Episode 136: The Magical Barrier Wall

　The day after arriving in the suburbs of the royal capital Kirchherion, in the late afternoon—. Under Siegfried’s command, the Eastern Front Army finally began its siege of the royal capital Kirchherion.

　The royal capital was vast, and their forces weren’t enough to completely surround it on all sides. Therefore, they concentrated the main force on the western side, deploying only a minimal number of troops to the other directions.

“…As expected, they’re attacking from the west.”

　Standing atop the western wall, gazing down at the Eastern Front Army observing them from a distance, Zefard muttered.

　To the west of the royal capital lay open plains, with no cover in sight.

　The north had a river, the east a small hill, and the south a forest, making them unsuitable for deploying a large army. Thus, they must have judged the west as the easiest point of attack.

“Grand Master Zefard, Knight Order Commander… A-Are we going to be okay…?”

　One of the soldiers voiced his concern anxiously.

“It looks like the enemy’s magical catapults are aiming right at us…”

　Just as he said, in the direction of his gaze, ten magical catapults—each about the size of a carriage—could be seen locked onto them.

　Magical catapults, as the name implies, were siege weapons that launched stones using magical power.

　Their structure wasn’t much different from regular catapults.

　A typical catapult mechanism used elastic energy to rotate the throwing arm and hurl objects far away.

　However, magical catapults used magical energy in place of elastic energy.

　By embedding magical ore into the wooden catapult and activating it, they fired the stones—that was essentially how they worked.

“No need to worry.”

　Zefard stated in a calm, matter-of-fact tone.

“This magical barrier wall, Magia Valm—something like catapults won’t make a dent in it.”

“R-Right…”

　The soldier nodded, but he couldn’t hide his unease as he kept glancing at the magical catapults below.

“B-But… how did the enemy gather so many catapults? Just transporting them should have been a huge hassle…”

“They probably hid them in warehouses in nearby towns some time ago.”

“Huh? Some time ago…? But the Eastern Front Army only started advancing recently, right?”

“They used merchants.”

　Siegfried had been continuously supplying the Eastern Front Army with food through merchants.

　Once the supplies were delivered, those merchant wagons would return to the suburbs of the royal capital—naturally, empty.

“They likely disassembled the magical catapults stored in Dagrom Fortress City for easy transport and secretly shipped them using those merchant wagons.”

“You mean… Earl Kreving anticipated this siege battle long before His Majesty Luverios issued the subjugation order…? Th-That’s impossible…!”

　The soldier let out a gasp of shock, and right at that moment.

　The magical catapults lined up in front of the western wall activated all at once. Aiming at the magical barrier wall Magia Valm, they launched massive stone projectiles.

“Eek…!”

　The soldier instinctively flinched back. And in that instant, the incoming boulders collided with the wall… or rather, just before impact, they crackled as if struck by lightning and shattered into pieces.

“Ohh…!”

　Cheers erupted among the soldiers.

　For them, this was the first time witnessing the defensive function of the magical barrier wall Magia Valm in action.

　Through the combination of magical ore embedded in key points and inscribed magic circles, it completely neutralized attacks from the outside.

“As expected of the magical barrier wall Magia Valm… It’s truly an invincible defense!”

　The soldier’s joyful exclamation was short-lived—the second wave from the magical catapults was unleashed.

　This time, the target wasn’t the wall itself. It was above it—namely, the spot where Zefard and the others stood.

“G-Grand Master! It’s dangerous!”

　The soldier shouted.

　As the massive stones hurtled toward them with a roar, Zefard remained standing with his arms crossed, not moving an inch.

　And in the next moment—the approaching rocks sparked with magical energy in mid-air and crumbled to dust.

“Hmph…”

　Zefard snorted disinterestedly.

　He’d known from the start that this would happen.

　After all, the defense of the magical barrier wall Magia Valm extended not just to the wall surface but to the airspace above it as well.

　Though it appeared as if nothing was there atop the wall, a magical barrier like a magnetic field was spread throughout, instantly reacting to any object attempting to intrude from outside and pulverizing it.

“Th-This is… This is the power of the magical barrier wall Magia Valm…!”

“Even if the opponent were one of the ‘Seven Great Calamities’—or a vampire wielding that power… they couldn’t breach this magical barrier wall Magia Valm.”

“Haha… Th-That’s amazing…! When I heard Earl Kreving had revived Celestina, it honestly gave me chills… But as long as we’re here… we won’t take any attacks at all, right!”

“In theory, yes. However—the energy of the magical barrier wall Magia Valm isn’t infinite. The magical power stored in the ore will eventually reach its limit.”

“What!? Really!?”

“Yes. But according to Ignas’s calculations, even if we sustained attacks from catapults like these continuously, the magical power wouldn’t deplete for over a decade.”

“Oh, good…”

　The soldier let out a sigh mixed with relief and excitement.

　Meanwhile, Zefard gazed downward with a somewhat troubled expression on his face.

　Noticing this, the soldier asked tentatively.

“D-Do you… Grand Master, do you maybe want to sally out and fight them head-on?”

“—Our emotions have no place here. We secure victory through the most rational means. That’s all.”

　Just the other day, Zefard had admonished Karlheinz for wanting to charge out… but he himself wasn’t entirely without the desire to stand on the front lines and settle things personally.

　Yet, suppressing that urge and coolly focusing on victory—that was what he understood to be his duty as the Knight Order’s Grand Master.

　In that moment, the image of a certain man flashed through his mind.

(Felix Nightray…)

　It was the name of a knight he’d crossed paths with over a decade ago.

　Born into a mercenary lineage, he was a low-ranking knight, but a man with strong convictions.

(The chance for your daughter and me to fight—it seems that won’t come.)

　Whether that was something to be glad about—or to lament—he wasn’t sure.