Torose fortress.

"Hey, this isn’t what we talked about."

"I didn’t talk about this."

Eeei, arguing semantics with me.

"The enemy should have 3,000 on the first day. Now they have 5,000."

"Perhaps they increased their forces during the night."

They’re not goblins who could simply pop out reinforcements left and right.

"In any case, we have to accept the fact they have 5,000 now. The strategy where we hold off their attack and then rush out for a field attack when there’s a chance…… we’ll have to abandon it. The siege defense will continue until the enemy gives up or until we can’t defend anymore."

Damn Leonheardt, staying so calm.

Then again, it would be troublesome if this guy aimlessly paced around in tears not sure of what to do.

When I imagined him doing that, I chuckled a little and calmed myself down.

"Anyways, no use complaining about them getting more troops. Can we still defend against 5,000?"

"It’s not a problem. To begin with, there’s a limit to how many soldiers you can add to the front of a siege. No matter how much they increase their forces, it will only make their rear guard larger and won’t change their actual attack power."

In the next moment, I could hear a chorus of war cries from the enemy camp.

The enemy commander was probably inspiring his soldiers.

They really had high morale.

I thought they would be more depressed after being driven back yesterday.

"They’re coming! Citizens evacuate to the center of the city, soldiers get in position!"

Alarms ring out furiously while heavy military booted stomp on the ground.

"They’re coming simultaneously from the west and south!"

"Three battering rams confirmed in the south!"

Many troops are on the west side! Multiple ladders sighted!"

There, I knew it.

They’re coming at us with a frontal attack from the west and south.

"There are some enemies on the north side―― they’re building simple encampments with dirt."

Mirai tilted her head.

"Are they being cautious of us rushing out?"

They might be searching for any weaknesses in Torose.

It seemed they were digging up the earth and setting up simple camps, but we didn’t have the luxury to send a force specifically to deal with them.

"I don’t know what their plan is so we’ll prioritize the west and south. We can worry about the north later. Let’s go wild today too."

"You can’t. Stay in the headquarters today."

Mirai stood beside me.

Of course, it depended on the situation.

Just like yesterday, the attack began with arrows, then an assault by ballistae and catapults.

"Myla will oversee the west. Leonheardt will take the south."

"Yessir!"

They wouldn’t get past, as long as I stood here.

The first side to get rushed by the enemy was the west side.

"The enemy is spreading out along one side of the walls!"

Myla nodded in acknowledgement of the lookout’s report.

Battering rams were not on the west side.

"So they intend to climb over the walls, huh? Well, the destroyed ram from yesterday is still in front of the west gate after all."

"Setting ladders and scaling them is the same strategy as yesterday."

It didn’t work last time.

They might have more today, but the number of ladders which could be fixed to the wall remains the same.

"First, defend this attack with everything you’ve got―― fire volleys of arrows in rapid succession. No need to act sparingly, just keep shooting!"

Encouraging shouts came from our allies.

"Nock―― and loose!"

Archers lined up on the wall collectively released a volley.

There was no need to give the order to aim because so many enemies were in front of them.

"It doesn’t matter how many people are behind. If you take out the lead soldier, those following will be taken out too!"

In contrast to the archers, soldiers wielding crossbows could shoot soldiers climbing the ladders with pinpoint accuracy.

The bolts were powerful as was and firing from above only added to their potency. Enemy soldiers were sent falling back down, crashing into their own allies.

"Those who aren’t holding anything, grab rocks and throw them! We have plenty of objects even if you run out of rocks!"

Non-archers picked up rocks from a prepared stack or other various things and tossed them over the wall.

"What’s that…… a radish? Are you trying to mess with me!?"

A withered plant, a shattered jug of water, and even rotten vegetables got thrown.

It might not kill an enemy, but it still hurt to get hit.

Their speed of ascending the ladder also lowered the more they have to pay attention to their heads, which in turn reduced the precision for the crossbow soldiers aiming from below.

"The how about this!?"

A considerable amount of pots filled with oil get thrown down.

Fire got flung right after, igniting the garbage and hindering the enemy’s advance.

"Shit! Concentrate arrows over here, and turn those soldiers into porcupines!"

The enemy wouldn’t go down quietly.

Response was quick from their side and covering fire rained down in the spots where our ally archers were.

"Take cover!"

Thick defensive stone walls helped shield the archers.

It wouldn’t be easy to shoot them as long as they stay hidden.

"Guwaaah!!"

I turned my head when I heard a scream and see an iron ball which had just blasted away part of the bulwark and four soldiers along with it.

"Getting hit by a catapult is a different story though."

It’s hard to do anything against the cannonballs which drew a large arc in the air and came plummeting down.

With that said, it’s not the most accurate weapon, so getting struck by it was a matter of luck.

Those shells made loud thuds as they landed inside the city.

Such a big miss happened more often than not.

"Hiiu!"

"Uu!"

Those voices came from Malty and the commander of the seventh division army, also known as Ken.

"……I-I’m sorry."

"No worries. I’ll do something about it if it falls above you."

Malty had no need to be accustomed to battle so it’s fine for her to get as scared as she wanted.

She clung tightly to my sleeve with a flushed face.

She looked as if she would suck my dick if I took it out right now.

"My apologies. This is my first time getting shot at by catapults."

Seeing Myla and Mirai remained calm, Ken awkwardly adjusted the collar of his military uniform.

Perhaps Ken never experienced an attack up close.

"That was a close call just now! Ngo, ngoh……"

Irijina was in the middle of a pre-battle meal.

If you talked while you eat, it would come flying out.

"Leonheardt, how is the south faring?"

A lookout yelled before he answered.

"The second battering ram has gone up in flames! Furthermore, the enemy attack on the right side is at a standstill!"

Leonheardt didn’t raise his voice, rather he gave orders in an unconcerned manner.

"Archers, target the soldiers trying to extinguish the fire. The rest of you, move to the left. They’ll come from there next."

He seemed to be doing just fine.

Actually, he’s doing better than the west side and Myla was feeling a little vexed because of that.

Don’t worry about it too much, if needed, I would climb up the wall and push them back again.

"Mu!"

Mirai pulled my sleeve.

How did she know?

The enemy’s attack intensified and the number of wounded ally soldiers started to increase as well.

Of course we dealt more than our share of damage to the enemy’s forces to stop them from getting on the walls but signs of fatigue were starting to show.

"Eh!? They’ve stopped attacking…… they’re pulling back from the west and south walls."

"What?"

I was about to shake Mirai off and headed out myself.

"They couldn’t handle the losses and withdrew?"

My guess was immediately denied.

"The enemy lost roughly 1,000―― a mere 20% of their total over 5,000…… that won’t stop them."

"They’re switching the rear guard with the front. In fact, the intermittent attacks up until now were meant to exhaust us. Please understand that the real attack starts now."

As soon as Leonheardt finished, a lookout strained his voice.

It was more tense than it was before.