Chapter 437

Arrival at Plafard
After that, we crossed a small mountain and finally arrived at the northern capital, Plafard.
However, as one would expect—though it’s only natural—Plafard greeted us under strict guard.
Now then, what should we do?

“Halt! Are you from the Marquisate of Vardmoi!?”

“That’s right! We are the forces of Marquis Vardmoi! We’ve come to collect reparations for the invasion of our city by Prince Corinius!”

“Wait there! I’ll go get the full story!”

One of the soldiers who had been watching us from atop the city wall disappeared.
After a short while, Plafard’s gates opened, and a man with fine clothes and a… well, indulgently fat body, escorted by a knight on horseback, came out.
Is that our negotiator?

“Marquis Vardmoi, what is the meaning of this?”

“And who are you supposed to be? You think we’d let a shady man like you through!?”

“You’re the one being rude, for a mere foot soldier. I am Marquis Credrius, close confidant to Prince Corinius.”

Credrius…? Never heard of him.
I wonder if Marquis Vardmoi knows him?

“Marquis Vardmoi, do you know that man?”

“More or less. But I recall he was a viscount. I’m a bit curious how he ended up a marquis. Sorry, but I’ll need you to guard me.”

“Understood.”

Our carriage moved forward, heading toward Credrius—or whatever he is, marquis or viscount.
It seemed that only then did he finally notice us.

“Marquis Vardmoi! Who is that disrespectful man!?”

“You’re the one being disrespectful, aren’t you, *Viscount* Credrius?”

“I’m no longer a *viscount*! I am a *marquis*! I was granted the title directly by Prince Corinius!”

“I see. Well, fine. So, the fact that you, claiming to be his confidant, came here means Corinius intends to make reparations?”

“Address him as *His Highness* Corinius! And of course, he has no intention of making reparations! It’s *you*, Marquis Vardmoi, who should be held responsible!”

“It’s rather brazen of the invader to be demanding reparations. Oh well, let’s start with returning the prisoners. Bring out the prisoner carts!”

At Marquis Vardmoi’s command, carts of ice—one with frozen cages, the other solid ice blocks—were brought forward.
Since they were made of unseasonable ice, even that guy Credrius looked a bit rattled.
But the real show was just about to begin.

“Now then, let’s return the rest of the prisoners. Starting with those in the cages.”

At Marquis Vardmoi’s signal, I dispersed the ice cage.
The prisoners inside didn’t seem to understand what was happening at first, but after a moment, they realized they were freed and looked visibly relieved.

Now, on to the main event.

“Next, we’ll free the prisoners inside the ice blocks.”

“Wait, Marquis Vardmoi! I heard you’ve already freed people trapped in ice on the way here, but what kind of magic did you use!? Don’t tell me—you’ve developed resurrection magic!?”

“I haven’t created any such advanced magic. It’s just that I can release them from frozen time, that’s all.”

“W-What!?”

“If you can’t understand, that’s fine. Please proceed.”

With the signal given, I melted the ice blocks and freed the prisoners within.
Just like the others, they were confused that this wasn’t Vardmoi and froze in place as they recalled the last scene they saw before being frozen.

“H-Hmph! I don’t know what kind of trick you pulled, but freeing the prisoners has backfired on you! You there! Capture Marquis Vardmoi!”

Credrius shouted at the prisoners, but they didn’t move.
If anything, they turned pale and backed away.
That’s a normal reaction.

“You fools! What are you doing!?”

Credrius shouted even louder, but the prisoners only backed away further.
Fear had clearly overtaken them.

“Prisoners. We will no longer interfere with you. Go wherever you wish.”

When Marquis Vardmoi said that, the prisoners bolted and fled.
The fact that none of them ran into Plafard shows they still had a decent grasp of the situation.

“W-What… What is happening!?”

“Corinius misjudged the difference in power. It’s his loss. Credrius, return and tell Corinius this: if he does not grant us entry to the city by noon tomorrow, we will freeze it solid.”

“Th-That’s impossible…”

“Oh, it’s quite possible.”

Yep, that’s basically him telling me to give them a little taste.
I ordered Talat to freeze the front gate a bit.
That should keep the gate from closing.

“Th-This is the power of Marquis Vardmoi…”

“Strictly speaking, it’s not my own power. But no matter. Just deliver the message to Corinius.”

With that, Credrius slunk away, through the frozen gate, and back into the city.
I don’t expect a quick response, so we’ll likely be camping out here tonight.
Also, this commotion will probably get the detached unit moving too, so I hope things go well on their end.
So many things are happening at once.
If I were in charge of command, I’d probably lose track of it all!

What do you think about this chapter?