Into the Breach

-.

-.

It was the morning day after. Five days since we arrived in Mismede.

The great question was HOW. Castle Zenovi was all but impregnable to assault. The Zeno March was designed like a meat grinder for whole armies. A siege would take weeks. Unlike Mismede's royal palace which had questionable defensive choices, Castle Zeno was a fortress whose gates were never left unbarred and unguarded. As much as the Zenovivi and their warhost were known for being brash and unafraid of social disapproval, they were also paranoid lunatics who would never be caught unprepared.

Immediately we – Yumina and I - were ushered into the strategy room of the Mismede Royal Palace. Tristwin was there too rather than rush back towards Belfast, which was a surprise. I asked aloud why that was so.

He replied "Because Regulus hasn't attacked. Not with an army, at least. We know that it has to be Regulus, but we can't PROVE IT."

"What do you mean you can't prove it?"

"Just one man snuck past the Zeno Gap, broke into the castle, and abducted Lady Zorah. Signs imply they fled into Regulus territory."

I paused. "Shit. This is clear casus beli, they want *you* to declare war. It's what I would have done."

"I would be worried where you were yesterday, but we have corroborating evidence with Matriarch Leene and a host of angry but heavily bruised dragons that you could not have found the time to do this." The King of Belfast sighed.

"Zorah annoys me. Why in goodness' name would I inflict more of her infuriating presence upon myself?"

Tristwin nodded. "A question many have asked before. This rules out many potential suspects *within* Belfast." Like the Maginot Line, the Zeno Gap was vulnerable only from behind, from betrayal. But this wasn't any mere plot, it was a brazen assault into Belfast's strongest defensive works.

Only a person with the nerve and power like a certain Zah Playa would be able to accomplish that. At the very least, someone who can FLY past the border walls.

As one we turned towards Chancellor Glatz. Of the winged folk. "W-what? Do you think those of my tribe had something to do with this?!"

Jamukha only grunted. "Would you blame us if someone from Mismede did help pull off this plot?"

Tristwin considered it for a moment, then waved it aside. "Not really. I don't believe it was done under official policy, doing this nabs no benefit to Mismede. And what individual mercenaries do is out of our control."

"Regulus could just say it was any one sufficiently powerful person hired by anyone. It's too obvious that he was wearing Regulus garb, someone is trying to frame them," Jamukha added.

"But it IS Regulus. They want you to declare war so they have the excuse to fight again. It's so obvious *because* it's true." I grimaced and sighed heavily.

Tristwin sighed "I must either respond or prove that Belfast is weak."

"So what did happen, exactly?" I asked.

There was a sound like breaking glass and Monika flowed out from behind me. She waved towards the great map on the table, and the drawn terrain rose up into a full scale replica. The Zenovi Castle resolved into view, and it was clear to see that a hole had been blasted out of the side, and then a straight line blowing through several defensive walls.

"Huh. I understand now why it was so important to ask for Zah Boyo first before going home. This is too useful." Jamukha pointed at the debris. "This is actually how it looks out there in reality, right?"

/"That is so,"/ Monika replied.

Zenovi Castle looked quite like Dracula's Castle – Bran Castle in Romania, though the historical Vlad Tepes never lived there - a tall forbidding keep, long but highly compact with a pair of tall square towers on one end and a single round tower at the other end. It sat high on a peak overlooking the valley through the continent-dividing Merishea Mountain Range.

It had two curtain walls lower down the slopes, with the formal keep itself basically had its last defensive works being its structural walls. The steep slopes could only be traversed by a winding road around the peak. Smaller homes and buildings were cut into the cliff side and then built outwards with wooden facades.

The curtain walls due east, pointing towards the Zeno Gap, were blasted open.

He put the hand to his chin and scratched at his beard. "The wreckage… it looks like it's been destroyed from *the inside*."

Huh. "Monika, could you reconstruct this please?"

Monika, using her [Boom Tubes] as lenses and [Amplified] thermal and radar senses, outlined the debris traces and then seemingly flowed back time to show how the original walls must have been before being destroyed.

The walls had been destroyed from the inside, yes – but also blasted from a high angle. The first one from a more overhead height, while the second a little more straight on.

I crooked my left arm up and over, as if I was carrying someone on my shoulder. I opened my palm out and made a shoving motion towards the broken walls.

"If this was done with magic… then it has to be done one-handed. So either someone had sort of persistent flight magic, or there had to be someone or something carrying the attacker in order to have the free hand to blast through."

The second wall had a lower incidence of impact because it seemed that they landed on the first, higher wall before continuing. Resting a bit, maybe?

At least that ruled out this being done with explosives. This was Fire + Earth siege magic.

"At least two people were involved in this, one of them capable of flight."

"Are there any winged folk strong enough to carry two people?" Tristwin asked.

Chancellor Glatz shook his head. "No. But perhaps a summoned beast?"

"That sounds much more plausible, yes," Tristwin gave way. Then he glanced towards me and asked "Sir Zah, you are capable of doing something like this, right?"

Yeeah, I suppose I could do something like that. Technically, [FUS RO DAH] was in lore capable of breaking down castle walls. I scratched the back of my head in exasperation. "Yeah, but I wouldn't have done it this way." The great benefit of Thuum was that it freed up both hands for fighting.

Monika leaned on me, and whispered worriedly /"Is this what you fear? That there is a Player Two?"/

"No. Something still smells fishy about this." I traced the damage line. "An edgelord would break in from the outside to provoke dread and awe, while some chuuniboy wouldn't bother to damage the walls but instead leave a much more impressive hole in the castle."

If we had the magic to knock out everybody, then we would also [Boom Tube] them out and then just steal the whole damn castle.

I spoke louder "It looks impressive to destroy castle walls… but really, what is the point? Why do this AFTER the attack instead of being a distraction to cluster people towards the incident and then knock them out more effectively?"

Why even bother destroying the walls? If they have already achieved their goal of kidnapping Zorah to provoke us into action, why waste time making it obvious?

"To make it easier to capture the castle with an army when Regulus finally attacks?" the Beast King of Mismede mused.

I shook my head. "Intact walls would be much more valuable then for the counter-attack. Whatever was used to knock out all the defenders would better have been left as a trump card for the siege, or just killed them all outright instead of putting them to sleep.

"As I was told, traditionally the other side of the Zeno Gap is also fortified, if not to the level of this side. A secure staging area here would prevent being pushed back through the gap, where Regulus could benefit from its greater manpower on the field. The risk of Belfast counter-invading is best blunted here before they can try to reinforce the gap."

"It is always better to ravage the enemy's lands rather than allow them the chance to pillage your own," the King of Belfast agreed.

Hmm. So if it was not a rational choice, then it was done for irrational reasons. A show of power then? Personal power.

I looked up from the map and asked King Tristwin "Casualties?"

"Surprisingly, none from the garrison. They were all knocked unconscious. The penal adventurers likewise – but they were all outside of the castle anyway. Marquis Zarek Zenovivi was dead. Murdered with a stab to the heart."

"What the heck, you should have led with that!" I gasped. "The last surviving male of the Zenovi main line is Zanac!" My fashion-centric friend would not want to inherit the troubles of the Zenovivi, he knew he had no aptitude for their bellicose ways.

"Lord Zarek had already long abdicated in favor of Lady Zorah. While we mourn his loss, it has little impact in the defense of the frontier. Zorah is the deterrent."

"Shite. I thought this was non-fatal posturing." That distinctly lowered the chances of this being a Player Two situation. It just didn't have the feel. "This is like Regulus kicking our teeth in and then daring us to do something about it."

"Yes… I had expected the usual probing rounds of raiding, soldiers and mercenaries disguised as bandits sneaking through hidden mountain trails. This is far beyond the pale."

"Anything else? Any hints left over from the attack?"

Tristwin added "Zorah may have gone with her abductor willingly."

"… I find it very hard to believe that."

Zorah spouting off on her noble rights and responsibilities wouldn't give in unless someone was actually able to beat her annoying face in.

Part of the reason why the Zeno family were so notorious was because they kept no prisoners. Any military forces stupid enough to trespass the gap would be disposed of with no regard for larger political implications. If they pissed Zorah off enough, she would happily break through their side of the gap and stomp their castle open with her [Mass Density] manipulation magic.

But the Zenovi were also unfailingly reliable in that they wouldn't be the first to break the peace.

"Her retainers were found heavily injured. One of them, Mylah, was dead similar to Lord Zarek with a stab straight to the heart."

I grimaced. "The Mountain's dead? That's… sad." I thought of the huge, boisterous woman, and brimming with both confidence and strength. There was a saying that goes: 'Mercy was the luxury of the strong', and so she could afford to be very merciful indeed.

This would really bother Elze. She was looking forward to a friendly rematch. But death and war didn't care if you were a good person or not. Only if your strength fails at a critical moment.

I closed my eyes and visualized it. If I were there… if I could knock out the garrison, what makes Zorah and her fighters able to resist that sort of sleep magic? If I were the sort of person juiced up in my own power, knowing what I was doing is meant to incite war that would kill so many people and think that is a great thing...

No, I would spare them only to see the terror in their faces as they realize they are outmatched.

Think. Think, Playa, think. Profile this scrublord. A soldier on a mission would have just knocked out everyone, killed all those necessary, and left with minimal damage and no wasted time.

Scumlord would stab Mylah because she was not conventionally attractive, and as such was disposable. I would ask who goes next. I would wait for Zorah to betray her principles and express her surrender, choosing loyalty to her retainers and friends over her duty as a noble. She wouldn't be able to win either way, but I could leave with her, or leave with her and a leave with a roomful of corpses.

Only then would I knock her out and carry her off like a sack of potatoes.

Question is… would I really bring her back into Regulus or make the trait a double bluff and stay inside Belfast for more sabotage later? Maybe I could kill off whoever they sent next to investigate. If Leon Blitz, the Bronze Fist, happened to be there, that would destroy even more Belfast's morale and ability to defend.

On the other hand, bringing Zorah into more secure captivity inside Regulus would be good for *our* morale.

I opened my eyes. "Are there really no demands?"

"No, nothing." Tristwin shook his head. "A ransom would make this a kidnapping, and so it would be pointless for anyone to blame Regulus as a whole."

"Ugh. If this happened a few days later, I would be sure this is in response to what we're doing here – but no one gets information this quickly. The spy would have to literally be one of us here right now."

Jamukha made an ok-like gesture over one of his eyes big presentation of squinting at everyone with suspicion, as if he were peering at us through a monocle or a jeweler's glass. Specially at Yumina. The girl tilted her head like a bird and innocently stared back, implying 'You're being ridiculous, you know?'

He huffed indignantly. He got that look a lot from his Princess daughter too. Was it just a Princessy thing?

Out in the far east there were Sword Princesses, Princess Knights, Princesses that were not content to just be a pretty face. Who asked these Princesses to seek being capable administrators as their focus in life?

… Their mothers, was the conclusion of everyone. Someone had to keep their men in line instead of just enabling them.

Monika's smile was so eerily self-satisfied.

"It could be a response to something Zorah did, though," Tristwin noted after a while. "I've been gone for a day, for all that anyone should know I was just out hunting. No one would have any idea I could be all the way in Mismede. My being away should not be a moment of weakness since Alfred is well capable of making rulings in my absence until I return."

Right. The Ring Gate was unknown until its moment of activation. Even the guards would not have known. The prospect of an alliance was played very close to chest, everyone would expect the usual exchange of diplomats first. Sending away Olga back to Mismede was the first part of the message, Mismede's response would take at least a week to arrive.

"They would need to have absurd communication powers equal to Monika, and if they had that even with all my power it would be impossible for us to win. They'd just knife-missile us in our sleep."

Ah, truly they would be people of Culture as well.

"So you're saying we're just unlucky this happened right now?" asked Jamukha.

"Yes. Because I haven't been anything BUT obvious in how I was a Char – if there was anyone like me on the other side, they would recognize what that means. The best time to attack would be when I am away… like right now… but then if they knew me, they wouldn't do something this provocative but something else much more crippling so that I'd have to put political and literal fires out before I could respond." They would expect Newtype shenanigans and giant robots.

They would know about my [Boom Tube] power, but also that it can only be done once every day - a larger but less convenient variation on Alan's power. Very few would know of my magic capacity. My ability as a healer, yes. That I'm teaching noble girls, yes. None of that sounded like anyone specially dangerous.

But anyone else gone isekai would hesitate, wondering about my 'cheat', or at least find a way to open communications first and probe my intentions.

It had already been a month since petty plots to remove Belfast leadership had failed. If they were any competent, they would have known about Tristwin's famous "REGULUUUUS!" speech. The alliance with Mismede had already been long floated, and whether it was racism or opportunistic treason by Belfast nobles, it was very clear here who benefits from torpedoing those talks.

It was in fact their unfortunate ignorance that they dared to do something like this, perhaps feeling utterly clever that they'd backed us into a corner. They knew themselves, but not their enemy.

Monika nodded./"Let's get back to business, your majesties. Tristwin Ernes Belfast… you MUST respond to this provocation. The answer is obvious, is it not?"/

Tristwin sighed and nodded back. "If only a person of Sir Zah's power could do this, then I can only ask if you are willing to go off and match their impudence. The only way this could end without being plunged into war before we are ready.

"You must break into Regulus… and rescue Lady Zorah."

Shite, I'm Mario. (1)

-.

"Could we just… not?"

Tristwin stared at me evenly.

I sighed and raised my arms in surrender. "Fine, fine. At least for Zanac's sake I will save his aunt." Then the pitch of my voice changed "We need to hurry then. The sooner we get her back, the less risk she's going to come back with her head on a spike."

"Do as you must, Sir Zah. You may call upon anyone in Belfast under my authority."

"This is the sort of scenario for which I set up the Diamond Dogs in the first place, elite fast response sky cavalry. But they are not ready. They've only been training for, what, two weeks? There's a lot more doctrine and equipment before we're ready to assault castles. Eheheheh..." I chuckled lightly. " But I guess if one person can breach a castle, then four should do much better."

"Aw, you're not going to storm the castle alone? You disappoint me, boyo!" Jamukha pouted.

"If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'," I retorted with an arrogant sniff. "Also, these honorless dirtbags don't deserve any respect." I turned towards the King of Belfast again. "I guess that just leaves one question then?"

"Um- Sir Zah..."

"Two questions then. Yumina, you're staying."

She nodded. "Understood." Fighting monsters was one thing, the Crown Princess was too valuable to risk going against other nation's soldiers in an undeclared war. She looked a bit downcast though.

"Of course, just because you're staying behind doesn't mean you don't have a job to do. You're the adjutant so go adjute." I grinned and pointed at the map. "Monitor and report on the battlespace to keep everyone informed if we have screwed this up and ignited the war."

"Thank you. What was the other question?" she asked.

I smiled sadly. "It is a fine line between humiliating Regulus and having them declare war on us for attacking them. But people have died here. You are the ones that lost loyal vassals. The battlefield is unpredictable. So I guess the question is – should I bother to bring back the perpetrator alive to face justice?"

Tristwin leaned back and hummed as he pondered the question. "I suppose… it would be *better*, but if it is not opportune, I leave it entirely up to you. Kill them if you wish, capture if you can."

"Huh, and here I thought the question would be about rewards. Fighting to become stronger is enough reward by itself! Really we're standing on the same peak, boyo! Gwahahahaha!"

"Phft, no. I'm going to bilk both of you for rewards once this is done. Leave that talk for when I return."

Tristwin hummed again and tugged at his own beard. "I must say it is somewhat refreshing to hear someone express their blatant self-interest to my face for a change. Now I am curious what you will ask."

Yumina let out a little groan and massaged her forehead. "Father, don't… make no grand expectations, please."

Ah, Yumina. You think you know me, but this time you are wrong!

As if feeling the smug grin on my face, Yumina squinted at me from the side. Her sharp gaze implied 'That is contingent on you not dying. Do not be too overconfident, for you also do not know your enemy.'

Fair enough.

-.

-.

"Elze! Linze! Yae! WE GO TO WAR!"

"Excellent! I mean, uhm. Hai, Playa-dono! This one will help in any way she is capable of, I will." Yae coughed and looked away, blushing.

"What," said Elze.

"Mister Zah, what happened?"

"Walk with me. We need to hurry."

The girls looked at each other, and the followed. They saw that outside the door servants were already prepared, holding out their weapons and equipment. "Whoa, seriously in a hurry," Elze muttered. We geared up quickly and moved on. "Is it really war now? Where are we going?"

"Regulus pulled some shenanigans and somehow managed to kidnap Zorah. Now we have to invade Regulus to find and rescue her."

Elze grimaced. "Aww. Not her again! Do we have to?"

"Elze, do you remember, Mynah? That adventurer you fought?"

"Mmm. Yeah. That was fun. It's too bad she's Zorah's crew – it would be nice to do something like that again sometime."

"I do not wish to encounter that Cynthia woman again, I do not!" Yae huffed.

"And yet you remember her name," I noticed.

"Now and then I would receive gifts with her name on them!"

I paused for a moment and faced her. "Those gifts… they're food, aren't they?"

Yae let out a squelched little noise. Elze groaned and palmed her face. "Please tell me you're not just eating any candy some random perverted woman is giving you. If you just wanted sweets, you could just ask Playa for them."

"T-that would be improper."

"Playa's rich. He can... should... afford to feed us things other than chicken, dangit! Who knows, she could have drugged or poisoned them?! Be careful about things like that!"

Yae raised her hand. She showed off the ring I had given her. Anti-poison magic item. It was still on her ring finger.

Elze clacked her tongue. "Don't so easily trust suspicious artifacts from suspicious people."

"Elze, as much as I enjoy our usual smack-talk, this is not the time. Mylah's dead. Zorah's other guards are almost dead. Castle Zenovi's walls have been breached."

"Oh." Elze looked a bit lost about how to react to that. "I… didn't really know her that well. Should I feel sad? Sorry. It's just… I don't know." Her tone trailed off. She wasn't sad, not exactly, and living in Refreese had quickly soaked into her the fragility of life. She clenched her armored fists. The feeling of losing not a friend, but a rival…

"She was stronger than you. And she died. The time for little adventurer games is over. If you don't have the resolve to kill, then all you can do is to play support guard this mission."

Elze sucked in her breath. "Tch. I don't… I suppose it has to happen at some point. We're not just regular adventurers anymore." She looked up and then suddenly stopped. "Wait! I thought… I thought you and Monika were *pacifists*, what in tarnation! The last time we fought you were so concerned about making sure no one died!"

"Hahaha oh, Elze…!" I shook my head with a chuckle. "That just makes us Doctors. Technical pacifists are not allowed to kill. But doctrine is a little vague on… kneecaps."

/"Good men don't need rules to know when they're doing the right thing. Demons run when a good man goes to war."/ With a sound of breaking glass, Monika appeared floating and keeping pace beside me. /"Now is not a good time to find out why we have so many."/

Boom. A [Boom Tube] opened in front of us.

"That doesn't even make sense, you totally rule-breaking maniacs," Elze groused as she walked into it.

-.

-.

Boom.

We emerged into the courtyard of Castle Zenovi. Instantly we were surrounded by swords and spears aimed at our necks.

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS! DROP THEM NOW!" the guards were screaming.

"I COME HERE BY THE AUTHORITY OF HIS MAJESTY, TRISTWIN ERNES BELFAST, AND AS A MAN OF THE HOUSE OF ORTLINDE!" Then in a calmer tone "If you will permit me to show my identification?"

"Tch. Don't move a muscle," the captain of the Zeno High Guards snarled. He went away to call the highest ranking officer present in the castle.

I whistled nonchalantly and twiddled my thumbs while waiting. We were made to sit down on the ground, but at least they didn't take our weapons. Elze grumbled a bit at being made to wait after being in such a hurry, but that was life in the military sadly. Hurry up and wait. It would be a pity if we had to beat up people who were only doing their duty. Mooks gotta mook, but they have feelings too.

Then again, I wondered, if I didn't flex now and then would even more people think it was within their power to hassle us in the pursuit of our own jobs? Wouldn't that shame our own employers, or at least the face of House Ortlinde which formally counts us among their protected people? If it was just me, my ego can take it. I have deep sympathy for people in the service sector. But now that we represent others, it somewhat makes sense now why little punks swagger around and can get their sponsors into trouble.

We don't need to go full xianxia here, but still...

Hmm.

Bringing Yumina along probably would have avoided being made to wait, but this close to the frontier was still unsafe. Mismede was a heckuva lot safer for her than even her own palatial home.

A short while later, a woman with long raven hair and a battered half plate emerged from within the keep.

"YOU!"

"ME!"

Lydia scowled at my grin. "What are you doing here? We have no time to entertain flighty adventurers like you."

"We happen to be employed by the Crown now. We are here to to recover Lady Zorah." I pointed to the still open Boom Tube behind me. "As you can see, we are uniquely capable of plunging deep into Regulus and getting out within the hour." I showed off a platinum medal with the royal symbol of Belfast.

Lydia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she opened them with fresh resolve. "Very well. I'll believe that for now. You may assist. But once we are through, you will obey my orders-"

"We are bid by His Majesty to invade Regulus and break out Lady Zorah as soon as possible. I understand and respect your desire for vengeance and the rescue of your liege, but you" I gestured to the bandages around her arms and waist, "are clearly in no shape for any more heavy combat. Any information you can provide will be of immeasurable help."

"Now listen here, you insolent little twit, this is no place for your games! You will obey or you will be made to obey-!" She raised her hand and all the guards surrounding us tensed, their blades glinting in the mid-morning sun.

All I had to do was close my hand into a fist and to flex the muscles in my left arm. The air grew heavy. So heavy that everyone not already sitting on the ground were forced to their knees.

"Ugh!" Lydia groaned, and pushed herself back up, before the high pressure winds from above forced her down again. I didn't need to increase the pressure through all the courtyard, which would have been a tremendously inefficient way of doing this. Everyone was caught in a vertical [Wind Tunnel] and the pressure equivalent to five atmospheres increasing proportional to their resistance pressed down on each of them. "Again... this [Heavy Wind]!"

But since air was invisible, it seemed much more impressive as if I had just manipulated all the air above the castle.

I smiled softly. "Lydia Colwinde. You failed once. Don't fail your Lady a second time. The Absolute Master of Wind Magic is all the more effective the more confined the space. Help us help you. Zanac's my friend, so we are friends to House Zenovi."

Lydia seethed. And then she began laughing. "… Stupid. Stupid little twit." She began pounding her fists on the ground, cackling madly. "All your magic… magic means nothing! Magic won't save her and it won't save you!"

What are you even talking about, you *magic swordswoman*?

-.
-.

(1)

Playa: Wait, let's be optimistic here. This could be a job for a *Snake*.

Monika: /Even I must accept you could never be this smexy, Player./
Monika: (shows an image of Snake Plissken)

Playa: It's a-mee! Zahrio!