"To the east then," said Vandalieu. "If they come, it will be in the afternoon."
"Very well, leave it to me."
After sending Zadiris off, Vandalieu and the others began moving. They recalled their allies from the Dungeons and made their preparations.
Vandalieu had predicted things would come to this and began his preparations two years ago, so there was no reason to be hasty. He had prepared numerous hidden weapons and trump cards. Judging from the voices that Vandalieu was hearing, there was an expedition army of six thousand approaching the city, but none of them felt any sense of despair.
Even if the expedition army's numbers were double what they were now, their attitude likely wouldn't change.
"Just to make absolutely sure, even if you kill expedition army troops, please refrain from eating them on the spot," Vandalieu told Talosheim's inhabitants.
"I know, King. Make sure you give us lots of mayonnaise instead!"
"Yeah, fried dinosaur with miso is better than human meat anyway!"
"I want a board for that shogi thing!"
"Yes, yes, I'll make lots of mayonnaise, miso and shogi sets to celebrate our victory, so everyone should do their best and make sure not to die," said Vandalieu. "I'm not going over to the next world to give you your rewards."
"You're telling Undead not to die? We got it, Eclipse King!"
The atmosphere in the town was even brighter than usual. Shelters for noncombatants like Pauvina had been prepared, so there wouldn't be scenes like from disaster films on Earth where civilians would run for their lives... not that there was anywhere to run to even after escaping Talosheim.
It didn't need to be said that Talosheim was the only safe part of the southern region of continent surrounded by the Boundary Mountain Range.
"We'll be constantly fighting with our backs to the wall, so it's only natural to take care of yourselves and prepare well before you fight, isn't it?" said Vandalieu.
Even if they were to cross the Boundary Mountain Range again, the Ghouls and Undead Titans would be hunted as monsters in the Orbaume Kingdom.
That was why they had to repel this expedition army. And they were mostly unable to take prisoners.
Even if they were a gathering of the most elite soldiers, they would think about retreating once they lost around a third of their forces. For this expedition army in particular, there were many unfavorable conditions for a war here.
The fact that there were no safe areas nearby was true for the expedition army as well, and for now, they could be on guard against mindless monsters like Goblins and Needle Wolves or small packs of other monsters that attacked where defenses were weak. But if their numbers were reduced and they scattered as they ran, the monsters would slaughter most of them.
Even if they maintained their formation as they retreated, it would take them several days to reach the tunnel through the Boundary Mountain Range.
If Vandalieu were to ask them to surrender, there might be hundreds or perhaps even a thousand who would decide that it would be impossible to escape from the Ghouls and Undead, becoming prisoners of war.
"But taking them as prisoners after that..." Vandalieu began.
"Would be impossible," said Sam, finishing his sentence. "During times of war, prisoners of war are either released after the enemy pays a ransom or simply sold as slaves, but the Amid Empire and Mirg shield-nation has no intention of negotiating with us, and it would be difficult to use them even as slaves."
In a normal war, the treatment of prisoners of war was exactly as Sam described it, but the Amid Empire and Mirg shield-nation didn't see Talosheim as a nation or Vandalieu as a king. They were nothing but monsters.
Negotiations would never take place, even if Vandalieu made attempts to make them happen. The Empire and Mirg shield-nation would never acknowledge a nation of Ghouls and Undead with a Dhampir as their king.
Nuaza nodded. "We might be able to manage a few dozen slaves, but a hundred or two hundred would be impossible to control."
As he said, turning prisoners of war into slaves would be difficult. Collar-shaped Magic Items that forced obedience from slaves existed in this world, but since there were none in Talosheim, they would have to monitor them and force them to work like in prisons on Earth.
They were not hoodlums and ruffians, but elite soldiers who had experienced harsh training and battles.
Even if their minds were broken upon surrendering, they might regain their desire for revenge and faith in Alda as time passed.
"We don't have the numbers to begin with," said Vandalieu. "We only have two thousand people; there's no way we could watch over hundreds of slaves."
Excluding the Cemetery Bees and Immortal Ents, the current population of Talosheim consisted of around a thousand Undead Titans, seven hundred Ghouls including the children, and two hundred members of the new races Vandalieu had created such as Braga. Around nineteen-hundred in total.
If the monitoring of the prisoners was left to Golems, Vandalieu could only foresee a future where the prisoners would take them by surprise, and the same would happen if he hastily made some Zombies to do the job. They were elite soldiers capable of defeating a Rank 3 monster on their own. Even if they were unarmed, they would likely be able to fight evenly against a Rank 2 monster, and if they cooperated, they might even be able to bring a Rank 3 monster down. With the martial skills of the Unarmed Fighting Techniques of this world, even a boulder could be easily smashed.
These were people who would be able to somehow defeat bears with their bare hands.
And even if they managed to turn the prisoners into slaves, there was the problem of what they would do with them afterwards.
Even if they were to be forced to work until they died, Talosheim had tireless Undead and Golems, so slaves would be inferior as a labor force.
It would be easier to make a miracle happen than try to persuade them to become Vandalieu's allies. If Talosheim was a nation of humans, the soldiers might be persuaded with some perseverance even if they were born in an enemy of that nation.
But for the soldiers of the expedition army, Vandalieu and the inhabitants of Talosheim were not people. They were monsters. They would be enemies who had taken them prisoner, killed their comrades, enemies that ought to be defeated according to Alda, the god of their national religion.
And most importantly, not a single person in Talosheim had any knowledge in how converting them could possibly be done.
"But could it not be possible if you use your Death-Attribute Charm skill, Holy Son?" asked Nuaza.
"Meeting the requirements of that skill to take effect would be equivalent to torturing them to death," Vandalieu pointed out.
Kachia and the other former human adventurers had demonstrated that even living humans could be affected by Death-Attribute Charm.
However, for that to happen, they had to be in a mental state of complete despair in life, where they desired salvation in death.
So to convert the prisoners to Vandalieu's side while they were still alive using Death-Attribute Charm, they would have to be tortured in ghastly ways and have their hearts broken into tiny pieces until they were in a state where they were unable to do anything other than whisper, "Kill me," and, "I want to die."
"If I'm going to do that, wouldn't it be more humane to simply kill them and turn them into Undead in order to convert them to our side?" Vandalieu pointed out.
"Indeed," Sam agreed, "Even when it comes to gaining information, it would be faster for you to kill them to make them speak, Bocchan."
"But Holy Son, why are you only now worrying about how to handle enemy soldiers?" asked Nuaza. "Was it not decided long ago that we would slaughter them all?"
"That's true, but now that it comes to it... I was thinking that they will definitely have something to say about it," said Vandalieu.
"They?"
"Yes, the others who are going to be reincarnated here."
Vandalieu would slaughter the entire expedition army and cut down the Mirg shield-nation's strength.
Those reincarnating here from Origin would likely see this as an evil act. Vandalieu fell into a gloomy mood as he realized this.
"Well, they'll understand if I explain the situation to them properly... maybe? I have to get stronger for the possibility that they don't understand, too." This was the conclusion Vandalieu came to in the end.
There were too many reasons in this world for him to grow stronger.
Name: IslaRank: 10Age: Approximately 30,000 years oldTitle: Ternecia's HoundRace: Noble-born Vampire CountessLevel: 79Job: Slaughtering ExecutionerJob level: 88Job history: Apprentice Warrior, Apprentice Mage, Magic Warrior, Warrior Executioner, ShapeshifterPassive skills:Dark VisionStatus Effect Resistance: Level 9Superhuman Strength: Level 9Rapid Regeneration: Level 3Mental Corruption: Level 3Slaughter Healing: Level 7Intuition: Level 5Enhanced Attribute Values: Loyalty: Ternecia: Level 5Active skills:Bloodsucking: Level 3Water-Magic: Level 5Fire-Attribute Magic: Level 5No-Attribute Magic: Level 1Mana Control: Level 5Swordsmanship: Level 10Armor Technique: Level 9Surpass Limits: Level 7High-speed Flight: Level 5Pursuit: Level 8Torture: Level 5Unique skills:Shapeshift: Level 7
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