Eight flare bolts rose to the skies, bathing the dark, snowy battlefield with bright light when they detonated, enough that it was almost as if eight moons were high above the earth. Down below, the screams of the damned human soldiers reached their crescendo as they broke into a rout.

  “Retreat!”

  “Hurry up!”

  “Don’t get caught in the open!”

  Hundreds of soldiers ran into dug-in trench lines with panicked faces. Alongside dirty white coat uniforms, they wore silver colored armbands with a black chain symbol on them, indicating that these men were from a penal unit.

  Down below, crossbowmen peeked out of the parapet to keep their weapons firing, while casters also joined in with their staves to cover the retreat, bolts of energy flying on the horizon.

  At the rear of the frontlines, around a few miles away, towed heavy “Adler” shützes, magical siege weapons used by the Empire for long-ranged indirect fire, were being prepared by their mage operators.

  Golden mana crystals were fed into their loading chambers, fueling the targeting crystals in front of the wheeled weapons, their control glyphs glowing aggressively.

  They were aimed straight at the sky, and when an officer gave the command, dozens upon dozens of them that were scattered in the wide frontline opened fire, their targeting crystals sending white fireballs high in the sky.

  Back to the trench lines, the panicked soldiers watched as explosions blanketed the horizon, as if white light from the heavens smited the demons below.

  When it was done, the crossbowmen resumed firing their arrows, casters sent volleys of spells, and shieldguards held their swords and axes with vigilance.

  Many soldiers strained their eyes just to see the monstrosities ahead, creatures that, to any human who would see them, were comparable to eldritch horrors.

  The cold, starvation, lack of water, and lack of supplies, all bore down on the soldiers’ morale, yet they remained in their positions.

  Their orders were clear—hold the damned line at all costs!

  And if they were to die here, then so be it. It was the duty demanded by all those who sat comfortably behind them after all, and as penal soldiers, they were criminals convicted of heinous crimes and thus slated to be executed.

  But they were given an alternative.

  Should they finish two deployment tours instead, which was around eight years in the front, they’d be granted freedom. Death may be likely, but there was a chance for survival.

  As the horde of demons finally emerged from the smoke, their red glowing eyes the only thing fully visible due to their darkened and twisted bodies that seemed barely corporeal, orders rang out throughout the zigzagged trench lines for everyone to join in the battle.

  Crossbow bolts, spells, and other projectiles rained on the incoming horde. Powerful anti-demon energy bolts came out of towed “L?we” shützes, a lighter and smaller design of the larger Adler shützes, designed for direct fire against heavily armored or extremely powerful demons.

  Multiple large reptilian demons roared as these bolts of light pierced them, causing them to fall dead on the ground. Smaller goblin-like corrupted creatures on the other hand began falling by the hundreds, their bodies faltering en masse in the face of enchanted arrows and spells being fired by the soldiers, slowly creating mountains of demonic corpses on top of the snow.

  Even the first demons that managed to get close found their demise, as glyph traps hidden below the snow glowed and activated, and explosions blanketed the advancing demons, with infernos being ignited afterward that served as a makeshift barrier.

  But, their numbers proved too many, and they began pouring straight into the trench line itself, many still on fire as they slammed into human lines. Shieldguards finally stepped up, their heavy mana reinforced shields meeting the blades and spells of the monsters, while their swords and axes cut through their foes in desperate melee.

  Some soldiers broke down on the ground, stunned as the demons tore through their ranks. Many demons even began to feast on the flesh of the fallen soldiers, while demon and human blood mixed on the snow and mud.

  The rest of the casters and crossbowmen on the other hand tried to support the shieldguards in the melee, but it was a hard-fought battle, and casualties ran high as the trench under assault did its best to hold on.

  Within ten minutes, crossbowmen from overrun sections of the trenches began firing special bolts at the sky, all of which released a bright red smoke in their wake, visible from miles away even with the darkness around them.

  In response, these zones were struck by human bombardment, the surviving injured soldiers screaming as they died with the demons around them.

  Fireball lights from the demon side also began to rain into the human line, sending explosions just as heinous as the ones caused by human shützes that ripped into those who desperately tried to hide in the trenches.

  They most likely originated from those powerful demonic land dragons at the rear, which only indicated that the demons must be quite serious about trying to take the human trench line that they were assaulting.

  Their effect was devastating. One soldier even screamed for his mother as he was eaten alive limb after limb by two demons, before an explosion ended his misery.

  “Damn it. Now that doesn’t look too good,” an officer muttered as he lowered his spyglass, watching from the safety of a trench right behind the one that was being attacked. “Seems like we poked the bear too hard this time. We might have to call this off.”

  “But sir, Major von Eisen said that the special herbs on the other side of those hills are too critical,” another officer reminded. “We can’t give up this easily. If we’re pushed back any further we might never have another chance to gather the needed materials in the long run. Maybe we should launch more diversionary attacks before sending in the gatherers?”

  “Maybe,” the officer who held the spyglass looked down at his pocket watch, before groaning. “Ah, damn it. What is this even for again?”

  “I already told you. The Crown Princess needs an aiding elixir for her weak heart.”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Is that so? It still sounds ridiculous to me. If the fox himself wants me to sacrifice three penal battalions for this, then he better lie to me instead and come up with a better reason! These boys are fresh reinforcements, and we’re throwing ‘em because of the princess?!”

  “So you prefer lies, sir?”

  “I’d rather be lied to than know that I’m spending my soldiers’ blood and guts for some brat we don’t even know,” the officer laughed like a madman. “But for now, send in another barrage, or those demons might just break too far into our defense lines. At once!”

  +++

  “And that’s done!” Alexa smiled as she finished another circle. There were mountains of scratch papers filled with multiple examples of circles around her desk.

  She felt a great sense of satisfaction from it. Practicing how to draw a perfect circle to eventually contain all the sigils that will be inside of it was difficult, because…well, it was a circle. Surprisingly, drawing a circle without a compass was hard.

  Using a compass was indeed possible, unfortunately, Wilhelm didn’t consider it as a worthwhile path unless she was already well-experienced.

  Being able to draw a perfect circle on her own meant the system would reward her with more experience points to level up her ‘Glyph Drawing’ skill. It also came with the advantage of one day being able to whip up a glyph of her own in a hostile environment on demand.

  That, and she couldn’t exactly use a compass if she was creating a massive glyph on the floor or any large object. So, she was determined to start small and to perfect it.

  A wide smile appeared on Alexa’s lips. She was making progress. She really wanted to milk as much XP as she could by perfecting circles.

  Then she’d move on to sigils.

  “Hey! Hey! Mr. Scary Face, you’re back!” Alexa noticed the door to Wilhelm’s office opening. “Feast your eyes upon this! I believe that I’m but a few inches away from meeting your requirements.”

  He looked blankly at the paper Alexa presented to him. He gave his judgment.

  “It’s garbage, Your Highness.”

  “Please die in a cold ditch, peasant.”

  How dare you not appreciate my talent and effort?

  “Anyway,” Wilhelm went to his desk, relaxing in his seat after placing his hat on the table. “I received word about the herbs we need for your aiding elixir.”

  “What happened?” Alexa asked, a bit pouty because he once again destroyed her celebrations. “Have they managed to collect them?”

  “My contacts are having…‘delay issues’. That’s all. Maybe they will in a few weeks or so. Maybe a month, who knows,” he sighed. “For now, focus on those glyphs, then we’ll try continuing improving your physical condition too, so when it arrives, everything else is ready.”

  Alexa tilted her head.

  “I believe that the ‘Fuchs Brigade’ is one of the best in the Northern Front. How then are they having these ‘delay issues’? Is their reputation a farce?”

  She noticed him groaning at her question.

  “The Fuchs Brigade is deployed with Army Group West at the Wolgast Defense District. As you can tell, that’s in the west of the continent. The herbs needed for the aiding elixir are in the northern part of the Proclow Defense District, which is under the jurisdiction of Army Group Center. In essence, it’s in the central part of the front, so a different unit is handling it.”

  “So you possess connections in the rest of the Defense Forces to do that?”

  “Yes. My contacts unfortunately are not having the best of times at Proclow. To be honest, acquiring it there is already difficult, because those herbs are not as widespread in that area compared to Eisen, which is north of Proclow.”

  “Hmm…” Alexa nodded along until she was suddenly reminded of something. “Wait…Wolgast Defense District? Why is my family name used in that district?”

  “Did you seriously forget your ancestral homeland? Geez, House Wolgast sure has declining intellectual qualities…”

  “Stop insulting me, you fallen noble!”

  “Look. Whenever a region is close to the frontlines, they are taken over by the Ministry of Defense as the people in those regions are evacuated fully. Once a region is populated only by military personnel, it becomes a defense district. The Grand Duchy of Wolgast was once the Imperial Family’s ancestral fief, up until four years ago when Army Group West was forced to retreat to Wolgast.”

  Oh…

  It made sense to Alexa now. Of course, the Ministry of Defense was the organization established by the Empire to defend itself from the demon horde. They were the ones experienced and tasked to handle it, so of course, regions under threat would fall into their administration too. After all, it was just them over there.

  Fighting…

  Dying…

  She wondered how lonely it must be for the people up there. It must be so cold and so scary over there. To think that when she heard they were having delays, she felt irritated, now, she kinda felt a bit awful.

  Hmm…those peasants must be trying hard to get me my herbs right now. Considering how that elixir must be extremely costly in monetary terms, maybe sending them some nice stuff like sweets and cake will be appropriate.

  “If only I can reward them with that somehow…” Alexa mumbled.

  “Anyhow, forget about that,” Wilhelm said. “Focus on practicing.”

  “Why? Forget about what?”

  He fished out a notebook and began flipping through its pages.

  “You’re thinking about things you do not understand. I’d suggest you forget about it and focus on what’s in front of you. That’s all that matters, for now.”

  “Good sir, did you just call me ignorant?”

  “Yes, I called you ignorant. So start small, and go from there,” Wilhelm smiled at Alexa. “That’s how good students learn. They build their foundations first, and then they can blossom afterward. It’s not meant to be an insult—we all start ignorant. And when at that stage of life, you needn’t concern yourself yet about things you have no control over.”

  “...I’m the future Empress,” Alexa said, standing straight as she looked down at him. “I have some control even right now. I was merely thinking about rewarding those soldiers trying hard to gather the herbs I need to cast my magic.”

  “And that’s why I said you should forget about it. You won’t be able to send them any ‘rewards’, because it’s logistically impossible. And even if you can, you probably won’t want to reward these people anyway if you know them.”

  “...What do you even mean by that?” Alexa asked.

  “Nothing. Just keep practicing. I’ll get you that aiding elixir, eventually, as you requested. All you need to do is keep your end of the bargain. That will be how you repay the costs to acquire those ingredients.”

  Alexa held her tongue, before looking down. Costs? Indeed…she did not have an idea about the cost in the first place which she must repay, yet she was thinking about silly rewards instead.

  It just meant that this jerk was right. She didn’t know enough about this world, or anything, and she didn’t like that, at all.

  “Then please teach me more, Mr. von Eisen,” Alexa said with great resolve. “I wish to learn more. I demand another overtime!”

  “You’ve been doing this for three days in a row now, but…alright.”

  Wilhelm stood up, taking a book from a bookshelf behind him.

  “Say, would you like to start practicing sigils, the working parts of a glyph itself?”

  Alexa’s eyes widened, her excitement bubbling. Finally, she’d been trying to copy the examples on Wilhelm’s drawings, but she didn’t know how each of them even worked. Now however…

  “Of course,” Alexa nodded. “Show them all to me. I want another lecture at once.”

  “Heh. That’s the spirit, princess,” Wilhelm laughed. “With time, you’ll definitely catch up to your peers.”