The messenger lifted up his head and stood up after saying his report.

"Thanks for your hard work. Get back and rest."

Cass gave her "please go away" gesture to him.

It seemed Leonhardt Strauch still couldn't breach into the north eastern frontier fortress.

At the moment, we couldn't use the same tactic utilized in Castall because the kunoichi - Hanabi, Kurotsuchi, Mirai and the assassin, Tina were protecting the great Hyuutia wall in central Dioral. 

The archers and shield batallion were just decoys, with Elora's termites becoming our main thrust. 

However, that tactic surprisingly failed even when the enemies didn't know Elora's abilities.

I sat cross legged in the tent. There was no table nor chair. 

Suzy, Lupine, Ivanna, Sekrit, Soraya, Cass and Clementine were sitting around me. Irijina, Lyla and Mithra were lurking in the woods near the fortress while Gertrude, Elora and Gheyna were working closely with Leonhardt Strauch.

Sekrit said, "It seemed Elora had an idea."

Cass replied, "We wait and see if that worked."

Lupine added, "Still, the viscount persistently sent messengers to the south. Irijina's cavalry always managed to overtake them, though."

Viscount Lazar's frontier territory was the most north eastern of Orlais. The reason a middle ranked noble guarding a frontier territory was because it was not a dangerous territory. The neighboring country was just the harmless Venetian city state. The viscount and the rest of the nobles in the north eastern Orlais were vassals of Margrave Mantillon de Haine and sent knights to help the invasion of north western Dioral. I got that information from an insider who was also one of the top noble in Orlais, Margrave Solange de Montbelliard as well as his son Bertrand de Montbelliard who was a minister of Orlais.

The territory in north centre and north western Orlais were full of nobles under the Montbelliard faction. 

The house of Montbelliard had no influence beyond the north. Mantillon's faction was the one that attacked Hyuutia before and conspired with the templars and they were concentrated in the west, bordering the Orlais forest bordering Hyuutia and Orlais. 

Mantillon was in confrontation against two other factions and thus overlooked what was happening in a remote region such as the north east. 

Montbelliard suggested to us to take this chance to avenge their prior invasion and quietly subjugate the region.

As Montbelliard didn't want to dirty their hands, they hired mercenaries like Wing of Orlais to help us. 

Nevertheless, a mere viscount in such a remote region was a really tough nut to crack. 

***

The commander of the colonial city, Kant, frowned. It was already nighttime, yet not an eek could be heard from the invaders. It wasn’t just him, the other soldiers also glanced at each other as they chatted among themselves, wondering what was going on.

The next day, when the sun rose in the eastern sky, the guards noticed that the previously encircling soldiers were nowhere to be seen.

“Did they leave?” A soldier muttered, unbelieving.

But not long after, reality finally set in. The invaders were indeed gone.

“We won! We drove them away!” A soldier cheered.

Like ripples on still water, that cheer spread throughout the colonial city, and soon everyone was celebrating.

Soldiers, townspeople, and even the farmers… Every one of them rejoiced upon hearing that the invaders were gone.

The commander, Kant, himself was not an exception.

He heaved a sigh of relief. He had finally completed his mission.

Despite that though, he still walked atop the high walls and ordered the soldiers in charge of observing the enemy to remain in their posts.

Around the time when Kant was near the eastern walls, one of the soldiers called out to him.

“Commander! People dressed like soldiers are being chased by the enemies from the east!”

A shadow quickly fell on those happy faces.

Kant went up a stand and looked toward the east.

There he saw 3 or 4 people that looked like Orlais soldiers being chased by 10 enemies.

“Soldiers! To your stations! Prepare to open the gates! Long bows, prepare to shoot! Spears, gather at the eastern gate! The enemy is few in number! Close the gates as soon as our comrades enter!”

After giving those orders in an instant, Kant looked toward the approaching enemies again.

"Send a messenger to the west. Tell them that the goblins are moving through the forest and should be disposed of quickly!”

Kant sent a messenger, then he went to confirm that there were no enemies attacking from the flanks.

There was one short blond haired woman with a revealing outfit mixed with the approaching enemies, but other than that one rare, everyone else was of the normal soldiers. Kant decided to save his comrades and disperse the enemies.

“Archers, draw, release!”

At Kant’s behest, the long bows drew their arrows and released them simultaneously. The enemies retreated.

"Archers, prepare to shoot, open the gate! Let our comrades in!”

At Kant’s behest, the iron-reinforced gate opened with a dignified sound. After the soldiers entered, Kant ordered for the gate to be closed.

“The goblins seem to have retreated…”

“Keep watching. I’ll go meet our friends."

After telling the soldiers to keep watching, Kant went down the walls to see the soldiers they saved.

“Are you alright!?” Kant asked.

“Y-You have to move out now!” The soldiers said frantically.

“What are you saying!? We just finished driving away the invaders!” The spear platoon commander said in response to the panicking soldier.

“Calm down. First, tell us your affiliation,” Kant said as he forced his way through.

When the soldiers saw him, both the spear platoon commander and the unknown soldiers calmed down.

“W-We are the survivors of Baron Martin’s Army’s 3rd Platoon!”

“Survivors…!?”

Those meaningful words caused Kant to draw cold sweat as he braced himself for the worst.

“It can’t be… Did Lord Martin…”

"4 days ago, the enemies invaded the villages in Lord Martin's territory and killed Lord Martin and his families!"

Everyone sitting nearby listening felt a shock jolt through them.

As the soldier answered despite losing his bearings, Kant groaned.

“…Tell me. What is the reason that we must leave our post?” Kant asked after sparing a moment for the baron. There was a solemnity to his voice.

“We were taken captives after our defeat. During that time we overheard the enemies talking. The reinforcements led by Lord Mantillon from the south have also been defeated. The invaders are currently on their way to fight the southern army.”

This new piece of intel caused Kant to feel giddy.

As Kant came to terms with that grim news, the soldier quietly nodded.

“Do you know which general is coming from the south?”

“No,” the soldier said as he looked down at the ground.

Kant nodded to the downcast soldier.

It was not something he could blame him for.

“But be that as it may, holding the fort here won’t stop the goblins from invading. Commander Kant, please rendezvous with the southern army and stop the invaders."

The baron’s army lost, even the whole northern army lost. All that was left now was the southern army.

“So the only reason they broke the siege was because… they no longer needed it.”

As Kant glared hatefully toward the surrounding, he looked after the soldiers.

“Give me some time to think.”

As the soldiers resumed their watch, Kant went back to his room to gather his thoughts.