Whether the enemy scouted them overnight or got impatient, they made the next dawn busy.
The nomads sent a five-hundred-man strong force up the mountain by the first morning light.
They arrived on foot this time, carrying long lances.
And it seemed like they were finally getting serious.
'Still no sign of this Maou guy, though,' Maple checked in as the soldiers approached. 'And they brought up their whole supply train. Looks like they're planning to stay long-term.'
In a few minutes, Konrad spotted them with his own eyes, too.
This seemed like a proper siege force, at least compared to the earlier probing.
They could form a tighter shield wall without horses, their lances giving them a decent reach.
'Gabby,' he opened a telepathic channel towards the reserve camp. 'Get the men-at-arms ready.'
Not having to rely on messengers was godsent in times like these.
'Which company?' the angel asked without delay, her thoughts feeling wary.
'For now, send me the Aset Defenders, and the rest of my men,' Konrad messaged back. No need to wait for those slow riders. 'I want Vargas up here, no matter what your father says.'
That should have been enough for now.
The garrison was already two hundred strong, and some of his men lay in an ambush before the pass. With another two hundred on the way, they could've held out for days.
And that was with keeping the wyverns and the dragoness in reserve.
He had no reason to panic yet, or to scramble all the other troops.
Not until he knew what else the invaders had in store for him.
'How long do I have to stay hidden, bossman?' Maple complained, reading his thoughts as usual. Konrad had an effective shield against such things by now, but he wanted to stay in touch.
'If we're winning, I have no reason to reveal my aces,' he noted.
The dragon's unguarded first thought was that she hoped they would lose.
Yes, he was also getting better at reading other people's thoughts. Hers, for the most part.
So far, he could only do it with the telepathic channels already established. And against someone who didn't bother guarding their minds. Which was—yeah. Maple. That was it.
But that was a start—especially since the dragoness was so difficult to rein in.
'Forget I thought that,' she excused herself. 'And I love flying back and forth, but—'
'No, I'm glad you're bored,' Konrad dismissed her. 'It means we're doing fine so far.'
But for how long? It was only a question of time until things turned ugly.
Even this small nomadic formation outnumbered them two to one. And while it was five hundred men, he knew they had a thousand times more waiting.
"Keep our archers hidden until the nomads commit to the attack," Konrad ordered his men.
"What about the ones hiding down the road?" Bor asked, caressing his axe.
He seemed eager, but from the twitching of his fingers, he must have been nervous, too.
One wrong move, and many could've died.
A good one, and even more—but on the other side.
Still, after thinking about it overnight, his new goal was no longer to kill all the enemies.
It was to keep his men and the country behind them safe as much as possible.
"Springing their trap now would be a suicide," he said, shaking his head. "If they can stay undetected, they can harass their supply train later. If not, pull them back. Stay quiet."
That was the safest solution he could think of, for now.
The tribesman nodded, then ran off to forward his commands.
With the rest of his men, Welf and Kade would soon join him, too, not to mention Vargas.
If he had a proper strategist around, he could have rested easier.
Someone he could've consulted with; someone who cared, unlike the angel.
'Rude,' her voice echoed in his mind right away. 'I do care—about how you deal with the true enemy. And about the millions affected by that final battle, too.'
'But not about these men,' Konrad noted as a matter of fact.
He couldn't help but compare his haremettes to each other.
It was still hard to believe that Gabrielle was the archangel, and not Lily, although—
'For the record, your favorite demoness also promised to destroy the entire world if you died. So you can guess how much she cares about these people,' the second wife claimed.
Well, that was a terrifying thought.
Romantic, but he'd rather not put those claims to the test.
He was too worried that the demoness could actually do that.
'Hah, even before breakfast,' a new voice joined in uninvited. 'Which is hilarious, I know. Here I am hiding in the back line from this Meow Midori guy, but I could destroy his entire planet.'
'Please don't,' Konrad pleaded, trying to clear his head before the imminent clash.
The nomadic shieldwall stopped about thirty paces from the royal garrison.
They also brandished long spears and heavy wooden shields, getting ready to fight. If he hadn't had the dragoness scouting, those men would have still been asleep in the nearby barracks.
Attacking at first morning light was such a classic maneuver, and he almost fell for it.
"Hold formation in the middle and don't let them past," Konrad yelled, unsheathing his blade as well. On the right, they could pivot their defenses against the cliffs, and on the left—
That was one neck-breaking fall if the nomads attempted to flank them.
They crept closer at a steady pace with pikes extended, while messengers rode back and forth.
Someone was commanding them from way back on the serpentine, out of Konrad's sight.
'And no, it's still not that Mage guy,' Maple let him know. 'But he's a fancy-looking dude in a carriage about five hairpins back. Want me to take him out?'
'No,' he said, shaking his head. 'But good catch. Keep an eye on him, and tell me how he reacts.'
'Hmm, want me to read his mind, too?'
Now that was an A-class spy game.
How did he never think about it so far?
He even sent the prisoners to Lily and Gabby for interrogation, but Maple had the same ability.
'Can you do that without getting caught?' Konrad asked, already trying to guess what that commander might be thinking. The dragon's laughter echoed in his mind as a response.
'I can shapeshift, turn invisible, and sit right next to him if I so wished,' she claimed.
That seemed excessive, but if her mind-reading range with strangers was that short—
'No, it's not,' the dragon scoffed, and he could almost see her pout. 'I can read his mind from about fifty paces. Still going to turn invisible though—too many archers for comfort.'
And guess what? The commander's first thought was to send those horse archers forward.
Even before the spearmen clashed, two dozen riders arrived to soften up his garrison.
They lobbed arrows over their own men's heads, and it was a good thing that Konrad could prepare them for it. They assumed a full turtle formation in the middle of the road.
A small, spiky turtle it might have been, but for those arrows, it was impenetrable.
And for now, it was the only thing standing between the invaders and Kasserlane.