Like a starving wild dog, Puyol walked back and forth in a panic in his office. The sound of soldiers running outside the window scared him so much that he scampered behind his work desk to hide.

“Mayor… please don’t be so afraid.”

The commander of the local garrison, Mazari, said helplessly. Puyol, upon hearing his words, stroked his beard and started to do some stretches behind his work desk.

“W-w-what are you saying, I’m not afraid, why would I be afraid? I-I-I’m just exercising my body because of what happened that day. Hu, Her, Ha!”

“Something big happened again today.” Mazari, who was sat in front of the round conference table, gave a long sigh, then crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“… even though I told you not to be so afraid, our current situation doesn’t look good. One third of the town has already been occupied by rebels, and the number of people who want to join them are rising with each pa.s.sing day.”

“T-t-then don’t talk about these scary things in such detail…”

“Mayor, I can’t do that. You must know of our current situation in order to make decisions.”

“Hmmm, you’re right…”

Mayor Puyol stood up and stretched his slightly overweight body, before sitting back down on his chair. Holding his head in his hands, he started playing around with his quill in nervousness and anxiety.

“Hey, that memorial we sent back to the Holy Capital asking for reinforcements… has it been safely delivered yet? The local garrison stationed here aren’t going to be able to hold off the rebels for too long.”

“You’re right. And reports from my soldiers have shown that the rebels have people who know combat magic. If they continue to rebel, we may be forced to abandon the town.”

“What? This town doesn’t even have a Branch Academy of the Royal Magic Academy, so rebels who can use combat magic shouldn’t exist…”

“Yeah, so I believe that some of the rebels aren’t from our town, but from elsewhere. I suspect that this whole uprising was initiated by people with ulterior motives against the kingdom.”

“Mn…. right, when will reinforcements arrive?”

“That huh…. even if the memorial has already arrived at the Capital, whether they’ll actually send reinforcements over is an uncertainty.”

“W-w-why?”

“Because Seriba’s too close to the kingdom’s borders.” Mazari shrugged in frustration.

This mayor with a short mustache may be great at handling internal affairs of a town or city, but when it came to military affairs, he was a greenhorn, a rookie without knowledge and strong decision-making skills. Therefore, Mazari practically had to handle this urgent situation by himself. Even though his head hurt from the burden, Mazari didn’t complain, because he was a soldier who always abided by the dogma – “Do your best no matter the situation”.

Pointing at the map spread open on the conference table before him, Mazari said:

“— as you can see on the map, past the mountain range in the south is the territory of followers of the Wild G.o.d, and Bagueiro has great influence over there.

“Of course I know that, I’m the mayor of Seriba!”

Puyol slammed with his hand in anger, then tilted his head and asked:

“What does this have to do with why reinforcements may come late?”

“Sending large troops into the town may provoke Bagueiro…”

“In other words…?”

“Bagueiro will think that it’s a sign of invasion, so they’ll send large troops over the mountain range into Yamoda.”

“What! T-t-then it’s going to be really bad! If we’re not careful, we might incite a clash between Yamodan and Bagueiroran troops! And at that time, the rebel uprising here will only be an appetizer to a much greater conflict!”

“You’re right. That’s why there’s a high possibility that we won’t be getting reinforcements any time soon.”

“F-f-f.u.c.k! It’s impossible to hold off the rebels with only the local garrison! They’re severely untrained and G.o.dd.a.m.n weak!”

“Mayor, I know it’s a bit too late, but I’m very sorry about the fact that the local garrison’s so weak and uncoordinated.

Seriba had a population of 2000 people, so the local garrison only had less than 400 members. ⅓ of the garrison had already turned their coats, so the number of rebels had built up to an incredible 700 people. Of course, not all rebels had combat ability, and the local garrison was a standard Yamodan troop, not that easily overwhelmed by numbers alone, but n.o.body could predict the future. After all, rebels were appearing even in the local garrison!

“—anyways… there’s a chance that the main perpetrators of this uprising are Bagueiro and the followers of the Wild G.o.d?!”

“Even if that were so, our situation would not change… In short, before the reinforcements from the Capital arrive, we must do anything and everything to hold out. I hope you understand what I mean by that, Mayor. Anything and everything.”

“B-b-but there’s nothing I can do to contribute to the battle effort! I’m just a weak scholar!”

“Please don’t speak like you’re proud of that.”

Commander Mazari stood up, tipped his hat, then sighed once again.