The Liberomancer [Isekai Progression LitRPG]

"Looks like I was worried for nothing," I said as I heard about the latest report.

The makeshift dam the dryads had been constructing had collapsed and been swept away by the rain without us even having to lift a finger.

"Yes, hehe, looks like you were worried for nothing," Drake said. "I mean, it was difficult to imagine that they would succeed in the first place, but it was good that you noticed regardless." He looked up at the clear sky. "After all, in the future, there might be a slightly smarter and more capable enemy who could use this strategy against us. We've had peace with our neighbors for a long time, but any adept ruler has to keep the possibility of war in mind. The dryads though - heh, "

The issue of flooding was mostly out of everyone's minds now - the rain had thankfully petered down and any flooding that might've happened would be minimal. And it did not look like the dryads could make something that could flood the city, even if they were given ten years to do so.

We were having other problems now though.

It had now been several weeks since the siege had started, and though we hadn't exactly run out of supplies and were not in danger of that happening for a while, rations did have to be severely tightened. And it wasn't just about food - there were a dozen other things that people were running very short on which I hadn't even thought of, like oil, which was nearly impossible to buy currently.

Food prices, already at an exorbitant high, had gone up another twenty percent as the city continued to be deprived of its usual harvest. Since the merchant caravan had not come this year, and the siege made doing business impractical but for a few, there were several families who found themselves suddenly broke on top of everything else. Pets, which were a luxury even in good times, were the first luxury to be crossed off when budgets needed to be slashed.

I saw several axolotls wandering the streets, and by the way they behaved, it was clear that they were once domesticated and had been cast out of their homes. Unaware and unused to living on their own, they would wander around looking for anyone kind enough to give them even the tiniest of a morsel - which, during this time was a small miracle in and of itself. I guess it was better than them becoming food, which is likely what would happen if the siege went on for even longer.

The rain had also made the housing situation worse, as it was no longer feasible for many people to simply sleep out in the open in some areas, leading to a lot of discontent. It could've been a lot worse had we gotten heavier rainfall or if the dryads had succeeded, but even as it was, it made living in the city a miserable experience combined with everything else.

The roads were muddy and hard to navigate - most of them were not paved with stone, and this made transporting things even harder as they had already been congested before.

I also think that it was at this point the overcrowding issue had gotten to the point where it was causing actual problems. I wasn't the only person who had nearly ten people occupying a space meant for far fewer people, and while it had been tolerable to an extent as the siege went on and it was clear to people that they weren't dying tomorrow, moods had shifted.

I thought that a good number of fights and brawls that occasionally broke out were because of this. There were also increasing incidents of domestic violence - though they didn't call it by that name here in Arconia, it was what many of these 'household issues' as they were instead filed under would've been termed back on Earth.

Law and order had also broken down to some extent. For one, there were far more desperate people willing to do basic crimes just to get by, and secondly, most of the people who would usually be enforcing the law were guarding the city and stationed atop the wall.

There were problems that I wouldn't have even considered beforehand that could be an issue - several alcoholics had to stop drinking as the supply of booze dried up or was out of reach of their pocketbooks, and they ended up going into withdrawal. Given how preoccupied people were with the siege, these people were sometimes left on the street for hours until someone checked up on them. Some of them had sadly not been found in time and had passed away; from seizures or exposure, and even a few from choking on their own vomit.

"Is everything alright?" I asked Granny Qi another night when I had decided to drop by to check up on her.

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The mood was considerably worse than the earlier times I had visited, though this was probably the same in other parts of the city as well.

The stress level of the city was something intangible. No instrument could measure it, but I could feel that it was rising quickly now. It was only the immediate threat of death hanging above their heads that was keeping people in line, but it all felt like a shaky house of cards waiting to topple with the right provocation.

"Good as things can get," Granny Qi said. "At least we are not low on food, if that's what you're wondering…"

I was. I didn't want her going out to get something and getting jumped by some hoodlum who saw her as an easy target. That was why I had brought the ingredients for this dinner with me, but it was good to know that I needn't have bothered.

"How much longer will the siege last, Master Liberomancer?" Suki Tang asked with a sigh. She looked far more depressed than usual - but I knew why.

For someone like her, who was used to living in wide open fields, it must've been quite depressing to not only be cooped inside the confines of a city, but inside a small house with so many people as well.

"I can't say for sure," I told her. "In a month or so forces from the capital should arrive, assuming the dryads don't fall apart from a lack of blood."

We had been saying the same line over and over, and I could tell people were tired of hearing it - but what else could we do? The forces from the capital would arrive when they arrived, and there was nothing we could do to expedite that.

The adults, at the very least, were giving the pretense of being optimistic, but the stress was clearly showing through the kids. Their eyes were downcast in a manner I hadn't seen before as it was harder for them to hide their true feelings.

The end of the siege, however, came far sooner than anyone had anticipated.

Two days later, the dryads started making their move. And this was not a simple skirmish as they had done occasionally beforehand, no, it looked like the entire dryad army was getting into position.

Their first assault was likely them just probing our defenses, while the second assault had been the more serious one designed to succeed. This one though, it looked like it would be their last desperate attempt to break through.

"It looks like they've had enough waiting," Drake said. He was trying to remain calm, but I could hear the tension in his voice. "And it seems they've decided to throw the dice and see where it lands."

It was likely the lack of blood had weakened them to the point that they could not continue further, and they had realized that they could not retreat without being struck from behind or dying along the way.

Or maybe they were just tired of waiting - they were said to be little smarter than animals, after all.

Hopefully they had been weakened by the weeks of not having fresh blood…

The wall, and the city, immediately jumped into fervent action.

The dryads were extremely large in number, to the point that it took them several hours to 'form up' so to speak - not that they were much good at doing this. The lack of an overall centralized command structure, which would have been the cornerstone for any army, was clearly evident here when the organization of even greater numbers than before were involved.

Draftsmen were moved to the wall in large numbers, and the sea-facing side of Arconia was stripped down to its bare bones for the incoming attack. The dryads did not look like they were going to attack from that side anyway, and if they did, it would be overwhelmingly obvious by the time they reached that side when a defense could be arranged for that location.

"How have you been?" Master Jiah Pei asked me as I saw him walking up to where I was stationed. He slapped me on the shoulder and gave me a weary smile, strolling around as if he was enjoying a nice scenic walk in a garden.

"Master Jiah Pei - well, I've been alright, all things considered," I said. "Are you going to be fighting today as well?" I did not want to offend him, but I wasn't sure how to suggest that he stay out of the fighting for his own sake. It looked like it was really going to get intense this time around. We hadn't been in too much danger beforehand, but who knows what was going to happen today?

"I wouldn't miss this for all the gold in the world," he replied, "I thought I'd drop by to say 'hello' to an old friend, but if you'll excuse me, I'm needed elsewhere," he added, dashing off to reinforce another part of the wall.

I really hoped that he would make it through this… nearly twenty thousand ordinary soldiers now manned the walls, prepared to form a living wall between us and the dryads if need came be. Our magic and skills would likely run out before the enemy's numbers did - and in that scenario, we would be relying on them to hold the enemy off until we could recover our mana.

The Liberomancers prepared in any way they could - mainly by having buffing magic cast upon them, while others were praying for victory in the upcoming fight. The ordinary soldiers were preparing all kinds of non-magical methods for dealing with the dryads - ranging from catapults, to arrows, to large cauldrons of boiling sand and water. Oil was likely too expensive and rare for them to use for the purpose of pouring it on their enemies, though if we had something like a large supply of kerosene it would've been good to pick on the dryad's natural weakness to fire.

Drake was extremely busy now, and I wished him luck as he wandered off.

As time went on, it was clear that our initial assessment and fears were correct - every single dryad seemed to be mobilizing now.

This was it - the final clash between the dryads and the defenders of Arconia was at hand!