2

We arrived at Forward Base Locka—our first stop, in the mountainous Alpha Block—without any major trouble, smooth as ever.

Locka used to be a coal-mining town, thriving back in the day, but once the coal ran dry, it fell quiet. Now, though, since it sits right on the border with the Overd Empire, it’s bloomed again as a frontline base. High up in the mountains, winters bite hard with cold, but summers are cool—so cool, in fact, that nobles sometimes use it as a summer retreat.

Honestly, I can’t wrap my head around the idea of turning a frontline base into a vacation spot. But then again, the terrain makes it a poor choice for invasion, and for decades now, the fortress has never been breached once. So I guess that’s why it’s all good. Batis said before that as long as there’s a base here, we’ll be fine if they come knocking.

Oh, so this is the lookout! Just look at the view—breathtaking, isn’t it?

Princess Ines leaned out the window of the magic carriage, praising the streets of Locka.

The town of Locka was already dusted with snow—like someone’d shaken a sack of powdered sugar over the whole place. It wasn’t full winter yet, so it was just this much. But in another month, the town’d be sealed off, buried under snow.

Miss Ines, you're in danger—please don't lean out like that!

"Yeah. And your clothes’ll get soaked."

The attendants riding alongside the magic carriage grabbed Princess Ines by the dress and yanked her back inside.

You’d lose your head for something like that to a royal, but then again, it’s Ines. Had to do it—wasn’t gonna stay on the magic carriage otherwise. Hell, I actually fell off once.

Back then, the maid grabbed the magic carriage right away—no one noticed, thank the stars. But just imagining what’d happen if they’d seen it? Gives me the shivers.

“Can’t be helped, now, can it? I’ll take a proper look later, all right?”

The magic carriage rolled through the town, and soon the entrance to the base came into view. Already, every soldier from the base was lined up.

The carriage stopped at the base’s gate. Lady Ines stepped down. From the ranks, a man stepped forward and dropped to one knee before her.

“Commander Omer of Locka Base. Welcome, Princess Ines. All of us here at the base greet you with joy.”

“Thank you for the welcome. I was truly moved by the beauty of Locka’s streets. I’ve brought food and drink with me—enjoy yourselves, everyone.”

Still smiling with that same flawless cat act, charming the base soldiers. This time, even their stomachs are hooked—no wonder there’s little resistance from the troops toward the royal family.

"Thank you. We’ve prepared a welcome, so please, come this way."

"Yes."

Lady Ines steps into another magical carriage she’d arranged, and glides into the base. We watch her go, then follow the soldiers’ orders, each of us moving to our assigned spots.

I fall in step with Orell and the others, following the soldier with the banner toward the hangar at Locka Base.

The hangar sits just inside the gate, a bit removed from the soldiers’ barracks. Might be a bit inconvenient in an emergency, I think, but we slide the craft inside all the same.

"Only three hangars?"

One of them had a craft inside—midway through maintenance. The other two were empty.

“Locka’s a forward base, so enemy incursions are rare. We only keep two craft on standby. Three’s plenty.”

“Rotating patrols?”

“Yeah, just stay a week at the forward outpost and come back. Oh—three hangar, please.”

“Got it.”

As instructed, I slid into the hangar marked with a three, turned the craft around, and brought it to a stop.

As soon as I stepped down, the maintenance crew inside the hangar started inspecting the craft alongside Orell and the others.

I walked down the catwalk, watching them work.

There, waiting for me, was the soldier who’d been explaining things to me since earlier.

“Good work. I’m Azura, commander of the thirty-ninth Armunale unit.”

Oh— thought he was just an ordinary soldier, turns out he’s a knight. Same uniform as the regular troops, so I didn’t catch it. But the thirty-ninth unit…

“Eld, captain of the Second Princess’s Guard, 1st Armunale Guard Battalion. A knight, were you? Thirty-nine—that’s a newly formed unit, isn’t it?”

Back before that invasion campaign, the kingdom’s Armunale units only went up to thirty-two. The numbers after that should be the ones we’ve built using the generators we captured. Azura doesn’t look a day over thirty.

He’s definitely older than me, a senior— but since he’s from the Guard, and knights in the Guard hold higher rank, I’m the one being polite. Feels a bit strange, that.

“Yes, I was assistant pilot in the thirteenth unit until the large-scale reorganization.”

“Ah, I see.”

“At first, I thought being assigned to Locka was a real lottery ticket—bad luck. But the soldiers there, they’re all warm and friendly, like family. Kinda unexpectedly comfy, actually.”

I nearly burst out laughing at Azura’s unexpectedly bleak take—though I force it down hard.

“Still, I’ve heard the real show starts in winter, right?”

“Yeah, that’s what worries me. Right now, regular gear works fine. But once the snow piles up? You’ll need special gear just to walk, they say.”

“Really?”

“Sounds like it’ll be tough getting used to. Oh—right, I should show you around.”

“Please do.”

Damn it—got distracted with chatter. Still, I’ve got to get back to the Princess. After all, I’m her guard, even if just in name.

Azura leads me toward the base’s headquarters.

The air outside is just a bit chilly, but inside the base it’s warm enough that even just the uniform is comfortable.

“Right this way. Commander, I’ve brought Lieutenant Eld.”

“Enter.”

‘Excuse me.’

We step inside, and every eye in the room turns our way.

Sitting on the central sofa is Omel, the commander who greeted the princess at the entrance earlier. An elderly man with round glasses.

The man beside him must be the deputy commander.

“Lady Ines, you’ve been kept waiting.”

“Thank you for your trouble.”

I give Lady Ines a brief greeting, then step behind her. That’s my place—she’s my charge, after all.

And from the corner of my eye, I catch the maid who’s slipped quietly to my side. She’s been listening in. I catch just enough to know what they were talking about.

Seems like they were going over the plans for today’s party.

“Then, as planned, the common soldiers will have a standing buffet in the main hall. I’ll give a short speech at the start, then retire to another room for a private dinner with the officers.”

“Thank you kindly.”

They’d been talking at length, but in the end, everything settled down just as scheduled, and the princess rose from her seat.

“Then I’ll take a brief rest in my room. The long journey’s left me a bit worn out.”

“Oh, my apologies for not noticing. The room’s already prepared—please, make yourself at home.”

“Until tonight, then.”

“We’re looking forward to it.”

After the princess left the room, we attendants filed out one by one.

“Eld, I’ll head back to the room later.”

“Where to?”

“Why, the town, of course!”

“No way.”

I said without hesitation. Well, it’s impossible, isn’t it!? In the capital, the soldiers are used to it—can slip in and out unnoticed while guarding the princess—but here? Not a chance. Even if we’ve got the royal guard and infantry, stepping out into town? Impossible.

“Of course I’m not going officially.”

“That’s even more impossible! There’s a proper tour scheduled for tomorrow. So just stay put today.”

“Mmmph…”

When I flatly refused, Lady Ines puffed out her cheeks and glared at me. I’d known this would happen—had worked hard to sneak in a little stroll. My efforts aren’t going to be wasted.

“Puffing your cheeks won’t change anything. Today, you rest.”

“Very well. I’ll just continue my embroidery.”

“Don’t put any weird designs on it, now.”

“You mean I should wear it! You’re such a stubborn little thing, asking a royal for favors!”

“Seriously, cut it out! You can’t just turn a comedian’s punchline into something a royal would do!”

“Eld, you’re slipping up on your words.”

“Oh— my apologies.”

I’d forgotten, for a moment, that there were common soldiers behind me.

“Be careful. If it weren’t me, your head might’ve rolled off by now.”

I grit my teeth, thinking, *Who else’s fault is this?* and nod.

“Can’t keep up, huh? Today’s the Second Princess visiting, and you’re still lagging.”

“Tell me about it. Well, at least we’ll get our share of the food, I guess.”

Leaning on a rickety chair, setting a cup on a table that looks like it’ll collapse any second, two soldiers chatted away.

“But the base folks get to see the Princess in person, right? They say she’s a total beauty.”

"Yeah, yeah. Ah, forget it—talking about this just weighs me down."

"Still, what else is there to talk about, huh?"

On the border fortress, two sentries gazed down the mountain path leading into the Overd Empire, grumbling to themselves.

In a place that hadn’t seen an invasion in decades, the soldiers’ sense of danger was practically nonexistent.

"Even the knight seemed pretty down, didn’t he?"

"Course he did. Shoved out to this backwater, right when things get tense."

"Should’ve been called the Unlucky Knight."

"Haha."

"The Unlucky Knight? Who’s that supposed to be?"

They flinched at the voice from behind, jerking around in a panic.

There stood their familiar comrades.

"Hey, don’t scare us like that."

"Come on, shift change time."

"Right, all clear."

"All clear. Keep watch."

The man was about to mutter his usual line and scuttle back into the fortress with his cup when he suddenly noticed the oddity.

The liquid in the cup was trembling.

“What’s this?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Earthquake?”

He thought it odd, here of all places, but glanced casually out from the lookout. Then he blinked—really blinked—twice, and rubbed his eyes again. By the third time, he finally believed it.

He yelped, voice cracking.

“Enemy attack! Armunale’s forces—they’re coming!”

“What?!”

“Here? Now?!”

The others scrambled to look, peering out from the watchtower, eyes wide, disbelief twisting their faces.

Far beyond the border, the shape of Armunale.

It was packed so tightly, like a swarm of crawling insects, marching straight toward the fortress.

“Send word—now! Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Armunale’s swarming in—hundreds at least!”

The man’s voice crackled through the speaker, echoing across the entire fortress. At the same time, alarms blared—sharp, insistent—and the whole place went stiff with tension.

From inside the fortress, people poured out like ants, scrambling up the walls to man the cannons.

Only one Armunale knight was stationed here, and he was already diving into his machine, fumbling to start it, then checking the camera feed for the enemy.

“Wait—wait, are you serious? Over a hundred Armunale? What the hell kind of joke is this?!”

“I don’t know! But they’re swarming in—hundreds, at least!”

“Like hell I can stop that alone! Tell command we’re requesting evacuation and retreat! We’ll block the road and buy time—cannon team, blast the cliffs till they collapse and crush the swarm!”

“Copy.”

Even in the panic, the Armunale knight’s orders were sharp and clear.

Say we stayed here and tried to hold out—would’ve been crushed under the enemy swarm before you could blink. Town burned to the ground before we even got a chance to run.

How much time can we buy…? Seriously, I’m cursed.

To buy time till the fortress was abandoned and blown to pieces, the knight launched magic at the horde from the walls.

The report came just as the feast was reaching its peak.

The door burst open with a sudden rush—everyone snapped to alert. The soldier staggered in, gasping.

“D—dispatch! Armunale force detected—massive scale, from Overd. Estimated over a hundred units. Fortress to be abandoned immediately. Blown up and evacuated right away!”

“What? A hundred Armunale?! Are you sure?!”

“Confirmed!”

I saw them myself—armies of Armunale pouring over the mountain path, a hundred at least, maybe two hundred or more. No mistake.

The base commanders fell silent, stunned by the messenger’s words. In the stillness, the Second Princess slowly spoke.

“Eld, what’s our strength here?”

“One Armunale, three magical vehicles, and two hundred infantry.”

“Not good at all.”

If there were really over a hundred Armunale coming, we couldn’t stand a chance with just this base’s forces.

Even with the troops the Princess brought, it’d be like throwing water on a burning stone.

Should we abandon the base? No—thinking that’s not my job. I’m here to protect the Princess. Her safety comes first.

“Princess, if this place becomes a battlefield, you must leave immediately.”

“That’s right. Prepare to depart at once.”

My words, and the command immediately told my subordinates to start evacuating. Then came the Princess’s voice, cutting in.

“No need for that. Eld, you’re joining the front lines.”

“Princess Ines—”

What in the world are you saying? I glared at Princess Ines.

But instead of looking away, as she always did, she held my gaze straight on.

“If there really are over a hundred Armunale, fleeing won’t help—those things’ll catch up no matter how fast we run.”

“No, if it’s just the magic vehicles, we’ll be fine.”

We can’t take every soldier, but we can get the Princess and key people onto the magic vehicles and get out.

“That wouldn’t mean anything. If this base falls, at least twenty towns and villages will burn.”

“But even if I go alone, I can’t stop them, can I?”

No matter how good I am, it’s impossible to hold back over a hundred machines with just two Armunale here.

“Still, we can buy time. While I’m holding them off, I’ll send a messenger to call for reinforcements from the rear base.”

Ah, so that’s it—throw me in just to buy a little time. Full of honor, aren’t you? Well, I suppose it’s the right call for a princess.

“Is that an order?”

“Yes.”

“I understand. I’ll stay here and wreck as many enemy machines as I can. But you, Lady Ines, should retreat with the messenger to the rear base. That’s my job—to protect you.”

“…Understood. Omer, take charge of my knight and soldiers. Integrate them into the defense line—buy me as much time as you can.”

“Understood.”

“Then I’ll take my leave. I’m ready.”

I left the room and headed straight for the storage bay.

Thanks to the emergency alarm blaring through the base, the entire unit was already gathered there.

“Captain Eld, what’s going on?”

“Enemy aircraft are coming. Intel says over a hundred Armunale units. The forward fortresses have already been abandoned—we’re to fall back here as planned. We’ll stand together with every soldier in the base and try to slow this invasion down.”

“That’s madness! We’ll be wiped out like paper scraps!”

Everyone knows that already!

I held back the urge to scream and kept speaking, voice calm.

“This is an order from Lady Ines. Lady Ines will evacuate to the rear base during this time.”

“……”

“Everyone else is at fault too, but we’ll be counting on you. They’re planning to blow the fortress and pull back, so we should have about two days to buy here. In that time, we’ll gather as much intel as we can and set up a defense line. Any questions?”

“Should we send out scouts right away?”

“Please do. But it’s different this time—snowy mountain paths, so go carefully.”

“Got it. Catre, let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Bnois takes Catre out of the warehouse. Probably heading to the stables to saddle the horses.

“Eld… I’m—”

“Ange, you’re our support. Sorry, but we can’t spare the time to get you out of here.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll do my best!”

I’d prefer to keep Ange out of the base entirely, if I could—but the princess and her attendant come first, and Ange’s a guard, so she’s bound by the princess’s orders too.

But if the damn thing’s wrecked, I’ll at least get Ange out—this is my way of settling things.

“How’s the maintenance?”

“All done.”

“Then maintenance crew, you’re on defense-line construction.”

‘Understood.’

I finished giving orders, confirmed everyone was moving, and looked up at Armunale.

Never thought I’d end up here on my first mission, but in a way, this might be the perfect stage for the whole damn show.

“Twenty machines, maybe?”

Muttering that, I wrap my arms around my trembling elbow. Then—warmth at my back. The shaking stops.

“Ange?”

“Eld…?”

Ange’s voice, shaky. I gently squeeze her hand.

I’m fine. If we hold the defense line strong enough, we should be able to last till reinforcements arrive. That means we’ll survive.

You promise? If you go off and die somewhere I don’t know about, I won’t forgive you.

Yeah, of course. I’ve already decided—when it comes, I want to be in bed, watched over by my grandkids.

For a while there, the situation was too bleak, and my thoughts went sour. But saying out loud that there’s a chance—however slim—of making it through… it made me feel a little lighter.

Right. The enemy won’t get here for over two days. If we gather intel and prepare during that time, maybe we can hold them off.

Thank you, Ange. You really are my angel.

Having you here… I’ve never felt it more like a comfort.

Wrote this probably five thousand times over… couldn’t quite get it right.

Next time—battle begins.