Bog Standard Isekai-Chapter 53Book 4.

Brin stared at the projection from his Invisible Eye in dismay. Everyone had heard the explosion, everyone could see the smoke, but only he could see the screen so only he could see how screwed they were.

Meanwhile, the soldiers in Lord Prima’s colors were still ferrying away the assassin. They moved through the tunnels at a startlingly quick pace. Every second made catching up even more impossible.

He numbly reported what he saw to Cid, sending his voice across the city through an illusion.

“And no one is there to engage them?” asked the Prime.

“No. The people of the city are completely unprepared. Lord Prima’s soldiers are on the wrong side of the walls, and the rest of them are still hiding in their barracks,” said Brin.

Cid laughed. “Well, that’s it then, isn’t it? It’s almost a relief, in a way. Our duty is clear. We’ll fight the goblins, alone if need be, as soon as our horses can get us there. You can meet us at the front or… well, you have family in this town, don’t you? Go to them. Protect them, and if you can, tell the world what happened here.”

Brin shook his head in disgust at the idea that thought that he’d ever leave them to save himself. Of course, Cid couldn’t see it, so he said, “No. You won’t fight alone. I’ll be there, and the people of Canibri will be with me.”

Cid responded, trying to argue that Brin should save himself, but he hardly heard it. It was time. He’d had enough of being careful, of trying to protect his secrets, and of keeping his hands from getting too dirty. No, it was time for the gloves to come off.

The problem with Canibri wasn’t that this was happening. The problem was that this was allowed to happen. Everyone knew that Lord Prima’s soldiers were here in town, so they expected the soldiers to take the lead. No one would step up to defend the city themselves, not when they thought the army would do that for them. The green and blacks of High Lord Prima needed to be drawn out, discredited, exposed, and if possible, expunged.

Cid was right about one thing; it was almost a relief and his duty was clear.

He had a vague plan, but it all came together when his Invisible Eye that was watching the goblin horde noticed a shift.

The rest of the illusionary invisibility covering the goblins in the north fell away. There were just over a thousand of the beasts, just as he’d estimated, but that wasn’t what caught his eye. The invisibility all dropped at the same time, right as the assassin exited the tunnel on the other side, moving into the Eveladis that the soldiers had dropped to stop Brin.

He really was some sort of [Archer Illusionist]. Wasn’t that sort of unfair? How many abilities could one person have?

But that meant that the other side’s [Illusionist] was out of commission for now. This town was his.

First, he sent Mirror Images of himself running down every major street of the city. “The goblins are inside the walls. Rally! True men of Prinnash, your country needs you! Everyone that can hold a spear, up and awaken! Come!” He gave different sections of town their own areas where they should congregate.

He didn’t have huge hopes that many people would really show up, but now at least they'd been warned.

He sent a single Mirror Image to his half-siblings’ home and had to project a booming sort of sound to copy the sound of knocking on a door with a fist.

When Nesta opened the door, she looked both ways in worry before saying. "You'd better come in."

Brin shook his head. "I can't stay long. I'm not supposed to be here, but you should know: the goblins are inside the walls. You need to get out of here, find somewhere that people are actually forming into a militia."

"What? How do you know?"

"I don’t have time to explain. They're on their way. You need to move!" Brin wondered if he even should've come. He couldn't tell them where to go to be safe. Was there a safe place in this town? He turned and ran, continuing to shout warnings.

Onto his next idea. He turned his attention to the soldiers still in the garrison. As long as Prima’s people had the barracks as a rallying point, they’d have a safe place to coordinate countermeasures to everything that Brin tried. He needed this group out of the picture.

He quickly picked out the commander; he was the one not in armor sitting in his office. [Inspect] called him Commander Faust. Brin watched and listened with his Invisible Eye while his real body ran towards them.

Faust finally said something to a subordinate, asking him to bring him a report, and Brin got to hear the sound of his voice. He had a deep voice with a sort of supercilious tone.

Brin ran faster, and when he was finally in range, he dimmed all the lights in the building at once. Then he projected his voice into the barracks, pitching it up to hopefully make it sound female.

“Commander Faust! It is I, [Great Witch] Arnarra, your mistress! Why have you failed me, you worm?” When Brin’s voice came out, he was pleased with the result. He sounded a lot like some of the [Witches] he’d known.

Faust jumped to his feet and snapped something at his subordinates, but Brin was already silencing him. In his place, Brin said, “No, mistress no! Please! Don’t reveal me to my men!”

He didn’t think his impression was good enough to fool anyone who actually knew Faust, but the rank and file rarely actually knew the sound of their commanders’ voices. He didn’t even need this to work, he just needed to sow doubt.

“You have failed me, Faust, and so now you will pay the price!” Brin said as the [Witch].

“No, mistress, please! I can still salvage this!” Brin replied, mimicking Faust.

The real Faust was already pulling out an Eveladis, so Brin shouted out a last quick response in his [Witch] voice. “Too late! See now what happens to those who fail Arcaena!”

Faust started to pull on the lid of the Evaladis, but Brin was just barely close enough to push with his glass magic and seal it shut. Any reasonable strong adult would be able to break through it, but the extra resistance gave Brin the delay he needed.

Besides, Faust was protecting himself against the wrong thing. Brin threw a javelin, straight through the stone wall.

He was a little worried it wouldn’t be strong enough because this was the javelin he couldn’t put back together, but the magic he pumped into it was more than enough.

The wall exploded and shards of magical glass tore through the commander.

You have defeated: Soldier Commander [32]

Brin felt a brief moment of doubt. Had Faust actually been working with a [Witch]? Probably not. But he’d sat in his barracks holding his men in reserve while the people of this town bled and died. That was guilty enough in his mind.

Somehow, Brin had avoided shattering the Eveladis, so he strengthened the glass further and pulled it towards him, going into invisibility.

The soldiers descended on the area, rushing around in a frenzy trying to search for the source of the attack, but Brin only needed one more thing from them for now. He snuck in and found a tabard with Prima's green and black. He slipped it on and ran.

Brin ran. He needed to get to the goblins that were coming through the broken wall. Only about two hundred goblins were over there; if the town put up any kind of resistance it would be over. Unfortunately, no one did. The goblins drove the citizens before them.

Looking at the big picture, he noticed that the soldiers that had grouped up on the walls on the other side of town were now getting down and moving towards the break in as well.

Of course. They'd all rush over here to defend against the two hundred, leaving the walls completely undefended against the larger army. It would look as if they were rushing around trying to contain the threat while never actually doing any fighting at all.

Brin told Cid what he saw, and Cid came to the same conclusion. He shifted his course back towards the undefended walls, vowing to defend them even if the Lance manned the walls alone. Again, Brin promised that he wouldn't be alone.

Meanwhile, he kept running. One block, then two. He sprinted the entire way, not letting up on his pace, but that left his mind free.

While he ran, he transformed himself. He grew the glass on the armor, summoning more to fill it out. He changed its shape and profile, then darkened the glass to look like steel. He grew a plate over his face to cover his features and disguised the shape of his helmet. Once he was sure he looked different enough that no one would recognize him, he threw the tabard with Prima's colors over the top of it.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Now that he had his disguise in place, he sent a Mirror Image of himself to six different spots where the goblins were rampaging down city streets. Yes, he could sort of alter a Mirror Image on the fly, but it was much easier to just copy himself as he actually looked.

He slowed from a dead sprint and began his most menacing walk. His Mirror Images copied him and on five different streets, it appeared as if one of High Lord Prima’s men was directing the goblin horde.

As he'd hoped, the goblins barely reacted to his copies. Once or twice they gave them a testing swipe, but quickly realized they were nothing more than distractions and ignored them. He bet that goblins relied on their noses more than humans did, and that wasn't a sense he could fool.

His copies ran in front of them, pointing out groups of people that he saw and acting like he thought he was in charge.

“Yes, you animals. Kill them all! Destroy this town in High Lord Prima’s name! Ha ha ha h– huck.” Brin’s humor died as he saw a goblin grab a fifteen-year-old girl and dash her head open on the cobblestones of the street.

Was he doing the right thing? If he had just forgotten about his schemes and ran straight over there, could he have prevented that death? He probably would have, but that wouldn’t have saved the city.

The only saving grace was that the goblins left the pre-System Day children alone. They couldn't fight, couldn't give experience, and the goblins seemed to instinctively understand that. Rather than avoid them, the goblins treated them like they didn't exist.

It was poor consolation when an adult in this world meant fourteen. He resumed his cavorting, but it wasn’t as much fun this time. He sent out a slew of Invisible Eyes to the people in the area, whispering warnings in their ears when the goblins were near and yelling "Watch out!" where he could.

His deception had the desired effect. He saw people running further into town raving about the goblins being led by the soldiers. A couple times, someone shouted angrily at Brin's duplicates, or demanded answers, but since such shouts always meant drawing the attention of the goblins, it didn't happen often and he didn't have to respond.

He did dial it back, though. Instead of leading the goblins he froze his Mirror Images and had them stand nearby as if they were trying to direct the goblins while staying hidden. Once he was sure no one was looking at them, he dispelled his Mirror Images one by one.

That done, Brin shrugged off his Prima soldier disguise, turning back to himself again.

Finally, he reached the first goblin. This one was man-sized and had run a bit ahead of the rest, a decision that it now looked to be regretting after it saw Brin bearing down on him.

He tore into it with savage fury, releasing all the pent-up frustration. He was beginning to realize that he didn't like playing the eye in the sky. He didn't want to be the one pulling off machiavellian schemes while people died in front of his eyes. This was better; this was right.

The goblin parried twice, showing surprising strength and speed. Brin's magic guided his armor and thrummed in his spear, and still the monster managed to resist for two strikes. On the third swing, Brin stabbed him straight through. He had to use the chandelier glass to stabilize the body so that he could pull the spear out again.

You have defeated: Goblin Warrior [24]

The chandelier glass probably could've made that go even faster if he'd used it as a weapon from the beginning. He split off a quarter of his mind, giving it the instruction to take control of the chandelier glass and use it however it saw fit.

He found his next goblin quickly, and this time it was caught between defending itself against Brin and the magical floating spear fighting alongside him. He killed it on the first swing and kept going.

That worked well enough that Brin decided to add one more floating weapon. He split off part of his mind again, and gave it control of the laser, letting it float on his other side and fire at will.

A group of three goblins found him next and it was a close thing for the first furious engagement. Numbers were the solution to knights, but that only worked if Brin fought as a knight. He summoned a couple Mirror Men that distracted the beasts while he cut them down one at a time.

After this, a group of what looked like three families must've identified him as a source of safety because they all burst from hiding and ran towards him. This drew the attention of a dozen goblins who immediately turned to pursue.

Brin stepped forward and split what he had left of his mind in half to prime two spells. The moment the last of the fleeing people were past him, he let loose. He cast a flurry of bullets to soften the goblins up, then a volley of glass javelins tore them to shreds.

Before they could recover, he ran in to finish them off with his spear. One wounded goblin surprised him and clubbed him in the back of the head. He saw stars and recombined his split minds on reflex, which confused him enough that he couldn't control his body for a moment. He watched, seemingly at a distance as his combat-honed reflexes took over and dispatched the goblin, then finished off the rest.

He sorted his mind back in order and then forced himself to stop and take a breath. He couldn't just keep running around blindly; he needed a plan. One thing he'd learned was that taking hits from goblins would never be a good way to spam [Battle Fury]. They didn't leave nice, little clean cuts–it was bone-crushing blows or nothing. He was lucky it hadn't cracked his skull. [Battle Fury] was already at full power from all the wounds he'd dealt, regardless.

Looking through his Invisible Eyes, he saw that there were a few humans fighting back just one street over, so he made his way there.

Coming through an alley, he saw a group of six men fighting in a circle, their backs to each other, against a mass of thirty goblins.

Brin threw everything he had. He summoned clouds of bullets, volleys of javelins, and marched in with Mirror Men. He was free with his light and sound, so his spells shone like balls of fire or spears of shadow and landed with thunderous booms. His laser and chandelier-glass spear fought with wild abandon.

The goblins folded. As soon as the onslaught of glass cut into them, they screeched and roared, and retreated back towards the gap in the walls.

The men who'd been fighting looked like they also wanted to flee so Brin started shouting before they could move.

"Here! We're rallying here! The heroes of Prinnash are finally making a stand! Join us here if you're a true man!" Brin's voice was very loud when he wanted it to be, and he was sure every goblin and human on this side of town heard his voice.

One of the men gulped and said, "I'm sorry, sir, but–"

"We're holding here.” Brin kept his voice as calm as he could, but couldn't stop the way his chandelier glass formed into a menacing spear behind him.

The man gulped again and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He finally looked to the ground and said, "Yes, sir."

To Brin's relief, people actually heard his call and came. The first were careful. A man crept towards them, peering around walls until he was sure that no living goblins were in sight, and then waved three friends forward who came and joined the circle.

Three women came next, all carrying improvised spears made of knives attached to broom handles. A band of ten men who actually looked like they knew how to use the swords they carried found them next, though Brin couldn't help but notice their blades were still clean. A woman with five children in tow came. She shoved the children into the center of the ring and then took up a spear.

He only saw one goblin during that time, and missed a shot with a thrown javelin, but the laser struck the goblin down as it tried to retreat.

The goblins were massing up as well. Those that had fled from Brin were scurrying around and collecting their dispersed brethren, forming them up into one huge group. Brin stood and let it happen, because for every one goblin that joined their group, three men and women joined him.

Time was on his side. Cid and the rest of the Lance were still moving towards the wall. The soldiers moving through town were booed and jeered at the further they went along. Word was traveling fast, and already the mood was turning against Prima's men. He saw a few groups of soldiers duck into alleys to remove their green and black tabards and putting on red armbands that would mark them as deputised members of the watch. Those ones all turned back, heading towards the walls that they should've already been protecting.

Back at the barracks, the remaining officers were in an explosive shouting match that looked like it might come to blows, meanwhile their men were slipping away like a sieve.

Not everyone was on his side. He saw a couple [Messengers] going through town trying to argue that it was Lord Mordelet who’d betrayed them and that High Lord Prima was here to help. Some of Prima’s soldiers remained loyal and he saw them break into a home to beat a man half to death after he’d yelled insults down at him from a balcony. Many of the townsfolk still believed in Prima, too, and fights broke out as the two sides were drawn. But from what he could see, the majority of the town saw the truth for what it was.

As word spread that the goblins were in the city and the soldiers were doing nothing, the small militias that Cid had tried to form began to organize themselves.

Brin's six men became twenty. Twenty became forty. Forty became a hundred.

Not everyone that came by joined his group. Women, children, the elderly, and a few cowardly men of fighting age moved past them deeper into town and towards safety. Brin let them go, since enough people were joining him that it wasn't worth the distraction, but he kept an eye on the people moving past just in case someone good tried to sneak by.

Hello, what's this? A fourteen-year-old girl named Seren Havard wearing colorful clothing and an oddly-shaped backpack tried to move past with her head down. She [Inspected] as a [Story Gatherer], but Brin wasn't fooled. His Invisible Eye picked up the way that people always moved out of the way when she whispered "Excuse me", and a heated argument near her died down when she began to hum softly. And that backpack. There was definitely a lute in there.

He marched over and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her to the ring. "You're with us!"

"No, I can't fight! I don't even have a weapon!" Seren protested.

"You won't need to fight. Just play us a song," said Brin.

"I can’t... I'm not–"

"You are. Relax, I can protect you," said Brin, though he himself wasn't completely relaxed. Either he was right and she was a [Bard], or he was wrong and she was a [Witch]. He kept his floating spear ready, just in case.

Seren opened her backpack and Brin let out a sigh of relief when he saw it really was a lute.

"No, I mean, I've never sung someone into battle! I've never even played at a public house. Here. Here's my real status," said Seren.

Brin [Inspected] her again. She was level 9.

"I'm too low level," she said.

"Not for long," Brin answered.

The two hundred or so goblins that had broken through the town had mostly gathered up. Brin only saw one group of six trying to sneak their way around and further in, but someone else would have to deal with that. He'd soon have his hands full here.

On the other side of town, Brin noticed a black-clad figure moving across the walls that the Lance was moving towards. Brin feared explosives again, but the reality was just as bad. The figure was letting down rope ladders. The goblins would take the walls before Cid got there.

The mood was shifting. People were waking up to the reality of the situation and taking up their weapons. The soldiers were remembering their duty. It was all too little and too late. The last battle of Canibri was about to begin.

One last old man joined Brin's group, flanked to either side by hulking bodyguards in full armor. It was Ifan Earwood, that [Merchant] he'd spoken to the day before.

"I was hoping you'd bring more than two," Brin said.

"Oh no, these two aren't for you," said Ifan. He held a fine jewelry box, and presented it to Brin. "These are for you."

Brin opened the box and the glow of three very expensive potions met his eyes.

"Oh, and this," said Ifan. He took a glass from his bodyguard and handed it to Brin. It was full of ice and a clear liquid, and it had a little slice of fruit on the rim.

Brin tasted it. It was water. It was delicious; he hadn't realized how thirsty he had been.

"This has Sion's fingerprints all over it. How did he manage this?" asked Brin.

"I only regret that we couldn't do more," said Ifan.

Brin looked down at the potions again. "No, I think this will be just enough."