Summoning the German Army! 〜The Former Strongest Dragon Summoner, Who Lost Everything to the Heroes,

Chapter 31

Martial Law in the Royal Capital

Translated by SoundDestiny
Edited by Klepon

※At the Royal Castle.※

“Ooooo! What is that?”

The king, looking out from his office, widened his eyes in astonishment.

He had sent his dragon-user, Bummel, to intercept Nasser, and at first glance it looked as if the situation had been settled. But suddenly, in the direction of the collapsed church headquarters, he could see the summoned dragons being shot down one after the other.

“W-what’s happening!　Is Bummel safe?? somebody!”

Gan

“My King! What’s going on?”

The usual liaison officer entered the room and bowed .

The King grabbed the man by the chest and dragged him to the window.

“Aaaa, what is that?　Explain!”

In the direction where the king was pointing at, the knight could see numerous dragons had almost covered the sky were being shot down and disappearing.

“Aa that looks like Bummel-sama’s battle. …..That’s ridiculous!?”

The liaison officer was also surprised when he turned to look at the king.

Apart from the hero, Bummel was the strongest summoner, one of the best in the world.

He had many achievements and notoriety in the battles of the demon king’s army.

“That bastard!!! Go and find Bummel! No, wait!　That was probably a battle with a heretic called Nasser or something. He’s surely coming here!”

Nasser Virginia, who came to the Adventurers’ Guild, Church headquarters and then smashed Bummel’s interception.

Considering the circumstances of his anger – his aim was clear.

The king didn’t even need to anticipate his next move.

If he deduced from the ones that Nasser had dealt with, it would be him, the king, who would be his next target.

Even though he had temporarily forgotten, he was the one who had done so much and torn Nasser to pieces.

Not many people would remain silent if such things had  been done to them ─ innocence, humiliation, ridicule, despair.

But most people were no match for the king’s power and would eventually give up, or their anger would fade over time. 

Nasser, however, had time and above all, power. He had somehow obtained the ‘power’ to oppose.  The power that was supposed to have been lost.

A battle with Bummel, the most powerful summoner and marshal of the Magic Corps, was expected to inflict heavy losses on Nasser’s army. 

But Nasser Virginia had won.

The last dragon had just been shot down in the sky beyond the window.

In other words, Bummel had lost.

“Ooh,please calm down your highness! Bummel-sama may still be alive, and above all, was that the work of the …… heretic Nasser?”

“…This stupidd human!! That’s the only man who matches with the eyewitness’ testimony, given the course of action that he took! And he’s the only man who will have the motive to do so!”

Gakin!　and the king smashed the liaison officer’s head as hard as he could.

“Think for a minute! Idiots! The Adventurers’ Guild and Church headquarters have been destroyed!”

Some might hate the Church or the Adventurers’ Guild on its own.

They were both big organisations. Resentment and envy to them definitely existed.

No doubt about that, but would there be that many people who had pure hatred for both of those organisations?

No, not really!

If there were, the only one who matched the eyewitness accounts in the city was Nasser Virginia.

He had  more than enough reason to do so.

The problem was that the king just didn’t know how to make a countermeasure.

The power to destroy the Adventurers’ Guild, bring down the church headquarters, and kick the dragon hoards to the curb.

“Well, you see. The only people I can think of who could do something like this are the hero or the Demon King.”

“Mm?”

“And since the battle lines are in stalemate, it would be hard to imagine the Demon King breaking through and rampaging. It is hard to imagine the Demon King infiltrating the Royal Capital. If that is the case, the only thing that could physically overwhelm Bummel-sama would be..”

“A hero……”

It was a good assumption from the smashed liaison officer.

“Yes…The hero does indeed have the means. With his one-hit wonder skills and his special sword, he could certainly take on the dragons.”

That was a plausible deduction as well.  But the king thought about it further, neither the motives nor the course of action seemed to be those of the hero. No, for that matter, it did not match the eyewitness testimony at all.

However,

“I see…. Good. Consider the possibility of him coming and get that guy here!”

“What? …..Yes! I will fetch him immediately!”

Happily, the liaison officer took a bow and left.

‘He’s an idiot! They’re useless…’

As the king looked at the liaison officer running off.

“I wouldn’t say it was the work of that hero, as that officer suggests, but if I call him to stay here for a reason, he’d at least be an escort.”

At least if he was on the grounds of the King’s Castle, the hero would be here to face the arrow when the time came.

If it was that heretic who had overwhelmed Bummel, he could be taken into custody.

The hero might cause considerable damage, but the king could manage to appease him by deceiving him with sweet talk and then gave more womens as a gift to catch the hero off guard.

The King was optimistic, but he was still worried while walking  around his office.

The idea that something was out to get him was very unsettling.

“Damn it……Nothing good has happened since I summoned Koji the Brave! Is he really that useful?”

The king quickly checked the military losses in the budget balance sheet.

The King was constantly scratching his head. 

Equipment of the hero.

It was a legendary piece of equipment borrowed from other countries for a fee.

And Koji’s usual fancy life.

Three days of luxury with fucking bitches with the kingdom paying for it.

Plus, the cover-up and hush money for any wrongdoing.

In addition, the complaints that emerged from the military about the reckless behaviour of the hero.

The money and effort on a single hero exceeded the kingdom’s limits.

The effect of this was that the treasury was about to be emptied, so they were forced to lower the salaries of soldiers and civil servants.

The complaints started to blow up immediately.

And yet the king still couldn’t keep up despite so many restructuring followed.

(TL: I think one of the reasons why Nasser’s captain was burned alive. It was not just about shielding Nasser but she knows all about this.)

The quantity and quality of supplies sent to the front lines were declining, and conversely, it was not possible to replenish the soldiers and weapons that were sent back.

Even repairs of the frontline fortresses that continued to receive attacks from the Demon Army were being delayed due to lack of money.

At the moment, the frontline somehow managed  to cheat its way through, but how long could it last? 

Fortunately, if the Church’s headquarters had been destroyed and the Knights of the church were disbanded, the soldiers could be absorbed.

Furthermore, it would be good to confiscate the Church’s property for some convenience.

The problem was the rumour that the Adventurers’ Guild had been destroyed.

It seemed the branches still existed, but what happened to the guildmaster who oversaw them?

The Adventurers’ Guild was a reserve force in case of emergency.

Worst-case scenario, even if the Royal Capital were to be emptied, the Adventurers’ Guild could mobilise the reserves. The king could leave the security of the Royal Capital, and even the domestic army, to the Adventurers’ Guild.

“Gugugugu……Nasser or whatever their name is, But still, this is too much!!”

On top of that, he wanted the king’s life.

The king thought that Nasser was a troublesome fellow just because his woman was stolen from him.

He had to take some kind of countermeasure. 

He didn’t know how much he could rely on that hero.

Having summoned one hero on their own initiative, he could not just send him back now saying he is useless.

The resources used to train the heroes had already reached a point where they could not be recovered.

If the king cut the kingdom’s losses here, the kingdom would face bankruptcy. The hero must defeat the Demon Lord at all cost.

“Damn you, herooooo!!!!”

Bashin!  The king cleaved away the papers piled up on his office desk.

His face was gaunt and unhealthy, but his eyes were glistening ────.

The king, breathing hard and shaking his shoulders, was again visited.

Bataan!!!

Someone opened the door vigorously.

“Nah! Y-you rude man!”

The person who entered without knocking was surprised by the king’s behaviour. He was one of the king’s well-known guards, the Commander of the Kingsguard.

For a moment he seemed to hesitate at the king’s appearance, but he immediately tightened his face from a sense of professionalism and reported at once.

“Unidentified enemies are massing!　It’s coming at us with tremendous force from the direction of the church headquarters!”

‘What!!’

“What do you mean 『Unidentified』?　You don’t mean Bummel’s 『Dragons』, do you?”

“N-o, no, my king! Several iron wagons!　And soldiers in black and ──── a monster bird in the sky, a Garuda!”

‘HA?!’

“I-isn’t that the demon army!?”

“No, sir! They’re humans!　Humans are driving the iron wagons. ────”

“That’s ridiculous!”

The king had a theory that only the empire could  do that!

Otherwise, the Demon Lord’s army had to dress as humans.

“Intercept them quickly!”

Whether it was the Empire or the Demon Army, that was not what was important now.

“The security forces in Royal Capital had already  begun the counter-attacks, but during the earlier attack on the Adventurers’ Guild and the Church headquarters, they dispersed and only attacked on their own initiative.”

“Bah, you idiot!　Then they will be destroyed individually!”

The sequential introduction of forces – the most abhorrent operation in the military.

If the enemy had 100 men and the kingdom’s army had 500 men,  the kingdom’s army would win by 500 against 100.

But what would happen if the enemy had 100 men and the kingdom’s army had 500 men, and it was divided into 5. 100-men groups  to fight the enemy 100 men five times?

If 5 people took on 100 enemies 100 times, they would lose 100 times.

That was what the Royal Guard was doing now.

“Also, I am sorry. They are breaking through one by one before the message gets through – their movements are like 『lightning』.”

(the kanji use lightning 稲妻 but yea, it’s『blitzkrieg』)

The Commander of the Kingsguard report was spot on. The king could see his point. He understood it, but…

“Then intercept them yourselves!　You’ve already rallied!”

“Of course, but we have less than 30% sufficiency to move in formation.”

‘ha?’

“30 per cent?　You’ve got to be joking!　What have you been doing all this time!!!!”

Kingsguards were human beings.

They slept, they ate, they took care of their wives just like a normal human beings.

Because of that life, they were not always in the royal castle 24 hours a day.

They also stayed in the city and went to the castle when it was time to go to work.

The guards and other soldiers were then replaced by their predecessors. The rotation was generally like this, but in an emergency, everyone must come to the castle to deal with the situation.

“This is still enough to deal with the usual degree of insurgency……but with the recent pay cuts and restructuring, morale and training levels in the army have fallen.”

“Gumee……I have explained many times that that is not an option!”

“I am aware of this, but there are many in the ranks who are not happy with the way things are going.”

The report was a painful body blow.

But there was nothing the king could do about it now.

“All right!　I want that army assembled to fortify the royal castle alone!　Oh, and get the drawbridge up!　Don’t let anyone in──── However, outside the moat, the soldiers dispersed throughout the city and off-duty soldiers are also to be mobilised. Understood?”

“Yes!”

The King’s shoulders shook as he watched the Kingsguard salute and leave.

“Every one of them is a ──── piece of shit!”