Gacha Kingdom Building-Chapter 221: Moving Pieces

--This chapter is written using Ellie's POV--

I used to love traveling far away so much.

Staying in the same place for too long was almost unthinkable for me.

There was always an interesting country to visit and new people to meet...

Unfortunately, ever since I joined the Kingdom, I have had fewer chances to travel...

It's unfortunate, really, but... I don't feel like complaining.

Because throughout my voyages, I've always kept a sense of longing... A small regret for having left behind my home...

Even though I had so much fun, this feeling never went away.

Until now...

However!

I won't budge on this!

There's not enough adventure!

Ellie: "Uwah..."

Or so I say, but...

My adventurous self seems to be content as well...

The truth is that, ever since this event started, I've had a bunch of chances to enjoy some sightseeing.

And this time, the one who dropped the ball was me.

Going all the way from Terith's capital to Evretis' was going to be by far our longest trip, and even though I was looking forward to it, once I got inside the caravan's interior I started feeling my body relax and my consciousness fade...

Before I knew it, I had slept for hours, missing almost the entire morning and a bunch of different locations I wanted to take a look at...

Hrmm...

It wasn't my fault though...

I mean, yes, I'm utterly and completely responsible. And I can't blame anyone else for it, but!

The interior of the caravan was small and cramped, everyone was so close to each other, speaking in a low voice with the occasional soft laughter and the sounds of nature outside.

And the wooden bench... Although it was cold and hard and sitting on it for hours hurt my butt...

The fact that the carriage kept shaking a little...

It made for such a calm and peaceful ride...

I think it would be weird to not fall asleep and take a nap...

Yes...

It was completely justified!

Miwen: "You can rest a little more if you want..."

Ellie: "Mhnm... It's fine like this..."

Ah, yes...

Maybe I could blame him.

It's not fair that he makes for such a perfect pillow to rest my head against.

Even though he is tall and strong, he is surprisingly not very muscular. His chest is so nice... It's soft, almost fluffy...

It's also warm... Not too much, just... Perfect.

I'm not sure when he placed his hand on the back of my head.

It must've been while I was sleeping, but... The feeling of him gently stroking my hair and the nape of my neck was incredibly comforting.

I don't mind riding on Angelica's back or being teleported from the Kingdom to wherever we need to be.

I admit it, it's very convenient.

However... I was secretly wishing for something like this...

These moments... Even though I know I shouldn't, I want them to last forever...

It's strange coming from me, someone who abandoned the normalcy of everyday life, but...

I think I found something truly special now.

I almost don't want to go somewhere else...

Almost.

Miwen: "We're stopping here."

Ellie: "Nooo~"

Miwen: "...Hm?"

Ellie: "Ahem! Sorry..."

Before I noticed it, I was half-asleep and hours had passed again...

It was so embarrassing...

His caressing made me sleep like a baby.

I have no idea why, but I feel so much at peace when I'm around him.

It's an uncontrollable feeling. It's like my heart longs for him.

However, as much as I enjoyed our time traveling, it inevitably came to an end when we reached our destination a few days after parting from Terith's capital and then from Evretis'.

Beatrice: "Hm... I must ask, are you sure about this? They have reinforced their defenses, and I'm sure there are other places less guarded that are worth attacking more..."

This time, we came to a familiar location... At least to Miwen.

It was the city he had attacked before, on the border between Evretis and Hamperlon.

From what I understand, he decided to abandon it and was quite successful in his scheme to annihilate a makeshift army raised by some local nobles.

The reason for this decision was obviously because of Terith and his plan to take it over by surprise, but it felt a little weird to come here again.

Like Bea said, it was easy to sense that they had increased their defenses.

While I might not have been present during the first raid, it's just hard to see a fortress so well-defended.

Two barriers protected the city. I couldn't tell the system myself, but I could sense an immense quantity of mana both in flux and held in place.

According to Bea, it was a pretty refined system, the first layer being held by consuming the mana of the mages inside the city, and the second layer relying on a reserve of mana, much more robust, but less malleable.

The idea was clearly to have the second barrier stall for time in case the first fell, that way, any attack strong enough to break through one barrier would, at most, crack the second after losing most of its strength.

Hopefully, this would allow the mages inside to prepare for the next wave.

It's...

Ellie: "Anti-Claire measures..."

Beatrice: "...Which is a little worrisome, considering Claire is not here."

Miwen: "Oh? Are you admitting defeat? I thought you were more confident than that."

I didn't mean to say that... The words just left my mouth out of sheer surprise.

To think Claire left such an impression... I can see why she was so famous in her world.

Unfortunately, even though Miwen seemed confident, I had to agree with Bea's first assessment.

He had decided to separate the two armies, Terith's and Evretis', because of the pride of Evretis' men after winning and their inability to cooperate.

While the other girls and I came here to the south with him, Licia, Claire, and Mia stayed to help with the charge in the north, while the Valkyries reinforced Terith's capital to protect Isabella.

This was the result of the days we spent planning, but...

There were a few questions still unanswered.

One of them was... Why this place?

Miwen seems intent on attacking it, but it doesn't make much sense.

It doesn't seem to be that special. It's as good of a platform to launch more attacks as any other city, and it should already have served its purpose.

Not to mention... It's a little demoralizing for the soldiers to fight for a city we had already taken before...

Beatrice: "One month..."

Miwen: "Hm?"

Beatrice: "I can bring down their barriers by myself in one month."

Miwen: "I see, I see... No need to rush though."

He provokes her, and then he says that...

Haah... It's hard to understand what is on his mind sometimes.

Miwen: "Now... Let's set camp."

We were staying close to a village, but in order to reach the city, we had no option but to camp in a nearby forest.

Otherwise, we would tire the soldiers every time we tried to raid or break the barriers.

Thanks to magic and the amount of men we had with us, we were able to set up quite decent structures on the first night.

They were nothing like the kingdom's houses, but this was already the second time this army did something like this, and they clearly had learned a thing or two from the first time they did it.

Well, earth walls and such are hardly luxurious, but... At least the girls and I had a nice place for ourselves.

Miwen: "..."

Ellie: "...Something worrying you?"

We were by a campfire, close to our "tent".

Miwen volunteered to be the first to keep watch, and he even took more hours than necessary, so... I thought it would be nice to keep him company for a little while.

Even though we were surrounded by other men, I couldn't help but reminisce about the first days in the Kingdom and a similar moment we had together.

Angelica: "...Is it Rodky?"

Only this time we had even more people with us...

And she had even gone and taken my place on his lap...

Miwen: "Something like that..."

Even though I didn't say anything, Miwen quickly noticed my dissatisfaction and tapped his lap, telling me to sit there.

As for his worries...

While the girls and I enjoyed the trip to Rodky, apparently, there's some bad blood between Miwen, Elizabeth, and the... Ruler(?) of the city.

I'm not sure about the details, but it seems like Elizabeth has even challenged Miwen about it...

Well, none of this would matter if not for the news we received of the city's movements.

It seems like, while it has occurred in the past, the city has deviated from its normal route and is now coming in our direction.

We are still unsure where exactly it is going, so Miwen has decided to have Elizabeth and her pet dragon advance toward Hamperlon's territories so that, if Nissa goes after them, their battle doesn't intervene in ours.

It also helps that this should hopefully hurt their war effort a little...

Especially since not many nations are willing to back them after what Gabriella said and the fact that, from their perspective, Hamperlon is fighting a meaningless war of conquest again, as they should be the ones keeping Sabrina hostage instead of us.

Sincerely... I wonder if he predicted this would help so much...

That other countries would be more worried about defending themselves than assisting with the world-ending threat that their neighbors are facing...

Angelica: "Then... Is it Hamperlon's King?"

Miwen: "Yeah... It still doesn't make sense to me."

During the invasion of Maides' Island, Hamperlon had a king and three princes.

The first prince didn't participate in the war. It is said that he was still injured and was focusing on internal matters at the time.

However, he died under... Unlikely circumstances... Just a few months after the conquest of Maides' Island. Most sources cite some sort of disease...

This would have made Normyu, the second prince, the one to inherit the throne in case of the king's passing.

From what we've heard, he is probably this world's most fearsome man.

Well... That's before we knew about someone capable of challenging Elizabeth. And Elizabeth. And also the dragon, but...

Yeah, he is said to be immensely powerful, possessing a bunch of different Gifts...

Or... He was said to be immensely powerful.

It seems he has died during the invasion of Maides' Island after a duel against Melissa, Mia's mother.

The only problem is that... This can't be.

According to Miwen, Melissa earned enough experience to level up before her death, as Miwen verified through [Gacha Kingdom Building].

This much cannot be a lite.

However... She was already very close to a level-up due to the constant fighting and the killing of one of their generals.

Basically, even if she had only killed a few common footsoldiers, it would have been enough for her to level up.

Without being there, it's impossible to know exactly what happened, and most of the Snow White Wolves seem to support the idea that Melissa and Normyu fought each other.

Apparently, she even took one of his arms, but...

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They all agree that she did not win that fight.

And Miwen... Seems to believe the same.

At the time, he was only level 7. If Melissa had killed someone so powerful, she would have gained a lot of experience, and both of them would have leveled up thanks to the effects of [Gacha Kingdom Building].

The fact that only she leveled up supports the idea that she only killed the weaker soldiers instead of anyone worth a lot of experience...

But...

It's also a fact that Normyu died there...

Also... For failing to protect the prince, one of the generals, the one known as 'The Seven Rainbow Miracles', was executed, even though it seems like her contributions to the war were key in their victory...

In any case... A few years ago, the then-king died of old age, and Gerbil, without any other siblings, became king.

It's all very suspicious...

Miwen: "The more I think about what happened on the Island, the less sense it makes. Gerbil was supposed to be astute, but under his command, they lost a general and a prince... And then to execute the key to their success... The death of the crown prince is also odd, but since he was already injured, it's the least suspicious event... Well, perhaps behind the king's death... I just... Don't know. It feels so convenient for Gerbil but at the same time... He was shamed for his results in the war... He did come out as the winner in almost every sense, but... There was a hefty cost for quite a long time... "

Bea: "...Does the truth even matter? It won't change what we need to do, right?"

Miwen: "...I guess. But it helps to understand your enemy. Also, shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Bea: "I had a few ideas I wanted to write down. When I heard you, I couldn't help myself to take a peek~"

Miwen: "Talk about suspicious..."

The first night in the camp...

There wasn't any fighting, but in many ways, it was all about getting ready for what was to come.