Chapter 227 – The Anti-Kamel Alliance (2)
“Are you unaware that the alliance and the witch are on the same side?”
As I rode back to the fortress on horseback, I asked Heinz. He let out a bitter smile and shook his head.
“No, I made sure everyone knew.”
“Then why did the scouts react like that…?”
Just a moment ago, the scouts surrounding Lily had displayed obvious wariness. Even now, they refused to approach the horses carrying Lily and Natasha.
As a seasoned noble, Heinz had already figured out the reason.
“It’s due to a misconception.”
“A misconception?”
“Most humans fear witches. Over time, gruesome tales about them have been passed down, creating deep-seated prejudice. That’s why the scouts rushed over as soon as they received the report—just in case something went wrong.”
“So, I guess the atmosphere inside the fortress will be the same?”
When Heinz nodded gravely, I clicked my tongue.
Fear.
It was a label that always trailed behind witches.
People might understand logically, but instinctively, they rejected them.
That was the terrifying thing about prejudice. False information, deliberately spread by mages, had long painted witches as enemies of humanity. It seemed this ingrained perception triggered an unconscious aversion.
If Tobaron, a land without mages, was already like this, then in Hell Grime, people would probably have a fit just at the sight of a witch.
'Unity won’t be easy.'
Deep-rooted prejudice wouldn’t be overturned in a short time.
Even in a situation where cooperation was necessary, it seemed best to avoid forcing witches and humans to move together.
“Tch, what a bunch of insufferable fools.”
Natasha’s disgruntled comment only solidified my thoughts further. After all, witches distrusted humans just as much.
“Oi.”
“What now? What’s your problem this time?”
“You better not betray us.”
Was she thinking about Arcane, who had once been a friend to witches?
There was weight behind Natasha’s words.
If a conflict ever broke out between humans and witches… whose side would I take?
It wasn’t a difficult question for me.
“Well, if you keep those fists of yours in check, I’ll give it some positive thought.”
“Hah, sure.”
“I mean it.”
For my survival, the power of the witches was far more crucial than that of humans.
***
Long ago, the Elletor Fortress had served as the border between Region 1, Tobaron, and Region 2, Hell Grime.
It had once been an impregnable stronghold, known as the frontline of the region.
But after the emergence of Ordor Forest, its strategic value had diminished, leaving behind only a relic of the past.
Lily had dismissed it as a mere speck, but standing before it now, the Elletor Fortress was massive—far too vast to take in at a glance.
Uwaaaaaaaah!
“Ugh! What the—?!”
As Heinz led us to the front gate, a deafening roar erupted from the fortress walls.
People were chanting over and over again.
“Lochter! Lochter!”
They cheered wildly at his return.
It seemed word had already reached the fortress.
“You’re quite popular.”
“Didn’t you orchestrate this?”
“Well then, if you know that, hand over the sword and just wave to the crowd.”
The Anti-Kamel Alliance had begun with the ten thousand people we had rescued from Blyer.
Lochter, who had endured hardships with them, became the pillar of their forces, earning their unwavering trust—nearly to the point of blind faith.
‘They’re all just Lochter fanatics.’
As expected, when he raised his hand in acknowledgment, the cheers only grew louder. Lily scowled and covered her ears.
Once inside, an overwhelming crowd surged forward. The fortress walls, the surrounding buildings—wherever the eye landed, people were packed tightly together.
However, they never crossed a certain distance. It seemed Heinz had done a good job enforcing order.
“This way.”
Heinz led us to a large building.
While the others were assigned rooms and began unpacking, Lochter followed Heinz elsewhere—he had to meet the newly arrived figures.
As the leader of the alliance, it was a necessary step.
I tossed my sword onto a creaky bed and took a short break.
Truthfully, I had been waiting for Black Rose and Ghost to hear about our arrival and come find us, but there was still no news.
Eventually, I got up.
I approached the two witches, who were lounging around.
“Lily, Lady Natasha, I suggest you avoid going outside.”
“Why??”
“Didn’t you see how the humans were looking at you? If you go out and end up throwing punches, a few of them might end up dead.”
“Oh, so this is a request? Then you need to pay up.”
Natasha’s playful tone made Lily immediately perk up.
“Then I want a lunchbox!”
“Woof!”
“Keros wants meat! Meat!”
“Then I’ll…”
I let out a dry chuckle and covered Natasha’s mouth.
There was no need to hear the rest.
“I’ll use the sparring coupons I won from our bet. That leaves four left. Let’s have a match later.”
“Good, you’re speaking my language. But what does ‘coupon’ mean?”
“It’s like a voucher.”
“A voucher… Hmm, I should collect a lot of those ‘coupons.’”
“Lily too!”
“Woof!”
I sighed, shaking my head at Natasha and Lily, who both grinned while giving me a thumbs-up.
Sparring, lunchboxes, meat…
This damn witch family had the strangest idea of compensation.
By now, the meeting should be over.
I left the room and immediately went to find Heinz.
Though I had received updates from the forest, they were already a week old. I needed to check if there was any new information.
After asking around, I arrived at Heinz’s quarters—only to find that the meeting was still ongoing.
Contrary to my expectations, the room was still packed with people.
Judging by their clothing and demeanor, they appeared to be nobles and merchants.
Likely, they were newly integrated factions.
After all, Kamel had wiped out countless noble houses.
The group, which had been conversing with Lochter, turned their heads toward me as I entered.
“Who is this?”
“Never seen him before. What family does he belong to?”
Great, they were investigating me right off the bat.
I did have a fake identity—Alex Marcia—but instead of revealing it, I simply smiled awkwardly and gave a small bow.
“Oh, my apologies. I must have walked into the wrong room.”
I had no interest in getting involved with them.
It was just too much of a hassle.
I didn't need to step in—Lochter and Heinz would take care of things on their own. After exchanging a glance with Lochter, I closed the door and headed for the fortress wall.
The wind was quite strong.
Standing atop the wall, I scanned the vast expanse of land before me.
“So that’s Blyer over there, and this side must be Beneta?”
Elletor Fortress was geographically positioned between Blyer and Beneta.
If you thought of the fortress as being at the 12 o’clock position, Beneta would be at 2 o’clock and Blyer at 10 o’clock.
It was a location from which either destination could be reached within a few days—an ideal position to counter Kamel’s forces.
“If only we had intel on that bastard, we could respond faster.”
For the past few days, the Mad Butcher had been eerily silent.
With the rise of the Anti-Kamel Alliance, Blyer was rapidly crumbling due to internal division.
The longer this dragged on, the more favorable it was for us and the worse it was for Kamel.
But he wasn’t the type to stay idle.
He was definitely scheming something, yet it was practically impossible to predict his exact moves. The best I could do was prepare by analyzing the bigger picture.
“In the end, it’s just a matter of which method he chooses.”
His target would be either Beneta or Elletor Fortress.
If his goal was to conquer Tobaron, he would need to take Beneta.
If he had joined forces with Demtor, he would have to crush Elletor Fortress first.
‘No matter which he chooses, at least we have a basic level of preparedness.’
A triangular alliance had already been established, with me at its center, connecting the witches, the Anti-Kamel Alliance, and Beneta into a coordinated force.
This meant that no matter where Kamel attacked, as long as we held out for a few days, reinforcements would arrive.
If we could survive that initial assault, we could win this war.
That was why I had brought my group to Elletor Fortress.
Compared to Beneta, the Anti-Kamel Alliance was still severely lacking in military strength.
“Timing is crucial for reinforcements, but our informants are missing. That makes me uneasy… Where the hell did they go?”
Not knowing Kamel’s movements only fueled my anxiety.
After all, our enemy was Kamel.
The protagonist of this world.
“There you are.”
I turned around to see Heinz approaching with Lochter.
“Apologies. There were too many people wanting to greet Sir Lochter, so it took longer than expected.”
“There were quite a lot of nobles. How much has our force grown?”
“If we count only those ready for battle, we exceed ten thousand. We also have enough knights to command them.”
The Anti-Kamel Alliance had started with just a thousand soldiers and Heinz’s knights.
In less than two months, we had expanded at an incredible pace.
Which also meant that Kamel had destroyed many noble families in that time.
“What about the nobles? Are they all loyal to Lochter?”
“Most are cooperative, but we need to maintain strict discipline. Not all of them joined us purely out of hatred for Kamel.”
Many had come to the alliance for various reasons beyond revenge.
With such a large force gathering in such a short time, conflict was inevitable.
I glanced at Lochter, who let out a quiet sigh.
“There are a few pests. Some are already forming factions and trying to exert influence.”
“Those kinds of people should be stomped out early.”
“Be patient. I’ll take care of it soon.”
I nodded and turned back to Heinz.
“I don’t see Black Rose or Ghost anywhere.”
“Ah, they left the fortress last night.”
“Both of them? Why?”
“Once a week, our external informants send updates here. Those reports are then relayed to Ordor Forest through Ghost. However, for the past few days, we’ve lost contact with our informants outside. They went to investigate the situation.”
“Do you know when they’ll be back?”
“At the latest, we should hear from them by dawn.”
Dawn, huh…
I looked down at the soldiers training below the fortress wall.
Even as night fell, the fortress training grounds were filled with men jogging and practicing with spears.
Watching them for a brief moment, I made up my mind and turned to Lochter.
“Just in case, arm all the troops.”
“Arm them? Are you saying we should prepare for battle?”
“There’s something strange about Black Rose and Ghost’s entire information network collapsing at the same time. We should be ready in advance.”
“…Understood.”
Lochter and Heinz descended the stairs, and soon after, the entire fortress became a flurry of activity.
Watching the commotion for a moment, I then headed back to my quarters.
Until Black Rose and Ghost returned, there was nothing more I could do.
For now, I took care of smaller tasks.
I stopped by the kitchen to prepare Lily’s favorite lunchbox, grabbed a handful of meat and tossed it to Keros.
And then…
“You bastard!!!”
“Cursing at your master? Looks like you need another beating.”
“Are you some kind of pervert? Why are you smiling as you come at me?”
“Hohoho!”
With Reto still asleep, I was unable to use Spectral Form, meaning I had no choice but to spend another miserable night as Natasha’s personal punching bag.
By dawn, after enduring hours of beatings, I at least received some theoretical guidance on how to enchant Spectral Form.
When I looked up at the sky, the sun was already high above.
I muttered a curse under my breath.
“Damn it… Why do my worst fears always turn out to be right?”
I immediately went to Lochter and told him to prepare for war.
Black Rose and Ghost were taking too long to return.
Something had definitely gone wrong.
Just as I was contemplating whether to go out and investigate myself—
“Black Rose has arrived.”
Lochter informed me of their return.
And then, Black Rose appeared before me.