Numerous grunts and painful moans were audible from one of the tents within the lizardmen encampment.

"Na... ka...i... haah...kill you...!"

Slap!

"Nnnnh!"

A voice full of resentment that was mixed in with the grunts and moans was immediately suppressed with a slap.

"Say... Knight Commander. How have you been since the last time we met?"

Prince Nakai who was sitting at a table on the side asked while sipping some kind of a beverage.

"H... mph! Y... ou will... pay for... t, this...!"

Godfrey, with his head pinned to the ground, glared at the nonchalant Nakai.

"How is he?"

Prince Nakai asked the lizardman who was working a sweat behind Godfrey.

"Loose… loose like those human whores the Khan secretly keeps in his basement."

"Phahaha... really? Knight Commander, were you perhaps training yourself for this day? I knew you liked it the last time."

"S... hut up...!"

Godfrey denied Nakai's words through gritted teeth, trying to suppress the constant pain.

"You know? I was worried that you escaped before completing your training, but it seems that you have trained yourself. Very good."

"Who... would..."

However, before Godfrey could finish his sentence he heard yelling and shrieks from outside. His face immediately turned pale.

"Well, well, well… looks like we have more visitors. Now, what should I do? Do I let them enter or politely send them back where they came from?"

Nakai asked, the teasing apparent in his voice.

"N... no! No... no... no!"

Godfrey shouted in panic. The people Weglana has sent to rescue him must not see him like this! If they saw him like this... forget about losing some honor, he would lose all his face and the face of his next twelve generations!

"Hahaha!"

Nakai laughed seeing Godfrey this desperate to hide.

"Fine, just for you, I will send our guests back politely and remind your Princess of our deal. Guards!"

""Yes!"

"Capture them alive and bring them up on the wall!"

""Understood!""

"Well then, let's see what fate will Weglana decide for you."

Prince Nakai said as he left the tent.

----------

"Emilia Josephina Weglana!"

A thunderous shout resounded from top of the wall surrounding the lizardmen encampment.

"In a good faith, I gave you eighteen hours to decide your Knight Commander's fate. However, your actions have shown me the true nature of you humans."

Prince Nakai said and waved his hands.

A group of lizardmen then immediately escorted five humans dressed completely in black up on the wall and made them sit right next to the captured Knights.

Once Prince Nakai saw all of the humans gathered, he waved his hand once again.

"You have only an hour to decide now."

Nakai said coldly and walked away.

As he departed, the lizardmen beheaded all of the humans on top of the wall.

Emilia watched the Knights and the people she sent to rescue Godfrey lose their heads with a pale face.

"W, what do I do now...?"

She muttered in distress. She now understood. The only way for Godfrey to stay alive is to surrender her entire country.

But, can she do that? No need to ask, she certainly can. However, will others listen to her? If she gives her word and the other officials won't listen to her, then what? What is she supposed to do?

Just as she was pondering over what to do, she heard noise coming from her surroundings.

"Father Matthew, what's going on?"

"It's... enemy reinforcements."

Matthew said bitterly. He was clear that with these reinforcements, Weglana’s chance to win has been reduced by at least half.

Contrary to everyone’s plummeting morale, Emilia saw a ray of hope growing stronger with each passing second.

Once the reinforcements were clearly visible, the soldiers of the Weglana Republic and even the officials and generals couldn't help but tremble. Even Father Matthew's hand formed a fist and turned white from the sheer pressure.

"What do we do..."

One official unconsciously muttered.

Hearing this mutter, Emilia's mouth formed a smile she immediately concealed as she stated with a fake grief in her voice,

"... We surrender."

"Princess!?"

Father Matthew turned towards Emilia in disbelief.

"We can't do that! If we surrender, then-"

"Father Matthew. Please, think about it clearly. If we engage in a battle here and by any chance manage to win, our forces would be reduced to nothing, we won't be able to defend or attack again. By engaging in a battle, we are just wasting human lives! However, if we surrender... we can save Knight Commander and save our strength for the future. We can just pretend and save our strength when the lizards put down their guard. Moreover, with Miss Yuri's prowess on our side... Miss Yuri?"

Emilia spoke, the vigor in her words increasing with each word, until her vigor turned into bewilderment when she turned towards Yuri... who wasn't standing behind her anymore. Emilia looked all around, but she never caught sight of the small figure that she was willing to bet her entire country on.

"M, Miss Yuri? Search... search for her! Quickly, find Miss Yuri for me!"

Emilia had her soldiers turn the entire camp upside down, but in the end, she found no signs of Yuri.

----------

Meanwhile, somewhere in the mountains in Weglana.

"Master, why did you decide to leave so suddenly? You did not even let them know of your departure."

"......"

"That fool, Bart, will surely be sad when he finds out. It’s not that I really care about him or anything, Master! On the other hand, I’m quite happy that there’s no more competition… hehe…"

{Muu... I wanted to play for a bit more...}

(Can't be helped~ You wouldn't want to anger Big Sis even more, right? Just look! She's still in a bad mood~)

{Ugh, now I feel guilty... don't worry, Big Sis! I will take responsibility!}

(Oy! Don't butt in! I will be taking the responsibility! You have already fucked up once!)

{What are you saying! It doesn't work like that! Of course, I need to be the one to take responsibility for my own mistake!}

(Grrr.)

......

Yuri was in a really bad mood for the entire day.