"They've… retreated? What's going on?"
"Not a full retreat," Sebastian replied, shaking his head. "Only the beastmen's main army has withdrawn. The ones still left in the Mandrake Kingdom are just the smaller tribes."
He frowned, struggling to describe the strange scene he had witnessed through the insects' memories.
"The main army is heading backward — marching in the opposite direction of the smaller beastmen clans. But those smaller groups aren't retreating either. When they encounter large cities, they don't attack — they simply go around them. Honestly, I've lived for most of my life, and I've never seen an army fight like this."
"Could it be because winter's coming soon?" Hel wondered aloud after thinking for a moment, but quickly shook her head.
"No… there's still about a month before winter truly sets in. At their current pace, they wouldn't be able to gather enough food to survive the cold season."
"That's exactly the issue," Sebastian said, sighing. "Their behavior is too unusual. If I were commanding them, I'd use the main army to break open a city's walls, then send the smaller clans inside to loot and destroy. Their numbers give no advantage in a siege — even if you hadn't sold those magitech weapons, some cities could still have held out."
"So you mean… there are still other surviving cities besides Heim?"
Hel's eyes lit up at the thought. As long as Heim wasn't standing alone, there was hope.
"Ahem… I was only speaking hypothetically, my lady," Sebastian said awkwardly. "What I mean is that even if Heim could only muster a thousand defenders, it could still withstand the tens of thousands of beastmen outside. Without siege engines or proper equipment, sheer numbers don't mean much.
But… 'not easy' doesn't mean 'impossible.' And now we return to your question — I regret to inform you that there aren't many cities left in the Mandrake territories."
"As expected." Hel showed no surprise — this was the outcome she had already anticipated.
"Not every city has Heim's geographical advantage," she continued. "Take our old neighbor Ashton, for example. Built by the river and surrounded by open plains on three sides — practically made to be overrun by the beastmen.
And that's not even the worst part. Its location is far too close to the Mandrake Causeway — that long, straight road the Sacrifice Kingdom built for moving troops. Without the Watchwall to protect it anymore, it's like leaving the front door open and inviting the beastmen in. I can't imagine why they wouldn't march that way."
"You're absolutely right," said Sebastian. "Right now, aside from Heim, only three cities remain in the entire Mandrake Kingdom — Northpeak City, built high in the mountains; Golden City, which borders the Free State; and the capital itself.
The first two were spared purely because of their terrain — too hard to attack. As for the capital, the reason is… different.
From what I saw through the insects' memories, there seems to be some sort of unspoken understanding between the beastmen and the Mandrake capital. Neither side attacks the other. The smaller beastmen clans simply marched around the city and went straight toward the Sacrifice Kingdom — and the capital's soldiers didn't stop them. It was as if they deliberately let them pass."
"I see… well, I'll admit, that's not a bad tactic," Hel mused. "If the beastmen want enough food to survive the winter, they'll have to spread out and plunder more lands. The Mandrake Kingdom alone can't sustain them.
And the capital… it's too tough a nut to crack. Letting them go wreak havoc elsewhere is probably the smartest choice. Who's commanding the capital right now? Don't tell me — this really sounds like something that old Duke would come up with."
"The insects' perspective wasn't clear," Sebastian said, "but I did see the Duke's second daughter on the battlements."
"Oh, her, the brother-loving one," Hel chuckled. "I remember she was quite favored by the Duke. If she weren't born a woman, he probably wouldn't have had such a hard time choosing between her and the eldest son. In that case, leaving her in charge of the capital makes perfect sense."
"Indeed," Sebastian agreed. "The smaller beastmen are behaving just as we expected — but the real oddity lies with the main army. From what I could sense, they seemed… desperate to escape, as if there were some deadly threat right behind them."
"A deadly threat?" Hel raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you mean those little beastmen. They can barely take a city, let alone scare the main army. What are they going to do — perform some kind of blood ritual and summon a demon?"
"That's… not entirely impossible," Sebastian said seriously, rubbing his chin. "Ever since they lost contact with their god of corruption, they've been trying to reestablish communication through some kind of ritual. Perhaps this retreat is connected — a massive blood sacrifice, maybe?"
"Maybe." Hel crossed her arms, a faint frown on her face. "But something still feels off… So…"
She gave Sebastian a mischievous look.
"Go get some rest tonight. Tomorrow, we'll resume our reconnaissance."
"Wait— you don't mean…" Sebastian's face fell. "My lady, please, can we not use flies again? I really don't enjoy experiencing first-person views of… well, cow dung."
"Huh? Oh, that? I'll… try," Hel said with a grin.
And so…
The next day, Sebastian was once again greeted by a cloud of buzzing flies.
By the third day, most of the swarm consisted entirely of flies.
At that point, Sebastian felt a choking sense of despair — quite literally choking, and not just metaphorically.
"My lady…" he said weakly.
"Relax," Hel said breezily. "This is the last batch. Other insects are hard to find, and flies are the most common creatures in Heim. Plus, their vision far exceeds a human's. For scouting purposes, they're the best choice."
"…Fine."
Resigned, Sebastian once more cast Soul Search on the endless swarm.
Over the following days, Hel did switch to another species — though it wasn't much of an improvement.
After all, the replacements she found were dragonflies — and dragonflies, as it turned out, loved eating flies.