Xiao Lin could no longer do anything about Ibeiya’s childhood, but the root of all her suffering was undoubtedly that king, Ibeiya’s grandfather. If the king had not chased away her mother, Ibeiya would very well be a proper princess, enjoying the life someone her age should be enjoying.
With that in mind, Xiao Lin’s words were unkind the moment he spoke. Before Liang Taibai said anything, Xiao Lin took the chance to say, “Opinions? Well, what opinions can we have? The army is near, and the only ones defending the city are weak troops. You can only run.”
“We’re not in a hurry; even if the rebels enter the city, they might not do anything to us.” Liang Taibai added. Of course, they were planning on leaving, but the royal city had been surrounded. With the lack of a resurrection tower, breaking through the siege would result in unneeded casualties.
Liang Taibai was decisive, abandoning the plan to leave the moment it was impossible. As for the king, it was still unclear if he wanted to leave during the night, and Liang Taibai was wondering if he should make up an excuse to hold the king back. As the ambassador of Dawn Academy, Liang Taibai clearly stood with the academy, and he needed to consider how to reap the greatest benefits at moments like this.
“Yes, thanks for your suggestion.” The king remained warm and calm. After nodding, he faced the officials and said, “I’ve decided that I won’t leave this city. This is the kingdom my ancestors left for me. Even if I die, I want to die on my own land.”
“Your highness!”
“You can’t do this!”
...
The officials immediately voiced their objections after a moment of shock, but even after over ten minutes of their advice, the king merely faced everything with a smile. No matter what the officials said, he merely shook his head resolutely.
Finally, once everyone had said their piece, the king suddenly stood up, declaring, “The enemy is right next to us, we should stop wasting our time here. I am the king, but I was a warrior when I was young. Battle is my true calling!”
After saying that, the king took up his armor and weapons in front of everyone’s stares, taking off his robes and walking toward the city gates with his armor on.
After a pause, the officials discussed it among themselves and hurried behind the king.
Only Xiao Lin and Liang Taibai were left looking at each other. It was unexpected. They had thought that the king would try to flee. That should have been what happened; they did not feel like three thousand old and weak soldiers would be able to hold off the rebels outside the city. Even if the royal city had been strengthened in its history, their numbers are still far too little.
“What do we do?” Xiao Lin asked.
“Let’s leave!” Liang Taibai was helpless. If the king did not do as they expected, then they could only wait. The loss of the resurrection tower meant that he could not consider helping anyone other than the ones from Earth, attackers and defenders be damned.
However, not helping did not mean they would merely look on. After leaving the palace, Liang Taibai gathered the people of the embassy and split them into two. One group would patrol the city, including weapons storages and supply depots, and the other group would follow him to the city gates.
Liang Taibai still did not fully believe those from Rosa; he needed to see the enemy with his own eyes, and Xiao Lin chose to do the same.
The night was very dark, but with the special pass, Xiao Lin and Liang Taibai still managed to head to the city gate towers on the eastern side of the city. It was the largest gate in the royal city, and had the most defensive towers.
“Even if the rebels are great in number, this is still the capital city. Its defensive capabilities are still excellent. On top of that, during our cooperation, we’ve helped them erect many high-leveled magic defense towers; the power is quite impressive,” Liang Taibai told Xiao Lin softly.
“Ambassador Liang, do you think the city will fall?”
“It will!” Liang Taibai gave an affirmative answer, adding after that, “However, how long it will take is uncertain. The magical defense towers need large amounts of energy stones as a resource. Ever since the kingdom rejected our suggestion of building even more resurrection towers, we’ve basically stopped providing them with energy stones. The Rosa Kingdom lacks resources, so the energy stones they have in store are all probably from the past. I don’t know how long it will last.”
“Plus, we actually know nothing about the rebels.” Liang Taibai said with concern. “I’ve received many reports these few months, but I’ve never managed to get reliable information on the strength of the rebel troops.”
Xiao Lin said suspiciously, “Aren’t the rebels just formed out of the local farmers and commoners? With an untrained army like this, if we can even call them that, would they really be that strong? Everything aside, they would probably have a hard time dealing with the defensive towers.”
Liang Taibai said, “Your words make sense, but do you know how many of the Rosa Kingdom’s troops have been defeated since the start of the civil war? Over twenty thousand! Including any new conscripts, basically ten regiments have gone up in smoke. Do you really think that a rebel army comprising farmers can do so much?”
Xiao Lin started to be doubtful. He knew that Rosa’s civil war had gone on for a long time, but he never knew that the army had taken so much damage.
“When it comes to the rebels, what I know might not be as much as you, so I’m just as curious as you are. Therefore, let us see what the rebel army’s strength is like!”
The city gates were quite spacious. Other than defensive towers, there were also searchlights and search towers given by Dawn Academy. Night battles on Planet Norma had always been a big problem. Even if their mages had all sorts of ways to illuminate the battlefield, their mental strength could not maintain it for that long, and the range was limited.
The searchlights were built with Earth technology in mind, using a combination of magic and science to create. They used energy stones as power, and used local materials to make specialized circuits capable of providing large amounts of light.
Under the orders of the commander of the city gates, the usually expensive searchlights were protected from all forms of weather. As countless energy stones were added in, the light began to shoot out after a few seconds. It looked like a miniature sun. With the power gained from energy stones, the searchlights were even more powerful than those from Earth.
The rebels naturally did not have advanced toys like that, and the local troops were quite pleased with themselves. However, when everyone saw the troops below the city, their expressions changed.