Towards Hadith who was descending from the sky, a familiar soldier called out.

“B, baker… you, can use magic?”

Hadith nodded while staring at the waning magical circle.

“That’s right, although just a little. More importantly, the city seems to have been the target. Go help them.”

“G, got it. Hey, how many people are there!?”

“B, baker, what is that offensive magic circle? Did something happen outside?”

“It looks like the magic circle is attacking dragons outside the city with anti-air magic. The circle is getting thinner, and it’ll vanish soon. However, it’s likely a new magic circle will just appear in its place.”

Screams were raised one after another.

“If we get attacked by something like that, we’ll be obliterated!”

“But, shouldn’t such a large-scaled spell consume a lot of magic? I don’t think the caster will be able to move properly for a few days.”

Unless a person had an extraordinary amount of magic like Jill or Hadith, there was a limit to the capacity of said person’s magical power.

“If I’m not mistaken, a bit more than 20 people came from Kratos, right? Two are already down—three, once this magic disappears. That means there are about twenty people left.”

“T, twenty…?”

“It’s alright. We can deal with them by taking advantage of our numbers.”

 That was right. They could handle everyone—except for one person. Hadith laughed bitterly.

The magical power that caused the explosion within the temple earlier was on a whole different level. However, there was no point informing the soldiers of such. They were already confused by the sudden onslaught of magic, more would only intimidate them further.

“Let’s us regroup with General South. As the battle proceeds, the magicians will inadvertently exhaust their magical power. If we act properly with a strategy, our chances—”

“We’ve captured, the temple!”

A high-pitched voice interrupted Hadith’s explanation.

“What is it this time!?”

“It’s a bird! A bird is talking!”

“Is this also the magic of Kratos!?”

“Just, surrender! Just, surrender! We’re giving you twenty-four hours of grace!”

The birds perched on the trees, the pigeons lined up on the walls, and chickens kept in the city kept repeating the same words.

“Throw away, your weapons, imperial army! We’ve captured, General South!”

“If you don’t surrender within 24 hours, we’ll burn the town! Everyone will be killed!”

A massive commotion erupted among the soldiers. The citizens started to riot.

“Just, surrender, you rebels! No one will come!”

“You can’t escape from this city, surrender, or you will be annihilated! Hihihihihi—”

At the end of the eerie laughter, the heads of the birds exploded. High-pitched screams arose and children began to cry. The tension and the confusion among the soldiers never stopped.

“G, General South was captured…?”

“We have to save him! Let’s initiate a rescue operation!”

“What are you talking about!? Shouldn’t we evacuate the people, first!?”

“We won’t be able to leave the city. Look, there’s a new spell.”

At Hadith’s urging, the soldiers made bitter expressions. The magic circle in the sky had vanished. However, a distorted, transparent, wall could be seen surrounding the city. It was a wall made of magical power. Hadith threw some pebbles he picked up. There was a clicking sound and the pebbles turned into charcoal and crumbled.

What would happen if they tried to flee the city and touched said wall?

No one wanted to risk it.

What a familiar tactic. They sure know how to fuel confusion and fear.

If handled poorly, the citizens would point their weapons at the soldiers. Moreover, the temple where the sacred relic of the Dragon Princess was kept had also been occupied.

“In addition, if we don’t surrender within 24 hours, the city will be attacked…!?”

“What do we do!? Moreover, without General South—”

“Be quiet!!”

The surroundings calmed down at Hadith’s shout. Sighing, Hadith turned around and looked over everyone.

“First, evacuate the citizens to the basement of the castle, or some houses. They can withstand aerial magic. After that, calculate the enemy’s strength and gather all the soldiers in the castle.”

“B, baker, you…”

“Do you think you still have the luxury to laze around? We only have 24 hours of grace. We also don’t know if the enemy will truly give us that long.”

“But, General South isn’t here…”

“Then, were all those claims about protecting the Dragon Princess’ sacred relic from Kratos just lies?”

At Hadith’s cold remark, the soldiers were at a loss for words.

“In the end, be it Georg, South, all of you—you’re just talk.”

In the next moment, anger reflexively appeared within the eyes of the soldiers. It seemed that they still had the energy to rebel.

They seem to be fine.

With a sigh, Hadith put his hand on his waist.

“What are you upset about? All you have to do is reclaim the Temple of the Dragon Princess and lower that flag before the imperial capital condemns you as rebels and enacts punishment.”

“Baker…! How much do you know…!?”

“Not to mention, we’ve received reinforcements.”

The reason why the magic circle sent its anti-air spell outward was because there was a group flying with dragons.

“Or, will you surrender for the sake of being spared? That way, General South won’t be left killed. Well, he’d ended up being branded as the mastermind behind the rebellion, though.”

“We can’t let that happen!”

“Is that so? Then make good use of your time, minds, and lives. You don’t want to be jeered at and punished by your hated emperor, right?”

The soldiers’ expressions tightened at Hadith’s mock filled laughter.

“I’ll do it!” A scream rose out of nowhere.

Even though they were confused, morale had to be maintained. Hadith had only recovered half of his magic, but he had to protect the city and the sacred relic.

Until Jill arrived, neither the city nor the sacred relic could be allowed to fall into the hands of Kratos.

“If so, I’d like someone to act as a messenger. I’d like to cooperate with the reinforcements.”

“B, baker… like I said earlier, are those truly reinforcements?”

“It could be either the Dragon Princess, or the second prince, Listeard.”

A buzz spread quickly. A familiar soldier spoke in a hurry.

“What do you mean?”

“First of all, this needs to be confirmed. However, even if I manage to synchronize my magic with that magical wall and create an opening for the messenger to leave through, there’s no saying he’ll be safe. To put it simply, the messenger might die.”

“What!?”

“Of course, I will protect said messenger, but I can’t guarantee the survival. So, who is willing to die?”

Towards Hadith’s grin, the soldiers gulped. Seeing that, Hadith erased his expression and clicked his tongue.

“Useless. Well, you can all die here, then.”

“I, I’ll do it!”

“No, let me do it!”

Hadith shrugged.

…They should’ve said that earlier.

Well then, how should I mobilize them?

The soldier with a familiar face gently called out to Hadith while he was contemplating.

“Baker… I am curious… the sword you wield earlier, where did it come from?”

Speaking of which, he had manifested the heavenly blade…

…Hadith blurred out while gazing towards the sky.

“Who knows. I picked it up from somewhere.”

“Hadith, wha—!? This was the perfect time for you to reveal yourself as the Dragon Emperor—!!”

“I’m just a baker.”

The familiar-looking soldier awkwardly smiled while nodding.

---

***T/N: Rave, you don’t understand. Hadith wants to go down the history as that Emperor who cooked and looked good.

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