Part One, Section Two: “Crisis Over My Homeland”
Chapter Nineteen (Mia’s POV)
“Ugh, ugh, ugyaaaah! Quick! Quick! This way! Hurry, come this way!”
A voice—resembling a scream—of Prince Julius resounded once more. That man, brimming with unwavering confidence, nonchalantly emerged at the location where a saint was casting a protective barrier. It seemed as though he intended to enjoy a high view of the scene.
Lately, the effects of what Philia called the Demon Realm’s approach had become increasingly apparent, with groups of demons bursting forth all at once being a common occurrence.
Prince Julius, accompanied by numerous of his personal guards, was lounging around in a carefree manner. However, he was shocked to see the terrifying demons roar and attack en masse in person. He appeared to lose his composure, his knees were shaking as he, full of tears, absurdly urged his soldiers to eliminate the demons quickly.
“I-I-I’m getting a bit of a stomachache… P-Perhaps it’s time for me to take my leave…”
Not long after arriving at the scene, Prince Julius turned pale and said such a thing to me…
And not so long ago he was bragging that Girtonia was the safest place in the world.
“Oh, you are leaving already, Your Highness? As you can see, the situation continues to be dangerous because I’m not capable enough. Do you understand now?”
For the time being, I emphasized to the utterly terrified prince that the manpower on the scene was insufficient. I couldn’t accept the country falling because this man misjudged the situation.
“D-D-Dangerous? That’s not the case. You and our elite forces of Girtonia are handling things well. Mia, I’m not scared, really. It’s just that my stomach hurts, and I genuinely want to go back quickly.”
Putting up a facade of false bravado, the prince stubbornly refused to admit his wrongdoing. Just as I thought, having him as the leader was no good. Maybe it would be better if he were to be killed by demons, that way he might actually contribute the most to the country…
Moreover, even though he’s saying he wants to go back quickly…
“Your Highness, you can’t leave until we’ve managed to break through this situation of being surrounded by demons…”
“Huh…? W-Wait, what?! How did…!”
I conveyed to him that we are currently surrounded by demons. Prince Julius, emitting a high-pitched and grating scream, collapsed to the ground, his legs giving way as he slumped weakly.
Things are bad… It might be too late already.
The barriers seemed to be on the verge of breaking, and although I had been attacking the demons at critical places, it was becoming harder to keep up. If I could maintain the precision of my spells even after working through the night like Philia, we might manage somehow, but I was not capable of doing that.
At the earliest, today, and at the latest, within three days—this country’s defense would collapse. That’s why we needed military strength. Even if my barriers break and a massive horde of demons pour forth, we needed forces capable of holding the line until I could arrive…
“Before long, if things continue like this in my absence, similar situations will unfold throughout various parts of the country. Your Highness, please imagine it. At this rate, even the capital will be unsafe.”
“Ugh… I don’t need a woman’s advice. You’re just imitating Philia, right? Mia, you only need to smile, that will give hope.”
Despite my careful and detailed explanations thus far, the prince continued to be unyielding with his usual refrain of "I don’t want to listen to a woman’s opinion." I couldn’t fathom why he was so obstinate…
“Or do you want to disgrace me like Philia did?”
“Disgrace you like my sister…?”
“N-Never mind…”
And now he brought up Philia’s name and started talking about disgrace. What happened between him and my sister? I had been thinking this for a while, but it seemed like he had some sort of complex when it came to Philia…
““Growl…””
Amidst that conversation, a pack of werewolves came charging towards us with great momentum. There was no other choice, even though it would further delay the time to reinforce the barriers… I would have to activate a spell and deal with them…
“ Kyaaa! I’m gonna beeee killeeeed!!”
“Ouch! Y-Your Highness!?”
As I tried to brace myself, Prince Julius gave me a firm push to my back, attempting to shove me in the direction of the demons.
Hey, isn’t that a bit dangerous? For all your talk about what a woman should or shouldn’t say, you’re not acting very manly at all.
I swiftly activated an offensive spell and cleared out the group of demons. However, Prince Julius crouched down, trembling uncontrollably. Then, he uttered something unbelievable.
“Y-Yes, that’s it. All of this is because of Philia, who deserted the nation and vanished. Let’s bring her back. Then, make her assume responsibility and wipe out all the demons. Hehehe.”
What did you say? This man… Sis is not here precisely because you sold her. I thought seeing demons up close and frightening him might shock some decency into him, but… he thinks of this instead…?
“Or I’ll make that Marquis Adenauer who eagerly wanted to sell her pay up. Yes, it’s his fault. He was happy at the idea of Philia fetching a good sum of money…”
He further revealed how eager the father was to sell Philia. As I suspected, the father was also involved… I had a feeling, but I wanted to believe otherwise…
Sis, I’m sorry. I never noticed anything… But don’t worry, I’ll protect this country…
And then…
I’ll make sure, no matter what, that these people face retribution… Sis…
the little sis should run . the people exept the king and first prince or idiots
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