“Is everything ready?” I asked.
“Yes, I have every troop we can spare without showing any weakness in our defenses. It’s best if we move quickly though.”
I nodded and lifted my hand, creating a Portal. “Then, please go.”
“I never realized you were a Blue Mage, Drakus.”
“it’s just an artifact I found in a dungeon once.” I came up with that lie on the spot.
He nodded, accepting this without question. “After we succeed in conquering this fort, you will be promoted for sure!”
That was the third time he had promised me a promotion, so I wondered if they were additive or if he just kept forgetting he had already promised to put me in for a promotion. It didn’t matter, but it might be easier if I had a higher place in the army to wage this battle. The commander didn’t give me any time to ask such questions, as he immediately stepped into the Portal. He was the first to go, and it showed his trust toward me. A dozen more skeletons began to enter the Portal. More and more came from behind them. There were one hundred and fifty men in this courtyard, and I decided to be the last to enter, although it didn’t seem to be necessary to hold the Portal open.
I could close the Portals when I wanted to with a thought on either side. They closed as soon as I stopped delivering mana to them. They did take quite a bit of mana, but compared to the amount used to initially open them, the loss of holding them open was only at the amount that I lost mana at a trickle. I could probably keep a gate open for hours if I had to. I could make them bigger too, but it required more initial mana and more to maintain it, so it was always a tradeoff. The current size was just big enough for a single man on horseback to go through at a time.
Even with just one hundred and fifty, it took nearly fifteen minutes before they were all through the portal. Carmine and I were the only two left in the courtyard. I had worried if Bernard had some way of telling if we were in this fort. If he did and he felt us leave, would he suddenly attack this fort or return to his own? I didn’t know. It would just have to be a gamble. I had considered leaving Carmine behind for this reason, but given how the Karma was affecting her, I couldn’t trust her to put up a fight against Bernard. Karmically, she was supposed to resist that demon noble from earlier, but she wasn’t supposed to resist Benard, so there was no saying what would happen. If he succeeded in kidnapping her, would the karma correct itself and she’d end up falling for him? I just didn’t know.
“My lord…” Carmine grabbed my arm.
“I see the miasma is affecting you again.” I sighed. “I suppose I won’t leave you behind after all.”
She blushed but didn’t say anything. She still had her wits about her, so it wasn’t like she thought she was the princess. However, she was inclined to act like the princess, which was something far too subtle to resist. This princess was now attached to me karmically and saw me as her white knight who she must stay near. That was simply the nature of things now.