††† (White Rose Knight Commander Alistair's perspective)　


　A startling situation occurred.
　Alistair, the leader of the White Rose Order, was puzzled.

　The first thing that surprised him was that the castle walls had been repaired.

　Of course, he had received that information from the scouts, but he hadn't expected it to be repaired so beautifully.

　I had assumed it was just a hurried construction project, a stopgap measure, but this was not the case.

　But no, it was the same gate as before.

　'No,' said Alistair, shaking his head, 'it's not the same.

'It was far from the same. That was much more than that.'

　Alistair had been taken by his father to visit Ivalice when he was a child, but there were no such tricks in place.

　Ivalice was originally an agricultural city. Although the city was built with walls, it was a simple one, and it should not have been built to be able to deploy a large number of archers.

　The head of the troops staying in that city had accomplished it in just one month, and had further strengthened it than before.

How many dwarven architects would I need to hire to accomplish this?

　'No,' said Alistair, shaking his head again.

'There's no way I could do that.'
　And--

　Dwarven craftsmen are extremely stubborn.

　They will not accept the rule of the Demon King's army with grace, and they will not work even if you force them to.

　They are not the kind of people who will bend their self-esteem to obey an opponent.

''Then how in the world could they...?

　Alistair, who graduated from the Royal Military Academy at the top of his class, had no idea how to do it.

''Could it be the work of something with magical powers beyond human understanding...?

　That was the only way he could think of it, but no, he didn't want to think about it, which might be Alistair's true feelings.

　He had been defeated by a demon with "magical power" that was beyond human understanding, and if he didn't believe that, his self-esteem was going to be torn to shreds.

　The brilliant operation of the orc's heavy infantry.
　The operation of the archers that were organized.

　The succubus troops that forcibly tore through the formation along the way were the very method of the old Demon King's army, but other than that, they defied all of Alistair's common sense, or even human common sense.

　In particular, the utilization of the last skeleton soldiers was not a task that an ordinary person could come up with.

''Have I not been defeated by something tremendous?''

　The more I think about it, the more I come to that conclusion.
　Of course, you can't make such statements in front of your subordinates.

　Even if it were true, in front of my people.

"We fought a mindless monster. Next time, win.

　There is no way to say such a thing.

　It's just--
　What should he tell His Majesty the King?

　Of course, he was prepared to take responsibility for the defeat and even resign, but should he tell His Majesty the facts as they were?

'...............

　I am left to ponder.

　How should I explain that for the sake of the future kingdom, or perhaps for the sake of all mankind, should I speak so?

''The enemy brigade defending Ivalice cannot be matched by a single knightly corps. We need at least five knights.

　Alistair thinks.

　If I told her honestly, she would either call me a "coward,
　Or they might call him an "incompetent".

　But even so, Alistair still intended to present his case to the king.

　Not only would he resign, but he might be dismissed, or even imprisoned if he was poor, but it was inevitable.

　If that brigade was allowed to act freely, it would surely be the scourge of humanity.
　I was determined to prevent that from happening.