***

(Casimir Kismet)

I exhaled as I stared at the 5 people with me in the living room at the mansion. Tanya was crossing her arms while staring at me, next to her was Karoon looking down while lowkey staring at the people with her. On the other side of the room were Mehrad, Leo, and Leal sitting together on one sofa.

And the topic of our meeting? Nothing special, it just Tanya received a letter from her king friend saying that the start of another world war had been declared and a fucking legion is already on its way to annihilate us all!

Yep, not a big deal! We are just fucking screwed!

War? What do I know about war? All I know is to punch someone's stupid face! I am just starting to finally adapt to my status as a ruler of this town, and now, a freaking war?

Why is a war happening right when things are starting to take a good turn?

I put my hands on my waists and unleashed another exhale. "So, Hive mind legion from the kingdom of Milana, huh?"

Tanya nodded. "Yes, and from what Tirion notified, they are bringing their new division with them, which they called the Zeppelin bombardment force."

Bombardment force? Doesn't that sound like very bad news?

"Of all the places, why start with us though? We're just a small town in the middle of nowhere."

Leal crossed his feet. "If you ask me, it makes a lot of sense because this town is located at the very boundary of the territory of humans and demi-humans. It is the best place to go if you want to establish an outpost. That was also the reason why some nearby human kingdoms attempted to colonize this town during the past 7 years of war."

I put my hand on my chin. "So, if they manage to take over this place, it will give them a huge advantage in this incoming war."

"You are correct. Furthermore, if this town falls into the humans' hands, the nearest demi-human kingdom will easily fall, because if they got rid of us, the humans could easily send assault in every direction, one more path to attack could make a great difference. I think the kingdom of Milana is aiming to destroy the kingdom of Erela next, once they succeed to conquer us."

"Kingdom of Erela?"

"The elven kingdom. This town is located at the very boundary of the great forest of Fiora and the forest of Inizio."

Wait! The elven kingdom is the nearest demi-human kingdom here? And there are only 3 of them living in this town? What!

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

I cleared my throat. "I see, I see. Does anyone know something about the Hive mind legion and that Zeppelin bombardment force?"

Leo tapped Leal's shoulder with a smirk on his face. "When it comes to enemy information, you can count on Leal on that. He knows everything."

"Not everything."

I nodded. "So, Leal, are you aware of them?"

"Fortunately, I did some digging about them before. Because I thought they would pose a great threat to us. As the name implies, the Hive mind legion comprises more or less than 6000 personnel. However, what really made that army extremely dangerous is their Commander, Einar Aegle."

Wow, he really does know a lot.

However! 6000! Isn't that quite a bit over the top! Hello, we are just a freaking town, not a freaking kingdom! Are they aiming to pulverize us?

"Einar Aegle, huh?"

"He came from a lineage of glorious heroes of humanity, and a former candidate for becoming one. Even though he lost against the current hero, that person can't be underestimated. After all, we are talking about the second choice for a hero. That person is extremely powerful, to say the least."

A former candidate for a hero? They are taking this too seriously, aren't they?

I grabbed one of the wooden chairs lying on the corner and sat while staring at them.

However, what surprised me was, I was already pissing myself here due to the news that a freaking legion was coming for us. But for them? They all looked like it was just another Monday morning."

"So what's up with the Hive mind? Does that name have something to do with them? Or is it just because they are a literal legion?"

Leal shook his head. "No, it has something to do with Commander Einar's skill. Despite their overwhelming number, the Hive mind legion is widely known for its impeccable coordination. Commander Einar is using some kind of telepathy type advanced class skill that can affect all of his allies on the battlefield. Like a hive mind."

A telepathy type advanced class skill that can make a huge army move in great synchronization? Isn't that skill awesome!

I put my hand to cover my mouth. "I see." I nodded. "Then, about that Zeppelin bombardment force?"

Leal leaned back to the sofa. "I am afraid, digging into that kingdom's secret weapon is a little bit hard. The facilities were fully secured and there was only very little information I got about it."

"Tell me about it."

"The only thing I got about it is, the Zeppelin bombardment force consists of sky metal vehicles built to destroy everything beneath them. Some kind of aerial magic demolishers."

I see. Aircraft bombardment team.

So, they are planning to completely obliterate the entire town.

I nodded. "How powerful do you think that bombardment vehicles could be?"

Leal paused for a second then answered my question. "Even If only one managed to reach the town. It will destroy everything."

That sounds like a real pain in the ass!

I didn't work my ass out just let a freaking former candidate for hero destroy this town.

Well, whether I want it or not, the war is already here, and they will come for us. The only choice I have is to protect this town, I have no other place to go anyway.

I am a freaking meruem and I don't know how the other places view meruems, but I already have a hunch of how bad it would be.

Besides, this town is already growing in me, with the people in it. Even if I have a choice or not, this place is worth fighting for.

I stood up and clapped my hand once. "So, let's plan how we deal with them. Shall we?"