Of the Blue Army of the Empire of Caenis, the number of troops deployed to capture the Great Forest of Gethenfall (according to official figures, the number is even higher) was about 60,000. And the death toll from this battle was around 2,000.
　The Blue Army was forced to retreat, though it was not so bad that it was crippled.

　"The Blue Army knew of the existence of the Rose Princess of Hell, and had prepared countermeasures.
　However, they did not expect her to appear here and now. After all, in order to reach the Great Forest of Goosenfall from the Krukaru Mountains, the Blue Army had to cross the Lugarut Kingdom to the south, but the spies they had sent to the Lugarut Kingdom had failed to catch the demon's march at all.
　The army of undead that attacked the Blue Army was the result of the sudden appearance of the "Rose Princess of Hell," who turned into an undead being on the spot by spraying corpses from her storage magic.
　There were a few other undead, ogre, and large dog demons, but they were few and far between. In other words, there were enough of them to move secretly, and the Blue Army had been successfully defeated by a small elite formation for a surprise attack.

　When it came to the stage of sweeping away the remaining enemies, the defensive posture of the entire army and the spirits of the soldiers relaxed.
　Then, the blue army was ripped apart by the demon army that suddenly appeared.

　Overrun from the heavens and the earth, soldiers bewitched by the vampire's evil eye would fight each other, and those who died would be resurrected on the spot as undead and join the enemy.
　It's a nightmare.
　Users of sacred magic broke the enchantment of the soldiers and dealt with the undead, but the damage was widespread due to the delay in the initial response, and the situation could not be resolved in the blink of an eye.

　When the chaos finally subsided, the survivors of the nearly isolated elven soldiers had somehow retreated, and the undead had suddenly disappeared. There were few corpses left of the slain soldiers, and even a dozen or so of their cannons had been taken, along with a magic item for storage.
　Once you have achieved as much as you can, retreat before you are counterattacked. It's a lightning-quick one-hit-withdrawal strategy.

　There is nothing to be gained by continuing the battle. The Blue Army had no choice but to retreat temporarily in order to calm the troops down.

　In the south of the Great Forest.

　The meeting was held in the south of the Great Forest.

　Under the glow of the moon, a military tent was set up.
　Surrounding it was an army of undead, ogres, lizardmen, and other demons.
　The flags were tattered as if they had been torn from a sack, and the rose emblem, painted in human blood, fluttered horribly in the night sky.

　Inside the tent with its horrifying red and black thorns, however, it was surprisingly bright.
　A number of magical lighting devices were placed along the walls and hung from the ceiling.
　There were several figures, facing each other across the table.

"I am Alastor Daryl Gerald.
　I am Alastor Daryl Gerald, trusted by the Princess to serve as Marshal of the Armed Forces in the exiled land of Ciel-Teira.

　An old ghoul gentleman with pale skin and cloudy eyes, too pale to be bloodthirsty, bowed condescendingly.
　He glared at his opponents with eyes that showed a keen intelligence that would not allow him to be underestimated as just an undead.

"Before we talk, now.
　I thought the princess had requested that someone with the authority to make decisions should come?

　The figures facing each other across the table were growing out of the ground.
　The vines that grew out of the ground had gathered together to form an elaborate human form, like a torrent.
　It took the form of a beautiful female elf without a stitch of clothing.

"So that's Elvish etiquette.
　I'm surprised that you would send such a wooden doll when the princess has come herself.

　In response to the old gentleman's sarcasm, the vine doll put her hand on her bare chest and bowed her head in a begrudging manner.

"Please forgive my rudeness. I am sure you understand that I cannot easily believe your assurances of my safety.
　My name is Lieramires, a warrior of the tribe of the Rock-Crawling Shiro Serpent. I am indeed a warrior who uses the art of delivering my will and words, but the real me now has my mentor, Lord Jibal Maguza, by my side.
　I will deliver your words to the guru, and I will deliver the guru's words to you.

　Riela Milles spat out the words she had prepared in advance, while observing the undead through the eyes of her wooden doll.

　It's a good idea to take a look at the actual information on the web.
　I'm not sure if it was really help or not. ......

　I'm not sure if it was really help or not.
　You will find a lot of things that you can do to make your life easier.
　A female vampire wearing a maid's uniform for some reason, with triangular ears like a cat's and wings made of membrane.
　And beyond that.

　A small figure sits on a portable throne made of human bones, an object that can only be described as an assembly line.
　The figure is breathtakingly horrifying and spine-chillingly beautiful.
　A girl with silver hair and eyes wearing a pure white dress. Her face seemed innocent enough, but Lieramires could see the cold glow that lurked behind her eyes, a glow that could only be described as madness because it was so pure.
　She was holding a strange sword that looked like it was carved out of a crimson gemstone. On the skirt of her dress was a blood rose, the same as the military flag, and on her thin neck floated a bruise of vermilion, like a collar.

　The Council of Elders and Rielamires finally learned her name from an elf who came to the village to do business.
　Calamity from the North...... "The Rose Princess of Hell".

　It was unbecoming of a proud tribal warrior, but just being here through the puppets made Rielramirez shudder.
　Only a real idiot or a suicidal person would go out to a place like this just because he was summoned.

　Alastor looked at the "Rose Princess of Hell" sitting behind him.
　She didn't seem to react at all, but Alastor seemed to get some sort of answer.

"....... I'll give you a little concession then.
　Take that.
"Yes.

　The cat-eared vampire took two pieces of paper from a box in the corner of the tent and placed them on the table.

"At least let me see your face. You know how to use them, don't you?
　If you're in this place, you'll be able to communicate from the edge of the forest.

　It is a magic item that uses two cards in combination to deliver a voice and a figure to the other party.
　It was a Visioner.

　It's a magic item that lets you combine two cards to deliver a voice and a figure to the other party.

　The Visioner was activated long after the vine grass doll had brought back one of the two cards.
　He was probably checking to see if there was a curse on them.



　There was a translucent figure standing in the tent. It was an old man, an elf, adorned all over with the feathers of birds and the bones and fangs of beasts. His hair was balding, and he was so thin all over that his joints looked swollen.
　There was something about him that reminded me even more of a dead tree, though the term "old man like a dead tree" is often used. However, this does not mean that he is rotting away.
　His body may be thin and emaciated, but his appearance shows the years he has spent in the world. He had the appearance of an old man who could not be eaten whether he was boiled or roasted.

I have never seen you before.
　I am Jivarmaguza, an imam of the tribe of the Rock-Crawling Shiro Serpent.
　For those outside the forest to understand, I am a sub-chief. I'm here on behalf of the ailing chief.
"Thank you for your kindness. I am Rene "Rosy" Luvia Ciel-Teira.
　I'm the first princess of the exiled country of Ciel-Teira, and I'm also the acting king after your father's death.

　Rene was standing on a skeleton platform with one hand on the visionary on the table. While in this position, she picks up her skirt and makes a slight knee-bend bow.

　The only reason René is touching the bill is that he needs to do this in order to deliver his voice and appearance to the Visioner, and Jibal Maguza's image is visible and audible to everyone except René.

　Jivarmaguza seemed to have some doubts when he heard René's introduction, but he did not show it in his attitude.
　However, he was genuinely surprised by René's next words.

I have only one wish. Let us join hands and face the threat of the Empire.
"...... What?
I just want to find some peace here.
　However, the Blue Army of the Empire of Caenis is currently invading, and it is only a matter of time before they threaten our territory.
　Therefore, it would be in our mutual interest to work together to resist the invasion.

　Jivarmaguza immediately returned to his hard poker face and looked at Rene with a glare.
　He seemed to be intimidated, but René did not care.

I don't want to take your forest.
　I don't want to take your forest. I just want to have a sincere military alliance there.
　If we can have each other's backs on the battlefield, I will ask for nothing more.
"...... Before we talk about that, we need to make one thing clear.
　The help you just gave us was not ours to give.
　It was not something we asked for, and there was no reason to ask for it, you just jumped into the battlefield on your own and fought on your own.
What are you doing at ......?
"Miaranze.

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　I'm not sure what to make of it.
　The exiled Ciel-Teirah aided the defeated elves and took the Imperial Blue Army by surprise.
　They killed their soldiers, took their corpses, captured their artillery, and by the time the blue army had regained their position, they had disappeared.
　This forced the Blue Army to retreat temporarily, and the elves were able to save their lives.

　However, Jivarmaguza's position was that even if it was a big lie, he had to insist that he not be underestimated.
　In the world of politics, pretense is the most important thing.
　That's why Rene is not upset about this.

You're right. But I think that battle showed you the power of our nation.
　...... No matter how strong the elven warriors are, it will be difficult for the elves of the forest alone to continue fighting against the west. That is why you allied with the human nations to fight against the west.
　I think you should join forces with a new ally to replace the two nations that have fallen to the forces of the Caenis Empire.
"I'm afraid you're mistaken, ....... No, I think you're conveniently forgetting something.
　We are a human race and you are a demon.

　It was a premise that was all too obvious.
　Any nation of humans that allies with demons or engages in evil laws will be condemned as evil.
　If they lose the recognition from the temple as a legitimate nation, they will have a good reason to invade that nation. It would be devoured from all sides, and there would be nothing left of it.

　But Rene had seen it coming. He saw his inner turmoil. His doubts.
　Even though he was not here, he was within range of René's "emotional detection".
　He is trapped to the point that he is considering a proposal that should be kicked out, such as forming an alliance with the undead.
　Objectively speaking, of course, this is the situation, but even the hard-headed leadership has lost its way.

People.
　Human beings.
　...... That's what I used to be called until a few months ago. And I never questioned it.
　But then those same people killed me and I was no longer a person.
　By a pretender recognized by the temple as the rightful monarchy.

　Rene smiles.
　Jivarmaguza's face was hard, but he was flinching inwardly.

It is said that the Empire of Caenis is pursuing a war of aggression under the pretense that a nation's strength is necessary for the war against the evil gods.
　Are you going to martyr yourselves to that preconceived notion?　Are you willing to give up the forest to die in order to feed the Caenis Empire?
　Or do you want to ......

　Or are you willing to join forces with the undead?

　You know what I mean. I'm not sure what to say, but I'm going to say it.
　You know what I mean.

'Of course, I understand your position.
　You don't want to make a big show of friendship and fight against the world.
"Of course!
"So, this is an unspoken alliance.
　I'm not asking you to give me an answer here. Please discuss it with the people of your village.



　Jibarmaguza fell silent. He did not say "yes" or "no".
　It would have been too tempting to refuse, too wicked a proposal to jump at. I put everything on hold in silence.

　A drowning man grasps at straws. The power of Ciel-Teira's exile is not a straw, but a reliable helper.
　But what would they pay for it?
　It was natural to be wary.

"Then ......

　Rene lowered his eyes a little, as if in sorrow.

"We believe that there may be some unfortunate misunderstanding, not malice, but ...... please stop attacking us.
"What?

　Rene's modest request was met with a puzzled look from Jivarmaguza.
　It didn't seem like an act.

　--Pattern B.

　Rene gave some instructions to the undead under his command by thought.
　It was right after that.

"Princess, it's coming!

　At that moment, Rene's caller received an urgent message from Everis.
　Rene and his vassals were suddenly on alert.

　Shortly after.
　A white explosion blew away the tent.