Does the Assassin Girl Dream of the Mana Doll?

Let’s rewind time a bit to the East Bridge.

On the opposite side of the temporary Fortress that Georg and his comrades had built, the First Knight Order finally appeared.

As reported, their numbers were about 1,000 cavalrymen. The knights, clad in well-maintained armour, stood in a neat line, their horses’ heads aligned perfectly. Despite being enemies, their formation was an awe-inspiring sight.

From among them, one knight stood out, a man in particularly impressive armour, mounted on a majestic horse, who rode forward.

“Georg! Out of respect for our old friendship, I ask you to surrender! If you do, I’ll spare your life!”

His clear voice echoed, even though he was about 100 meters away.

This was Oscar, Oscar von Dian, The commander of the First Knight Order. His voice, honed through years of command, was clear and authoritative.

Without leaving the barricade, Georg shouted back.

“Ha! How kind of you!
I’m so touched, I could cry!”

“… You’re as crude as ever, Georg!”

Oscar’s voice, though slightly exasperated, responded to the sarcastic with a sense of familiarity. The two were once comrades, and this exchange was something they were used to—though it seemed Oscar had never truly taken a liking to it.

“What can I say? I wasn’t raised to be polite!”

“…I see. So you’re trying to buy time with idle talk.”

“Tch, always sharp when it comes to these things, aren’t you?”

Oscar’s calm recognition of Georg’s ploy to stall for time was met with a small click of the tongue from Georg. The less time they had to clash head-on, the better. After all, their forces were outnumbered five to one. A direct confrontation wouldn’t hold for long..

He wanted to buy as much time as possible, but it seemed things weren’t going to be that easy.

But it wasn’t time to despair just yet…

“Hey, Oscar! As an old friend, let me give you some advice. Let’s settle this with our fists, man-to-man! Throw away that staff and come at me!”

Georg made an exaggerated gesture from behind the barricade, pointing directly at the staff in Oscar’s hand. He hoped Oscar could see him.

Oscar, however, made an openly mocking face.

“You’re not even trying to hide your intentions anymore. You’re afraid of this staff, aren’t you?”

“Of course, I’m terrified, you bastard! Hey, don’t point that thing at me!!”

Oscar waved the staff menacingly, and Georg pretended to panic. It was no wonder—if Oscar wielded the staff’s power, it could easily obliterate the flimsy barricade and everyone behind it.

Oscar smirked as he flaunted the staff, though it was merely a waste of time.

“I’ll ask one more time. Stand down.”

“Shut up! If you’re going to do it, then go ahead and try!”

“…I see. That’s unfortunate. O Emperor of thunder, heed my call and unleash your might!”

Oscar solemnly raised the staff toward the sky.

…

…

…

An oddly quiet moment passed.

… But nothing happened.

“What?… What’s going on?”

Oscar stared at the staff, inspecting it from every angle, then muttered the spell again, raising it skyward.

Still, nothing happened.

“W-What is…?”

“… Hahahaha! I told you to throw away that stupid staff!”

A vulgar laugh echoed through the air. Georg was clapping his hands in mockery.

……In truth, until this moment, Georg had been drenched in cold sweat, unsure if this would even work.

This was the clear weakness of the Emperor of Thunder’s staff that Ellie had mentioned. Of course, he had no way of knowing for sure until he tried it himself.

But now he knew it was true. Seeing Oscar’s dumbfounded expression, he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Georg, what did you do?!”

“I didn’t do anything. Like I could, anyway. What’s wrong, Oscar? Were you really not informed?”

Georg’s mocking tone only grew more. Laughing crudely, he began observing the knights of the First Division, who were clearly confused and shaken by the unexpected situation. Of course, Oscar didn’t know what happened. Not even Prince Riohart knew. Perhaps not even the queen knows.

“You… what do you know!? What did you do!?”

“Oh, so you really don’t know, huh? Alright, I’ll let you in on a little secret.”

Georg proudly revealed the information.

“That staff of yours? It’s designed so that it can’t be used against its master. Take a look behind me—what’s there? And where do you think that staff’s power can reach?”

“W-What? Behind… could it be…?”

When he looked in the direction Georg was pointing, he saw the cityscape of the capital and beyond that, the royal castle.

And then he realised that at this distance, the staff’s power could reach the royal capital..

“Now do you get it? That staff can’t be used in the direction of your master. And guess what? Our beloved Queen is right behind us!”

“You… you’re being disrespectful!”

“Oh, please, after what you’ve done, you have no right to say that.”

Georg replied with a bored expression, and Oscar couldn’t retort.

This was why Georg had rushed to reach the royal capital as quickly as possible. The difference it made to their situation was night and day.

Incidentally, the Emperor of thunder would have activated if it had been pointed in a distant direction where it couldn’t reach the royal capital.

Since Oscar had never used the staff in the vicinity of the capital, he didn’t know this.
And of course, the queen, who had never used the staff, wouldn’t have known either.

Only Ellie knew.

“So, what are you going to do, Oscar?Why don’t you take a look around.”

When Oscar looked around at his troops, he was shocked.
His knights were clearly shaken and their morale had plummeted.

“Of course. You’ve all been relying on that staff, haven’t you? How many of you are willing to die today?”

When Georg’s taunts rang out, very few of the knights reacted with anger. Most of them averted their gaze and looked down, which further shocked Oscar.

The First Knight Order was originally an elite unit that served as the vanguard. Their status was equal to that of the Royal Guard.

However, since acquiring the staff, their victories had come with little to no losses. As a result, the first order became known for being unbeatable, attracting second and third sons of noble families who joined to earn honour, often through hefty donations.

As a result, no one had noticed.
They lacked experience and a willingness to die.

And Georg, who had been through many battles, had sensed this. He had taken a gamble based on Ellie’s information. And it had paid off.

“Do not falter! We outnumber them five to one! We cannot lose!”

“That’s true. But the first 200 of you will definitely die. We’ll take you down with us. So, what’ll it be? Are you ready?”

Just as the knights began to rally, Georg’s words sent a cold wave of hesitation through their ranks. They faltered, pushing back against the knights behind them.

Oscar, who had been stunned, suddenly had an idea. He gripped his staff again and pointed it behind him. And then he unleashed the power of the Emperor of thunder… Directed at his own men.

A deafening roar and blinding flash of light filled the air. When it subsided, though they were nearly on the verge of collapsing, the knights had halted in their tracks..

“… Don’t retreat. I’ll aim it again. If I point it behind me, I can still use the staff…. So choose, the shame of being killed by me, or the possibility of moving forward and achieving victory!”

The knights turned pale at the meaning of his words and looked at each other.

Georg, who had been listening, muttered,

“That’s the worst way to command your troops.”

Nevertheless, the knights, desperate to avoid certain death, began to move forward.

“Very well, worthy of the First Knight Order!
Forward! Slay the traitors!”

With those words, he pointed his staff forward.

The knights charged forward with a desperate look in their eyes. Unfortunately, they lacked the ferocity of seasoned warriors.

As they reached about two-thirds of the bridge, just before they made contact, they heard a command.

“Fire!”

There was a strange sound, like multiple objects being released at once.

“Ahh!”
“Ugh!”
“Shield, shield!”

Screams quickly rang out, followed by urgent shouts to raise shields.

It was a barrage from the crossbow units stationed on both flanks. The arrows flew in diagonal, crisscrossing patterns, fired simultaneously. If this had been done with guns or artillery, it would have been called a crossfire..

Normally, volleys were fired in a line at the front of the enemy formation. But these arrows were fired diagonally, crossing each other, and would hit almost anyone who wasn’t in the front line.
As a result, the enemy formation suffered widespread casualties.

“The crossbows can’t fire again right away. Now’s our chance!” came the commander’s voice, taking advantage of the brief lull in the hail of arrows.

Just as they were about to advance, they heard another command.

“Fire!”

Once again, they heard the sound of arrows being released.

Once again, the screams of the injured rang out.

“W-What is…?”

Looking closely, the crossbow units on both flanks had switched out their frontline shooters.

The units had been split into two, allowing them to fire two successive volleys.

While crossbows are powerful weapons, they require both strength and time to reload. This tactic was devised to compensate for that shortcoming—though only for a single round.

Though a third volley couldn’t come immediately—”I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!!”

“Stop pushing! Stop!!”—this second volley was enough to crush the morale of the knights, who had been forced into advancing under threat. They stopped, and started shoving each other as more knights pushed from behind.

Then, the thunderous roar of the Emperor of thunder echoed again.

They trembled and, with tearful faces, desperately tried to move forward again.

“…It’s finally time… Boys! Not that there’s any point in asking at this stage,”

Looking at the expressions of the knights up close, Georg smiled with relief.

Finally, they would engage in close combat.

And no matter how seasoned the knights were, there would be casualties.

Yet, every one of them had braced themselves for this, their faces set with steely resolve.

“They’re coming! Frontline, brace yourselves! Stand firm!!”

As the enemy approached the barricades, long spears came crashing down. The sound of metal clashing rang out, and armoured bodies fell. Yet the enemy kept advancing, prompting the second row to thrust their spears forward.

To support them, the crossbow unit, having barely managed to reload, fired another volley.

Then there was the sound of metal clashing and the unpleasant smell of ‘iron’.

A merciless slaughter unfolded before them—a mundane, hellish battlefield where life was snuffed out all too easily.

Next: ‘Homecoming’ or Something Similar.