east gate...

  “Amazing... that’s really amazing!”

  Chloe was captivated by Rio’s fighting as she stood at the entrance of the road to the square. Rio was leaping around the square, taking on the crowd of monsters alone.

  “Gyah?!”

  “Buhee?!”

  The goblins and orcs were being cut down as soon as they approached Rio; the speed with which he dealt with them was even faster than that of Aria fighting on the road during the last encounter.

  “Hey hey, Li’l Chloe. Just who is that guy fighting over there?” One of the adventurers who had come running as backup asked in awe.

  “That’s Sir Haruto — the one who saved Lady Liselotte. He’s a skilled swordsman,” Chloe replied without taking her eyes off the square. The person she had only met once, years ago, was freely swinging his sword about.

  “That ain’t just a skilled one, that...”

  Most of the monsters in the square were attacking Rio, making him a one-man army. He turned the tables on every monster that attacked, making the creatures in the square meet their end with swiftness. Every so often monsters would sneak past him towards the road, but those were easy for Chloe and the others to deal with.

  “...We don’t need to help him?” the adventurer asked hesitantly. They could’ve drawn the attention of the monsters if they tried to assist recklessly, and there was no mistaking the fact they were hindrances to Rio, but the adventurer couldn’t help but ask anyway.

  “...We can’t. The most we can do is get in his way. Blocking off the road here is a perfectly respectable role, and we’ll finish off the monsters that get past Sir Haruto,” Chloe replied calmly, but with a guilt-ridden face.

  I’m not good enough. If I was at least as strong as the senior attendants... Rio was on too different of a level for her to measure accurately, but his power was at least equal to Aria. Chloe could not afford to butt in and make a fool of herself.

  Haruto...

  Chloe suddenly recalled the time he’d stayed at her family’s inn several years ago. At the time, Haruto had been harassed by several adult adventurers, but had defended himself with ease. Back then, Chloe could do no more than watch the quarrel take place, getting frightened by the bloodshed and commotion before distancing herself from Haruto. What took place had always left an impression on her for some reason, and she had always regretted it.

  “All right...” The adventurer must have sensed something from Chloe’s shameful expression and nodded quietly.

  “...Thank you. I’m sure that even Sir Haruto will need a break. We’ll be the ones to fight in his place when that happens, so please ready yourself,” Chloe stated with a serious look. No matter how much an enchanted sword could temporarily grant a person strength, once all the magic essence was depleted, the sword’s power would no longer be usable and the wielder would simply return to being a regular human.

  “Okay. In that case, leave the rear guard to us,” the adventurer nodded in determination.

  Meanwhile...

  ...How strange. Rio had an odd feeling as he fought. While he couldn’t remember the exact number of monsters he had taken down, it was easily in the hundreds. And yet—

  Why won’t the minotaur and humanoid monsters move forward?

  The powerful monsters that were leading the pack showed no signs of stepping forward. In fact, they didn’t look like they were going to move at all. The strength of those monsters would have been enough to burst into the city depths in one fell swoop, yet the minotaur had purposefully chosen to invade through the gates. It could have easily smashed through the wall or vaulted over it instead.

  While it was convenient to have it on quiet standby as the defending side, its docileness was rather eerie.

  Is it waiting for something? Rio thought.

  The monsters were the ones attacking. They were savage creatures that should only have the goal of killing people, so it was assumed their intelligence didn’t extend far past that. However, the fact they had gathered an army this large to attack, and not all at once, was curious. It was almost as though —

  Invading the city isn’t their goal?

  But why would it do such a thing?

  Aishia, has anything changed within the city? Rio asked through their telepathy. Because Aishia could sense the presence of the monsters to a degree, it was possible that she’d be able to notice any abnormalities.

  Not in particular. The crowds in the square here are clearing up. Evacuation of the citizens should end soon, Aishia replied immediately.

  Any changes in the monsters’ movements?

  None. Both east and west have blocked off the monsters.

  ...I see. Thank you. I’ll try to come back soon, Rio informed Aishia after he’d noted that enough reinforcements had gathered by the road behind him. There were still monsters remaining, but he was a little worried about Celia.

  Got it. I’ll contact you immediately if anything happens.

  Yup. The two of them ended their telepathy there.

  “Chloe!” At that exact moment, Natalie and Cosette came running from the road facing the square. They were both wearing attendant uniforms that doubled as combat gear, just like Chloe.

  “Natalie! Cosette!” Chloe’s expression brightened at the sight of her reliable superiors. The soldiers and adventurers also greeted them with composure.

  “Erm, damage report?” Natalie asked in confusion, noticing the scene was a lot more peaceful than she expected.

  “Umm, Sir Haruto is fighting alone...” Chloe replied, looking towards the square nervously. Even at this moment, Rio was slaughtering the approaching monsters. His movements were like a nimble acrobat, seeming almost beautiful.

  “...Amazing, as expected.” Cosette’s gaze was already directed towards the square, captivated by the sight of Rio fighting.

  “Wow... But he should pull back soon, don’t you think? He’s been fighting for a while, right? His magic essence won’t last,” Natalie said worriedly.

  “Indeed. Now that we’re here, he can retreat and rest,” Cosette agreed immediately. “Sir Haruto!”

  Rio retreated to the road with perfect timing.

  “Erm, I believe you’re Cosette and...”

  “This is Natalie. I’m honored you remember me.” Cosette smiled happily.

  “I’m Natalie, one of Lady Liselotte’s attendants. It’s nice to meet you, Sir Haruto. Thank you for your assistance in these trying times.” Natalie bowed respectfully.

  “I thank you on behalf of my master.” Cosette lowered her head at Rio with a truly adorable smile.

  Rio gave a short shake of his head, looking around at the monsters in the squa
re before getting right to the point. “Not a problem. I actually have a small request.” The monsters seemed to be wary of Rio, observing from a distance.

  “What is it?” Natalie asked.

  “I actually made my acquaintances wait back at the inn, so they haven’t evacuated yet. I’d like to go back and meet up with them,” Rio stated succinctly.

  “Is that... so...” Natalie hesitated for a moment.

  It would be a hindrance to have Rio leave, as the minotaur and the unidentified monsters were still lying in wait behind the goblins and orcs. If they all attacked at once, it would be extremely difficult to defend the area.

  However, Rio wasn’t a soldier or adventurer of Amande to begin with — he was meant to be a commoner with no military duties. His assistance right now was completely voluntary, so Natalie couldn’t insist that he stayed to fight.

  However, Rio seemed to sense Natalie’s apprehension. “In exchange for leaving this place to you, I’ll finish off that minotaur. How about it?” he suggested as a compromise. Unlike the west gate, only one minotaur had spawned at the east gate. On top of that, there were fewer revenants than the west gate. The threat would lessen greatly if he defeated the minotaur.

  “...You are a commoner, so of course. We have no reason to hold you back. But the minotaur is at the rear.”

  Natalie looked closely at the minotaur waiting outside the gate. Chronologically, it would have to be defeated last. While it could be attacked with long-distance magic, the minotaur’s physical abilities would probably allow it to evade the speed of an average attack.

  “No, I’ll take care of it from here,” Rio declared firmly.

  “...E-Excuse me?” Natalie inclined her head in confusion at how that would be possible.

  “Then... here I go.”

  Rio stepped into the fray again. A bright glow enveloped the blade of his sword as he stood poised with the tip pointed at the minotaur.

  “Geehee?!” The monsters were glaring warily at Rio. Then, after communicating with a shared look, they all leapt at Rio at once. “Geeheehee!”