DCFSHE 11

Chapter 11

 Battle at the Final Wall (1)

Before sunset, Xia Yun came to fetch me and led me to the watchtower standing in the very center of the royal castle.
From there, the entire interior of the fortress could be seen.

When I’d gotten out of the bath and lain down on the bed, it was probably a little past 2 p.m. in my sense of time — Japanese time, that is.
Of course, there was no way I could fall asleep.

And when I closed my eyes alone, the images that came floating up were—
Rika’s tearful face, her voice saying “I’m sorry,”
the ferocious expression of that tiger beastman I’d first encountered,
his huge fangs, sharp claws, growling voice,
Princess Leafa’s sleeping figure in her underwear, her full breasts,
and Xia Yun’s slender, completely nude body…

They flashed through my mind one after another, forcing my eyes open each time.
Too many intense experiences in such a short span of time.

And when I thought back on it all quietly, alone—
That tiger beastman was actually really terrifying.

It was also the first time I had ever seen a woman completely naked.
Even just in her underwear.
And since their chest sizes were so drastically different, it felt like I’d had two entirely separate “new experiences.”

Still, whenever Rika came to mind, guilt and shame welled up so strong that I wished I could just disappear.

After spending hours restless like that, my body and nerves finally gave out around what would be 12:30 a.m. in Japan—
roughly 5 p.m. in this world—and I drifted into sleep as if melting away.

From the watchtower, I could clearly see the last remaining line of defense: the final wall.
Actually, it was surprisingly short—only a little taller than a single-story house.

Since I’d only slept about an hour, it felt almost the same as pulling an all-nighter.
My head was foggy, and the evening sunlight stung my eyes.

When I looked up, the third and second walls further out were taller, blocking part of the view.
The third wall especially—about the height of a small office building, maybe?
Nowhere near a high-rise apartment, but definitely taller than this watchtower.

I couldn’t really understand why the walls got taller the further out they went,
so I asked Xia Yun, who stood by my side.

“Originally, Castle Jiwo was built as a small fortress to guard against invasions from the northern barbarians,”
she explained.
“They were a horse-riding people, and this final wall was strengthened as a defensive palisade to stop them.
Later, when the castle lordship passed to the royal and noble families, the outer walls were added and expanded into their current form — or so I have been told.”

“So basically, the royal family and nobles just wanted to show off, huh?”

“I… cannot say for certain, but that seems to have been the general course of events…”

I wasn’t some Sengoku-era warlord or anything, so I had no clue how much the height of castle walls really affected defense.
But still, having poor visibility from your own headquarters’ watchtower didn’t seem ideal.

As I was thinking that, I noticed heavily armored, muscular soldiers climbing onto the wall—
the same ones I’d seen last night.

“Are those the Sword Corps?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“There… aren’t very many of them, are there?”
“…Their numbers have already fallen to around 320 after repeated battles with the beastmen.”

They had started with a thousand defenders…
That means 680 were already dead.

T-That’s… pretty hopeless, isn’t it…?

Torches spaced evenly along the final wall were lit, casting a glow across the darkening fortress.
I realized then—lighting must be a huge issue during night battles.
If those torches were knocked down, it would be a real problem.
And the risk of fire was terrifying, too.

Before long, the sun fully set, and a low growl echoed through the night—
the sound of beasts rumbling in the dark.

The swordsmen atop the wall drew their blades,
and a heavy tension spread through the air.

At last—
the battle was about to begin.