The Aiwood Kingdom Army had allowed enemy infiltration into the fortress interior, but the battle was decided within roughly two hours.
To cut to the conclusion: it was a victory for the Aiwood Kingdom Army.
Every last foreign tribe warrior who had penetrated the fortress had been driven out and eliminated.
The enemy outside had tried various approaches after the gate was sealed with earth, but—perhaps judging it futile to continue—they eventually withdrew.
Though the result was a victory… the Aiwood Kingdom Army had suffered heavy losses as well.
Many soldiers had lost their lives in the surprise attack. The comrades who had been laughing together yesterday were dead today.
The irreversible finality of human death pressed down on Rest's heart.
Since enemy spies had been lurking among their ranks, a thorough search and screening of the fortress interior was conducted once more.
It turned out that those who had infiltrated the fortress were mixed-blood descendants of humans and foreign tribes.
They were the offspring of women who had been abducted from human villages during past raids by the foreign tribes.
The foreign tribes had sent them—people who looked nearly human—into the fortress, having them open the city walls from the inside.
"This time, we were able to break the enemy's strategy and deal a significant blow to the foreign tribes. However, we sustained damage as well. We lost too many soldiers."
The day after the raid.
After the cleanup and disposal of bodies were finished, the key figures of the fortress had gathered in the conference room.
It was the same room Rest had visited on the day he arrived at the fortress, but… the faces had changed somewhat.
There were fewer people now. During the previous raid, several field commanders had lost their lives.
"And reinforcements from the royal capital still haven't arrived… It's a disgrace. It seems I misjudged the enemy."
Vareiya Cattleya spoke in a heavy tone.
Vareiya was the supreme commander of this fortress. Naturally, he was in a position to bear responsibility for failures and losses.
He must have believed that the damage was his fault—his expression was extremely grim.
(Well… I don't really think it's his fault, though. No matter who the commander was, the enemy infiltration probably couldn't have been avoided.)
Rest thought.
The foreign tribes' attack had been a meticulously planned operation.
An aerial assault from the harpies. Simultaneously, enemies approaching under magical concealment.
And on top of that… foreign tribe warriors who looked almost identical to humans had infiltrated the fortress, opening the city gate from within.
Rest didn't think Vareiya had been careless.
There had been some hazing—or rather, teasing on the matter of Yuri—but as a commander, he had given his orders properly.
The sentry soldiers had also been doing their jobs thoroughly. It wasn't a matter of blaming anyone.
(Could it be that the attack on the day we arrived was a probe? They attacked to gauge how much combat strength we had?)
If that were the case… the assessment of the foreign tribes would need to be revised dramatically upward.
He had assumed that, being inhabitants of uncharted lands, the foreign tribes would be a more savage and brutish lot.
Their appearances resembled birds and insects, and they went around shirtless, so he had mistakenly written them off as mindless brutes who could only charge headlong.
(The enemy is more cunning than I thought… Come to think of it, how did they…?)
"…Weren't the foreign tribes supposed to be unable to use magic?"
Rest suddenly remembered and spoke the thought aloud.
The foreign tribes that had attacked had concealed themselves to avoid detection as they approached.
That had been magic, surely… So what was going on?
"Count Clover. You've noticed a good point."
Carius Cattleya responded to Rest's murmur.
"I've been wondering about it too, so I've been interrogating the prisoners. The boy of the oni tribe that you captured, remember? According to him, it was something cast on them by a 'curse caster.'"
"A curse caster…?"
Come to think of it, the boy of the oni tribe had called Rest that as well.
"I haven't gotten everything out of him yet, but… it appears there is a magician behind the foreign tribes. Rather than merely cooperating, it seems they're the ones commanding the foreign tribes."
"Is this curse caster different from the foreign tribes? Could it be… a human?"
"Well… I can't say that much yet. If you'd like, Count Clover, why not go speak with the captured boy yourself?"
"…All right."
It was a bit awkward to go interrogate the very person who had tried to kill him—the one he himself had captured.
Still, the existence of a curse caster lurking behind the foreign tribes was something he needed to know more about.
"Our fortress must reassess its defensive posture. From now, we will also discuss that matter."
With Vareiya at the center, a discussion began regarding the replenishment of vacant posts and a review of security arrangements.
Until now, the defensive strategy had been developed under the assumption that the foreign tribes could not use magic. If the enemy had a magician of their own, the entire approach needed to be reconsidered from the ground up.
The people gathered in the conference room continued their discussion late into the night, finalizing their plans going forward.
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