Count Ambroise and Baron Angoer stared helplessly over the chaotic city. 

"Well, that’s how things are I guess."

Aristocrats like them inherited the responsibility to protect the plebeians. While chivalry was nice, most people, when given the choice, would prioritize their own life first and then their belongings second.

It wasn’t a bad thing or an unnatural thing.

To be honest, I was not much different.

I only valued the lives of my women more than my own, that’s all.

I felt sorry for Ambroise, but “protecting citizens” was not realistic. The focus should be whether you, yourself, acted responsibly or not.

Once you reach the point of using the power granted to you to protect others, it was not chivalry for you or anybody else.

"Your majesty, what’s wrong? Ah, you have a fever!"

Lucy, the maid I brought from Hyuutia, put a hand on my forehead and was flustered.

"You were thinking about something difficult just now, weren’t you? You end up getting a fever if you do them too much."

Lucy was always so nice to me.

Anyway, Kosora was not my demesne and Orlais was not my country. I didn’t think I want to risk my life protecting it either.

"My land inherited from my ancestor.." Count Ambroise seemed devastated.

"No matter what I do, I will leave behind my ideals for the future." Baron Angoer on the other hand, seemed wanting to escape badly.

My thought was simply wanting to provide some help now that I see those tears of frustration run down the cheeks of Ambroise and Angoer.

***

A day later, Kosora formally notified Saxon-Fanoss Union that they had accepted the terms for surrender.

"We have officially surrendered…… no, as soon as the cessation of hostilities comes into effect, we will be disarmed. I don’t think it is a situation to be excited about, but until that time, I want everyone to continue staying alert as usual."

The officers nodded in response to Angoer’s instruction.

Morale was no longer existent, not that blaming Angoer would do much at this point either.

"Orlais-Fanoss Union wants the reinforcements of Marquis Cyril de Montfort to also disarm and appear at the headquarters."

"Understood. I will make preparations."

"Hey."

Leonhardt answered before I could say anything.

"……I’ll leave you to it. Sorry for all the trouble."

Ambroise smiled sadly and left.

"Hey, why did you say that?"

Just because Kosora surrendered, it doesn’t mean we need to turn ourselves in.

I thought we were going to take advantage of the confusion and ran away.

"Of course we will not turn ourselves in. If we get arrested, they will find some reason to execute us, or at the very least we won’t be able to return."

Leonhardt cautiously paid attention to his surroundings as he continued.

"This moment when surrender has been declared is when the enemy’s guard is the most lax. Late at night today, if we open the gate from the inside and force our way through, we can escape this territory."

"Preparations for battle have been completed yesterday."

Myla added with a dignified expression.

"So you lied to Ambroise."

"Our survival is top priority. That said, I did not exactly lie."

"He probably meant “understood” to the surrendering and “I’ll prepare” for the escape."

Reina explained.

Fine.

I didn’t want to be captured so easily either.

However the enemy was completely surrounding Kosora and the Ambroise army wouldn’t act.

"Can we breakthrough on our own?"

"It is definitely possible."

What a strong declaration!

"We are not only aiming for when the enemy’s guard is down. At night when visibility is poor, they cannot distinguish whether our squad is the only one trying to run out."

That’s true.

"The enemy commander will have to consider the possibility of the entire Kosora army retracting the agreement to surrender and mounting a surprise attack. Which means they must monitor the entire perimeter of Kosora and can’t carelessly break their encirclement. Our objective is not to attack the enemy, it is to break free, and that is entirely possible."

So we could manage if we focus on escaping.

All hell would break loose after our actions though.

"They might take that chance to start an all-out battle. Since the gates will be opened for our exit, the inside of Kosora would quickly be filled with enemies."

In regards to that…… Leonhardt trailed off.

"It’s none of my problem. My first and foremost priority is my own life, followed by His Majesty’s life."

He just nonchalantly put himself above me.

"His majesty is number one for me!"

Good girl, I’m happy you said that Myla, but you should value your life more.

If Myla died protecting me, my heart might stop from the shock.

Meanwhile, I don’t care about Kosora, it’s Count Ambroise and Baron Angoer I felt bad for.

"Then shall we give up and turn ourselves over to Saxon-Fanoss Union?"

"No, let’s do it."

I’ve grown to like Ambroise and Angoer, so I wanted to help them if possible.

However I absolutely can’t let Mirai, Myla or other girls become prisoners.

I don’t think Saxon-Fanoss Union will stop after catching us.

This was not the place to change the order of my priorities.

"The problem is after day breaks, where I believe the enemy cavalry will grasp the situation and chase after us. As long as we have infantry, it is impossible to shake them off. It will be a tough fight."

My entire army was on horseback. However, some of the Count Ambroise soldiers were on foot.

"Worst case scenario, we might have to cut them off completely."

"Don’t do that until the last possible moment."

I’m not saying that simply because I don’t want to abandon my subordinates.

If I leave my allies behind this time, nobody would want to follow me afterwards.

Gabriel de Montfort would also lose his trust in me.

"The only time that will be allowed is when the lives of my women are in danger."

"Understood."

I was not going against my principles.

And so, night came as we waited fully prepared in front of the north gate, torches snuffed so our eyes can adjust to the darkness.

Impressively, no Kosora soldiers were around.

They probably went to sleep thinking there’s no need to be alert anymore.

Soldiers normally stationed at the gate were not there and we could open the doors without trouble.

On the opposite side, the top of the gate was lined with an excessive amount of dazzling flames.

The diligent Saxon-Fanoss soldiers were not sleeping and should be looking at the fire.

"Let’s go."

Just as I was about to swing my hand to signal the troops, somebody grabbed it.

"――we’ve been discovered?"

It was Count Ambroise.

Things were getting messy now.

Our escape already involves lots of obstacles and we have to add friendly fire to that?

"Don’t worry. I didn’t come to get in your way."

He gave a signal.

Appearing behind him were a few soldiers and some others who obviously didn’t look like soldiers. They must be their family members.

Ooh, Baron Angoer was also there.

"They are people who don’t agree with the decision to surrender, from the right we have―― nevermind, there’s no time."

Ambroise chuckled.

"Please, I want you to help them escape. Even if Kosora is destroyed, the eyes of justice will show themselves once again as long as they are alive. Angoer, you too."

Angoer cut his sentence short when he saw Ambroise’s eyes and simply nodded back.

He’s going to be escorting the refugees.

"Count, you too?" Gabriel and his men arrived and frowned after seeing Ambroise and his people. 

"Please, my lord. We cannot risk ourselves staying here."

They nodded at each other.

Their eyes were determined.

No more questions.

"Open the gates. Pour water on your torches."

The door creaked loudly as they swung open.

That sound should resonate at night and the enemy should realize the abnormality.

We’re not secretly running, we’re breaking through by force.

"Charge. Run forward."

"Uooooooooh!!"

Raising a war cry, I led the charge with the escort squad behind me, followed by the cavalry and the infantry.

"A night raid――!"

"Impossible, those guys surrendered!"

"Reinforcements then!? Or perhaps they deceived us?"

My dalish bow cavalry aimed their arrows at the enemy and released a volley in unison.

Their eyes had gotten accustomed to the night, enabling them to shoot accurately.

Arrows fired back by the enemy in haste flew off in different directions .

They seemed somewhat vigilant for an assault at night, though the brilliantly glowing fires hindered the time it took for their vision to calibrate to a sudden decrease in light.

It was merely a few seconds, which to us were precious.

"Run through them!"

Holding a spear easily over 2 meters in length, Irijina charged straight at  the enemies in the frontmost line.

The long reach would be useful.

"Gabh!"

Her horse’s speed carried her spear through the abdomen of an enemy soldier.

She swung the skewed human around to throw the enemy ranks into disarray.

Her raiding cavalry also attacked the enemies in the same way.

"After her, don’t let her esc―― guwa!"

The group of enemy soldiers were trampled by my bow cavalry.

Our first priority was running out in a straight line.

Another person was added to Irijina's human skewer.

I swung my longsword and slammed it into the soldier trying to exploit the opening created by Irijina's spear pierced into an enemy's body.