The Girl Who Hacked The Magic System

PoV: Aurea

"I see. Have you asked her about it?"

Apparently Mom has been spacing out in the middle of the day, sometimes for up to half an hour at a time. She simply interrupts whatever she is doing and freezes, staring at nowhere without moving a muscle.

"I did, but she always dismisses it as something that's not to worry about. But I AM worried, and her dismissiveness only makes me worry even more."

"It actually started a few days before you and Lovelace came to talk to us. But by that time I hadn't noticed it yet, because it was always very brief. But it's been in the last few days that it has taken longer for her to come back."

"Right. I'll go there, talk to her, and try to figure out what is happening."

"Thank you, my dear. But not today. You've been working nonstop since early morning, haven't you?"

"Well, it's not like…"

"Nope. You're going to have a good night's rest. Tomorrow you come over, or when you find a free moment in between all the chaos of the war."

"Okay, Mom."

:::

The next morning starts hectic with activity. It seems that the crusader army is finally moving.

So I'm actually having breakfast in the army's office beneath the arena, during a meeting.

"One hundred thousand men. That's a lot of people. I don't think we can win in a frontal battle."

"Agreed, Yaci. Even with our magic and with the majority of their fighters being levies, the numerical advantage is too big. We need to break their forces and hit the smaller groups."

"What you're saying, Kwarah, is sensible. But this isn't the Blessed army. I don't think that they will be stupid enough to scatter around only so we can hunt them down."

"You're right, Aurea. They won't do it by themselves. But we could try to find a way to force them into it."

"Won't they need supplies? One hundred thousand people is a lot of mouths to feed."

"They will, Ingela. But our spies said that they are carrying a lot of food with them and that it is well guarded within the main body of the army."

"You're right, Aurea."

Everyone's shoulders slump as the truth of our situation dawns on us.

"Count Ailenwort seemed to be the best general of the Blessed army, and he was the one who came up with the best tactics to counter our harassing of his troops. And he's one of the people who escaped and joined the crusaders."

"So he probably told them about those tactics."

"Yes, and that's very probably the reason that they are carrying their provisions the way they are."

"Aurea, what road do you think that they will use?"

"If they are coming straight to the capital, then it's this one. The best position along that road is right here."

I point to a sign on the map that marks a fortress.

"Steelgarden. It was once a prosperous mining village, but it lost its economic importance when the metals ran dry."

"Steelgarden, huh? The name sure stands out."

"Yeah, they used to say that in that valley the minerals were as numerous as herbs in a garden. But it seems that they plucked each one of those."

"Valley?"

"Yes. It's a passage in our southern mountain range. Though those aren't big enough to be properly called mountains, they still make passage difficult. The valley connects our inner lands with the other countries."

"Oh, and the fortress guards that valley."

"Exactly, Yaci. It's at the end of the valley, a big fortress through which their army has to pass. That is, if they come through that road that leads directly to our capital."

"What are the other options, Aurea?"

"There's only one other option. To the west the mountain range gets a lot milder, and it has a road that leads to the Otbert province."

"I see."

"We still don't know if they will take the direct route or if they will go the longer route through Otbert. And they might decide to take the longer route if we make a show of fortifying the fortress."

"Hi everyone. I'm sorry I'm late. I was in a meeting with the king and prince."

"It's okay, Lovelace. Any news from their side?"

"Only what you've already received through the officers. They are waiting on you girls to bring them a proposal for a course of action before doing anything."

"Okay, then hear me out, everyone. We would move the main army to Otbert and make a show of it, while leaving Steelgarden unattended on the surface."

"So they will think that the better option is to go through the main road."

"Exactly. I will keep up a show of being in Beaudorf and all. The enemy has seen our little skirmishes with small platoons, but they don't have clear information on how many troops we can transport at once, nor to which distance."

"Won't they suspect a trap?"

"They will. But an undefended Steelgarden is too valuable, too tempting."

"So your plan is to man the fortress only when their army enters the valley?"

"Exactly, Lovelace. But only the hidden army."

"Only the hidden army? Three thousand against one hundred thousand?"

"Yes, because we're the ones who are trained to fight without the system."

"But there are so many…"

"In normal circumstances, to take a castle, one would need three times the number of troops that the defender has. But when the defending side has people like Lovelace and Ingela…"

:::

PoV: Lillian

The staircase led me to a floor that is similar to the first one but at the same time vastly different.

It's similar in architecture and general vibes. But instead of a labyrinth of rooms and corridors, this has only one big hall.

And when I say it's big, it isn't yet big enough. It doesn't matter how much I look to the sides, I can't seem to see the walls.

Only statues.

Each of them seems to represent one single deity, though some are more than one person, like this one that has two beautiful elf maidens. The plaque below them reads, 'The Unwavering Twins, goddesses of reason.'

My statue was exactly at the foot of the staircase, the very first one I saw when I descended the stairs.

I soon found the one I was most curious about. The goddess of our world.

'Juno, goddess of tyranny.'

Goddess of treason, huh? That was unexpected.

I mean, she looks the part, now that I think about it.

And the heart on her statue… while mine is light blue, sparkled with gold, and laced with thorns that hurt it, hers is black with red thorns pointing out.

It isn't beautiful. It isn't beautiful at all.

Did every god and goddess whose statue is in this hall come here once?

In front of each statue there is a space, like the one in front of mine. The staircase I used to come in is still there, but I don't see any other staircases.

Do each divine being have their own staircase that only they can see?

And… are really all these gods? Like, actually divine? There are so many of them… It's at least in the thousands, from what I can see, but it might be that this is just a small part of the hall.

Do these gods preside over other worlds? Are all of them alive?

I can see all types of people, even races that don't exist in my world. Some are dragons, even. Some are monstrosities that could be part of a nightmare. And others are even very mundane, like a door.

And again, I don't know what I'm supposed to do here.