The Girl Who Hacked The Magic System

After the beheading of the Blessed faction, we got back to the waiting game for a couple of days.

Ingela and Yaci are already getting restless and impatient, so I've been sending them with the harassment squads.

I call them harassment squads because their job is simply to harass the enemy's food convoys so they don't reach their army.

Not to kill or rob, just cause enough problems that the ones doing the delivery have a change of heart.

We have anchors in several checkpoints on the main roads and in some of the smaller roads as well, from which we can launch those little ambushes.

In the meanwhile, Seufroy is heading a little organization that delivers food to the civilian population of the city so they don't starve.

The only exciting thing happening these days is the interrogation sessions with the paladin. Lovelace has been of great help with her healing abilities.

He's a tough nut to crack but is slowly cracking. I think that soon we'll have some new info from that side.

:::

"Your Highness!"

"Yes?"

"The army of Count Marteaux is marching."

"Oh? Finally something happens. Where are they going?"

"They seem to be heading in the direction of Altenfeld, to the northwest."

"They must have received news of our taking of the castle, then. Are there other movements?"

"Your Highness! I have a message from the palace."

A new officer arrives, handing me a letter, which I take and open immediately.

It doesn't have the king's seal. Instead, it harbors the court wizard's seal. Which means it's from Lovelace, who's been working closely with the king so we can sync the actions of both armies.

Yawarete and Kwarah are close by, so they approach me.

"Any news, Aurea?"

"Yeah. The new count Marteaux is asking to ransom his family."

"Oh, is it one of those whose castle we took?"

"Yes. His family was in the castle, where they live. We are not having them as prisoners or hostages, though. They are free to come and go as they will, as none of them is a combatant."

I make a gesture to another officer, who starts writing the response letter, conveying my thoughts.

I stress that Lovelace should make clear to Marteaux's messenger that his lord is not a count anymore and that both he and his family are stripped of their positions and possessions.

"Say also that I would simply let his family join him, but that, if the king has other ideas about their political use, then she should abide by him."

"Yes, Your Highness."

He is the son of the count I killed personally during that attack on their office, who was accompanying his father in the war, while his mother and two sisters stayed behind.

Our attack was a hard hit on their faction's morale, but not strong enough to break them. That was expected, though. I never assumed that the war could be won by a single strike.

The heirs to all leaders assumed their positions and added the thirst for vengeance to their list of motivations to wage war against us.

They are like hydras, in the sense of being able to grow new heads. But, unlike the hydras, they can be defeated if we damage the body enough. In that sense, killing the og heads early was an indirect hit to the whole body.

:::

The very next day, we have more news.

"All the armies from the Blessed faction are on the move. They seem to be going to the villages in the countryside to secure provisions by themselves."

"That's the opportunity we've been waiting for. Put all units in alert mode."

Hehehe. Time to have a bit of fun again.

Over the next hours, sentries have been constantly updating us on the position of the different detachments from their vantage positions at the top of mountains.

When the armies pass by some of our checkpoints, one of our brigades jumps in through a portal, showers the army with the most powerful area spells they can, and then retreats through the portal before the enemy can react.

After the first couple of hits, their sentries learned to identify a portal opening, and they started to scout the high positions along the road before allowing the main body of the army to advance.

This is what led to the first casualties on our side, when we opened the portal and the detachment jumped in only to face a regiment waiting for them on the other side.

Not all army commanders are that resourceful, though. Some have been sloppy in their countermeasures, so we've been focusing our fire on them.

After our attack on their office and now with this guerrilla campaign, the existence of portals and spatial magic has become public knowledge.

But the fact that all our spatial casters were trained in silent casting and the fact that the spells don't exist in the system means that the enemy can't reproduce the spells merely by imitating.

Even the theoretical foundations of the magic are beyond anything the average mages of the kingdom can fathom. Or even the above-average ones.

In any case, the simple fact that they are having to move slower and to divert their resources to increase their scouting range and be in constant alert of an out-of-nowhere attack is a win for us.

:::

This is the first time that we're having a meeting with everyone since the beginning of the war.

Actually, it's my very first time seeing my mother since the beginning of the war. She looks older than I remember her, and definitely more tired. Well, I bet that I'm in the exact same state for other people's eyes.

Our roles haven't given us opportunities to work together, and that's one of the reasons I'm cherishing this meeting. Though at the same time I think it's odd that the king has called us here.

It's a formal meeting, so no pleasantries allowed. There's king Halinard, crown prince Jyllian, princess Lillian, me, and Yaci, Kwarah, and Yawarete representing the beastkin.

Basically a General Staff meeting. And it's Halinard who starts it.

"We have some troubling news. Some were already expected, some not as much. First, the Pontifex and most bishops have fled from the country and are on their way to Essendia."

I'm actually surprised they took that long. I thought that they would be fleeing on the first day.

"So the temple..."

"Is under the protection of a detachment of paladins."

Oh, like that little toy I found. Got it.

"They have been excommunicating guards and knights they are able to lay their eyes upon from the temple tower."

"Wait, only the ones they can directly see?"

"Yes. And only one at a time. Even when the guards are in a group."

Ohhh. That's actually good news. There is a limit to the excommunication spell. I simply cast a silent glance to Lovelace, who nodded. She is thinking what I'm thinking.

"The Pontifex himself managed to excommunicate a good portion of the main body of the army before fleeing, though. It was an area effect. Lovelace has already measured its size."

Yawarete raises her hand, and the king responds.

"You can talk, Yawarete. There's no need for formalities here."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Does that mean that instead of having all the army compromised by the excommunication, we have only a part of it compromised?"

The one to answer that question is Lovelace.

"That's right, Yawarete. Some of the bishops with him were also casting the same spell, but they took longer than the Pontifex, so my squad managed to stop them before they cast."

"So we can assume that only members of the Church above some ranking have the power or clearance to cast en masse excommunication spells, while paladins and lower-ranking clergy can only excommunicate people individually?"

This time, I was the one asking the question, which the king answered.

"That's right. Probably it worked without a hitch in prior wars because nobody would be crazy enough to attack the Church directly when the goddess was active."

That paladin didn't say anything about all that, but I haven't asked anything directly about it. I'll make the excommunication thing the theme of our next little chat.

"Have the foreign powers said anything?"

"Castro broke the betrothal between Urraca and Jyllian, and all the others have informed us of their displeasure about our ways."

Yessss. I can understand now why Jyllian looks so relieved today.

"But there's another piece of news that was the reason for me to call this meeting, including Lily on it. Even though you in the hidden army already know about it. It's the popular uprising in Otbert and the massacres."

Everyone in the room straightens themselves on their chairs. Now the real talk begins.