Chapter 69: No! We were drafted!
“Hm…” Eli paced around her bedroom as she pondered Alicia’s prediction. The school year was approaching its end. Soon, they could spend the winter in her hometown. She couldn’t wait. There was so much she wanted to do in her hometown.
Alas, Alicia’s words just wouldn’t leave her mind. Eli wondered whether she had to take more precautions. Then, an idea came to her mind. She could just build an outpost and cut off the forest. Without the forest, they would spot the invader long before they could siege her territory.
And so, winter came, and just as Eli was about to return home with her father, a military official blocked her from her carriage. The military official brought a crest from Duke Bron, and the crown had approved of it.
“Greetings, Lady Elidranthia and Mage Alicia. Your country needs you. We are in an emergency and need every high ranking mage we could get. You have been summoned to the Western Front. Please use the teleportation portal to the western frontier,” the messenger said as he handed over a letter to them.
“Huh? Are you nuts? They haven’t even graduated yet!” The count was shocked that the duke asked his little girl and the maid to march into the battlefield so soon. In his letter, Duke Bron said that the situation on the western frontier had taken a turn for the worse. After they had lost their seventh battalion, there was an unexpected situation which forced their hands.
“We only asked Alicia and Elidranthia to fill arcane stones and heal the injured, nothing more. They will be safe in a fortress of Terie,” the messenger said. The count wanted to refuse, but he knew he couldn’t. The count owed Duke Bron for supporting Alicia during her trial.
“... You must ensure her safety, understand? They are the future of Shadowstep,” the count said. “And the future of Althemer nations.”
“Understood. Please rest assured. They will only be asked to heal soldiers. Fortress Terie was not on the front line. Not yet. Now, please follow us to the teleportation circle inside the castle.”
“Teleportation circle?” Alicia stared at the messenger blankly. Such technology didn’t exist in the original novel.
“It’s a transportation device, capable of bringing personnel to a faraway place in an instant. However, such devices could only be used by high-level mages. Thus, their usage was extremely limited.” The messenger said, guiding them to the carriage.
Alicia was agape. This scene didn’t exist in the original novel. The original Elidranthia never went to the Western Frontier. How did these events come to pass? There is no other explanation for these abrupt events. The author must have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas with this new development.
She wasn’t worried about her safety. She had two cheats from Goddess Sistielle to protect her. She was worried about Elidranthia. War means killing. However, Eli mustn’t kill anything, not even animals.
The silver lining for her was that the duke only asked them to fill arcane stones and heal injured soldiers. When they arrived inside the castle, several other mages were present, and they lined up inside a portal.
“Alright. This is the first royal mage squad relief force. Once you arrive, you will be tasked to bring relief to the enchantments in the fort next to Fort Terie.”
“Huh? Why do we have children here?” one mage commented when they saw Alicia and Elidranthia lined up behind them. Alicia turned around. It wasn’t only her. Several high-level mages from the academy were also present, albeit in different grades. From that alone, she knew the situation was dire. Alas, Ludwin wasn’t here despite being a high-level mage. Of course, Ludwin was a prince. Moreover, he was a dark mage. There is no way he would be sent to the front line.
“For this excursion, we will also employ a dozen high-level mages from the academy as support for the back lines. This is done so they could gain real-life experience,” the knight commander said. Eli wondered how much of that was true. From the looks of the soldiers stationed around, they seemed tense.
“Eh? We are mages! We are supposed to be used for the prosperity of the nation!”
“Defending your nation is also one of your noble duties!” A knight admonished a complaining mage.
And so, Eli and the others were escorted into the teleportation hall. It was just an empty space on the roof. A chancellor then handed Alicia a glass ball.
“Alicia, you are the highest-level mage here with the most mana. So, could you hold this ball? Make sure not to drop it even after you arrive in the fortress. Once you arrive, hand this to the neighboring officer. Can you do that?”
“Okay. Why though?” Alicia looked over the glass ball. As expected of the dimwit Alicia, even though she read the novel, she didn’t know what the ball was.
“Once you charge this with mana, the ball will teleport you and everyone within the circle,” the commander said.
“Now, please charge the ball with your mana. We usually have half a dozen rank-six mages perform this task, but I expect your mana would suffice. If not, then have Lady Elidranthia help you,” the chancellor said.
“No worries! I will do my best!” Alicia said. She was supposed to be a level-eight mage, the highest the country had ever seen. As long as it was mana-related, she should be able to do it flawlessly. The ball began to emit a faint white glow when Alicia poured her mana into it.
Then, the glow grew brighter and brighter. Alicia was surprised; this orb alone took more than 100 arcane stones’ worth of mana, and it still desired more mana from her. She took a deep breath and began pouring even more mana. Then, the glass ball exploded with brilliant light.
For a moment, Alicia and the rest of the group flew into a winding space tunnel. Alicia almost dropped the ball in surprise, but she clenched onto it. She felt that if she dropped the ball, she would be lost forever in this space-time tunnel. Then they emerged onto an empty roof in the fortress.
When they arrived, they didn’t see a desolate or ruined town, but a bustling castle. Despite the bustling scene, Eli sensed a slight tension in the air. People were looking at them, some with relief on their faces. They had lost a battle, and despite how the military tried to cover it, it still showed on the guards’ expressions.
Luckily, they weren’t on the frontline, so the citizens weren’t affected. They looked calm; most of them shopped and gossiped in the plaza like they were supposed to.
“You have arrived,” a soldier from the other side of the portal smiled; relief flooded his face.
“So this is the western frontier. It was a lot different than I expected,” Alicia muttered. Her hand was still glued to the glass ball. She had done her duty. As expected of Alicia, she managed to hold the glass ball without breaking it for a minute. A nearby officer asked for the relic, and she gave it to him.
“We aren’t on the frontline, so it’s a given,” Eli said. She then turned to a soldier who was tasked to escort them to the barracks. “May I ask where the frontline is?”
“Yes. After the blunder of the 7th battalion, the frontline had moved to another fortress. The closest one would be Fort Hill, about two days’ travel from here. Then, another strange scenario occurred. We were ambushed by a bunch of monsters.”
“I see. We aren’t technically on the frontline, but the frontline is only a stone’s throw away, huh?” Alicia said. The soldier nodded.
“Rest assured, this fortress is our main hub for supplies. It is well-guarded. There is no way it would fall,” the soldier said.
“Alright. So, where should I begin?”
“Right this way.” The soldier brought Elidranthia to a hospital. “As for you, Mage Alicia, please come this way.”
It was a rollercoaster of emotions. Eli thought they weren’t in dire straits with how calm the populace was. How wrong could she be? The military hospital was filled to the brim with soldiers who had lost a limb. It was a war zone.
“Alright! Bring me to whoever needs help!” Eli said. She was the only one enthusiastic about it, though. Other spoiled light and blue mages, especially from the academy, were distraught at the condition of the hospital. Alas, they still obeyed the commanding officer’s words, so there was no chaos.
“Yes. Mage Elidranthia. Please come this way.” The officer bowed down in reverence as Elidranthia led the charge inside the hospital.
Meanwhile, a chancellor went to Alicia, who was taken to a dining room.
“Are you tired, Mage Alicia? I heard you charged the teleportation circle all by yourself. It must have been an arduous task. We could spare you a single day of rest if you desire.”
“... Do you need help? I am tired, but I could spare some mana if it means helping prevent the enemy from invading this fortress.”
“Of course. Help is always needed. Please, come this way. You and the other fire mages will be entrusted with the task of charging arcane stones for our cannons. Senior mages will make the enchantments, and you will charge them. Ah, you will also be tasked to charge the northern wall’s defensive anti-spell enchantment.”
“... Isn’t that too much for a single person?” Alicia frowned. In contrast to Elidranthia, Alicia regretted offering her help. Just as expected, the harder you work, the more tasks are dumped onto you.
“Of course. Other mages from the academy will help you. But I heard you have water affinity, fire affinity, and wind affinity. Fire affinity is in high demand. We need them to fire our cannons.”
The chancellor then further explained that cannons required fire affinity, while defensive enchantments required multiple affinities, including earth affinity, which would be filled with other students later. Water affinity was the most important, as it was what kept this fortress running for drinking, hygiene, and preserving food. It needed the least mana but was the most important. It was also needed to keep the moat outside the fortress filled.
“Alright, alright. I will see what I can do. We are just second-year students, though, so don’t expect much, okay? We can’t make or repair enchantments yet.”
“Understood.” And so began their life inside a fortress. This time, it was for a real war against humans, not monsters.