Chapter 435

The First Town Beyond the Fortress
After passing through the frozen fortress, I had Talat seal off the gate with ice, making it impossible for anyone to pursue us.
With that, our rear should be completely secure.
Now all that remains is ensuring safety ahead.

“Plum, do you know anything about the route from here on?”

“Let me think. If we follow the path of advance you showed me before, we shouldn’t pass through territories of most nobles under Duke Plafard. And even if we do, since their families haven’t been rescued yet, they likely won’t soften their stance toward us.”

“Is there any way we could get ahead of them?”

“That would be difficult. The families of the nobles aligned with Duke Plafard are being held in a town where one of his secondary residences is located. We’re planning to split the Kiblinki Saltas we borrowed into two groups and conduct a rescue there as well, but that operation will be flashy, so we’ll wait until we arrive to begin.”

Hmm, recruiting allies along the way might be tough.
Still, there’s value in advancing while brushing against the Plafard faction’s territories.
By doing so, we’re naturally prompting their soldiers to gather near their borders.
Then, if something happens, they can act immediately.

So, what route are we taking now?
We’re charging down a fairly wide highway.
We haven’t come across any travelers along the way, so it’s probably either under restricted access or no one uses this path to begin with.
From what I saw out the window, there were few signs of recent foot traffic, so it’s likely the latter.
In any case, we’re heading north along a deserted road.
There haven’t been any more attacks, which, in a way, is rather eerie.

After several more days of travel and crossing a few hills, a town came into view.
A fortress city.
Its size... decent?
The gate is firmly shut, and we can see soldiers atop the city walls.
They’re clearly on high alert.
Now, what should we do?
We don’t have any reason to occupy that town, so should we just pass by?

“Lily, can you unfreeze some of the soldiers who were turned to ice?”

“Huh? I can, but are you planning to release them here, Marquis Vardmoi?”

“Yes. Let’s move a bit closer to the town.”

Our ranks advanced toward the town.
However, instead of drawing too close, we spread out at a distance far enough to avoid being attacked.
Only the wagons carrying the frozen soldiers and those trapped in ice cages moved forward.

“Wh-What the hell is that?”

“Frozen soldiers? Soldiers trapped in ice cages? Is this a joke?”

Hmm, thanks to the eavesdropping magic Plum used, I can clearly hear the voices coming from the top of the wall.
It sounds like they’re properly frightened by these soldiers.
Which means we’ve made an impression.
Alright, I’ll leave the rest to Marquis Vardmoi!

“Listen well! I am Marquis Vardmoi. I’ve come to demand reparations for Corinius’s recent attack on my territory! I have no intention of drawing my sword against you!”

“L-Like we’d believe that!”

“Then as proof, I will return some of the prisoners here and now. First, 100 of those trapped in cages.”

In response to Marquis Vardmoi’s words, we partially melted the cages to create an exit path.
However, most of the prisoners, too frightened, didn’t step out on their own, so Vardmoi soldiers had to escort them outside.
Of course, we had no intention of killing them just because they were outside.

“Next, we will return 500 of the frozen soldiers.”

“Five hundred frozen soldiers!? What good is it giving us corpses!?”

“See for yourselves whether they’re corpses or not.”

This time, we melted parts of the ice blocks to release the people frozen inside.
Once freed, the soldiers looked around in unison, visibly confused that they were no longer in Vardmoi.
Of course they were—one moment they were in Vardmoi, the next in a completely different place.

“W-What the...!? The people coming out of the ice are moving!?”

“With that, the prisoner return is complete. Do what you want after this.”

“W-Where are we? Isn’t this Vardmoi?”

“You’re within the territory controlled by Corinius. If you don’t want to be frozen again, I suggest you never attack Vardmoi again.”

“Frozen... That’s right, I was inside the ice...?”

“I don’t fully understand it myself, but apparently we were just trapped within frozen time. Once released, we revived—simple as that. Not that it’s my place to say this, but a monster capable of that kind of thing is defending Vardmoi. As long as that monster is protecting the city, it would be best not to try attacking it.”

“U-Understood! Please, let us go this time!”

“I told you, I’m letting you go. I’ll even provide a small amount of food. Whether you return to your homeland or go into hiding somewhere, do as you please. But if you turn to banditry, I won’t hesitate to hunt you down again.”

Ah, they’re even giving food to the freed prisoners.
Well, they’d die quickly without something to eat.
Hmm, that’s deviously generous.

What do you think about this chapter?