This city could no longer house any inhabitants.
At least, not for the foreseeable future.
The frozen domain left behind from the sparring match between Esdeath and Yoshino hadn't melted even now, and this time, the frozen area had expanded dramatically. Without special treatment, who knew how long it would take to thaw.
Understanding this, Najenda no longer considered relocating the refugees back into the city.
After stabilizing the situation, she gathered the remaining military forces in the city and dispatched them in four separate directions toward the nearest four cities.
This place was the stronghold of the Supreme Commander.
In fact, most of the residents here were soldiers of the Revolutionary Army. It was just that, in times of peace, the ordinary troops would return to civilian life.
Otherwise, with such a weak foundation, the Revolutionary Army wouldn't be able to afford to support a force of two hundred thousand troops.
Therefore, even though the roads to the other four cities weren't exactly short, and they had fled in a rush without taking food, money, or water, they could rely on their physical endurance to make it through the journey.
As for the forces that remained behind, half were the elderly, weak, and ill soldiers used to disguise the city as a regular border town, while the other half were the personal guards of the Supreme Commander.
Normally, even Najenda wouldn't be able to command the latter group.
But under these circumstances, it was clear to anyone with eyes that the Supreme Commander's fate was grim. Naturally, command passed to Najenda.
The elite guards who had escaped from the City Lord's Mansion didn't question it either. They didn't reveal that Najenda had a falling-out with the Supreme Commander.
After all, the truly loyal guards were most likely all turned into ice sculptures in that recent cold wave.
Those who remained were just fence-sitters going with the flow.
Moreover, now that the Supreme Commander was gone, continuing to pledge loyalty wasn't devotion—it was sheer foolishness.
"The headcount of the escaped has more or less been completed. Out of 24,654 residents, roughly 21,000 survived. Among the Supreme Commander's 3,000 personal guards, less than 1,000 made it out,"
In the temporary camp, a squad leader formerly in charge of city defense stood before Najenda and reported.
"The remaining armored soldiers and the Supreme Commander's guards have been split into four teams, each escorting about 5,000 people toward the four cities under the Revolutionary Army's control to seek shelter. The earliest group should arrive tomorrow night; the latest will need about three days."
"Over 3,000 residents and 2,000 elite guards lost..."
Hearing this grim report, Najenda sighed deeply.
In other words, over 3,000 ordinary soldiers and more than 2,000 elite troops were lost.
And that was before a proper battle even started—one fortieth of the Revolutionary Army's strength lost for nothing.
Those 2,000 elite guards had likely charged in to rescue the Supreme Commander, but were frozen by the cold wave.
As for the 3,000-plus ordinary troops—some probably died trying to rescue him, some were too slow and couldn't outrun the cold, and others simply lived too close to the City Lord's Mansion.
The rest likely died in stampedes.
After all, this city only had four gates. With everyone panicking and trying to flee, it would be surprising if there were no trampling deaths.
Even so, Najenda knew that this was the best possible outcome.
If she hadn't sounded the alarm immediately and organized the guards to maintain order, the casualties would have been far worse.
But, putting it coldly—this was actually a good thing for Najenda.
Most of those fiercely loyal to the Supreme Commander were gone.
That made her recent efforts at command and logistics much easier. No one stood in her way.
"By the way, Lady Najenda, you said you wanted to organize a 500-man rescue team. But even after my best efforts, only 220 soldiers volunteered,"
The squad leader looked a bit embarrassed.
"That super-dangerous creature is still inside the city. Most soldiers simply don't dare to go back in."
"Understandable," Najenda said without blame.
"Try your best to collect warm clothing. Once that rampaging rabbit calms down, we'll go in."
"Calms... down?"
The squad leader froze for a moment, his gaze turning puzzled.
He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but Najenda phrasing felt strange.
Almost as if... she knew that super-dangerous creature.
But he didn't ask. His training as a soldier meant he carried out orders without question.
Soon, they had cobbled together 221 sets of cold-weather clothing.
The over 20,000 refugees were finally organized and began marching toward four different directions.
Before long, the chaotic surroundings of the city grew quiet once more.
During this entire process, Najenda gaze never left the massive white rabbit in the City Lord's Mansion.
After nearly half an hour, the ice puppet finally disappeared from view.
"Lady Najenda..."
The city defense squad leader also noticed the massive beast melting like ice under the sun, slowly fading from sight. He couldn't help but ask.
But Najenda didn't answer. She merely waved her hand to signal the rescue team to follow.
They hadn't even entered the city yet, and the cold wind hitting them made the 220 stout men tremble.
Their so-called cold-weather clothing was really just clothes gathered from the other residents.
Even bundled in layers, with the sun blazing above, they felt no warmth at all.
Even Najenda pulled her sweater tighter, rubbing her hands together to gain a bit of heat.
"Start the search from the edges of the frozen zone," she instructed.
"First, search for possible survivors. Second, look for key Revolutionary Army personnel—even if it's just the bodies. Third, collect any food or money left behind."
The 220 strong men were too cold to even speak, afraid that opening their mouths would let out all their body heat.
They quickly split up and began searching house by house.
Though they were labeled a "rescue team," Najenda held little hope for finding anyone alive.
It would be ideal if there were survivors—but the real purpose of this team was the latter two objectives.
Among the frozen human sculptures were many key Revolutionary Army figures.
Along with them were their Teigu, Shingu, alchemical tools, and so on.
These were all important Revolutionary Army assets—they could not be left behind.
The money and food left in homes during the evacuation would also be significant.
Now that over 20,000 refugees had been relocated to four cities, even if split up, they were still a huge burden for already struggling border towns.
If this wealth could be transported to them, it would ease the pressure.
After assigning tasks, Najenda made her way toward the City Lord's Mansion at the city's center.
The closer she got, the more frozen the buildings became, and the more frozen corpses she saw.
She even spotted a Teigu user she recognized encased in ice.
Through the clear ice, she could still see the expression of someone ready to die for their cause.
Strangely, the sword-shaped Teigu he always wore was not at his waist.
Maybe he was in such a rush, he didn't grab it in time.
She made a mental note to search his home later.
Braving the intensifying cold, Najenda finally stepped into the City Lord's Mansion.
Even though the cold wave had passed, the frigid air still pierced her skin.
Her eyebrows were crusted with visible frost, her hair had frozen stiff, and she could barely feel her own flesh.
It was like standing in a frozen hell—suffocating and painful.
But right now, someone else must be in even greater pain than her.
Najenda didn't give up and forced herself to walk into the mansion's courtyard.
And there—within the frozen world—she saw that heartbreaking figure, sitting alone.
"Yoshino..."
Najenda softly called out, and only then did the girl curled up on the ground lift her head.
Even in the extreme cold, where even a breath would instantly freeze into shards of ice, Najenda still saw large teardrops falling from the girl's reddened eyes.
"Yoshino... has killed someone..."
Yoshino sobbing was filled with fear and unease, along with deep self-blame that tugged at the heart.
Najenda walked over, raised her stiff hand, and gently patted her head.
"This isn't your fault," Najenda said with a complex expression. "You were only defending yourself. No one can blame you."
What Yoshino had seen—those dead bodies—was only a small portion.
Far more people had been frozen into ice sculptures outside the governor's mansion, numbering at least five thousand.
Five thousand lives, ordinary people who had risen in rebellion against the Empire's tyranny, had died here, their lives rendered meaningless.
But Najenda also understood in her heart—this truly wasn't Yoshino fault.
She was merely protecting herself.
But at the same time, it wasn't the Supreme Commander's fault either.
He too was only protecting himself.
From their respective positions, they had simply done what they believed they had to do.
But that's how the world is—not everything can be judged in terms of right or wrong.
Najenda walked over to the Supreme Commander's frozen statue, silently mourning him for a moment in her heart. Then she raised her steel prosthetic limb and smashed part of the ice sculpture.
From within the chunk of ice, she retrieved the rabbit hand puppet that was frozen stiff in the Supreme Commander's pocket, and placed it in front of Yoshino.
"Don't feel guilty. You're doing the right thing."
Najenda placed the rabbit puppet into Yoshino hands and said seriously, "Though people have died, more people can live because of you. Things have already come to this point—there's no turning back now. Pull yourself together, Yoshino. You must do what you need to do. Otherwise, the people here will have died in vain."
Hearing that, Yoshino didn't say anything.
She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and once again put on the rabbit puppet.
"Yoshinon! Glorious revival!"
The utterly ordinary rabbit hand puppet seemed to come alive again the moment it returned to Yoshino hand.
It was clear that Yoshino still couldn't fully accept what she had done.
But that was okay.
She still had Yoshinon.
"Yare yare, this really is..."
Yoshinon, as if completely unaware of what had just happened, looked around at the scene with a bit of difficulty and said, "Looks like while Yoshinon was away, Yoshino was truly pushed to the edge."
"The situation is still under control. There's no need to worry."
Seeing that Yoshinon personality had returned as well, Najenda let out a sigh of relief. "Next, I'll take you to the Revolutionary Army's treasure vault. The Teigu you need should be stored there. I'm counting on you to follow the plan."
"What about the Revolutionary Army?" Yoshinon couldn't help but ask. "Now that the Supreme Commander is gone, what will happen to the army?"
"..."
Facing Yoshinon question, Najenda couldn't answer.
The Supreme Commander was the most important person in the Revolutionary Army.
Its composition was too complex—there were common people driven to desperation by the Empire, mountain bandits, defectors from the imperial army...
These people, each with their own agendas, had united solely because of the Supreme Commander's presence.
Without him, these individuals would undoubtedly fight each other for the position of the new leader.
If it were only internal conflict, that would be one thing.
But if some people lost faith in the Revolutionary Army and splintered off to become roaming bandits and rogue forces, that wouldn't be impossible either.
When that happened, the good image the Revolutionary Army had established among the grassroots people over many years would completely collapse.
The banner of justice they once raised would also cease to exist.
The imperial court could then suppress the Revolutionary Army under the pretense of eradicating bandits, and no one in the court would object. Local officials would no longer pretend to obey while secretly resisting.
At that time, not only the high ranks of the Revolutionary Army, but even its 200,000 soldiers—it was uncertain how many of them would survive.
To prevent that from happening, someone capable of subduing all the Revolutionary Army's senior leaders must emerge.
But within the army, aside from the Supreme Commander, there was no one else who could command universal respect.
Not even Najenda, the former general of the Empire.
Najenda expression kept shifting, as if she were making a difficult decision.
After a fierce internal struggle, she finally made up her mind.
She indeed had no qualifications to replace the Supreme Commander.
Whether in vision, methods, or depth of character, she was beneath him.
But in this situation, she was the only one who could help Yoshino stabilize the situation.
Because in addition to being a former imperial general, she had another identity.
That of the Boss of Night Raid.
The most elite group of Teigu users in the Revolutionary Army was entirely under her command.
With this team, even if she couldn't gain the full trust of the high ranks, she could make those who didn't trust her disappear.
Such a tyrannical form of rule did not make the morally upright Najenda feel proud.
But this was the only way.
To reduce the bloodshed in the Empire, Yoshino had already borne a pressure that should never have fallen on her shoulders.
Since that was the case, how could she, Najenda, simply stand by?
"You two go and do what you need to do. I will take the place of the Supreme Commander and take charge of the Revolutionary Army."
Najenda said in a low voice.
"Until your plan succeeds, I will stabilize the Revolutionary Army's leadership—no matter what."