The flag fluttering in the sunlight bears a holy seal and a spiral of light that represents the breath of God.
　It is the emblem of the Holy Kingdom of Diretta, the oldest nation on the continent and the guardian of the faith.

　A vast number of soldiers were advancing along the road.
　While there were individual differences in their attire, the one thing they all had in common was the conspicuous presence of the Holy Seal.
　The same is true of the fluttering military flags, some of them are engraved on the chest of the knight's armor like a relief, or the surcoat worn over the armor, or the small one hanging from the belt, and even the miscellaneous soldiers carry the holy seal on their hands and chests.
　We are heading north. The land of Ciel-Teirah.

　A shadow gazed upon the glorious procession of the army.
　It was a girl dressed like an adventurer (at least in appearance), wearing easy to move clothes and a light corset mail, who was lying on a hill covered with a green carpet and observing the army with magic binoculars.

　I'm not sure what to say.

　The strategy meeting room of the Royal Castle of Teiraleae was filled with tension, as if the room was filled with thunderclouds.
　Surrounding the long, rugged desk were Everis, Miaranze, Alastor, Udanosuke, and the other major members of Rene's staff.
　On the far wall sat Rene, carrying the Blood Rose banner, and facing him was Tracy, who had just returned from the south.

"First of all, thank you, Tracy. How was your reconnaissance?
"Well, ...... it's already warm out there this time of year. It's already warm out there at this time of year. I could have camped out there without a sleeping bag if I'd had the magic item to keep me warm.

　When Everis, the facilitator of the meeting, spoke up, Tracy looked impressed.
　He had been on a forced reconnaissance mission.

　The Holy Kingdom of Diretta is organizing a force to invade the exiled country of Ciel-Teira. ......
　This information had come to him about half a month ago.
　The Marquis of Edfelt had requested Diretta's cooperation through Erminio Drouet, the son of Diretta's chief retainer. Therefore, the flow of events was already underway, and this development could be said to have been predicted.
　However, Diletta's move was still sudden.
　There is a rumor that the Drouet family, who somehow got wind of Rene's murder of Erminio, played an active role in the preparations for this battle, but the truth is unknown. It is impossible to know what happened to Diretta from the distant Ciel-Teira.

"What's the number?

　Rene asks simply.
　Incidentally, Rene was sitting in a specially raised chair because the chair provided in the room only allowed him to sit at the desk from the shoulders up.
　Rene was quite reluctant because it reminded him of a child's chair in a family restaurant, but he made a hard decision because he felt that the lack of seat height was more unattractive.

I hope it only costs ......5 million.

　Tracy smiled a little wickedly and spread her white-finned fingers.

　No one made a sound.
　Only Mehranze kept his triangular ears down.

　Currently, Rene has about 8,000 troops in his possession.
　If it was for the defense of the mainland, he could use magic power from the earth's veins to maintain the undead and ease Rene's burden, but he still lacks the numbers.
　And not only are they outnumbered, they are also incompatible. The undead can no longer maintain their existence and will perish if their evil spirits are neutralized by the holy air, but the humans, on the other hand, will not die immediately even if they are exposed to some evil spirits.
　The Diretta Sacred Kingdom Army is skilled in the use of holy air and has many users of sacred magic. If you want to crush them with physical force, you will need many times more undead than the enemy.

Of course, I'm talking about the number of combatants only.
　Of course, I'm talking about the number of combatants only," he said. If you look at it in detail, there are about 3,000 cavalrymen and 200 air cavalrymen.
　Oh, that's right. What surprised me was that I could not find any "wagons". I saw a group of what looked like cavalry, but I couldn't find any artifact weapons that they were using.
　Of course, there were people driving horses and beasts, but they were only carrying personal belongings.
I knew it. They're carrying a lot of magic items for transportation. Dilettante is serious.
　If there's only people walking on their own feet, marching magic will work extraordinarily well. We've got a week before they get here.

　Evelisse made a pessimistic prediction.
　Even for the undead, who can move tirelessly, there is not enough time to prepare for an interception.

What's more surprising is the number of Temple Knights.
　It's the Temple Knights who are carrying the banner with only the holy seal, right?　I'd say there were about five thousand of them.
I don't know if there are that many Temple Knights in the headquarters. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I'm not the only one.
I'm not sure if the Temple Knights will be that much of a presence at the headquarters.
　It seems that the story of the battle that took out Noa Curio's supply troops has been passed down.
　I don't know if Noahcurio told them or if Diretta overheard it on her own.
"That's tough. Even if you can't get all of them to have accessories, if there are a certain number of sacred magic users left, the charm will be broken.
The number of adventurers and mercenaries is a little less. I think there were about a thousand in total.
Hmm. The Direttas and the Temple Knights would have the advantage in a battle against the undead, so they decided that adding more meat shields would only make them material for the undead. ......
The problem is the breakdown. I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm sure it's a good idea.
"Whoa, whoa, Diretta. Are you sure this is profitable?

　The scribe, a skeleton, writes Tracy's report on the chalkboard one after another.
　Evelisse was holding her head in her hands, ruffling her obscene purple hair.

"'The Shiro Axe Brigade'?
"It's a famous mercenary group that operates around Diretta.
　They have a reputation for being greedy with money, but one man can do the work of five soldiers.

　Rene's question was answered by Tracy.

　The difference between a mercenary and an adventurer is a bit vague, but generally speaking, a mercenary is someone who fights against people or armies. Since small customers hire adventurers, mercenaries inevitably seek out large customers and become a large group.


　Those who do not belong to the adventurer's guild and accept adventurer-like requests sometimes call themselves "free mercenaries," but sooner or later these people will be noticed by the adventurer's guild, and they will face less-than-pleasant consequences.

　In the case of a battle between two small countries, the winner could be determined by who has the stronger mercenary group.
　A famous mercenary group is more of a threat than an army.

So, ...... to the point, Tracy. How many Moon Eaters were there?
"Hmm, I went a little deeper to determine the number. Compliment, compliment.

　Evelisse says, and Tracy responds, "That's 23 fighters.

"Twenty-three combatants. Twenty-three of them are 'Sai-sha'?　I don't know.　I'm sure you've heard of them.

　Silence filled the conference room.
　Only the sound of the scribe's skeleton's merciless chalk echoed in the room like the needle of a time bomb.

"Tell me your analysis, Everis. Can you ...... win?
"Well, ...... you can't. They're not careless and they're not arrogant. It's like they've come out with a lineup that can destroy us three times over.

　It's just that they've come out with a lineup that can destroy us three times over," Everis asserted with a hint of regret.

I'm not sure what to say. If we were to go head to head with our current strength, ten Moon Eater fighters would be enough to annihilate us. If there are twice that many, there is a limit to how much you can fool them. As long as they're a powerful individual force, they can't be manipulated by the military.
　Moreover, they will not come alone. They will probably come as part of a powerful army, aiming at the princesses, Udanosuke, and others who are too strong to be controlled by numbers.
　If that happens, there's no way to stop the enemy army.

　Rene did not have any particular material to refute Everis' analysis.
　They are overwhelmingly inferior in both numbers and quality of troops. In the event of a siege, an undead army with no regard for morale or supply will have an advantage, but if the opponent has an overwhelming number of soldiers and siege weapons, they will eventually be pushed out.
　The number of airborne cavalry is also too different. If you lose the air battle, you will be exposed to constant attacks from above, and the siege itself will become difficult.
　Even more alarming is the "Moon Eaters". Rene himself knows firsthand the horror of the Moon Eater's inner workings, the Stigma of Battle. You can't expect to be able to take on that many people at once, no matter how much Rene has tried to strengthen himself.

　He will lose in a military-to-military battle, and he will lose in an elite to elite battle. That means...

"Princess, I would like to make a suggestion to fulfill my responsibility as your chief of staff.
"Don't tell everyone, Everis. I know.

　"Don't tell the others, Everith. I know." Rene interrupted Everith and made a decision.

"The exiled nation of Ciel-Teira abandons its capital city of Teiralea.