“Is this what Russia feels like?”
Seated on the windowsill of his lodging, Danil gazed out at the scenery of Kazan.
Although it was still autumn by the calendar, snow lay piled in soft mounds all along the streets. Icicles hung from buildings everywhere.
A scene from a documentary he had seen in his previous life, and memories he had forgotten, rose to mind.
“Reminds me of the army.”
Watching the soldiers patrolling throughout the streets, and the soldiers keeping watch on the distant walls, a bitter smile escaped him.
Cold-weather training, night sentry duty, both feet tormented by the chill seeping into his combat boots.
When he thought that the hardships he had endured every winter in the military were simply daily life for the people here, sympathy welled up on its own.
“The problem is, I have to live like that now too.”
A long-term assignment that would last at least three months.
During that time, he would have to rub shoulders with soldiers on the battlefield and fight desperately against the barbarians.
This was his first time fighting the northern barbarians, but that did not mean he was nervous.
‘I just have to stand on top of the wall and cast magic. That’s that.’
Even if wyverns came, it would not be a problem.
The special training he had received under Titania over the past month had raised Danil’s magical ability another level.
Confidence born from skill. Since it held his mentality together like a sturdy suit of armor, there was no reason for him to be afraid.
“More importantly, a welcoming banquet, was it?”
Recalling what the attendant had told him that morning, he scratched his head.
It had been the same in his previous life, but Danil did not particularly like alcohol.
He could go along with one or two drinks to match the mood, but that was the extent of his tolerance.
Today, however, it would be difficult to cling to that stubbornness.
‘This is awkward. I heard that man Reiner rather enjoys his liquor.’
The host of the invitation was Reiner.
The greatest authority in Kazan, and the man who would become the greatest authority in the North in the near future.
To refuse a drink offered by such a man? He could not even imagine what sort of aftermath that might cause.
‘Still, I don’t want to drink. Isn’t there some way around it?’
It was a stubbornness that an ordinary mage of a magic tower could not even imagine.
To think he would willingly kick away the chance to share a cup with none other than the next Northern Grand Duke.
But Danil could do it.
‘No matter how much I drink, all I’ll get is a hangover. I want to live healthy.’
The reincarnator who had died from overwork after being obsessed with success and promotion began to ponder how he might refuse a drink from a high-ranking person.
“At times like this, I envy the soldiers. Those men couldn’t drink even if they wanted to… Oh?”
Danil slapped his knee.
“That’s it!”
The answer Danil found was simple.
‘He just has to not offer me any alcohol in the first place, right?’
And the method was absurdly simple.
“Thank you, soldiers. I’ll repay this debt by running alongside you.”
After expressing his gratitude to the soldiers outside the window who had provided him with a hint, Danil left his lodging.
To put the answer that had come to mind into practice, he needed to buy one item.
His steps as he headed into the streets of Kazan were exceedingly light.
*
Night fell over Kazan.
Candles and chandeliers lit the ceiling, and nobles and officers entered the hall in lines.
People tilted their glasses as they waited for the guest of honor.
Reiner was among them.
“Lord Danil is entering.”
“He’s here. Hm?”
“Wait. Is that…?”
The expressions of Reiner and the people who turned their heads stiffened.
“Leather clothes?”
“Why on earth?”
“Where did he leave his formalwear, coming in dressed like that?”
It was neither a suit nor a tailcoat.
What Danil wore was a brown bear-hide outfit sold in Kazan’s smithies and clothing shops.
An item favored by hunters and soldiers for its excellent warmth and practicality. It was by no means attire suited for an occasion like this.
Reiner was dumbfounded.
‘What on earth is he thinking?’
He had clearly received a report that formalwear had been delivered through a servant. So why in the world had he appeared looking like that?
Neither Reiner nor anyone else in the hall could even guess the reason.
Reiner decided to ask directly.
“Welcome, Mage Danil.”
“Thank you for inviting me, Lord Reiner.”
“Then I would like you to answer my question. I believe I sent formalwear… Why are you dressed like that?”
“To fulfill my duty.”
“Your duty?”
“Yes.”
With everyone’s eyes focused on him, Danil opened his mouth.
“I was dispatched here to fight the Steel Scale tribe. After conducting some personal investigation, I found that they enjoy night raids.”
“They do have that tendency.”
“There is no guarantee that tonight will not be the night, is there?”
“…!!!”
“Hoho.”
Exclamations rose here and there.
“If they attack, we must stop the banquet and rush to the scene. However, compared to all of you, my body is frail, so I did not think I could endure the northern night weather in formal attire.”
“So you dressed like that?”
“Yes. I came here to fight alongside you. It would hardly do for me to participate in one night battle, catch influenza, and collapse. I ask that you understand with broad generosity.”
Watching Danil bow politely, Reiner could say nothing.
“Did you hear that, Sir?”
“I did. He has a sense for actual combat.”
“He isn’t wrong. In fact, I’ve often seen quite a few mages who were dispatched here underestimate the northern weather and end up wheezing.”
“Did he research it in advance?”
“But to dress like that at a gathering like this…”
“Hoho. Is that not better than a mage who only knows how to concern himself with adornment?”
“Hm. Even so, is it not a little rude?”
The people’s reactions were split in half.
Those who understood, but could not accept it.
Those who showed favor, saying he was right.
Most of the latter were knights or commanders.
‘This is… troublesome.’
Reiner was inwardly flustered.
His plan to offer drinks and dig into the inner thoughts of the mage called Danil had been blocked from the very start.
A man who, from the first day of his dispatch, showed an attitude even more vigilant than those born and raised in Kazan.
To offer alcohol to such a person?
‘By tomorrow, rumors will spread through Kazan. That the lord of the castle has little interest in protecting Kazan. A sensational rumor, perfect as gossip for the common people over drinks.’
His position as the next Northern Grand Duke was assured, but it was not yet his.
There were many rivals aiming for his place.
Reiner had devoted much attention and effort until now to suppressing them.
And now, to provide a foothold for counterattack with his own hands?
Impossible.
‘How bewildering. From the documents, I guessed he was the practical sort, but to think he would be this thorough. Rather than a mage, he is practically a knight.’
Reiner was under a grand misunderstanding, but it could not be helped.
Common sense dictated that there could not possibly be a mage who would pull such a stunt simply because he wanted to refuse an offer of alcohol.
A trap where logic devoured logic.
Reiner had fallen into that trap.
“Young master. The congratulatory address first.”
“Ah. Yes, of course.”
At Cyril’s whisper, Reiner regained his senses and raised his glass.
He could worry later.
For now, as the host of the party, he had to fulfill his role.
“Haha. I am truly pleased that such a reliable comrade-in-arms has come to us. Everyone, raise your glasses! Let us offer a welcome to Mage Danil, who will shed blood and sweat together with us—”
-Clang clang clang clang clang!!!
“……!”
The loud pealing of a bell that struck the ears cut off Reiner’s words.
The air in the banquet hall froze, and people’s expressions hardened.
The barbarians had attacked!
Everyone’s eyes fixed on Danil.
Gazes of shock and respect poured toward him, who had predicted this exact situation.
‘Holy shit. What is with this timing?’
They had no way of knowing that the lying mage was breaking out in a cold sweat inside.
*
“It’s an attack!”
“Where is it?”
“With that bell, it’s the east gate!”
“Bring my armor!”
“Excuse me, I’ll go first.”
“Hm?”
“Wait!”
Before he even heard an answer, Danil ran to the terrace and leaped down.
“Gasp!”
“Lord Danil!”
The people were shocked, but soon swallowed their breaths.
They saw a black cloak fluttering in the wind as it soared into the sky.
Watching Danil’s back disappear beyond the night sky of Kazan by flight magic, the people pressed down their startled hearts.
“Is the timing good or bad?”
Danil was at a loss.
He had never expected that the excuse he had made simply because he did not want to drink would actually come true.
Even so, hesitating here would be the worst choice.
It would be no different from confessing before those high-ranking people, saying, I am a liar.
So Danil immediately rushed out.
To show others that he was not a liar.
“Is it that way?”
Finding the direction was easy.
All he had to do was follow the soldiers hurriedly running through the streets that had fallen into chaos at the emergency bell.
Having arrived at the eastern wall before anyone else in the banquet hall, Danil surveyed the battlefield.
A chaotic melee was already in full swing atop the wall.
“What the hell?”
Danil’s eyes widened at the unexpected sight.
He had expected a situation where people who were clearly proclaiming, “I am a barbarian,” at a glance would be tangled up fighting knights and soldiers.
But he had not expected that.
“Is this for real? They’re using cavalry in a siege?”
“Neighhh!”
“Aaaargh!”
“Damn it! Take down the horses first!”
“Those damned Bima tribe bastards!”
At the sight of cavalry, the natural enemy of infantry, charging across the top of the wall and mowing people down, Danil was dumbstruck.
Every time the horses ran, the soldiers screamed.
The knights tried to bring down the horses somehow, but they struggled bitterly against the harassment of the barbarian cavalry and the difference in height.
Those skilled enough to use sword energy occasionally managed to topple horses, but it was not enough to overturn the state of the battle.
The Bima tribe.
One of the highland peoples, eternal enemies of the North.
Among northerners, they were called mad horse-fuckers, and when it came to handling horses, they were second to none.
Dragging horses up onto walls and waging mounted combat was nothing more than one of their specialties.
Of course, for the ones facing them, there were few tactics as shitty as this.
“Imps are… no good.”
Danil began to summon Soma’s army, then stopped.
It was a chaotic melee where enemy and ally were entangled together.
If he had the imps concentrate fire as usual, it was obvious that their allies would suffer damage as well.
‘Then what should I do?’
His deliberation was brief.
Instead of a summoning spell, Danil chanted a different spell for the first time in a while.
“Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep.”
-Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash!
Light surged up all across the battlefield.
“Ugh!”
“Wh-what is this?! Urk!”
“Neighhh!”
Sleep magic struck without distinguishing between enemy and ally. Even the horses were no exception.
With their mounts falling under the status ailment known as sleep, forcing them to change class from cavalry to infantry, the Bima tribe blinked.
The soldiers who had been fighting were also left dumbfounded.
“Wh-what in the world is… Aaaargh!”
“Reinforcements! Reinforcements have arrived!”
“……!!! Waaaaaaah!!!”
“Take down the Bima tribe!”
At the shout of the knight who cut down a Bima tribesman who had become a ground-pounder, cheers erupted.
The soldiers advanced.
The Bima tribe on horseback were terror itself, but without horses, it was a different story.
At the sight of dozens of spearpoints flying toward them, the faces of the Bima tribesmen turned deathly dark.